Life and Death in one Breath by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

From time immemorial, people’s lives have been punctuated with celebrations. From the first walking steps to the first job, from weddings and anniversaries to birthdays and baby showers, cultures around the world welcome the milestones of life with enthusiastic festivity. Every culture has evolved detailed customs and traditions for various stages of life to help one live in the best way possible. However, when it comes to the end of life, our celebratory spirits are faced with a dead end.

While the rituals of our lives are the outcome of generations of life experience, passed on from our predecessors, the rituals pertaining to death tend to spring from our belief rather than understanding – simply because there is no one to share that experience with us. Our ignorance renders us ill equipped to truly assist one who has stepped beyond our borders into the unknown. Furthermore, in trying to escape the fear that results from our ignorance, we have developed a prevalent attitude that death happens only to other people, not to us. When it comes to one’s own death, no one seems to look forward to it, much less celebrate it. We are favoring life and fearing death, because of which we unknowingly create an irreconcilable gulf between the two.

Sadhguru reveals how this preference for life over death is self-defeating; paradoxical as it may seem, in trying to avoid death, we end up avoiding life itself. A constant underlying fear of death only prevents us from experiencing life to the fullest. He points out that life and death are inseparable. Only one who understands this, who is willing to accept the reality of death wholeheartedly, can ever hope to live totally. Conversely, only one who has lived fully will be prepared to die gracefully.

Having mastered the mechanisms of life at both ends of this existential spectrum, Sadhguru tells us how we can prepare for death and, in the process, plunge into the depths of life. He not only addresses the inevitability of death but also goes into the very nature of this inexplicable phenomenon. Going into the specifics, he describes what exactly happens to the body and mind during death. Proceeding even further, he talks about the true meaning of heaven and hell and uncovers the deep connection between spirituality and mortality.

He says the potent spiritual possibility that death presents is something all of us can make use of. Sadhguru urges even those who have lived a life devoid of spiritual processes, not to waste the valuable opportunity that unfolds as one transits into the non-physical realm. Lastly, not one to leave the matter incomplete, he conveys how to assist others during, and even after, the critical moment of passage, so that we can do something for them that, perhaps, they could not do for themselves.

Compiled here are a collection of discourses by Sadhguru on various aspects of life and death. Starting with everyday life situations, including love, relationships and management, he delves into the core of human suffering and longing. Then, cutting through the hurdles of limited identities, values and beliefs, he shows the way to boundless inclusiveness. As we read the pages, and the chains of our bondage become clearer, he speaks of the importance of seeking help – and offers it to us.

Drawing from an ocean of knowing, Sadhguru is a rare mystic of our times who gives us a peek at what endures beyond life and death. Emboldening us to live up to our highest potential, he opens the frontiers of human perception, and what could become a doorway to the Divine.

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