Book Review Dialogue with Death by Eknath Easwaran When the gods want to punish us, they grant us our desires Tia, a yoga teacher, writes from India. Reviewed by Tia Sinha We begin to take life seriously when we take death seriously. Otherwise, as Thoreau said, we run the risk of discovering, when we come to die, that we have never lived. Eknath Easwaran Dialogue with Death is not really a book on death and dying. It is a book about life and living: what life is for, who we are as human beings, why we are here. Easwaran says the first part of our lives merely sets the stage for the drama we were born to play. This is the time for experimentation, when we play with life’s toys – money, pleasure, power, possessions, prestige – and learn for ourselves what they are worth. Many never go beyond this phase. Nothing in modern civilization, with its cult of youth, encourages us to look further. But it is only when we throw these toys away and begin to search for answers to those essential questions – Who am I? Why am I here? What is life for? – that we really begin to live. For these are the years in which each of us is meant to grow to our full stature as a human being. These are the years when profound personal discoveries and great contributions are made, which can only come when a person turns inward. For those who take up this challenge, life holds unique promise - the fulfillment of living for a lofty goal, and of finally discovering within themselves, a deathless presence. Dialogue with Death is a commentary on the Katha Upanishad. It also carries the late Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Katha Upanishad into English. The dialogue is between a teenager in ancient India called Nachiketa, and the King of Death, Yama, whom he approaches to learn the meaning of life. Nachiketa was a seeker of tremendous courage, keen intellect and rare discernment. He could see right through superficial behavior and the passing pleasures of this world that promised satisfaction but only brought pain. He was willing to go all the way in search of truth. to liberation in a way that is easy to relate to and often humorous. Only by learning to meditate can we actually get inside the mind and begin to clean things up. On the other hand, when we live in a world of appearances, we think appearance is the whole of living. Easwaran also touches upon the pitfalls encountered in meditation and discusses ingenious ways to overcome them. Easwaran points out that we live in a sea of media conditioning that reflects back to us what we value, and the false message we are saturated with is: “You are your body. The human being is a purely physical creature whose needs can be satisfied on the physical level.” The Katha Upanishad talks of the struggle between preya (worldly desires stemming from the false self) and shreya (aspiration to discover our true divine nature). Modern civilization believes the purpose of the body is to enjoy pleasure. The idea pleasure brings security is a cruel illusion. The ancient Greeks had a saying: “When the gods want to punish us, they grant us our desires.” Where has the religion of pleasure taken us? Has there ever been a time in history when it was followed with greater fervor? Yet there has never been a time such as now when human beings felt more alienated, more desolate, more cut off from those around them. For the same force that fulfills man’s desires, points out Easwaran, brings also all the fruits of selfish craving: loneliness, alienation, broken relationships, the inability to love. It is of utmost importance, therefore, that we have some control over what we desire, and the key to desire is will. Real higher education, according to Easwaran, should develop the higher mind. It should teach us how to choose, how to master desires and strengthen the will, how to protect the mind from insecurity and the body from stress. Instead, the young still leave universities essentially the same as they were when they arrived – the will no stronger, vision no clearer and no better idea of how to transform anger into compassion and hatred into love. 36 Peppered with examples from modern living, this book lays down the entire path Dialogue with Death is eminently readable and thought provoking.
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