Relaxing Into The Self

Friday, July 22, 2011, 18:09

A rich man was lying on his death bed. His mind was actively involved in worldly affairs.
He asked his wife, “Where is my eldest son?"

The wife who was a spiritual woman and who understood that her husband's end was nearing replied, “He is standing beside you, but don't get your mind into worldly affairs"

The husband brushing aside the wife's advice, asked for his second son, “He is also here. You please relax"
The dying man asked for the third son and on knowing that he was also present there at his bed side enquired his wife, “Then who is taking care of the shop, when all the three are here?" Saying so, he breathed his last.

When one spends his entire life wallowing in the affairs of the world, it would be an impossible task to think of God or relax and rest in peace at the time of death. The scriptures say that the thoughts and beliefs of a person at the time of his death constitute his next birth. When one relaxes into the self, he escapes the cycle of birth and death.

This short Hindu story is a pointer to this truth.