Several years ago, one of my paternal aunts passed away in Bangalore, and we all went to her house to pay our respects and help out in the rituals.
She passed away in a hospital, and by the time the formalities could be completed and the medical certificate issued, we had reached her house. It was a grim situation and we were all waiting for her to reach.
One of my cousins got a phone call from the hospital and after a brief conversation, he told us that “the body will be reaching in 15 mins”.
That single statement shook me to my core.
A person who was living, breathing, talking, and was referred to by her name or other formal addresses (like aunt, etc.) suddenly became a “body”?
Then I began to wonder,
- if every strand of hair
- every single cell in her body
- every bone
- every muscle
- every organ
is the same before and after her passing, then who or what is the difference between a dead body and an alive one?
What left her physical body that caused her to go from an “aunt” to a “body”?
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This reminds me of a story told by Bannanje Govindacharya. It goes like this …
Two friends are walking and they see an acquaintance, named Ramesha, walking 100 meters in front of them. One of them says to the other – “hey, see Ramesha is walking in front of us”.
The other says, “who? where?”
The first guy says - “see in front … the red-shirt”
“The red shirt is Ramesha?”
“No no .. not the shirt .. inside that”.
“The skin is Ramesha?”
“No no .. under that too”.
“The muscles and blood?”
“No no .. "
“The bones and nerves?”
“No …. "
The guy finally remarks … “So, what we can see is NOT Ramesha. But, what we can’t see is Ramesha”.
Who are we really? Who is writing this blog? Who is reading this blog?
Thank you!