Have you heard the name of Gilgamesh? It is an old epic, an Akkadian epic, the epic of Gilgamesh.
He was a king, and up to his mid-life he lived as the whole of humanity lives – without even being conscious of death. Not that he had not known death. Many people had died, but he was in the common illusion – as is the whole humanity – that death happens to somebody else and not to him.So he lived unconsciously and death was never a problem.
Of course people were dying – he had seen many people die; he had been to the battlefields – but it had never penetrated deeply. The arrow had never hit his own heart. He knew in general that death happens, but he was not aware that it was going to happen to him in particular also.
It is natural logic. You always come across somebody dead, never across yourself dead. It is always somebody else who dies, so why be worried? Others die – you never die. But one day he was sitting on the bank of the river Euphrates and he saw many corpses floating; a great epidemic has spread and people were dying like flies. There was no way to bury or burn them because so many people were dying that there was nobody to bury them. They were simply floating in the river – dead bodies, stinking. That hit him hard and for the first time he became aware: death is going to happen to me also. How long can I survive?’ That day he really became a man.
Heidegger says, ’A man is a being-towards-death.’ Animals die, trees die, birds die, but they don’t know anything about death. It is only man... the frailty of man that he knows that he will die. It is something tremendously valuable, because if you don’t know that you will die, you cannot live rightly. In the background is death; then the figure of life becomes completely clear. It is just as on a dark night the stars shine clear. In the day they disappear because the contrast is not there. Heidegger is right when he says, ’Man is a being-towards-death.’
Up to that moment Gilgamesh had lived like an animal. That moment he became a man. A revolution happened. He started thinking that he was going to die and something had to be done. But what to do? He visited wise people, he consulted scriptures. The other thing he found was that you can do something very significant so that your name becomes immortal. You cannot remain in history but your name can become immortal; that’s all that is possible. So he was happy – at least something was possible. ’Maybe this body will go but my name, ”Gilgamesh”, will live. I will do something: I will write poetry or I will paint or create a beautiful palace or something that history will have to take note of.’
He was happy with that thought. Many men live with that thought – just somehow to make their name immortal. That’s a way to avoid death again. But then one of his closest friends died. He was his only friend. Now death had happened very close. Those dead bodies in the river were strangers. There was no relationship, no emotion involved. He was deeply involved with his friend. He was a very very close, intimate friend and he had died.
Suddenly a second revolution happened. He started thinking, ’Even if now my friend’s name lives, I will remember him, but what does that matter? The man is gone. I will remember him, I will cherish his memory and continuously think about him, but what does it matter whether I remember or not? The man is gone. So even if I am remembered by thousands of people, I will be gone. It is all the same whether they remember me or forget me. It does not give me life.’
Then he was very much afraid. Another illusion was broken. He started searching in the mountains, in the desert, for somebody who knew the secret of immortality. After many journeys wandering all over the earth.... And those journeys were very arduous. Gilgamesh went everywhere; he became very old and ancient, but he continued on his quest....
Finally he came across a man. who, it was known, knew the secret of immortality. The old man said, ’Yes, you can become immortal. The secret is there, just in front of me, in that bush. You can eat some fruit from that bush and you will become immortal. But nobody has become immortal up to now. The secret is there but something always happens. One never reaches to that bush.’
Gilgamesh laughed and said, ’This is absurd. The bush is just a few feet away. What is the problem?’ He ran, and he was just reaching out to the bush when a snake came and Gilgamesh was bitten and died before he reached the bush! So Gilgamesh is a failure... but the epic is beautiful.
It is the whole of humanity’s quest. In the first part, humanity lives like animals, not knowing. Many die in that stage. The second part, people become aware – painters, poets, philosophers. Then they start trying to create some type of immortality to substitute. Many die with that. Then in the third part, a few become aware that even your name’s immortality makes no sense. They start searching, like Gilgamesh, for some secret to be immortal. But that too proves a failure, so the whole quest is a failure.
In fact death has to be accepted. And once you have accepted it, then you have transcended it. So it is going to be a great experience for you and Chinmaya both. Whatsoever happens, just accept it as peacefully as possible. Not that he is going to die; don’t misunderstand me. He may survive, because I feel he still has enough stamina to overcome the illness. But whether he survives or not, that is irrelevant. One day he will have to die. One day you will have to die. One day I am going to die. So death has to be accepted.
Whenever death knocks at your door, in any way, accept it. That very acceptance will change your whole being. And remain happy. That is arduous, but remain happy. That will be helpful for him. Don’t become sad. That is very ordinary to become sad about death.
When death knocks, be happy. And if somebody is going to die, then give him a beautiful goodbye, mm?
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose
Osho
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