Ramana Maharshi
We relate death with loss and seperation. But Yogi’s have a different take on death. Once you are further into your journey of yoga your view of love and attachment changes. Rather than love resulting in attachment, love becomes more open and flowing. The fear of loss and seperation is greatly reduced. Here is a story from the life of the sage Ramana Maharshi:
When the mail arrived, it brought a letter with news of the death of the first daughter-in-law of K. Lakshmana Sarma. This led Sri Ramana Maharshi to speak of ‘death’.
He said : “The dead are fortunate. It is only those who are left behind who feel miserable. It is our constant concern to bear the burden of this body and look after its needs. Day in, day out, this is our occupation — bathing, eating, massaging our legs, and so on — no end to it.
“When we die, it takes four persons to carry this body and yet we carry it about constantly without even stopping to think that we are doing so. We can easily lift a heavy stone under water, but as soon as we take it out we find how heavy it is, and in the same way, we don’t feel the weight of the body as long as a Chaitanya or Life-force permeates it.
“Deathlessness is our real nature, and we falsely ascribe it to the body, imagining that it will live for ever and losing sight of what is really immortal, simply because we identify ourselves with the body. It says in the Upanishads that the Jnani looks forward eagerly to the time when he can throw off the body, just as a labourer carrying a heavy load looks forward to reaching his destination and laying it down.”
Credit: This is from the book: “Day by Day with Bhagavan“, pp. 271–72, by A. Devaraja Mudaliar.