Birth and Death, No Need to Worry

The master and student joined each other by the stream for their daily wisdom talk.
 
 The student looked at his master. He was growing old and his body was becoming weak. The student wondered if his master had any fear of death. The student became saddened thinking that some day his master would die.

"Achal, you looked troubled," the master said.

"Honorable One, are you not afraid of death? I am worried that you will be not here for me. Who will be my teacher?"

The master replied, "Achal are you worried for me or for yourself?"

"Both of us," replied the student.

The master started laughing, "Good, then there is no need to worry."

"Achal, you are not being trained to be dependent on me. Never think that. You are being trained to recognize the higher Divine Self that we all share. As you cultivate that relationship, you can help others find that same source of compassion and wisdom. I am here to help you in your journey not to carry you on that journey. Now by helping people in their journey then you are doing exactly as you should. But you should never encourage people to believe that the source of compassion and wisdom is found only in certain people. That would be a false teaching and very misleading"

"Soon I will pass from this world, Achal. This is unavoidable. You and everything you see here will also pass from this world. But humans live numerous lives even in one life. As people grow older, they look back and see more clearly the lives they have lived in their one life. If they mourn for the past then they are wasting precious time since they cannot change that past. They can only do whatever good they can at present and be content with that."

"It is natural for people to fear death. All beings fear death. But it helps to know the truth. As human beings we live in a constant state of change, just as the rest of life. The process doesn't begin with birth and it will not end with death. We transition throughout life. Birth and death are just more dramatic transitions."

"Honorable One," the student replied, "Still, I will miss you."

"Achal, I will always be as close to you as your own heart. We all share the same Divine Being. That Being is never born and never dies. As you cultivate that relationship with your True Self then you will recognize that same Self in all of life. As you gain in wisdom, you will still have emotions of sadness and loss, but recognizing the truth of our existence will help ease the pain."

"So indeed there is no need to worry, Achal." The master smiled and  finished.

Grant