Hitting The "Pause" Button

We indulge in many activities in our daily lives. Some are just routine activities, some are downright unnecessary and could be dispensed with altogether, while some others are really very important indeed. At least considered important at that time, though we may laugh at them ourselves sometime later. Some of these activities are the ones that should be done at a stretch and completed once a beginning has been made. Or else, we may have to do them all over again from the beginning. Then there are some other activities that can be stopped at any stage, or some identifiable stage, and then can be continued later on from where they were left off. There may be many a trivial things that  may be found unnecessary later on and could be totally dispensed with or abandoned altogether on a review. 

The practice of stopping activities at some point and resuming from there later on has existed for a long long time, probably from the times man has started thinking rationally. However, advent of computers and watching recorded programs on television appears to have given a definite term for this. "To hit the "Pause" button" is a very popular usage in today's world. It is clearer than the term "To put on the back burner", since things put on the back burner continue to simmer, albeit low, and need to be attended to within a definite time frame, unless they are taken off once and for all. 

While all this is applicable for various activities in our lives, what about life itself? Can it be "paused" and restarted after sometime? It is a very interesting question indeed. We know about certain medical terms like "CPR". Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency procedure that is used when someone's breathing or heartbeat stops. Definite steps are taken for chest compressions and rescue breaths to revive the person. But there are many examples when a person who is declared dead comes back to life and lives for quite sometime, and many times for several years. There are reports of dead bodies being carried for burial or cremation coming to life and making the people around run away in fear. Is it indeed a possibility of hitting a "pause button" for life itself? 

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The use of anaesthesia during surgical procedures cannot be called as hitting a pause button, as in such cases there is no real pause in the patient's life. The only result is that the patient on the operation table has a pause in his own knowledge of things that are happening to him as well as to others around him. A real pause is one where the person is actually certified as dead and yet resumes living after some time span. For the same reason, persons in coma for several months and years as well are not on a pause. 

There was a report of a brain surgery conducted in 2019 in Texas, USA where a patient was administered anaesthesia for a brain surgery. She was brought back to consciousness once the surgeons cut through her skull and reached the brain. She was given an iPad on which she could identify a number of colours, numbers, animals and other objects and answer the questions of the surgeons. Depending on the answers and if she made a mistake, surgeons would decide which areas of the brain are to be attended to during the surgery. This could be a hair raising experience for the readers, but it was live streamed on Facebook. Now there are many more reports of similar surgical interventions. But all these cannot be called as examples of hitting a "pause" button.

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The real hitting of "Pause" button in life are of those where the soul leaves the body, and being able to see things from a vantage point above, then travelling down a tunnel or a canyon undergoing a review of life sometimes, and sometimes accompanied by a guide. Such living or reliving of events from points of feeling both pain and joy they brought for others. Then the soul reenters the body and continues the journey of life in the same body from which it had moved away for a short span of time. 

Tales of such experiences are accepted by people who believe in the separation of soul and body, and also that soul is eternal, and it changes bodies from time to time. There have been many such stories we all have heard from time to time. There are indeed many examples where young boy or girl have claimed that their house is elsewhere, and when taken to those places as per description given by him, even recognised the relatives from the past lives. "Sonar Kella" (Golden Fort) is a 1971 mystery novel by noted Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray on such a subject. He also made a film based on this in 1974. The story revolves around a boy born in Bengal who claims his real house is in a place surrounded by Peacocks, Forts, and Camels. Finally the place he describes is identified as Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. "Reincarnation of Peter Proud" is a Hollywood movie made in 1975 on a similar theme of reincarnation. There are many Hindi films on the theme of reincarnation starting from "Madhumati" and "Karz", among others. 

Reincarnation is certainly different from hitting a "Pause", but is mentioned here as examples of believing in soul being eternal and taking many births. This is only to supplement the fact that during a "Pause" the soul leaves the body and reenters the same body after sometime. 

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Dr Raymond A Moody Jr is an American philosopher, psychiatrist and Physician who has done a lot of work on cases of "Pause" in life. His learning accomplishments are indeed remarkable. He got a PhD in Philosophy in 1969, studied Psychology later on and obtained a PhD in that subject as well. To add to these, he studied medicine and has a MS degree in medicine. His website lifeafterlife.com gives volumes of information about "Life after Life" or hitting a "Pause" in life. 

Dr Moody names such experiences as "NDE" or "Near Death Experience". He has visited a number of persons who had such experiences, interviewed them, made extensive notes and published many books, starting from "Life After Life" in 1975. It is said that he himself had such an experience in 1991. He is presently 80 years old and continues his work in this field. There are, of course, some controversies about his work.

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Life, Life after a pause in Life, and Life after Life are all very exciting subjeccts for those who are indeed interested in Life! 

Who Owns Your Body?

What is your answer if someone were to ask you a question: "Who owns your Body?". We may laugh or frown at the person asking this question. The word "Frown" incidentally means "To contract the (eye) brow, as in displeasure or in deep thought". It also means to look displeased or have an angry look or view with disapproval. It appears that this word is created for answering such questions! What nonsensical question is this, one may wonder. Someone may as well shout: "Of course, I own my body!". But is it really true? What are the answers from different angles such as physical, emotional, legal, logical and spiritual view points? 

Ownership is defined in the dictionary as "The act, state or right of possessing something". It relates to a bundle of rights about use and control over an asset. Is the body an asset or liability? A body that was considered as one's most valuable asset at a young age may itself become a big liability at old age. Efforts at growing the asset at youth turns into a preservation exercise of the liability in later years of one's life. As a child, one is not aware of even the concept of ownership. The realisation of use and control develops as one grows up, until this very realisation is lost due to vagaries of time.

There are many dimensions to answers of this question. The answer may depend on many conditions and situations. Answer may depend on who is asking the question to whom, where and when. The answer for the same body may differ depending on the time when the question is asked. The body of a baby belongs to the mother (or the guardian) as the baby does not yet realise that it has a body and has control over it. In the case of an adult, the assumption is that the person owns his body. In the instance of a slave (though slavery is not legally accepted now, it was in force from time to time in the history of mankind), perhaps the master owns it. 

The answers change drastically when a person loses control over his body either temporarily or permanently. In the case of a bedridden person who does not even be aware of own existence, it is probably the caretaker who owns it. A patient's body lying under anaesthesia on the operation table could be said to belong to the Surgeon operating on it, as the surgeon can do anything he wants with the body subject to reasonable restrictions. The body of a prisoner is in the custody of the jailor as the prisoner is restricted from its usage. As regards the body of a dead person, who owns it? The one who apparently owned the body till death is not present now to claim the body and control over it. Does anyone own it or is it only for the purpose of exercising rights over disposal of the body by cremation or burial? All these are indeed interesting questions that deserve some discussion.

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An interesting case about ownership of the body after death came up before the England and Wales High Court recently (2016) in the case of Anstey V Mundle & Anor. George Henry Carty was born in Jamaica in 1935 and came to England in 1960 to work as a transport engineer. He died on 10th January 2016 in England. Three daughters and a niece claimed rights over the body. Two daughters wanted the body to be buried in England whereas the third daughter and niece wanted it to be taken to Jamaica for burial. The family dispute became a case and came up before Mr Justice Klein. The judgement is a beautiful piece of discussion on the issues of rights over a dead body, process of grieving and disposal of the body. The judgement about rights of disposal over the dead body of George Henry Carty deals with the rights and duties of the personal representatives for disposal of the dead body.

As the dispute between two daughters on one side and the third daughter and niece on the other stretched, George Henry Carty was not laid to rest for 6 weeks. As the judge said, instead of ending the normal process of grieving, it brought further grief and misery in itself to the family. The judge observed that the reasons for dispute were indeed genuine. The daughters who wanted the burial to happen in England wanted it so as Carty never visited Jamaica again after his arrival in England. The other daughter and niece were insistent on the burial in Jamaica as Carty was reported to have expressed a desire to be buried by the side of his mother in Jamaica. After considering the deposition of all witnesses and material available on record, the Judge considered the following aspects before pronouncing his judgement:

• Deceased's wishes.
• Reasonable requirements and wishes of the family who are left behind to grieve.
• Location with which the deceased was most closely connected.
• Disposal of the body with all proper respect and decency, and if possible without delay.

The Judge observed that while a person may be close to his children, that is not always the case. The Judge finally relied on the deposition of a third party, a friend of the deceased who did not have too much closeness with the deceased, and ordered that the burial take place in Jamaica without further delay. He hoped that all the parties concerned will cooperate towards this end and ensure action immediately as the matter was already delayed a lot. He also clarified that his judgement is limited to the disposal of the body only and does not have a bearing on all other issues like rights over the estate of the deceased and validity of a subsisting will made by the deceased etc. The judgement is a beautiful example of a speaking order listing out all details of the case and reasons for the final conclusion. A speaking order is an order that speaks for itself and stands the test of legality, fairness and reasoning. The judgement referred above can be a good guide to decide issues relating to disposing a body in disputed cases with due respect to the deceased person. 

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The case of George Henry Carty reminds us of umpteen instances in our own experience where the disposal of a dead body posed problems. Some of them are:

• Waiting or not waiting for some relative to arrive before disposal of the body.
• Using the dead body as a bargaining chip until demands are met by some authority. 
• Disputes about cremation where the custom of the family is disposal through burial or cremation or vice versa. 
• Conflict about a decision to take a body to the house of a relative from the hospital or place where death occurred is opposed by another are common. There are examples where due to such dispute the body has been moved directly to the burial ground to solve claims and counter claims.
• Who should perform the last rites. Sometimes there are more than one willing to do so while in some cases nobody wants this duty or responsibility.
• Bearing or sharing expenses for the last rites. A most wanted person's body becomes most unwanted during such times.
• Either treating the ceremony as a painful duty or glorifying it to monumental proportions.
• Nature of ceremonies to be performed. Should it be brief or long or should there be no ceremony at all?

When all these are considered, the inescapable conclusion is that problems of life do not end in death. Lucky are those whose bodies are disposed with dignity and without delay and disputes!

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Who owns the human body as per our ancient scriptures? This is an interesting question as well. This question also has many answers, but the most accepted one appears to state that there are five persons who can lay a claim to a human body at different stages. The belief is that after death at the end of previous cycle, the soul travels and floats in space. It then falls on the ground along with a drop of rain and reaches a grain or animal in due course. When a man eats the grain or the animal, the soul enters the father's body. 

1. The soul lives in the father's body for three months, takes the shape of a sperm before entering the mother's body. First claimant is the Father. The importance of father in one's life stems from this.
2. The soul enters the mother's body through the sperm and the person's body takes shape and develops there. For this reason, an inseparable bond develops between the mother and the child. The second claimant is the Mother.  
3. The third claimant is the one responsible for providing food and shelter to the individual. His role is equally important as that of father or mother since he provides the support for sustaining the body. The third claimant is this Master (Swami).
4. The body after death belongs to the fire when it is cremated. For the sacred fire that burns the dead body, it is a piece of dry cocoanut (Kobbari Gitaku in Kannada). Hence the fourth claimant is Agni (Fire). In case of burial, it can be construed as Mother Earth.
5. In case of non-cremation or non-burial for any reason, the body belongs to the dogs and other animals (Naayi-Nari in Kannada). Animals eat such a body like a bread piece. Animals are the fifth claimant, in case the fourth claim is not honoured.

A decent burial or cremation is the desired end to any human being after the life's journey comes to an end. It is an equitable right of the dead and the sacred duty of the living left behind. It should be done with respect and dignity.

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This post has become rather lengthy. But these are indeed the various issues that come up when such topics are dealt with. This is also the precise advantage of a blog post. A similar article sent for publication to a newspaper or magazine would be trimmed to desired size measured in number of words. This exercise of trimming would take out the soul of the piece leaving a fractured body behind. 

Viewed from another angle, as the subject matter is one of life and death, and at the end of a long life, the post is not that long, after-all!

The Passenger and the Train

He is standing anxiously on the platform for the arrival of the train. He is aware of the long journey ahead. He is checking his luggage and is satisfied that things are in order. He is verifying the ticket and making a mental note of his coach and berth. He wants to make sure that he gets into the proper coach and reaches the right berth. He rushes towards the coach even before the train comes to a full stop on the platform. With luggage in both hands, he jumps into the coach and moves fast towards his berth. He heaves a sigh of relief after placing all the luggage items below the berth. He checks the items and is now satisfied that arrangements are proper. There are others around him who are doing the same thing, may be a little differently and according to their own taste and liking. He is now seated and looks forward to the long haul with expectation and anxiety on the one side and excitement and hope on the other.

He makes every effort to keep his berth and its surroundings neat and clean during the journey. All waste items are immediately removed from his presence. Proper care is taken of the berth and the surroundings. He makes friendship with the people around him. All have their own stories and plans. Many of these are shared. Bonds develop between the co-passengers. Some invite others to visit their places and assure that all arrangements will be made by them for a pleasant trip, when their place is visited. Addresses and phone numbers are exchanged. The journey goes on. Some co-passengers get off from the train when their stations come. Other co-passengers come in and the journey continues.

All good things have to come to an end. Entire life cannot be lived and spent on the train. His station is about to come in a few minutes. He is no longer interested in making new friendships now. He is not that worried about keeping the berth and surroundings clean. He is aware that he has to move away from the train to further destinations. He picks his luggage items and prepares to get down. Waste material is thrown on the berth and near it. This berth has no use for him now. He is now concerned about the next berth in the next train. He moves to the door of the coach even before the train comes to a full stop on the platform of his destination. He gets down and moves away towards the next train and the berth in it. He does not spare a minute to look back at the berth that carried him this far and for so long. He does not look back at the train standing on the platform, that helped him come this far. His eyesight is now firmly set on the next lap of journey..... 

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Indian philosophy revolves around the concepts of Body (Deha), Soul (Atma) and the Supreme being (Paramatma). A concept is often defined as "an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars". There are many schools of thought that explain the relation between these three concepts. They base their arguments on the same texts but the same texts are interpreted differently by each school. But each of the schools of thought swear by the same sources! Each of these interpretation makes interesting reading and appears to be the best when you are reading it. Ekavada (Monoism), Adwaita (Non-dualism) and Dwaita (Dualism) base their theories on the premise of the Atma and Paramatma being one, not-two and two separate entities. Much of it stands on different logical interpretations. The difference lies in the secret that all schools of thinking do not accept the same yardsticks and the force of their arguments depends on their postulates. A postulate is something that is assumed without proof or taken for granted. It is generally believed, save for rare and exceptional schools of arguments, that soul is eternal while body is not permanent. Soul changes bodies from time to time and continues its eternal journey.....

One question that crops up during such discussions is about the relationship between the body and soul. A soul lives in a body for a certain length of time. In the case of human beings such time span stretches to several years and decades. What is the bonding between the body and soul? Does not the soul feel the pain of separation from the body when it finally leaves the body forever, in which it stayed for such long periods? The above example of the Passenger and the Train is given to explain the relationship between the body and soul. Just as the passenger does not look back at the berth and the train when his destination arrives, the soul does not feel the pain of separation from the body and the surroundings. In other words, the soul does not feel attached to the body and hence there is no pain of separation.

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There are many interesting questions on such topics and they are wonderfully answered through similar simple and yet satisfactory examples. Many scholars have given us gifts of such interpretations and explanations. One may not agree with some of them and may not agree entirely with many of them. But a reading and contemplation on these voluminous literature widens our own horizons. Vinoba Bahve is one such thinker who has contributed through his discourses.

Vinayak Narahari Bhave (1895-1982), popularly known as Vinoba Bhave was a Gandhian and freedom fighter. He is well known for his contributions through "Bhoodaan" movement. Many consider him as a spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He lost some popularity when he called the period of Emergency (1975-77) as "Anushasana Parva". 

Vinoba was jailed for participation in freedom movement and held in Dhule Jail in Maharashtra between January and July 1932. While in jail, he gave discourses on "Bhagavadgita" every sunday. Many jail inmates and even prison officials attended his discourses. Jamanalal Bajaj, noted industrialist and philanthropist was one of the regular participants. Sane Guruji, Marathi writer and freedom fighter kept notes of the discourses. A small book titled "Geeta Pravachan" was brought out later on which contains the summary of the discourses of Vinoba in Dhule jail. This book contains many interesting and apt examples that convey answers to questions of seekers, given in simple language and logic. Original book in Marathi language, published in 1950s with a cost of one rupee, has been translated to many indian languages as well as English. A reading of this book is indeed useful and interesting.