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The Reflections of a Mortal

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13.10.2021

Satish Modi examines questions of life and of death in a moving, powerful, thought-provoking work based on his re­flections and the experiences of people from all walks of life. The result is a fascinating book that teaches us that whoever we are and whatever our aspirations in this life, it is essential for every one of us to accept our own passing. In doing so, we can discover the secret to unbridled inner happiness, guided by the principles of goodness, love and compassion.

Read an excerpt:

 

Dear reader,

Before you proceed, please fill in the following details:

Your name:

Your date of death:

This is not a misprint.

It’s very important. Try to figure out the approximate date of your death, or at least hazard a guess. Take into account the lives of your parents, your relatives. Don’t feel discouraged. Every single person who reads this book (and every single person who doesn’t!) will die one day. Everyone who is born has to die. Sadly, none of us pay much attention to this fact. Many of us believe it’s going to be a long, long time before we die; some of us think we’ll live forever.

Now that you have written down your death date, work out how many more years you have left on this planet. It’s not much time, is it? Especially when you look back and realise how quickly the years have drifted past you. We only have a finite number of Christmases or Diwalis to celebrate.

So, now that we know our time is limited, we need to look at life from a new perspective.

A couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to set down my ideas about death as clearly as possible. I am not a great philosopher, nor do I pretend to know the solutions to any of the mysteries of the universe; like you, I’m just one individual who thinks about life and death, and the mean-ing of both. I often catch myself dwelling on the larger subjects in life, so I decided that a good way of examining them would be to write them down.

I travel a lot and like to talk to people about death wherever I go. What will become of us? Where will we go? What will happen? Often, if I’m in a room with friends or associates, I will ask what they think happens after death. This question naturally has a disquieting effect and is often followed by a long pause. But a curious thing happens to those people who choose to engage with the question. Suddenly, they skip over small talk – they soar above and beyond it. Some say they believe in dust to dust, others believe in a higher power; however, all are faced, if only for a moment, with the largest and most pertinent question of all – the one that should help us lead a better life.

My thoughts of mortality don’t creep into every conversation I have, but the subject is never far from my mind. It takes an act of will to turn death into a positive force – and sometimes I get the feeling that not enough people have tried.

I have learned that there is a clock that is always with me: in the pockets of all my suits, on the bedside table of hotel rooms when I travel, in my home. It glows at night. We all have a clock, and these days I can hear every tick of mine. I am paying close attention to it.

What I have come to notice more and more is that money seems to consume so much of everyone’s energy these days: how to get it, where to spend it, who has got the most of it. As I have travelled and spoken to people from all walks of life, I have witnessed the effect it has. One of the things I have considered about those who have money is that they, too, will one day die. Like every human who has ever lived, their own worth will slide inexorably to zero. It’s not just that you cannot take money with you, you certainly will not be able to access it wherever you end up. There are no guarantors, no guarantees, no Swiss bank accounts, no cars and no wallets. This is not breaking news, but it is something that is important to me and I hope to explore it further. One of my main aims with this book is to provide comfort. Many things have given me happiness over the course of my life, but to add a dash of comfort to other people’s lives would dwarf all other accomplishments. We can never give enough comfort to last a lifetime, but I hope this book will allow you to take a brief moment to look away from the page and feel you are not alone.

I have, over the past few years, had the good luck to receive positive comments from a few individuals in whose minds my ideas have found purchase. I now know – in a small way – what it is like to comfort someone with an idea, even if it is simply, ‘Be aware of your life and of the passage of time.’

I’m grateful that they’ve listened to me. They might be thankful that I skipped the small talk to focus on some-thing more meaningful. Somewhere in the transaction we’ve made each other aware of the importance of living a thoughtful life.

This is not meant as a work of scholarship; rather I hope I have written in a close and friendly way. And I trust you will spare me some time as we progress through these important subjects, one by one.

In order to widen the scope of the book, I have brought together the stories of others with first-hand experience of the subjects that concern me. I know I am not going to live forever, which is one of the reasons I knew it was important at this particular point in my life to examine these issues and listen to these voices.

If you embark on a project that examines the big questions, you must do so with a sense of humility. This book is the result of my own personal search. These are ideas I have turned over in my mind many times. One particular person can never provide a definitive answer to how we should deal with the issues surrounding death, life, love, trust and grief, but I hope your own thoughts are enhanced by the experiences and philosophies I have gathered together in this work. I have been changed by what I have heard, and it is my hope that my words may have an effect on you, and perhaps offer up the solace and comfort that many of us need in order to overcome the challenges in our lives. Some people I know have suffered in ways that are hard to comprehend, such as experiencing the death of a child or a partner. I do not know where you are in your life, but I hope this book helps.

Be aware of your life. It’s going on right now.

 

To read more, order your copy of In Love with Death today!

In Love With Death
About the Book - In Love With Death

Death is the inevitable fate of every single person on earth.How do we accept the inevitability of our death?How do we live our lives with meaning?Will money lead us to happiness?Satish Modi examines these questions in a moving, powerful, thought-provoking…

About the Author - Satish Modi

To read more, order your copy of In Love With Death, by Satish Modi today!

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