How Should You Live the Final Stretch of Your Life?

Q: Sadhguru, how should one prepare for the last leg of the journey on this planet, spiritually, physically, and morally?

Sadhguru: It is the last step, so don’t walk slowly. Go all out. Do not make a distinction between the first and last step. If you made a distinction in the beginning, at least learn not to now. It does not matter whether you have another hundred steps to walk or just one – walk the same way, don’t make the distinction. People say, “At least towards the end of your life, you must think about God.” If you lived your life blindly and think everything will be okay if you say “Ram, Ram” at the last moment, it does not work like that.

Have you heard of Biju Patnaik? He was the Chief Minister of Odisha. He lived life in his own way though he was a Chief Minister in the political limelight. When he was on his death bed, people brought the Gita and wanted to read it to him. He said, “Shut up with all that nonsense. I have lived my life well.”

Fulltime Preoccupations

So what should you do? There is a Sanskrit verse, “Balastavat krida saktaha” – when you were a child, your playfulness engaged you fully; your playfulness was fulltime. When you became youthful, all that playfulness looked a little silly. You thought you are getting more serious and purposeful. Then what happened? Your intelligence got hijacked by hormones. After that you could not see anything clearly! Suddenly, when you looked at a man or woman, all kinds of things happened. Then age happened. Old people are simply worried. A child is too engaged in play. You cannot talk to him about the Ultimate. Youth is fully hijacked by hormones. You cannot talk to him about it. Old people are worried about what their hierarchy will be in heaven. You cannot talk to them about it. Then who the hell is there? Someone who is neither a child, nor youthful, nor old, someone who is just life – only to him you can speak.

A Piece of Life

So don’t think of this as your first or last step. Just be here as a piece of life. That is the best way to be. You are not a young man; you are not an old man. Earth will decide when it should take your body back. When the manure has matured, it will collect it back – the trees are waiting! Don’t worry about that. You are just a piece of life. In terms of this life, this is not young, this is not old; this has to mature into something bigger.

And only if you are here as a piece of life, all the aspects of life will happen to you. If you sit here as a man, some things will happen to you. If you sit here as a woman, some other things will happen to you. If you sit here as a child, something else will happen to you. If you sit here as a doctor, or an engineer, or an artist, this or that – different things will happen to you. Only if you sit here as a piece of life, everything that can happen to life will happen to you.

Whether you are two days old or you only have two days left, see how to just be here as a piece of life, not identified with anything. Not identified with the earth or heaven, simply being here. Then, whether we have one day to live or a hundred years to live, what does it matter? When it does not matter, everything that needs to happen to this life will anyway happen to you. And that is willingness.

Editor’s Note: Check out “Unraveling Death”, the latest DVD from Sadhguru.