Is death just a snag in our biological hardware?
Some people believe that humanity can attain immortality if we just understand what causes the aging process and then reprogram the genes that cause that process. Underlying this vision of immortality is the notion of death as simply a technical snag in our biological hardware.
Gita wisdom would consider such an idea of death as both arrogant and ignorant.
Arrogant because the attempt to achieve immortality has been the pipe dream since time immemorial of demons who tried various strange and devious ways to extend their lifespans infinitely. The epics are filled with narrations of how these demons were ultimately frustrated. Just as they were baffled, so too will we be. No matter how creative and powerful our technology becomes, the aging process is as inexorable as the movement of the cosmic bodies. Even if we understand the underlying mechanism, we will still be far away from controlling it and changing the way it worked.
Ignorant because it tragically overlooks the reality that we are already immortal. We just need to realize that we are at our core souls, and the soul by nature is indestructible (02.23). Because of our ill-conceived and misdirected attachment to worldly things, we are presently misidentifying with our temporary material bodies.
If we learn to raise our consciousness to the spiritual level by appropriate practices, we start glimpsing our indestructibility even while living in this body. And eventually, after the destruction of our body at death, we will be transported to the spiritual level for life eternal.
That opportunity for immortality is the privilege of humanity — a privilege that can be cashed not by technological advancement, but by spiritual advancement.
One-sentence summary:
To treat death as a technical snag in our biological hardware is a notion that is both arrogant and ignorant.
Think it over:
- Why is the notion of death as a technical snag arrogant?
- Why is that notion ignorant?
- How can we transcend death?
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02.23: The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
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