Varanasi Ramabrahmam (27-11-1953 / Vegeswarapuram, India)

Where will we be going after the death?
Shall “we” be remaining after last breath?

Tradition says about the existence
And transmigration of the soul,
Across bodies in a series of
Deaths and rebirths unending,
Till moksha (salvation) is attained;

But the Truth seems
Nothing remains regarding us after our death
Except our good and bad;

Words, thoughts, deeds and behavior
Alive in the memory of the living if they care for;

Say some seers
Birth, death and rebirth, is
Rise, disappearance and appearance of Ego
While we are alive, through the day and night;

And moksha (salvation) is
Absorption of our “I”, “me”, “mine”
In the Self

And Nirvana is
Our attainment of transcendence of mind
Over body-consciousness, self-consciousness and time;

Whatever it is, let us earn and learn
As if we are permanent here on this planet;

And do virtuous deeds as if
We irreversibly dissolve
Into nature and time next moment;

To take birth, live, die and born again
As a cycle, are our mere thought;

The reality is a puzzle
Unsolved through generations
Lived, living and gone;

Should it matter?

Whether we carry the baggage of this life
To future lives, when it is sure
That we cannot get a life same as this
Any time later, why should not we
Live and let live in harmony and peace?

Let the puzzle of birth, death and rebirth
Remain unsolved and let us enjoy this life peacefully
And get dissolved into nature