Professor Pereira has got it exactly right. A good death is the best wish that one can offer anyone because the fear of death is the deepest fear that we hold throughout our life. In my childhood I often heard people of the older generation wish each other: "Dev tuka borem moronn dium."
I for one contend that there is no need to fear death at all. A person I know very well told me at her bedside after she came out of deep general anesthesia that she was not afraid of death any more. I asked her why. She said, because she knew that it would be exactly how she felt, or more correctly, did not feel, when she was under anesthesia during her surgery. I think she is most likely right. In the not too distant future we might have the knowledge and the technology to verify or falsify her claim, once and for all to the satisfaction of those who accept the fact that life, consciousness and death are natural phenomena. Many of us in the academic world are working hard towards achieving this goal. Cheers, Santosh --- On Mon, 9/27/10, Jose Pereira <[email protected]> wrote: > > In a sermon on the Birth of the Mother oF God, the > great Portuguese orator > Vieira (1608-1697) notes that the titles by which > Christendom invokes Mary > indicate the ills that she can cure or palliate. Thus those > who have no hope in > life would wish for nothing better than a good death (boa > morte). > >
