Both life and death appear to be two sides of the same coin. Death closes one door and life opens another. Life is a vibrant, breathing force, and death a small part of the everlasting, outer circle called life. Goethe said: "The thought of death leaves me in perfect peace, for I have a firm conviction that our spirit is a being of indestructible nature: it works on from eternity to eternity; it is like the sun, which though seems to set to our mortal eyes, does not really set, but shines on perpetually."

And yet, both seem to be inter-related. Life is positive, life is hope. Death is the unchanging reality. Where one ends, the other begins. History has taught us that civilizations have been destroyed and wiped out by wars and calamities. Yet life has never come to an end. It has remained a silent witness to a perfectly planned universe.

Death is the escape route. It is living life that needs courage. Learning how to live, each individual tries to act within his own parameters. It is not our own death we fear as much as the separation from someone we love. Why does the Supreme Being take away what He Himself gave us to love and cherish? But then, perhaps He only lent it to us for a short period to help us enrich our experiences.

I firmly believe that life has been given to us to grow spiritually. We all try to find or realize Him in our own way. Some, like the saints, succeed, but the majority do not. As a result, they become mere shells, and fall by the wayside, till life is once again granted to them, and the circle continues.

Perhaps, each one of us is part of the Creator. Perhaps He is waiting to see how each part makes its journey home. We were always meant to return to the fountainhead of our existence. But the choice of the path was left to us.

We wonder why the Creator doesn't reveal Himself and His plans to us. I guess if He did, we would take Him for granted, and cease to unravel the meaning of life. Can you imagine living a life with the complete knowledge of our origin, who we are, and what we are—everything handed over to us from the day we were born? We would then be denied the pleasure of discovery and never have anything to look forward to.

Where would be that immense, childlike glow of wonder if we were born with the knowledge? On this road of discovery, we may take the faltering steps and fall—but He's always there to extend His helping hand. One day we will understand the innate harmony of the universe. But it might take more than a lifetime to seek the truth. If we delay our search, it might be too late, for death would again close its door, a new life would open its own, and the cycle would begin all over again.