When I visited Varanasi, I kept hearing a phrase again and again while eating my favourite aloo puri on the streets, sitting by the ghats, and walking through the crowded streets. The experience was intense. In India, this phrase is often recited when someone passes away. The body is carried on the shoulders as people chant, “Ram Naam Satya Hai,” meaning the name of Ram is the ultimate truth. I remember hearing those same words when my beloved great-grandmother passed away. I was around six or seven then. I used to accompany her to temples, plucking flowers for her beloved saint. When I heard the chant in Varanasi, those childhood memories came flooding back. I missed her deeply but also cherished the time I spent with her. Thank you, Aaji, for your unconditional love.
While sharing this experience with my friends, they warned me not to recite the phrase aloud, saying it attracts bad omens. In that moment, I felt a wave of realization about how deeply religion associates death with fear. Think about it: cremation grounds and cemeteries are always located in silence, away from the crowd, in places few people visit. Every Pandit, Maulvi and Father fears this realization because once a person becomes fearless, they no longer fear religion itself. The entire structure of religion is built upon fear. From birth till death, people are told to fear hell, only to later realize that there is no heaven or hell. Religion often makes God's love conditional. If you do this, God will love you. If you commit a sin, you will go to hell. But you don’t need to be religious to love God.
Religion has turned into a business that feeds on fear. It takes away one’s intellect and blinds people. Every pandit, maulvi, and father wants you to fear death because the moment you become fearless, the entire system collapses. Religion fears fearless people.
Does writing this make me an atheist? No, it doesn’t. I love the universe. I don’t believe in any particular deity because I know I am the universe experiencing itself - limitless, fearless, endless. The universe loves unconditionally and teaches me every single day. This body will one day decompose, but the love I hold is infinite. I am merely renting this body, and when the time comes, it will return where it belongs. Death is the only truth, but it is not the end.
You are love, my love. The power is within you. Don’t rush. Stop and breathe.
xoxo,
Gauri
