Life Death and Beyond

phenomenon. He revels in demeaning others, because this gives his ego a big boost. He wrongly grabs things that belong to others, thinking that it shows that he is very clever. If such a person were to develop the conviction that the angel of death can arrive at any time and suddenly end his life and that then he would be brought before God to be accountable for his deeds, his life may be totally transformed. He may begin to live as if he has died to the world even before he actually dies. Sixteen Minutes from Home It was the 2nd of February 2003. The headlines of newspapers across the world that day announced that the US space shuttle Columbia had exploded and disintegrated. After its 16-day journey, it was about to land on Earth. It was at a height of some 200,000 feet and was travelling towards the Earth at a speed of 19,000 kilometres per hour. It was just 16 minutes from landing when, suddenly, it lost contact with ground control and exploded. At that time, there were seven people on board, all of who died. This news was published in The Times of India (New Delhi) with the title “Just 16 minutes from home.” When I read this news, I thought to myself that this is the very same end-result for everyone in this world. Every person nurses the hope of building an ideal home of his dreams here when suddenly death strikes him down. He is just ‘sixteen minutes from home’ when death arrives. And instead of