By Sanjib Mukherjee,
The above question was once asked of me by my Guru. The question was designed to make me think about living life in the present moment and experiencing each moment with 100% focus and attention. If I were to ask you the same question, how would you spend the next 24hrs if this was to be the final day of your life?
Every day we have. The. Same. Situation. But. We are. Unaware. Of the. Final. Minute
…just like our Guru has shown us–to be IN the moment, like there’s no tomorrow!…with total responsibility to the moment–every moment of those 24 hours!–100% with whatever that moment brings with it–if it brings happiness then to be happy and share it with those around, if it brings service to another then serve totally, if it brings laughter then laugh from the core of my being, if it brings a fight then grit my teeth and fight with all I’ve got!!!!!
Everyday should be spent as it was your final, because we do not know what tomorrow may bring,
I would spend it with my beautiful family that has taught me to love and be happy, to have laughter in my life, without laughter what else is there to bring a smile to your face.
Dearest Sanjib…. Wow !!! What a lovely question…. So busy with life’s each and every day till now, never thought how would be my last moment in this World…or what I want to do.
Okay, If God is telling me, today is your last day and you have this 24 hours… first thing what I will do whatever is there which my family need to know I will … See Morewrite everything in a paper and keep it for them safely so that they will not have any problem…as I do care for them and let them know how much I love them from the bottom of my heart… If anytime, in stress, ever I hurt them for anything, they should forgive me… That was not intentional, just happened out of stress…
Then I will have a lovely shower, will do my everyday’s prayer and puja, wear a beautiful and most favourite saree of mine, dress up the way I normally do or love to do, wear my favourite perfume, switch on my Music System, AC On and relaxed with a lovely book in my hand in my beautiful bed (book should be one of my fav one or the one I need to finish reading , or may be Celebrating Silence) and wait for that lovely moment to come and take me away…
If I would know that these are my final 24 hours in life, I would spend them playing with my children and would not even bother surfing on the net or anything. I would call up my friends and family and would tell them how they have been valuable to me and how I love them so much. The final moments would be spend with my family and 2 close friends.
I would spend my final day giving thanks to the Lord for giving me a wonderful life with my family and friends. . .
just give thanks ….for what he has given and plead to lord to never come back to this world ……….
Ha ha..I will freak out! thinking that how am I going to die? and stay in bed listening some nice bhajan..or I really have a wish..which I will try to achieve then!
Most people would freak out and try to do as much as possible in that time.but I would probably just spend that time with the people I love,n the people who loves me. laugh about good and bad times, and apologize for stupid things I’ve done.
:) i will hug my family members & guru & friends and say i love them so much…later, will listen to nice bhajan…sing & dance along(will spend more time here) ….last will do my “last” yoga & kriya…..then, rest!!!
hi Sanjib…
What a beautiful and ultimate question today…simple yet so deep it is…just seeing the topics so many hidden thoughts and desires came to surface…that what if today is my last day…so what would i love to do..
we have so many thousands of desires that we live and die with each one…and how many we fulfinlled stil we think there are stil left..
so living life fully each moment in the way as it comes to me…
so each day is for me like living on last day ..i dont care if it is last day or moment of my life as I AM REALLY HAPPY AT THIS VERY MOMENT…
wow-nice topic-on the final day- would contact all my near and dear ones-and tell them i love them-and spend all my money-on myself and on the poor i happen to meet that day-and would be with my family and also pray to the almighty-& thank him for all he gave me in this life-and ask for forgiveness too from him- & happily wait for the departin time-with god’s name in my breath and mouth-that’s all
first go to the parlor transform self to a beautiful butterfly then meet Mr. Right spend 3 – 4 hrs. with him then meet spiritual adviser seek forgiveness shop for last meal to cook and go home spend time with family & call good and trustworthy friends then lay down wait until it is time.
…just like our Guru has shown us–to be IN the moment, like there’s no tomorrow!…with total responsibility to the moment–every moment of those 24 hours!–100% with whatever that moment brings with it–if it brings happiness then to be happy and share it with those around, if it brings service to another then serve totally, if it brings laughter then laugh from the core of my being, if it brings a fight then grit my teeth and fight with all I’ve got!!!!!
Just give everything away and spend the rest of the day in meditation in advance of the irrefutable end.
I will like to spend my day in seva sadhna n satsang
will Live every moment in ‘Present’…
”Paseena maut ka aaya hai, Aeenaa laao;
Zindgi ki akhiri tasweer dekhenge”
–the time of death is near….let me reflect upon life now in the mirror of memories….
How about you Sanjib?…what would you do?…we all want to know!
Aggrieved at his ways, a woman took her debauched son to meet the Buddha. the moment he saw the youth, Buddha told him he had just one more day to live.
The younster was shocked. He clung to his mother’s sari and broke down and begged Buddha to help him.
‘I am sorry, son. i have no powers to forestall death,”said the Buddha.
Distraught, the youth went to meet all his family, friends and neighbours before the end came. with just six hours left for his death, he lay on the cot, thinking about all the people he had hurt, extremely troubled about his past.
When just 3hrs were left for his death, the Buddha paid him a visit.Smilingly,he asked the man how he had spent the last day of his life.”Did you lie to anyone? Did you speak unkindly? Did you steal?”he asked. the man snapped,”no,how cld i think of doing all this when my death is imminent?”
The Buddha patted him gently and said, “son,i do not know the time of anyone’s death. you became aware of your death 24hrs ago,but i have been aware of it for the past 24 yrs. that is the only difference between you and me.”
Inspite of knowing that death can strike us anytime, we refuse to acknowledge this truth ,and to life life in a way that wld leave us with no regrets when we look back.
live each moment fully…….now, now, now…… embrace and accept whatever comes your way, and act accordingly. live each moment like it was your last,,,,daily saadhna makes it even more effortless.rise each morning with a grateful heart… wow! god gave you another day to sing out your song.nit nutan….everyday you are born anew…..let life happen to you. wanted to share this everyone…..jaigurudev!
sorry for any typing mistakes… it had to be “live life in a way….
wondrful thots aarti..really enlightnin..
with the person who loves me the most
I would spend this 24 hours with all my love ones… play, eat, dance and be happy…
Guess I’ll stay in Mandir (temple) where there are Live Bhajans!!
I would like to do nothing…would like to go into deep meditation.
one days prayer to god will not help a person like me. Though I spent every day with my family and once a month with all my friends and relatives (whoever is available) I will call all of them together under one roof for one last time and have a blast.
in the Congregation of GOD… showering Blessings to d whole World… god bless
I am really not able to answer and understand others answer in this regards.. even this my last day on earth but I am not able to believe it..
Life don’t have first day and final day.. how can I trust in this question and answer it… my all answers would be wrong with wrong question … we do not have nothing to do here …
we are here just to be here.. 24 hours is a big big time to live and enjoy.. there is a lots of seconds and milliseconds to be here…this whole day on earth would so exciting and joyful just waiting for the last second or last breath of the day … just like i am enjoying and counting my every breath today and i am still exciting while thinking about my worldly death… what the moments would be when i will say real good-bye …
this question creating so much happiness and enthusiasm into me that i will today see the real thing so waited from my birth that was decided ..
Hurrah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ….. today is real festival… a festival to enjoy past and future and present together … lets come together friends and be grateful to God to send us this great invitation like marriage ceremony … lets have sweets … lets have drinks …. say cheers we completed our assignments beautifully for this tough exams on earth …
Again hurrrah hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh …………………will be meeting again soon..
every moment be useful to others engage ur senses in all goodness be kind to everyone and forgive whom u hurt knowingly or unknowingly and be in gratitude
I wud just sit,go back in d flashback right frm my childhood till date..feel d good days and bad moments,and experience it all ovr again and breath my last breath! finally
wid a smile on my face…indeed life is beautiful ! 
For surely there’s always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.
There will always be another day
to say our “I love you’s”,
And certainly there’s another chance
to say our “Anything I can do’s?”
But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I’d like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget,
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight..
So if you’re waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you’ll surely regret the day,
That you didn’t take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today,
whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you’ll always hold them dear,
Take time to say “I’m sorry,” “please forgive me,”
“thank you” or “it’s okay”.
And if tomorrow never comes,
you’ll have no regrets about today
May13 in hindi Mai Tera……….Samachar Samapt Huey !!!!!
i’d just live the same!
wow..such amazing and beautiful responses!
from a personal perspective, I would spend the 1st 8 hours of the day contacting all my loved ones and give them all one final blessing and moment to remember me by (the last impression we have on someone is always the strongest one)…
The next 8 hours, I would write continously (maybe even on this blog!) about my whole philosphy on life…what I have learnt, what I would like to share, and what advice I can give anyone reading my thoughts..
The final 8 hours, I would do my final rituals…bath, sadhana, meditate and then sit in a quiet spot and go deep within. During these moments I would like to reflect on my whole life, the impact I have had, lessons I have learnt..just simply sit through and reflect with an observing and non-judgemental mind.
Whilst approaching the final hour, my thoughts would turn solely to all the Guru’s who have guided me throughout life….with complete reverance and humility I would offer all my heartfelt gratitude and blessings… till finally my attention would turn to the ultimate consciousness from which we have all come from. I would ensure my last thought in this realm and 1st thought in my next journey would be entirely focused on my maker.
During meditation I believe we all leave this world on a regular basis and experience the ultimate consciousness beyond our earthy existence. The source of all energy, power, love, compassion is where I truly believe we all ultimately reside.
Death is but a mere extension of life, its simply the movement of one dimension to another…ultimately, our soul never changes.
I could write an entire book on this topic…who knows…maybe one day I will..:)
I would do what I’m doing every day, but I would be scared. I would be with my family and my pats. Our life is beautiful. I love my life and everything in it. Every event, every person and every experience. We should be happy for living but grateful for dying. That’s a part of the life.
I think i would just be here that one day without complaining about anything or anyone and just admiring God’s creation …..this world and ppl around more closely then before and spend my last few hours in thankfulness for all the wonderful experiences i enjoyed and lessons i learnt here and then finally go into deep meditation and connect with almighty.
for me it would b like any other day except for a little remorse for leaving the loved ones as i try to live my life…………….as each day being my last
@ Sanjib : Wow !!! What a wonderful thought by a wonderful person!!!
Sanjib… I can feel from your writings that what a beautiful and blessed soul you are…. We should have more Sanjib’s in this World… Thanks for sharing your lovely thought !
grt feelings sanjib!!
hope it’s like this wen d time really comes-
If it were my last…I Would think good and only good about every body,help where ever and how much ever where needed,connect with the divine in meditation and be Antar mukhi as far as possible.
Trigger succession management system in my business and family, takes only one hour, since its proactively documented. Keep my loved ones along with me in the rest of the stuff I’m doing.
Donate my kidney, blood, heart, eyes, hands, legs, etc etc. to whatever extend that is possible to give happiness to any of my fellow human beings.
Rest of the carcass to be used @ medical college for learning.
I dont wish to meditate, be happy, be sad or anything.. there is no point.. just accept. full complete acceptance of completion and moving on to the next…
No remorse, no happiness, no sadness, no emotions.. nothing is in my hands..except what I have earned during this life.. which I wish to distribute.. and keep nothing with me.. Would love to die without anything.. absolutely anything in my hands… not even my emotions..
I’ve got 24 hours
, thats quite a lot of time 
..
My need for everything was during the time which I lived and felt that I would be living more. Now that my death is scheduled.. there is nothing more left, other than giving myself off.
Will trigger succession management system in my business and family, takes only one hour, since its proactively documented.
Keep my loved ones along with me in the rest of the stuff I’m doing. Tell them that my time has been drawn up. Make them realize the fact. Make them understand that this is how life is.. accept it. will only try for an hour.. rest will leave it to them to understand.
Donate my kidney, blood, heart, eyes, hands, legs, etc etc. to whatever extend that is possible to give happiness to any of my fellow human beings. Make sure someone takes care of the distribution past my death.
Rest of the carcass to be used @ medical college for learning….
I dont wish to meditate, be happy, be sad or anything.. there is no point.. just accept. full acceptance of completion of this life and moving on to the next, if there is one, else also its ok
I cannot take anything with me.. so will distribute what I have fully and unconditionally..
No left overs.. Would love to die without anything.. not even my emotions, body, money, earth, water, nature, thoughts… nothing..
Like I came to this world… I go.. thats what I love to do.. then just Die off.
Catch you later on FB.. if I’m born again as a human being, before FB gets obsolete.
))
I would be very happy that God gave me one day…
I would love to die like that.. 
)) Isn’t that always better than a sudden stop ??? remote possibility !! unless and until one is truely blessed..
I was imagining how I would be without this body, without a language to communicate, without the need for any food, air or any emotions.. experiencing my soul.. Thank you Sanjib, for making me feel my soul again..
this is the TRUTH…… I HAVE EXPERIENCED IN MY FAMILY…. death is but a moment , it will not give you time to even flush in the morning….
Aarti.. to me death is the moment when I’m free from this body, free from my material vision. Will welcome death with both my hands stretched.
Now living because of my vision and the power of it, that makes me happy too.
but because of the uncertainty of the death, we have to do a risk and succession management to the extent we can, proactively.
I would love to die early.. to experience the truth, not to run away from our reality, I have a wonderful reality too.. loving the way I’m living now, “fully being”
Most of us live life as if we do not have death at all.
thats the fact, thats when you get hit by this time bug when we fuse off.
@sanjib:so true n unique reply..!!u r truely unique sanjib in ur own special way…!!regards….roma!
To tell u the truth, I will go nuts. I don’t want to know when I’m going to die. I have to die one day, don’t mind if it is one yr from now, one month, 2 days, 1 day or even the next moment. I’ve my will and everything in order, ready to go, just that I don’t want to know, that is where God’s genius is, we won’t know the exact time of death and thank God for that!
@Prasad,that is exactly what i meant. it is a moment.. your last lines are the crux…people live like they will live on forever, and that others die. hence there is procrastination instead of proactivity. whatever everybody has said they will do if…. should be done now….calling somebody, telling somebody, writing, doing saadhna
…making it a habit, or whatevr like exercise….singing, dancing,because where, when and how each one of us goes is predetermined.being aware of this basic truth,brings us in the now and you become proactive and enjoy life,whatever it gives you is welcome. me too loving the way i’m now ….living fully from my” whole being”.
Profound Aarthi..
on a humorous note Sanjib.. If God gave me 24 hours.. is that 24 hours on the same day ??? and its on the final day ?
If its on different days.. thinking…..
))
That’s a lot to think about…
stay happy widout worries as dat wud b d final day nd spread happiness.nd love in others life.
24 hours is a lot of time… !
the only reason scriptures say keep ramnaam in mind always – is because death can snatch you away in just a few seconds…
if you have experienced life in silence for sometime in long sadhana periods – then you will have experienced death in timelessness to a large extent…
if one can be in true absolute active silence for about 3 hours – then the flow of energies go beyond the regular prana that gets distributed from the lungs – and gets linked to the inner silence which is the most abundant infinite source of prana…
and if that continues for few hours more – you may not even notice death happening in that Samadhi…
there were many saints who took ‘ Jeeva Samadhi ‘ like this…
I would spend the remaining 23hrs n 59 mins n 59 seconds of my life to call personally all those freinds n loved ones who were instrumental in making me happy n helping me to help others n saw me thru my toughest times n try to meet some of da old n the elderly in the family n some other underprivileged, deprived n distressed souls to comfort them by telling them that they are all luckier than me for they still have more life than me n how much i envy them for that n if possible invite my frens n relatives to dine with me n of course cook the best of my recipes for my family n frens while listening to all my favourite music n last but not the least sing my heart out n die happily while telling them not to cry over my death n rather fulfil my wishes of donating my eyes n organs to the needy n the deserving n follow the same themselves if they really love me as much as i did them.
taking a breath all day
its like a process in art of living advanced course and always its the end of life spent in being close to god or guru
Just like any other day.
enjoy life till the last minute…
Such a lovely question……though we r living like each day is the DAY but still given an opportunity….i would indulge in happier thoughts of my life……
all the thoughts from everyone are so clear and transparent had we not gone in this mode earlier we would be talking materialistic things and asking for more time , here the most fearful issue of everyone’s life has become so simple and clear . Sanjib , pls continue this thoughtoutful questions .
wow the views here are amazing…so interesting to see how everybody interprets the same question is so many differenty and unique ways:)
I think this website is bringing out the writing qualities in so many people….very heartening to see:)
Sanjib.. joining you it seems like al bitterness disssolved effortlessly and not only you ..your all group people accepted me as a friend and giving so much love and respect with so kind words towards me that i stil think that i am seeing a dream as how reality can be so beautiful and dream like…and hard to believe that in this world stil so much love and magic exists that is surrounding me these days…if it is a dream i wish this never ends …
breathing