Devotee-towards-death came by customizing the name invented by a German philosopher Martin Heidegger. The name he used is Being-towards-death. The concept of Being-towards-death characterizes an individual who perfectly understands his own mortality and employs full energy in living a meaningful life. Simultaneously he stays away from the inferior activities that tie him to the world of banalities.
In the spiritual communities of Krishna devotees, members focus fully on services to Krishna knowing well their life may end at any moment. The nature of this world is such that there is no certainty when one will die. Both Heidegger and the process of devotional service, or bhakti, point out that the transition from being preoccupied with oneself to getting to the higher level of consciousness will not take place automatically. On the contrary, both urge changes in the lifestyle as well as adjustment in the ways of thinking.
After publishing Being and Time in 1927, Martin Heidegger became one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. Those times in history were widely influenced by materialistic marxism. Equally materialistic science was rapidly taking ground to become prime authority on explaining both the world and a human person. Heidegger´s approach, however, emerges from a different platform. He wanted to investigate a person as a complete being, even outside the basic physical elements. He inferred that Being is not only the visible body. To name that Being precisely he invented a new word – Dasein or Being-there. Heidegger explains that these beings simply found themselves to exist. They did not particularly choose to come to this world. On the contrary, they have been thrown into it and in time got adapted. The adaptation is vastly influenced by the society’s norms, culture, language and the interrelationships. Thus, Being becomes fascinated with the complexities of the surrounding world, and loses itself by relating to it. This state of bewilderment Heidegger calls everydayness. He divides everydayness into the three main areas. The first one, idle talk, is when people incessantly talk about and analyze worldly events and situations. The result is only a waste of time and the intellect remains underdeveloped. Next activity is curiosity where one craves for everything that is new and latest. Ambiguity is the third component of the everydaynes. People continually exchange information without reaching any conclusive point. This way of living is unproductive and Heidegger baptizes it as – inauthentic. In the devotional literature of ancient India this everydayness is presented as obstacles on the path of spiritual progress. Rupa Gosvami (NOI 2) divided it into six main areas:
“1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required,
2) over endeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain,
3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters,
4) Practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically
5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in serving Krishna, and
6) being greedy for mundane achievements. “
Engagement in the six aforementioned ways is an indicator that the person still finds material energy interesting. In the reverse order, those who desire swift spiritual progress must reduce and ultimately give up those transgressions. Heidegger expresses that authentic living goes with the recognition of one’s own mortality. In this mode death becomes the final point when previously incomplete life experiences become complete. Naturally, realization that death is certain fundamentally shakes the meaning of involvement with the everdayness. It could transform one´s focus away from the mundane interests to things essential to existence. Thus Being becomes Being-towards-death. Heidegger even famously exclaimed that, to come closer to the authentic living one should spend more time in graveyards.
The upcoming and unavoidable death plays a pivotal role in the creation of some of the most important spiritual literature. Notably, a classic Indian Puranic story presented in Srimad Bhagavatam begins with such a situation. After the unfortunate curse upon him a king was informed that he will live only seven days longer. Being spiritually advanced, he at once left his Kingdom´s idle talks, curiosities, and ambiguities, and went to the bank of the holy river to inquire from the sages what should do one who is soon to die. To avoid distractions the king totally gave up eating and drinking, thus focusing only on hearing about Krishna. He was fully authentic. He was steeped in the mode which we can named Devotee-towards-death.
A Devotee-towards-death embodies the first verse of the Vedanta Sutra which translates as: now therefore, one should inquire about Brahman. The devotee has given up the association with everydayness knowing it to be temporary and has understood that the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification in this world are the greatest blocks from getting free from the material bondage. Another verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (4.22.32) confirmed this:
“There is no stronger obstruction to one’s self-interest than thinking other subject matters to be more pleasing than one’s self-realization.”
The problem with attachment for material things is that it extends the conditioned existence. According to Srimad Bhagavatam staying in the material world is an unnatural position for the Being or the soul. It compares to a fish which is taken out of water. No number of material amenities cannot make the fish happy. It is the same with the soul. Unfortunately, attachment to material things bewilders one causing the unfavorable traits to manifest. These are well known lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy, among others. With deep attachment, which always increases, fear becomes apparent. The combination of these qualities and emotions usually degrade into violence, aggression and cruelty. The art of devotional service to Krishna is to transfer this attachment onto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Caitanya Caritamrita (Adi.4.165) confirms:
The desire to satisfy one’s own senses is called lust, while the desire to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa is called prema, love of God.