What is death

     Life is like an eternal stream. Each of us has been living since time immemorial and would continue to do so for millions of years in future. Ignorance of facts makes us believe that life begins in the womb of mother during pregnancy and ends with cessation of functions of heart and brain. It is a myopic point of view– a misleading concept. Modern medical science would make us believe that soul has no independent existence of its own, that the body itself is the totality of a living entity and the being is lost forever on death of the body, But Alas ! Physical sciences themselves are even today in infancy.

 Take for instance the subject of velocity of electricity. So far, over three dozen theories have been advanced in this context each contradicting the earlier ones. No doubt man has learnt to make use of electrical current, but he is still uncertain about its mode of propagation. To the material world the ever-changing theories of physical sciences may not matter much but it would be unfortunate for mankind to apply the same norms to research in spirituality. Whereas scientists consider body itself as the total existence of a living being, a research scholar of spirituality puts forward evidences of paranormal activities of the departed, defying explanation by material sciences. Then there are authenticated versions of small innocent children, who have identified places and people of their past lives proving beyond doubt that a being goes through cycles of birth and death again and again. Sucking milk from mother's breast immediately after birth, itself indicates the presence in the infant of a memory from previous life. Extraordinary talents of many young children too are indicative of knowledge acquired in an earlier existence.

Soul (not mind which is recognized as soul in the west) and body are not one and the same entity. Just as one is required to change clothes according to the requirements of occasion, the soul too changes bodies. As it is not possible to wear the same clothes throughout one's life, the soul with its infinite continuity in time, cannot dwell in the same body. That is why it seeks to find a new body again and again. Though, generally, one discards the old worn and torn clothes only, at times it becomes necessary to do so prematurely, when they are accidentally damaged, torn or have become unusable on account of some other reason. Likewise, though the soul continues to live in the body till the later becomes infirm due to old age or diseases, it may also leave it at a younger age in a contingency.

The moments of death

How does one die? In this context Indian Yogis (saints) having paranormal perception hold the view, that for a short duration preceding death, man experiences a great deal of restlessness, pain and writhing. There are a few reasons for this phenomena. The event

of death necessitates total withdrawal of the current of bio-energy (Pr³ñ) from all over the body, which before death, is accumulated at that particular part of the body, from where the soul is about to make its exit (discussed later), whereas, because of prevailing disposition of biological functions, this current tends to flow back to respective neurons.

The impact of this struggle creates the agony or the spasm at the moment of death. The other reason for the misery preceding the moment of death are diseases, shock or other physiological factors rendering the body unqualified for retention of soul. Whether or not the dying person is able to express, the being does suffer for a few moments before death. However, soon thereafter, the person falls into a kind of coma and the soul departs in this state of senselessness. When death becomes imminent, all external functional powers of man become introverted and then cumulatively escape along with the soul through any exit in the physical body (Sthul Sharir). The Yogis of the West are of the view that the soul (Sukshma & Karañ Sharir) of the being comes out of the body as a violet shadow, whereas the Indian spiritualists see it as a brilliant white aura akin to luminescence of a burning lamp escaping at the moment of death. Because of cumulative withdrawal, all forgotten memories of life lying buried and dormant in the finer cells of brain are stimulated and revived. This phenomena proves the extraordinary capability of human mind, when the dying person relives all experiences of life in a short moment like a playback of a cine-film, whereas while living it is impossible to remember even fifty percent of life's events in a long time. Each activity of a person, whether mental, verbal or physical, leaves an imprint on the soul, The sum and substance of these events, deeds accompanies the soul as its Samsk³rs (impressions) at the time of its departure from the physical body. In this process, it is said, one feels unimaginable pain-like that inflicted by a thousand scorpion bites. While looking at the activities of bygone human existence the soul feels extremely miserable-like a devoted father who beheads his own son by mistake and looks at his body writhing in pain. It is because the soul feels extremely repentant for not having utilized life's precious moments fruitfully. As mentioned earlier, the body becomes insensitive to all feelings of pain and disease much before death when the energy of sense-perception becomes introverted. Thus all sufferings of body end before death. The bond between the body and soul with diseases, shock or old age begins to loosen. The fruit drops to the ground when it is ripen and its stem is unable to bear its weight. In the same manner, an individual dies when the body and its functional capabilities loosen their grip on the soul. The soul generally departs from the apertures in the upper part of the body, principally from the mouth, eyes, ears or nostrils. Sinners have been found losing their souls through the anus or organs of sex.

The soul of Yogi leaves through the Brahmarandhra (Near top of cranium).

The habitat of departed soul On coming out of the body, the soul finds itself in a strange environment. Just as after a prolonged period of hard work one seeks a comfortable bed, in order to relax after the lifelong engagement with the body, the soul needs rest and sleep (a period of inactivity).

This period of sleep provides the soul a great deal of rest. (Hence the prayer for the departed soul to rest in peace). However, the soul does not fall asleep immediately after death but takes some time in doing so. Generally, the duration lasts about a month. It is because the habits and memories of earlier bodily attachments (Vasna) are fresh and strong at the time of death and only gradually loosen their hold. 

As an analogy, consider the state of body after hard labor. The circulation of blood is fast and one cannot fall sleep even on a comfortable bed till it becomes normal.

After its separation from the physical body (Sthul Sharir) on death, the soul assumes an astral body (Sukshma Sharir). The form of this body is somewhat similar to that of the physical body. The being is pleasantly surprised to find a sudden acquisition of levity.

Now it can move freely in space like a bird and reach anywhere simply by willing to do so. After abandoning the physical body, the soul hovers around the mortal remains.

Finding the near and dear ones mourning, it makes an attempt to communicate with them or re-enter the dead body, but does not succeed. The following narration of a departed soul illustrate the point. "After death, I found myself in a strange situation. On account of my previous attachments with my physical body and dear ones, I wanted to interact with them but found myself helpless. I could see and hear everyone and talked loudly, but found that I had become invisible and inaudible to the living beings. Though it disturbed me to some extent, I felt very happy in my newly acquired body in which I felt very light and could fly around with great speed. I recollected, that while living I was afraid of death, for which now there did not appear any reason, whatsoever.

Having acquired the new body, I became less interested in the older one, since this astral (Sukshma) body was in every way much superior to the previous one. I felt that I was existing as before and could see and move my limbs as earlier. It convinced me that there was nothing to fear about death and dying was only an ordinary natural process involving change of body."

Ghosts and spirits

Because of earlier long attachment the soul continues to hover around the dead body till it is cremated. After it is reduced to ashes, it reluctantly seeks a diversion. On burial, however, it remains infatuated with the mortal remains and hovers around them for many days. Souls of less enlightened persons and of those having deeper involvements in worldly matters, haunt the graveyards and crematoriums for many days. Longing for the earlier body draws them again and again towards the place of cremation and unable to control their emotions, they wail around the grave. Then there are also individuals having deep affections with close friends and relatives. Souls of such persons prefer to stay near the favorite persons rather than around the place of cremation.

Old aged person while living naturally develops greater detachment from worldly affairs. Consequently, the soul of such a person is more relaxed and falls asleep soon after death. On the other hand, youths having strong desires and attachments-specially those dying of shock or suicide suffer for longer duration, before having rest.

The apparitions

In the event of sudden death associated with pain, quite a few particles of the physical body (Sthul Sharir) cling to the Astral Body (Sukshma-Sharir), as a consequence of which, the soul retains the characteristics of both the former living as well as the astral being. It,

therefore, has some physical as well as astral (Sukshma) components. Such souls, at times become visible to the living person as apparitions. However, this is not true about a person dying a natural death. In order to make themselves visible, the latter category of spirits have to make great efforts and carry out specific spiritual exercises. Persons dying of unnatural death, on the other hand, exist as spirits (ghosts) and they are unable to sleep because of troubled emotional state. Seeking opportunities for taking revenge or fulfilment of insatiated desires through the body of a living person, they hover around old "Pipal" trees, caves, ruins or some reservoir of water. They make their presence felt to the desired person or persons at opportune moments. The exorcists (Tantriks) bring such spirits under their control with help of witchcraft and make them work like slaves. The spirits, however, do not work willingly for the exorcists. They remain ever resentful and even kill their captors in unguarded moments. No one likes to be in bondage. The spirits perform like the caged lion in a circus. The spirits generally tend to stay at a particular place, and do not change their abode frequently unless there is some specific reason to do so.

The rest before rebirth

The souls of modest persons and of those having religious disposition severe links with the earlier worldly milieu after cremation and easily reconcile to the changed environment. Detaching themselves from the past, they easily fall asleep for recuperation. Nature has not specified any fixed duration for this period of rest. It depends on the state of spiritual health of the soul. 

As children and hard working persons need a longer period of sleep and rest, so do the souls in various states of spiritual health. Generally a duration up to three years is found sufficient for this rest.

During the first year, the soul sleeps soundly within which it is able to recuperate from the exhaustion of earlier life and the finer perceptions of the new astral body begin to react efficiently to the requirement of new levels of sentience. In the succeeding second year of rest the soul recapitulates the wrong deeds (sins) of earlier existence and prepares itself for working in the new environment, in the light of past experiences. The third year is spent in looking for the milieu in which it desires to return to this world by taking birth in a new body. The duration mentioned here are averages. Occasionally, in specific cases, persons have been found taking rebirth even after six months, whereas others have taken as long as five years. The maximum age (period of existence) of spirits (Prait) is believed to be twelve years. Thus the maximum gap between the death of a person and rebirth could be taken as twelve years.