- Death occurs to the physical body
- The very causes for body’s existence has the seeds for its own destruction.
- Adepts cast away their body and their journey continues in higher realms
- Fear of death can be overcome only fourth state ( comfortable acceptance of death)
- Process of death
Death is a transition point from one state of life to another. When the reasons to exist in a particular physical body are over and the lifeforce has to enter the next state of existence then, death occurs to the physical body. An adept can perceive death in every out-breath and can comfortably accept the fact that the physical body will someday meet its end in this world. The five elements which are the causes behind the creation of the gross body are also the causes for the destruction of it. Exploring even a little bit of Ayurveda will make this clear. An adept accepts that no matter how much inner refinement is attained, the very causes for the body’s existence has the seeds for its own destruction. There can be afflictions of disease and physical pains in the process of death and yet if there is graceful acceptance without resistance there won’t be any struggle in death.
An adept sees birth in every in-breath and death in every out-breath and in between the two sees the dance of life. That is why an adept can cast away his body as he is very comfortable and familiar with the out-breath. Death to him is not an idea but a living reality. This is the result of enlightenment.
For most of us, fear of death is natural. Even if we have recognized the domain of ego, the play of limited self and theoretically understand the unity and continuity of life, it is not enough to overcome fear of death. This fear is inherent to us, it is a part of self-preservation for the body and mind. So, until one is awakened and then totally enlightened, there is no escape to this fear.
(No matter how much is understood about death it is all in our wake state and in our wake state there is no escape from the fear of death. A being in the fourth state can alone be rid of fears )
Anyone who wants to accept death fearlessly has to master the spiritual art of casting away the body by entering and being in the fourth state. Once an adept casts away his body here, the journey ahead is another unfolding in itself, it is truly extraordinary. The way forward for an enlightened adept is only in the higher subtle worlds.
Process of Death -
Death is attributed only to the physical body and not to the metaphysical residue of life which is bound to the lifeforce ( Inner-being) and continues its journey. With death, the transactional memory is erased thus most of us do not remember our past lives. That's the nature of memory itself, memory is not a recording of the past events but more of a recollection of life through recall. Memory needs context. We tend to forget things within a lifetime, so remembering things across lifetimes is a rare phenomenon in nature.
Soon after death until the next birth arrives, we momentarily become aware of the impermanence and illusory nature of this world. We get a glimpse of that part of the self which was constantly present throughout life, but we never took notice of it. It is this life-force that was channeling everything into our life all the while, shaping every event, birthing every inspiration, watching us through our rise and fall, unaffected by any of it, witnessing everything, orchestrating everything with extraordinary intelligence; flowing in its own way in accordance with the cosmic landscape. During our lives we might have heard its voice one way or another. Sometimes it is an inner calling, a warning or a consolation, a guiding instruction or an un-ignorable command, all of it trying to facilitate our journey. This life-force is perceived as an entity that is termed as Soul / Atma / Jiva / inner being / Prana / consciousness etc.
We lose this vision of the true nature of the self - of our constant companion, as the life-force drags our metaphysical residue in its currents and leads to another birth.
