Life,
death and reincarnation
What happens when a person dies? Is there anything
after life? Is there a previous life prior to our existence in this
body? These are questions which are inevitably asked when we begin
to search for an understanding of our place in the universe. Ananda
Marga philosophy answers these questions systematically. However,
in order to understand the response to these questions, it is necessary
to understand the law of action and reaction.
In the physical realm there is a well known law:
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the
mental sphere there is a similar law at work. For example, if Mr
A hits Mr B, perhaps Mr B will respond immediately hitting Mr
A with a force equal to the first punch. In this case the action
was followed by an immediate reaction causing Mr A to suffer a
pain equal to that which he inflicted on Mr B.
If we were to draw a diagram representing Mr A's
mind during this process of hitting and retaliation by Mr B
it would be as follows:
Point X is the original state of Mr A's mind before
the action of hitting Mr B. Point Y represents the distortion of
his mind's plastic portion (citta). Every time there is any kind
of action, good or bad, there is some distortion of the citta. Point
Z represents the moment when Mr A's mind returns to the original
state. In this case it occurs as soon as Mr B makes his counter
punch.
Whenever we make an action, our mind is distorted
and when we experience the reaction, our mind returns to the original
state and we feel either pleasure or pain depending on the nature
of the original action. Many times, the process of action and reaction
works like this. There is an action and immediately following it
the person experiences the reaction. If there has been no change
of time, place and person the reaction will be equal in strength
to the original action.
However, there is another possibility. Suppose
Mr A hits Mr B but the reaction is delayed. Mr B doesn't respond
with a punch. Five years later, however, Mr A walks down a lonely
street in a strange city and an unknown man appears and hits Mr
A many times. This is a reaction which was delayed and is experienced
with an intensity exceeding that of the original action. This distortion
of the mind which remains dormant for some time is known a samskara
in Ananda Marga philosophy. A samskara represents a reaction in
potential form. Diagramatically it appears as follows:
Line EF represents the original action and line
FG represents the potential reaction (samskara) which can be experienced
at any time. Thus, apparent accidents are simply reactions to previous
actions. They sometimes appear to be without cause, but that is
only because we have forgotten the original action. The reaction
will be stronger than the original action if there is a passage
of time between the two events and if there is a change in place
or person just as a bank deposit will acquire interest if left in
the bank for several years. This law of action and reaction is known
popularly as the law of karma. The reactions in potential form are
known as samskaras or impressions on the mind.
Returning to the original question about life,
death and possible rebirth we are now in a better position to understand
what happens at the time of death. According to the law of action
and reaction we must experience the result of every action, and
each day we are certainly experiencing pleasure and pain as the
different impressions of the mind caused by previous actions become
ripe and express themselves. If one were to die at a moment when
all previous reactive momenta (samskaras) are exhausted and no new
samskaras have been created, then the mind will be in a pure state
and would merge in the cosmic consciousness. This state of permanent
merger is known in Sanskrit as Moksha.
In reality, however, it is very difficult to exhaust
all the samskaras and not create new samskaras in the process. Whenever
we perform an action with the thought, "I am doing this action"
an impression is made on the mind. So in most cases when a person
dies, he or she still has many reactions in potential form which
have yet to be experienced. His or her mind is represented by the
following diagram:
What will happen in such a case? The reactions
must be experienced but there is no longer any physical body. So
another body will be needed and the mind must take another birth.
In order to understand the process of rebirth it
is necessary to understand what is life. According to Ananda Marga
philosophy, life is a parallelism between mind and body. There is
a particular wavelength associated with the body, and there is a
particular wave-length associated with the mind. Just as in modern
physics, the yogis have said that this entire universe is in vibration
and that the vibrations are of varying wavelengths. There is a particular
wavelength associated with our body and there is a particular wavelength
associated with our mind. When these wavelengths are parallel we
have life. However, if something happens to the physical body such
as an accident or sickness, the physical wavelength may change and
the parallelism may be lost. In this case we have what is known
as the physical cause of death.
Similarly the body may be functioning properly,
but if there is a severe shock to the mind the mental wave may change
and the parallelisrn is lost. This is known as the psychic cause
of death. An example of this is a person dying due to having experienced
something very fearful.
Another example occurs when animals live with humans.
A dog living with a human family is constantly in contact with the
more developed human minds. The dog who lives, eats and even travels
with the human family begins to undergo an expansion of mind. His
mind becomes gradually more and more human-like. If the expansion
continues there may eventuality be death due to a loss of parallelism
between his mental and physical wavelengths. In this case the mental
wavelength has changed due to the contact with human beings and
will consequently require a more subtle body with which it can find
parallelism. This will probably be a human body.
There is another possibility, which is known as
the spiritual cause of death. In very evolved spiritual practitioners
the mind will become absorbed in cosmic consciousness, which has
a vibration of infinite wavelength represented as a straight line.
If the mind attains prolonged parallelism with the cosmic entity,
the person will lose parallelism with the physical body. In this
case the person "leaves" his or her body and attains the
state of Moksha. It is not a death in the sense of annihilation,
but merger into a state of infinite beatitude.
There is one more element that we must examine
before we can fully understand the process of life, death and rebirth.
In every living being there is not only a physical body and not
only a mind, but also an "Atman" or unit of witnessing
consciousness. This witnessing consciousness is the ultimate witness
of the mind and is the source of the "I feeling" in the
statement "I know that I exist". In an earlier chapter
the three functional parts of the mind have been discussed: citta
(I have done), Aham (I do) and Mahat (I exist). The "I"
which verifies the existence of these three functional parts of
the mind is known as the Atman. It is the imperishable unit of consciousness
and is the key to unlocking the mystery of life, death and rebirth.
When a person dies, the vital energy of the body
(prana) enters a state of disequilibrium and leaves the body. With
the loss of the vital energies, the physical body ceases to function.
The formerly living person loses all sense of pleasure, pain and
self-consciousness. Although the mind enters a "long sleep"
at the time of death, it has not perished as the physical body has.
The samskaras – reactive momenta of the mind – exist and are recorded
in the causal mind. The Atman remains as the witness of this inactive
mind.
According to the type of samskaras, the inactive
mind has a particular wavelength and where there is a proper physical
body anywhere in the universe which has a wavelength parallel to
that of this mind, the mind will be reborn in this new body. The
living being will then have the possibility to experience the potential
reactions acquired in previous life-times.
How long will the interim period last? It can be
very short or it can be thousands of years. The important thing
is that there must be a suitable body somewhere in the cosmos which
matches the vibration of the inactive disembodied mind and soul.
In Tibetan Buddhism, as soon as a spiritual leader (Lama) dies,
his disciples search for his reincarnation in the form of a newly
born baby. A suitable successor is groomed from among those young
children who seem to have the same samskaras as the former Lama.
A test is given in which different articles, some of which belonged
to the Lama, are placed before the children. If the child can identify
these articles, it is an indication that he may be the incarnation.
Another commonly asked question regarding reincarnation
is whether one can remember his or her past lives. Up to the age
of four years a person has extra-cerebral memory which includes
memory of the past lives. However, if this memory persisted after
the age of four, then a split personality would develop and the
person would die. Thus, nature protects humans by not allowing this
development of multiple personalities in a single body.
Although it may be fascinating to delve into our
past lives, there is usually no particular psychological or spiritual
value in doing so. Rather, it is generally advisable for spiritual
aspirants to forget their past deeds (especially the bad ones) and
to begin a life in a fresh manner, concentrating on the present
and looking ahead to a more glorious future. Sometimes, however,
in special cases a great spiritual master may "show" a
disciple his or her past life in order to teach some lesson to him
or her.
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti describes the state of
death as "the long sleep of the causal mind" and emphasizes
that there is no feeling of pleasure and pain in this condition
due to the loss of the organs and nerves. He also explains that
these "bodiless" minds are without motor organs and that
they cannot harm human beings.
As to heaven and hell, heaven is when we experience
in this life the results of good actions of the past and hell is
when we experience the results of past bad actions. Superstitious
concepts of eternal suffering have been promoted by various religions,
but they have no place in Ananda Marga philosophy.
The ultimate goal of this cycle of life and rebirth
is the moment when the unit consciousness goes beyond life and rebirth
and unifies with the unqualified Cosmic Consciousness.
Email info at anandamarga.org
if you have any questions.
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