Beyond Birth And Death

The Buddhists believe that at a certain stage, combination of matter produces consciousness.Although we may have all the constituents of matter at our disposal, but can we really produce consciousness from them ?All material elements may be present in a dead man, but we cannot revive that man to consciousness. Our body is not like a machine. When any part of a machine breaks down, it can be replaced,and the machine will work again, but when the body breaks down and consciousness leaves the body, there is no possibility of replacing the broken part and rejuvenating the consciousness. Our soul is different from our body, and as long as our soul is there inside us, our body is NOTHING. But there is no possibility of making our body move or animate in the absence of our soul.Actually there are so many things in this universe that we cannot see. We cannot see air, radio waves or sound, nor can we perceive any minute bacteria with our blunt senses, but this does not mean they are not there. The supreme soul is a soul that exists but can never be seen by a human eye.

[ YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Creation and God ]

With the help of a microscope and other instruments, many things can be perceived which are usually denied by our imperfect senses. The non permanent appearance of heat and cold, happiness and distress, and their regular disappearances, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons.  In summers we may feel good when we splash ourselves with water, but in winters we this water becomes too cold. In either case, water is the same, but we perceive it as pleasant or painful due to its contact with our body. All feelings of distress and happiness are due to our body. Our body and mind may feel happiness or distress at any instant.

Factually we are hankering after happiness only.A soul’s constitutional position is that of happiness. Our soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Being, who is  the embodiment of knowledge, bliss and eternity.

[ YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : How did Life Come Into Existence ]

Elevation towards the Supreme Soul at Death

One who, at the time of death, fixes his life between the eyebrows, and in full devotion engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord, will certainly attain the Supreme  Soul / Personality of Godhead. Just as a student studies a subject for four or five years and then takes his examination to receive a degree, in the subject of life, if we practice for the examination with the supreme soul as the examiner,when we die, there are better chances of us passing this examination, because of which,we are transferred to a spiritual world. Our whole life is examined at the time of death by the supreme soul. Whatever you remember in this birth will turn into nothing when you soul quits your body,

There is a Bengali proverb that says that whatever one does for perfection will be tested at the time of his death by the supreme soul. Bhagwad Gita describes what one should do when giving up his body.

For such perfection,you need to go into the yogic state viz the state of detachment from all sensual engagements.By Loosing all the doors of your senses and fixing you mind on your heart and your life you establish yourself in yoga. In the yoga system this process is called pratyahara, which means, “just the opposite“.Although during our life our eyes are engaged in seeing worldly beauty, at death we have to retract our senses from all objects and are then able to see the beauty within. Similarly, our ears are accustomed to hearing so many sounds
in the world, when we die  we have to hear transcendental omkara.

[ YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : What is the Purpose of Life ]

Liberation From Material Planets

Supreme soul

The jnanis and yogis are generally impersonalist and although they attain the temporary form of liberation, by merging into the impersonal effulgence, the spiritual sky,but this knowledge, according to Srimad-Bhagavatam, is not considered pure. By penances, austerities and meditations, they can rise up to the Supreme Absolute platform,but they are later sent back to the material world because they have not taken lord krishna’s personal features seriously.

Unless one worships the lotus feet of Krishna, he has to descend to the materialistic world again.

The ideal attitude should be

“I am Your eternal servitor. Please let me somehow engage in Your service.”

Krishna is called ajitahunconquerable for no one can conquer God. Srimad-Bhagavatam also recommends that we give up this futile process to measure or reach the Supreme.

We cannot even measure the limitations of space, how can we even think of reaching the supreme?

In Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna is hearing about God from Sri krishna Himself. In this way Arjuna has set a criteria for understanding the Supreme soul by submissive hearing.

We have been destined ore created to hear Bhagavad- gita from Arjuna. After hearing the bhagavad gita, it is necessary to practice this acquired knowledge in day to day life.

“My dear Lord, You are unconquerable,”

According to Brahma-samhita, there are two ways of acquiring knowledge-the ascending process and descending process. By the ascending process, one is elevated by knowledge acquired by himself. In this way one thinks, “I don’t care for any authorities or books. I will attain knowledge myself by meditation, philosophy, etc. In this way I will understand God.” The other process, the descending process, involves ‘I will learn it from the higher authorities‘ approach.

[ YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Visualization and Imagination ]

The Sky Beyond The Universe

If even the higher planets in this universe are subject to birth and death, why do great yogis strive for elevation towards them?

Although they may have many mystic powers, these yogis still have the tendency to enjoy the facilities of material life. On the higher planets, it is possible to live for incredibly long lifetimes.

By human calculation, if a thousand ages are taken together,it is the duration of Brahma’s One Day.And it is also the duration of his night.

One yuga covers 4,300,000 years. This number multiplied by one thousand is calculated to be twelve hours of Brahma on the planet Brahmaloka. Similarly, another twelve hour period covers the night. Thirty such days equal a month, twelve months a year, and

Brahma lives for one hundred such years. Life on such a planet is indeed long, yet, even after trillions of years, the inhabitants of Brahmaloka have to face death.

Unless we go into the spiritual planets, there is no escape from death.The only hope for a man fallen in the middle of the ocean is that someone will come and pick him up. If someone just comes and hauls him a few feet out of the water, he is immediately relieved. Similarly, if we are somehow lifted from the ocean of birth and death,we will be relieved and will achieve moksha.

Although we cannot perceive the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord, His name, fame and activities,but if we establish ourselves in Krishna consciousness, God will soon reveal Himself before us.

We cannot see God by our own endeavor, but if we qualify within ourselves, God will reveal Himself, and then we will see. No one can order God to come before him and dance, but we do have to work in such a way that Krishna is pleased to reveal himself to us.

Krishna gives us information about himself in Bhagavad-gita, and there is no question of doubting it.We just have to feel it, understand it. There is no preliminary qualification necessary for understanding the Bhagavad-gita, because it is spoken from an Absolute platform.

The simple process of chanting the names of Krishna will reveal what one is, what God is, what the material and spiritual universes are, why we are conditioned, how we can get out of that conditioning and everything else step by step.

Actually the process of belief and revelation is not foreign to us. It is our general tendency that we place faith in something that we have confidence will be revealed later.

[ READ MORE : How to use Faith to Cure Yourself ]

Associating Yourself With Krishna

If one gets something superior in life, he naturally gives up all inferior things. We all want enjoyment, but impersonalism and voidism has created such an atmosphere that we have become addicted to materialism and enjoyment.

Instead we must find enjoyment in getting connected with the Supreme Person  (someone we can see face to face).

In the spiritual sky we are able to speak personally with God. All of this can be attained by bhaktya transcendental loving service. However, this service must be done without adulteration, viz. we must love God without expecting material remuneration. Loving God in expectation of  becoming one with Him, is also a form of adulteration. One of the major differences between the spiritual sky and the material sky is that in the spiritual sky the head or leader of the spiritual planets has no rival. In all cases, the predominating personality are the spiritual planets which are a plenary expansion of Sri Krishna

“Birth after Birth”

When there is birth after birth, there is no liberation. In liberation either one attains the spiritual planets or merges into the existence of the Supreme soul.In either case, there is no question of rebirth into the material world.

Related Articles

Stay Connected

0FansLike
3,912FollowersFollow
0SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles