Death and dying - The Hindu view

I found an informative article on death and dying in Hinduism today. The link is given below.

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/2007/1-3/64-67_dying.shtml

The first book of Swami Sivananda that I had read was "What becomes of the Soul after death". The book describes in great detail the subject of death, karma and the passage of the soul from one body to another. I was amazed at the entire process of transmigration especially the soul's ascent/ descent to various worlds or lokas. Though this is unreal from the view point of non-dual teachings, the subject is interesting and thought provoking.

'I- Principle' in deep sleep

A lovely explanation on consciousness during deep sleep.

"Consciousness never parts with you in any of the three states. In deep sleep you are conscious of deep rest or peace. Inference is possible only of those things which have not been experienced. The fact that you had a deep sleep or profound rest is your direct experience and you only remember it when you come to the waking state. It can never be an inference. Experience alone can be remembered. The fact that you were present throughout the deep sleep can also never be denied. The only three factors thus found present in deep sleep are Consciousness, peace and yourself. All these are objectless and can never be objectified. In other words, they are all subjective. But there can only be one subject and that is the 'I- Principle'. So none of these three can be the result of inference since they are all experience itself."

Swami Atmananda

Advaita

(Shree Chandrashekara Bharathi, the 34th Pontiff of Sringeri)

[1912-1954]

Dvaitam means the state of twoness (i.e. duality). Advaita is therefore that thing in which there is no twoness or duality. Brahman is the name given to that something in which there is no twoness. Brahman is that basic principle of reality responsible for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe. While all religious systems postulate the existence of "one" God who is the supreme being, some grant independent existence of matter(i.e., universe) and some grant independent existence of individual souls. It is only in the Advaita system that matter and the individual soul are denied existence independent of God. It is only in the Advaita system that there is no second principle independent of God.

Maya is the differentiating principle which is responsible for diversity in both the universe of matter and in the universe of souls. If it were not for Maya, there would be no diversity at all. Both matter and the individual souls would have no independent existence of their own, but for Maya. Though Maya is the Sakti or power of Brahman, it has no independent existence of its own apart from Brahman (i.e., the supreme being). From the highest standpoint of absolute truth, Maya has no existence at all. From the absolute view, only Brahman exists and nothing else.

The Advaita doctrine is enunciated from a plane which ordinary people cannot aspire to for many more births to come. At present most of us are far, far below that stage. So we have absolutely no right to approach it, much less to sit in judgment over it.

It is impossible to convey a correct idea of what Advaita is, for it is neither a matter for words nor is it a mental concept. It is, on the other hand, pure experience which transcends all these. Suppose I do not know what sweetness is. Can you describe the sweetness in words sufficiently expressive to convey an idea of sweetness? Similarly, it is impossible to teach Advaita, for Advaita is beyond the grasp of the mind and the senses. Advaita cannot be learnt. It has to be directly experienced. The bliss of Brahman (i.e., God) is the biggest of all joys. It is beyond the experience of all worlds.

-Shree Chandrashekara Bharathi, the 34th Pontiff of Sringeri-

Meditation means awareness

Remember one thing: meditation means awareness. Whatsoever you do with awareness is meditation. Action is not the question, but the quality that you bring to your action.Walking can be a meditation if you walk alertly. Sitting can be a meditation if you sit alertly.Listening to the birds can be a meditation if you listen with awareness. Just listening to the inner noise of your mind can be a meditation if you remain alert and watchful.The whole point is: one should not move in sleep.Then whatsoever you do is meditation.

OSHO

The path of yoga and jnana

The control of prana which is yoga, and the control of mind which is jnana — these are the two principal means for the destruction of the mind. To some, the former may appear easy, and to others the latter. Yet, jnana is like subduing a turbulent bull by coaxing it with green grass, while yoga is like controlling it through the use of force. Thus the wise ones say that of the three grades of qualified aspirants, the highest reach the goal by making the mind firm in the Self through determining the nature of the real by Vedantic enquiry and by looking upon one’s self and all things as of the nature of the Real; the mediocre by making the mind stay in the Heart through kevala kumbhaka and meditating for a long time on the Real; and the lowest grade, by gaining that state in a gradual manner through breath-control, etc.

The mind should be made to rest in the Heart till the destruction of the ‘I-thought’ which is of the form of ignorance, residing in the Heart. This itself is jnana; this alone is dhyana also. The rest are a mere digression of words, digression of the texts. Thus the scriptures proclaim. Therefore, if one gains the skill of retaining the mind in one’s Self through some means or other, one need not worry about other matters.

- Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi-

Suffering and spiritual awakening

When you look closely at the nature of human suffering you will find that an essential ingredient in most kinds of suffering is a diminishment of one’s sense of self. Take illness, for example. Illness makes you feel smaller, no longer in control, helpless. You seem to loose your autonomy, perhaps become dependent on others. You become reduced in size, figuratively speaking.

Any major loss has a similar effect: some form that was an important part of your sense of who you are – a person, a possession, a social role – dissolves or leaves you and you suffer because you had become identified with it and it seems you are losing yourself or a part of yourself. In reality, of course, what feels like a diminishment or loss of your sense of self is the crumbling of an image of who you are held in the mind. What dissolves is identification with thought forms that had given you your sense of self. But that sense of self is ultimately false, is ultimately a mental fiction. It is the egoic mind or thelittle me as I sometimes call it. To be identified with a mental image of who you are is to be unconscious,to be unawakened spiritually. This unawakened state creates suffering, but suffering creates the possibility of awakening.

When you no longer resist the diminishment of self that comes with suffering, all role - playing, which is normal in the unawakened state, comes to an end. You become humble, simple, real. And, paradoxically, when you say “yes” to that death, because that’s what it is, you realize that the mind-made sense of self had obscured the truth of who you are – not as defined by your past, but timelessly. And when who you think you are dissolves, you connect with a vast power which is the essence of your very being. Jesus called it: eternal life. In Buddhism,it is sometimes called the deathless realm.

Now,does this mean that if you haven’t experienced intense suffering in your life,there is no possibility of awakening? Firstly,the fact that you are drawn to a spiritual teaching or teacher means you must have had your share of suffering already,and the awakening process has probably already begun. A teacher or teaching is not even essential for spiritual awakening, but they save time. Secondly, humanity as a whole has already gone through unimaginable suffering,mostly self-inflicted, the culmination of which was the 20th century with its unspeakable horrors. This collective suffering has brought upon a readiness in many human beings for the evolutionary leap that is spiritual awakening. For many individuals alive now, this means: they have suffered enough. No further suffering is necessary. The end of suffering: that is also the essence of every true spiritual teaching. Be grateful that your suffering has taken you to this realization: I don’t need to suffer anymore.

-Eckhart Tolle-

Control of the Mind

“Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means for mindcontrol. If through other means it is attempted the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again rise up. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent, but only so long as the breath remains controlled; and with the movement of breath, the mind also will start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is same for both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought ‘I’ is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled, the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and others may not take it as dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is also so. Breath is the gross form of mind.

Till the time of death, the mind keeps the breath in the body; when the body dies the mind takes the breath (prana) along with it. Therefore, breath-control is only an aid for mind-control (manonigraha); it will not bring about annihilation of the mind (manonasa). Like breath-control, meditation on some form of God, repetition of mantras, diet-regulation, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent for the time-being”.

— Sri Bhagavan in WHO AM I?