Life After Death-Part VI

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The doubt is, Can the mind and intellect remain without the body?

It is Just like the bullet and the gun. A bullet alone cannot give you fear or bring your death. Nor the gun alone can give you fear or bring your death. Because individually neither of them has power. But when the bullet is in the gun, it certainly can give you fear, and when it flies from the gun, it can bring your death.

Bullet can travel in the direction in which the gun is held. As the bullet is in the gun, the gun has the control as to which direction the bullet should travel. But once the bullet is shot or has left the gun, the gun has no control over the direction of the bullet. Similarly until your mind is in the body you have the control over the mind.

But once the mind-intellect has left the body, the body has no control over it. Mind will be shot in the direction, the sum-total of your thoughts and activity of your whole life-time decides.

It is said by an ordinary man that why should he not indulge in the objects of the world outside during his life-time and that he would contemplate upon the Lord or Narayana at the time of death, thus assuring to himself liberation from all pains and sorrows of rebirth.·

With this idea in mind, children in the Hindu families are christened with the names of the Lord. At the time of death, one while calling by one's children out of attachment, one may bring to one's mind the Lord, at least as a thought associated with the Name.

This is also impossible because while indulging in the enjoyment of the objects of the world outside for the whole of his life-time, how can one think of God or Narayana at the final hours? One can think of the objects of the world for which he spent his thought for a full life-time.

Therefore, it is suggested to contemplate on God from now on, for it is not certain when the death is due. It is necessary for one to think of God at the time of death because the thought will provide one with certain conducive atmosphere and vehicle to fulfilling one's voyage to perfection. And the rule itself goes "Yatha Matih tatoo gatih".

Therefore to the intelligent· man, death is not painful but a new picnic experience. If a candle is burnt nothing is lost. There is only a change of name and form. Similarly to the intelligent, in death nothing is lost. "It is only a change of body. place and time"

Now the doubt arises, "is there any interval between the departure from one body and entry into another? This can be explained by the following example.

When one officer is transferred from Bombay to Nasik, first he has to give up his charge at Bombay and then leave Bombay and reach Nasik to take up his new appointment. He has handed over his duties at Bombay and is on his way to Nasik. Now if he is asked "are you the officer," he will certainly say 'Yes". "Officer at Bombay or Nasik" ? To this question he cannot answer for he is now neither at Bombay nor in Nasik. But still he is the officer in as much as he is getting pay for the interval period too! And so the interval can be called "the joining time";

So too, when the subtle body leaves a given physical body in order to assume a new one, there must be some interval between the two events. And the duration of this interval depends upon your relationship with the body you shed and the urgency felt for the next embodiment.

To be continued

About the author

Swami Chinmayananda

Swami Chinmayananda the great master's lectures were an outpour of wisdom. He introduced the Geetha Gnana Yagna. He wrote a lot of books on spirituality, commentaries to Vedantic texts, children books etc. He then started spreading His teachings globally.....