{hinduloka} $title={Table Content} The Soul's Journey to Liberation after Death

Obstacles and difficulties that we try to avoid and overcome in existence on earth that will eventually expose us to another world for the completion of our next journey. Every living person should prepare himself even from now on, if he wishes for an auspicious death, and a spiritually rewarding journey to other worlds.   

The best preparation in this regard is to organize and align all the parts of one's consciousness around the center of the psychic being, so that they can be flexible to be molded and governed at all times in all things by the soul.

Death is just a transition from one life form to another and no one dies but just leaves. The average person struggles in the physical world that is visible only through the media of his senses and by the application of rational judgment alone.

But this physical world represents only a small part of the innumerable totality that exists in the manifestations of nature. With proper effort ( sadhana ), one can raise one's consciousness to a higher and deeper level to make it active to function there. 

If one can awaken the latent potential of his knowledge which is beyond the reach of the physical senses, he will be able to have access to the subtle world. It depends on the capacity and development of the individual to be able to establish conscious communication with them.

Man has not only his gross physical body, but also other bodies; such as, energy body, etheric, mental body and so on. 

The soul travels to different subtle realms, and then returns to an almost endless series of rebirths ending on earth. And all this, with only one goal in mind, ultimately brings about the full manifestation of life on earth itself and that too in the material-physical human body or super-human body.

When and how was he reincarnated in a new body on earth?

After the death of the physical body, the psychic successively passes through the kingdoms of the etheric body, energy body, and mental and finally reaches its own domain in the world of the universal soul.
As it passes in a certain place, the soul discards the elements that are no longer needed from the superficial and temporary personality of the individual in his previous embodiment. 
Just as the soul drops its physical veil at the moment called "death" or in reality this is the beginning of the journey, it then has to shed its etheric veil after some time, depending on the circumstances. Not that there is no past that will accompany him. 

The essence of all past physical experiences and memories of beings in previous incarnations will be collected and carried with them, these will act in time as the seed constituents of new bodies and minds in their new manifestations on earth.

Psychic beings will eventually go to the psychic world and rest there in a state of deep vacuum. There, in the psychic world, proper assimilation of the experiences of individual beings and preparation for the next earthly life will take place under the guidance of the Supreme Soul or Supreme Soul (God).

In the case of those who have not developed their consciousness, who are attached to the pleasures and pleasures of the world or who do not wish to leave their previous worldly life, are dragged from there to the next life, as soon as possible, so that they can continue the required development.

Now let us consider the movement of the external being centered on the ego. 
The consciousness and nature of most human beings are not at all integrated and homogeneous. It represents a mixed picture of various elements and tendencies functioning independently. 

True individuality does not develop there. During his stay in the physical body he thinks and feels himself as a separate and unique individual, due to his mistaken identification with ego-sense and fictitious ego-ideas.

After the dissolution of the physical body, the different constituent elements such as the etheric body are dissolved and separated, and begin to dwell in different world levels. They seek there ways to satisfy their own desires and urges which are separate in some way or command.
Then, until the time came, the energy behind their functioning existence was exhausted and they were destroyed and disappeared for good. 

The physical-mental personality of this ego-being was created for one life to serve the multiple purposes of the soul. After the cessation of that life, these separate constituent elements disappear into the air, so that these psychic beings (individual spirits) can walk undisturbed. 
The same principle applies to the case of a person's mental body. If one wants to maintain one's personal identity through succession of rebirths, one must center the whole personality and put it under the control of the Soul as the most flexible means of manifestation of the soul.

As long as the subtle bodies continue to live until after death or are separated from the concrete consciousness of the very hidden pure soul, they sometimes indulge in creative imagination and fictitiously generate subjective heavens and hells in the other worlds in which they reside, all patterned in themselves such as wishes, hopes and dreams. and fear. This heaven and hell has no objective reality, but the experiences that disembodied beings experience there after death are very real and real to their consciousness.

Now let's consider the movement of the sheath and its residue.
After the dissolution of the physical body and subtle body, it is generally divided into different parts. Just as the physical body disintegrates after being cremated, the energy and mental bodies also disintegrate into many pieces. These different constituent elements such as desires, urges, passions, etc., follow their separate independent paths and seek to fulfill their own inclinations when a suitable opportunity arises, they can enter into the consciousness of another living human or even into in the bodies of delightful animals to satisfy their distinctive taste buds.
If during his lifetime he has been able to develop mental capacities and special talents such as musical abilities, these elements can transmigrate for some time in the invisible realm of the earth's atmosphere after the physical death of the person concerned. 
They then try to find the right means of self-expression. Moreover, when they find a living human being who has the possibility to fulfill this purpose, they enter into that body and try to maintain the continuity of their creativity through the talents and talents of others.

Three things; Knowledge ( Jnana ), Karma and intuition of previous births ( purva vasana ) follow Jivatma (Soul). One cannot act or enjoy without prior intuition. Therefore the three namely, Jnana, Karma and Purva Vasana, are burdens that are carried in the chariot while continuing on the journey to another higher or subtler realm.

When a spiritually wise person dies, his life energy ( Prana sakti ) penetrates the Brahmarandra (the opening in the crown of the head where the Sushumna nadi ends) and exits the body following the Sushumna nadi . 

Di Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
Hridayasyaagram pradyoetatae tena pradyoetena esha nishkraamati chakshushoe vaa moordhnoe vaa 2.
The heart center will be illuminated at the time of death and the Atma needs the help of light to exit the body mostly through the eyes or through the head…..
The veins or nerves of the heart of the dead which are the outlet for Aatman become illuminated by the brilliance of the drawn sense organs.
With that light, the Atman exits the body through the eyes or the crown or other parts.
When the Soul passes through the vital air ( mukhya prana ) and all other sense organs which are governed by the vital air, it follows the Jivatma (Atman)  out of the body. In that state, Jivatma only realized the body he had to gain again after leaving the current body. That knowledge or awareness depends on the karma and not on the efforts of the Jiva .

The second chapter of the Bhagavata also says: 
On leaving his body, a yogi draws his breath of life (Prana vayu) from different limbs, concentrating it first in the six centers (chakras) and finally ascending to Sahasrara. He then controls the other seven orifices (two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and mouth) and leaves the body through Brahmarandra.
Ordinary death and the extinction of body consciousness culminate in darkness. The soul of a yogi who has awakened from light to blind darkness uses the power of his inner vision which is independent of external light and discovers a new indescribable luminosity in which light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance, vidya and avidya are the veil or cover for him.

How long does a deceased being remain in the supraphysical world before he takes on a new physical body or rebirth? 

There may be wide variations in the time intervals of these interventions, depending on many factors, one of which is important being the state of development of the consciousness of the deceased being. In some cases, rebirth can occur immediately after the fall of the previous body. In other cases, it may take months, or years, or even centuries before the soul decides to return to a new body. As one develops more, this interval also lengthens proportionally. When the psychic being reaches its full development, it escapes all the rules of external coercion and becomes completely free with regard to the choice of actions for its manifestation. If that's what he wanted.

From Death to Eternity

What will happen to me after death? 
In the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna explains this to Arjuna in great detail. Arjuna is faced with a situation where, in order to uphold his dharma, he must fight and kill the people he loves most, his own relatives and friends. 
As expected, it caused a great disturbance to Arjuna, and when he finally saw the people he was about to fight, he lost all composure and began to cry. Arjuna threw his bow and said to Lord Krishna, " na yotsya ", I will not fight.

His anxiety and sorrow are based on his false identification of the body as the Self (Soul). He thinks the Self ceases to exist when the body dies. 

To correct this misunderstanding and to establish Arjuna in full knowledge of the Self, Lord Krishna recited the Bhagavad Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He began by first establishing the immortality of the soul: 
na jāyate mriyate vā kadāchin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śhāśhvato 'yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śharīre
The soul is not born, nor does it die; nor has it ever been, never ceased to be. The soul is birthless, eternal and ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.
Chapter 2, Verse 20
The body is only the outer covering of the soul. Being material, the body is essentially temporary, and at some point it must deteriorate and die. 
The soul on the other hand is spiritual in nature. Therefore there is no beginning or end. Matter and Soul are qualitatively opposite. The nature of matter is temporary, full of ignorance and full of suffering, the qualities of the soul are eternal ( sat ), full of knowledge ( chit ) and full of happiness ( ananda ).

Everything that has a beginning in time must also have an end. Thus the body will inevitably end, but the soul, which has no beginning, will continue to exist:
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛityur dhruvaṁ janma mṛitasya cha
tasmād aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṁ śhochitum arhasi
Death is certain for those who are born, and rebirth is inevitable for those who have died. Therefore, you should not bemoan the inevitable.
Chapter 2, Verse 27
Krishna describes death in the Bhagavad Gita as nothing more than a change of clothes:
vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛi hṇāti naro'parāṇi
tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya
nyani sanyāti navani dehi
Just as one takes off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so at the time of death, the soul throws away its worn-out body and enters a new body.
Chapter 2, Verse 22
This body is nothing but the vehicle, and the soul is the passenger. When this vehicle is no longer suitable for the soul, due to old age and decay, the soul uses a new vehicle. 
So death is simply a transition from one vehicle to the next.
dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati
Just as the bodily soul continues to move from childhood to youth to old age, so too at the time of death, the soul moves to another body. Wise people are not fooled by this.
Chapter 2, Verse 13

A conscious person will not be confused by such a change.
The soul is actually covered by two bodies, one physical ( sthula-sarira ) and one subtle ( sukshma sarira ). 
  • The physical body is made up of the elements earth, water, fire, air and ether. This is what people generally think of themselves – what they see in the mirror. 
  • The subtle body consists of the mind ( manas ), intelligence ( buddhi ) and false identification ( ahankara ). This subtle body stores all the thoughts, desires, and experiences that a person has, in every life he leads. 
As each new life comes, the experiences of the older life are pushed deeper and deeper, so that they are forgotten. Sometimes these inner thoughts reappear because of dramatic events or because of meditation and sadhana . 
In the case of dramatic events, the result is confusion, as the person cannot know which life is really his. It is the subtle body that takes the soul to its next destination at the time of death. From the moment of the original embodiment of the soul in matter, it has had the same subtle body, regardless of the external body it has. At death the physical body changes, but the subtle body continues with the soul. It is only at the moment of liberation that the subtle body is finally discarded, redistributed into the cosmic element.

What determines the body one will go to at the time of death? 
Krishna answers this question as follows:
yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajatyante kalevaram
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us
Whatever one remembers after giving up the body at the time of death, O son of Kunti, he attains to that state, always immersed in such contemplation.
Chapter 8, Verse 6
According to our consciousness at the time of death we receive the corresponding body. 
What we remember at the time of death is not just a matter of momentary thought that occurred. What we have done throughout our lives will naturally appear in our minds when we leave our bodies. 
Just before death, memories that were strong during life appeared in mind's eye in a fraction of a second. Such memories, cover and forget other knowledge which is useful to be on the path of good death.
-- Hindu Loka --

 
Based on that wish we will be given our next body, sometimes higher and sometimes lower. 
  • If our mind is focused on that very foolish activity of the mind ( tamo-guna ), we will receive a body that is fit among the lower species of life or perhaps as a plant or animal.
  • If our mind focuses on a passionate activity (rajo-guna ), we will be given a body in the category of human life.
  • If our mind focuses on an activity that is primarily in the mode of goodness ( sattva-guna ), we will receive a body on one of the higher planets – svarga-loka , etc.
Again I will mention that our mind will focus on an activity based on how we have lived our whole life. It is impossible to suddenly make our consciousness pure if we have spent our entire lives engaged in inappropriate activities.

The end result of this transfer, from one body to the next is that we have tied one more knot in the rope of attachment that binds us to this material world. No matter what the goal was, it was still not a win. 

Whichever body we receive, we remain tangible – it is an artificial covering that traps us. Krishna describes this entire universe as duhkhalayam ashashvatam – temporary and full of suffering. It didn't matter which body a person had, these two qualities were there. 

But there is an alternative, a solution to this seemingly endless cycle. Krishna says:
anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nastyatra sanśhayaḥ
Whoever releases his body while remembering Me at the time of his death will come to Me. This is certainly not to be doubted.
Chapter 8 Verse 5
About this there is no doubt.” If we are able to remember God (Universal Jiva) at the time of death, one will be freed from the outer covering of the body and attain His eternal abode. 

This sounds very simple, but then again it is not an easy thing. Death is the ultimate test that we all have to face. 

What will be the consciousness at that time? 
For those who cling to the body by identifying the body as the Self, death is the most difficult occurrence. The soul is forced out of the body, even though he tries to remain in it. 
I cannot describe the excruciating pain experienced by a person who clings to the body at death. But I can say that it is bigger than anything a person can experience in life. The situation is different for the Self-conscious devotee. 
He understood that he was not a body. He knows the body is just a vehicle, a machine, and therefore he has no attachment to the external body. To him death was as simple as opening a door and walking through it. 
Every day when we go outside, we open the door and walk out. This is not a dramatic event. It's practically not in the making. This is what a devotee experiences at the time of his death. Because of his Self-realization, he has no attachment or false identification with the body. And because his consciousness is always fixed on God, his goal is complete liberation from the cycle of birth and death:
mām upetya punar janma duḥkhālayam aśhāśhvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ sansiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
Having attained Me, great souls no longer experience rebirth in this world, which is mortal and full of misery, for they have attained the highest perfection.
Chapter 15, Verse 15
The devotee is repositioned in his constitutional spiritual position, free from all external material cover. This is mukti , or liberation – the attainment of the highest abode:
na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śhaśhāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
Neither the sun nor the moon nor the fire can illuminate My Most High Dwelling. After going there, one does not return to this material world again.
Chapter 15, Verse 6
Those who attain it will never return to this material world. We are all part and parcel of God. Our true nature is spiritual, sacidananda svarupo 'ham sivo 'ham sivo 'ham . Due to false identification with our bodies we are shrouded in illusion and forced to undergo birth and death. 
The soul is a thousand times brighter than the sun, but the veil of ignorance is so strong that we look like inanimate objects.

The Upanishads advise us to move from darkness to light, from temporary to eternal, from death to eternity.
vidyayamritam ashnute
By developing spiritual knowledge, one attains immortality.
Death is not something to be feared, but something we must conquer. Excessive attachment to material things puts one in a frightening state of existence – bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syaat . 
Because we are attached to material bodies, out of ignorance of our spiritual selves, we are afraid to die. 
By developing transcendental knowledge of the Self, and by progressing spiritually through the practice of sadhana , one can break away from attachment to the body and become fearless.
This is actually the purpose of life – to pass from death to eternity; Not the immortality of the body, because the body does not actually live every moment, but the realization of the eternal and blissful nature of the soul.

Such awareness is only possible with sincere sadhana practice and devotional service to God. Like Krishna's message to Arjuna;
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣhyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo 'si me
Always think of Me, be My worshipper, worship Me and worship Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are my dearest friend.
Vav 18, Ayat 65

Will I continue my current family relationship even after death?

Just as two straws float in a river, and sometimes touch and sometimes separate, so our karma causes us to form temporary relationships with other living beings in this world. This relationship is not eternal. 

We must first understand that the identities we associate with themselves are not eternal. For example, my mother is an immortal soul. Right now her soul is in the body of a woman, and I call her mother. In his previous life, or in the next, he might have had the body of a man. How can I keep in touch with her as a mother? 

Relationships that depend on the body are temporary just like the body. But there is an enduring relationship we have with everyone. We are all part and parcel of God, and our constitutional position is in the spiritual realm. 
Because we are all souls, inseparable parts of God, we are all connected forever. 

Currently due to the closure of illusions, we do not know what our spiritual connection is with each other. Only when we purify our own consciousness through sadhana can one know one's own true identity and the identity of others. Based on this spiritual identity, a person will have a spiritual relationship.

Since time immemorial we have passed through many species of life. By nature we have many mothers, sometimes spider mothers, sometimes dog mothers, sometimes human mothers. By God's grace we are given 'forgetfulness' at birth so that the attachments of our previous life are buried deep in our consciousness. 

These countless relationships that we have been through are all a reflection of our true connection in the spiritual realm. Knowing that we are all souls, and not an external covering, we must work for the spiritual uplift of all our family members. 

By rebuilding a person's lasting spiritual connection, we are truly helping our loved ones, not just their temporary bodies. This is true compassion.

If one practices sadhana every day, one will be free from fear. Study Scriptures such as Bhagavad-gita to develop spiritual knowledge and pick up nama-japa sadhana. By doing meditation, yoga and japa on the favored names of God one can cross death.

It is explained in the Vedic texts that we are not a body but a soul. The soul is the driving force for the body. A transcendentalist understood this fact and went further to find out the source of the soul. 
The original home of the soul is the kingdom of God. Therefore, the task of living beings is to return to their original home where there is immortality, happiness, and complete knowledge in association with God.

It is explained that like a cat when it hunts a mouse, its teeth seem like a death knell to a mouse, but to a kitten, the same teeth are a loving hug from a mother. 

When death appears, a materialist is terrified. But for a transcendental, death is the embrace of God's love, a call home. When two prisoners are escorted out of prison into a van, it looks like they are both headed to the same destination. But one was fully released from prison because of his good attitude, while the other was locked up in a harsh prison because of his bad behavior. 
So death is the same for materialists and transcendentals, but what happens after death is imperative.