What Becomes of the soul after death by Swami Sivananda

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

When you pass from one plane to another you do not move in space. You simply change
your consciousness. You change your focus of consciousness. You can have different sorts of
vision through the telescope or microscope by using lenses of different degrees of potency or
power. You have got different vehicles within yourself which correspond to different planes and
which can function in different planes.
In the dreaming state your astral body functions. In the deep sleep state your causal body
functions. Even so, in the astral plane your astral body operates, in the mental plane your mental
body operates, in the Brahmaloka your causal body functions. Each plane is formed by matter of
different degrees of density. In the mental plane the matter is subtler than in the astral plane. In the
causal plane the matter is subtler than the matter of mental plane. The planes occupy the same
position in space. Heaven is here. Brahmaloka is here. Have a different vehicle or body and a
different subtler eye. You can function in any plane.
In the physical plane one gets knowledge of objects through the five Jnana-Indriyas or
organs of knowledge, viz., ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose. In the mental plane or heaven he does not
hear, see and feel by separate and finite organs. He gets a Divya Chakshus or divine eye, an
extraordinary new power or faculty. He can hear, see, feel and know everything of an object
instantaneously, through this new mental eye. He gets an accurate and perfect knowledge of all
objects. He is not deceived or misled by any external appearance. There is no misunderstanding.
In the mind all the powers of all the senses are blended. Mind is a mixture or compound of
all the organs. It can hear, see, taste, smell and feel.
He can get everything by mere Sankalpa or willing. If he thinks of a celestial car, it is there
before him at once. If he thinks of a place, he is there immediately. If he thinks of a person, he is
before him at once. There is no distance for him. There is no feeling of separation for him. He reads
the thoughts of others. Hence, questions and answers are not necessary in the mental plane. The
interchange of ideas is very quick.
He can know the past and the future also. He is endowed with clairvoyance and
clairaudience. He can simultaneously manifest himself in various forms.
Heaven is a plane of enjoyment only. It is a place to reap the fruits of one s good Karmas
done in the earth-plane. One cannot do fresh Karmas there. He cannot attain Moksha or the final
emancipation from there. He will have to come down to this earth again for trying for his salvation.
Indra, Varuna, Agni, etc., are the original Devatas or gods of heaven. There are
Karma-Devas also here. These are men who have raised themselves to the status of Devas through
72
WHAT BECOMES OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH
meritorious actions done in the earth-plane. A Deva has a luminous fire body. Fire preponderates.
The Devas exhibit different degrees of brilliance in accordance with different degrees of
advancement.
There is neither day nor night for a Deva, or an inhabitant of the mental plane, or heaven. He
is neither sleeping nor waking. When he enters heaven he experiences intense happiness. This is his
waking state. He sinks into a state of unconsciousness when the term of life in heaven terminates.
Brahmaloka is the world of Brahma or Hiranyagarbha. This is also known by the name
Satyaloka. Those who go by the path of Devayana reach this plane. Those who perform meritorious
actions without expectation of fruits and who lead the life of purity and righteousness and those
who worship Hiranyagarbha and all realised Bhaktas will go to this realm.
They attain Krama-Mukti or progressive emancipation. They enjoy all the Divine
Aisvaryas of the Lord and in the end of the cycle merge themselves in Para Brahman along with
Brahma, the Creator.
Brahmaloka becomes Vaikuntha or appears as Vaikuntha for a devotee of Lord Hari. It
becomes Kailasa or Sivaloka or appears as Sivaloka for a devotee of Lord Siva. It is the attitude that
works.
The Stay In Supra-Physical Planes
INTERVAL BETWEEN DEATH AND REBIRTH
People wish to know the exact period that elapses from the time of leaving the body and
being born again. Does the soul take a new body in one year? Does it take ten years? How long does
one live upon the subtler planes before reappearing on the earth-plane? These are some of the
questions. Now, there is no definite period of time in this matter. In main two factors decide this
issue viz., the nature of the individual Karma and the last impression before death. It may vary from
hundreds of years to a few months even. Those that work out some of their Karmas in other planes
in subtler regions, take a considerable time before entering a fresh body. The interval is very long,
for a year of the earth period passes off as a single day on the celestial plane. There is an instance
cited, where, seeing the amazement and admiration of foreign tourists at the imposing ruins of
certain ancient monuments, a saint present in the vicinity remarked that some of these very people
have fashioned these monuments centuries ago. Now they look in amazement upon their own
handiwork.
A very sensual individual with strong craving or one with intense attachment sometimes is
reborn quickly. Also in cases where life is cut short by a violent death or a sudden unexpected
accident, the Jiva resumes the thread very soon. This was so in the case of the Amritsar girl,
Mahindra Kumari. She was born within 7 months of her death in October, 1939. So strong was her
desire to see her brother at the time of death. Usually in such cases of immediate rebirth, the Jiva
often remembers many of the events of its previous life. It recognises its former relatives and
friends and identifies old home and familiar objects. This sometimes leads to very queer
73
LOKAS OR PLANES
developments. There are some instances where a murdered person, being reborn, has declared the
manner of death and revealed the identity of the killer in the recent past.
Thus, for instance, Dharmarajya reported (23 Mar. 1936) that in a village in Gwalior, a
village Patwari offended one Thakur Chotey Lal by making some false entries in the village-records
prejudicial to the latter s interest. To avenge the wrong the Thakur trapped the Patwari in an
ambush, shot him in the chest and severed the fingers of his right hand. Some time later, a son was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Podstrony