Dead and Gone- Part 3

Staying on this same topic, let us further explore how we can investigate the subject of birth and death and get to the Truth.  As we already learned, the body is nothing but the combination of five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space). After so called 'death' of the body, the elements mix back with the universal elements. Meaning thereby that there is no such thing as "my individual water" or "my individual space" (although myspace.com may object to that statement!!) or "my individual air". Air is air, water is water and space is space. In the same way, consciousness is consciousness. There is nothing like individual consciousness or universal consciousness.  However, for the sake of understanding and clarity, a Guru may use such terms. After so called 'death', the consciousness no longer having a vehicle for its expression (i.e. the body), returns to universal consciousness. There is no actual return as such.  For example, the space inside an earthen pot is the same as the space outside the pot.  On breaking the earthen pot, the space inside does not actually 'return' to the space outside.  Space inside mixes up with space outside, really? You get the point.

As already explained elsewhere in this blog, consciousness is like electricity. Electricity is electricity. There is no essential difference between electricity in Mexico and electricity in Holland or electricity in China or Russia.  Just like electricity can function in different forms and produce different effects, consciousness does so too.  Electricity functioning through a fan produces a breeze, through an oven produces heat, through an air-conditioner produces cooling, through a radio produces sound, or through a motor produces motion. In the same way, consciousness expressing through different forms like humans, dogs or worms produces different effects. The consciousness expressing in the body through various permutations and combinations of the gunas (attributes or gunas are Sattva, Rajas,and Tamas) give rise to unlimited personalities in the same species. The effects can be many but the cause is one.

For something to die it must be born.  Keeping it simple, we can see that the elements are not born for they were there before the so called birth of 'my body'.  Similarly, the consciousness is not born with the birth of "my body".   So, what exactly is born?  Can you not SEE the obvious? Nothing is born and therefore nothing dies. What happens is that the consciousness no longer expresses itself through that particular body.  Where is the question of birth and death other than a concept created in the mind based on the primary concept of being 'born' as a separate and independent body-mind entity called "me"?

Having heard and digested all of the above, who and what are you?  In what capacity are "you" going to change or do anything?

Dead and Gone-Part 2

Often the entity or person that is supposedly dead is also the one that you loved very much. For instance, and just for instance as an example, it could be one of your parents.  Sorry for this rather stark analogy but it serves the purpose of Awakening you. You loved your mother a lot when she was alive.  For all your life, you assumed your mother was the body that she represented. You saw that same body change continuously just like yours. The change could be called deterioration of the body.  Perhaps, the change in the body was minimal and the so called 'death' came suddenly. In any case, the object of your love suddenly seemed to have vanished into thin air. Precisely, into thin air.  For, if indeed she was the body, the body was still there after the so called 'death'.  So, you may ask "where did my mother go?".

If you pause to think over this carefully, you may wonder who was it that was your mother? She certainly could not be the body for it is lying there in an inert condition and refusing to respond to any stimuli from the external world.  Despite your crying for her, she refuses to respond. You are in dismay, for the object of your love, the body, is suddenly refusing to respond to your show of emotion and love.  So, who is it that you loved if not the body? Who is it that you called "mom" and where is she now?

In some cultures and traditions, the dead body is cremated leaving behind the ashes. After all the body is merely a product of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space) and all that is left now is the ashes i.e carbon, which is a product of the earth. Is it possible that all along you were loving this carbon ash? Certainly not!  Is it not the entity (or non-entity to be more precise) that animated your mother's body that you actually loved? THAT which is responsible for the animation of your "mother's body", would that not be the same for "your body"?  THAT which gives rise to the sense "I am" to your mother, would that not be the same for "your body"?  Now that your mother is "dead", she no longer has the Knowledge of Being i.e. she is no longer able to say "I am" or for that matter "I am not" either.   So, all along what you thought you loved (as a personality i.e. your mother) was none other than that I AM(the Beingness), which is also WHO YOU ARE (I AM). So, in fact you were loving your own Self all along except that you viewed that body as someone else i.e. your mother. You had failed to see the substratum that animated the gross body.  You had failed to see the Beingness- the same Beingness which animates "your body". Call IT by whatever name or label you want, but there should be no doubt that what you loved all along was none other than your own Self.

So, you can see that pondering over concepts like birth and death can open up avenues to know your True Nature. Now that you Know, keep meditating on that Beingness.

Dead and Gone- Part 1

We have so much  to learn from death. In fact a close scrutiny or investigation of death as an event, may in fact give the answer to who you really are or the Truth. There are lots of questions which arise when someone close to you dies. Once the process of grieving is over, it may be an opportunity to investigate further into this matter, if one is so inclined. Assuming that all those who read this blog are already well ingrained in the philosophy of Advaita, one does not have to wonder where this is leading to.

In all languages, when someone dies, it is common to say that so-and-so "is dead and gone". Which brings to the question as to WHO is it that is dead. And further, TO WHERE HAS THE DEAD PERSON GONE? In that case, is it not appropriate to ask as WHO is it that is born in the first place. Alternatively, where did the person come from? For, if one has to be gone, it is assumed that one has firstly got to come from somewhere. You cannot go anywhere unless you have come from somewhere.

Merely having a discussion on this subject is not at all enough. Most discussions would involve what you have heard or learnt from someone. Depending on your upbringing,  you may come up with answers that were told to you by someone or the other. A dead person is certainly not going to be of much help either! So, the answer has to come from you itself.

So, where should one begin? It would be most appropriate to begin with birth since there cannot be death without birth. There cannot be life without death and death without life or birth. But, if that seems like too much and you want to stick to the topic of death, so be it.  Since, so far  you have associated yourself with being the body, it should be assumed that the body is the one that is dead. Well, the body does not go anywhere after death, does it? The body is still there in the coffin. The only thing is that it has stopped responding to its name being called out.  The body does not say "I am dead". So, who is it that has died and gone if it is not the body? Keep your mind pondering over this question. Of course, you can accuse the author of not giving the answer since it would be so much easier. But, in that case, you can also accuse the author of providing the answer based on the author's viewpoint and therefore brush it off as yet another philosophical concept. More so, if the answer is given here then it would be similar to all other indirect knowledge that you have so far accumulated. But, don't feel abandoned. Keep pondering over this and the answer shall come to you from within your own self.

The next point to ponder over is "where did he/she come from?" if he/she has died and gone. Find out who or what is the personality that arrived in this world so spontaneously and left so spontaneously. If it is not the body, then why do you say that your birth day is the day the body came out your mother's womb? Can  you deny the fact that the body was already there in the womb prior to its exit out of the womb? Also, is there not something fundamentally wrong in saying that birth is the appearance of the baby body from the mothers womb, but that death is not the disappearance of that same body. Or to put it more bluntly, if birth=appearance of body, then death should be =disappearance of the body. But you know that it is not how it is. The body remains right where it is after so called death.  So, obviously, whoever it is that is born is certainly not the body. Then, who is it that is born and and who is it that dies, if it is not the body? In fact, is there anything like birth and death? Or is it yet another delusion that you have fallen for?

Ponder over this carefully till you get the answer from within. You will be amazed when you get the answer.

You are the Unborn

You are the Unborn. To many, this statement is difficult and perhaps impossible to comprehend. But, to a discriminating seeker, the understanding of one's True Nature, brings together the simplicity of this statement. As is often said here, the Truth is very simple, if only one makes the effort to inquire. Let us try to figure out why you are the Unborn.

First, one must verify if you are really born. Did you experience your birth? No? If not, on what basis do you say that you were born on so and so day, month and year? Is it not true that you were told "you"( meaning the body) entered this world from the womb of your mother, on a particular day and time? So, what you call "my birth day" is not direct knowledge but one that is acquired from others. It is because, you identify yourself with this body, that you willingly accept what others tell you about your being born on a particular day.  Can you truly say that you were not before the body came into the world from the womb? Can you deny the fact that the fetus in the womb was not you?  So, what exactly is your date of birth? Is it the time of conception, which is nothing but the mating of the sperm with the ovum? The sperm and the ovum are nothing but the products of the essence of the food eaten by your parents. So, would you say that your birth was when the food was eaten by your parents and in that case, what food and when? You get the gist of this argument!! In the same way, the question of death can be resolved. You can never say "I am dead" upon dying!  Only those who have the knowledge "I am" can make the claim that "so and so person identified by this body is dead".  So, there is no question of you experiencing death either.

In the absence of experience of birth and death, how can you make such claims? Is it not true that your claims are based purely on hearsay and without direct experience of either event? What you know for certain though is the fact that you ARE- the fact of your existence. It is your direct experience, right here and right now. You cannot say " I am not" with any certainty at all.  There is direct knowledge of your existence and it is not hearsay either.

Birth and death are events in time. Time is itself a concept in the mind. But, you as Pure Awareness, exist prior to the mind. Hence, you are timeless or prior to time. That is, there is no beginning or ending, i.e. birth or death, in the absence of time.

So, you may ask, what exactly is born? What is born is the primary concept "I am"(or the primary illusion) and with that primary concept came all other concepts including time and space. The consciousness falsely identifies itself with the body and thereby is established the idea "I am the body".  As a result of these concepts, one comes to falsely believe in the concept of an entity being born and dying.  The body being nothing but the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) mixes back with the elements upon "death" and the consciousness mixes back (so to speak) with the Universal Consciousness. So, who is born and who dies?