The Journey Beyond Death

Confronting death often shakes our sense of purpose and understanding of life. It stirs questions about morality, rebirth, and the soul’s journey. This reflection offers insights into spiritual beliefs that transcend the physical realm

Every time we see death or attend a funeral, we experience something like cemetery induced reclusion which makes our mind & body numb. It happens every time we see death from close quarters, particularly of near and dear ones. This makes us question the very purpose of our life, the determination of right and wrong, of ethics and morality. We start thinking that if death is the be all and end all of it all, then why should we bother about doing good deeds and fear punishment for our sins? There are mainly two kinds of people who have two different beliefs in this regard. The first kind of people believe in rebirth of human beings and strongly feel that the account of our good and bad deeds will be settled on the day of judgment, when the dead would rise from their graves; and then there are second kind of people who not only believe that human souls are reborn, but they also feel that humans transmigrate into 8.4 million species before getting a human birth again. However, there is very little knowledge about the third kind of people who believe that human souls take rebirth and are always in the human body.

According to Hindu Mythology, a soul never dies, it is the body which dies & immediately after death the soul changes body as we change clothes. With modern techniques like Past Life Regression, there are lots of cases around us where we see a child claiming to be experiencing visions of his/her previous births. Various cases of child prodigies, who can memorize voluminous scriptures at a young age, or who excel their peers in particular academic disciplines, are also the result of the soul carrying its experiences and skills from one birth to another.

We must not forget a fact that just as a seed is of no use unless it is sown and tends to grow up into a plant, the existence of the soul is purposeless after leaving a body unless it takes rebirth. As human beings nearly all our interactions are with fellow humans. Thus, we create karmic accounts with humans, to settle which we have to take birth in human form again. The analogy of the seed also illustrates this point. Just as a mango seed brings forth a mango tree, which then produces mangoes, which again provide mango seeds, the human soul possesses human qualities, feelings and experiences, and is the seed of human life.

Hence it cannot function in any other living creature’s body. Though many of the facts mentioned above are known to people, skepticism about the existence of souls and facts like rebirth are widespread because of the lack of an experience of soul-consciousness. Such an experience requires spiritual effort for which one has to focus the mind and the intellect inward and then contemplate on it in silence.

Slowly one begins to sense the existence of a sentient entity within, which is the soul. Such an experience, repeated over time, brings soul-consciousness, or the belief that one is a soul. It is this experience of reality which removes the shroud of ignorance from all other facts of the subtle world of souls, which we usually dismiss in disbelief for lack of material proof. So let us practice to remain in soul consciousness and enjoy being an enlightened soul without any botheration.

(Writer is a spiritual educator & popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal & UK. Till Date 8500+ Published Columns have been written by Him)