The subject of Life after Death or "The After Life" fascinates many of us. In an earlier post on the blog, we have read about the moments of death and what we experience when we die .
While for most us Death is involuntary, we have also understood how great sages and seers can take Samadhi (Voluntary cessation of Life after their purpose of being here is served). In this article we learn about the habitat of the departed soul, ghosts and apparitions, death and rebirth. The article also answers questions like : Is there an avarage time lag between death and rebirth?
The enclosed article is an excerpt from the very informative book " Life Beyond Physical Death" by Shriram Sharma Acharya. The author Shriram Sharma Acharya is himself a reincarnation of Sant Kabir, Samarth Guru Ramdass and Ramkrishna Paramhansa.
Quoted Text:
"The habitat of the departed soul:
On coming out of the body, the soul finds itself in a strange environment. Just as after a prolonged period of hard work one seeks a comfortable bed, in order to relax after the lifelong engagement with the body, the soul needs rest and sleep (a period of inactivity). This period of sleep provides the soul a great deal of rest. (Hence the prayer for the departed soul to rest in peace).
However, the soul does not fall asleep immediately after death but takes some time in doing so. Generally, the duration lasts about a month. It is because the habits and memories of earlier bodily attachments are fresh and strong at the time of death and only gradually loosen their hold. As an analogy, consider the state of body after hard labor. The circulation of blood is fast and one cannot fall sleep even on a comfortable bed till it becomes normal.
After its separation from the physical body (Sthool Sharir) on death, the soul assumes an astral body (Sukshma Sharir). The form of this body is somewhat similar to that of the physical body. The being is pleasantly surprised to find a sudden acquisition of levity. Now it can move freely in space like a bird and reach anywhere simply by willing to do so. After abandoning the physical body, the soul hovers around the mortal remains. Finding the near and dear ones mourning, it makes an attempt to communicate with them or re-enter the dead body, but does not succeed.
The following narration of a departed soul illustrates the point :"After death, I found myself in a strange situation. On account of my previous attachments with my physical body and dear ones, I wanted to interact with them but found myself helpless. I could see and hear everyone and talked loudly, but found that I had become invisible and inaudible to the living beings. Though it disturbed me to some extent, I felt very happy in my newly acquired body in which I felt very light and could fly around with great speed. I recollected, that while living I was afraid of death, for which now there did not appear any reason, whatsoever. Having acquired the new body, I became less interested in the older one, since this astral (Sukshma) body was in every way much superior to the previous one. I felt that I was existing as before and could see and move my limbs as earlier. It convinced me that there was nothing to fear about death and dying was only an ordinary natural process involving change of body."
Ghosts and spirits :
Because of earlier long attachment the soul continues to hover around the dead body till it is cremated. After it is reduced to ashes, it reluctantly seeks a diversion. On burial, however, it remains infatuated with the mortal remains and hovers around them for many days. Souls of less enlightened persons and of those having deeper involvements in worldly matters, haunt the graveyards and crematoriums for many days. A longing for the earlier body draws them again and again towards the place of cremation and unable to control their emotions, they wail around the grave. Then there are also individuals having deep affections with close friends and relatives. Souls of such persons prefer to stay near the favorite persons rather than around the place of cremation.
Old aged person while living naturally develop greater detachment from worldly affairs. Consequently, the soul of such a person is more relaxed and falls asleep sooner after death. On the other hand, youths having strong desires and attachments-specially those dying of shock or suicide suffer for longer duration, before having rest.
The Apparitions :
In the event of sudden death associated with pain, quite a few particles of the physical body (Sthool Sharir) cling to the Astral Body (Sukshma-Sharir), as a consequence of which, the soul retains the characteristics of both the former living as well as the astral being. It, therefore, has some physical as well as astral (Sukshma) components. Such souls, at times become visible to the living person as apparitions. However, this is not true about a person dying a natural death. In order to make themselves visible, the latter category of spirits have to make great efforts and carry out specific spiritual exercises.
Persons dying of unnatural death, on the other hand, exist as spirits (ghosts) and they are unable to sleep because of their troubled emotional state. Seeking opportunities for taking revenge or fulfilment of desires through the body of a living person, they hover around old "Pipal" trees, caves, ruins or some reservoir of water. They make their presence felt to the desired person or persons at opportune moments. The exorcists (Tantriks) bring such spirits under their control with help of witchcraft and make them work like slaves. The spirits, however, do not work willingly for the exorcists. They remain ever resentful and even kill their captors in unguarded moments. No one likes to be in bondage. The spirits perform like the caged lion in a circus.
The spirits generally tend to stay at a particular place, and do not change their abode frequently unless there is some specific reason to do so.
The rest before rebirth :
The souls of modest persons and of those having religious disposition severe links with the earlier worldly milieu after cremation and easily reconcile to the changed environment. Detaching themselves from the past, they easily fall asleep for recuperation. Nature has not specified any fixed duration for this period of rest. It depends on the state of spiritual health of the soul. As children and hard working persons need a longer period of sleep and rest, so do the souls in various states of spiritual health. Generally a duration up to three years is found sufficient for this rest. During the first year, the soul sleeps soundly within which it is able to recuperate from the exhaustion of earlier life and the finer perceptions of the new astral body begin to react efficiently to the requirement of new levels of sentience. In the succeeding second year of rest the soul recapitulates the wrong deeds (sins) of earlier existence and prepares itself for working in the new environment, in the light of past experiences. The third year is spent in looking for the milieu in which it desires to return to this world by taking birth in a new body. The duration mentioned here are averages. Occasionally, in specific cases, persons have been found taking rebirth even after six months, whereas others have taken as long as five years. The maximum age (period of existence) of spirits (Prait) is believed to be twelve years. Thus the maximum gap between the death of a person and rebirth could be taken as twelve years. "
Other similar articles on the topic of- Life after Death:
Moments of Death and what do we experience when we die?
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Source and credits :
The above is an excerpt from Acharya Shriram Sharma's fascinating book "Life Beyound Physical Death".
If you would like to read this very informative book "Life Beyond Physical Death" please click the link below:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58833184/the-Life-Beyond-Physical-Death
If you would like to download this wonderful book , please click the link below:
http://vicharkrantibooks.org/vkp_ecom/English_Books/Scientific_Spirituality/The_Life_Beyond_Death_English
If you would like to download this wonderful book , please click the link below:
http://vicharkrantibooks.org/vkp_ecom/English_Books/Scientific_Spirituality/The_Life_Beyond_Death_English
If you would like to know more about the author Shriram Sharma Acharya, please click the link below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriram_Sharma
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