Near Death Experiences

[Guest guest]

My Dear Siddharth Joshi,

 

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! I have read

you letter carefully and noted the contents. My comments are given below.

 

> Dear Your Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja:

> Please accept my most respectful and humble obeisances.

> All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

>

> Many have said that they have experienced these so called "Near Death

> Experiences" (NDE), predominantly those who have had cardiac arrest. All

> have attested that in these experiences, they have seen and "basked in" a

> bright white light, which they subsequently did not want to leave, being

> that it constituted an experience that far transcended any experienced in

> this realm.

>

>

> What would be the Vedic explanation of these experiences as well as the

> "bright white light"?

>

> Thank you for taking this inquiry into consideration.

>

> Your servant,

> Bhakta Siddharth

 

Thanks Bhakta Siddharth. sorry for the delay in responding. You caught me

right before the GBC meetings and Gaura Purnima festival when i didn't have

much time. Actually these questions could have been asked when i had

question and answer sessions during the festival by Vidvan Gauranga dasa or

anyone else and transcribed and posted here. My secretaries are not always

very pro-active so unless I suggest things they often don't think how to

help me. Maybe they will get the hint from this comment.

 

As far OBE, out of body experiences, I have studied the experiences a bit

and many people experience leaving their body and seeing themselves on the

operating table as well. Some see a tube or tunnel of light. Some see a

brilliant light. It isn't always exactly the same, but there are some

consistent things there.

 

This is all very much in keeping with Krishna consciousness philosophy. We

are not the gross body, nor are we the subtle body, but we are locked into

the subtle body until we get liberation. We leave our gross bodies after

every death and depending on our karmas we either go upwards, stay on a

similar level or go downwards. So what is happening is someone has left

their gross body in their subtle body for a short time and then returned.

Being on the subtle plane they could see various subtle energies and see

their gross body from that subtle plane.

 

It wasn't time for them to leave as yet so then they returned, but they

could remember these experiences. It is a good oppurtunity for you to show

them the Bhagavad Gita on the different types of bodies and educate them.

They will be interested and after that they may also become devotees. At

least they will buy some books from you. SB 3rd Canto on Kapila Muni's

Sankya-yoga describing how the souls passes from one body to the next is

also interesting for them. I have met many people like that and they are

happy to meet devotees as few persons will accept their experience and fewer

still understand it; hardly anyone can explain it like a devotee can. I

have made some of these persons devotees as they were so open to Krishna

consciousness after these experiences. They now knew that there was

something more then what meets the eyes.

 

I hope that this finds you in good health.

 

Your well wisher,

 

Jayapataka Swami