Garuda Purana On Leaving This Body

[suchandra]

"There is no pain at the time of death. Ignorant people have created much horror and terror regarding death. In the Garuda Purana and the Atma Purana, it is described that the pangs of death are tantamount to the pain caused by the stings of 72,000 scorpions. This is mentioned only to induce fear in the hearers and readers, and force them to work for Moksha. In spiritualism, there is unanimous report from the enlightened spirits that there is not even a bit of pain during death. They clearly describe their experiences at death and state that they are relieved of a great burden by the dropping of this physical body, and that they enjoy perfect composure at the time of separation from this physical body. Maya creates vain fear in the onlookers by inducing convulsive twitchings in the body. That is her nature and habit. Do not be afraid of death pangs. You are immortal, Amara."

 

SOURCE: http://www.dlshq.org/messages/death.htm

 

Pain caused by the stings of 72,000 scorpions - quite severe type of pain.

Above it says, this is not true, everything is peace?

 

source: http://www.lifeawarenesscenter.com/Research1.html

[theist]

I can accept that.

[suchandra]

 

I can accept that.

Just found this;

 

"So this is the movement how to make an adhīra dhīra. Everyone is adhīra. Who is not afraid of death? Who is not afraid of…? Of course, they are too much agnostic, they forget. But there is suffering. We can see how one suffering at the time of death. There are some men dying… Nowadays it has become a very common… Coma. One is lying in the bed for weeks, two weeks, crying. The life is not going. Those who are very, very sinful. So there is great pain at the time of death. There is great pain at the time of birth, and there is pain when you are diseased, and there are so many pains when you’re old. The body is not strong. We suffer in so many ways, especially rheumatism and indigestion. Then blood pressure, headache, so many things. Therefore one should be trained up how to become dhīra. These things, disturbances, make us adhīra, and we should be trained up to dhīra. That is spiritual education. One has to know it. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ. These sufferings, mātrā-sparśāḥ, tan-mātra. On account of the senses, sense perception, we suffer. And the senses are made of material nature. So one has to become above the material nature, then he can become dhīra. Otherwise, one has to remain adhīra. Dhīrādhīra- jana-priyau priya-karau."

 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.18

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Vṛndāvana, September 15, 1976

 

Anxious to Save Themselves from Death

At the time of death people become very anxious to save themselves, especially those who have been sinful. Of course, the soul itself is not subject to death (na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]), but leaving the present body and entering into another body is very painful. At death the living entity can no longer bear to remain in his present body—the pain is so acute.

 

http://causelessmercy.com/SC4.htm

[theist]

Yes the lead up to the moment of death may be very painful but the pain is in the diseased body and when the self leaves the diseased body he leaves that pain also. Of course there is the mental emotional attachments to family memebers but that that passes soon and is not some excruciating stinging pain of 72,000 scorpions.

 

But in all cases the cure is to become undisturbed. Not only from pain but from the pleasures associated with matter also.

[Avinash]

May be there is not pain just at the time of death. But, depending on how death occured, there may be huge pain moments before it.

[Ayush]

Quite acceptable

[suchandra]

 

Quite acceptable

Yes, at interview below Hari-Dhama prabhu (Henry T. Dom, PhD) says something similiar, atheists don't want to experience any pain and often put forward the request for dying unconsciously.

 

Innovations in End-of-Life Care

 

 

an international journal of leaders in end-of-life care

 

 

source: http://www2.edc.org/lastacts/archives/archivesNov99/intlpersp.asp

 

Q: By contrast, how might the spiritual needs of someone from a Western nation (a European or American), who may not believe in God, be addressed?

 

Hari-Dhama prabhu (Henry T. Dom, PhD): In my experience, atheists are not concerned with life after death. They are mainly concerned about being pain-free, sometimes requesting to be unconscious during the dying process, and are primarily interested in being at peace with themselves, the world and others. Speaking from my own Ayurvedic perspective, atheists seem to have the greatest difficulty in moving through the dying process, because it can be the occasion for a huge struggle between the "under-developed" spiritual intellect and the "developed" material intellect. It is the counselor's responsibility to facilitate a mental state in which the dying atheist can be comfortable and peaceful--often a huge challenge, since from my experience, atheists are very earthbound and attached to the material, which for them is the only reality.

 

Q: At your hospice in India, a spiritual care plan is an integral part of the overall plan of care, on a par with the medical and nursing care plan. What does a spiritual care plan consist of, specifically?

The spiritual care plan is an independent plan, which is implemented interdependently with the nursing and medical care plans. It forms part of the holistic approach to patient care. The ultimate goal of this aspect of care is to elevate the spiritual consciousness of the patient through his or her own spiritual/religious/cultural affiliations and practices, under the guidance of a spiritual counselor, who is either a priest or brahman. Although the plan is coordinated by the spiritual care counselor, it is informed by multidisciplinary perspectives from the rest of the care team. The plan includes information taken from interviews with the patient, his/her relatives, community care professionals and spiritual/religious leader(s), relevant to the patient's religious, psycho-social and cultural needs. It will identify spiritual strengths and how these are fulfilled through various practices, worship, rituals, and sacraments and how it could contribute to the healing of the patient. The plan also will identify spiritual needs (weaknesses) and how the hospital's multi-disciplinary team can meet these needs through mutually agreed upon strategies, based on aims, objectives and outcomes. The plan is continuously assessed, reviewed, updated and adjusted according to the needs of the patient and his/her family members. The patient is greatly involved in developing and executing the content of this plan. If the patient is discharged to home, the aims and objectives of the care plan can be adjusted, with the patient's consent. We encourage contact with the patient long after discharge or with the family members should the patient have died.

 

Q: How do Hindus explain the causes of disease?

 

Disease is explained by dysfunction in the family context as well as within the self. Therefore, as a first step in treating an Indian person, a health care provider needs to do a careful and systematic analysis of the family dynamics and how the individual perceives him/herself in relation to their God and all other living entities. In the Indian context, the individual would be asked questions about their own principles and values, based on his or her own scriptural injunctions, i.e., what/who is his or her true identity? What is the difference between matter and spirit? What does eternal life mean? What does he or she understand by karma? Who/what is God? Re-evaluation of their duties as individuals will then take place, and ultimately, through the practice of bhakti-yoga (devotional service), mantra meditation, and karma yoga (or service to the family and community)-all of these activities in combination with other therapies will restore balance and harmony into the patient's life.

 

Q: In the Indian context, if the family dysfunction is repaired, yet the person still suffers pain and dies, how is that understood by the patient and family?

 

The explanation and acceptance of the disease, pain and physical death lies in a deep understanding of the law of karma- you reap what you sow, to put it simplistically. The law of karma (action-reaction) is extremely intricate and complicated. Repairing a dysfunction only alleviates spiritual pain and makes the dying process easier. Ayurvedic belief accepts that suffering and some degree of pain will always be there.

 

Q: Is there an understanding of healing apart from cure in the Ayurvedic system?

 

Yes, spiritual healing. This happens when the dying patient's consciousness is actively engaged, through various means already mentioned earlier, in thoughts of God. Indian scriptures teach that if you think of God at the moment of death you will attain Him/Her. That is the ultimate goal of all Hindus. And if that is not achievable in this life, then a transmigration of the soul will give you another opportunity, wherein your next birth should be better than the one from which you have just departed. This attainment is dependent on the quality of the consciousness at the moment of death.

 

The body can temporarily be cured, but the spirit needs to be healed. To be healed spiritually means that the soul will return to its original destination: the spiritual world where there is no duality, through re-establishing a lost relationship with God. This return can only happen when a detachment from the material world takes place.

 

Q: How does this understanding of healing comfort people at the end of life?

It happens when all the working senses of the patient are engaged in bhakti-yoga, devotional service to God through either chanting mantras, tasting sanctified foodstuff, seeing images of God and His/Her associates in the form of deities, hearing transcendental sound vibrations, touching religious paraphernalia, reading scriptures or being read to, smelling religious items offered to God, such as flowers. Being engaged in this way lessens physical, emotional and spiritual pain. The atmosphere in which the patient dies, therefore, must be spiritualized.

 

Q: How would a Western hospital or hospice have to change to accommodate these beliefs and this kind of practice?

 

A Western hospital or hospice would need to be sensitive to the cultural/religious/spiritual needs of the non-Christian patients, by

 

* involving the family in the physical care of the patient;

* making the care environment homelike;

* accommodating dietary needs;

* allowing or encouraging patients and families to engage their own spiritual leaders in the spiritual care of the patient;

* adjusting the "chapel" in the institution to make it suitable for the spiritual practices of non-Christians; and

* making the care environment less institutionalized overall.

 

When health care professionals show visible interest in the faiths and cultures of others, for example, by visiting a Hindu temple, it can go a long way to building a respectful relationship.

 

Some other very simple modifications that would help include not using white sheets on the bed, personalizing the bed area and piping music from the patient's own religious or cultural traditions to the patient's bedside. Other things include making wards smaller and more personal, with fewer patients in each ward and providing overnight facilities for families and friends. The multi-disciplinary care team should be kept small, yet effective, and should cultivate a more personal, less professional (distant, superior) demeanor by wearing street clothes rather than uniforms. I believe it could be helpful to engage patients more in occupational therapies, complementary therapies, and to gradually introduce therapies from the East, such as ayurveda and pancha karma.

 

At St Christopher's Hospice, for example, the staff have a continuous liaison with spiritual leaders from different faiths in the community, attend inter-faith gatherings, make an effort to share in the celebrations of patients' religious holidays, and visit their places of worship. We request families to identify patients' special and specific needs regarding religious and spiritual practices. We allow spiritual leaders, family and patient to perform informal rituals at the bedside, and our chapel houses scriptures and icons of all the major faiths.

[bija]

May be there is not pain just at the time of death. But, depending on how death occured, there may be huge pain moments before it. avinash

Yes exactly Avinash.

 

The separation of subtle body from gross body experience causes no pain.

 

Here is my experience as a person who has had an NDE (near death experience).

 

I experienced panic, chest pains while lying down. Like my chest was tight and hurting, constricted like a weight was pressing on it. And then no pain!!!! Blackness...then a tunnel. Wonderment...and then fear like I had never experienced before. And never since! What I saw scared the crapper out of me!!! Such can be the experience in the subtle body and identifying with it.

 

Prior to the point of the subtle body separating from the gross body there may be various degrees of suffering from anxiety of death, panic, sorrow, bodily suffering etc etc.

 

But from my experience the separation of the subtle and gross bodies is not painful.

 

And after great fear in that subtle body realm I tasted great bliss, when I entered a subtle realm remembering God (towards the end of my NDE)...such bliss like never before. When I remembered God in that realm the fear left instantly and the vision that caused the fear was lifeless or irrelevant. I thought I would never taste such bliss again, indescribable peace (bliss). I saw It and I. Original. I thought I would never experience anything comparable; until now, since I have started to gradually awaken to bhakti....which is ever-new, 'ever-increasing' internal life. I look forward to next time, to finish the course of this body!!! But while I am in this body for a short time more...I wish to taste God. The bliss of that time finished in the NDE...'not your time go back'....eternality, knowledge, and bliss is by it's nature progressive. We can even taste that progressive development of bliss (bhakti) while in this body (a little hint for you all of what awaits the faithfull;)). Bhakti is worth cultivating...

 

Ofcourse over the years since that NDE my realization grows. Those of you who know will understand. But that day will remain with me as I realize more each day of the truth...day by day.

 

I hope my experience can encourage you all to remember God. All will be well then.

[Amlesh]

How do we perceive death is a very critical issue; it varies from person to person.

 

The various types of fear associated with death depends on the level of attachment that we have towards our body and also towards our lord.

 

Having understood fully the phrase "aham brahmasami", we can realise that death does not exist, our deeply saturated mind for the love of God does not make us realise the body and soul transition.

 

And also the fear of pain often comes when we don't have that much faith on Hari. For a Devotee who is supposed to get a difficult death for the sake of Humanity, an equal courage is given to match it.

 

Thinking too much about death means, still we have not elevated ourselves from doubts and duality.

 

For the one who has really seen the soul, he knows that "no one Kills and no one dies."

[Avinash]

 

Here is my experience as a person who has had an NDE (near death experience).quote]

I wish I also could get NDE. But do not want to try that. May be it will result into actual death.

 

 

 

Do you want to say that you were very afraid? Afraid of what?

 

 

What made you scared? Was it because you knew that you had left your gross body? Or some other reason?

 

 

Did you first feel bliss and then remembered God? Or did you first remember God and then feel bliss?

 

 

Did you remember God in any specific form like Krishna playing flute?

 

 

You felt bliss. After that you had to come back. Do you feel hurt that you had to come back?

 

 

Did you taste development of bliss while in this body? If yes, then how do you compare it with the bliss you felt in your NDE?

[bija]

Avisnash, I will explain little bits. You will understand. Ofcourse I am stiil in the process of my own self-realization! It was 14 years ago...I was just turned 25 yo.

Do you want to say that you were very afraid? Afraid of what?

Very afraid. Afraid of the projection...the image. The ego. Of what I did not want to become. I saw it as an image....frightening. Like an agent of yamaraja. It was black. It was awful. It was base. It was what man can be!

 

What made you scared? Was it because you knew that you had left your gross body? Or some other reason?

Leaving the body behind was of no concern. Infact I had no care that I had no body at that point. I was mind only. The fear was of becoming that which is not...base.

Did you first feel bliss and then remembered God? Or did you first remember God and then feel bliss?

When I realized I was being drawn to that frightening image, with no control, thats what caused the fear. It was pulling me upwards. Absolutely frightening. I was powerless. I thought I was going to become that base awful image.

When I stopped moving I was facing that image. Then I noticed the white light and remembered God. I cried out to the image (the black image), 'who are you?'

The truth answered. It was not the light. It responded by 'voice'. When I heard that voice bliss entered me, and fear left.

Did you remember God in any specific form like Krishna playing flute?

I was raised christian. So I am grateful I did not meet a grey headed grumpy old man:rolleyes:. I had no idea who was God. He answered me when I asked...'Original' was what the voice said. The voice that spoke that word was like rushing waters and resounding crystal gongs. It was a beautiful voice....it was outside of me...but within me at that moment. It was not me...but the beauty of the voice was also me. 'original' I am that voice to be, in final beatitude!. A spark of that incomparable beautiful Voice.

You felt bliss. After that you had to come back. Do you feel hurt that you had to come back?

I had no bad feeling of having to come back. Ofcourse now Avinash, as a spiritual man I have deep longing for love. And when I forget God and follow the senses I feel life is a waste. I wish to remember God continously without forgetfullness.

When I came back I went through ten years of serious breakdown of ego. Even to the point of no foundational ego (psychosis), the day after the NDE. I walked outside and cried 'oh my god', and collapsed into a delusiory world. The journey began. And the gradual re-structuring of my ego. Then in 2004 I met my spiritual master. I have synesthesia now too, by the way. Which has changed my whole mental structure and ego. I have a rare synesthesia, which teaches me in many ways. It feels like heaven sometimes with this synesthesia, but can be overwhelming sensory wise, which makes me sensitive to the insights.

Did you taste development of bliss while in this body? If yes, then how do you compare it with the bliss you felt in your NDE?

I have bliss in this body yes. The bliss in the NDE was profound, something I had never encountered before. It was intensely peaceful, safe, warm, love, home. I will never forget it!

The bliss I experience now is not as dramatic. But much more satisfying. It is a reciprocation now. It can be very painful now. Yearning, with glimpses and tears and shivering. And ofcourse mundane ordinary consciousness like most people. But the bliss is far greater in that I am growing in relationship with Krishna. That is how the bliss is greater.

Nature shines now, birds sing and fly close. I see people and wish we could all love without walls.

There are moments now when God is very close...that is a new bliss, it is tangible and ongoing. It is joy!

[bija]

sorry for my foolishness...I am also a ratbag!

[Amlesh]

Nope, you are the enlightened Kangaroo