Shri Mataji: There should be no fear of death but on the contrary should be we

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" In a human form you decrease your age as your birthday comes. But

with this you increase your age. And you are proud that you are

growing. In the human level you feel unhappy that you are growing;

here you feel proud that you are growing. "

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

The Way Of Our Spiritual Growth And Sahaja Penance,

London, U.K. — April 22, 1984

 

 

" And when you die what happens to you is a very simple thing — that

you feel liberated, absolutely, and then you feel your freedom,

completely, and you can decide what to do. It's all under your own

guidance, your own desires, everything works out. You don't feel that

you have come out of your body and this is what (I) should tell you:

that there should be no fear of death but on the contrary should be

welcomed because you will feel much more liberated, much more at

ease... "

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

To Achieve Complete Freedom, Cabella, Italy — May 7, 1995

 

 

" General George Patton of World War II fame, no stranger to personal

reincarnational remembrances (he claimed to recall previous

battlefield experiences as Napoleon), once observed, " For Hindus

death is the most exalted experience of life. " This idea is naturally

hard for non-Hindus to grasp — all the more so for atheists facing

Eternal Oblivion and those of Abrahamic faiths which define death as

a punishment for man's sinful disobedience. To them, death is the

ultimate sign of man's spiritual failure, a belief which arouses

instincts of denial and injustice. One may feel penitent and guilty,

not to mention uncertain about the destination ahead.

 

No such thoughts attend the dying days of a Hindu. Of course, there

is much sadness surrounding the passing of friends and family, but

that is honest acknowledgement of our loving attachments. Inside we

know death is OK, natural, that the soul, even if it was less than

perfect in this life, is continuing its appointed journey across

life's oceanic phenomena toward Liberation and will, in time and

without fail, reach the other shore. The Hindu's presumption of

numerous births mitigates the tragedy of death, whether the passage

is his own or another's. So, Hindus call death by lofty names — Maha

Samadhi, " Great Superconscious State " and Maha Prasthana, " Great

Departure. " To be near an awakened soul at the time he or she gives

up the body is considered among the most blessed of opportunities.

While ordinary people are remembered on their day of birth, Hindus

honor enlightened souls on the day of their departure, translated in

English as " liberation day. " "

 

Himalayan Academy, 1998. www.hinduismtoday.kauai.hi.us/welcome.html

 

 

" Those who have spiritual enlightenment tell us that the basic cause

of fear of death is our metaphysical or spiritual ignorance, which

lies in the identification of the spirit with the body. As long as we

are not aware of our true spiritual essence, of the reality of the

spirit or the true self within us, it is natural that we are

subjected to this fear of death.. The body is subject to the laws of

nature. It is born, it grows, it attains maturity, it declines and it

perishes. When we identify with this body and we have no

understanding of our spiritual essence, naturally we feel that

decline and eventual disintegration of the body mean our decline and

destruction. So in all religions, the great spiritual geniuses have

declared unequivocally that the more we know of our true spiritual

essence of our being, the more we overcome the fear of death. We take

a deeper perspective. We realize destruction of the body does not

involve destruction of our spiritual nature, which is immortal and

imperishable in character. Therefore, it is evident that the best way

to conquer and overcome this fear of death is to sharpen our

spiritual understanding and experience...

 

As the great philosopher Spinoza said, the essence of spiritual

wisdom is to be able to behold life under the aspect of eternity. "

 

Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri, The Essence of Spiritual Philosophy,

Thorsons Publishing Group, UK, 1990, p. 133-6.

 

 

" ... 'to become the very self of every being' (BG. 5.7) does not mean

the loss of a personal relationship with God, and probably with other

liberated beings as well. This is in line with at least one type of

Upanishadic thought typified in the dialogue between Indra and

Prajapati in Chandogya Upanishad 8. The relevant passage is 8.12, 1-

3:

 

Bountiful One! For sure this body is mortal, held in the grip of

death. Yet it is the dwelling-place of the immortal, incorporeal

self. And this self, while still in the body, is held in the grip of

pleasure and pain; and so long as it remains in the body there is no

means of ridding it of pleasure and pain. But once it is freed from

the body, pleasure and pain cannot as so much touch it.

 

The wind has no body. Clouds, thunder, and lightning — these too have

no body. So, just as these arise from the broad expanse of space up

there and plunge into the highest light, revealing themselves each in

their own form, so too does this deep serenity arise out of this body

and plunge into the highest light, revealing itself in its own form.

Such a one is a superman (uttara purusa); and there he roves around,

laughing, playing, taking his pleasure with women, chariots, or

friends and remembering no more that excrescence which was his body...

 

Liberation is no longer the isolation of the classical Samkhya-Yoga:

rather it is the end of what Christians mystics call as via

purgativa, the way of the vishuddh'atma, the 'purified self' (5.7:

cf. 5.11:6.12.) It is the beginning of the personal encounter of the

integrated and liberated self with God. "

 

R.C. Zaehner, BhagavadGita,

Oxford University Press, 1969, p. 234.