the soul

[Guest guest]

Dear Purush,

 

These questions prey on everyones mind. I would refer

you to a very good book on the subject, " Life after

Death " by Swami Abhedanandaji. There is also a book of

the same name by Sadhu J P Vaswani which is very

informative. Then there is of course the classic " The

Tibetan Book of the Dead " though I say it may not

refer to the fate of Hindu's.

 

--- purush <purush wrote:

 

> How long does a soul wait after death to take on

> another body?

 

The standard answer is that the soul does not wait

much. According to the Hindus, just like a worm

proceeds by leaving one tuft of grass to catch another

the soul similiarly goes from one body to another, of

course the resultant karma being the decisive factor.

However our concept of time, I dare say, may not be

valid for the other side.

 

> Does a soul know where it is heading to, the moment

> it leaves the body?

 

Only the highly evolved souls know it. For others

there is always the solace of the Gita that a Yogi who

is unable to complete/or falls from the path goes to

the families of the rich and the learned which gives

him all the oppurtunities for further evolution.

 

> What happens if a soul does not take on another

> form?

 

So long as the jiva is ignorant it remains bound to

the cycle of birth and death. There is always rebirth

after death, the ignorant cannot escape it. For those

who have developed faith in Thakur, Swami Sivanandaji

speaks of the Ramakrishnaloka where the devotees of

Thakur proceed after death.

 

> Does the departed soul know its loved ones it left

> behind?

 

There is a very interesting incident in Swami

Abhedanandaji's book where, during a planchet session

the soul of a childhood friend of Abhedanandaji enters

the medium and writes a note to him. From this we can

presume that the soul knows and remembers its loved

ones.

 

> And does it try to make contact with loved ones?

>

 

The answer is as above.

 

All said, Purush, there are so many views on the

subject that one would certainly know it all only

after death!

 

Regards

Jagannath

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Purush

 

I have the PDF version of the book by Swami Sivananda, " What becomes

of the Soul After Death " . Its about 435KB. I can send it to your

email id if you'd like. I dont think allows me attach

files or attachments.

 

In general, to answer your questions:

 

> How long does a soul wait after death to take on another body?

 

The idea of soul is different in Hindu view. Soul is the Brahmam,

imperishable. The westerners have used the term soul and say things

like " may his soul rest in peace " ! Whereas in the Indian view point,

the soul is always in peace " Sat-Chit-Anandam " .

 

Therefore, we need to understand that what transmigrates, is a subtle

form of the body not perceivable to the 5-senses. Infact we always

have 2 bodies, the " Sthula Sariram " (the gross) and the " Sushma

Sariram " (the subtle or astral body). The astral body is linked to

the gross when we are alive, but when we die, this cord is severed

and it departs.

 

When Saints see us, they can see our Aura which indicates our state

of mind. They dont get fooled by our external " pranams " and praises,

they know what each person's " vasanaas " and " samskaaras " are.

 

This subtle body also is sort of the representation of our mind. So

when we die, we will know we are out of this body, we can see people

weep around us but we will not be able to re-enter our body.

 

Slowly, based on our karmas, we will be destined to either the Pitru-

loka (the world of manes), or if we are unforgivable sinners, we will

be sent to Yama-loka where our immediate sentence would be read out

and carried out meticulously. Or if we have done good deeds we may be

sent to heaven. But if we have our Guru's grace, then we can proceed

to Vaikuntam or Kailasham or SriPuram.

 

Like the story of Ajamila indicates, first he was destined for hell

and " Yama-Dutaas " assemble, but later after repenting for his deeds

he becomes purified and ascends to Vaikunta in the vimana after

attaining to the " divya-sariram " with chatur-bhujam etc.

 

Otherwise, we could also get an immediate birth as a human being. If

its a suicide or some death due an accident, then we could end up

roaming around as spirits and be in terrible agony for some months or

years.

 

For animals and insects, they progressively get the next birth as

soon as they die. They keep getting births like that until they are

finally born as a human being. That's the chance that god gives us to

redeem ourselves from this cycle of births and deaths.

 

Thus we have no control over what happens once we die. IT all depends

on our deeds(karma). The only chance we have is the present, NOW.

 

In " viveka-chudamani " Sankara says that being born itself is rare and

being born as a man(human) is even rare, and in that janma, talking

about Atma, realization etc. is even rarer and getting to meet a

Jivan-muktha is the rarest thing in the entire universe. One has to

have done good karmas in thousands of births for that.

 

And if one meets such a Jivan-Muktha, then one need not do anything

else after that. Just listening to him and following his words

verbatim, is enough to get rid of this cycle of births and deaths.

 

-- Pradeep

[Guest guest]

Dear Pradeep,

It will be my pleasure to read the book of Swami Sivanandana.."what becomes of the soul after death. Can you please e-mail me at dave the pdf file you have.

Anup

Pradeep Janakiraman wrote:

Dear PurushI have the PDF version of the book by Swami Sivananda, "What becomes of the Soul After Death". Its about 435KB. I can send it to your email id if you'd like. I dont think allows me attach files or attachments. In general, to answer your questions:> How long does a soul wait after death to take on another body?The idea of soul is different in Hindu view. Soul is the Brahmam, imperishable. The westerners have used the term soul and say things like "may his soul rest in peace"! Whereas in the Indian view point,the soul is always in peace "Sat-Chit-Anandam". Therefore, we need to understand that what transmigrates, is a subtle form of the body not perceivable to the 5-senses. Infact we always have 2 bodies, the "Sthula Sariram" (the gross) and the "Sushma Sariram" (the subtle or astral body). The astral body is linked to the gross when we are alive, but when we die, this cord is severed and it departs. When Saints see us, they can see our Aura which indicates our state of mind. They dont get fooled by our external "pranams" and praises, they know what each person's "vasanaas" and "samskaaras" are. This subtle body also is sort of the representation of our mind. So when we die, we will know we are out of this body, we can see people weep around us but we will not be able to re-enter our body. Slowly, based on our karmas, we will be destined to either the Pitru-loka (the world of manes), or if we are unforgivable sinners, we will be sent to Yama-loka where our immediate sentence would be read out and carried out meticulously. Or if we have done good deeds we may be sent to heaven. But if we have our Guru's grace, then we can proceed to Vaikuntam or Kailasham or SriPuram. Like the story of Ajamila indicates, first he was destined for hell and "Yama-Dutaas" assemble, but later after repenting for his deeds he becomes purified and ascends to Vaikunta in the vimana after attaining to the "divya-sariram" with chatur-bhujam etc. Otherwise, we could also get an immediate birth as a human being. If its a suicide or some death due an accident, then we could end up roaming around as spirits and be in terrible agony for some months or years. For animals and insects, they progressively get the next birth as soon as they die. They keep getting births like that until they are finally born as a human being. That's the chance that god gives us to redeem ourselves from this cycle of births and deaths. Thus we have no control over what happens once we die. IT all depends on our deeds(karma). The only chance we have is the present, NOW. In "viveka-chudamani" Sankara says that being born itself is rare and being born as a man(human) is even rare, and in that janma, talking about Atma, realization etc. is even rarer and getting to meet a Jivan-muktha is the rarest thing in the entire universe. One has to have done good karmas in thousands of births for that. And if one meets such a Jivan-Muktha, then one need not do anything else after that. Just listening to him and following his words verbatim, is enough to get rid of this cycle of births and deaths. -- Pradeep Sri Ramakrishnaye NamahVivekananda Centre Londonhttp://www.vivekananda.co.uk