Soul after death?

[Schope]

I'm curious as to what Hinduism believes happens to our "Soul" or "Divine Energy" immediately after death. Does it meet with God for a chit-chat? Does it remain conscious and meet relatives, spiritual guides?, Does it get thrust unconsciously into its next incarnation? Does it get conscious "insight" into the positive and negative spiritual meanings of its previous life, before going on to its next one? Thank you.

[Guest guest]

You answered your own questions.

 

Joy

[Guest guest]

"The ancient Vedic literature, such as Vedanta Sutra, affirms many of the concepts that often appear in modern near-death experiences. First of all, according to this Hindu source, we are not merely physical bodies; rather, we are spiritual beings who dwell from time to time in physical bodies. While in the physical body, a person sees what he/she desires in his/her "mind's eye" which, in turn, is enacted into physical reality. In modern terms, this "mind’s eye" can best described as a television set, where our minds flash images that represent the objects of our desires. The acceptance or rejection of these images is done through the use of the mind’s ability to make simple judgments called sankalpa and vikalpa (accepting and rejecting). The Vedic scriptures describe the soul as being like a passenger seated in a chariot where a person’s intelligence has the reigns. These reigns are connected to the senses, which are represented as different colored horses, by the mind. The soul of a person that has identified with the person's body all during the life of the body will be in for quite a shock when it suddenly finds itself outside the physical body."

 

"A commentary on the Vedanta Sutra states:

 

.".. if one is not so pious he is to be taken down one of the 72,000 nadis (roads) that are mentioned in the Vedanta Sutra, each of which, like a predestined door to your future, has your designated destiny behind it."

 

Some people had near-death experiences in which guides have been contacted and directions given before returning to the physical world.

 

Srila Baladev Vidyabhushana, in his Govinda bhasya commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, says that people cannot return to the spirit world until all their works are completed (Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad 4:4:6.)

 

The description from Hindu scripture is of the souls venturing down long "nadis" (subtle tunnels or routes) and having their life flash before them as they travel while in a kind of sleep or dream state. It is stated that souls enter into a peaceful state and experiences the enlightened state of Brahman. Here it is clearly defined that souls are tended by appointed guides who share with them spiritual enlightenment and help them overcome the material attachments to which they are forced to return. However, the Vedanta Sutra states that the same person, in one sense, does not return.

 

"When a jiva (soul) enters to the Brahman, he enters like a jar full of salt water, with covered mouth, plunged into the Ganges. When he awakens from sleep, it is the same jar, taken out of the river with the same water in it. In the same way, the jiva, covered by his desires, goes to sleep and for the time being puts off all sense activities and goes to the resting place, namely, the Supreme Brahman, and again comes out of it, in order to get further experience. He does not become similar to the Brahman, like the person who has obtained release. Thus we learn from this four fold reason that the same soul which had gone to sleep, awakes into the same body." (Govinda Bhasya - Vedanta Sutra 3rd Adhyaya 2nd Pada, 6th Adikarana sloka 10)

 

Those souls that are worthy of reform are taken to the Plutonic realm of the Yamaraj by their guides at the speed of mind to experience what they had done to others. Others return to the physical realm where they find themselves changed and embodied with a mission to enlighten and awake those who are in a similar situation.

 

There also exists similarities in near-death experiences concerning the encounter with the Being of Light and the encounter with the Supreme Brahman. The Bhavagad-Gita, Chapter 6, verses 29-30, describes this state in this way:

 

"A true yogi observes Me [the Supreme Brahman] in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere. For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me."

 

In Chapter 11, verse 4-16, it is stated:

 

[Arjuna asks the Supreme Lord] "If You think that I am able to behold Your cosmic form, O my Lord, O master of all mystic power, then kindly show me that universal Self.

 

"The Blessed Lord said: My dear Arjuna, O son of Prtha, behold now My opulences, hundreds of thousands of varied divine forms, multicolored like the sea. O best of the Bharatas, see here the different manifestations of Adityas, Rudras, and all the demigods. Behold the many things which no one has ever seen or heard before. Whatever you wish to see can be seen all at once in this body.

 

"This universal form can show you all that you now desire, as well as whatever you may desire in the future. Everything is here completely. But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give to you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence.

 

"Sanjaya said: O King, speaking thus, the Supreme, the Lord of all mystic power, the Personality of Godhead, displayed his universal form to Arjuna. Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths and unlimited eyes. It was all wondrous. The form was decorated with divine, dazzling ornaments and arrayed in many garbs. He was garlanded gloriously, and there were many scents smeared over his body. All was magnificent, all-expanding, unlimited. This was seen by Arjuna.

 

"If hundreds of thousands of suns rose up at once into the sky, they might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form. At that time Arjuna could see in the universal form of the Lord the unlimited expansions of the universe situated in one place although divided into many, many thousands. Then, bewildered and astonished, his hair standing on end, Arjuna began to pray with folded hands, offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord.

 

"Arjuna said: My dear Lord Krsna, I see assembled together in Your body all the demigods and various other living entities. I see Brahma sitting on the lotus flower as well as Lord Siva and many sages and divine serpents. O Lord of the universe, I see in Your universal body many, many forms--bellies, mouths, eyes--expanded without limit. There is no end, there is no beginning, and there is no middle to all this."