Why is
there death? What is death? Why does it often create
a feeling of fear, horror or indignation? These are
questions which confront all of us at some point in
our lives. A mental understanding of the nature and
purpose of death, definitely helps in facing death, (whether
one's own or of someone's else), though it does not
entirely solve the emotional and psychological
problems. Here, however, we will not enter into this
aspect of the question.
What
happens after Death
The
second question which arises is what happens to a
person after death. Is there any part of the being
which survives? Is there anything like rebirth and if
so what does it mean? These again are important and
complex questions but we will not enter at length
into this topic also here. We will confine ourselves
to only two excerpts, one from the Mother and the
other from Sri Aurobindo, to give a very brief idea,
which would be relevant to our main questions.
"Life
is immortal. It is only the body that dissolves."
- The
Mother
"The
soul takes birth each time, and each time a mind,
life and body are formed out of the materials of
universal Nature according to the soul's past
evolution and its need for the future.
When
the body is dissolved, the vital goes into the
vital plane and remains there for a time, but
after a time the vital sheath disappears. The
last to dissolve is the mental sheath. Finally
the soul or psychic being retires into the
psychic world to rest there till a new birth is
close.
This
is the general course for ordinarily developed
human beings. There are variations according to
the nature of the individual and his development.
For example, if the mental is strongly developed,
then the mental being can remain; so also can the
vital, provided they are organised by and centred
around the true psychic being; they share the
immortality of the psychic.
The
soul gathers the essential elements of its
experiences in life and makes that its basis of
growth in the evolution; when it returns to birth
it takes up with its mental, vital, psychical
sheaths so much of its Karma as is useful to it
in the new life for further experience."
- Sri
Aurobindo
Heaven
and Hell
There
is one more important question as to whether there is
anything like Heaven and Hell to which the soul has
to go after death. Here is one short excerpt from Sri
Aurobindo.
"Hell
and Heaven are often imaginary states of the soul
or rather of the vital which it constructs about
it after its passing. What is meant by hell is a
painful passage through the vital or lingering
there, as for instance, in many cases of suicide
where one remains surrounded by the forces of
suffering and turmoil created by this unnatural
and violent exit. There are, of course, also
worlds of mind and vital worlds which are
penetrated with joyful or dark experiences. One
may pass through these as the result of things
formed in the nature which create the necessary
affinities, but the idea of reward or retribution
is a crude and vulgar conception which is a mere
popular error."
- Sri
Aurobindo
The
Right Attitude
Now we
come to our main question: "How do we deal with
the passing away of someone extremely close?"
Here are a few excerpts from Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother which can give us strength and help us to take
a right and deeper attitude:
"What
has happened must now be accepted calmly as the
thing decreed and best for his soul's progress
from life to life, though not the best in human
eyes which look only at the present and at
outside appearance. For the spiritual seeker
death is only a passage from one form of life to
another, and none is dead but only departed. Look
at it as that and shaking from you all reactions
of vital grief, - that cannot help him in his
journey, - pursue steadfastly the path to the
Divine"
*
"I
can understand the shock your wife's catastrophic
death must have been to you. But you are now a
seeker and sadhak of the Truth and must set your
mind to rise above the normal reactions of the
human being and see things in a larger greater
light.
Regard
your lost wife as a soul that was progressing
through the vicissitudes of the life of Ignorance
- like all others here; in that progress things
happen that seem unfortunate to the human mind
and a sudden accidental or violent death cutting
short prematurely this always brief spell of
terrestrial experience we call life seems to it
especially painful and unfortunate. But one who
gets behind the outward view knows that all that
happens in the progress of the soul has its
meaning, its necessity, its place in the series
of experiences which are leading it towards the
turning-point where one can pass from the
Ignorance to the Light. He knows that whatever
happens in the Divine Providence is for the best,
even though it may seem to the mind otherwise.
Look
on your wife as a soul that has passed the
barrier between two states of existence. Help her
journey towards her place of rest by calm
thoughts and call to the Divine Help to aid her
upon it. Grief too long continued does not help
but delays the journey of the departed soul. Do
not brood on your loss, but think only of her
spiritual welfare.
One
can help the departed souls by one's good will or
by occult means, if one has the knowledge. The
one thing that one should not do is to hold them
back by sorrow for them or longing or by anything
else that would pull them nearer to earth or
delay their journey to their place of rest.
"
- Sri
Aurobindo
