What happens when we Die?

What happens when we die?

What happens when we Die?

A scientific understanding from the Vedantic Perspective

Every person born has either died or will die! Not to be morbid, but this is a fact. From a medical perspective, the body basically shuts down; generally, the heart stops beating, and blood and nutrients fail to reach the brain and the other organs, which makes them shut down too. Of course, there can be many reasons as to why the body shuts down, ranging from disease to old age and accidents.

So what happens when we die? Every religious tradition tries to answer this fundamental question. The eastern traditions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, have a similar understanding of what happens after death, though the details may vary. As a student of eastern philosophy, specifically the Hindu or Vedantic tradition, I present my understandings here based on that.

In science, there is the concept of spontaneity. Everything automatically or spontaneously moves to the most stable state, unless acted upon by another force; when that happens, the original spontaneity is disturbed and a new stable state is established. Let’s take the simple example of water: Below 0C, the most stable state for water is to be ice; water spontaneously becomes ice at that temperature.

But when heat enters the system, at room temperature, for example, the most stable state for water is to be a liquid. And with more heat, at temperatures above 100C, the most stable state for water would be gas. So there is the object (water or H2O to be precise), there is the temperature, which can be changed (let’s call this the ‘variable’) and there is the state of the object (liquid, solid, or gas), which is dependent on the variable.

The eastern philosophies and religions explain that the essence of life in a person is the soul; this is the fundamental particle of life and can also be addressed as the spiriton. When it is there, there is life and when it is not there, there is no life! This soul has unique properties that are beyond this material plane we live in. Within this material plane, however, the soul uptakes certain coverings that give it a perceived identity.

This identity is changeable according to the different coverings the soul wears. As we journey through life and have different experiences, these coverings change. For a lack of better translation, the English word used to denote the psyche of a person based on their coverings is consciousness. In this context, the word consciousness goes beyond the nervous system. It is the composite of ones thinking, feeling, desires, attachments, actions, and one’s perception of oneself (ego).

On the deepest level, the covering worn by the soul is termed the subtle body. It contains one’s mind, intelligence, and ego. What a person thinks, how a person discriminates, and one’s innate identity, all of these are functions of the subtle body. As such, according to the person’s nature, thinking, desires, etc, one’s subtle body changes. And according to the nature of the subtle body, a material body of flesh and blood (which we see in front of the mirror) is taken up.

This contains our senses and the hardware for our existence and is seen as the final covering; this final covering is also called the gross body. To summarise, there is the soul; within this material atmosphere, this soul takes on the first covering called the subtle body, and a covering made of flesh and blood, call the gross body.

So what happens when a person dies? According to the consciousness of the person (the object) who dies, by the jurisdiction of higher forces, the person leaves the gross physical body behind and spontaneously migrates to its most stable state of being that is in line with his / her consciousness. That is to say, based on the person’s past actions, thinking, feeling, desires, attachments, and perception of oneself, they would continue their journey. For example, if a person has a very ferocious and angry nature, after death the person continues their existence in a place where such a consciousness is predominant. This, for instance, could be in the form of ferocious animals in the wild. Just like water, which spontaneously becomes ice, liquid, or gas based on the temperature, we move to the most natural state based on our consciousness. However, unlike water, there are many facets or states to a person. As such, the net results of these states (a person’s consciousness) come into play, which attracts one to their next destination.

“If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.”
— Padmasambhava (8th Century Legendary Indian Buddhist Mystic)

The beauty of being a human is that our natures can be changed. Humans are given the ability to proactively change whatever innate natures they have. As such, though one may be born or even nurtured with certain qualities, these can be changed and we see numerous examples of this in society and in history. The eastern philosophies thus encourage one to maintain a life of goodness, compassion, generosity, virtue, discipline, and to keep the company of such individuals with good consciousness. These influence us and help us in developing a ‘good’ consciousness, which will come to our test as we breathe our last.

An important question that one should ask and introspect on is, what is the original nature of the soul without any of its coverings?

In the Vedantic tradition, the psyche one has according to ones thinking, feeling, desires, attachments, and perception of oneself is termed as one’s consciousness.

Realms of consciousness: Within this material plane, there are many different realms of consciousness. These realms are like categories that contain different levels of consciousness; the most secure positions for a particular consciousness. Within these different realms, different types of people or species of a different consciousness are found. The different realms or states of consciousness are akin to the different states of matter

Consciousness is variable: Consciousness changes according to one’s experience, conduct, the company one keeps, the food one eats, and pretty much everything one does. As consciousness is mutable, it is variable, akin to temperature in determining the state of water

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