Baba
Ways people die
Namaskar,
In the scriptures it is said that, “Yah ágacchati sah gacchati." The meaning is that everything that is born will one day die. Those who have come, will go. That is why in Saḿskrta this world is called mrtyuloka, or ephemeral world. That also means that while alive we should take steps for this eventuality.
Of note, the various body parts (eyes, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, and limbs etc) will be very useful for others so one should donate them for the common good. And one should make this decision and give consent while alive so that when you die those organs can be used for the welfare of others after your death. It will be a great service.
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A tale from the Mahabharata
In the Maha'bharat, there is a famous story about the time that a yaks'a posed a series of special questions to Yudhisthira. One of those queries was: “What is the most surprising thing in this world?”
In reply Yudhisthira said, “Those who are born will die; but, nobody thinks about their own death. No one considers the fact that their own death will also come. Even when participating in a cremation procession to the burial grounds, people think that death is for others - not for themselves. No one believes that one day they will also meet their death. This is the most surprising thing in the world.”
To continue on about this point that those who are born will one day die, generally speaking, people are very curious to know about death. How it happens, the way it manifests, and what process goes on. In His book Idea and Ideology, Baba guides us about this phenomenon.
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Ananda Marga philosophy says, "Proper adjustment and parallelism between the psychic and physical bodies causes life, and disassociation under adverse conditions results in death...proper adjustment between the waves of the psychic body and of the physical body is an essentiality...The loss in the parallelism of physical and mental waves causes death." (1)
Two main causes of death
So death results due to the loss of parallelism between the physical and mental waves. Thus there are two main causes or types of death: physical and psychic.
Sometimes the physical body meets its demise as in the case of an accident or illness. And that initiates one’s death. This all happens because the physical body starts malfunctioning - suddenly or gradually. For whatever reason, the physical body became completely degenerated or destroyed. In the absence of a proper physical body, the mind cannot function in that body and is forced to leave the body. That is death due to a physical cause.
The second type of death occurs when the psychic waves get initially affected. In result, they ruin their parallelism with the physical body. This happens when there is extra pressure on the mind due to the excess of any vrtti - such as an overload of fear, sadness, happiness, etc. For example, due to a terrible fear of ghosts many people have died. And when people lose large amounts of money in the stock market they may become extremely psychically disturbed and shocked which can cause the body to stop functioning and die.
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Ananda Marga philosophy states, “I heard that once, when the currency was devalued, a wealthy jute merchant suddenly died because all the aspirations of his life were based on money. He could not face the prospect of having to part with his cherished object of desire.” (2)
Or if someone wins the 100 million dollar lottery their mind may become overly affected and excited, causing the loss of parallelism thereby inviting their death. So in these instances the reason for death was something psychic.
Thus the cause of death may be either in the physical or mental spheres.
Body-mind: proper adjustment needed
For a person to live, there must be a proper adjustment between their physical body and their psychic body, a.k.a. the mind. And that proper adjustment is called parallelism. Remember, everything in this universe is vibrational, including the body and mind. That means the body has its own vibration, and the mind has its own vibration. So long as these two vibrations of the body and mind are compatible, i.e. parallel, then all is well for that individual. However, the moment they become out of sync to a moderate or high degree, that can prove to be disastrous, even causing one’s death.
For instance, suppose someone receives some very bad news, such as their spouse died, or their house and their possessions were destroyed in a fire, then that will send shock waves through the mind. The vibration of the mind will shift dramatically; and, if the magnitude of that swift change of the vibration of the mind is too strong for the body’s vibration to handle, then the body will collapse, and the person will faint, or even die. There are innumerable case examples of this across history, many of which have been reported on in scholarly journals etc. That is why it is commonly known that one should present tragic news to people in a slow, gradual manner and ensure they are sitting down. If that tragic news is told too quickly that person may lose their psycho-physical parallelism and the body may cease functioning, either temporarily or permanently.
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And this whole scenario works in the opposite direction as well - from physical to psychic. That means if the physical body undergoes a critical jolt or blow and the vibration of the physical body experiences a radical shift, then the spine and brain may cease to function in which case the mind can no longer remain in that damaged physical structure. The operative point here is that the vibration of the mind is no longer in concert with one’s physical vibration. And same is the case if the body becomes diseased; if that disease has a very disruptive effect on one’s physical structure / vibration, then one may go into a vegetative state, or it may result in complete death.
Here the whole point is that there must be vibrational parallelism between the physical and psychic realms in order for one to remain alive and function properly.
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “The mind will have to maintain parallelism with the physical structure while moving towards a certain object. Association by proper adjustment and parallelism between the psychic and physical bodies causes life, and dissociation under adverse conditions results in death. If there are severe hindrances in the process of emanation [of psycho-physical waves], the parallelism is lost. If parallelism is lost, there is death – the body and the mind will dissociate.”
“There are two causes of death: physical and psychic. Physical death occurs when the waves of the physical structure become crudified due to old age or any other physical deficiency. Psychic death occurs when psychic clash with either subtler or cruder thought-waves results in increasing or decreasing the wavelength of the mental waves respectively. In this case, also, loss of parallelism will occur, and the physical and psychic bodies shall dissociate.” (3)
What happens at the time of death
Here following Baba explains the internal science behind the dying process and what actually happens at the time of death.
Ananda Marga philosophy says, "The combined va'yus [or pra'n'a'h] pass out, and with their passing away from the physical structure all the external va'yus, except dhanainjaya, also leave the physical structure. Dhanainjaya causes sleep, and so to cause the deep sleep of death dhanainjaya remains in the body even after all the va'yus have left. When the dead body is burnt or gets totally decayed, dhanainjaya as well leaves the body and remains in the Cosmos to act again according to the will of Prakrti." (4)
Above Baba has explained what happens during the process of death. One va’yu after another leaves the body. The disembodied soul then moves throughout the entire universe - with the help of the rajahgun'a force of the Cosmic Operative Principle - in search of a new body. And this new body is allotted according to the type of reactive momenta attached with the disembodied soul.
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Conclusion
When you know that death is certain, and that after your death your body will just be buried or burned, best is if someone else can use those bodily organs to heal and cure themselves. That is a great utility of the body. The various body parts (eyes, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, and limbs etc) will be very useful for others so one should donate them for the common good.
And one should make this decision and give consent while alive so that when you die those organs can be used for the welfare of others after your death. If you do not give permission ahead of time then your body may not be able to be used for organ donation. In each country there are specific ways to give consent in writing. It has to be done ahead of time since you cannot give consent after your death.
Remember, there is no beating of the drum to signify your impending death. One does not know when it will occur. So go ahead and give your consent if you have yet to do so. That is one more way you can serve humanity, even after your death.
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Namaskar,
at His feet,
Manomohan
Death, birth, new body, organ donation
Here is the English summary of the Hindi teaching from AV-3, chapter 15, Superstition About Death:
When a human being dies, the nerve cells can still function for a few hours, or, in some cases, even days. In that condition the body could come back to life. During some demonstrations, Baba brought people back to life. Ultimately though, when the nerve cells stop functioning entirely, the person undergoes physical death, and the mind leaves the body immediately in search of a new body. The bodyless mind, along with its samskaras, leaves the old body and starts wandering in search of a new body. According to the nature of their samskaras, they get a new body with the help of the cosmic operative principle. It may happen almost instantaneously, while for others it could take years.
Comment #1: According to this discourse, when the nerve cells die then immediately the (bodyless) mind leaves the body with its samskaras in search of a new body. So it could happen that the old body is still not decayed and it is in the tomb, and the person got a new suitable body and reached in the mother’s womb immediately with the help of rajaguna of cosmic operative principle.
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Comment #2: If you donated the body at the time of death and you immediately got a new body, then it could happen that still your old limbs are being used by someone while you are moving around as a child with a new body.
How you can serve even after your death
Ananda Marga ideology says, "There are also two types of puńya: pratyakśa puńya and apratyakśa puńya – direct and indirect virtue. Pratyakśa puńya, or direct virtue, is acquired when one performs an action such as feeding the hungry or serving the infirm. Indirect virtue is acquired when one’s service has a recurring effect, such as service to the society, planting trees, etc. If banyan trees are planted beside a hot and dusty road they will continue to give shelter to weary travellers for one thousand to two thousand years. Virtue acquired in this way is indirect virtue...everyone can attain indirect virtue. Of course, people can also attain direct virtue if they make the effort. The financially handicapped can render physical service; the physically handicapped can render intellectual service. Everyone can render service in some way or other. This explains puńyam or virtue." (5)
News reports: daily life examples
The following are two key related articles. The first is a well-regarded scientific study, and the second is a case history example.
(A) Stock volatility as a risk factor for coronary heart disease death
(B) Poor Old Lady Finds Out Her Husband Died after Winning $1 Million in the Lottery — Story of the Day
References
1. Idea and Ideology, Life, Death and Saḿskára
2. Ananda Marga philosophy in a Nutshell - 6, Ekendriya – 3
3. Yoga Psychology, Bio-Psychology
4. Idea and Ideology, Life, Death and Saḿskára
5. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 8, Do Virtuous Deeds Day and Night – 1
== Section: Important Teaching ==
Important history of women
Ananda Marga philosophy states, “The status of women in prehistoric human society was the same as that of independent females of any living species. The women, just like the men, spent their days in the lap of nature singing, dancing, laughing and playing. These conditions continued throughout the period when there was no human society as such and continued into the matriarchal age. But when the patriarchal social system came into being, the rights of women began gradually to be curtailed.” (1)
History bears testimony that decades ago - around the globe - females did not have any rights. They were subservient to males in all respects. Females were viewed as not having the same potentialities of men - as if they were far inferior. Because of this repression and suppression, their service to society was also limited in scope. In many regions, females have since gained freedom, and people now recognise that females are not less in any way. They are comparable to men in all types of fields. Earlier they were subservient and their potential was suppressed. The key point is that freedom is important.
So when working with others one must not suppress them, otherwise society will not benefit from their full potential. It is equally true in unit families as in the larger society.
Reference
1. Shabda Cayanika - 9, From Matriarchy to Patriarchy – Excerpt A
== Section: Important Teaching ==
How to overcome religious dogma and deception
Ananda Marga ideology states, "Religion is practiced for the fulfilment of mundane aspirations. This is the reason why a class of clergymen emerged centring around the religion. Ultimately the adherents of these religions become mere tools in the hands of vested interests. With the awakening of nityánitya viveka in human minds and the opening of the door of scientific knowledge, it will not be possible to deceive the people in the name of religion or by holding out the lure of happiness in the next world. The vested interests are quite aware of this fact and hence strive to keep the masses lost in the darkness of ignorance. Like parasites, they manoeuvre themselves to misappropriate, by injecting fear and inferiority complexes, a lion's share of what the ignorant masses earn with their sweat and blood." (1)
Reference
1. Ananda Marga Ideology & Way of Life - 7, The Five Kinds of Conscience
== Section 2: Links ==
