This year we witnessed a massive clean-up of the world population with more than 1.54 million deaths were recorded due to the corona virus pandemic as of 5th December 2020. The top three countries like United States, India and Brazil were the worst hit, accounting for almost 40% of the global death tolls. Corona virus had fundamentally changed the way human beings live and their priorities in life!
In May this year, I started conducting weekly online session based on Living Enlightenment book authored by my Guru, HDH Bhagawan Nithyananda Paramashivam. (fondly known as Swamiji) In the last 4 weeks, I was expounding on the chapter about ‘Death is a celebration”.
Interestingly, at a personal level, I was approached by a devotee in India in early November whose sister was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer this year. By the time this devotee came to seek my help, her sister had already undergone 4 rounds of chemotherapy. Doctors had given up in curing her and sent her home to wait for her death. During the 3 weeks period before her passing, she was in such tremendous bodily pain and suffering – vomiting frequently and unable to eat nor drink. She was not able to die nor live, it was really hard to witness her karma. That devotee requested me to help her sister transition in her exit. Due to her sister’s incompletion in life and wrong beliefs, she struggled till the end of her life. Finally, in end Nov, she passed on!
With these 3 happenings at the same time during this period of pralaya (Cosmic dissolution), the deeper revelations about death dawn in me. Let me summarize the essence for the benefits of humanity who are seeking to understand the mystery of death.
- Death is not anti-life – The very word ‘death’ creates agony and fear in many of us because in all religions, death is often painted as a villain. Death takes away everything from us by force. Many people live either in denial of death or fear of it. We consciously avoid even thinking about it. The reason we are afraid of death is because instinctively we resist change and death is an abrupt change in life. We hold onto an identity inside us based on societal conditioning. Death removes this very foundation on which our identity is built on and gives us a reboot button. If we imbibe the powerful cognitions about death, we will be liberated from the fear of death.
- Answer to life lies in the mystery of death – Swami Vivekananda, an enlightened master once said that if you know the secret of death, the quality of your life will be totally different! Death is a profound knowing, if you know how to die, you know how to live. Living and leaving are two sides of the same coin. Only when we understand death, we will understand how precious life is, we will not waste our life on silly things told to us by society.
- Death is a climax – The truth is we are terrified of letting go because we try to hold on to things in life – possessions, people, feelings or situations. If you can let go and look at everything, every happening in life with the understanding that change is the nature of life. Then death becomes a deep relaxation for you – the ultimate letting go – dropping of the old and starting with the new. The moment your being recognizes that it cannot achieve what it wants through this body anymore, it decides to move on. That ‘Moving on’ is what is known as death! The choice to start all over again is what is called death!
- Face death to experience life – When you are able to face death with awareness, you will realize every moment you die, the next moment you are born! Death and birth are just cycles – if you die, you will be born and if you are born, you will die! Facing the fear of death demystifies death when you add meditation to your life. Meditation creates awareness in you so that you will be able to face the death fear. When you face the death fear with awareness, it becomes a death experience.
- Deaths makes you seek for liberation – All Eastern religions talk about many births, we come down again and again to play the same drama of life. It is the same set up, same relationships but at different times. After sometime, you feel bored and fed up with this vicious cycle! The moment you wish to get liberated and not come back again, you start working towards moksha, liberation.
- Unconscious death is hell – By witnessing the death of the devotee’s sister made me realize that unconscious death is that of pain, agony and suffering. She was not able to tolerate the pain that she wanted to terminate her life instead of allowing her karma to be exhausted. In Living Enlightenment book Swamiji described the death He witnessed at a hospital before enlightenment was exactly the hell the soul went through. So, I highly recommend every being to experience the death process gifted by Swamiji even once in this lifetime, that being will be liberated at the time of exit by His grace.
- Conscious death is enlightenment – After Swamiji’s enlightenment, He again witnessed another death in His presence, but this time the soul was able to recognize His divine presence and got liberated by holding on to Him. This incident became the inspiration for Swamiji to develop the program, Nithya Spurana Program to give devotees the conscious death experience and liberate many souls by raising the frequency of the beings higher than the samskara (engraved memories) such that the consciousness will be able to sail through the 7 layers of energy bodies and be liberated in Nirvana. That is a commitment given by a living incarnation, Swamiji once you are initiated by Him.
- What you remember in the last moment counts – In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says – ‘What comes and stands in your mind at the time of leaving the body will alone decide about your next birth or enlightenment’. But, do not think that you can live your entire life frivolously, thinking at the last few moments you can remember God and chant His name and get liberation. The truth is only that which you thought of in your whole life will come up when you leave the body. Whatever you experience you had intensely, only that will come up at the time of death. The thoughtless awareness is the strongest experience one can have in life. Even for a few seconds if you had the experience of thoughtless awareness, this memory will come up and act as a shiny light and guide you to move into the Consciousness. Hence, while you are in the body, you should have seeking to discover your consciousness which is the purpose of human existence!
- Spiritual experiences appear as 4D at time of death – As of now, this whole world appears in 4D, all the talks about spirituality, meditation, consciousness etc will appear as black and white – that is unimportant. At the time of death when your consciousness moves away from the physical body, this whole world – all the so-called pillars you invested in your personality, your achievements, pride, possessions, relationships, community – everything material will become totally shaken and become unreal and seen in black and white. But if you have had a conscious glimpse of the truth at least once in your life, you can enter into death with awareness and fully conscious because this experience will shine in 4D at the time of death and help you in the graceful exit.
- Conquer death by being in the present – Present moment is the point where the future is slowly becoming past. Present moment is the possibility of rejuvenation. If you are established in the present, you will feel whatever is happening is auspicious (Shivam). You will become Shiva, who is the rejuvenator, who is constantly creating space for new things to happen. You become fearless just like Shiva! It is in the present moment that through you, the future moves and becomes the past and you are there like a hollow bamboo, untouched by time, Kala beyond death.
With 2020 coming to an end where the pralaya will peak, we are ready to enter into the birth of a new phase of conscious expansion by March 2021. Let humanity raise in consciousness to embrace every death as a celebration of life! Namaste 😀
Source: Living Enlightenment by HDH Bhagawan Nithyananda Paramashivam