Birth, Death and Life after death - All at the desire of
Mind.
What is
life? When does it start? When does it end? What happens after it ends? What is
the process of rebirth, Moksha or Maha-Nirvana ?
Some of
these questions often arise in our mind. Swami Vijnananand has rationally
answered these questions in his book “Know your Death”. Also there is a seminar
available at Manashakti main center Lonavala (India) where these concepts are
lucidly explained.
Mind (or
spirit) is an energy which provides ability of doing activities / motion to the
body. As long as the mind is associated with the body the condition of “life”
exists.
Birth would
be the moment of this association and death the moment of dissociation. How do
we ascertain these moments with certainty? What must be happening at these
vitally important moments of our life?
Relatively
it is easier to decide the moment of death. What happens at the time of death?
How do we describe the death of a person?
We say:
He departed
from his body.
His spirit
left.
He breathed
his last.
The flame of
life extinguished. Etc. etc.
In short
death is separation of body from the mind-energy. Logically then, birth would
be the moment of this association. This takes place at the moment of
conception, the point from which the life energy gets associated with the
conceived cell. This cell then starts collecting new cells and form a body to
take birth later at the appropriate time.
Mind
Energy (Mind Power)
Mind is an
energy in the form of non-matter which “Swami Vijnananand” defines as
'transcending the velocity of light, the highest limiting speed of any matter'.
Do we have
some idea about the magnitude of the Mind Power or the energy available in a
life? We shall try to find this in terms of life and the energy associated with
the life. Life begins at the moment of conception where the matter first time
gets associated with the mind energy. Then the journey of life begins.
Life is
the journey of motion.
Though
generally it is believed that life begins at birth, it actually begins at
conception, where it is set in motion. The motion continues till a person
breathes last, when the motion in the body stops. In short, life is a journey
of motion.
Lot of
energy is required and released to perform various physical and mental
activities from first to the last breath. Everybody, though varying, has given
quantum of energy available for use in the life. Studying human energy
management in detail, Swami Vijnananand has given some rational measurement for
the life energy in his pioneering research on the human life. We will take a
brief look at the measure of the magnitude of energy associated with the life
which is Mind Power. But before that we should see the enormous un-measurable
potential of the mind-energy.
Child
Birth, a super-material effect:
If each
intricate cell of an infant is to be fashioned by a skilled worker and if s/he
would require a minute to create one cell. This means it will take five hundred
thousand years to complete the task. Suppose even every person had to
contribute a cell to make an infant, entire world population cannot even
complete a tiny foot. However, every mother accomplishes this within her womb
in 265 days. How this is done? Science
has only begun to perceive the complexity of the miracle. This is the miracle
created by the energy associated with life.
(Ref. ‘Mind
Power’, Manashakti publication)
Touch of
life creates transformation in matter:
A touch of
life creates wonderful transformation in a tiny piece of matter.
Catalase is
an enzyme in living protoplasm which accelerates the decomposition of hydrogen
peroxide into oxygen and water. The reaction can be accelerated by inorganic
iron too. But the action of iron is very weak. However, by uniting an iron with
special organic substance “pyrrole”, we can make that reaction thousands times
more effective. Catalase, a natural enzyme, also contains iron with pyrrole,
but its action is about ten millions times stronger because it contains
additionally a specific protein.
This
specific (protein) difference makes a miracle. Catalyst power of one milligram
of iron, contained in the catalase complex (of life full protoplasm), is equal
to that of ten tones of inorganic iron. That is the miracle of a touch of
life-energy to a matter.
(Ref. ‘Mind
Power’, Manashakti publication)
Transcending
mind power:
For all our
advanced techniques, we have not yet approached the level of rationalism
possessed by living nature. Touch of Life gives ten million times more strength
to a tiny piece. This is a phenomenon which science has not been able to
explain so far. This transcendental power is called mind.
Each mind is
unique, so are different its desires, strength and potential, also energy
associated with it. Though external energy at physical level could be common to
an extent for most human beings, total energy certainly varies from person to
person considering the individual mind power.
Example - A
billionaire and a middle class person travelling pay the same fare for a plane
journey (visible paying capacity for that instance may be the same) while their
spare wealth quantum differs, as they deserve.
While
absolute total life energy cannot be accurately measured, there are some
rational measures for external one. We will take a look at Swamiji’s estimation
of external energy.
Life
Energy: external measure
We have seen
that human body is constantly in motion from birth to death. Thus the motion
can be considered as the basis for measure of the life energy. There are a
number of motions associated with various body systems. The easiest measurable
body motion is pulse rate / heart rate which varies from age to age.
Medical text
books provide us with the measure of motion, attributable to a living person
during the span of life. The medical books say, that three months prior to
birth, average normal pulse rate (pulse beats) is at 150 per minutes. At birth,
it is 120 and nearing the age of death (advanced old age), it is gradually
reduced to 60 per minute, on an average.
Thus, after
birth, individual existence can be mathematically defined as capacity to beat
the pulse at 120 per minute and proceed to the end when it is reached; reduced
to 60 per minute. Thus right from the birth to old age there is reduction in
the life energy. The process of aging begins from the first day.
An
anticlimax of the pulse rising at a very old age does occur. Yet the same stems
from reasons other than usual. Here, it might have occurred but for hardening
of arteries or for the phenomenon of lamina shrinking. (Shrinking of cavity
from where the blood flows). Other reasons that may account in this out-of-turn
rise in pulse may be the loss of control on some organ or the other.
For special
reasons pulse is recorded to be far below normal. Napoleon's pulse was said to
be somewhere near 40. But the average as given above stands right for our basis.
At death,
it is the mind that leaves body.
It is a
planned retreat. It is our experience and it can be easily imagined, that the
mind leaves body not because it is tired of the worldly desires to be enjoyed
through body but because, the mind finds body damaged and so an inconvenient
tool to enjoy. (Shall we add the death time declarations?)
In any case,
leaving this argument to the exhaustive discussion in New Way Series, at the
moment of death, the continuance of the capacity **3153600000 pulse-beats
survives without any doubt. (This applies to normal death, the considerations
for deaths due to accidents, suicide or voluntary departure by a Yogi from life
by ‘Samadhi’ needs separate discussion, which can be provided separately).
We may just
mention here that the state of the mind as it departs the body is vitally
important to decide the future course of action.
**On an
average the pulse-rate is 150/min (say 2.5 A), at prenatal stage, 120/min (2A)
at birth, 70 to 80/min. at grown up age and 60/ min (A) at the old age (before
death). In short, body motion decreases with increasing age and it is lowest
just before death, although not zero.
Let’s
consider (assume) average life of 60 years and 100/min. as an average pulse
rate for the life span.
**Based on
this, the total energy can be calculated as follows.
(100* x 60 minutes) (24 hours) (365 days) (60* years)
---------------------- X
----------- X ---------------- X
--------------
6,000 144,000 525, 60 000 315, 36,000
(*
assumption, may vary from person to person).
As estimated
above, the total typical average pulse energy during the life of 60 years is
about 3.15 billion beats. Before the death moment there is a capacity to beat
the pulse at 60/minute.
We have
already suggested that these figures are hypothetical and arbitrary. These
arithmetical values may better be taken algebraically. Nevertheless, the
principle stands vindicated. If we designate algebraically value A to the
surviving soul after death (A = 60 beats / min.), i.e. capacity 3153600000
pulse beats, '2A' will be value at birth with capacity 6307200000 pulse beats
and '2.5A' (i.e. 7884000000 pulse beats three months prior to birth). Please
note that the mind leaves the body at death when it has the capacity A.
Does the
mind survive after death? Is it re-born?
The answer
to the first part of the question is categorical ‘Yes’. As we have initially
defined, Death is dissociation of body and mind. Body (matter) remains as
corpse while the mind energy (non-matter) gets released. Now, the question is
what happens to the left over capacity A or from where this 2.5 'A' comes from?
By first law
of Thermodynamics nothing can come out of nothing. Therefore, the figure 150
(or algebraically figure 2.5 'A') must sometime be 149, 148, 147 and in far end
sometime it must be 60 where we again meet the value 'A'.
In each
individual case the values of A, 2A, and 2.5A may differ but the principle may
stand vindicated. After death the Mind
has following options to choose. (Please see the figure above)
1. To give up available energy A and go to
zero. This is the concept of Maha-Nirvana.
2. To earn additional energy from A to 2.5 A,
and then opt for rebirth.
3. To not to opt for birth and go on earning
additional energy -endlessly up to infinity. This is the stage of Moksha.
As we say
“Zero tends to infinity”, both the stages of Maha-Nirvana and Moksha are
similar where the mind has given up the right of existence and merged itself in
universal cosmic energy.
We have
rationally examined the concepts of Birth, Life, Death, Rebirth, Maha-Nirvana,
and Moksha.
What must be the plight of the Mind after death before it chooses
its options? We shall see this in the articles to follow.
Vijay R. Joshi.
