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Why We Experience Physical Death and Not the Eternal Soul © Bahram R. Shahmardaan, PhD We all take a physical birth and experience physical death but few commence the Journey of Life Eternal and fewer still complete it. It is not the physical life and death that matter. What matters is what dies within our individual consciousness and what grows within our consciousness while we are experiencing the physical dimension. It is this change that determines whether we will fulfill the goal of Life Eternal or remain bound to cycles of birth, life and death. All Spiritual Masters have stated in one way or another that the soul is a spark of the Divine within us. They have stated that the soul is eternal and have promised to help those who follow them to achieve and realize the Eternal Life of the soul. It is only when we become conscious of our soul that we realize who we are and experience the Eternal Life of the Divine within us. To accomplish this we have to break down the barriers that separate our human consciousness from the Divine within us. So why is it that even through the Divine is within us, most human beings do not experience the spiritual life of the Soul which is Eternal but experience the death of the limited physical human personality? To understand why human beings experience physical death and not Eternal Life, we have to recognize that most human beings do not know who or what they really are. Throughout their lives most human beings identify with their human personality which comprises the human mind, the human ego and the body associated with the mind and ego. So instead of making a concerted effort to get in touch with the Eternal Being that they really are and then using the body and mind to express what the Eternal Being wishes to do, most human beings spend their entire life merely expressing their human mind and ego. We identify with our mind, ego and body so we strive to satisfy our mind, ego and bodily senses…all of which are physical and temporary. So because most human beings spend their entire life expressing their minds and ego, they experience death of the physical personality and not the Eternal Life of the Divine Soul. The human mind and ego are the source of desires. Because of the laws of Karma, unfulfilled desires bind the Eternal Being i.e. the soul to this Earth plane. The result is that the soul has to incarnate in a new body and mind each time in order to grow to realize its true nature. Just as a seed which sprouts and becomes a plant out which new seeds emerge, similarly each time a soul incarnates to work out karmas created by past desires, it generally creates new desires. Thus the soul is bound to fairly perpetual rounds of life, birth and death. To experience the soul, one has to grow through a process in which one’s ego consciousness dies when one is alive. With the death of the human ego and not the physical body, one experiences a spiritual birth. This is what is described as being “Born Again”. In order to free us from the shackles of Karma and the cycles of physical birth, life and death from time to time, Spiritual Masters descend. Few benefit from their efforts. Frequently the Master is ignored and remains unknown and charlatans mislead the people at large. Sometimes the Living Master is persecuted, condemned and at times put to death. Many human beings who are religious claim that they love the Spiritual Master and/or Masters through whom the religion got started. So in the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and other religions there are many Gurus. Many people claim to follow a living Guru. They do so only till the Guru satisfies their needs which in most cases includes satisfying their mind and ego. Yet if a real Guru were to appear before them and tell them that in order to experience ETERNAL LIFE, they should give up their business, their wealth, their family and go with Him, how many people will follow the real Sat Guru? Hardly anyone. But when the Grim Reaper i.e. the God of Death, who in the Vedas, is called Yama Raja, approaches them and tells them that they have to give up their business, wealth and family, everyone follows Yama Raja. Why is that? This is because of the nature of the mind. When given a choice, the human mind will invariably try to escape. It will take the easy way out and generally make the wrong decision i.e. it will make a decision which will satisfy it. So why is it that we follow Yama Raja and do not try to escape death when he appears? We follow Yama Raja unto death, because we have no choice. If we were a given a choice, we would try to escape from the Grim Reaper as well. But when death comes, we are not given a choice. No matter what our circumstances are, we have to go with the Grim Reaper. We cannot and do not use the excuse that we have to tend to our business or we are expecting a new born child etc. We drop everything and leave. However in matters of life, we are given a choice. Because of the principle of free will that we have been endowed with, the Spiritual Master gives us a choice. He does not force us to follow Him. So we choose to ignore His calling. So what we can see from the above is that we human beings give more value to the agent of death than to the Master who can show us how to experience Eternal Life. Therefore we miss the chance to grow to experience Eternal Life and experience death of the human personality. This is the tragedy of life. To help human beings break this cycle, Spiritual Masters have revealed various Spiritual principles we need to live by and have shown us the spiritual exercises we need to practice in order to empty the conscious human mind and thus get in touch with the Spiritual Being that is behind the mind. The names of some of these practices are well known such as Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyana Yoga, Raj Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Tantric Yoga, Patanjali Yoga, Vasishtha Yoga etc. Unless there is the right type of teacher one has to be careful not to practice these yogas particularly Tantric Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. Why? Because if one practices these yogas a stage will come when one will experience emotional, psychological and physical imbalances. When these imbalances manifest they have to be managed in the right way from a spiritual, psychological, emotional and physical point of view. Therefore unless one comes across a right teacher one should stay away from such practices. Should one go in search of a Master? Absolutely not. Spiritual literature is replete with advice that when the disciple is ready, the Master will create conditions whereby the disciple will meet the Master. Till that time one should go about living ones daily life and live according to spiritual principles as one understands them.
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