Question: Swamiji, what happens after death?

Swamiji: What? Here I am sitting in flesh and blood—at least I think I am, will someone pinch me please—and you ask me about death. My boy, Vedanta is a science of life! [He turns to the rest of the group.] This fellow already knows about life—he has discovered it’s useless. Now he wants to know if there will be something better in his life after death! [After the laughter dies down, he continues.]

Okay. . . Where will each of you go after you leave this satsang? We will disperse according to our own individual desires, some will go home, some to the coffee house, some to the liquor store. Likewise, when you drop the physical body, the remaining mind-intellect personality will be propelled by its most powerful desires to experience enjoyments not available to physical human beings. The time spent in that particular place, which you call heaven, depends on the punya, or merit, you have earned on earth. When you go on a vacation you stay in a five-star hotel—for how long? You enjoy until the money in your pocket is depleted. Money gone; you return. Punya gone; you return according to your unexpended residue of vasanas.

Q: It is strange. We know that we are going to die, yet somehow we never really believe it.

S: Some people come to me and tell me that they will not do a certain thing, like driving or flying, because they are afraid they will die. “How stupid! How can you be afraid you are going to die? Of course you are going to die,”I tell them.

Do you think that by avoiding this or that you will be able to avoid death? We are going to die, all of us—it’s inevitable. One of our great sages has labeled it the most curious idiosyncrasy of mankind. Even though we see death all around us, we never think that it will happen to us. Therefore, we never bother to prepare for it. [After a thoughtful pause, he adds with a chuckle:] Everybody goes. Some go quickly and some not quickly enough!

Q: Swamiji, just how is it that the subtle body [the mind-intellect personality] separates from the physical body?

S: Okay, if you insist! But I assure you that I’m on firmer ground when I am talking about life!
Actually, to understand the process of death, first one needs to understand life’s processes. You and I are living as long as Consciousness illuminates our subtle and gross bodies. We are dynamic and energetic as long as the Life Principle manifests in us.

After death the body does not function, but not because the supreme Consciousness has ceased to exist. To say that Consciousness does not exist at the time of the body’s death is to violate the basic tenet that Consciousness is omnipresent.

At death the illumination of the Consciousness that lends its sentience to the life force in the gross body ceases. This withdrawal reduces the body to biodegradable matter, which in the course of time rejoins its source—the five elements of earth, water, air, fire and space.

Q: So the gross body has been eliminated by this withdrawal of Consciousness, but the subtle body remains. Where?

S: The subtle body is composed of the mind and the intellect. The mind and the intellect manifest as thought flow. A flow or movement automatically implies a direction.

Now think! The direction of our thought flow is dictated by the vasanas left by our previous actions. Thus it is these tendencies that determine the time and place of our next birth when the mind and intellect will transfer to the new body.

Q: My son died at the age of fifteen. Why?

S: Now think carefully. Because of a desire to see a movie, I went to the movie theater. I buy my ticket, enter the auditorium, and sit down. Suddenly I realize that I have already seen this film. Won’t I get up and leave? Or suppose that I suddenly remember that Mr. Murthi, who owes me twenty-five rupees, is going to meet me this very evening to pay me. Again, I will get up and walk out.

Now, how do you know whether these fifteen years were all the experience needed in this environment? How often does a person change cars? When he considers that it is used—to a rich man that may be every year, to a poor man every ten years. So when the use of a particular vehicle was accomplished, the child left. He didn’t cry at going. No one does. We who remain feel sorrow because of our loss or inconvenience.

Q: Is it true that if you repeat the Lord’s name when you are dying that you will achieve liberation?

S: Yes, it is said in our scriptures: Your last thought will determine your next birth, or escape from rebirth. But who, after living a greedy, self-centered life, will think of the Lord at the moment of death. No one, I assure you. It is for this reason that so many Hindus name their children by one of the Lord’s names—as insurance. Then when you are on your deathbed, you may not think of the Lord, but at least you will call your son to your side: “Oh, Narayana!” But this will not work either, for it is a state of mind, not some words, that the scriptures are referring to.

So the best insurance is to pass your life in contemplating the divine qualities of the Lord and seeing his beauty in and through all of creation. Then you will be sure to think of the Lord at the moment of your death.