Self-awareness melts the structure of the theory of reincarnation
It must be kept in mind that this overview of life after death given in this book is only a brief blueprint to create a basic understanding of life after death so that one may then undertake further detailed study of this subject available in esoteric literature.
Overview higher planes : One is not free of the binding results on the lower planes until one become selfless on these planes. When one enters the buddhic plane one becomes conscious of the unity of all there is yet one still has one’s own individual consciousness. The buddhic body is called the sheaf of bliss. Buddhic intuition sees things or beings as from inside as that other being/person sees it. On the Buddhic plane past, present and future exist simultaneously.
One can easily think of the monad as part of God. The purpose of the evolution of the monad is to acquire consciousness and definiteness in a material detail capable of developing into a creative logos. Initially there was no individualisation in the monad. The ego is not the true eternal individual. Just as the ego and personality become one so also the Monad and ego become one.
Truth – as taught by master ramana:
Some are born immediately after, others after some lapse of time, a few are not reborn on this earth but eventually get salvation in some higher region, and a very few get absolved here and now. - Sage Sri Ramana Maharshi
Reincarnation and reality: To the Maharshi, death, like life, is a mere thought. When one is awake, one thinks incessantly, in dream thoughts gradually reduce, but when one passes from dreamful to dreamless sleep thoughts cease, and one enjoys undisturbed peace, till one is awake and resumes thinking again, and along with it the restless, peace less awake state in which thoughts flow like waves in an ocean. When death strikes down the body, life continues in the astral, mental and causal worlds till a full awakening takes place in a new body. The daily cycle of waking and sleeping is a miniature of the cycle of life and death. To transcend birth and death one has to transcend the processes of thought, which is made possible by Self realisation
According to Sri Ramana Maharishi the entire process of rebirth is sustained by the tendency of the mind to identify itself with a body. When one realises one’s true nature of being Self-awareness, the entire super structure of the theory of reincarnation melts away. From the perspective of the Self there is no birth or death and no reincarnation.
Death, life and rebirth, formed the subject-matter of many of the questions asked by visitors visiting the maharshi. Following are some conversations with the maharshi in relation to reality and rebirth recorded by Sri
S S Cohen.
4th January, 1937
A visitor asks Sri Maharshi: How can the terrible fear of death be overcome?
Bhagavan - When does that fear seize you? Does it come when you do not see your body, say, in dreamless sleep, or when you are under chloroform? It haunts you only when you are fully “awake” and perceive the world, including your body. If you do not see these and remain your pure self, as in dreamless sleep, no fear can touch you.
If you trace this fear to the object, the loss of which gives rise to it, you will find that that object is not the body, but the mind which functions in it and through which the environment and the attractive world is known as sights, sounds, smells, etc. Many a man would be too glad to be rid of his diseased body and all the problems and inconvenience it creates for him if continued awareness were vouchsafed to him. It is the awareness, the consciousness, and not the body, he fears to lose. Men love existence because it is eternal awareness, which is their own Self. Why not then hold on to the pure awareness right now, while in the body and be free from all fear?
The article is taken from the book Life Beyond Death by Anil Sharma