The most satisfying answer I find is something like this- Imagine an empty pot. though it seems empty, it is full of air, which is surrounding it and present inside it as well. Similarly, like air, the consciousness is pervading all universe. You may call it god, to make it simple. The same god is available inside me. Further, the pot- it is my identity. It is made up of 5 consecutive sheaths- coverings. Outermost is - food and water sheath (Annamaya Koshs) Takes nourishment from surroundings. Next- Breath Covering (Pranamaya Kosha) Takes oxygen and circulates all within body to keep me alive. Next- The emotional Covering (Manomay Kosha) makes me act and interact in proper way to survive. Further- The intelligence sheath (Vidyanmaya kosha) Maybe better translation would be the rational sheath or the conceptual sheath, where logic and reason and acting. and last one is- Bliss sheath (anandmaya kosha) This is just me, my ego, my name, My identity. At death, these coverings give way one by one, like we peel an onion layer by layer- food stops, then breathing stops, then emotions give way, slowly body systems collapse and then identity disappears and finally soul is liberated- gets merged with the universal consciousness. Every sane person wishes for a peaceful death. Why? because otherwise the layers will not dissolve completely and your soul will be stuck up in one or the other layers. Maybe this is an in between life form- existence, which keeps floating around and trying to interfere with another soul in order to resolve its own issues and get liberated. Maybe we call these spirits. With this much in mind, the next question comes is- what's the use? Ok I am made up this way. So what? What next? What am I supposed to do after I know this?
How do you know one must die "peacefully," to achieve transcendence? Obviously, there are no martyrs in this fairy tale!
No, to achieve transcendence, one need not die but if the death is not peaceful, one is stuck up. That's what I feel
I did agree with a lot of what you were saying. But although I would like to "die peacefully," if you look at the craziness of people these days, there's a large chance that good people will die in inhuman ways due to the US government (Tourcher/murder,) not to mention their trying to confiscate our weapons. In that case, Big-Brother "assisted suicide" legislation will be the ONLY way to die "peacefully." I think that people still have a chance to redeem ourselves for all the evil we created in this world...
Yes, it is. We are taking it lightly, slowly. Like trying to play with our reason and logic rather than emotions. Say- exercising the brains. Welcome !
"I think that people still have a chance to redeem ourselves for all the evil we created in this world... " __________________ I agree. Still question remains- who will lead? (I remember the saying- When I was younger, I wanted to change the world. Now I am old and have realised that even if I change only one person i.e. myself, it's enough) So, maybe all of us change ourselves, and that's the only answer?
"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Violent crimes have gone down; in all, people are moving to this cause. However, IMO the U.S/UN Government is the biggest threat to this cause. They are more elaborate "terrorists," than the Middle Eastern "Al Qaeda Affiliates" they pretend to protect us from! As long as people accept violent governance (of any sort,) you are also inadvertently accepting the theft, murder, genocide and, corruption that comes along with it.
To answer your last question, since you are aware that you are full of the "God" presence and seem to be fully "born" in that fashion of your true self... what you are supposed to do in order to achieve eternal zen- to live forever in your true form (which existed when there was nothing else there and will exist into eternity when there is nothing there again) is to practice the death of the ego... the self that is in human form and tied up in a false reality. What is really there, and is really alive is the GODNESS that has always been there and that will stay "alive" to the extent that the ego-earth self truly dies. This reality here is something we create in our mind to make sense of things but it does not really exist, in that it is not truth. It's something that I strive for daily and in each and every breathe. It's become unconscious for me usually... although at times I need to consciously connect with my true form in order to knock the earth self back into place. (there is a particular great book on zen buddism about this that I read recently and although it's a fairly simple book it has it's place in helping with this) -but yea, when it comes down to it, the point is and you are correct in... to achieve and maintain your true self (the God self), you need to kill off the false self. It's that simple.
No. the idea is in Hindu scriptures. Well explained in a book by swami Vivekananda It just happened that I find it most rational and logical and I tried to put it in my words.
I have read it before and it was pretty much the same text and I wondered if I happened onto you on another board.
I often pop in to read and collect my own thoughts. I have not posted there in years but I do still read.
