MIND IN DEATH, REBIRTH AND LIBERATION
What happens to the mind at the time of the
death of the individual? Does it survive or perish along with the body as such?
Indian sages have discovered that it is only the gross body composed of the
seven ingredients namely marrow, bones, fat, nerves, flesh, blood, skin and
consisting of parts such as legs, arms, head, chest and back which are the
products of the five fundamental elements namely space (ākāṡa), air (vāyu),
energy (Tejas), water (Apah) and earth (pṛthvi) that perishes at the time of
death. The subtle body composed of the five great elements which have not
undergone grossification, and consisting of the five sense organs, the five
organs of action, the five prāṇas, the mind and the intellect, survives death
and destruction to be carried to the next life. Incessant cogitation of the
mind regarding the objects of desire prompts generation of intense desire for
them and results in the execution of various activities to fulfil such desires.
These actions, reactions and impressions of the unfulfilled desires create
impressions (vāsanas) in the subtlest recesses of the body called causal body
and this is the cause of transmigration of the soul to other bodies, in other
words the cause of rebirth. The Bṛhadāranyaka Upanishad vividly describes the process of detachment of the
subtle body from the gross body at the time of death (4..5-6). The Upanishad
brings out the essential difference between death and deep sleep very clearly.
In deep sleep although the mind and senses are withdrawn from the gross body to
the subtler realms, the prāṇas remain in
the gross body so that it is kept alive whereas in death, along with the mind and senses, the prāṇas are also withdrawn from the gross body. The gross body is
completely separated from the subtler body and there is no connection
whatsoever between the subtle and the physical bodies at the time of death. In
sleep this connection is maintained and the individual returns to the waking
life once again through this body. The sensation one feels in the body is the
sensation conveyed through the agency of the physical body to the subtle body
whose ‘presiding deity’ is the mind. In death the mind is withdrawn along with the prāṇa from the gross body.
The subtlest realms of the body which
constitute the impressions of the unfulfilled desires (vāsanas) and impressions
of the reactions of the activities of the waking world (samskāras) depart from
the gross body along with the soul or individual spirit to manufacture an abode
or a physical body commensurate with the requirement of fulfilment of the
unfulfilled desires of one’s life. According to Vedānta there is a
continuity of activity of the mind during the transmigration from one body to
another. Thus the entire cycle of birth and rebirth is a consequence of
desires, fulfilled or unfulfilled. Vedānta
emphasizes that the desires get enhanced in their
intensity the more they are fulfilled and the fulfilment of desires is not the
way to freedom from desires, the liberation or moksha. Desires can be overcome
by proper mind control through incessant
yogic practices as described in the Yogasūtras of Patanjali. Swami Vivekānanda says, “Yoga is
to help us put off our
body when we please and see it as our servant, our instrument, not our ruler.
Controlling the mental powers is the first great aim in Yoga practices. The
second is concentrating them in full force upon any subject” (Complete Works,
vol. 8. p.41.). The Upanishads say, “It is indeed the mind that is the cause of
men’s bondage and liberation. The mind that is attached to sense objects leads
to bondage, while dissociated from sense
objects it tends to liberation, so they think” ( Amritabindu Upanishad ).
Bhagavad gita
defines yoga as equanimity or mind in perfect balance (samatvam yoga uchyate;
2.48). When mind is detached from sense objects and when one is unconcerned as
regards success or failure in life, his mind is said to be in perfect balance.
When individuals with this mental attitude perform their duties they do not
accumulate karma phala and can achieve liberation or can be free from the
transmigratory life of birth and death.
