3. What is Death?

Life is like an eternal stream. Each of us has been living since time immemorial and would continue to do so for millions of years in future. Ignorance of facts makes us believe that life begins in the womb of mother during pregnancy and ends with cessation of functions of heart and brain. It is a myopic point of view - a misleading concept. Modern medical science would make us believe that soul has no independent existence of its own that the body itself is the totality of a living entity and the being is lost forever on death of the body. But Alas! Physical sciences themselves are even today in infancy. Take for instance the subject of velocity of electricity. So far, over three dozen theories have been advanced in this context each contradicting the earlier ones. No doubt man has learnt to make use of electrical current, but he is still uncertain about its mode of propagation. To the material world the ever-changing theories of physical sciences may not matter much but it would be unfortunate for mankind to apply the same norms to research in spirituality. Whereas scientists consider body itself as the total existence of a living being, a research scholar of spirituality puts forward evidences of paranormal activities of the departed, defying explanation by material sciences. Then there are authenticated versions of small innocent children, who have identified places and people of their past lives proving beyond doubt that a being goes through cycles of birth and death again and again. Sucking milk from mother's breast immediately after birth, it indicates the presence in the infant of a memory from previous life. Extraordinary talents of many young children too are indicative of knowledge acquired in an earlier existence.

Soul (not mind which is recognized as soul in the west) and body are not one and the same entity. Just as one is required to change clothes according to the requirements of occasions, the soul too changes bodies. As it is not possible to wear the same clothes throughout one's life, the soul with its infinite continuity in time, cannot dwell in the same body. That is why it seeks to find a new body again and again. Though, generally, one discards the old worn and torn clothes only, at times it becomes necessary to do so prematurely, when they are accidentally damaged, torn or have become unusable on account of some other reason. Likewise, though the soul continues to live in the body till the later becomes infirm due to old age or diseases, it may also leave it at a younger age in a contingency.