Hello and welcome to episode 137 of The Ask Sri Vishwanath Show. Today is part three of what happens after death.
I would suggest you watch episode 135 and 136 first so you can really understand what we are talking about in this episode.
I will give you a quick recap but I would suggest you read those episodes first. In 135 we spoke about the sacrifice of Nachiketa. How a young buy asked his father to sacrifice his best asset, himself. He was sent to the chamber of death where he met Yama who offered him three boons. For his last boon he wanted to know what happened after death. Yama tried unsuccessfully to distract the boy and in the end, revealed his secrets to him.
In 136 we learned that Yama told him that destruction is only going back to the source. How there are some things that die with the body and some things that do not. The spirit never dies. The spirit is what is important and what we should focus on.
We talked about that source, sound and how all creation began with sound. As before we discussed the most powerful sound in the universe, AUM. We talked about how AUM makes up the entire sound matrix and how mediating on it, feeling it vibrating through every part of your body can really help you get back to your consciousness.
If you would like to know more about how sound evolved into objects then please read episode 136. It’s really very interesting.
Today we are going to talk more about spiritual law and about where the consciousness goes when it leaves the body.
Krishna says “desire ridden, heaven bent one reaches the vast world of heaven. Having reached the vast world of heaven, their merits spent one enters into the world of mortals. Sseeking pleasure in objects and confirming to the law of the Vedas one attains movement to and from heaven.”
A transit stop
People with desires and impressions who have not formed the gold image will keep going back and forth on the transit journey from earth to heaven and heaven to earth.
There are 5 parallel worlds the first is the earth, the second is the lunar sphere or what we refer to as heaven, third is the electric sphere, fourth is the Brahma lok where all the wise ones reside and the fifth is the un manifest.
We will cover these worlds in detail in another episode but for now just know that someone who has not formed the gold image goes to the lunar world and then comes back.
Most people think heaven is the ultimate destination but it is not. It is not the final destination. If you go to heaven you will have to come back. This is what most people get wrong. Heaven is only a stop on the journey. It’s a place where you will receive good teaching on your stop. It’s a place where you will become more acute and you will be better able to form the gold image when you go back to earth. So the people who get to heaven are not the greatest ones. The greatest ones go to Brahma lok.
I want to give you an example. Let’s say you have very little money and you want to travel. Those with lots of money will stay in 5 star hotels whereas those with little money will stay in budget accommodation. This is what happens when you go to heaven except it doesn’t matter how much money you have. It’s based on your merits and your sattvic gunas. Having money is not important. If you use that money to help people and give to charity then yes that is given some merit but not as much as people think. It all depends on your sattvic gunas. Did you practise yoga, withdraw your gunas and become detached from the script. Did you form the gold image?
Yoga
In heaven the distinction is the consciousness and whether you practiced yoga, not the westernised yoga I must add, it must be the yoga of Krishna. If you did it with love and good intentions then you will get 5 star treatment. Those who did not would get slightly lesser. The idea is that you are better equipped when you go back to earth to form the gold image.
Those with good merits will get help from the best teachers in heaven. They will be rewarded with help from those in Brahma lok and even from the un manifest.
Start now
It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past. It doesn’t matter if you have had no sattvic gunas up to this. You can start right now. Gathering an abundance of sattvic gunas will ensure you get the best teaching while on your stop in heaven and who knows you might even form the gold image and be able to skip that stop completely.
So there really is no “heaven” or “hell” as we think if it. If a rich man has no merits he may see his treatment in heaven as hell. He may be assigned tasks that he hates. It’s all about merits and treatment. Whatever treatment you get will always be to benefit you. It will never be to punish you but always to strengthen your consciousness so when you come back you can form the gold image.
Man is greater than angels
Vivekananda says man is greater than angels if he sees God. In heaven there is no karma. You cannot create and destroy karma. It’s only on earth that you can attain sattvic gunas and get close to the consciousness. You cannot do that in heaven because it is only a stop. You cannot form the gold image in heaven, you have to come back.
Krishna says “none indeed in this world of earth nor in the world of gods exists he who is free from the 3 constituents.”
No one in heaven or on earth is free from the 3 constituents. This refers to sattvic, rajasic and tamasic gunas. Even angels lust, crave and experience emotions. Everything happens in heaven it’s just that it happens in a more sophisticated manner! Even angles have to come back to form the gold image. They are only given this position because of their good merits.
So what happens to good people who did everything right but could not form the gold image? Krishna says “the doer of good never comes to grieve neither in this world or the world to come.”
The best start
The person who does everything right will never suffer. He will be given a prominent place in heaven like the angles are and will re-enter the world in a wise household full of yogins. They will get the best start. There they will acquire the memories of his previous body very quickly. They will know that the consciousness is the most important thing.
This is why forming good sattvic gunas is so important. It will mean that even if you don’t form the gold image and have to come back, you will be ensured the best start.
Vivekananda says in your last lifetime you will gain the memory of all your previous lifetimes because they will all be stored in your consciousness.
I hope I answered your question. Remember you keep asking questions and I’ll keep answering them.
