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swordsaint
29 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 25 2015 : 2:30:47 PM
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Hi All,
I have a question. What happens to one who having dedicated time and effort into all these practices, ie. DM, SBP, Samyama, etc. I have started to experience the psychological benefits ie. peace, relaxation, joy, less stress, detachment and all. But what actually happens to us when we die having practiced these yoga practices for a long time. Is there any benefit henceforth? ie either in the afterlife or future lives? Would the yoga practices be of use to us when we are old? I'm sorry if my question seems elementary. |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2015 : 6:30:22 PM
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Hi Swordsaint,
The more you practice yoga, the more you realise that you simply cannot die. There is the gradual realization and direct perception that you are not of this body. Of course, at some point the body will fall away, but when we know that we are not of this body, then that act is little different than taking off one set of clothes and putting another on.
The purification that we do in yoga is primarily about purifying the subtle body (sukshma sharira). This is the body which comprises the mind (not the brain) and the system of chakras and energy channels. This body also contains knowledge. The subtle body survives death, as we do. I cannot prove it, but what we gain through our yoga practice also comes with us into the next birth. So nothing is lost. We can get a faint understanding of this when we meet children who are exceptionally wise and awake even though they have not had the time, or opportunity to engage in spiritual practice.
The same is true for old age. We carry what we have learned with us even if the body becomes frail and sick. One of the most amazing teachers I ever had, was a man called Maharaj who lived in Rishikesh in India. I believe he was in his 80's when I met him and could not walk or sit up in bed without help. But he taught me more than any other yoga teacher I have ever met.
In yoga there is no requirement to believe in life after death or in re-birth. We are free to believe whatever we want to. But the practices themselves change the way we relate to death and change our knowledge about death.
You may find this lesson useful:
Lesson 74 - Q&A – For this life, and the next one
Christi |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2015 : 8:10:18 PM
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A terrific question, and magnificent answer, Christi . I have met exceptional ageless children and this rings true to me. Personally I used to be nervous on planes, not frantic mind you, but more of a sense of dread. One month ago the knowing that there was nothing to fear for me and my family on a flight, and the immenseness of of my inner silence, was palpable and welcomed.  |
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sunyata
USA
1513 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2015 : 9:37:05 PM
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| Practice, Surrender, Live. |
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mr_anderson
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2015 : 2:12:19 PM
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| Great answer Christi |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2015 : 2:50:00 PM
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Christi!  |
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2015 : 4:26:37 PM
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| life afterdeath or life before death,does the soul gives life to the body or the body life to the soul, does consciousness exist in everything or in nothing i suppose you can not have it both ways ,for me every atom of the universe is imbued with energy of god so it happens that at this point in time and space my exsperience is in this form and the soul or consciousness is the one who observes and lives this life ,are we born with past previous impression i believe so ,i have watched my two children grown into beings of themselves and they definetly have innate natures from where i dont know ,packets of samskaras and karmas from before that will mould certain reactions and outcomes in there life ,yoga i believe transforms us but not necessarily changes our karmic destiny in this life nothing is lost in the quest for truth or the love of god ,we are accepted by any form of recognition we give a flower on an altar a prayer in our dieing momments or a life time meditation or devotion ,how much is enough or not enough who knows ,but what i do is reflection of a fragment a mere blink of eye in infinite wonder of creation ,blessing to all you fellow yogis one thing is for sure we are manifest in the beginning sustained in the middle and transformed in the end to what or where i leave this to the one who knows. |
Edited by - kumar ul islam on Dec 26 2015 4:33:45 PM |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2015 : 3:53:24 PM
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Hi guys,
There is a brief mention of this subject in the book on Liberation:
"When inner silence is abiding, and we no longer
see ourselves to be the witness of objects, this is what
it is, and we live quite normally, in absolute freedom.
Not even death can overcome us. For what is death
but a ceasing of the processes of identified awareness
that we have already moved beyond?" [Yogani: Liberation page 87]
Christi
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swordsaint
29 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2017 : 01:49:14 AM
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| I have revisited this question again and again the answers are beautifully relevant to my present condition. Thank you all. Thank you all. Thank you. |
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microcosm
102 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2017 : 2:10:39 PM
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| Christi, what is the point of reincarnation? Why couldn't we reincarnate in a pure abode (a "paradise for meditators") and just focus on spiritual development there? What causes/conditions "decide" where are we reborn? |
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2017 : 3:01:58 PM
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| maybe we are already in a paradise for meditators, are we not already there as here there anywhere is the same just at different points of reference ,maybe theres no deciding only cause and effect from the outer to the inner ,understanding the karmic law is ultimately complicated ,from the individual to nations countries world and ultimately universes all governed by the laws of nature gravity ect cause effect ,action in inaction and inaction in action this is the realm of the wise souls knowing can sometimes lead to better decisions in this life and maybe the next ,i was once a plant a mineral a mammal a drop of water now a sentient being having the blessing of living this life in this form |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2017 : 3:19:23 PM
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Hi Microcosm,
We are reborn according to our past karma (actions). Everything that we have ever done, or thought, or wished for in the past, creates our present condition. Then our condition at the time of death determines where we will end up in our next life.
It would be great to be reborn in a pure abode, but we do not always have that choice. When we are on Earth, we can deliberate over things, decide what to do and make decisions and so on. In the more subtle (heavenly) realms, there is a much more direct relationship between desires and actions. Desires are habitual, so after death we will tend to have the same desires as we had when we were in a physical body. Then those desires will carry us automatically into our next life. In heaven, simply desiring something can bring it into manifestation and we don't determine our desires.
If we have largely worked out our past karma in this lifetime and tend to have only very pure (sattvic) thoughts and desires for things that are noble, then our next birth will tend to be in a purer body and/ or realm of existence. So it really comes down to what spiritual practices we are doing in this lifetime. Simply waiting until we die and then hoping for the best, usually won't work. 
Christi |
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sunyata
USA
1513 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2017 : 3:25:46 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Christi
Simply waiting until we die and then hoping for the best, usually won't work.
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microcosm
102 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2017 : 01:31:18 AM
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Thanks kumar, Christi.
I'll follow up with the ultimate question: what is the point of going through all this trouble? How did it begin, why does it look the way it looks, what's the goal, the destination? |
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Wolfgang
Germany
470 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2017 : 02:14:37 AM
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I think as Spirit we existed before we first incarnated.
We were pur Spirit, oneness with other Spirits, oneness with the creator.
Then we decided to become separte, more individual !
and the physical plane is the playground and the learning ground.
Learning sometimes comes with pain ... |
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2017 : 03:43:02 AM
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| To know the true reality of our existence would be know the true reality of each and every atom and beyond a flower exists as itself but also has a purpose related to something else a bee for an example we as human beings have a capability to in this form through our nervous system body mind to experience more evolution if you like to label it that ,maybe in all truth there is no destination only a continual search a expansion beyond this plane other planes as truth unfolds in ourselves and in the general human view of life we change the inner man no by one method but by many science yoga language and so on. |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2017 : 07:13:35 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by microcosm
Thanks kumar, Christi.
I'll follow up with the ultimate question: what is the point of going through all this trouble? How did it begin, why does it look the way it looks, what's the goal, the destination?
Hi Microcosm,
The Buddha was asked this once.
His reply was: Imagine that you have been shot with a poisoned arrow and are dying. You would not start to ask questions about who had fired the bow, or why they shot the arrow because you might die whilst trying to find out the answers. Instead, you would try to find an antidote to the poison.
Spiritual practices are an antidote to the poison, so the best thing to do is to practice.
Questions like these are actually based on assumptions in the mind and it is these assumptions that fall away as we progress on the path.
The last part is easy though, the goal and the destination are the same, which is enlightenment.
Christi |
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jusmail
India
491 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2017 : 8:12:22 PM
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Life is pleasant.
Death is peaceful.
It's the transition
that's troublesome.
Isaac Asimov
1920 - 1992, American author/biochemist
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swordsaint
29 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2017 : 04:19:18 AM
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| Thank you all once again for your contribution to the topic. Christi thank you also for your in depth and insightful replies. |
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Chard
250 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2017 : 01:02:55 AM
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Swordsaint, After I die I'll post on the forum and let you know how practices are benefiting me in the afterlife!! joke joke!!
Kidding aside, that's a good question Swordsaint...I've kind of wondered the same thing but never thought to ask...good responses eveyone
Chard |
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1571 Posts |
Posted - Aug 31 2017 : 03:37:32 AM
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I thought I knew the answer to this question - What happens after death? - until I experienced Unity / complete absence of an"I". Now the answers I thought I had are inadequate. I no longer know or maybe I am not ready to accept the answer.
Sey |
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lateralus
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2017 : 12:20:25 AM
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With the falling away of the personal "I",even if for a brief moment,there is the direct experience of one's eternal boundless nature,beyond body and mind. There is the awareness of this body as form,contained in formlessness,and the direct knowing that the "I",or "little me" and all of it's beliefs,ideas,conceptions etc., that also arise and dissolve within this permanent unchanging awareness,is just imagination without substance. That in reality,through our direct experience,we are formless consciousness that has no beginning and no end. Whatever karmic baggage we are carrying is then seen with a different level of perception and heightened awareness and this loosens the grip.
We can now clearly see and differentiate from what is "me" and what is not "me" and allow the attachments,desires,etc.,to dissolve. We become more of "that" and less of "what is not that", until there is nothing left of "what is not that" to be drawn by and attach to. There is the dissolving away of identification with what was once thought to be "me" or the false separate identity, along with all it's untrue/false ideas, beliefs, concepts and clouded perceptions.
If there is no personal "I" that dies,as it never existed in the first place, except as a conceptual idea or thought we believed to be permanent and real,who or what then dies?
I can't presume to know what happens after death as that itself would be an imagination.I can only be knowing of that which is ever aware,existing here-now, and is devoid of any thing-ness, including the idea of a separate personal self or "I/me",and is true to what is everlasting and therefore substantially real.
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Edited by - lateralus on Sep 06 2017 05:47:55 AM |
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swordsaint
29 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2017 : 04:03:42 AM
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Wow, just wow. Thank you for all your responses. I can't wait to keep practicing and cultivating the techniques so I also can realize such beautiful experiences.
=) |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Feb 10 2018 : 10:17:43 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by microcosm
Christi, what is the point of reincarnation? Why couldn't we reincarnate in a pure abode (a "paradise for meditators") and just focus on spiritual development there? What causes/conditions "decide" where are we reborn?
What Christi said. I like how George Harrison expressed it, I cannot find the quote at the moment but it was something to the effect: "When we die we go where our heart is, what we really want more than anything." When our desire for God is greater than all earthly desires and we make a consistent daily practice of keeping our heart and mind in God including at the moment of death, that is the door to paradise. |
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swordsaint
29 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2018 : 03:58:14 AM
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| After revisiting this topic. I come to understand with deeper insight, each and everytime. It's the same with all AYP practices, the more we practice the more refined the understanding becomes and it's always a new experience. God bless. |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2018 : 06:54:54 AM
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| agreed! |
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