To understand why bad things happen in this world and why it seems that some good people suffer, we must try to understand the reality of life and death. A person doesn't suffer after death because bad things can't happen to a dead person. Good or bad, whatever comes to us, it comes to us during a period called life. Who causes fortune or misfortune - whether God is responsible or not and whether there is a Universal Law that controls this, will be understood if we unravel the mystery of death and afterlife. Otherwise, while we are sure that apples cannot grow on mango trees, we will still feel bad when we see a young child suffer. This is due to our own ignorance about life, death, and the afterlife that unfolds as rebirth.
Death is a mystery. The world has not been able to dene what exactly death is. We see a person alive and then suddenly, the person dies. What exactly happens? The body of the person lies in front of us but we feel that this body is not the person who was alive. We say the person passed away, expired or departed although the body of the person is right here in front of us. This is not the person, it is just the mortal remains. Where is the person who was alive and who is the one who moved on if this body is not the person?
Ram passed away. We say “Ram is no more”, but Ram is right here in front of us. This is not Ram. Ram died. This is the dead body of Ram. Then, who actually is Ram and where did Ram go? Can Ram ever come back? In a short while from now, we will cremate the body of Ram. The body will become ashes and Ram will no more be visible, either dead or alive. Still, we know that the one who was alive as Ram left the body of Ram and moved on at death.
While we are very clear about the story of Ram, why are we not clear about the story of Shyam? Shyam was just born in the house of a millionaire. He was given all the comforts and luxuries that only a rich child could afford. He grew up in the lap of luxury. Why? What is the reason for Shyam's good fortune? We are unable to realize that the life of Shyam is nothing but a continuation of the one we knew as Ram. Ram died and along with his name, his body perished. But the ME who was Ram – Mind and Ego, still had its Karma, unredeemed actions that had to be settled. In this case, the one who was Ram had a lot of positive balance in his account and so he was born in fortunate circumstances as Shyam. If Ram had tons of negative deeds that were not redeemed, then Ram would have not been born as Shyam. Ram would have probably been born in a slum, miserable and suffering from diseases. While there seems to be a clear connection due to the Law of Cause and Effect, we sometimes aren't able to understand that whatever is unfolding, is nothing but an effect of the cause. In this case, the cause which is Ram's actions bears fruit as the effect in the life of Shyam after Ram dies. The body of Ram may have died but his mind and ego carried with it all the good deeds, and the effect is seen in the life of Shyam. This is not complicated if one understands the simple Law of Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect.
To understand this further, we must realize who was the actual performer of the action. While it appears that it was Ram, the actual performer was the ME – the Mind and the Ego. The ME directed Ram to perform. Ram was the instrument through which the action was being performed but the one accountable for Ram's action was the ME of Ram. In this life, the ME was doing as Ram, but when Ram dies, the ME moves on to take birth as Shyam. The ME is now receiving the rewards, being reborn as Shyam. The ME has not changed. It rst appeared as Ram and now it is appearing as Shyam.
In fact, death and the afterlife are not a mystery anymore. It is just history that unfolds! It is our past that appears as our future, based on our own actions. The only point to understand is that the actions performed in one life appear as the reaction in the next life. Why else would somebody be born in fortunate circumstances and another in unfortunate ones? This is not a matter of random chance or luck, but the unfolding of the Universal Laws.
Therefore, if a newborn suffers, we should know beyond doubt that the suffering that is caused, not just to the newborn but to the related family as well, is a reaction to an action performed in the past unknown to us. We may see apples growing on a tree. We did not see anyone planting the seeds, but by inference we know if apples are on the tree, it is because somebody planted apple seeds. If they had planted mango seeds, there would be no apples, but rather mangoes on the tree. Imagining that there are apples when we planted mangoes, only reveals our ignorance about the Universal Law. The law exists and nobody on earth can circumvent it. It will unfold exactly as Quid pro quo – this for that. It doesn't know how to operate otherwise.
This world itself seems to be operating on another universal Law of Cycles as we see our life to be cyclic. Our life doesn't end at death. The cycle continues. The body dies, but the ME – the Mind and the Ego, continues its cycle in a new body. It doesn't end there. The cycle continues - death, birth, and death again. But at this point, we are only worried about understanding why apples can't grow on mango trees. What matters to us is to realize the truth that bad things can't happen to good people. If bad things are happening, then these are nothing but bad seeds that are sprouting as bad fruits. If they were good seeds, they could never become bad fruits. Such is the Universal Law.
People are still confused about whether there is an afterlife or not. In reality, there is no confusion. It is obvious by inference that an afterlife exists. Why is this so?
First of all, when a person dies, we believe that the person is rewarded or punished for actions performed. The reward or punishment is only possible if the person is reborn in a new body. How else would this be possible? Even if one has to go to heaven or hell as claimed by many Religions, how would one go if the body perished on earth? Thus it seems that one is reborn or resurrected in a new body to face one's past actions.
Secondly, the simple observation that some people are born rich and some poor, some fortunate and some unfortunate, some lucky and some unlucky, and some sad and some happy, indicates the existence of a law that can only unfold if there was an afterlife. A new birth seems to be the effect, but what is the cause? We infer that there can be nothing other than an afterlife that is the cause of our circumstance when we are born.
Even science believes that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only be transformed from one form to another. Recent scientic experiments have proved that the tiniest particle of the human body is nothing but energy. You and I may appear to be 'us', but in reality, we are trillions of energy particles that when put together appear as the body, but the subatomic particle of each cell is nothing but energy.
While there seems to be no doubt that there is an afterlife, modern-day technology has made it possible to track how some young children are able to recollect huge volumes of memory of a past life. How else could this be possible without an afterlife? There are many things that a newborn does and we may say that it is their instinct but deeper contemplation will reveal that this instinct is nothing but a ME (Mind+Ego) that is reborn and is the one that carries with it what an instinct is capable of doing.
A young child suddenly starts playing the piano. How did the child ever learn to play the piano? It is a skill that must have been developed earlier. How else could somebody just be an expert in playing the piano? Probably, it is another faculty associated with the mind, the memory that is reborn as this child.
One should not doubt the fact that 'death is not the end'. It is only a bend. We have seen many people die and we know beyond doubt that only the body dies. While the body lies in front of us, we declare without hesitation that the person who was alive has passed away. We use various terms like expired, departed or moved on although the body of the person who died is right in front of us. We know beyond doubt that this is not the person but only the dead body of the person. Then who has departed? It is the one who was alive, the Mind and Ego, that we can refer to as ME.
It is sad that most of humanity doesn't understand what a human being comprises. While we understand how our computer works, we don't understand how our body works. Just like the computer has hardware but it needs software, our gross physical body needs a software or subtle body which comprises the mind, memory, intellect, and ego. Apart from the hardware and software, what else does the computer need? It needs a power supply without which it would be dead. Our body too will be dead if there was no power supply. We know beyond doubt that the 30 trillion cells that we are made up of, come alive with electrical signals. But at death, our entire body structure becomes lifeless. What causes the power supply in the human body? What gives the human body the hardware and the mind, the software to move and function? Our body and mind are powered by the Soul. The Soul is nothing but Life Energy that gives power to the body from birth to death. We must be very clear about the functioning of the body, the mind and the Soul.
As long as the body is alive, empowered by the Soul, it is the ME – the Mind and Ego, that directs the body to act. When the Soul departs, we experience death and there is no breath. The body lies in front of us, but the ME – the Mind and Ego, moves on to next life, along with the unsettled Karma, deeds or actions that it carries in its cumulative account. Unless we human beings are clear about body, mind and Soul, we will continue to think of death and afterlife as a mystery. But if we realize that the Soul escapes into the consciousness that is everywhere, then it is easy to understand that the dead body is cremated or buried, but the ME – Mind and Ego, has to be reborn to settle its outstanding balance.
For those who still don't understand how the Soul leaves the body and becomes one with consciousness, they should take two rubber balloons that look like dead pieces of rubber and blow air into them. Suddenly these balloons become full of life. Now when we deate these balloons, they return to becoming dead pieces of rubber. Can we recover the air that was in these two balloons separately? Impossible! The air that was in the two balloons has merged with the air that was everywhere. So does our Soul. At death, our Soul is released into the Cosmic Consciousness that is omnipresent, present everywhere. Many people confuse Soul to be 'Good Souls' and 'Bad Souls'. They even think that the Soul takes rebirth without realizing that soul is only the Divine Life Energy that arrives at birth and departs at death. The Soul is not reborn, nor does the Soul suffer or enjoy the results of our bad deeds and good deeds. It is only ME, the Mind and Ego, that is reborn along with its accumulated Karma and either enjoys or suffers in a new body due to the circumstances that appear in the new life based on its own past actions.
Often, the understanding of death and afterlife is interrupted by the misunderstanding of the Soul. What is the Soul? The Soul is the Life Energy that causes birth and departs at death. It is just a power supply and is not part of the body-mind complex involved in action and reaction. The Soul is a silent spectator. It is like energy in a bulb that causes the bulb to glow. At death, the Soul or the Consciousness within us merges with the Consciousness that is everywhere.
Therefore, actually, there is no mystery about death and afterlife. For those who realize the truth, this is the Universal Law of Cycles that is unfolding. One life leads to another. The body dies but the Mind and Ego are reborn along with the Universal Law of Cause and Action, Action and Reaction. Not only are we reborn, but we are reborn based on our own deeds.
People submit to the belief that our destiny is preset. We cannot control or change it. In reality, some part of our life will denitely unfold as per our past actions. But some part is in our hands. We, the Mind and Ego that drive the body, make choices and these choices become the actions that lead to reactions in our future life. The ones who realize the Truth about death and afterlife, who have demystied the confusions that cloud their mind, live with the realization that they cannot escape from their actions, even at death. There is another profound discovery. If we plant good deeds throughout our life, these good deeds will not be wasted. They remain in our karmic account. This leads to another realization that we, in fact, control our destiny.
