YOGA TEXTS ON DEATH AND DYING

We are not the first to think about death and dying.  Let's take a look at what the yoga texts say.

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Yoga Sutras of Pantajali

 

Sutra II:9  Svarasavahi vidusah api samarudhah abhinivesah

Sva: one’s own

Rasa: substance

Vahi: that which carries

Vidusah: the sage

Api: Even, same

Samarudhah: that which has firmly taken root

Abhinivesah: Fear, feeling of security, stubborn will (to keep oneself alive)

 

“Fear is present even for the sage and develops from its own inherent source.” (Bernard Bouanchaud)

• How aware am I of my fears and phobias?

• Do my fears inhibit me, or do they make me behave irrationally, which increases risk?

• What part does the imagination play in fear?

• Should I conquer all my fears?

• Does developing knowledge diminish fear?

• Can the ego hide fear?

• Does fear change with age and in different periods of one’s life?

• Is there a hierarchical order to fearing neediness, fearing what others think, and fearing death?

 

“Fear of death carries its own essence and predominates [the consciousness of] even the wise.” (Pandit Rajmani Tigunait)

 

Even the wise develop a sense of self-importance that causes attachment to living and fear of dying. Based on the previous sutras, the text argues that our misunderstanding of our nature (avidya) leads us to mistakenly associating ourselves with our thoughts about who we think we are (asmita)
 

Abhinivesha is a Sanskrit word meaning “will to live,” referring to the fear of death, even if life is full of misery. It is one of the five kleshas, or negative mental states that causes suffering.

 

“The elusive awareness of immortality is inherent even for the wise.” (Nischala Joy Devi)

 

One of the most vital reasons for spiritual practice is to prepare us for the moment of physical death.  Dying can be a time when great apprehension and doubt become our constant companions.  Remembering that we are Divine and therefore immortal can ease that struggle.

 

The Kleshas: The dissolving of the veils.  One of the kleshas or veils is Abhinivesa.

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Sutra III:22  Sopakramam nirupakramam ca karma tat samyamat aparanta jnanam aristebhyah va

 

Soprakramam: with rapid evolution

Nirupakramam: with slow evolution

Ca: and

Karma: action

Tat: that

Samyamat: through perfect mastery

Aparanta: final ending

Jnamam: knowledge

Aristebhyah: portent

Va: or else by

 

“Perfect mastery of slow and rapid evolution of actions brings knowledge of the time and circumstances of one’s own death.  This is also known through premonition.” (Bernard Bouanchaud)

 

• How can I observe the evolution of my actions and their results?

• How can this aphorism help me choose objectives?

• Am I more likely to use this observation-based method, or am I fortunate enough to have well-founded premonitions?

• How can anticipating certain phenomena change the way I live?

 

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali there is a sutra (3:22) saying that we can know the time of death. Advanced yogis have full control of their mind and practice samyana (an internal process where dhyana, dharana, samadhi are practiced simultaneously). This is an out-of-body experience where the material body dissolves.

 

For a yogi, death means dissolving of mistaken identification of self and not of real self. Thus there is no fear of body death.

 

Upanishads

 

Katha

 

Man must not fear anyone or anything, not even death, as the true essence of man (Atman) is eternal, beyond birth and death, and identical to Brahman.

 

“The Self, whose symbol is OM, is the omniscient Lord.  He is not born.  He does not die.  He is neither cause nor effect.  This Ancient One is unborn, eternal, imperishable; though the body be destroyed, he is not killed.”

 

“Arise!  Awake!  Approach the feet of the Master and know THAT.  Like the sharp edge of a razor, the sages say, is the path.  Narrow it is, and difficult to tread!  Soundless, formless, intangible, undying, tasteless, odorless, eternal, without beginning, without end, immutable, beyond nature, is the Self.  Knowing him as such, one is freed from death.”

 

-Translation by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester

 

Bhagavad Gita

 

Chapter 8: The Way to Eternal Brahman

 

In the Bhagavad Gita, death is elucidated as a natural and inevitable aspect of life, emphasizing the eternal nature of the soul.

 

“When a man leaves his body and departs (According to yoga technique, the yogi must employ a special method of leaving the body at death.  First, the vital force is drawn up the sushumna, the central spinal passage, and gathered in the brain, “between the eyebrows.”  The yogi then leaves the body through an aperture in the center of the brain, called the sahasrara), he must close all of the doors of the senses.  Let him hold the mind firmly within the shrine of the heart, and fix the life-force between the eyebrows.”

“I show you two paths

Let a yogi choose either

When he leaves his body:

The path that leads back to birth,

The path of no return.

 

There is the path of light,

Of fire and day,

The path of the moon’s bright fortnight

And the six month’s journey

Of the sun to the north:

The knower of Brahman

Who takes this path

Goes to Brahman:

He does not return.

 

There is the path of night and smoke,

The path of the moon’s dark fortnight

And the six month’s journey

Of the sun to the south:

The yogi who takes this path

Will reach the lunar light.:

This path leads back

To human birth, at last.”

 

Translation by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood

 

Buddhism

Bardo = “gap,” “lacuna”

 

The Six Bardos of Tibetan Buddhism

1) The Bardo of This Life

The bardo of this life, also known as the “natural” or “birth” bardo, refers to the period from birth to death. During this bardo, we accumulate karma through our actions, words, and thoughts.

2) The Bardo of Dreaming

The bardo of dreaming refers to the period of sleep when dreams occur. During this period, the mind is less constrained by the physical body and sensory inputs, and using certain techniques, we can experience a more liberated state of consciousness.

3) The Bardo of Meditation

The bardo of meditation, or “meditative concentration bardo,” refers to the period when a practitioner’s mind is fully immersed in a meditative state. In this bardo, when we are free from the usual distractions and illusions of daily life,.the mind can potentially gain a degree of control over its experiences and perceptions

4) The Bardo of Dying

The bardo of dying, also known as the “painful bardo of dying,” begins when the physical and mental processes of the body begin to dissolve at the onset of death and continues until the physical body has entirely ceased to function. It is taught that a person’s state of mind during this crucial time can significantly influence their journey through the subsequent bardos and their next rebirth.

5) The Bardo of Dharmata

The bardo of dharmata (Sanskrit for “the nature of reality”)  begins immediately after the process of physical death when consciousness separates from the body. In this bardo, the pure, infinite expanse of the basic nature of reality is experienced. Those trained through meditation in experiencing this basic ground of being can achieve enlightenment during this bardo. However, without such training, most beings will become frightened or confused by the experience of dharmata and fall into unconsciousness, at which point they will begin the transition to their next birth.

6) The Bardo of Becoming

The bardo of becoming, also known as the “karmic” or “transitional” bardo, is when the karmic seeds planned in our base consciousness (alaya) begin to impel us toward our next birth. This bardo is said to be much like a dream in which we perceive a variety of powerful and often frightening appearances influenced by the karma (actions and their consequences) of previous lives. It’s during this bardo that signs of future life start to appear, and the consciousness eventually takes rebirth in one of the six realms of existence (god, demigod, human, animal, hungry ghost, or hell realm) according to one’s karma.
 

Six Realms of Samskara

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God Realm

Jealous God Realm

Human Realm

Animal Realm

Hungry Ghost Realm

Hell Realm