Key Moments
What Survives Death? | Michael James
Closer To TruthKey Moments
The ego survives death, carrying only its desires (vasanas) into new lives as subsequent dreams, not memories. This process is guided by divine will for spiritual development, not as strict reward/punishment.
Key Insights
What survives death is not the person (Michael or Robert) but the ego or 'I am' awareness, which carries vasanas (volitional inclinations or desires in seed form).
From the Advaita perspective, life is a dream, and death is the end of one dream; reincarnation is the beginning of another dream with a new identity, not a soul moving between bodies.
While typically memories are lost in reincarnation, some children may have documented recollections of past lives, though most people forget previous existences entirely.
Karma is understood not strictly as reward and punishment but as spiritual guidance from God, who allots the fruit of actions to best serve an individual's spiritual development and ego dissolution.
The law of karma is considered a supplementary aspect of Advaita Vedanta, making rational sense but not being provable solely through analysis; it requires acceptance.
From our limited human viewpoint, God appears to allot the fruit of actions, but from an infinite perspective, 'God decides everything without doing anything, just by being as he is'.
The ego, not the person, endures beyond the body
In Advaita Vedanta, the ultimate reality of our being—pure consciousness—is untouched by birth and death. However, on a more temporal level, the 'ego' or the awareness that identifies itself as 'I am this body, I am this person' does not cease to exist with the body's demise. This ego, often termed the soul or mind, survives death. What it carries forward are only its vasanas, which are volitional inclinations, the seed-form of our desires, likes, and dislikes. From this perspective, death is merely the ending of one dream, and the ego, as the dreamer, continues to dream another life.
Life as a dream and reincarnation as new dreams
Advaita Vedanta views individual existence as a dream. Death signifies the conclusion of one such dream. Reincarnation, therefore, is not the soul transmigrating from one body to another in a continuous sense. Instead, it's the cessation of one dream and the commencement of a new one. In this subsequent dream, a completely different identity is experienced. The 'I' that is aware of itself as 'Michael' or 'Robert' does not carry over personal memories. Once Michael is dead, Michael as an identity is finished, leaving only a memory. However, the consciousness that identified as Michael continues, now projecting a new identity and thus a new dream, a new life.
The persistence of vasanas and the struggle at death
The ego's continued existence is driven by its vasanas—its ingrained desires and attachments in a seed form. These vasanas create the inclination to continue experiencing phenomena and maintaining an individual identity in the world. At the moment of death, there's often a struggle because the ego is still attached to its current identity, despite being forcibly separated from the body. This resistance can be observed in the breathing patterns of a dying person, which may temporarily revive after calming, indicating the ego's unwillingness to relinquish its present form. This inherent drive to experience embodied existence propels the ego to project another identity and dream.
The role of karma as spiritual guidance
Karma, in the Advaita perspective, is not merely a system of reward and punishment. Instead, it's a mechanism overseen by divine will for spiritual development. God, being infinite love, allots the 'fruit' of our past actions in a way that is most conducive to our spiritual growth, ultimately aiming for the dissolution of the ego. This means individuals are placed in circumstances— a particular family, environment—that will best bring out their positive tendencies and facilitate progress. The actions we perform, driven by our vasanas (will), create the experiences we encounter, which in turn shape future vasanas and subsequent karmic fruits. This cycle perpetuates karma as we react to experiences, generating new karmas based on our likes and dislikes.
The nature of memory and past life recall
While the general understanding in Advaita is that personal memories are not transferred with the ego into a new life, there are exceptions. Some documented cases, particularly involving children, suggest a degree of recollection of past lives. However, for the vast majority, there is a complete loss of memory of previous existences. The reliability of memory, even within the current lifetime, is often questioned, with some researchers highlighting the potential for false or implanted memories, even under hypnosis during past-life regressions. Therefore, for practical purposes, we lose our entire identity and memories from previous lives.
The divine orchestration of karmic outcomes
Explaining the precise connection between actions in one life and their consequences in another is complex. Vedanta posits that God is the ultimate ordainer of the fruit of actions. From our limited human viewpoint, this might appear as a divine decision-making process. However, from an infinite perspective, God decides everything instantaneously and effortlessly, simply by existing. This divine orchestration ensures that the experiences allotted to us are those that serve our spiritual evolution, guiding us towards realizing our true nature as infinite happiness and ultimately leading to the dissolution of the ego, without ever forcing it upon us before we are ready.
Karma's supplementary role in Advaita philosophy
While the law of karma fits coherently within the broader Advaita philosophy and has practical importance, it is not considered a central, rationally provable tenet. The core philosophy of Advaita can be analyzed and understood through our experience. Karma, conversely, is something one largely accepts on faith. While it makes sense within the overall framework, it cannot be definitively proven through logical analysis alone. Thus, it serves as a background philosophy that supports the main teachings rather than an essential, independently verifiable component.
Mentioned in This Episode
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Common Questions
According to Advaita Vedanta, the pure being or awareness, often referred to as the 'I am' consciousness, is untouched by death. It is the ego, or the sense of individual identity, along with its vasanas (inclinations and desires), that survives and continues the cycle.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
A school of Hindu philosophy that posits that only Brahman is real and the world is an illusion.
The ultimate reality in Hinduism; the supreme cosmic spirit.
The philosophical arm of Hinduism often synonymous with Advaita Vedanta in this context.
Referred to as the ordainer of the fruit of action and the source of infinite love, overseeing karma.
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