I'm ready to die, but just not yet

***** (Five Stars)

Never before have we experienced such compelling tendencies to believe life is, after all, mortal. I pre-ordered this gem "DEATH, AN INSIDE STORY" by Sadhguru. In his witty, inimitable style, he has bylined it "a book for all those who shall die!"

This book is not only for meditators but just anybody curious about death. The book is racy, full of personal anecdotes, and if I may add, a living guide to all those who want to gracefully transition from the physical to the non-physical. 

Sadhguru has quashed several myths about death being a calamity, causing a great deal of grief to the being, and all the surviving family members. Deep aspects like why people fear death, how to overcome the fear of death, and importantly how to live one's old age are completely detailed out in a simple, easy to understand style. Besides, how we are conditioned from our childhood to not even utter the word 'death', lest we should draw the wrath of Yamaraja (god of death) is so real, and deeply rooted in families.

Sadhguru’s explanation of the process of death is breath-taking (literally & figuratively). He describes death (as it happens) in three parts:

a. First, the memory is gone: The physical self is an accumulation of genetic, and evolutionary memory (there are eight types in all). When a person dies, whatever memory he has gathered on the surface is gone. The deeper layer, which Sadhguru calls as "Karmic memory" remains intact. This karmic memory seems almost eternal, hence the expression "The soul is eternal" but only in someone's experience.

b. Next, the body is gone: Even the body is a combination of five sheaths (physical body, mental body, energy body, etheric body, bliss body). When a person dies, Sadhguru says only the outer sheath of the body is lost, rest of the structure is intact, and will find an eligible womb, and pop back in no time.

c. Finally, the vital energies are gone: Once death happens, within 21-24 minutes of the breath-stopping, the body cools down. Then between 64-90 minutes, respiratory actions will recede. Between 6-12 hours buoyancy of the body is gone. Between 8-18 hours, sensory perception is gone. Between 11-14 days, the preservative nature of energy is gone. Sadhguru goes on to explain several ritualistic processes to assist the being during this final stage.

Sadhguru details the secrets of rare transmigrating beings, people who cheated deaths, and some fascinating tales of great sages who dematerialized their physical bodies, and attained to their Mukti, Mahasamadhis. These things happened with so much ease, and almost no brouhaha in our culture.

Finally, Sadhguru has peppered some chapters with up & close narratives of encounters with the disembodied, and his compassionate assistance towards their ultimate dissolution. There are further accounts of the life of a ghost, reincarnations, exploring past lives, many of which are truly spine-chilling.

Will he come back? Well, he has given a very specific answer to this question in the book. I'm not doing a spoiler alert.

In my own experience, I'm not quite ready to die since I'm unaware of either my Sanchita Karma (my whole stock of karma across lifetimes) or Prarabhdha Karma (my allocated stock of karma in this lifetime). Without this basic understanding, I would not know how much NEW karma I'm accumulating, and what I should strive to dissolve to escape the cycle of birth, life & death. Liberation can only happen when I run my full course of Prarabhdha.

"Once you made the mistake of sitting with me, in some ways you are already fixed, unless you really want to fall off and go against it within yourself. Otherwise, in many ways, you are sorted. Sg

This is a must-read! https://www.ishashoppe.com/in/death-an-inside-story.html