On Death and Near Death experiences

"Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones and I will try to fix you"
Coldplay

THE NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

Nearly all death experience of survivors, in unison tell a tale of how they could see their physical selves while having an out of body experience, while medical staff tries their best to bring them back to life. They recall, meeting a known family member or angel for whom they had immense respect for in their lives, approach them from a white bright light and tell them to get back. A few of them even recall faint memories of a place devoid of time, where all the dearly departed reside together in happiness. Then whooooooosh, they are back in their mortal bodies amongst doctors and medical staff.

FINAL JUDGEMENT

Throughout life, we  have been informally (media reports) or subliminally (unconsciously) instructed that once you die or experience phenomena called death, you have to walk towards a bright light for your final judgment. That's what I too believed for a long time. It makes perfect sense meeting your creator and being judged for your mortal deeds. Post that we return to earth.

UNRESOLVED PURPOSE

You may argue that we are reborn as have an unresolved purpose. I agree, that it could be true. But what's the use having a purpose without recalling what is it?

But what if there is more to death than meets the eye!

What if, The long walk through the bright light is just an illusion to harvest your soul and reset it into a new body. Your hard disk (memories) undergoes a factory reset (erased). It all starts, when your memories are used against you, to convince you to walk towards the judgment light by someone who looks and talks like someone you really and truly love and has access to those memories.

You may say I am insane and this theory*² is written by a  lunatic but hear me out.

Every time one dies, it's a reboot and return to earth, but unfortunately without the knowledge and experiences of the earlier life. Wouldn't if be easier if we had previous knowledge and experiences to go through our current lives or at least a recall of our destination. But NO, we have nothing and then we tread the same old grounds, live the  same old mistakes, and we are back in the soul harvester for another reboot.

POST DEATH DILEMMAS

Just think about it, our understanding of the journey  post death is - our soul leaves the body, we journey through a white pillar of light and then reside in an abode amidst fluffy clouds, white lights, good souls, tranquil music and abundance of love..our final destination.

Considering the divinity of this unassailable place, why would we prefer to come back to this God forsaken place. However, we always and definitely come back and worst of all without our memory. Double Whammy!

LACK OF THEORY

There is a very limited theory on death documented in the library of mankind. None of the religions give a step by step guide on what needs to be done to reach this Shangri-la and be there. The Egyptians did a good job of putting some hieroglyphs depicting the journey of death in a boat towards the stars. Unfortunately, we cannot decipher it. In short zero knowledge.

SUPER MARIO BROS, AMNESIA & PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Like Super Mario Bros,*¹ the 8-bit game that we have all played and loved as kids, we think we will find our destination( the princess,) at the end of every level. However, we have her (princess) handmaid, who tells us after we slay the fire breathing dragon, sorry Mario the princess is in another castle ~ Wtf... 

We feel sad for Mario, all that he did was in search of a destination that was not even his, to begin with. That's because Mario does not  recall that the princess in world 8 level 4..and when he dies in pursuit, it's another reboot to level 1 without any past memory or recall of a destination.

Once Mario is reborn, he changes his purpose to something attainable like food, clothing, shelter, security or a social need, but the ultimate purpose of rescuing the princess never truly realizes.

SHEEPISH BELIEFS

If it was up to me I would say don't walk towards the light like the herd, take your time to know what you are getting into.

*¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros.

*² http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/soul-net-deep-down-rabbit-hole/

Perspective and Perception

History is riddled with characters labeled as good, bad and ugly! Let us try and get another perspective. 

I. EVIL IS ABSOLUTE! OR IS IT?

Let us revisit the Mahabharata 

Shakuni *¹, the main strategist of the Kauravas. The mastermind of the biggest war that resulted in the loss of over 1 billion 660 million lives, had actually had a very sorry past. 

Shakuni was thrown into prison with his 100 brothers when his homeland was conquered by Hastinapur (ruled by the very same Kauravas). In prison, each of his brothers was given 1 grain of rice each per day. Since Shakuni, was the smartest member of the family, his brothers sacrificed their share of grains and fed him so that he could take their revenge for all the wrong done to them. He witnessed the death of each brother to starvation and in order to not forget this great sacrifice and the purpose of his life, the prince bends his knee, so every time he limps, it would remind him of his purpose in life.

Was Shakuni evil or righteous? 

II. EVERYTHING IS WRITTEN. 

Let us now, revisit the Ramayana

Ravana, the evil Rakshasa who kidnaps Sita and was slain by Rama. Every Dussehra we celebrate this triumph of good over evil. 

Rama, was an incarnation of God Vishnu (the preserver), while Ravana and his brother Kumbhakarna, in their earlier demigod avatar, were great bhaktas (devotees) of God Vishnu. 

One cosmic day, Four Kumaras (children of God Brahma ~ the creator), wanted to visit Vishnu but were stopped by Jaya-Vijaya*² the gatekeepers, as a result, they were cursed to give up their divinity and live as mortals. God Vishnu appeared before them and since he could not reverse the curse, he offered Jaya-Vijaya two options. Option one was to take 7 births so as to devotees of Vishnu or Option two was to take 3 births as an enemy of Vishnu only post that they could be reunited with their beloved God. Since they could not stay away from God Vishnu for seven mortal lives, they chose the latter option. 

Of their 3 lives as enemies of God Vishnu, Jaya-Vijaya in their second life, were called Ravana and Kumbhakarna , who were slain by Rama (the seventh avatar of God Vishnu).

There is no good and evil, its all perception.

III. A VILLAIN TO THE WORLD, BUT HERO TO THE ONE WHO MATTERS

Let us also revisit the betrayal of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was aware that one of his disciples- Judas*³ would betray him, that too with a kiss to his cheek as a warm greeting. But was the greeting really required? 

Think about it for a minute, if someone is openly challenging traditional beliefs held by the society, those in power, I am sure, those who run society will keep a track of his/her movements. Then why did few Roman Soldiers need Judas to identify Jesus with a kiss of death? Some state that Jesus was a shape shifter, he appeared with different features to different people who were part of the same audience who saw him at the same time (complicated isn't it). 

Jesus needed a disciple like Judas to help him leave this mortal world and ascend to his true realm-the heavens. As everything is pre-written ( we can change our fate but not our destiny) Judas' destiny was also pre-written. Sadly, he is still portrayed as the betrayer of Christ! But, come to think of it, isn't he the redeemer of Christ? 

I feel history is re-written by a selected few, and we view history with this limited perspective given to us by those few.

What do you think? 

*¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuni
*² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaya-Vijaya
*³ http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/why-did-judas-identify-jesus-with-a-kiss/

Your Inner Guide

ESP ( Extra Sensory Perception)

"We are constantly guided by our inner voice, we have to tune in to listen"

This is my favourite sense and we all have it. It's a voice that you hear inside your head. But it comes from 2 different sources according to me. One is guided by the pleasure principle the other from a more aetheric plane.

If you have watched Tom and Jerry, many times Tom's behaviour is guided by 2 invisible entities; one a small red malevolent devil who tries to manipulate Tom into causing harm to Jerry and the other a benevolent angel trying to guide Tom to let go of his evil thoughts and do the right thing.

If you have ever paid attention to this voice, I'm sure you have faced a dilemma in deciphering, if it is benevolent or malevolent?

My work colleague (Mr. Amogh Sase) is a follower of Sahaja yoga. He once helped me take control of my thoughts (he helped me blank out my thoughts by some very simple techniques) when I was seriously stressed with work and messed up in life.  We were speaking on various topics related to spirituality when I asked him the Inner voice being benevolent or malevolent differentiation question. He explained, that if the inner voice is accompanied by a generation of heat in your body, a rush of blood to the head, an elevation of heart beat and time slows- it's malevolent, operating on tamasic principles (Tamas is the quality of imbalance, disorder, chaos, anxiety, impure, destructive, delusion, negative, dull or inactive, apathy, inertia or lethargy, violent, vicious, ignorant) . However, if the inner voice, is not accompanied by the above physical manifestations and you have a calming peace residing over you ...bingo that's the aetheric guide.

In my personal experience, I can recall all sorts of suggestions, ideas, and advice from this inner voice such as...

·     You did an error in the document in this particular area  you worked on in the morning and WOW ! there lying hidden from my detail-oriented eyes - the error,

·       I would suddenly observe my thoughts are being drawn to a particular person and in the next 2 seconds, my phone would ring and the person's name would flash on the screen.

·         I felt the need to buy some antihistamine (allergy medicine), so decided to visit a pharmacy at 3 in the noon, took a route to go home that I felt I should  and while I did the same, I found a sparrow dehydrated in the summer heat lying on the road. I gave it water, (which I carried for some strange reason, considering the pharmacy is 10 minutes from my house) and then put it on the lowest branch, where it recovered and flew away.

Whenever I am trying hard  to find a solution to a problem, I work on it through the day and then to just let it marinate, I sleep over it and in the morning I know exactly what to do.

As part of what I do, in my job, I evaluate individuals by studying their behaviours and personality. This inner voice helps me decipher when people are lying with a straight face about what they do. Many times, in personal interactions it guides me in gauging people and their intentions. (Mind it,  I am well aware of my biases and always give people a benefit of doubt until I get compelling evidence)

When I flashback to my earlier years, I distinctly remember out of body experiences like:

·   Knowing which questions would be asked in my exams

·   Knowing which specimen would have to be detailed in my science practical exam the next day

· Knowing that I would have to dive the next minute to take a catch in a cricket match (unbelievable for me as a fat kid)

This voice helps me be neutral, rational and most importantly guides me in life.

 PRAYERS

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is a daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I pray daily, but I am not religious. I believe in God but not in the institution's run in God's name. I don't judge people by the fabric of their religion, but by the skin of their thoughts and actions.

My family is a mix of religions. Roman Catholic, Methodist Protestant, Hinduism and Islam. Some of my interesting  friends are Hindus, Muslims,  Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists. All of them are wonderful human beings.

To get back to Prayers, I believe that when you pray, you completely direct your attention and concentration to something you need or desire. It Manifests from the fourth dimension into your immediate reality.

From my own life experience, when I lost money while walking home, someone has put a request to the universe that he/she needs money to feed his/ her family. I can connect to this because I distinctly remember one day when my family members were hungry at dinner, but we had no money for a full meal. My brother and I walked to get some bread ( I think it was priced at 30 paise), on our way we found a crisp 50 rupee note lying in the muck among pigs. Nothing short of a miracle!! I guess someone in my family broadcasted a request to God.

I somehow feel God has a prayer answering app similar to Uber or Ola. One individual broadcasts an SOS, the app filters Samaritans within close proximity who are capable of helping the individual. Wham! The SOS is beamed to that unaware Samaritan, then the individual thinking he is acting on free will takes the shortest route available, completes the task (giving joy, hope, peace in the form of money, advice, support).

Infants have a pray broadcast system that probably has a 10-second turnaround guarantee. I have seen this many times with my wife and baby girl. My wife could sense our baby girl's discomfort sitting in another room and would act almost immediately with no delays. She would rush on instinct and avert situations from the blanket causing discomfort in breathing to stop the baby rolling over the edge of the bed.

IDEAS

"Your ideas are not your own, you just tap into the knowledge reservoir (let us call it Human Consciousness), it is like a huge universal library, which you cannot even comprehend, and based on your requirement, it tailors an idea that will suffice your need (not your want)"

I believe an idea must be shared if you want to be a member of the universal library.  I also believe when you receive an idea, the idea is also broadcasted to anyone and everyone who is tuned into that frequency (thinking on similar lines to solve a similar problem). Let me give you some research that supports this belief I have.

The comic strip 'Dennis the menace' was released on March 12th, 1951 in the USA and on the very same day a very similar comic strip Dennis and Gnasher was released in the UK*1. There is no way one cartoonist plagiarised the content of the other. But it was a mere coincidence that two cartoonists looking for an idea about a boy and a dog was broadcasted, the same idea by this universal library, that they took forward (acted up). This means when you get an idea, if you don't act on it, someone else will to ultimately benefit humanity. I call it the Universal library's Fail Safe.

Still not convinced? Well, let me share something I read a long time back  (tried to get a link on the net, but was unsuccessful).

Two groups were selected one in Australia and one in the UK. Both the groups were shown the rabbit - duck  illusion *2 at the same time. (The rabbit-duck is a  figure in which the brain switches between seeing a rabbit and a duck). Both the groups could spot only one of the animals. Then one of the controllers gave a hint of the other animal to one of the group members in the Australian group and then the individual and the group could refocus and see the other animal. Immediately, members of the UK group could also see the other animal, without being given a hint. That means, once you know, this idea, thought or solution is not yours alone, everyone else who is tuned in will also know.

I don't believe ideas should be patented, it should be an open source, where you can take the idea and make it better, rather than figuring out how to.

“Always pass on what you have learned.” ~ Yoda (Star Wars)

SENSES, INTUITION & EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION

Personality research says the 5 Senses and Intuition are opposite preferences. Carl Jung the world renowned psychologist said that human personality can be classified on the basis of 4 opposite preferences. One of them is called Sensing (S) and Intuition (I). Sensing is paying attention to what you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell (practical and present focus). Intuition is deriving meaning from the pockets of information received. (instinctive and future focus). 

I believe that intuition which Carl Jung focused on was the malevolent one  that makes you act in self-interest that results in mistakes done such as impulse buys, mob mentality decisions, acts of carnal desire. If data packets gathered by the senses, is combined with the guidance given by the inner benevolent voice, it always results in doing what is right for yourself and others. That could mean impulse buys turn into practical decisions, breaking yourself from mob mentality and 'no means no' when it comes to dealing with acts of carnal desire.

“A sixth sense is a miraculous thing, which in itself suggests a supernatural order. The human intellect, however, for all its power and triumphs, is largely formed by this world and is, therefore, corruptible.” ~ Dean Koontz, Brother Odd

*1 https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/10/18/the-odd-case-of-dennis-the-menace/

*2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit%E2%80%93duck_illusion

The Power of Words

SPEECH

" Your words can consume you as well as others"

When you speak  - the tone, the pitch and the unsaid emotions and intentions you pack into it or choose not to speak can inspire or dissuade a human being or even create Frankenstein!

My interpretation of  Frankenstein is far from conventional. I believe the creature Frankenstein was created by Victor, by infusing his grief-laden thoughts to bring back his mother who tragically passed away from scarlet fever.  When any human has a thought,  the neurons in your brain use electricity to communicate with each other.  This was depicted when a lightning bolt powered Frankenstein, thus communicating Victor's intentions across without even without speaking a word and then Victor screams " It's alive, its aliiiiiiive"

I will share something, that changed my perspective of the way I speak and interact with others. I will summarise Prof Masaru Emoto's*1 astounding research .

The Professor placed 3 bowls of water with rice in it. He went to the first bowl and said in a humble tone " Thank you", to second bowl he said in a harsh tone" Your an idiot" and third bowl, he ignored it completely.  He did this daily for a month. The results were astounding. The first bowl started to ferment giving out a pleasant smell, the rice in the second bowl turned black and the rice in the third bowl began to rot, giving out a foul smell. His experiments further claim that words have a wonderful or devastating impact on water, changing the cellular structure of water.

Our bodies contain 70% water. Hope you get the point.

LANGUAGE

"Every language gives out a vibration. Like a continuum, there are good vibrations on one end while there are bad vibrations on the other end"

The languages that we speak today have evolved from ancient ones. Ancient languages like Sanskrit, Hebrew, Aramaic etc, when spoken created the most positive vibrations resulting in a healing effect on the mind and body. English in comparison is low on positive vibrations.

When you chant a Sanskrit mantra you can’t miss feeling its vibrational force *3.  It is one of the most resonant languages that when spoken, makes you calm and joyful.  Hence, Sanskrit Mantras or Buddhist chants help elevate your consciousness to another level.

I personally have committed to learning prayers in Latin and in my experience the vibrations are much better and I feel a great sense of calm.

Try it to believe it! 

DECLARATION

"When you announce your intentions, you assert clarity & confidence. But you also unknowingly ask for support and involvement to succeed"  

My Spiritual Guru, Professor N.Subramanian Iyer*2 gave us an insight on how, when you declare your intentions, you garner the support, energy and motivation of those around you. 

A declaration is where you share your reality with the world as is, and once you humbly reveal your fears and aspirations, people rally around you to support you in your cause.

So next time when you make a new year resolution or are in a tight spot, can't do it all on your own, declare it to people who care.  They will be your support, when you lose your motivation; they will be your memory, if you choose to forget; they will be your conscience, when you are confused.

A simple example, Our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi gave a declaration on  Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, or #Give it Up (LPG Subsidy), he declared his vision and the entire country rallied towards it, we even did not mind paying a fraction higher service tax.

Go ahead share your inhibitions and aspirations with those who care! 

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

" Wisdom is as a flower from which the bee its honey makes and the spider poison, each according to its own nature" ~ Manly P. Hall's "Secret Teachings of all Ages"

Be careful when you speak ill of someone, or when you revel in their misfortune. You will attract the same fate in yours.

As laughter is contagious, sadness when shared, is reduced, Ill intentions towards someone, harms you more than the person intended.

I believe, before you speak ill about others, you first have to to breed an ill thought, i.e the seed of that ill thought is first sown in your mind; you water it as soon as, you share the ill thought with others; you nourish it with energy for long as you think about it; it first consumes your mind and then you manifests in your life. 

I will end with "do you speak orange?" If not, it's the right time to start.

 (*¹ Water Documentary - Masaru Emoto's Rice Experiment -Link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc-ZmvxfBxE )

(*²  Prof N.S Iyer's blog ~ http://iyer-n-higher.blogspot.in/)

(*3 The Vibrational world of Sanskrit ~ https://sanskritstudies.org/the-vibrational-world-of-sanskrit)