The body dies but not the soul

THE THOUGHT of death triggers various feelings in people, ranging from fear, worry and foreboding to resignation, and even weary anticipation for those whose lives are a burden and death a welcome reprieve.

Our fear of death is more about its consequences than the act of dying. Death, as most people see it, means loss of all that they love.

It’s not only our own death but also those we love which causes sorrow, as we feel that a source of happiness, love or support has been taken away.

Death, in other words, is seen as a dead end beyond which lies nothing and from which one cannot return. It is annihilation of all we know as life.

Such thinking stems from ignorance of spiritual truths. First of all, it is the soul which experiences all that we call life. The body is made of matter and is alive only when a soul resides in it.

Consciousness resides in the soul, the immortal being of light that gives life to the body. It is the soul that speaks, hears, smells, tastes, sees and feels through the sense organs of the body.

Death is the departure of the soul from the body, and it is the body that dies, not the soul. The soul cannot get burnt, drowned, crushed, cut or killed. So we need not fear death as our soul is immortal.

Knowing our immortality thus reminds us that a good act never goes to waste and we should avoid doing harm to the self or others in order to ensure a happy future for ourselves.

This knowledge also saves us from the short-sighted ‘live for the moment’ attitude to life, which makes man a slave to his mind and senses and often leads him down the path of self-destruction.