Back to the roots - XXI
Journey of the Soul - II
In the pursuit of trying to come to terms with what happens after death, I read the scriptures and also read extensively from the writings of some of the greatest minds on the subject - both ancient and modern masters. I had no other resource to understand as I did not know how to discern the truth from the experiences of those persons who claimed to have seen souls. I had one personal experience which I thought was some form of hallucination.
I am giving brief descriptions of some of the great minds who have thought, worked and written on the subject.
I am giving brief descriptions of some of the great minds who have thought, worked and written on the subject.
Swami Abhedananda was one such scholar. He was one of the 16 direct disciples of the great sage Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and therefore a disciple brother of Swami Vivekananda. Swami Abhedananda was given charge of Vedanta Society in New York in 1870 by Swami Vivekananda. An expert on Vedanta and other religious scriptures, he did some pioneering work on the issue of life after death.
Sir William Crookes (1832 - 1919), was a physical chemist of great repute who had discovered the element Thallium. His study into paranormal in 1870s was slandered by the scientific community of the day. Keeping in character of a scientist, his experiments on the soul world were as objective and scientific as possible by the standards of his time.
James Hervey Hyslop, PhD.D, LL.D, (1854 –1920) was a professor of ethics and logic at Columbia University, a psychologist, and a psychical researcher. A scholar of high repute in his life, he delved deeply in the subject of subtle body.
Camille Flammarion (1842 - 1925) was a French astronomer of repute. He had his own observatory in France. He was a prolific writer and had 50 books to his credit. He delved deeply into the study of spiritualism.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 – 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, and biologist. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection; his paper on the subject was jointly published with some of Charles Darwin's writings in 1858.
Some of the later day personalities of repute who have either researched on "spiritualism" or have first hand experience due to their highly developed psychical powers and to whose writings I referred, are as follows:
Raymond A. Moody, Jr. (born June 30, 1944) is a philosopher, psychologist, physician and author, most famous for his books about life after death and the near-death experiences (NDE), a term that he coined in 1975 in his best-selling book Life After Life.
Raymond Moody's research explores what happens when a person dies. Moody earned a BA (1966), M.A. (1967) and a PhD (1969) in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He also obtained a PhD in psychology from the University of West Georgia, then known as West Georgia College, where he later became a professor in the topic. In 1976, he was awarded an M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia.
After obtaining his M.D., Moody worked as a forensic psychiatrist in a maximum-security Georgia state hospital. In 1998, Moody was appointed Chair in Consciousness Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Sonia Choquette is a world-renowned intuitive and spiritual teacher. A masterful teacher committed to strengthening intuition in our daily lives, she is the best-selling author of ten books and numerous audio editions.
A highly trained intuitive, with extensive background in the mysticism of East and West, Sonia was educated at the University of Denver and at the Sorbonne in Paris, and holds a PhD.D. in metaphysics.
Caroline Myss (pronounced mace; born 1952) is an American author of numerous books and audio tapes, including five New York Times Best Sellers: Anatomy of the Spirit (1996), Why People Don't Heal and How They Can (1998), Sacred Contracts (2002), Invisible Acts of Power (2004), Entering The Castle (2007), and Defy Gravity (2009).
She was on the The Oprah Winfrey Show several times with her first appearance being in 2002.
There are many more references.
The writings available on the subject are vast and difficult to comprehend at one go. They require repeated perusals and deep introspection. The difficulty is also in the subtle nature of the subject and our inherent averseness to believing a phenomena which is neither comprehensible by our physical senses nor proven by science. I went through the same turbulence till I experienced that which I have mentioned in my two earlier posts and which I will reproduce at the right juncture. After these experiences, I am at peace with myself. But these experiences happened much later.
The agnostic and atheistic thinkers of the world, from ancient times, have believed in:
"As long as live, do not fail to enjoy. Live comfortably and enjoy the pleasures of life. Do not think of the future. Get all that you need and wish for. When the body is burnt into ashes, you are no more accountable"
In the Old Testament, Solomon says:
"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Live joyfully with the wife - whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest".
This is the principle of belief of the followers of the first school, who believed in ancient times and believe now that the physical body is be all and end all.
To the question that what is the cause for our birth, the believers of this school say that the physical bodies of the parents are the cause of birth. And the physical bodies of their parents are the cause of the birth of the parents. And they will go on this in vain to the past. Essentially they are probably trying to answer the how part of the birth and not the why.
In this school thought, intelligence, consciousness are products of a physical mass , the brain. When the physical body perishes or dies, the brain also ceases to function and therefore all thoughts, intelligence and consciousness cease. There is no such thing as soul; and the question of its existence after death does not arise.
The Buddhists maintained that the body is the cause of the mind and intelligence, that consciousness is the result of the combination of or reaction between inanimate matter and unintelligent forces of physical nature.
Kant says "There is no means whatever by which we can learn anything respecting the constitution of the soul and its existence".
I have tried to quote the thought streams of the believers of the first school starting from ancient times. Similar thought streams exist today, albeit in a different textual format and influenced by the progress of science and technology.
See you soon with the next post on the subject.
Namaste
Prabir
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 – 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, and biologist. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection; his paper on the subject was jointly published with some of Charles Darwin's writings in 1858.
Raymond A. Moody, Jr. (born June 30, 1944) is a philosopher, psychologist, physician and author, most famous for his books about life after death and the near-death experiences (NDE), a term that he coined in 1975 in his best-selling book Life After Life.
After obtaining his M.D., Moody worked as a forensic psychiatrist in a maximum-security Georgia state hospital. In 1998, Moody was appointed Chair in Consciousness Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
A highly trained intuitive, with extensive background in the mysticism of East and West, Sonia was educated at the University of Denver and at the Sorbonne in Paris, and holds a PhD.D. in metaphysics.
Caroline Myss (pronounced mace; born 1952) is an American author of numerous books and audio tapes, including five New York Times Best Sellers: Anatomy of the Spirit (1996), Why People Don't Heal and How They Can (1998), Sacred Contracts (2002), Invisible Acts of Power (2004), Entering The Castle (2007), and Defy Gravity (2009).
There are many more references.
The writings available on the subject are vast and difficult to comprehend at one go. They require repeated perusals and deep introspection. The difficulty is also in the subtle nature of the subject and our inherent averseness to believing a phenomena which is neither comprehensible by our physical senses nor proven by science. I went through the same turbulence till I experienced that which I have mentioned in my two earlier posts and which I will reproduce at the right juncture. After these experiences, I am at peace with myself. But these experiences happened much later.
The agnostic and atheistic thinkers of the world, from ancient times, have believed in:
"As long as live, do not fail to enjoy. Live comfortably and enjoy the pleasures of life. Do not think of the future. Get all that you need and wish for. When the body is burnt into ashes, you are no more accountable"
In the Old Testament, Solomon says:
"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Live joyfully with the wife - whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest".
This is the principle of belief of the followers of the first school, who believed in ancient times and believe now that the physical body is be all and end all.
To the question that what is the cause for our birth, the believers of this school say that the physical bodies of the parents are the cause of birth. And the physical bodies of their parents are the cause of the birth of the parents. And they will go on this in vain to the past. Essentially they are probably trying to answer the how part of the birth and not the why.
In this school thought, intelligence, consciousness are products of a physical mass , the brain. When the physical body perishes or dies, the brain also ceases to function and therefore all thoughts, intelligence and consciousness cease. There is no such thing as soul; and the question of its existence after death does not arise.
The Buddhists maintained that the body is the cause of the mind and intelligence, that consciousness is the result of the combination of or reaction between inanimate matter and unintelligent forces of physical nature.
Kant says "There is no means whatever by which we can learn anything respecting the constitution of the soul and its existence".
I have tried to quote the thought streams of the believers of the first school starting from ancient times. Similar thought streams exist today, albeit in a different textual format and influenced by the progress of science and technology.
See you soon with the next post on the subject.
Namaste
Prabir
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