If you still want to remember continue. There is after-death oblivion of consciousness, identity and previous memory. If you don’t know what that means continue reading. While our souls are still closeted in a powerless body in the womb, memories of the past cause the baby to move around with activity; it incessantly tries to get out remembering breath and not being able to breathe. The baby struggles to free itself from the prison in the womb of the mother’s body. Just before the time of birth, powerful thoughts of prayer leave that soul. This is why you see some baby’s hands folded like in prayer when they are born. The newborn baby first cry is the declaration of will power announcing it wants the feeling of discomfort removed from the first painful activity and opening of its lungs. But the moment the infant is born the memories of the past are forgotten. Past memories can be preserved only when your consciousness is highly evolved.
As death approaches you enter into a state of coma or unconsciousness and everything is forgotten. Your mind does not remember anything, only your soul retains everything. Your physical brain no longer exists. If you are highly developed spiritually your consciousness remains awake (Continuity of Consciousness) from one incarnation to another.
There is good and bad with this loss of consciousness. The good allows one to forget their past remembrance of pain, attachments and failures and start a new life. The huge disadvantage in one’s new life is he who has not learned his lessons from bad and wrong actions, may come back with the propensity to repeat those same occurrences and experiences ignoring the consequences, and fall into the same cruel vicious cycle of karma. Therefore Continuity of Consciousness would allow you to remember the hard lessons you have learned in life giving you a spiritual head start in not repeating your past wrong actions.
Because of our identification with this current life and its struggles, it appears to us we are just mortals. Only the physical body is mortal. The soul, our real self, is immortal. To have direct understanding about reincarnation, during the transition period at death you need the Continuity of Consciousness during the after death state and then through the prenatal state in the womb of the mother from incarnation to incarnation. Paramahansa Yogananda had this continuation of consciousness and he talks about the confinement, frustration and helplessness he felt being trapped in the body of an infant. Here you have an awakened developed soul rebelling against its limitations in the mother’s womb.
This is mentioned in detail in the first chapter in the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. If this is it, only one life with no continuation hereafter, then what’s the point in mounting any effort greater than gratifying our self-indulgent fancies of the occasion? Is this why we feel so mortal. We lack Continuity of Consciousness that makes us feel mortal. Wouldn’t you love to have this consciousness? There is a thought I would like you to keep in mind. You would not care to remember about your past lives without God realization. Least you would want to remember the terrible happenings that have taken place in those past lives. Do you really want to think about the pain and heartaches from the past? I
Your memory will not survive under these conditions after death: Advanced Critical Thinking
- Indulgence enslaves the soul so pay attention to your likes and dislikes. Never be bound or addicted to any and all habits. Stop catering to your likes and dislikes. Emotions and feelings also obscure the soul. Are your feelings ruling you? The ordinary person is always restless and always moving back and forth swinging like a pendulum. You must be like the yogi centered in calmness like a stilled pendulum. To become a yogi, we must raise above oblivion of consciousness.
- Any attachments to family, friends or past possessions.
- Any attachments to your body.
- Muddled or entrapment in bad karma, unable to rise above the effects of good and bad actions.
- The object is for those who practice the above is to learn to separate your soul from matter, including bodily experiences and feelings of the senses. Feelings or sensations should be of the intellectual pursuit while being non-attached however, living in this world you are obligated to perform all kinds of duties. The warning is not to feel attached or bound to anything you do in order to realize this world is not your home and you are only here for a short time. Everyone should live in this way. Don’t trust this life for it will surely deceive you. You may think this is your home, country and your loved ones; however, when you leave this earth not even your body is yours.
- Without meditation all of the above is a huge, interesting, marvelous and philosophical knowledge stuffed with high metaphysics. It just won’t do you any good; it’s like having a nice book about food and the best menu in the world and you starve to death. Unfortunately there are very few people who will live a disciplined life and without interruption meditate and harvest the everlasting rewards in the short season of life.
- This is for those spiritually advanced stark souls who are tired of dragging their feet.
Start doing these 4 steps.
- First forget what you did in the past what’s done is done and you can’t change it, don’t dwell or grieve on the past forget it.
- You live in the moment now to the fullest by focusing and making the best of it.
- You do not worry about the future. Emotions are like a moving pendulum with most people. Why? Because pleasure comes with a fulfilled desire and sorrow comes with a unfulfilled desire that is not satisfied. How many times do you have to be told what Krishna has said in the Gita, “Be even minded in sorrow and pleasure?” When you live in an impregnable fortress of understanding, no sadness can touch you when your emotions are anchored in that which is changeless. Whatever happens, say to yourself, “it’s alright. I’m just dreaming in God’s dream and naught can touch me.” If you take the ups and downs of life to seriously you’re in for a rough roller coaster ride.
- You stay in the middle at all times and that means when joy and sorrow comes you learn to stay in the middle. That’s how you rid yourself of grief, anger, sorrow, fear, stress, nervousness and many other adverse feelings. From The Teachings of PY.
