We’re lying on our bed in our home, surrounded by our loved ones. It’s our last hour in this incarnation. We are aware of our breath slowing down, our heartbeat slowing down, down, down. Little by little we feel our life force withdrawing into the spine disconnecting the senses–an extremely pleasant kind of tingling sensation, followed by numbness. We no longer feel the pain which had been present in our body for the last six months. We no longer feel our brother’s warm hand. And for a moment we miss his touch. Then as the life force continues to move into and up the spine, the other senses begin to shut down–smell, taste, sight; and last of all, the sense of hearing. Enveloped within a cocoon of silence, we no longer hear the whispers of our loved ones or the sound of the birds chattering in the trees. We don’t even hear the jet flying overhead. Then finally we take our last breath. Inhalation, e x h a l a t i o n……..such calmness, such peace. The peace slowly turns to an overwhelming joy and happiness. Suddenly we hear a wind like sound and in an instant we find ourselves looking down on our physical body. We feel such clarity, such alertness. We see our brother put his hand to our neck to feel for a pulse. Then we hear him quietly say: “He’s gone.” We see the faces of all our loved ones, the tears flowing down their cheeks. We feel sad that they are upset and think: “If only they knew the incredible joy I’m feeling now.”
Then little by little we become aware of another reality, a reality into which we are being magnetically drawn. We see a hazy light, surrounded by blackness. The hazy light begins to condense and become brighter and brighter. It takes on the unmistakable form of a golden ring surrounding an opal-blue disc. In the center of that disc is a tiny white dot. We focus on that dot and it becomes sharper and sharper. Now we see it as a perfectly shaped 5-pointed star. This is the same spiritual eye we were occasionally blessed to see in meditation. Suddenly we feel our consciousness moving forward, faster and faster, entering the eye, penetrating it, streaming through it–exploding through it at the speed of thought into a vast sphere of eternal silver light. The light is the most magnificent, beautiful light imaginable. And it is so bright, brighter than a million crushed suns–but it does not hurt our eyes at all. And the light is alive. The light is intelligent. It is intimate, sociable and indescribably lovable. And it is accompanied by the great sound of Aum, engulfing us, pouring over our being.
Then out of that light we suddenly see a form begin to materialize and come closer and closer–a radiant being opening his arms to embrace us. It’s Master! It’s Master! It’s our guru! An incredible light shines through every pore of his face. The rainbow colors of the light are magnificent, vibrant, alive. We fill with an intense feeling of indescribable joy and awe. Then he embraces us and we feel his unconditional divine love, like the love of a hundred million mothers, exploding inside our heart.
After what seems an eternity of wave after wave of joy, our guru looks deeply into our eyes, and in the next instant it is as if everything that is stored in our brain comes to the surface–everything that had ever happened in our life–the good times, the bad times, even all the minute details that we had forgotten. And as all these events pass by, we realize that many of the things which we put a lot of time and effort into–our big projects and undertakings don’t seem to mean much. What really stands out are those little things–visiting a shut-in; sharing a few kind words with that funny old man everyone else ignored, mopping the floor for the janitor when his leg was sore–that’s what really counts–loving others, loving God, being kind, generous and thoughtful, being a giver.
And as we see this review of our life, there is absolutely no fear, for our Guru is standing right beside us, still embracing us with his unconditional love. There isn’t the slightest hint of his judging us. We’re only judging ourselves w/ a crystal-clear understanding.
When the review is complete our soul fully accepts what needs to be done for the next step in its unfoldment.
Our Guru then takes us by the hand and the two of us walk into a radiant land of eternal spring–A completely new world—brilliant, vibrant, ecstatic, stunning….Before us lies a vast radiant countryside with lush emerald green meadows, a river that runs by like liquid diamonds, trees and flowers that blossom with all the colors of the rainbow, towering diaphanous mountains, iridescent waterfalls that sparkle with a divine splendor, butterflies dancing to the music of the spheres. Just an explosion of light and color with love and beauty moving through us like a soaring wind.
Suddenly we look down and see that our disease-ridden body is gone, replaced by a weightless body of light and energy. And we feel so free, so joyous, so at home. Our guru then points to a group of people in the distance, and after blessing us, begins to leave. We don’t want him to go yet, but he reads our thoughts, and instantly transfers his own into our mind: “We will be together again soon; go now to those who have been waiting for you.”
So we walk to the group of people through a field of luminous yellow flowers and suddenly are surrounded by loved ones whom we instantly recognize from relationships we’ve had for a long, long time. We begin to communicate with these friends and loved ones, our thoughts and feelings being transferred instantly as they were with our guru. We never dreamed that such intimacy was possible.
Then we think: “So this is death! But I’m alive! I’m so alive! I have my consciousness and my feelings. I have relationships and loved ones. And most important of all, I still have my guru. He’s closer to me than ever!” (All right, let us open our eyes…).
And that’s what everyone is so frightened of…..Listening to accounts like this almost makes one want to die on the spot, doesn’t it?. Because death is not something to be feared–it’s something to look forward to. It’s a transition from life to greater life….from life in a physical body with all its limitations and gross perceptions to life in an astral body with all its freedoms and subtle perceptions. As somebody once put it, death is not extinguishing the light, but merely snuffing out the candle in the face of the rising sun.
