Perspectives on Death and Loss

Perspectives on Death and Loss

Excerpts from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda

Though the ordinary man looks upon death with dread and sadness, those who have gone before know it as a wondrous experience of peace and freedom.

Death Experience

At death, you forget all the limitations of the physical body and realize how free you are. For the first few seconds there is a sense of fear — fear of the unknown, of something unfamiliar to the consciousness. But after that comes a great realization: the soul feels a joyous sense of relief and freedom. You know that you exist apart from the mortal body. Every one of us is going to die someday, so there is no use in being afraid of death. Death is only an experience through which you are meant to learn a great lesson: you cannot die. Our real self, the soul, is immortal.

Death Does Not Exist

The word “death” is a great misnomer, for there is no death; when you are tired of life, you simply take off the overcoat of flesh and go back to the astral world. The body is only a garment. How many times you have changed your clothing in this life, yet because of this you would not say that you have changed. Similarly, when you give up this bodily dress at death you do not change. You are just the same, an immortal soul, a child of God.

Send Your Thoughts On

To send your thoughts to loved ones who have passed on: sit quietly in your room and meditate upon God. When you feel His peace within you, concentrate deeply at the Christ center and broadcast your love to those dear ones who are gone. If you do this continuously, and if you don’t lose the intensity of your interest in that loved one, that soul will definitely receive your vibrations.

An Affirmation

The ocean of Spirit has become the little bubble of my soul. Whether floating in birth, or disappearing in death, in the ocean of cosmic awareness the bubble of my life cannot die. I am indestructible consciousness, protected in the bosom of Spirit’s immortality.