Rebirth, Past Lives and Desires

Written on September 5, 2008 by Tom Stine / 23 Comments »

Recently, I’ve written some articles concerning death and rebirth. The first one touched on the fate of an awakened one after the body dies, and the second one focused on past lives and reincarnation. I want to continue the discussion of rebirth and past lives today.

In my prior article, I took a position on past lives that caused quite a bit of disagreement. To be honest, what I was presenting wasn’t really what I believe about past lives or reincarnation because, to be honest, I don’t have the slightest idea what happens. And for the most part, I don’t think anyone really can know. But, you never know!

So, how about a counter point, one that is different from most of the ones I’ve heard? I was reading one of my favorite books the other night, I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj. If you’ve never read it, I suggest that you do. I know several people who have experienced the truth at a very profound level who feel that Nisargadatta express most clearly of anyone the perspective of an awakened one. I would tend to agree.

Nisargadatta’s views on death and rebirth were quite eye-opening. Let’s take a look:

The memory of the past, unfulfilled desires traps energy [the energy of the Absolute or Source], which manifests itself as a person. When its charge gets exhausted, the person dies. Unfulfilled desires are carried over into the next birth.

According to Nisargadatta, the entire cause of manifesting as a person is unfulfilled desires. And death occurs when the energy that is trapped with these desires exhausts itself. Remarkable. And guess what? Any desire unfulfilled during one lifetime is carried over into the next one. He continues:

Self-identification with the body creates ever fresh desires and there is no end to them, unless the mechanism of bondage is clearly seen. It is clarity that is liberating, for you cannot abandon desire, unless its cause and effects are clearly seen.

Here we have Nisargadatta’s whole take on liberation: clear seeing. Our problem again and again according to him is identification of who we are with bodies and minds, which we are not. And the cure is simple: clear seeing. Further, he points out that the attempts by so many spiritual people to rid themselves of desires is pointless, for you cannot do so. You can only see clearly the cause of desire and the effects of desire, and in the seeing clearly desire will drop away.

Now for the interesting part concerning past lives:

I do not say that the same person is reborn. It dies and dies for good. But its memories remain and their desires and fears. They supply the energy for the new person.

Interesting, very interesting! Let’s look at an example to see what Nisargadatta is saying. As I mentioned previously, I was once told by a psychic that I was one of Napoleon’s (short) generals in a past life. But from Nisargadatta’s perspective, there was a person who was a general for Napoleon. He died, and he is gone for good. Pas de general (no more general).

But his unfulfilled desires, his memories and fears remained in some form, and around these bits of mental-emotional energy coalesced a new person, presumably me. The general’s unfulfilled desires carry over into my psyche and my life, which must explain why I can never eat too many croissants or pains au chocalat. Delicieux!

As Nisargadatta would say, though, I was not one of Napoleon’s generals. A point that he made over and over again is that this “I” that we so often refer to does not exist. There is no “I” that carries over from lifetime to lifetime. Only, as he says, the energies from memories, desires and fears. That’s it.

The real takes no part in it, but makes it possible by giving it the light.

And finally, he let’s us know that the Absolute (the real) doesn’t do any of this. It occurs because the Absolute is the source of all, but it is not the cause. What is, you may ask? No way to know, at least not from what Nisargadatta has to say (nor, I think, from anything he has written).

Personally, I love his explanation of past lives and rebirth. If I had to believe in something, I would go with Nisargadatta. The picture he paints is one that I find myself liking. How about you?

Past Lives Ain’t What They Used To Be

Written on August 6, 2008 by Tom Stine / 54 Comments »

I love the subject of past lives or reincarnation. I went to a “psychic” once who told me that I was one of Napoleon’s generals. I guess that explains why I love speaking French, eat French food and I’m 5 ft 6 in tall (can’t be taller than the Emperor!).

Yet even though I love the subject of past lives, I have to say that I don’t have much investment in the concept. I don’t find the subject particularly important to the spiritual journey. Moreover, I can’t even really say that I “believe” in them. Let me explain further.

Past Lives and Memories

The entire subject of past lives hinges upon one thing: memories. Many people remember the events of a life that, in the memory, occurred at some point in the past, sometimes even in a past unknown to modern history (like Atlantis). There have been some excellent books written on the subject, with some seemingly intriguing bits of evidence to indicate that indeed some people really can remember a past life.

But ask the following questions, especially if you can remember a past life: Was it your past life? Are you certain? Is there any way that you can ever know? Isn’t it just a memory, a thought, passing through your awareness? I find it equally compelling to explain a past life memory in this way:

Since consciousness is One, since that is the direct experience of someone who realizes the truth of their being, then that consciousness that is aware seemingly in them is also the same consciousness that is aware seemingly in everyone else and at every moment in time. The consciousness that is what I am is the consciousness that you are, that Jesus was, that Attila the Hun was, that Hammurabi was, that Louis XIV was. All the same. Remember, this Oneness of consciousness is the realization of awakening or enlightenment: everywhere you turn, same, same, same.

So, a past life memory would be simply the consciousness that seems to be Tom accessing the consciousness that seems to have been Genghis Khan (and no, I don’t have a memory like that, but it makes for a fun illustration!). It isn’t Tom’s memory. It’s just consciousness being One and recognizing aspects of form that used to be called Genghis. Get it? In a certain sense we could say that every past life is my past life. And also we could say none are.

Can Past Lives Help Us Realize the Truth?

It makes the whole subject of past life’s quite nebulous and vague and not all that useful to our journey. Sure they are fun, but what to do with it? Will it be of any real use to realizing the truth? Rather, they can become a source of spiritual pride (I was hanging out with Jesus!) and in fact be an barrier to learning the truth of who we are. We can get obsessed with who we might have been.

credit: bortescristian

And if this is a possibility for past life memories, I think you can see why they won’t help us to understand what happens after the death of the body (as discussed in my last post). There may be a host of memories, whether they are mine or not, but do they really tell me what is going to happen when the body called Tom dies? No. At the absolute best, they could tell me about the death of the body of Attila or Genghis or Jesus. But Tom? No. So, you see why past lives don’t really do any good telling us what to expect after death.

Let me end on one of my favorite jokes about the afterlife to wrap-up these last few posts of death and reincarnation (if you are a bit too politically correct, you may want to pass-up this one):

A man dies and goes to Heaven where he is greeted by St. Peter. They begin a tour of the place, which turns out to be a gigantic building. As they walk, they come to many doors. At one door, St. Peter opens it, revealing a huge room filled with every food you could imagine and half naked women parading around. “Muslim Paradise” says St. Peter. At another door, the man is shown a large cathedral with many people on their knees praying. “Catholic saints,” says St. Peter. And on they walk, with St. Peter showing him room after room. After a bit, as they approach another door, St. Peter turns to the man and says, “Shhh…. Don’t say anything as we pass the next door.” After they pass, and have gone some distance, the man asks St. Peter why they had to be quiet. The response: “Oh, that was the Baptists. They think they’re the only ones here.”

And now you know what church my mother dragged me to when I was younger. Poor woman, she finally gave-up after 3 years of my annoying teenage protests. Ah, the Baptist Church and I were not meant to be, I’m afraid.

What Happens When An Awakened One Dies?

Written on July 31, 2008 by Tom Stine / 22 Comments »

A reader sent me the following questions:

Something I have never quite understood is that after we come to this realization of the one self that we are not our [the] body or the mind or the thoughts, then we see the body die what then? And what is the difference in the death of a realized one and a unrealized person?

What happens when the body dies? That is a question that has plagued mortal man from the earliest days. So much of religion is basically an attempt to answer that question, with enough theories of heavens and hells to keep us debating for the rest of our lives.

credit: zoer

So let me start by saying what seems obvious to me: I don’t know what happens after the body dies. And neither does anyone else. If you say, “well, we go to _________ after death,” or tell me about other dimensions, etc., I’m going to ask you a very simple question: How do you know? Have you died and then experienced these things? No, of course you haven’t. So death is as yet a mystery to you. (As for past lives, let me write a follow-up article to deal with them.)

Even if you’ve had a near death experience, all you can do is tell me about that particular experience, but not the full experience of death (notice they are called near death experiences). There is absolutely no way to know what happens after the body dies until it actually dies and you find out.

Observations about death and consciousness

That said, we can make a few interesting observations, though, about what might happen after death if you have realized the truth about what you are, namely the One.

1. When you realize that you are not the mind, the body, thoughts, the ego, etc., you realize that the awareness (or consciousness) that you are, the “you” that is looking out of your body’s eyes, is the same awareness looking out of everyone else’s eyes. And the same fundamental beingness that is the house you live in, the Earth you are standing on, the sky, the stars, your thoughts, others’ thoughts, the very fabric of reality. All One, all the same, all conscious, all aware.

2. When the body dies, and the thoughts in it die, and when the energy contained in it dissipates, and everything ceases, what happens to the awareness contained within it? Ah, trick question, for the awareness/consciousness is not contained within it! We are so used to feeling “trapped” in the body that we think we are actually trapped in a body. But we are not. What I am is the beingness that is Everything. And this beingness, this conscious awareness contains the body.

credit: Vox Efx

Look-up from your computer right now and look around the room. Is not your body contained in the room you are in? Isn’t it a part of the room? And the room, isn’t it a part of the building? And the city or town in which the building exists? And planet Earth? And so on until we get that this body is contained in the Universe as a whole? And you are the Universe. The awake, aware, conscious, alive Wholeness of existence, the totality of the Universe (and so much more), that is what you are. So, the body is actually contained in you. You realize this fact, too, upon awakening.

3. So, when the body dies, the conscious awareness that appeared to be within it doesn’t go anywhere, for nothing at all has been lost to the Universe. It has merely started to change form. But the consciousness itself is still right where it was before: everywhere! Nothing leaves, dissipates, disappears, or goes anywhere. The One is still ever present Oneness.

4. As for what awareness/consciousness that formerly identified as Tom experiences at death, I have no idea, and as mentioned before, neither does anyone else. This is still true whether you are “realized” or not.

What’s the difference between the death of the realized and unrealized?

And finally, let me answer the last question: “And what is the difference in the death of a realized one and a unrealized person?” I believe it was Sailor Bob Adamson who said, “The only difference between someone who has realized the truth and someone who hasn’t is that the realized one knows that there is no difference.” Once you realize the truth, you don’t know any differences.

credit: shaymus022

While other people will still look different to you, have different color hair, wear different clothes, etc., you will have no awareness that any of that matters. They will still be what you are. So at death, how can there be any difference? To the realized one, whatever is experienced at death is experienced by every aspect of consciousness. He knows himself to be that consciousness, so nothing to him has changed. The form has changed, but nothing else. Everything is still everything. Oneness is still One.

And for the unrealized one? Again, it is impossible to say. You will simply have to die to find out what happens. I know this answer won’t make a lot of people happy, and it would ruin sales of lots of books if it were widely accepted as the truth that it is. But it is still the truth. We can argue until the cows come home, but it won’t matter. You can’t know death of the body until it dies. And then you will discover what happens next.

Namaste….. Tom