Death—

And After?

 

Based on the works of Annie Besant

 

The True Nature of Death

 

Historically, Western Christianity has surrounded the concept of Death with gloom, terror, and dark funeral pomp. However, the Esoteric Philosophy and the Ancient Religions of the world view Death not as a terrifying end, but as a Gateway to a Freer, Sunlit Existence. Death is essentially a Process of Unrobing; the Immortal part of Man simply shakes off its outer casings, one after another, as a snake sheds its skin or a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.

 

 

The Constitution of Man

 

To understand the process of Death, one must Understand the Septenary (Seven-Fold) constitution of man. Man is divided into two main parts:

 

The Immortal Triad: Atma (Spirit), Buddhi (the Vehicle of Spirit), and Manas (the Intelligence or Thinker).

 

The Perishable Quaternary: Kama (appetites, passions, and emotions), Prana (Vitality or Life-Breath), the Etheric Double (the ethereal counterpart of the body), and the Dense Physical Body.

 

 

The Fate of the Physical Body and Etheric Double

 

Death occurs when the delicate magnetic cord Uniting the etheric double to the dense body is snapped.

 

The Dense Body: Once the Controlling Energy of Prana is withdrawn, the dense body becomes a disorganized mob of microscopic "Lives" that begin to break down and decompose the physical organism.

 

The Etheric Double: This ethereal counterpart floats over the physical body for a brief period in a dreamy, peaceful state. Eventually, the Higher Principles disengage from it, leaving it as an "ethereal corpse" that disintegrates alongside the dense body.

 

Prana: The Specialized Life-Energy that animated the physical form mingles once more with the Universal Life-Breath.

 

 

Kamaloka: The World of Desire

 

After shedding the physical and etheric bodies, the Conscious Entity is clothed in the Kama Rupa (desire body) and enters Kamaloka. Kamaloka is an astral region interpenetrating our own world, populated by Intelligent and Semi-Intelligent Entities, including disembodied human beings. Here, the Soul must disentangle itself from its earthly Passions and Emotions.

The experience in Kamaloka varies greatly depending on the Life just Lived:

 

The Pure: Those who led Pure Lives pass through Kamaloka swiftly in a Peaceful, Dreamy Semi-Consciousness, as their passions are too weak to detain them.

 

The Average: Average individuals experience a delay in this transitionary world while their earthly desires gradually wear out and fade away.

 

The Sensual: Those who Lived Evil or Highly Sensual Lives remain in Kamaloka for a long time, Tormented by intense yearnings for earthly delights they can no longer physically gratify. (HELL)

 

The Shells: When the Immortal Triad finally Frees itself from Kamaloka, it leaves behind the empty desire body, known as a "Shell". These Shells retain the automatic, reflex habits of the deceased and often provide the sterile, repetitive communications found at spiritualistic séances.

 

 

Devachan: The Heaven-World

 

Once free from Kamaloka, the Purified Ego enters Devachan, the "land of the Gods". This is a State of Profound Spiritual rest and assimilation, where the Soul is temporarily freed from the illusions of gross matter.

 

In Devachan, the Soul Reaps the Exact Harvest of the Pure Thoughts, Noble Aspirations, and Moral Activities sown during its earth-life.

 

The Soul works out into Objective Realities All the Ideas it Conceived on Earth, acting as an architect planning its future evolution.

 

The Devachani is Surrounded by the people they Loved on earth, Experiencing their Presence in a State of Absolute, Unclouded Happiness, Free from the sorrows of physical separation.

 

Although sometimes described as a "dream-state," Devachan is Far More Real than physical existence, as the Mind-Sphere is closer to Ultimate Reality than the deceptive, shifting world of physical matter.

 

 

The Return to Earth and Nirvana

 

When the devachanic rest is complete and all gathered experiences have been assimilated, the Soul begins to feel a thirst for sentient material life. As it crosses the threshold back toward the terrestrial plane, it takes up its Skandhas—the dormant seeds of its past earthly tendencies and Karma—which are built into the new personality for its next incarnation.

 

This cycle of incarnation and devachanic rest continues until the Soul Achieves Mastery over matter and reaches Nirvana. Nirvana is not annihilation, but a Sublime State of Conscious Rest and Omniscience, representing the Ultimate Liberation and Perfection of the Human Soul.