LIFE AFTER DEATH AND THEN REBIRTH

Quite often we all have pondered about the quintessential question, ‘Why are we born?’ or ‘What is meant by afterlife?’ or ‘What is the purpose of life?’ We may have our own standpoint about this, but it may not necessarily be from a spiritual perspective. The two generic reasons why we are born is to complete our give and take account with different people and to make spiritual progress to gain God-realisation. When we merge with God, we are liberated from the cycle of birth and death. But what happens after death if we remain in this cycle? Is there an afterlife? When we look at numerous cases of reincarnations, there was a variable time lag between the death of an individual and his next reincarnation on Earth. The innumerable researched cases of past life experiences clearly indicate to afterlife. So, where do we go in the afterlife till our next reincarnation? Is there a single plane of existence or there are different planes of existence which maybe positive or negative in nature? What are the contributing factors that decide where we go after death? Does the plane we go to in the afterlife depend on our spiritual level; merits and demerits ? In the following articles we will present answers to all these questions and more.

Introduction to life before birth

Is this life all I have? Where do we come from before we are born? Where do I go after I die?
These questions will undoubtedly be familiar to almost all of us. Some time ago, we published an article on ‘What happens after death’. Through spiritual research we will cover our life before we are born in this 2 part series of articles. The two parts are:

• Part 1: The time before we are conceived
• Part 2: The time we are in the womb

The reason we have published both life before birth and life after death is because it brings to focus that we live our lives with consequences. The Law of Karma pervades our entire life. The life that we lead in our current birth decides the quality of our afterlife and subsequent births. Paradoxically while most people are interested in the spiritual life before birth and life after death, only a handful are interested in actually doing something about their spiritual life on Earth. This is so as to have a better afterlife and subsequent births and to ultimately get out of the cycle of birth and death.

2. What is life like before birth?

After we die on Earth, we (i.e. our respective subtle bodies) go to one of the various subtle regions of the Universe depending on our spiritual level and merits and demerits. Here we stay for varied periods of time before we get a chance to be born back on Earth. (Refer to point 2.4 for which subtle region we are most likely to go to.)

2.1 Life before birth: Regions of Heaven and above

In the current times, only 2 out of every 100 of us will make it to the higher positive regions of the Universe such as Heaven (Swarga), Maharlok etc. In the higher regions of the Universe, the predominant experience is happiness and Bliss.
The rest of us go to either the Nether region (Bhuvarlok) or one of the regions of Hell (Pātāl). Here the predominant experience is unhappiness to extreme suffering.

2.2 Life before birth in the Nether world

The suffering experienced in the Nether region is generally far more than that in the Earth region (Bhūlok) as there is not much freewill. In the Nether region, 10% of the subtle bodies are guided by subtle bodies from higher regions such as Heaven and Maharlok. These subtle bodies are those of seekers with yearning for spiritual growth. Approximately 2% are controlled completely by destiny. Approximately 88% of subtle bodies are attacked by ghosts (demons, devils, negative energies, etc.) and controlled by them. These subtle bodies are fully conscious that they are controlled by ghosts but can do little to fend them off as they do not have any spiritual strength of their own.

2.3 Life before birth in the regions of Hell

With regards to the Hell region, even the worst part of one’s life on Earth is better than what is experienced in the regions of Hell. In Hell subtle bodies are controlled 100% by higher level negative energies. As we go to the lower rungs of Hell, the suffering and pain is only amplified. We stay in the Nether region for approximately 50-400 years before we are eligible for rebirth on Earth. In the case of the Hell region, we can languish for thousands of years before we get an opportunity to be reborn.

2.4 Spiritual practice in the subtle regions

The following chart shows the likelihood of which subtle region that people’s subtle-bodies will go to after they die in the current times. We have provide two scenarios:

• The first scenario shows where most people go after death during peace time.
• The second scenario shows where people go after they die when the world is going through a major upheaval like major localised conflicts, World War 1 and 2 or the imminent World War 3. Due to the greater sin incurred during times of conflict, as people’s behaviour and actions become much worse, a greater proportion of people go to the lower regions of the Universe namely Hell. On the other hand seekers who strive to practice Spirituality even in difficult times are likely to progress at a faster rate compared to same amount of spiritual practice undertaken during peace time. As a result there is a higher proportion of subtle bodies of people who die in Scenario 2 that go to the higher positive regions of the universe, which is Maharlok and beyond.

Subtle regions of the universe	Scenario 1 – Peace time	Scenario 2 – Time of conflict
Higher positive regions of the Universe (i.e. Maharlok and beyond)	Less than 0.1%	0.40%
Heaven (Swarga)	Less than 1%	1.60%
The Nether region (Bhuvarlok)	85%	30%
1st region of Hell	10%	30%
2nd region of Hell		30%
3rd region of Hell	4%	3%
4th region of Hell		2%
5th region of Hell		2%
6th region of Hell		1%
7th region of Hell		0%
	100%	100%

The only thing that can alleviate the suffering in the lower subtle regions of the Universe is spiritual practice. However the likelihood of doing spiritual practice in the lower subtle regions of the Universe (i.e. the Nether and Hell regions) is next to nil. Intense suffering compounded by attacks from higher level ghosts make the environment impossible for spiritual practice as subtle bodies switch into survival mode to combat the harshness of the environment.
In the subtle region of Heaven, the happiness experienced is such that subtle bodies get caught up in its experience and hardly do any spiritual practice. So while subtle bodies can theoretically do spiritual practice in Heaven, the likelihood of actually doing it is minimal due to distractions of various pleasurable experiences.
Spiritual practice can be done and actually does happen only in the higher subtle regions of Maharlok to Satyalok. Subtle bodies in these regions do not have to be reborn on the Earth plane to settle their give-and-take accounts or to do spiritual practice.
Life on the Earth region is of great importance as it is the only plane where people from the lower regions can be born to do spiritual practice, complete their give-and-take and get outside the cycle of birth and death.

2.5 Do we know about our lives before our current birth?

The average subtle-body generally remembers events only from its last birth on Earth. It does not remember births before that unless they are very notable. This is up to the time the subtle body is reborn on Earth again. Wanting to know about previous lives is not the highest item on our agenda in the Nether region or Hell. Avoiding unhappiness, fending off ghosts and the agony of being away from people that they are attached to are generally what occupy most subtle bodies in the Nether region.

2.5.1 Why do we not remember our lives from before this lifetime?

As we get involved with the world, we forget our previous life in the subtle regions and on Earth. Our physical senses strongly overshadow our sixth sense and we lose our ability to perceive our previous births. It is also God’s compassion for us that He has so arranged that we forget the previous lifetimes. Just imagine how difficult it would be to go about the day to day affairs of this life remembering past life events like the past birth relationships we had with the people in our life in this birth. For example, a father and son in this life could well have been husband and wife in an earlier life. Or a present life mother could have been responsible for the death of her present life daughter in a previous lifetime.

3. What is the purpose of a birth on Earth?

We are born on Earth to settle our give-and-take account or Karma and to do spiritual practice. In the Nether region and Hell it is almost impossible to do spiritual practice so as to burn our give-and-take account.
Refer to the article on the purpose of life.
After the death of a person, being born on Earth again is not in the hands of the person (or rather his subtle body). Birth on the Earth plane is rare. For every entry of a subtle body into an embryo, millions of other subtle bodies compete to gain entry on Earth to experience worldly life. But it is only that subtle body that is destined to enter an embryo that will get birth on Earth.

4. What are the factors that decide what sort of life we are born into on Earth?

The two main factors that decide our birth on Earth are:

1. Are the conditions on Earth conducive for settling our give-and-take account?
2. Which region are we in prior to our birth on Earth?

4.1 The give-and-take account and the nature of the life we are born into

Our give-and-take account is the single most important factor that decides

• the time period when we are born on Earth and
• into which family etc.

Our give-and-take account decides the time of our conception right up to the year, month, hour, minute and second. This means that we take birth on Earth during that period when it is most conducive for us to complete a maximum amount of our accumulated give-and-take account. Hence we take birth at the same time when those people with whom we have major give-and-take accounts are around and also that external circumstances on Earth are conducive too