An Indian yoga master speaks of death and reincarnation.

Paramhansa Yogananda is one of the most widely known yoga teachers in the West, and this book is about 'Death and Reincarnation' from the 'Wisdom of Paramhansa Yogananda' series, which is a collection of his lectures and contributions.
Today, as human consciousness expands beyond material survival to include concerns about living well and dying well, the wisdom this book offers seems even more valuable and timely.


Yogananda's story unfolds under the premise that we are 'souls created in the image of God.'
Although we may misuse the free will given to us and commit sins, or forget that we are children of God, Yogananda says that no matter how serious the sin, we will not be eternally condemned for it.
Rather, we suffer all kinds of pain because we forget who we truly are and are under the illusion that we are just humans living a finite life. Our life is the process of breaking free from that delusion and finding our true nature.
And that process is not completed in one lifetime.

“Even in the dark times when you lose a loved one or when your body grows old and withers away, do not lose your joyful attitude.
The chessboard has alternating black and white backgrounds.
Likewise, all darkness in life leads to light, sadness to joy, and failure to success.
Change and conflict are inevitable, and that's what makes great games possible.
Let's look at them with detachment.
“Never let them defile your true self.”
---From "Life is a Game"

“There is no separation in God.
But for those who do not realize the oneness of God, there is separation and death.
For him, death is an empty barrier beyond which the soul disappears into oblivion.
The enlightened one knows the place beyond the land of death where all souls dance and awaken again.
Death cannot bring sorrow.
How sad it was when a dear friend died. Actually, there was no reason to be.
When you know God, you will see that all people are in the great Divine, and you will realize that they are never separate from themselves.”
---From "Cute Fawn"

"If every soul were to shed its cheap cloak and be clothed in the shining garments of immortality, why should it weep before death? Whether the saints, convinced of immortality, or the petty mortals, tremble in fear, they all die alike. Why should they fear death? Death is a universal experience, a reality that all humans, without exception, pass through.
Think about it.
How mysterious is 'life'.
It comes from the unknown and permeates the unknown.
Think about it.
How mysterious is 'death'.
It devours both the diligent and the lazy, turning them into the atmosphere and the elements.
Think about it.
Everyone fears death, but death itself frees us from all sorrow, disease, and hardship, and gives us peace and rest.”
---From "The Last Day"

“With the power of meditation and the treasure of intuition, gain new peace and joy each day.
They will be of great use on your final journey.
Prepare for death by communicating with God every day.
At the end of this road, you will pass through the gate of the last day and enter the Father's kingdom, where you will remain forever.”
---From "The Last Day"

“God created humans out of matter, so that they could live happily on this earth, grow up, and then return home in perfect perfection without pain.
Just as a high-speed film can watch a flower bloom and wither, so too can a human being watch the process of being born, growing, maturing, and then, with the unique ability to break free from material things, melting back into God.
But it was precisely this very human being who, having fallen out of step with God, lost the ability to free himself from the material state, and so became afraid of watching the movie of his life and having the curtain fall on it before it could be completed.
“As the movie of one’s life ends unfinished, suffering arises from the obsession with the movie scenes made up of flesh and consciousness, and people perceive this ending as a frightening death.”
---From "Supernatural Death and Painful Death"

“We can escape from reincarnation and achieve liberation by perfectly directing the drama of a healthy, rich, and wise life on the screen of our consciousness.
For example, you may not be afraid of getting sick, and you may not long for a healthy body even when you are suffering from poor health.
Then we can always remember the healthy soul.
In other words, equanimity is the secret to liberation from reincarnation.
If you can sense that, 'Whether we are poor or rich on the outside, as children of God, we too have everything, just like our Father,' then you are already enjoying freedom.
Even if you don't know anything humanly, if you can feel in your body that 'I know the divine secret because I am made in the image of God,' you can be freed from reincarnation just by that.”
---From "Living with the Whole"

“Ancient scientists discovered that the human ego (the soul that identifies with the body) outlives all the experiences and thoughts we experience during our waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.
Human experiences, environments, senses, thoughts, and physical states are constantly changing.
However, the 'I' who knows through experiencing them does not change from birth to death.
“Hindu teachers therefore argued that by constantly reflecting or observing the changing states of life—wake, dream, and deep sleep—we can concentrate on our unchanging and eternal nature.”
---From "Experiments on Human Consciousness"

“The ancient Hindus discovered that death is the withdrawal of the electricity of life from the bulb of the human body, including the electrical wires of the sensory and motor nerves, through other external channels.
Just as electricity doesn't disappear when a light bulb goes out, life energy doesn't disappear when involuntary nerves become silent.
“Life energy is recovered as Cosmic Energy at the time of death.”
---From "Resting While Asleep"

“If the stars, clouds, birds, beasts, people, and abandoned things all feel like blood relatives and their hearts beat faster, then there is no need to reincarnate any more.
You will be free to go wherever you want, opening the gates of rainbow wisdom, so that all living and dead beings, immersed in sorrow, may swiftly escape to the eternal freedom of God.”

---From "The Road to Freedom"