There is a continuity between the dominant states of consciousness you are in at the time of death and what you experience after death. The goal is to aim for a higher world. When the momentum winds down that's when we are reborn. We function in about three chakras and from that group we can go up or down. Closing off the lower chakras is the work that needs to be done, it can only be done in a physical body. Keep up regular sadhana, japa, worship and working within oneself.

Master Course, Merging with Siva, Lesson 294

Unedited Transcript:

Good morning everyone.

Time for a few thoughts from today's Merging with Siva, Lesson 294 on: "Closing the Door To Lower Realms." It continues on the theme we were mentioning last talk.

"When at the moment of death you enter the astral plane, you only are in the consciousness of the chakras that were most active within you during the later part of your lifetime and, accordingly, you function in one of the astral lokas until the impetus of these chakras is expended."

You could write a book on that one sentence there's a lot of ideas in one sentence. Typical Gurudeva pack it in sentence.

Well, the first point is: There is a continuity of consciousness between the consciousness you're in at the time of death and in the period preceding the time of death to what you experience after death. It doesn't radically change. And that's one reason Gurudeva says: Hell is both a state of mind and a place. Where Heaven is both a state of mind and a place. Meaning you can be in a hellish state of mind while you're in the physical body. You can be in your lower chakras and constantly facing rage and violence and all that. And therefore, if you die in that state of mind you're going to go into a certain realm. You function in one of the astral lokas, accordingly. So you go into the lower astral loka which is called Naraka or Hell because that's the state of consciousness you're in. It's not, you don't go there because of one action you did when you were twelve years old or something, you know. You're going there because it's your dominant state of consciousness. It's the habit; it's the habitual states of consciousness you're experiencing in the couple of years before you pass on that determines where you will go.

Likewise, Heaven is also a state of mind and a place. Cause we can be in the higher chakras, be conscious of God in everyone while we're alive and then if we pass away in that state we go into the higher second world lokas because that's the state of consciousness we're in. Therefore, in all of Gurudeva's writings about transition, he's focusing mainly on consciousness, secondarily on pain control. Because if you have too much pain then you can't be in a higher state of consciousness. But if you have too much pain control, you're not coherent. So, you're trying to balance maintaining a high state of consciousness with the difficulties you're experiencing and cause you're aiming for a higher inner world. That's the goal of that point. And that's why Gurudeva says it's always ideal if someone is going to pass that they're at home with their family. And family's creating a religious vibration in the home and in the room and chanting and so forth. Helps you end up in the highest loka possible.

That's part of the first sentence. There's even more, right? "...until the impetus of these chakras is expended."

So we have a certain momentum. You know how when you spin something, it'll spin, spin and spin and then eventually it'll slow down, slow down and eventually that force is expended. But it can take quite a while depending on what it is and the lack of friction. So, we are like that. Our life, our mind has a certain momentum to it. But, it will naturally wind down and then when it does wind down, that's when we're reborn. That's what he's saying.

"It is the chakras that manufacture the bodies. It is not the body that manufactures the chakras. Since you have fourteen chakras, at least three are the most powerful in any one individual--for example, memory, will and cognition. Each chakra is a vast area of the mind, or a vast collective area of many, many different thought strata. Generally, most people who gather together socially, intellectually or spiritually are flowing through the same predominant chakra, or several of them collectively. Therefore, they are thinking alike and share the same perspective in looking at life."

Very interesting. We get so many different kinds of visitors here. And, many of them, though they aren't Hindus, are very open to the Hindu vibration and just seem to fit right in. And others only stand out. And, why is that? Well, they're not functioning in certain chakras. They don't have certain sensitivities awakened that Hindus who attend the temple have awakened. And therefore, they stand out to you. So, it's interesting. You know, we've been working with people in the agricultural world. Primarily Arumuganathaswami has been working with them for many years. And they've gotten very sensitive to the monastery vibration. You know, they come in and they do all the right things. They've developed a sensitivity that they didn't have when they started some ten years ago.

The point here, I think we can make cause we can't make too many points in the next few minutes: "... at least three are the most powerful in any one individual--for example memory, will and cognition."

So we don't function only in one chakra. We function in about three chakras. And then, from that group we can go up or down if things go very well, if things go very poorly. So, for example, someone as we mentioned last phase: Someone functioning in memory, reason and will, every other chakra's connected. So normally, that's where they will function. But, if they're pushing hard, trying to get something done and it doesn't work, then they can go down to anger cause that's, it's memory, it's will, memory, anger. So, that's why if thwarted willpower, either something doesn't go well when you're working with yourself, or if someone blocks you and you feel thwarted, that force of will can cause you to become angry because the chakra's, every other chakra is connected.

Likewise, if you're, and they're extroverted. Likewise, reason is introverted and if you reason too much, kind of in a passive way, you can go down to fear cause that's connected, every other one. So, but normally people avoid, something catalyzes you to go down into anger or go down into fear. Normally, the people we deal with are above that.

So this is a good one.

"The power to close off the lower chakras--to seal off the doorway at the lower end of the sushumna--exists only when the soul is presently incarnated in a physical body."

That's an interesting point. You can't close that off unless you have a physical body.

Okay, one more short paragraph, here. This is the point we made last time again.

"Spiritual unfoldment is not a process of awakening the higher chakras, but of closing the chakras below the muladhara."

I made the joke last phase that, wouldn't sell many tickets to a seminar: We're going to learn to close off the chakras below the muladhara. That's our weekend. Wouldn't sell tickets.

No, it's the higher chakras: We're going to awaken the kundalini in the higher chakras. That's what sells the tickets. But, it's not where the work needs to be done, you know. We need to close off the lower chakras. And only when that's fairly solid do we want the higher chakras to be stimulated. Because, as Gurudeva says: All the chakras stimulate one another. So if the higher ones start going faster then the lower ones will too. And, if you have problems with fear and anger it can stimulate it. So, you don't want that.

"The only thing that keeps the lower chakras closed is regular sadhana, japa, worship and working within oneself. This is demonstrated by the fact that even great yogis and rishis who have awakened into the higher chakras continue to do more and more sadhana. They are constantly working to keep the forces flowing through the higher chakras so that the lower ones do not claim their awareness."

I was asked a few years ago the question: "When you close off the lower chakras is it permanent?"

So I had to think about that one for a while. And the answer which is given here is no. It's only permanent as long as you don't change your behavior. But it depends on maintaining a routine. The routine is what makes it permanent. But, if you were to give up your routine and go into an adharmic routine. Say out in the world someone is going along fine and their spouse divorces them and so forth and they start to get into with other companions and drink a lot and so forth, their consciousness is going to change and go down.

So, it's the routine that keeps it sealed off. So you never want to give up the routine.

So, that's all we have time for this morning but that's enough.

Have a wonderful day.