Death: A Sacred Passage, Not the End
Does Each one of us Arrive at This junction of explorative journey towards the final destination ?
The answer is Yes….
From time immemorial, every human being faces the end of physical life and has been terrorized by the very concept of death. From the common man understanding, the very word may load us with many kinds of fear, confusion and agony posing several questions like is it painful? where will we go when we die? How does it feel like? Is it a travel to another realm? Or is there something more profound that we are yet to know and comprehend? On the contrary, death is that painless state of permanent deep sleep from which we never come back to the waking state.
If we see it from a POV of spirituality, mysticism, across cultures and civilizations the ONLYtruth that continues to surface is that Death is not the end rather an inevitable passage of transition, of transformation, of a long pause before life continues.
This article is an attempt to explore death from a different perspective, offering insight and a deeper understanding of what death really is.
According to Vedantic principles, the Panchakosha theory describes human existence in three main bodies namely, the sthoola sharira (gross/physical body), sookshma sharira (subtle body) and the karana sharira (causal body). They explain death as a natural intermittent stage in a long journey of the soul wherein it loses its gross / physical body (lower self) yet continuing to exist in the other two bodies till its journey completes when it integrates into Source Consciousness (The Paramathma) (Experiential understanding on this concept is provided in our Pranavidya program offered by Rishikula Samsthanam).
Why Death is always tainted with the taboo of fear ?
The Upanishadic wisdom explains that fear is just a thought that primarily comes due tostrong attachment. It is due to ignorance, we humans often get too attached to the body, (the form), the name given to it and the role they play in this drama of life and fail to see ourselves apart from the physicality.
What happens to us after death?
Several spiritual traditions elicit this journey where destination is the Source. According to our Sanatana, the capsule of sookshma and karana sharira (higher self) leaves the gross physical body, thus entering a transition phase, often guided by light beings or ancestors. This has been well documented in the Garuda purana. Upon entering the Yama Loka, review of itsjourney while on Earth may occur examining the various lessons learnt apart from the balance sheet status of debit and credit of papa and punya. Based on which, the higher selfthen continues to higher realms, reincarnates, or integrates into Source consciousness (The Paramathma).
The Spiritual Meaning of Death
In the spiritual view, death is not to be feared—it is to be celebrated as it marks the Return to Spirit. The soul is seen as eternal. It comes into the physical world for a time, learns, evolves, and then returns to its spiritual home. Death, then, is simply the return. Death indeed is to be considered as a form of graduation at the spiritual hierarchy, not a loss as the soul has completed a chapter of its learning and is now moving on to new lessons, realms, reset or even rest.
Paradigm of death across various traditional disciplines
Death is the only certainty in life. One of the most powerful shifts we can make is seeing death as transformation—not destruction. As a caterpillar pupates and dissolves to become a butterfly, so does the soul shed the body to enter a more expansive, liberated form through death. Tibetian Buddhism, ancient Egyptian and Mayan mystic schools, shamanic disciplineshave viewed death in the same lines where the soul is guided by its karma and awareness, equipped with rituals and wisdom to guide during afterlife ultimately merging back into the Universal Source consciousness or Divine Love.
Signs that elicit the journey of the Soul continues
Death as a intermittent phase is truly enunciated by the fact that we often get dreams of the deceased wherein there are many who report vivid, healing dreams of loved ones after they die. Blessings and good wishes by the departed souls are often observed as synchronicities and signs with butterflies, feathers, repeating numbers, songs, or lights flickering which are usually read as messages from the other side. Spirit visitations are often felt as the clear presence of the loved ones through scent, touch, or even a clear inner voice. Apart from this, thousands of people have described passing into the light, feeling unconditional love, and returning with no fear of death reported as Near-death or out-of-body experiences.
Is death a dead end or a doorway to a new beginning ?
As we start to see death as a doorway, a sacred passage towards the ultimate return, our entire equation with life gets transforms. Then, we hardly see death in fear, rather live with dignity. We start to rever the souls who have passed not as lost, but as transformed, walking a new path on the soul’s eternal journey. And when our time comes, we too will pass into the light—not as a disappearance, but as a continuation of who we truly are.
Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Gita न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचित् (Chapter 2, Verse 2.0) that the soul is never born and never dies. This simple teaching helps us to understand that the body is not our true self. Because of this, death is not the end of who we really are.
Further, Bhagavan also exclaims that the Body Is Like Clothing “वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय”(Bhagavad Gita 2.22) meaning just as we change old clothes, the soul changes the body. Old clothes are thrown away, but the person remains the same. In the same way, the soul remains while the body changes as a natural process of creation and transformation.
Why This Perspective shift Matters
Shifting our view of death from “the end” to “a waiting lounge” changes everything. With this shift, we seldom grieve, rather than feeling a sense of permanent separation, we tend tocontinue the connection. We live to the fullest: with a complete understanding that life is an ongoing process, we prioritize love, purpose, and soul-aligned choices. When death is no longer terrifying, we stop resisting it—and begin to embrace the unknown.
Dignity of Death-Mritha Sanjeevini Yoga Vidya
We don’t need to face death with reluctance, in fact face it with dignity and acceptance. In order to achieve this, primarily we need to learn to live with awareness. In fact, spiritual traditions often encourage us to live with the awareness of death as a sacred teacher. In this Kaliyuga, where people embrace death unconsciously, it is fascinating to note that Under the able guidance of Shri Rishi Avirbhava Guru Poornadwaithi, interested sadhaks in vanaprasthashrama, go through and learn an exclusive branch of rishi Vidya, taught in Saptarishi marga of Rishikula samsthanam, called as “Mritha Sanjeevini Yoga Vidya” which guides “To die consciously” in a step to step experiential process wherein one can leave the body consciously, effortlessly ultimately merging into the Divine Light overcoming the cycle of life and death.
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