Death does not mean the death of the Self, the end of the spirit, or the attainment of its final goal. It is, on the contrary, the continuation of life, the mind, soul, and knowledge simply leaving the worn-out clothes, the house, which is no longer fit for habitation. Plato says that the spirit rises from the tomb of the body. In the Bhagavad Gita, the beautiful mystical book of the Brahmins, it is said that the spirit throws off its shabby garments and prepares to put on a more magnificent robe.

A corpse is essentially the natural state of the body. After death, the earthly elements return to an inanimate state. In its way, a dead body is like a glove from which a hand has been removed. However, this empty glove is not yet proof that the hand has also perished. When we find empty shells on the seashore, we are inclined to believe that all life ends in the grave. But life never perishes. Only bodies die, and life is eternal.

Death is the spirit throwing off the shackles of the flesh and existing for a time in the invisible world, in order to then build itself a new vehicle for material manifestation. So, although death seems a terrible tragedy to the ignorant, the philosopher perceives it as a majestic spiritual experience, the highest journey of life - the return of the spirit to its original state, the liberation of inner greatness from the limitations of unsuitable flesh.

Manly P. Hall