Consciousness during coma,death

[Kiran B R]

Dear Chandra,

When I had asked "Is it only because after coming back
to the normal (waking) state the person reverts to his
ajnAna?", I expected a "yes" as the answer. And I'll
explain why. And after asking that quesiton, I thought
about it, and I think I have an answer. You are right.
The difference in the number of m's in a jnAni's
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" and an ajnAni's "Mmmmmmmmmmmm"
is explainable:-)

First of all, kindly note that I have no proof for
whatever I say in this mail. Pure imagination. That's
all it is. (Don't try this at home:-).

There is no question of "feeling" a void. Feeling is
indriya-vyApAra. In a void or in the state of
deep-sleep or coma, there is no "feeling" involved,
since there is no indriya-vyApAra. Similarly in the
brAhmIsThithi.

But yes, "feeling" returns after coming out of the
void, like for example after waking up or returning
from samADhi.

As we all know, the Atman is infintely removed from
matter, but remains imprisoned in the body as long as
ajnAna lasts. Now what is special about a jnAni is
that he can put his pajnchakOSha-s in a state which is
conducive for "take-off" or decoupling of his Atman.
When the pajnchakOSha-s receive him, his Atman gets
re-coupled to them and all his "feelings" return.
Which "feelings"? Those feelings which were part of
the preparation for take-off of the Atman. Those are
all the qualities of a jIvanmukta. His Atman is not
bound within the walls of his body, since he can
take-off any time. And his Atman is totally free of
samskAra-s. His body is always in that state which is
conducive for take-off. And since his Atman, when it
takes-off is devoid of all samskAras, it will not be
able to position itself in another body which is not
similar to the one it left. Hence a jIvanmukta will
not be born again.

And according to Advaita, this Atman is nothing but
the braHman.

In the case of a person in deep-sleep or coma, the
take-off of the Atman does happen. The decoupling does
happen. But the only difference is this : the Atman
which took-off is wrapped in layers and layers of
samskAras of the ajnAni whose body went into coma or
deep-sleep. Imagine the Atman wrapped in samskAras as
the key to a body which is the keyhole. Every key is
different, and can fit into only a particular keyhole.
If the keyhole is destroyed, the key will either find
a keyhole into which it can fit perfectly - or
manufacture a new one. If the keyhole is not
destroyed, this samkskAra-tainted Atman or key MAY
return to the very same keyhole. Whether it does or it
does not is determined by rules of cause and effect.

This return does happen in the case of a person waking
up from deep-sleep or coma. There are no "feelings"
during deep-sleep or coma. But there is a difference
in the state of the jnAni's body and the state of the
ajnAni's body. There is a difference between the state
of the jnAni's Atman which decouples, and the ajnAni's
Atman+samskAra-s which decouples.

And hence there is a difference in the number of m's
in a jnAni's "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" and an ajnAni's
"Mmmmmmmmm".

:-)
Kiran


--- Venkatraman.Chandrasekaran at NOKIA.COM wrote:
> Dear Kiran,
>    Don't you feel a void during deep-sleep? It's a
> good
> feeling upon waking up.. But that wouldn't in the
> least
> compare with the realisation-state that is described
> in
> scriptures.
>
>    Regards,
>    chandrasekaran.


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