Beyond Birth and Death | Book Reading & Study | Chapter 2 | Short and Quick

Let's Read and Study Srila Prabhupada's Small Books Systematically!
Book: Beyond Birth and Death
Chapter 2: Elevation at Death
STUDY QUESTIONS
From Book
1. What does the word Yoga mean and what is it meant for? What are the different types of Yogis?
2. What are the 3 characteristics of the soul? How can one attain a spiritual body?
3. What is the destination of the impersonalists? Why do they fall down from their destination?
From Talk
1. Why is it that we can travel up to Brahma Loka and it is still a place of misery ?
2. What is the fruit of unwavering remembrance of the Lord?
3. What is the difference between the highest pleasure in this world and love in the spiritual world?
Open Ended
1. “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” I am engrossed in so many things throughout the day! How much time do I sincerely remember the Lord and what can I do to increase my loving remembrance of the Lord?
2. What if we had a temporary job, temporary house, temporary relationships? When all of this is temporary, why not strive for a spiritual play, spiritual home, spiritual relationships which are permanent, full of bliss, full of joy?
3. “There is no tax and no expense. So why not take to it?” How much taste have I developed for the chanting of the holy names? Spiritual pleasure is free while we pay millions for material pleasure and work hard like asses for acquiring those million bucks!! Why not find joy in the simple yet meaningful things of life?
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Hare Krishna 🙌

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hare krishna!

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Powerful 1-liners: 1. At the time of death we have to finish that process of perfection. 2. There is a Bengali proverb that says that whatever one does for perfection will be tested at the time of his death. 3. Those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious are very intelligent, because they are not interested in gaining entrance to any planet where there is death. 4. As long as we are here on earth, we must learn to practice to love and serve Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord. 5. When we are left alone for a long time in the impersonal brahmajyoti, we cannot have pleasure, and therefore we accept the pleasure given by the material world. 6. We can manufacture something that will accelerate death, but nothing that will stop death. 7. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that one always lives with Kṛṣṇa on that spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, and that one is simply waiting to give up this material body.

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Key Analogies: 1. Just as a student studies a subject for four or five years and then takes his examination and receives a degree, similarly, with the subject of life, if we practice during our lives for the examination at the time of death, and if we pass the examination, we are transferred to the spiritual world. Our whole life is examined at the time of death. 2. Just as one going to America can get some idea what the country is like by reading books, one can also have knowledge of the spiritual planets by reading Vedic literatures. The yogī knows all these descriptions, and he can transfer himself to any planet he likes without the help of spaceships. Space travel by mechanical means is not the accepted process for elevation to other planets. Perhaps with a great deal of time, effort, and money a few men may be able to reach other planets by material means - spaceships, spacesuits, etc. - but this is a very cumbersome and impractical method. In any case, it is not possible to go beyond the material universe by mechanical means. 3. If one tries to enter higher planets by mechanical means, instant death is assured, for the body cannot stand the radical changes in atmosphere. But if one attempts to go to higher planets by means of the yoga system, he will acquire a suitable body for entrance. We can see this demonstrated on this earth, for we know it is not possible for us to live in the sea, in a watery atmosphere, nor is it possible for aquatics to live on the earth. As we understand that even on this planet one has to have a particular type of body to live in a particular place, so a particular type of body is required for other planets. 4. We are eternal, so why should we be interested in temporary things? No one wants a nonpermanent situation. If we are living in an apartment and the landlord asks us to vacate, we are sorry, but we are not sorry if we move into a better apartment. It is our nature, because we are permanent, to want a permanent residence. We don’t wish to die, because in actuality we are permanent. Nor do we want to grow old or be diseased, because these are all external or nonpermanent states. Although we are not meant to suffer from fever, sometimes fever comes, and we have to take precautions and remedies to get well again. The fourfold miseries are like a fever, and they are all due to the material body. If somehow we can get out of the material body, we can escape the miseries that are integral with it. 5. One may remain alone in a room for some time and may enjoy himself by reading a book or engaging in some thought, but it is not possible to remain in that room for years and years at a time, and certainly not for all eternity. Therefore, for one who merges impersonally into the existence of the Supreme, there is every chance of falling down again into the material world in order to acquire some association. This is the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Astronauts may travel thousands and thousands of miles, but if they do not find rest on some planet, they have to return again to earth. In any case, rest is required. In the impersonal form, rest is uncertain. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that even after so much endeavor, if the impersonalist enters into the spiritual world and acquires an impersonal form, he returns again into the material world because of neglecting to serve the Supreme Lord in love and devotion.