Wednesday, January 25, 2012

How does a Yogi view 'Life after Death'

Today I was asked an interesting question from a Christian's perspective: What do yogis believe happens to them after dying? An interesting topic to start this blog run for 2012!

I am no expert on what happens after death.... just as no-one else can be either, as no-one knows until they experience it and then are not here to tell the rest of us.

As I said in my interview in the Yoga Awakening Africa magazine (http://yoganewsletters.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/yaa-interview-anne-combrinck/) I am not religious but respect all religions. The spirituality that I practice is an inward worship of God and reverence for all that is. I do however, hold Jesus (who attained what is referred to as Christ-consciousness, hence his title - Jesus Christ) in the highest esteem as my opinion of him is that he was most definitely a well-practised 'yogi' in all respects (Chap 3 of Patanjali's - Yoga Sutras - describes the gifts given to one who attains the highest states of consciousness (samyama=dharana, dhyana, samadhi), such as he demonstrated with various 'miracles' he performed. His example in life has influenced humanity for 2000 years and that says something in itself.

Modern day yogis can be of any religion or no religion so may have differing beliefs dependant on that! The origins of yoga come from the country of India where the predominant religion is Hinduism and hence many think that Yogis "believe" the same as in Hinduism, which is the belief in reincarnation -taking on another physical body depending on their karma 'accrued' in this life-time. I prefer not to have 'beliefs' as 'knowing' is readily available to each of us if we can still the mind sufficiently to tap into it.

After this long explanation.... the question 'what happens to us after death?' boils down to the religion/beliefs of the one who practices yoga.