CHAPTER TWO, TEXT 28: All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?
If I strike a match, I might consider it a miracle that fire would suddenly blossom at the tip of the sliver of wood. I might believe that energy is created by striking the match.
But energy is not created. Energy to create fire always existed within the match, it just changed forms. Scientists even have a name for this: The First Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that energy is neither created or destroyed, energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. In the case of the match, it may look like energy is created, but really there are only a series of energetic transformations.
Look, I'm not an engineer. The point of this example is to show that even if you are an atheist and do not believe in the eternal soul, even on a material level we understand that energy may exist in many different forms but it is never created or destroyed.
This principle is the same for the soul. It may look like the flame of our existence has been created with birth and extinguished with death, but the soul has only gone through a series of transformations - unmanifest to manifest back to unmanifest.
Prabhupad even mentions the First Law of Thermodynamics, also called the law of conservation of energy, in his purport when he gives the example of a skyscraper being built up from the materials from the earth (unmanifest), remaining for some time to dominate the skyline (manifest), and then being dismantled back to atoms (unmanifest). He writes that "The law of conservation of energy remains, but in course of time things are manifested and unmanifested - that is the difference [between the eternal law and the temporary manifestations]" (92). True knowledge means to place one's trust in eternal principles, not flickering comings and goings.
For one who believes in the eternal soul, the understanding is that material bodies are perishable and the soul is eternal, so the soul taking on a new body is compared to changing one's dress. Prabhupad writes, "Why lament the changing of dress?" (92). After all, changing one's dress is so ordinary, it's done every day, sometimes several times a day. Even in this lifetime our bodies are changing to be almost unrecognizable, just like a changing of dress.
The Gita emphasizes, "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change" (2.13).
Below are photos of my father as he changes from a boy, to a teenager, to a man.
Thus, whether one believes in only the material energy (which means that energy can never be destroyed) or one believes in the eternal soul (which means the soul can never be destroyed), Prabhupad writes that "there is no cause for lamentation in either case" (92).
Why DO we lament with death? The point of lamentation is that something has been destroyed. It is gone forever. But just like the flame has gone out for the match or the dress that has been changed, nothing has been destroyed.
On a purely logical level, there is no need to lament.
Makes sense, right?
Of course, there are many other factors to consider regarding the pain of death, but we need to start somewhere. Prabhupad writes,"The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization on the basis of the nonexistence of the material body" (92). This understanding that our bodies are temporary but the soul is eternal is the basis, the foundation to spiritual growth and understanding. As we continue to build our spiritual understanding, having a strong foundation allows us to build a skyscraper of spiritual truth and love that will forever remain manifest.
If I strike a match, I might consider it a miracle that fire would suddenly blossom at the tip of the sliver of wood. I might believe that energy is created by striking the match.
But energy is not created. Energy to create fire always existed within the match, it just changed forms. Scientists even have a name for this: The First Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that energy is neither created or destroyed, energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. In the case of the match, it may look like energy is created, but really there are only a series of energetic transformations.
Look, I'm not an engineer. The point of this example is to show that even if you are an atheist and do not believe in the eternal soul, even on a material level we understand that energy may exist in many different forms but it is never created or destroyed.
This principle is the same for the soul. It may look like the flame of our existence has been created with birth and extinguished with death, but the soul has only gone through a series of transformations - unmanifest to manifest back to unmanifest.
Prabhupad even mentions the First Law of Thermodynamics, also called the law of conservation of energy, in his purport when he gives the example of a skyscraper being built up from the materials from the earth (unmanifest), remaining for some time to dominate the skyline (manifest), and then being dismantled back to atoms (unmanifest). He writes that "The law of conservation of energy remains, but in course of time things are manifested and unmanifested - that is the difference [between the eternal law and the temporary manifestations]" (92). True knowledge means to place one's trust in eternal principles, not flickering comings and goings.
For one who believes in the eternal soul, the understanding is that material bodies are perishable and the soul is eternal, so the soul taking on a new body is compared to changing one's dress. Prabhupad writes, "Why lament the changing of dress?" (92). After all, changing one's dress is so ordinary, it's done every day, sometimes several times a day. Even in this lifetime our bodies are changing to be almost unrecognizable, just like a changing of dress.
The Gita emphasizes, "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change" (2.13).
Below are photos of my father as he changes from a boy, to a teenager, to a man.
My father is still the same soul, even though his "dress" has changed countless times. This is the same for all of us! Our "dress" is changing throughout this life, it is only natural that at death our dress changes again. There is only a transformation of energy; we - the spirit soul - are never destroyed.
Why DO we lament with death? The point of lamentation is that something has been destroyed. It is gone forever. But just like the flame has gone out for the match or the dress that has been changed, nothing has been destroyed.
On a purely logical level, there is no need to lament.
Makes sense, right?
Of course, there are many other factors to consider regarding the pain of death, but we need to start somewhere. Prabhupad writes,"The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization on the basis of the nonexistence of the material body" (92). This understanding that our bodies are temporary but the soul is eternal is the basis, the foundation to spiritual growth and understanding. As we continue to build our spiritual understanding, having a strong foundation allows us to build a skyscraper of spiritual truth and love that will forever remain manifest.
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