What Is Death?: Swoon, Sleep, Death

By Sri Swami Sivananda

A man lying in a swoon cannot be said to be awake because he does not perceive external objects by means of his senses. The man who returns to consciousness from a swoon says: “I was shut up in blind darkness; I was conscious of nothing.” A wakeful man keeps his body upright but the body of a swooning person falls down.

He is not dreaming, because he is altogether unconscious. Nor is he dead as he has life and warmth. He continues to breathe.

When a man has become senseless and people are in doubt whether he is alive or dead, they touch the region of the heart in order to find out whether there is warmth in his body or not and put their hands to his nostrils to find out whether there is breathing or not. If they find out there is neither warmth nor breath they come to the conclusion that he is dead. If they perceive warmth and breath they decide that he is not dead and begin to sprinkle cold water on his face so that he may recover consciousness.

He who has swooned is not dead, because he rises again to conscious life.

A man who has swooned may sometimes not breathe for a long time. His body trembles; his face is dreadful. His eyes are staring wide open. But a sleeping man looks calm and happy. He draws his breath at regular intervals. His eyes are closed. His body does not tremble. A sleeping man may be aroused by a gentle stroking with the hand but a person lying in a swoon cannot be aroused even by a blow with a stick. Swoon is due to external causes. It is caused by a blow on the head with a stick, or the like; while sleep is due to fatigue. Swoon is half sleep. It does not mean by this that he half enjoys Brahman. It means that it partly resembles sleep. The man who lies in a swoon belongs, with one half, to the side of deep sleep, while the other half to the side of death. In fact swoon is the door to death. If there is a remnant of Karma he returns to consciousness. Else, he dies.

The state of swoon is recognised by the Ayurveda and Allopathic doctors. It is known from ordinary experience.

The silent witness of waking state, dreaming state, deep sleep state and swoon is Brahman, thy innermost Self, Immortal Atman or the Inner Ruler. Identify yourself with Brahman, transcend all the states and be ever happy and blissful.

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This was an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. We want to now the truth behind near death experiences and become certain that there really is a life after death.

Many books have been written on the subject of death, but most of the works deal mainly with the astral or other spirit world. It has mostly been the study of the conditions in the Pretaloka which is merely one among the numerous supramundane planes or lokas beyond the grave. Spiritualism, seance and the testimony of recognised mediums have for most part featured prominently in all such works.

What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj is a departure from the usual line in that it is based, to a great extent, upon authoritative scriptural texts and upon knowledge derived through reasoning, deep reflection and personal meditation. It throws a flood of light upon all aspects of life after death not adequately dealt with in other works. The book also gives valuable information about the different beliefs on this subject, of the various races and religions.

The book is dealing with rebirth, the soul, reincarnation, moksha, heaven and hell, karma and different lokas. It even includes death poems and death poetry, giving a complete picture and a new face of death. For more material see this link: What Becomes Of The Soul After Death.

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