Devotee: How long is the interval between death and rebirth?
Bhagawan: It may be long or short ,but a realized person undergoes no such change; he merges into the Infinite Being ,as is said in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.some say that those who ,after death,take the path of light arenot reborn ,whereas those hwo take the path of darkness are reborn after they have reaped their karma in their subtle bodies.
If a man's merits and demerits are equal he is reborn immediately on earth ; if the merits outweigh the demerits his subtle body goes first to heaven ,while if the demerits outweigh the merits he goes first to hell..But in either case he is later reborn on earth.All this is described in scriptures ,but in fact there is neither birth nor death ;one simply remains what one really is. That is the only truth.
Devotee: Is this consistent with the Hindu doctrine of reincarnating ego? Is the soul a continuous entity which reincarnates again and again according to Hindu doctrine or a mere conglomeration of mental tendencies according to the Buddhists?
Bhagawan: The real Self is continuous and unaffected. The reincarnating ego belongs to a lower plane ,that of thought.It is transcended by Self Realization.Reincarnations are due to a spurious offshoot of Being and are therefore denied by Buddhists. The human state is due to the mingling of sentient with insentient.
The birth of I-thought is a person's birth and its death is his death. After the I-thought has arisen the false identification with the body arises.but if you cease to identify yourself with the body and realize the true Self this confusion will vanish.
