Death is not an instant event, but a gradual process that can take days according to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. Even after being medically declared dead, a person does not fully die right away. Instead, the life energies withdraw slowly over time. This article will examine the steps of death described by Sadhguru and the proper handling of belongings after someone passes for easing their transition.
The exact moment of death is difficult to pinpoint. Though a doctor may pronounce someone dead at a particular time, the dying process continues over hours or even weeks based on spiritual wisdom shared by Sadhguru. He explains that one’s life energies, or prana, exit the body in a specific sequence over this time. Only after all five pranas have departed is death fully complete.
So what happens after the heart stops beating and doctors declare us dead? Let’s look at what Sadhguru reveals about the process from both a medical and energetic perspective.
Samana Exits First, Marking the Point of Clinical Death
The first prana to exit at the time of clinical death is samana. Samana regulates body temperature, so as it withdraws around 21-24 minutes after being declared dead, the body starts cooling. Checking for a cold nose was the traditional way of confirming someone had passed.
Once samana fully exits between 48-64 minutes later, the body can no longer regulate temperature at all. So the initial lowering of temperature marks the start of the gradual death sequence rather than the final moment of expiration.
Prana’s Departure Follows Over the Next Hour
The next prana energy to take leave is prana itself shortly after samana. Prana oversees the function of the heart, lungs, and circulation. Its exit between 48-64 minutes aligned with samana creates the conditions clinically recognized as death.
Yet from a yogic perspective, other vital pranas have yet to depart. In fact, between the loss of samana and the next energy to go, udhana, some tantric processes can purportedly revive the body. So clinical death does not equate to an absolute point of no return physically or energetically.
Udhana Lingers for 6-12 Hours Before Exiting
The udhana prana persists for between 6-12 hours after the outward signs of life cease. Udhana governs upward movement in the body that controls key functions like digestion, breathing, blinking, etc.
During this period after clinical death, udhana maintains some residual operation of these upward bodily motions. Though resuscitation remains unlikely, it indicates again that the shift from life to death stretches over hours, not merely the seconds when the heart stops.
Upana Exits Over 8-18 Hours, Marking Near Absolute Death
The next phase of withdrawal is that of upana prana starting anywhere from 8 to 18 hours after clinical death. Upana oversees all downward flows like urination, defecation, menstruation, ejaculation, and childbirth.
At this point, a person lacks all upward or downward pranic activity indicating near total loss of the life force. Resuscitation would require miraculous intervention rather than medical effort alone. Yet still one key prana remains at this stage.
Vyana Departs Last from 11-14 Days After Death
The final prana energy composing human life to leave is vyana. Also called the preserver, vyana governs circulation to the organs and oversees necessary bodily processes like perspiration, blinking, blood circulation, and coordination of the physiological system.
Vyana lingers for 11-14 days even as the other pranic energies have ceased. Only after it exits have all residual life energies completely withdrawn from the body after physical death. So roughly two weeks pass from the point of clinical expiration before the internal expiration runs fully its course according to ancient yogic wisdom.
Yogic Death Ritual Considerations After Vyana Exits
Given this lengthy death sequence, Sadhguru explains why certain rituals help ease the transition once life has fully departed. Firstly, the dying often give away or burn their possessions not needed in the afterlife. This keeps their energies from clinging to physical objects left behind slowing their soul’s release.
Secondly, yogis sometimes cremate their dwelling after death. They want no lingering personal energies clinging even to the places they inhabited. Destroying cells and DNA prevents physical reconstruction or cloning later that could chain one back to unwanted earthly return.
Ultimately, death stretches out over days energetically rather than striking like a sudden bolt as medical science implies. Understanding this extended transition helps clarify why cultures conduct various death rituals they way they do from funerals to periods of mourning. They honor this gradual departure of life rather than dismissing it as instantly complete.
Proper Handling of Belongings After Death
What should one do then with the physical belongings of a departed loved one from this yogic perspective? Sadhguru offers some advice:
- Burn or dispose of intimate personal items like underwear or linens that retain strong personal energetic imprints
- Distribution other garments to many people rather than one family or group to prevent clinging
- Ideally, wash all clothes including outerwear like jackets within 10-11 days to cleanse lingering energies
- If total destruction of fibers proves impractical, widespread distribution works second best
This cleansing, dispersal, or destruction of items too strongly connected to the deceased helps facilitate their complete release into the beyond. It benefits both them and still living who might be weighed down by lingering resonances.
Conclusion
Death is not some abrupt event that transpires in an instant as commonly conceived. Rather it is a steady loosening of one’s life force energies spanning many days according to spiritual wisdom. Understanding this extended transition of prana from the physical to subtle realms brings deeper meaning to death rituals performed in many faith traditions.
It also underscores why we must mindfully handle any physical extensions of someone no longer alive like their personal items. Proper distribution, disposal, or cleansing minimizes energetic hindrances holding them back from moving fully into their next realm of existence after serving their time on Earth. Death may end one’s mortal existence, but birth into whatever lies beyond is just beginning over this 11-14 day period of expiration.