Final Thoughts and Re-birth

Sri Annamalai Swami

Q: What do you think of the common belief that a person's final thoughts determine his next birth?

AS: A rich man, who was very involved in his worldly affairs, was dying in his bed. 

He called to his wife, "Where is my oldest son?"

She replied, "He is standing besides you, at the head of the bed."

The wife was a meditative woman, and she also knew that her husband was about to die.

"Don't worry about worldly affairs at this time", she advised. "Relax peacefully into the Self. That's the most important thing at this time."

The husband had other things on his mind. "Where is my second son?" he asked.

"He is also beside the bed. Just try to keep quiet."

"Then where is my youngest son?" demanded the man. "I also need to know where he is."

"He is here in the room with you. We are all here with you."

"So who is looking after our shop if everyone is here?" asked the dying man, and a few seconds later he passed away.

This is how it is in life. If you spend your life with worldly thoughts, these will be the thoughts that fill your mind at the time of your death. But if your life is devoted to sadhana, to attain an inner peace, then, at the moment of your death, this will be the state that you die in.