The answer to this question is very simple: it is the false, the unreal self of man that dies, his real self is always alive. The question arises, "What is man's unreal self and what is the real self?" There are these two beliefs, one that God made the world and remains outside of it, apart from His manifestation, and the stronger belief is that God made all from Himself. Then the question arises, "Why is that which is made of the real unreal and perishable? We do not expect a truthful man to tell a lie."

God is more than real, more than true, but we have only the words "real", "true", to express it. Man exists at one pole of his being as the universal consciousness, calm, silent, unconscious of its own existence. You may say, "How can this be consciousness?" It is consciousness, intelligence, light. In Sanskrit it is called Chaitanya, intelligence.

In the Qur'an it is written, "We have made thee of Our light and of thy light We have made the whole universe." This is supposed to be said of Muhammad.

In the Bible it is said that first was the word and the word was light and from light all things were made. There are these three lights: God, the light of the Teacher and the world. The Consciousness made from itself the other two lights by which it experiences life. This is the meaning of the Christian Trinity, though there are very few people who understand it, in thousands one may find one.

My definition of light is: that which appears. All that appears can only appear by the light that is in it, by the radiance.

The inclination of the intelligence is always towards its own element, the consciousness. The inclination of each thing is to its element. If there are two streams of water near together, the stronger attracts the lesser and they unite. If there are two flames they unite. If a fire is lighted in the strong sunshine it will not burn for long. It seems that it has gone out, but really the fire element has been attracted to the sun. This can easily be observed in tropical countries, where they light fires out of doors.

In one pole of our being we are self-sufficient, in the other man is dependent upon all other beings, not self-sufficient. From the king to the poor this is so. And all unhappiness in life comes from that, that we are not self-sufficient.

If we watch closely we shall find that in the twenty-four hours there is a time when we were absent, we did not know where we were or what we were. In this is the whole mystery of being, though it seems very simple. This is the state in which the Consciousness is unconscious of all save of its own existence. In the Hindu scriptures this state of consciousness is called Mukti, freedom. It is a very high state. In Islam it is called Najat, liberation. The mystics experience this state consciously; the ordinary person experiences it in deep sleep, when he does not know where he is or what he is.

The Consciousness is not conscious of itself, because we have not given it the habit of being conscious of other things. The desire of the Consciousness is to live. It is from this desire that a man does all that he does. The soul remembers its original state from which it has come and it wishes to experience the world, but it longs also to return there, to that calm and stillness. There is this longing in every soul, and in the beasts, in plants and stones.

If you ask an artist, a painter, why he works, why he does all that, he will say that it is for the sake of beauty, for the sake of art, or for the sake of earning, but behind it all is the desire of life. The soul always wishes to be alive. No one wishes to be dead, and if anyone says, "I wish I were dead," "I wish I had never lived," it is said when the spell of emotion is upon him, or else in a fit of anger or sadness. Or the soul that feels itself captive in the mind and body, may wish to break these prison bars and to exist as it existed before, it does not know where or how, somewhere, somehow.

All that is born, built, sprung or made must one day or other be destroyed. When the soul loses what it has thought its life, its physical body, this is its greatest disappointment. When in the East the saints and sages go to the jungle and to the caves of mountains, leaving all behind them, do you think that they do it in order to acquire a great psychical power or great occult power? Not at all. It would not be worth renouncing so much for that. They do it for the sake of this freedom, the freedom of the soul.

When a person has gained this freedom and has realized what really is important, then all the troubles of life become unimportant. Then the fear of death is gone and all ignorance. A person who cannot swim is afraid of the sea; the waves frighten him. But the swimmer is not afraid; he swims out into the sea, and dives, as he pleases. Joy and sorrow are the two ends of the same rod. There is no such thing as sadness or joy. It is only that seeing one end of the rod gives man that illusion. God bless you.