Death and birth are two strong habits of the

body; they have nothing to do with annihilation.

Death does not annihilate the essential; it

merely brings about a change of the coverings

around it. Assuming a new covering is called

birth, and casting off the old is called death.

There is no death for the Atman (the Self)

because: 1) Atman is eternal; it is never born

and never dies; it is a perennial source of

knowledge; 2) Atman is self-existent and

does not need the support of anything else,

for Atman alone exists everywhere; and

3) Atman is formless; although it assumes

and casts off forms, it remains unaffected.



Swami Rama

Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita