Kalabhairava Karma – Not About the Body

“In a way, the whole process of becoming meditative is a simulation of death. Death means the body is no more a problem, and there is no discerning intellect.”

—Sadhguru

Sadhguru, if someone wants to donate his body to a medical college, will there be any meaning in performing Kalabhairava Karma?

It is not politically correct to speak about certain things in today’s society. But there are many aspects to it. All these aspects are happening because of a very deep sense of identity with the physical form. But it is not for me to comment on that, it is important for people to live. So, whatever is possible is being done to make people live. Nothing wrong. Who knows with whose what you are sitting here right now!

There is no need to do Kalabhairava Karma for the physical body. The body should be burnt and go back to the earth. If one or two parts of the body can still be useful for some time, they can be put in some other machine that is not working properly. Kalabhairava Karma is about that dimension which has left the body. We only want something that was in touch with the body because the body carries memory, so we use an article of clothing and a photo so that there is recognition to connect the two dimensions.

You do not do things for the body after death. It doesn’t make any sense. If it were for the body, we would have done the process while the person was still alive. Kalabhairava Karma is about that bubble of memory that is still floating around and seeking another body. It is to bring some sense into that being because when they were in the body, they would not listen. They no longer have a discerning mind; we can do much more with one who has lost his intellect. When the discerning mind is gone, it means there is no longer a sieve. It is just an open hole – you can put in it whatever you want. A sieve filters everything out that you do not like. That is almost the entire universe! For sure, Shiva would stay out.

In a way, the whole process of becoming meditative is a simulation of death. Death means the body is no more a problem, and there is no discerning intellect. Your discernment is a product of past experience and impression. One may have a finer sense of discernment than the other, but essentially you are dividing that which cannot be divided in its ultimate nature. Discernment is a way of falling from ultimate sense to immediate sense.

I hope you understand the difference between the dead and the dead body. The medical college is only interested in the dead body; they are not interested in the dead. There is nothing they can do about the dead. Kalabhairava Karma is about the dead, not the dead body.

Love & Grace,

Sadhguru