Elevation at Death

There are different kinds of transcendentalists who are called yogis--hathayogis,
jnana-yogis, dhyana-yogis, and bhakti-yogis--and all of them are eligible
to be transferred to the spiritual world. The word yoga means "to link up," and
the yoga systems are meant to enable us to link with the transcendental world.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, originally we are all connected to the
Supreme Lord, but now we have been affected by material contamination. The
process is that we have to return to the spiritual world, and that process of
linking up is called yoga. Another meaning of the word yoga is "plus." At the
present moment we are minus God, or minus the Supreme.

When we add Krsna--or God--to our lives, this human form of life becomes perfect.
At the time of death we have to finish that process of perfection. During our
lifetime we have to practice the method of approaching that perfection so that
at the time of death, when we have to give up this material body, that
perfection can be realized.
"One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and
in full devotion engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord, will certainly
attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead." (Bg. 8.10)
Just as a student studies a subject for four or five years and then takes his
examination and receives a degree, similarly, with the subject of life, if we
practice during our lives for the examination at the time of death, and if we
pass the examination, we are transferred to the spiritual world. Our whole life
is examined at the time of death.