For the self there is never birth nor death.

Upon waking every morning, I continue to be plagued by my inability to make sense of Brendan Lai-wing Leung's death. I find myself turning once again to the years of training and studying I undertook while in my 20's living in a Hindu Ashram. There I studied the ancient Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita, just to name a few. I've fluctuated over the years from believer to non-believer and back again. I was raised a Christian yet never satisfied with it, I pursued the philosophies of the East and settled on Hinduism for a time. My interests expanded from there and I delved into Buddhism and Sufism then Greek Philosophy & Agnosticism. Yet here I am once again revisiting my early life among the Hindu Philosophers, teachers and ancient scriptures. None of us knows what happens when we die. We can't be sure no matter what religion or belief system we claim to be. But of the "explanations" of our 'self' beyond the body, I find enormous comfort from the Bhagavad-Gita. Here are two examples.

For the self there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does the self ever cease to exist. The self is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying, and primeval. The self is not slain when the body is slain.

BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:20

It is said that the self is invisible, inconceivable, immutable and unchangeable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.

BHAGAVAD-GITA 2: 25

Reading these verses doesn’t completely eradicate my pain and suffering over the loss of Brendan. It comforts me a little though. I was recently listening to an Adiyogi teacher who compared our existence, contained in the human body, like this: Think of our existence as floating soap bubbles. The soap bubble floats around until it’s thin membrane pops. The air that was in the bubble then becomes part of the surrounding atmosphere. If we believe we are only the soap bubble we underestimate the immense true existence that we are. We are so much greater than the confined air in the bubble. We are tricked into believing that we are only the bubble, and that what is contained within the bubble is all that we are. But we are far greater than we can ever imagine. Therefore it is a celebration to be released into the endless expansion, released from a 'finite' self to an 'infinite' self.