It Was Her Soul’s Time to Leave This Earth

Question

I lost my mother few months ago. 3 days before she expired, I had taken her to a temple. At the shrine, my intuition said that something may go wrong with her. I dismissed this as just negative thoughts. But within 3 days, she died of sudden heart attack. I am feeling guilty that I didn’t take my intuition seriously. Was this feeling at the shrine God’s way of warning me of my mother’s health. Why did God punish her for my negligence, why did not God give me an opportunity to save her?

—Karthi, India

Answer

Dear Karthi,

Please do not view this incident as a punishment. Having an intuition regarding your mother’s impending death doesn’t mean you could have done anything to save her. It most likely was simply an intuition regarding her passing, nothing more. Neither God nor karma is punishing anyone, here.

We all have times when we wished we had not ignored an intuition.

Furthermore, death is not a punishment. We all leave the body sooner or later. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna reminds Arjuna that in death no one really dies. The soul is eternal, changeless, and ever happy. It was her soul’s time to leave this earth. While she would probably wanted to stay longer and while you and others would, too, that natural desire can never defeat the cycle of birth, life and death in this world of constant change, maya, and duality.

So, while you may grieve your loss of your mother at this time, do not punish yourself. The intuition was just as likely to prepare you as to offer you a chance to do what, exactly? Let’s say you suddenly turned to your mother at the shrine and said “I have a feeling something bad is going to happen to you!” She would probably have dismissed your feeling. Even if she hadn’t, what would you or she have known to do?

So, you see: you were having an intuition, nothing more. From now on, make it a point to listen to these things. Do not act hastily, but, if you act at all on an intuition, do so tentatively. By practice you will learn to distinguish true intuition from subconscious fears or imaginings.

Continue sending prayers and blessings to your mother’s soul for such intentions are helpful in the process of transitioning from mortal life to astral life and carrying on. Do not hold her back with tears or regrets but bless her with light, freedom and gratitude.

Joy and blessings to you,
Nayaswami Hriman