Hi Lal,
This is a question about a person who is “Brain dead” due to a brain aneurysm. A friend recently suffered the above and from what I understand, he is being kept alive on a life support machine. Once the family members view the body, they plan to take him off life support.
The questions I have are:
1. Since the mind and “brain” are two different things, given the brain is not functioning anymore but the heart is still beating, I am assuming that the Gandhabba is essentially trapped with no way to enjoy any sort of sense pleasures. Given this, does the Gandhabba have the ability to “jump ship” and move out in the hope of finding another body to start over or does the Gandhabba have to wait for either a natural death due to other organ failures or the shutting off of the life support machine?
2. In such situations, given the brain is non-functional, what is state of the mind? i.e. what happens to the thought process which I believe is also fuelled in part by the brain function and how does this influence the “dying thought moment”? Does the mind revert to the last “conscious” moment before the tragedy?
3. Given the above, what is the karmic effect on the person (or persons) initiating the “shutdown process”?
Thank you.
Sincerely
Alay.