The Black Box

There is something called the ‘black box’ in airplanes. If there is an air crash, the first thing that the rescue crew searches for is the black box. The movement of the flight, what exactly the problem was, did the pilot communicate with the air tower — all these details would be recorded in the black box. It is a chronicle of the entire flight course, the reason for the crash, the emotions of the passengers and the crew — everything is meticulously recorded to the minutest detail.

Similarly when the soul gets liberated from the body either by physical death or enlightenment, the black box (near the throat chakra) records all the thoughts. This is called the ‘neelakantam’, referred to as ‘neela’ due to the toxic color of venom, lethal because it plants the seed for another birth; ‘kantam’ because it is a hurdle that everyone has to cross. Only when we surmount this ‘kantam’, this obstacle, will we go beyond thoughts; else the thought bundles — the pending desires a person had at the time he passed away that this black box chronicles, will lead to another birth.

Nothing in the world can ever tempt a truly contented person who has seen the world and experienced all that there is.