In truth, death, which concerns only the material body and not the soul, is really a change of body.

Being fully absorbed in Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, and free from all defilement, from all material desires, are one and the same thing. Just as a rich person abandons the objects of rubbish, the devotee of God, sure of reaching the kingdom of the Lord where existence is eternal, all absolute knowledge and perfect bliss, naturally feels no desire for objects of material pleasure, objects which are insignificant, mere toys, mere shadows of reality, without lasting value. This is how one recognises the one who has become spiritually enriched.

Then, in due course, when the purified holy being is ready, what is commonly called death occurs, but which is ultimately only a sudden change of body. For the pure being, this change can be compared to a flash of lightning which is simultaneously accompanied by a bright light. By the supreme will of God, he develops a spiritual body at the very moment he leaves the material body.

It should be noted, however, that even before death the pure being is free from all material attachments, and because of his constant contact with the Lord he has a fully spiritualised body.

Our material condition does not allow us to see the Lord or even to know our true identity, for we are deprived of spiritual vision, but let us break our ties with this material condition, let us return to our original spiritual form, and we will then be able to see our own true self, as well as the Lord, face to face.

Liberation is the return of the embodied spiritual being, once he has freed himself from all material conceptions of existence, to his original and natural spiritual condition. Human life is precisely the opportunity to develop the qualities necessary to obtain this spiritual freedom.