Question: If nobody knows for sure what happens after death, then how can enlightened people claim that consciousness is eternal?
Sri Prabhuji:
What is meaning of “death” ? Does it mean “non existence” ?
Well known law of science, law of conservation of mass/energy states that mass/energy can neither be created nor destroyed – can only be transformed from one form to other.
Our life is nothing but a series of constantly changing experiences. Change is the only constant in life. The “change” do we call as death ? In that sense every moment one experience “dies” and new experience “appears to be born”. In that sense birth and death of experience is continuous process – moment to moment. In breath and out breath, heart beat, cells of body, thoughts there is continuous “appearance of birth” and continuous “appearance of death”.
However what sustains this change ? Changeless/deathless consciousness-existence. This is the understanding/observation of Enlightened ones.
Enlightened ones like Buddha have also seen their millions of past lives – as told in Jataka tales. Modern day records of thousands hypno regression therapies where people are able to recollect their past lives. Also there are innumerable cases of clinically/medically dead people coming alive called near death experiences (NDE).