We must clearly understand the meaning of ‘death’ and ‘immortality’. We regard death as synonymous with all kinds of strength in the body being lost. In other words, death is the ebbing away of the life force from the body. If the life force remains in the body forever, we regard that situation as immortality. This is incorrect. To be able to completely identify oneself with the aspect of God and completely forget the aspect of the body is true immortality. If at all times we are totally immersed only in the thought of the body and its comforts, and forget the aspect of Atma, that is death. It is only when we are able to clearly recognise the connection between birth and death that the sacred desire for securing immortality will sprout in us. There is birth and death for the body, but there is no birth or death for the Atma. To be able to understand this eternity of the Atma is the real meaning of attaining immortality.

- Summer Showers in Brindavan 1974, Part 2, Ch 13.