Videha Mukti

Videha mukti (Sanskrit, "liberation without the body") refers to the moksha, or "liberation" attained by a person after death. Videha mukti is the view of death, held culturally, religiously, and philosophically by the Hindu peoples. Mukti is another word for moksha. In Hinduism, samādhi can also refer to videha mukti or the complete absorption of the individual consciousness in the self at the time of death - usually referred to as mahasamādhi.

The Hindu tradition holds that a human being is essentially a spiritual soul that has taken birth in a body. Basically, this is the basis of the belief of reincarnation held by Hindus, Buddhists and others. When a soul has attained mukti it is said to break free from the cycle of births and deaths. As per Advaita Vedanta, a widespread Hindu philosophy, a soul can be emancipated either while living or after death.

Liberation is the goal of each of the major world religions, and thus it serves as an integrating feature of the great religions, reconciling and integrating what appear on the surface to be differences in point of view. Meher Baba, who started out Zoroastrian, and was initially affected by a Muslim holy woman, and who integrated the Sufi (Islamic) and Vedantic (Hindu philosophical) ideas and terms, gives a very detailed and complete description of Liberation in his book God Speaks, supplement 24. Liberation is the end of the soul's journey, and therefore it is the ultimate goal and destination for each individual, and the goal of creation itself.

Meher Baba describes four types of mukti: videha mukti, videh mukti, jivanmukti, and param mukti.