Survival

[louis]

From Louis...
Does any part of us survive after we die ?
I know there is already a thread on this subject, but
since the poster has suffered a recent loss, I was afraid
my remarks might be in poor taste, so I'm starting my
own thread to share some thoughts on mortality.
To answer my own question, I don't think so.
I have no awareness of such a thing as a "soul" or
"spirit" - all I know about or care about is my "ego".
I would interested if there is any chance for my ego to
survive my death - to regain consciousness in some
"next level of existence" with all my memories and
personality intact and unchanged.
Maybe that's what a "ghost" is - an ego so adapted to
life on earth, it can't move on to any higher level of
existence.
But all that is pure speculation - NOBODY can know
any of that stuff until they are actually dead. I can wait !
As for death itself, that's ANOTHER unknown - it doesn't
make sense to fear it if we don't what it IS - it might not
be anything bad at all. Nobody knows what it feels like
to BE DEAD.
But we do know what it feels like TO DIE - sometimes it can HURT ! And we all know death WILL HAPPEN, no
matter how we try not to think about it.
That's one of the bad things about death - through the
blessing / curse of abstract reasoning, we all KNOW it
will happen - we have to live with the knowledge that
we might someday cease to exist.
The only good thing is that it hasn't happened yet -
I'm not dead RIGHT NOW ! HOORAY for RIGHT NOW !

[I, Brian]

Our physical bodies are like cups, each holding a certain measure of water. When the cup breaks, and our body dies, it is like the liquid therein falls into an ocean that was always there beneath, and out of sight.

In this ocean we continue to exist, not as a cup - for that is gone - but as a part of a greater and more magnificent whole.

This whole is both the afterlife and God - it is Heaven and Divinity as one - for we are all but a part of the One, briefly separated, and in death we return to union.

In that union we experience God fully - there is utter bliss beyond all measure of experience, and what is experienced is beyond all human comprehension. For in death we exist in a state that, to the mind of a mind, is like the mind of an ant to ourselves.

And yet the physical world unfolds - there are cups beyond number nor measure - and when the cup is again dipped then for some brief moment we are again departed from God as a whole, but not as a part, for a part of God is carried with us.

In this way Giod experiences itself through the many manifestations of reality that are beyond number nor measure, nor understanding from the feebly small human mind.

The part of the cup that thinks it is a cup - that is lost upon death. But the water remains. The water itself is sometimes called the soul, and how that water moves can also be called the spirit.

A brief opinion.

[lunamoth]

Just lovely. Thank you.

[louis]

A brief opinion.

From Louis...

A most attractive concept. There's always a chance it might be true.
But, as you point out, it IS an opinion - a product of speculation -
that's ALL that can be offered by anyone who is not yet dead.

I, too could indulge in speculation and come up with a scenario
that would satisfy my desire, which is really a wish that my present
existence could go on forever just as it is now.

But, that would still be only MY opinion.

[I, Brian]

Indeed, Louis - but there is actually some experience behind the opinion - Near Death Experience, communion with God, that sort of thing.

Of course, though, NDE's and the spiritual experience can be very singular and personal. Yet if someone asks if someone else has looked into some mysterious place, and they answer yes, it does not mean to say that what they saw when they looked was true. I am very aware of the relative nature of my own experiences - only pridefulness and ego would dictate otherwise. So although I find them true to myself, I do not expect to demand it accepted as "truth" by others. Still, it is experience to mention when appropriate, and allow others to make of it what they will.