June 24, 2008
-
What Happens When We Die
An instant is an eon.
A leaf is a tree.
A rock is a world.
A mind is all minds.
Forever.
Through history.
Through space.
Through time.
Forever.
Now.(This blog entry was previously posted on March 22, 2006, and received 15 comments, 10 from current readers, so if you think you’ve read this, you probably already have. It was adapted and enlarged from The Universal Blog entry written Wednesday, December 22, 2004. I’m posting this as preparation for a brand new Universal Mind article I’m writing entitled “What really happens inside the Universal Mind?”)
“What happens when we die?”
If life is a journey, do we give somebody our ticket when the train stops? Death is the ticket agent. It is the door that closes with finality.
It’s a sad fact of life. Everyone dies.
We live knowing that we die. We forge our own path. We plan for life, and it can be so sad to see it end.
Sometimes life is a magnificent gift. Sometimes life seems like a waste of time, when you consider our bodies become waste. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
We celebrate the life of those who are dead, and we bury them with sometimes elaborate ceremonies and pray for their souls.
The bereaved mourn the life that fled the corpse, leaving a cold mass of flesh where vibrant thought and action dwelt before.
The body in ultimate repose has been mummified, deified, and memorialized. Where are “we” when “we” disappear physically?What happens to the vibrant thought and action after the lights go out? Does the door open on the other side? Nobody can say for sure. Nobody really knows what happens next. Many prophets and soothsayers throughout history have attempted explanations, but the fact that no one on Earth really knows what is behind that door is why there are so many competing belief systems trumpeting their version of the outcome.
The powerful in society keep building larger and larger monuments. When we ponder history, we find that the names of the powerful are written on it’s pages in very large print. From the beginning, rulers and kings tried to make sure that future generations would know who they were. The scholarly wrote books and the religious preached dogma. Nobody wanted to think that the journey really ended, even when people were dropping like flies all around. So everyone was taught that they would live in a “better place” after they stopped breathing. Either that or they merely became waste. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
Life isn’t really the journey. Life is merely one of the stops on the line.
Death is the beginning of the consummate journey for our minds. Finally, we reconnect with the Universal. The body dies and drops to the floor. The mind sticks around. The body didn’t know what to expect. The mind finds out it knew all along. The secret to the Universal Mind is attained during the Final Realization, which happens at the moment of corporeal death. The journey doesn’t have a beginning and an end. Time ceases to exist. The door opens. and total understanding is as clear and concise in perception, and the mind knows all. Every event happens simultaneously with every other event in cosmic history. The Universal Mind opens a door in the perceived corporeal mind. The key to understanding is unlocked. Every individual mind, throughout time and space, is coupled together, but the “individual” mind doesn’t realize this until Death. Death is a journey which began in prehistory, and which ends with Universal Knowledge. Then was now. Matter and substance don’t really exist. And the end and the beginning are the same.We should embrace Death when it finally happens. It is inevitable. It is destiny. Death might be planned. It shouldn’t be sudden, but sometimes it alarms us with it’s happenstance. It shouldn’t be sad, but always is. It shouldn’t be thought of as an end, but as a beginning. Just because nobody knows whether or not there is “life after death” doesn’t mean there isn’t. Since nobody can tell us for sure what lies beyond, we can pretty much be sure that something does. All mythology contains afterlife stories. Just as the remains of a life are celebrated and buried with elaborate ritual, the idea that a “soul” or “ghost” has an eternal existence afterwards has been handed down through the generations.
The Universal might very well be called “God”. Any Spiritual beings, be they angels or devils, are ensconced in the Universal. There is no “heaven” and “hell” in the Universal. Then does this mean there is no God perched on a golden throne, and there is no St. Peter at the Gates? Perhaps that is true, but pernaps it is not. There are Christians and Muslims and athiests in the Universal. Perhaps there are aliens too.
The one fact of life on which we all must agree is that we die. We “physically” cease to exist. And for as long as mankind has harbored a consciousness he has contemplated this cessation of existence. The capacity of the human mind always seems to be growing to grasp more increasing and difficult concepts. As human mind power grows, so does the “big question”. Science and Religion, strange bedfellows for centuries, are simply grasping at straws when attempting to explain what we’re all going to learn in time.
And we will learn. We will learn the Great Happiness. We will learn that we don’t need to worry about what happens in “time.” We learn this at our time of death. The exit of this phase (the Corporeal Plane) and the introduction of one of many threads of Post Existence which will eventually couple all “souls” and “minds” to the Universal Mind is achieved only upon death. In death, the journey to the Universal begins.Since no one really knows what happens after death, no one has stopped to think that maybe it is the natural progression of life as we know it. Most ideologies teach of a “good place” (i.e. Heaven) and a “bad place” (i.e. Hell) where good and bad souls will “end up”. Religions give “points” for following their law and letter, so that the earthly presence believes he has a bank account in good deeds when he dies. No one has the passbook to this account, and the earthly presence will not need cash in the afterlife.
Death is not to be taken too seriously, nor too frivolously. The mere pattern of existence for mankind, in the Current Scenario, is a “lesson” which is “learned”. It is not “forgotten” by the Universal Mind, when mankind passes to the Universal Plane. There is more in common with all religious thought than the leaders of the various religions would have us believe. There is an ultimate truth, but it is not selective. The “individual mind” when freed from the body might as well be called the “soul”. Each soul might make multiple “trips” to the plane of earthly existence, so this act of “reincarnation” as practiced by the Hindu religion will also probably and most possibly happen to most souls. This could explain deja vu, and otherworldly dreams populated by strangers. The Universal Mind sometimes seeps into the earthly existence, and we can telepathically connect with other souls, and other lives, our own and those of separate people.In the Universal, our “separateness” disappears. We are truly “born again” in a different way. So when we die, our body is put in the ground, or burned, or tossed to sea, or excised into the dark of space. The body is merely the receptacle for the “Earthly Mind” while it is here. The Mind itself has to believe in the tangible, and it is given a biological body when it inhabits planetary existence. It doesn’t matter to the “mind” when death occurs. If the “soul” needs to return to Earth, it does, and this might take multiple generations, like copies of lives, until the Universal is attained. I believe some souls are taken “before their time” because they attain enlightenment either “early” or after a short time in a life cycle after serving multiple life cycles already. Once in the realm of the Universal, which is a concept deliberately unknown to man when he occupies Earth (or on what other planet life might be living) the “light at the end of the tunnel is “explained”. It has been said that one’s “life passes before one in an instant.” In an instant, the “purpose of life” is not really “shown”, but “experienced” and the “mind” “understands” for possibly the first time, what short “time” “life on Earth” really constituted.
Death may be irritable for the living, but wait till you get there, and then you will finally understand. You meet everyone who was here, is here now, and will be here soon. It’s a wonderful place. Upon the “Final Realization”, each individual joins the Universal, and any test an individual failed on Earth will be replayed and remembered. The lesson will be learned, and any malificent acts or deeds will be washed away of significance. In the Universal, everything matters equally.
The Universal Blog is the ongoing story of my Spiritual Journey. Read “The Books of the Realizations”, a journey from the personal to the Universal. Articles concerning the Universal Mind are posted on The Universal Blog.
Comments (23)
Well posted, Mike. I know that with your roommate, you are getting a pretty good glimpse, though there are many of us praying for a miracle for him.
Nice write Mike, even though nothing I’ve come across would make me really believe it is so. Guess that’s one reason to live life to the fullest, as far as one is able – whatever that means for the individual. I only know the body ceases to exist, and after that, well, we’ll see…or not. Here’s to hope!
This is really quite lovely.
Personally I like to think death is what Kurt Vonnegut said, just violet light, and a hum. But your version is beautiful too.
One of the “stops on the line.” I like it a lot. I read this one a few years ago when you posted it. Still love the poem at the beginning the best.
I’m thinking deepish thoughts, but nothing is coalescing that I can share. Peace.
Thanks for explaining it to me in post 5 =] :goodjob:
Interesting post, I generally think that life is the here and the now and to live life to fullest, cliche I know
Love the post =]
Mike, this is one of the best writings I have ever written from the overflow of your mind. Truly something everybody should read and think about. At first I wanted to comment but I do not think anything should be added or subtracted from this writing. Death is a transition.
Zeal4living thought I should check this out and I like what he recs so here I am. Your thoughts run in a flow and I like that. What happens is a wonderful idea. At a younger age I read Seth Speaks and liked the idea that what ever we imagined, was what was to be. That the true mind was still active and flowing.(my take on it) Just the shell had fallen away so to speak. Thanks for the thoughts. Breathe deep the possibilities.
This is a very interesting post. I enjoyed reading it very much.
A very thought producing post you wrote. I hope that with all my religious upbringing that my “mind” will go to that heaven they speak of….. or I will be pissed. I do wonder if that existance does exist (heaven) do we realize that we are dead?
This is wonderful and very ironic that I am reading this now as I am watching Oprah doing a show about this very subject.
Your new avatar is awesome. :wave:
Very well put! Life is a journey of learning and discovery for me. Mama Earth has provided me with a wonderland of beauty and surprise.
As far as death I do not fear it for me, but selfishly fear the loss of those who I love. I have been here on this journey called life and shall return again if I so choose. These are my beliefs.
Death is the end of the dream
when it’s really time to awaken
when life becomes the memory
and soul, the path we’ve taken
and feelings become substantially as real
as all the beliefs we’ve forsaken
for how can anything make sense
when sensibilities are shaken
and love is the only thing we’ve done
that didn’t seem mistaken
:wave:
Dear Mike..
Death.. is a tricky subject at best. Someday we will all find out what’s behind that door. This post is interesting. As for me, personally I believe in reincarnation and I think when the time is right we are reborn. I also think there are some people we are connected to & will know over and over again in our many turnings.
peace,
Jane
Mike: I am amazed at the apathy and fear felt by the majority towards death. Death should be looked upon as a kind and gentle reminder that there is a deadline to this project called life. What we do before that deadline comes is entirely up to us. A very eloquent blog, my friend.
Excellent thoughts. Someone once said, “Death is the great equalizer of men.” That thought always stuck with me for some reason.
Btw…I read your colonoscopy account and I think your story is much much better than the one I posted. Always heard the prep work is the worst of it. And thanks for your kind words too. :heartbeat:
I agree with you about being prepared for death. I often think about death being on the same level as birth. You can prepare as much as you can but until that moment comes you don’t really know until you know what it is like.
I believe there is no death in the sense that there is nothing when we leave these bodies. I believe we are all part of One Spirit and sometimes we come back into form. The point is to learn about love and live as fully as we can.
I like what Kahlil Gibran says about Death:
On Death
Than Almitra spoke, saying, “We would ask now of Death.”
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the sheered not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink form the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
Using the we perspective is hard to pull off. When a person uses the we perspective then that person may be accused of manipulating the situation. Do I use the we perpective? Yes but I get myself into problems because of it.
It is hard to separated deja vu from experiences that you read about or heard about. I suppose Stephen King invents some and others may be a product of his own deja vu….
Ultimately some people claim that reincarnation is designed to hide previous experiences from the present user of the soul. Yet Edgar Cayces claims that in his dream state he could unmask those previous lives. That is either a good trick or proof of reincarnation.
I am basically a flakey person and do a lot of things on a whim. I think you want to be more dependable but concentrate on your projects more than personal tasks. Whether or not it is a good or bad trait, at least sometimes you get the applauds you like here on xanga as opposed to “real life”.
Question: Did you study electrical engineering?
Dave’s Mom–my beloved Mother-in-Law–passed away a few weeks ago. It seemed like, towards the end, she really did embrace death. We were the ones who were hesitant to “let her go.” Your post was exactly what I needed to read today, Michael. Thank you for sharing. Great work and I loved the poem at the beginning.
A head injury/near drowning when I was a young girl forever changed the way I ‘saw’ death, the state of dreaming, deja vue, and, of course, organized religion. Not neccessarily popular views, and I’m so glad you wrote about them here, and in the ‘Realizations’. Looking forward to the next part, ‘What really happens’…
I agree with you, yet the prospect of death had always scared me as a child. I’ve seen many people die before me and that still gives me nightmares sometimes. I couldn’t even take my life because I knew I couldn’t face Him with all the sins I had done before the one of committing suicide. *sigh*
RYC:
I loved the cats and can almost eat both of them up! As for my future mom-in-law, Pakistani mothers always tend to do this. I am scared that she might be the cause of my misery after marriage and I can’t be jumping from the pot and into the pan. Yaser’s already trying his best to calm me down, but all around me seem to be against this relationship. I am starting to think that I stand alone against everyone.
I nice post. I like it..
i like your thinking. the man i consider my mentor in life instills in people the importance of living life courageously, meeting challenges head on and doing our best so that at the end of our lives we can look back and say, i did it. what “it” is is different in particulars for everyone but the same for all in that we try to create the greatest value at every moment. mistakes are part of “it” as is the spirit to never give up.
a bit from a Buddhist perspective. Buddhism explains 9 realms of life:
1-5) the five senses we use to interact with the environment
6) the mind that organizes and stores for reference what we take in through our senses
7) the mind that ponders life
8) the karmic mind, the accumulation of all the causes we’ve made in the past resulting in effects. (cause and effect) some misinterpret this aspect as being cruel but that i believe that assessment is based on teachings of “guilt” which Buddhism does not adhere to. “if i’m experiencing something bad it must be because i am bad or was bad in the past.” cause and effect is too complex though. Buddhism states we choose our challenges before we are born. the most inspiring stories are of those who overcome adversity and accomplish great things. less inspiring are stories of people born with everything handed to them simply ride the wave they’ve been handed. not all who have been given everything do that. just making a point. what is important is the mere idea of karma is actually enabling. Nichiren Daishonin once said (and I’m paraphrasing) “if you want to know the causes you’ve made in the past look at the effects you see in the present. if you want to know the effects you will see in the future look at the causes you are making in the present.” i’ll pause to say this is most true when regarding character.
our karma is sometimes described as an iceberg in that 90% of it is beneath the surface. we often don’t know why we repeat the same mistakes, why while some things come easily others seem insurmountable to us while not to others, why we can find ourselves in new relationships but with the same old issues. the science of psychology attempts nobly to deal with this but as far as i know has not yet gotten to the crux of the matter which comes next.
9) Buddhahood: the state of indestructible happiness and unshakable wisdom. you might consider this the universal mind you mention that exists in each of us. according to Buddhism when we begin to tap into our Buddha Nature and bring it forth the “iceberg” of karma begins to melt.