Is there continuity of life or awareness after death or does everything end? In other words, do you transition into a spiritual dimension or simply cease to exist? This is one of life’s big questions.
Unfortunately, there is only one way to find out for certain. You have to go through the process. Anything we might tell ourselves in answer to the question beforehand is belief based conjecture.
All of our non-scientific sources of information on the afterlife are connected to either ancient sacred scriptures or channelled resources.
How do you verify a channelled resource, like A Course in Miracles or the Way of Mastery trilogy? Take it from me, it’s not possible. I’ve studied both those resources. Either the message resonates with you or it doesn’t. What the message does is challenge your beliefs but, in the end, you’re still left with an act of faith when it comes to the source of the message.
Sacred scriptures have more credibility in the eyes of many, after all, they’ve been around for thousands of years, but that in itself is no guarantee of the validity of their content.
The whole religious endeavour is built on trust and our attempt to answer questions like: Is there a God or an intelligent being behind creation? Our struggle to answer that question, which we’ve been trying to express ever since we were able to articulate our thoughts, is what generated the texts we now regard as sacred scriptures.
Again, we’re back in the realm of faith. If we believe what’s in our scriptures, we’re placing our trust in what people thought the answer was a long time ago – thousands of years ago, in fact. Not to mention the long line of people who have translated and interpreted those scriptures so we can read them in English.
And, let’s not kid ourselves that science has the answer to the question. Science, which is all about explaining the physical universe, requires its own leaps of faith when it comes to explaining the origin and nature of life.
We can study the body, but only up to the point of death, which means science has no knowledge of what happens to our life force beyond that point. As far as science is concerned, it ceases to exist when it can no longer be measured.
Science can be described as a set of beliefs supported with evidence but, for most of us, believing what scientists tells us is still an act of faith, which is why we have so many conspiracy theories about vaccines, the earth being flat, and the moon landings.
Sometimes, I think the only way to feel the presence of God is to imagine it. At other times, it really does feel like I’m alone in the universe, even when surrounded by millions of people.
Maybe the whole purpose of life is to enjoy it while it lasts, and not to worry about death and what, if anything, comes after it.
It’s comforting to believe we all go home to God when we die, but if life ends with death, what is there to fear? If you no longer exist, what is nothingness but an abstract idea? It’s the people who believe in a judgmental, vindictive God who have the most to fear – if they’re right and haven’t lived by their self-imposed standards. Happily, I’m not one of them.
From my perspective, it’s better to live your life from love, even if it makes no difference in the end, since, in my experience, it makes for a more enjoyable life experience.
There is already more than enough pain and suffering in the world, caused by people acting out of fear or an overblown sense of self-importance instead of love.
People that act out of love don’t start wars or exploit their neighbours, they act with compassion and kindness. They understand we’re all in this together and we’re all going to die, no matter how much power or wealth we accumulate while we’re here. They know you can’t take it with you, even if there is an afterlife. And, if there isn’t, what’s the point of having the most spectacular tombstone in the cemetery?
You don’t have to believe in anyone or anything to live a life inspired by love. It’s a choice you make every day, a choice to make the world a better place while you’re here.
Featured image by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash