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It is likely that spheres of consciousness are, just like electrons and quarks, continually being recycled, joining first one aggregate body and then another. We are somehow stuck to our brains like an oxygen atom stuck to two hydrogen atoms. But it is likely that such centers enter and leave the brain at times other than birth and death. The idea that the conscious self enters into the body at some time shortly after conception and then persists in that body until death is just an aspect of the illusion produced by identifying ourselves as the Person. We are not the Person, we are not even Atman (in the sense of a sphere of pure consciousness inhabiting the body from birth until death), and are likely no longer Brahman (although it is possible that we were once conjoined in an aggregate of consciousnesses that may have somehow "designed" the world, implemented that design, and are now walking through our "art gallery").
As we have seen, through replacement of atoms, the body we inhabit today is a totally different body from that of a decade age and the spheres of consciousness that inhabit it (including ourselves) are likely themselves different as well. There is no Person in the sense of a continuing aggregation of matter or a continuing self. The Person is likely to be, as Blackmore and Dennett insist, a story we tell ourselves. However, it is a useful story, just like the story of my car or my kitchen table. It helps credit card companies to obtain payments for purchases we made the preceding month and guides our interactions with former classmates at a high school reunion. But in an absolute sense, the Person is only a cognitive construct, a very vivid hallucination. We may be eternal (or least outlast the Energizer Bunny), but "we" (the People) have only a momentary time in the sun and may only be cognitive constructs, much like the ever-changing body of water that is now called the Mississippi River.
We cling to our present form of existence thinking that there is no other, but when you stop to think about the matter, human bodies, with their ills, needs and subjugation into mindless repetitive jobs, may not be the best places in the universe to inhabit. In fact, they may be "mini-Hells," aberrations in Great Cosmic Scheme. But we may not inhabit such Hells (or such Heavens as there might be) for as long as we think. The best thing for us to do is likely to take the poet Robert Frost's advice and momentarily stop the "horses" we are currently riding to enjoy the beauty of the falling snow. As Frost suggests, there may be miles to go (although perhaps not so many as one might think) before we sleep (and enter yet another dream).
References
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Blackmore, S. J. (2002). There is no stream of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 9(5/6), 17-28.
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- COMMENTS
Anonymousalmost 11 years agoI believe in God, but I also believe that the written works of man related to God are corrupted by greed and self-serving interests. People cite "Faith" and rationalize that contradiction is acceptable. Of what use is rationalization if the loops of circular logic are small and only applicable to a tiny restricted system of knowledge? Contradictions hide the basis for true understanding.
The following is conjecture based upon Quantum Entanglement.
How the Soul becomes part of the Afterlife
Could people act either knowingly or not as demons; regardless of good or bad intentions?
All peoples minds are connected together by one or more forces/energies. A complex relationship between minds allows for a type of telepathy. We have all heard about twins having an uncommonly strong connection to one another, even though they may live a thousand miles apart. Family and Friends often experience similar phenomena. I've personally had experiences that are too related, to be unrelated coincident, that defy current understanding in science. But having this connection between minds explains so much.
I learned about gravity and its different properties while in school. I have since learned a bit about how the human mind physically works. I connected the two and found a mechanism by which telepathy is not only possible, but probable. In science, a condition exists called "entangled particles"; two particles move instantly related to one another over great distances. Picture of instrument used to create entangled particles artificially.
Another type of atom to atom interaction: Every atom shares gravity. Lay a string of atoms in a straight line and get them pulsating together. The effect felt by any one of the atoms to a change in any other atom of the chain is many magnitudes stronger than in relation to any atom not in the chain. Change one and you influence all of them. This effect is amplified because of resonance, like plucking a string on a guitar or piano. Increase this effect many trillions of times in the form of atoms in the brain and that many of the atoms in the brain will dominantly respond to a connection with atoms outside of the brain.
There are many energies and nuclear interactions that can be conveyed from one persons' mind to another. This is just to show they exist. Two people may very well be connected telepathically without knowing; their subconcious minds connected in various ways.
Every person everywhere has a mental connection to every other person everywhere! We live in a world where we share our thoughts on a subconscious level. Our subconscious minds create emotional sensations that our cognitive mind uses to determine how we feel about a particular situation.
When you die, the people who knew you continue to have their memories of you. These emotional memories are shared with everyone in the world but they are most strongly associated with the space provided in loved ones minds. After death, you continue to live in the minds of people everywhere. This is not just a memory, this would be an independent influence that lives amongst many peoples minds.
I wonder if this would explain ghosts, reincarnation, and other spirit manifestations.
This is not God-like, it is just a connection that people have with one another. God is a much larger entity that is part of all the Universe. We may be created in God's image, perhaps in the form of what we consider our soul, not our physical form.
So people/demons who want to take advantage of this proclaim personal knowledge of God. Those demons seek to control the minds of other people as desciples. The hope is to become strong in the thoughts of desciples so that demons themselves will have a strong afterlife. The desciples will still have an afterlife within those that loved them, but demonic persons will attempt to share the emotional space that would normally be reserved for family and friends.
One mind can only hold so much. That is why our population must continue to grow. To help hold the minds of all those who have gone before us, and ourselves. We must populate the Universe because we will need greater resources for food and space to live with an ever growing population.
Loved ones will be within the minds of most people as they die.
Thus the reason deceptive people seek god-like reverence; they themselves are greedy and seek a stronger afterlife than their desciples. When you give reverence to demons, you give them a place in the hearts and minds of those you love, when you yourself die. You don't just give up a place for your own soul, you provide a place for demons in those you love.
God proclaimed "Thou shalt not kill"; now you know why this was absolute in the Ten Commandments!
Demons seek to convince their deciples to kill in their name, because when their deciples die, the demon enters the minds of their deciples friends and family. Demons prey on the connection of Love between friends and family. When the body of the demon dies it claims the space provided by previous deciple deaths.
Future deciples of the idolized written works of the demon, upon deciple deaths, contribute to the demons space and influence in the minds of future deciples, and their loved ones after their death.
Those innocents killed have no real connection to the demon, so their surviving friends and family are somewhat separate. However, we the living are all connected. Demonic presence is part of all of us. Deciples of demons corrupt the souls of themselves, their family, their friends, and everyone still living.
Now put the Soul into the context of the "Ten Commandments".
Thou shalt have no other gods before me
helping to prevent abuse of your soul by demonic persons
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (including text), or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
helping to prevent abuse of your soul by demonic persons who write down their teachings to corrupt future souls as deciples of the demon
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
no one and no thing shall speak for, or on behalf of, God
if you denounce any person/demon who claims to be a god or have God's favor, then you help prevent abuse of your soul by demonic persons
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
the sabbath day is every day, it is the day you may die, the day your soul ascends
remember that each person shall every day follow the teachings of the Ten Commandments
Honour thy father and thy mother
become the dwelling place for the souls of your mother and father; providing a link to all peoples who came before them
Thou shalt not kill
kill no one, because to do so destroys a dwelling place for souls
Thou shalt not commit adultery
adulterous relationships provide less space for loved ones and those whose souls they contain
Thou shalt not steal
thou shalt not attempt to steal space for your soul
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
thou shalt not attempt to defame a person to inspire a place for themselves or for others
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house
thou shalt not attempt to build a place for one's soul based upon envy
In the context of the soul, none of the Ten Commandments has anything directly to do with social issues, and it has nothing to do with any particular religion about God that you happen to believe in. The Ten Commandments are the guidelines for helping each person best provide for their souls' transition into their afterlife.
The Final Destruction of Afterlife
However, when all people die, this afterlife provided by all people still living, shall end. When a large asteroid hits the Earth, everyone who has ever lived shall die in the mind of the last person to die. Our only hope for continued survival of our afterlife is if the human race lives beyond the confines of the Earth, on other planets, moons, and in habitats other than Earth.
How Prayer Works
When you pray, God hears your every word; but to a degree, so does every person living, and every person who has gone before us. If you desire to speak to loved ones who have left this world before you, do so; your mental effort to do so will be felt by them.
Before your loved ones pass, open your minds to them and grant them a place within your mind and heart.
Proof of Afterlife existing within the Minds of the Living
Faith should only be used as a place to start a search for truth. Scientists often develop a faith that certain relationshps exist, then they go onto trying to prove the relationship is based in truth. Anything that is obviously in error is set aside and only those relationships that have the reasonable possibility of being correct are retained. The ultimate goal of any faith is to be destroyed by truth.
The problem with most religions is that they are based solely upon faith. The very definition of religion is that there is no proof related to its principles. However, what I propose is not a religion because the concepts presented should be provable.
The soul and afterlife of a person is in no way related to the particular religion that the individual believes in related to God. God in no way is reflected in religious texts, but this does not invalidate the physical presence of the soul in the minds and hearts of all people living everywhere. The soul and afterlife are a physical thing like the thoughts in our minds.
If the soul of a person lives on through the subconscious of the living, then there are physical properties of the human brain and body that should reflect that influence.
For instance, if telepathy can be proven, then the likelihood of a persons' intelligence communicating at the subconscious level with another person becomes highly probable.
There has been much related research with considerable findings both supporting and debunking telepathic experiences. The most recent I've seen was on "Myth Busters" where they induced the subject to scratch his nose. But this was not an adequately controlled situation. But the evidence is noteworthy.
If emotions (subconscious states) are transmitted telepathically, then the essence of a persons' subconscious mind has a copy in other peoples. If the cognitive relationships associated with a person can also be transmitted telepathically, then an image of that person may reside in one or more other peoples.
A person interacting as a person previously unknown, provides strong evidence that an afterlife under these conditions (sequence of interconnected tests confirmed by observations) exists. I have heard of such occurences, but I do not know if they have been documented adequately.
Debunking the Torah, Bible, and Quran as works of God
The Universe ("all the heavens") according to the Torah and Bible, and as supported by the Quran, was created within 6 days. Even if it took a thousand years, how can we be looking at Galaxies 47 Billion light years away, when the Earth is only 4.5 billion years old? The speed of light traveling for one year, represents one year of time passing.
The Hubble telescope can only see 47 billion light years from Earth, but that does not mean there are not Galaxies beyond that distance. Even in conservative perspectives, the Universe is older than 14.5 billion years. So the light from these distant galaxies has been traveling 10 times longer than the Earth has actually existed, or conservatively, the Universe is 10 billion years older than the Earth; and likely much older. So the Bible and Torah document a story that is blattantly false.
God provided us with vast amounts of its work to read for ourselves. The Sun, ancient ruins and bones, the geological structure of the Earth, planets, ... these are all direct works of God that are mostly untouched by man.
Any single fraudulent story in the Torah, Bible, or Quran invalidates the entire document as being reflective of God. I suspect the Torah, Bible, and Quran may have significant "social" meaning, but they are NOT reflective of God/Allah.
Why would socially significant revelations be combined with obviously incorrect relationships related to God? Social issues and specifics about God are not related!
The Corruption of Peoples Souls
What purpose would men/demons have for creating such documents?
I propose that demons are simply ancient men who have been successful in corrupting the minds of people throughout history for their own selfish reasons. They are neither gods nor god-like.
Why would men/demons want deciples to believe in them instead of believing in God? Why would Jesus or Mohammad want people to think of them throughout eternity instead of thinking of God itself? People think of God in many ways without being taught, it is a natural consequence of being human. People never exposed to the concept of God think of a universe guided by wilfull thoughts of a more developed being(s) than ourselves. The artifacts common to all religions are based within our perceptions. Those actual relationships that really do influence our lives that are too difficult to directly recognize, are referenced superficially in every religion. Which is why so many religions share certain qualities.
Sept 18, 2007:
I came across a study being done at Princeton University where they are trying to detect and correlate Global Consciousness.
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/index.html
Anonymousover 11 years agoConsider the connections of everything as with gravity and the instantaneous nature of quantum entanglement.
Princeton University has been doing a study for more than ten years about shared consciousness among humans with supporting results.
The sharing of consciousness all our lives causes part of us to reside in the minds of everyone still living. Then after we die we continue to live in some fashion as a collective in those same minds.
I'd like to take credit for this but I got it from a book about Building Universes.
rproctoralmost 14 years agoI've been there as related before (rproctor). Before my experience I had little thought to spiritualism. After my experience I found out that mediums and so much new age literature including such drivel as "I think therefore I am" and a bunch of philosophic and theological literature is bunk. Make sure Barbra doesn't ask for a credit card for her readings. I would think that the title would come under criticism as through that there is no real TRUTH. There is only what is. Discussions can really be fun though. For instance feelings are as transitory and unreal as the rest of the universe (or universes) for that matter. By the way most near death experiences do not enlightenment make. As the Highlander says " there can be only One". So much for spirits, also we are all incarnations of each other and the universe in total.
Barbaraalmost 14 years agoIn presenting 'the truth about life after death', apart from employing very few relevant facts relating to 'so-called' emotional distress over death processes, readers are left wondering why this confusing essay was ever written in the first place? EG: Why do most aging humans aspire to reach heaven, yet few are willing to take necessary steps to achieve the final acceptance by God! Life is eternal [we are told] yet mortal continuity remains abhorrant to relatives and friends nearing a natural death.
Some have been dragged back into mortality, through medical intervention but until a conscious brain is able to be reasoned with prior to successful resussitation, doctors are merely prolonging Hell for their suffering patient.
Should we be be grateful for medical technology, or allow human nature to take an inevitable course to release patients from a life-long suffering? Has this author interviewed any recent victims, of 'near-death' experiences? -As a spiritualist medium , I've never encountered any unhappy spirits, living in the afterlife! -They reflect contented souls, with no desire for reincarnation whatsoever to this 'mortal coil' we inhabit, in our opinion.
sackalmost 14 years agoAlthough it would be difficult to "prove" or "disprove" many of the ideas presented here. you wll get many people (or consciousnesses!) thinking about life and death, which couldn't hurt. This is too good for just Lit.,have you considered publishing it?
