The question, "What is it like after you die?" can make you wonder about taking the time to ponder such philosophical babble. You might reply, "The only way to know is when you die." Not so. You won't know any more than you do now. Increasingly, scientists are beginning to realize that an infinite number of realities may exist outside our old classical way of thinking.
Our instinctual understanding of reality is the same as most other animals. This came into focus the other day as I strolled though a nearby field, stirring up butterflies and creatures of all shapes and colors. There were wildflowers that were brilliant yellow, some that were red and others that were iridescent purple. This colorful world of up-and-down was the extent of my reality. Of course, to a mouse or a dog, that world of reds, greens and blues didn't exist anymore than the ultraviolet and infrared world (experienced by bees and snakes) did for me. In fact, some animals, including birds, possess magnetoreceptors that allow them to perceive information on the quantum level (indeed, some have even speculated that bees perceive a 6-dimensional reality to encode location information).
But regardless of these differences, we genome-based creatures all share a common biological (spatio-temporal) information-processing ability. I've previously written how reality isn't a hard, cold thing, but rather an active process that involves our consciousness. According to biocentrism, space and time are simply the tools our mind uses to weave information together into a coherent experience -- they are the language of consciousness (in fact, in dreams your mind uses the same algorithms to create a spatio-temporal reality that is as real, 3-D and flesh-and-blood as the one you're experiencing now). "It will remain remarkable," said Nobel physicist Eugene Wigner, referring to a long list of scientific experiments, "that the very study of the external world led to the conclusion that the content of the consciousness is an ultimate reality."
At death there's a break in our linear stream of consciousness, and thus a break in the linear connection of times and places. Indeed, biocentrism suggests it's a manifold that leads to all physical possibilities. More and more physicists are beginning to accept the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum physics, which states that there are an infinite number of universes. Everything that can possibly happen occurs in some universe. Death doesn't exist in these scenarios, since all of them exist simultaneously regardless of what happens in any of them. The "me" feeling is just energy operating in the brain. But energy never dies; it cannot be destroyed.
So what's it like when you die? Of course, during our lives we all grow attached to the people we know and love and can never image a time without them. I subscribe to Netflix and recently went through all nine seasons of the TV series "Smallville." I watched two or three episodes every night, day after day, for months. I watched Clark Kent (Tom Welling) grow up and go through all the normal growing pains of adolescence, young love and family dramas. He, Martha Kent (his adoptive mother) and all the other characters became part of my life. Night after night I watched him use his emerging superpowers to fight crime as he matured, first attending high school and then college. I watched him fall in love with Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and then become enemies with his former friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). When I finished the last disk, it was like they had all died -- it was all over.
Despite my sense of loss, I reluctantly tried a few other TV series, eventually stumbling upon "Grey's Anatomy." The cycle started over again with completely different people. By the time I had finished all seven seasons, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her fellow doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital had replaced Clark Kent, et. al as the center of my world. I became completely caught up in the swirl of their personal and professional passions. In a very real sense, death is much like finishing a good TV series, whether "Grey's Anatomy," "Smallville" or "Dallas," except the multiverse has a much bigger collection of DVDs than Netflix. Just like at death, you change reference points. It's still you, but you experience different lives, different friends and even different worlds.
Think of a football field full of stacks of DVDs piled up to the sky. At death, you'll even get to watch some re-makes -- perhaps in one, you'll get that dream wedding dress you always wanted, or a doctor cures the disease that caused your loved one to die. The story goes on even after J.R. gets shot. Our linear concept of time means nothing to nature.
As for me, I still have Season Eight of "Grey's Anatomy" to look forward to.
Robert Lanza has over two dozen scientific books, including ""Biocentrism" which lays out his theory of everything. You can learn more about his work at www.robertlanza.com.
Biocentrism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
'Biocentrism': How life creates the universe - Technology ...
i can most certainly assure you that if i'm not conscious of the himalayas they most certainly do still exist
in fact if you do take the view that reality requires consciousness than when you cease living than reality no longer exists...for you.
Unless my memories of that time deceive me, Nothing.
How does biocentrism reconcile that, Dr. Lanza?
The flip side of this argument is that there are many instances where people DO recall events from a prior life, memories which have been validated in a number of cases. I am not just talking about anecdotal evidence. In fact, Dr. Ian Stevenson at University of Virginia investigated over 3000 cases of purported reincarnation over 40 years and amassed a quite impressive set of data. Some of his colleagues have carried on his work. If you are interested, you should check out Jim Tucker's book, Life Before Life, which documents some of these cases. You may not be convinced, but the evidence he presents is, at the very least, very perplexing.
*smile*
Just a sideline note: I have had NDE. Doubt very seriously if I will ever get caught up on your favorite television show. You can catch me up on it *later*.
(Yup, you are correct~~ those shows are totally ridiculous to me~~~ That is also why I thought It a strange parallel... Using a television show in relation to NDE...... Ohhhh MMyyyy!!! ***smile***)
Much Peace, Love, and Light ~~ Always to you friend.
But whether one has a belief, a feeling, or a hunch there's more to this life or one feels this is it, we should all appreciate the life they are in now, don't take it for granted nor the people in our lives.
Make the most of what you have today...the end of this life will arrive in its own good time.
What happens when the physical body dies? One's consciousness wakes up elsewhere. The temporal mind is dependent upon the physical brain; but consciousness is not. The only reason we are not conscious of the higher levels while alive is because all of our energy is spent running the five senses. Learn to tap into the energy supply and whole new vistas open up.
But I hope you're right.
There is actually no need for us to survive death in any way. But we certainly can come up with lots of fancy ways to do it. Doesn't that seem a little desperate to you?
It is not a matter of belief. It is a matter of technique, just as physical medicine or car mechanics are technique. Reality is what is true whether it is believed in or not.
How can you be so sure there is no need for us to survive death when you have no idea what death is? Or what we are, for that matter. What makes no sense to me is how conventional Western thinking seems to demand a belief to attach itself to. Why not just admit a lack of knowledge instead?
Thanks for a provocative post...
Who can really say what it's like when you die? It has been my experience that it is primarily those who fear whatever their version of "hell" is are obsessed with the question. Of course heaven and hell are only one thought away--it's a current state of mind, not a location.
Just as the Universe "is" what it is, so too is Life. Life cannot be destroyed. Life simply "is." You can certainly destroy a body, but that which animates it is simply indestructible and eternal. Does that mean we retain memory and individuated expression? Who cares? What it looks like when I lay aside this garment of flesh and bone I wear on spaceship Earth doesn't much matter.
If there is individualized expression beyond this lifetime and we do take some form of karmic impression with us, doing the best we can do here and now is wise call. If, on the other hand, this is it, and when the lights go out they are out forever, having done the best we could, we can leave here knowing the planet is a better place that it was when we got here. Perhaps that is all we really need to know.
Great conversation!
How
Fascinating the idea of death
Can be.
Too bad, though,
Because
It just isn't
True.
Hafiz
Blessings, Thomas
Thanks for this post.
if you are a materialist or religious, dont waste your money; you already have made up your minds so it would be money wasted. sorry to be so harsh but a lifetime of experience and observations has taught me that once we have become a true believer; we see little need to read anything outside our comfort zone of beliefs. ie like attracts like.
there is an exception to this axiom of course; sometimes when a significant emotional event enters our life; we often are willing to take a new look at our beliefs. seldom happens but does occur.
there is actually qualitative evidence for an afterlife but interesting neither the religious nor the materialists will even investigate this evidence. perfect examples of paradigm paralsysis.
Well as for me...I know what I know and I don't have to convince everybody. It seems like the more I learn, the more I just try to make sure my consciousness is developing...the rest takes care of itself perfectly.
As a poster said below, it is the same as before we were born; however, Robert, if it makes you feel more comfortable dreaming about continuing in your other universes, no harm done. One reason no one knows for sure whether there are other universes is because they are closed to us and all the atoms and quantum activity that are us.
No harm done, but all that TV? Sounds as if you are watching far too much TV? When do you make time for keeping up with medical science?