Perhaps the most often asked question in life is what happens when we are no longer alive. Where do we go... what remains of the us... does our consciousness (as we know it) move into another state of being, or another place or another time... Does time (as we know it) exist outside of our perception? Is there a Heaven or a Hell... have we experienced lifetimes before and will we return? What exactly is our spirit, what is our soul, and where does our consciousness reside... and exactly where will it go and what will we know when this lifetime is over? Theologists, Philosophists, Sociologists (all the ists) have struggled with these questions since the beginning of recorded history, and many societies have actually evolved around their beliefs of the afterlife. The Ancient Egyptians remained successful as a society longer than any other people in r! ecorded history, and evidence from their Sacred Sites and texts (such as the "Book of the Dead") , show they placed far more important on the afterlife than they did their life itself. Their Demigods (the Pharaohs) spent most of their lifetime preparing physical burial structures, and funerary rituals and preparation after the passing took many years! In Tibet, where another enduring civilization survived more than a thousand years, the Buddhist monks spent their entire lifetime preparing for death, believing that the realms they traveled to in the next world could become their permanent residences. Their Book of the Dead states that there are many paths the deceased can follow in the next world, and it is important to choose the right one because many lead to the nether worlds and places of eternal torture. But even with the authoritative testimonies of the Tibetans, perfectly detailed hieroglyphs of the Egyptians and hundre! ds of active religions today each positive that their path is the only way to the Truth... to the One... The facts remain that we physically and scientifically have no real evidence to prove what happens to our consciousness when it can no longer reside in our bodies. Many believe that we (as a society) are entering into a time of greater spiritual connection to our Supreme Being, and these answers are unfolding through an advanced collective consciousness. One of the New Age theories that has been suggested is that our lifetime(s) are a progressive act of "experiencing" for the One. It is through our experience as humans that we as Spiritual Beings are able to grow in our connection as "One with the One." After our passing, we are connected to the realization of this profound "Spirit Level desire," so we are driven to seek new opportunities to "experiences," either on a spiritual level as guides, or back into a human form...Soun! ds good to me, certainly a lot more hopeful than an eternity spent in Heaven or Hell, but the fact remains that the earliest questions that mankind ever asked have been answered only by Mythology & Theology, and neither has afforded us any tangible proof... where we came from and where we go after we die is still the greatest single mystery of life...Does metaphysics hold any answers? I believe that their are people who have developed greater sensitivities than most, and some of these enhanced abilities can be demonstrated as Psychic Powers. Some of these Psychics have demonstrated very convincing evidence in their ability to contact spirits in other dimensions... many are convinced others are equally skeptical. The truth lies just outside our knowing... probably where it belongs!
Visit NewAgeInfo.com's Death and the Afterlife Discussion Forum at http://www.newageinfo.com/HyperNews/get/death.html Jack Schafer is the President of Marketing Methods, Inc. which owns and operates a network of New Age related sites.
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