In an earlier post today, Imagine, I talked about the fantasy I envision re my death. It dawned on me, a bit later, that contained in my little story is a vestige from my days of Christianity. I wrote that I can envision my soul/spirit/essence/whatever gravitating toward a light representative of Tao, the life force. The problem with this formulation is that we don't know if a soul/spirit/essence/whatever even exists!
For quite some time, humans have imagined that there is a nonphysical property about our kind that goes beyond the mental capabilities that swirl in our minds. This thing is thought to be of us and to live on beyond us. But as with all things metaphysical, this is only a belief -- not an unmitigated fact.
For all we know, nothing of the sort may exist at all. We each may simply be the result of complex chemical properties and what we possess in ourselves in the here and now is all that is or ever will be. Put a different way, our sense of self -- consciousness -- may be a function of our complex chemical and molecular process.
When we die, though the heart may cease beating and the brain may stop processing, we don't how long -- in milliseconds or more -- the various cells in our bodies cease complete functioning. This could explain the many sensations some people have reported in regards to "near death" experiences. While I am in no way disputing that said experiences might involve a person's "spirit", it could also just as easily be explained as the result of complex metabolic functioning beginning the process of complete dissipation.
In the end, this concept of a spirit or soul that lives on beyond our bodies is nothing more than a mental security blanket. It can often quiet the screaming questions for which there are no answers. It can provide us with a reassurance that we are more than the sum total of our biology. And, for many people, it provides a sense of connection with something far greater than ourselves or this world.
May the spirit be with you...or not.
For quite some time, humans have imagined that there is a nonphysical property about our kind that goes beyond the mental capabilities that swirl in our minds. This thing is thought to be of us and to live on beyond us. But as with all things metaphysical, this is only a belief -- not an unmitigated fact.
For all we know, nothing of the sort may exist at all. We each may simply be the result of complex chemical properties and what we possess in ourselves in the here and now is all that is or ever will be. Put a different way, our sense of self -- consciousness -- may be a function of our complex chemical and molecular process.
When we die, though the heart may cease beating and the brain may stop processing, we don't how long -- in milliseconds or more -- the various cells in our bodies cease complete functioning. This could explain the many sensations some people have reported in regards to "near death" experiences. While I am in no way disputing that said experiences might involve a person's "spirit", it could also just as easily be explained as the result of complex metabolic functioning beginning the process of complete dissipation.
In the end, this concept of a spirit or soul that lives on beyond our bodies is nothing more than a mental security blanket. It can often quiet the screaming questions for which there are no answers. It can provide us with a reassurance that we are more than the sum total of our biology. And, for many people, it provides a sense of connection with something far greater than ourselves or this world.
May the spirit be with you...or not.
my husband had a near death experience... he actually medically "died" and then was revived. he said that he didn't feel or see anything. he just woke up. i've passed out a couple of times and of course retain no memory of what went on after my brain spontaneously shut down and before i "woke up."
ReplyDeletethat said, i've had a few spiritual experiences that lead me to believe that there is an existence after death, or at least that we retain some sort of identity for a while at least (like you mentioned a while back.) i don't see how such things as memory and consciousness can persist after death. but, like you, i just simply don't know.