A great deal of our lives centers around the uncharted territory called death. What is it like when we die? Where do we go? What do we do? Will we meet up with lost loved ones? Will we come face to face with a deity? Is there something in the great beyond or is this life all we get?
Throughout the ages humankind has tried to fill this unknowable void with suppositions. This uncertainty with death is what has lead us to create religions, philosophy and science. Each attempts to provide a level of conjecture that people can hang their hat on.
But what if one day, one individual was able to break the barrier between life and death? What if this individual died and, through his or her own indomitable will, was able to bring themselves back after several months or years of being dead? Would we finally know what awaits us on the other side?
I would venture to guess the answer is no, particularly if the explanation did not match up with any of the conjectures we've created to date.
The religious among us would ignore what this individual had to say and instead proclaim that their God or Gods is responsible. It wouldn't matter if this person stated that there were no angels or God on the other side, that this "miracle" came about of their own volition. The religious would counter with one of two arguments: 1) God is working through this person unbeknownst to him/her or 2) It's the work of the devil or evil incarnate.
Some people would explain this unfathomable happening by claiming aliens are responsible. They would foam at the mouth as they spoke of mind melds, flying saucers and distant worlds and civilizations.
Scientists would work to explain the situation through logic and research. They would poke, prod, measure and quantify. Theories would be drawn up and there would be grand arguments about which held the most veracity.
And others would submit that this situation matched up perfectly with whatever philosophy they subscribe to.
Throughout all this, the media and entertainment industry would have a field day. Our back-from-the-dead person would become an instant celebrity! He/she would make the rounds to every news and talk show. There would be a huge bidding war to create a movie of this wondrous story. Who knows? A reality show may even be created.
In the end, however, we'd each still find ourselves back at square one. Each group cited above would cling to their own unique interpretation of this happenstance -- even if it was patently incorrect. The few who would take the person's rendition of events as is would still be in a quandary because the person would most likely be describing something that goes beyond our ability genuinely to comprehend.
We will each know what the death experience entails -- if anything -- when it happens to each of us. No amount of foreknowledge will prepare us. It is only in our death in which death possibly will make sense.
Throughout the ages humankind has tried to fill this unknowable void with suppositions. This uncertainty with death is what has lead us to create religions, philosophy and science. Each attempts to provide a level of conjecture that people can hang their hat on.
But what if one day, one individual was able to break the barrier between life and death? What if this individual died and, through his or her own indomitable will, was able to bring themselves back after several months or years of being dead? Would we finally know what awaits us on the other side?
I would venture to guess the answer is no, particularly if the explanation did not match up with any of the conjectures we've created to date.
The religious among us would ignore what this individual had to say and instead proclaim that their God or Gods is responsible. It wouldn't matter if this person stated that there were no angels or God on the other side, that this "miracle" came about of their own volition. The religious would counter with one of two arguments: 1) God is working through this person unbeknownst to him/her or 2) It's the work of the devil or evil incarnate.
Some people would explain this unfathomable happening by claiming aliens are responsible. They would foam at the mouth as they spoke of mind melds, flying saucers and distant worlds and civilizations.
Scientists would work to explain the situation through logic and research. They would poke, prod, measure and quantify. Theories would be drawn up and there would be grand arguments about which held the most veracity.
And others would submit that this situation matched up perfectly with whatever philosophy they subscribe to.
Throughout all this, the media and entertainment industry would have a field day. Our back-from-the-dead person would become an instant celebrity! He/she would make the rounds to every news and talk show. There would be a huge bidding war to create a movie of this wondrous story. Who knows? A reality show may even be created.
In the end, however, we'd each still find ourselves back at square one. Each group cited above would cling to their own unique interpretation of this happenstance -- even if it was patently incorrect. The few who would take the person's rendition of events as is would still be in a quandary because the person would most likely be describing something that goes beyond our ability genuinely to comprehend.
We will each know what the death experience entails -- if anything -- when it happens to each of us. No amount of foreknowledge will prepare us. It is only in our death in which death possibly will make sense.
We are composed of sub-atomic particles. After we die, those particles may be used to form a plant, a bug, an animal, or a human.
ReplyDeleteWhy does it have to make sense?
ReplyDeleteBecause we need it to?
p.s. Good post :)
What makes death a painful process, is in denying that we will, inevitably, have to die. So many of us deny death, that it will happen to us...we avoid contemplating our own mortality, like a phobia. Then, at the time when we are truly dying, we cling to life like a drowning person to a stick -- it can't keep us afloat, we expire in horror. Live your life as well as you can, be kind, be ready to die, you don't know when that moment is. Buddha said we measure our life not in years, months, or even minutes -- only by each breath.
ReplyDelete