Afterlife
C. Fellows - Mar 2004

     Man has many different ideas regarding what happens when we die. Most religions believe man has some kind of spiritual essence that ascends to some sort of spiritual plane. Whether it is Valhalla, the Happy Hunting Grounds, Abraham's Bosom, Heaven, Sheol, Tartarus, or Hell they believe that our soul is immortal and will pass from this physical existence into a non-physical one.

     Whether we believe we are met by all our deceased relatives, that we'll soar with the angels, that we will share the company of gods and demigods... or that we go to an awful place where we are tortured and in agony for all eternity... religions all have an everlasting spirit of man in common.

     But mortal men describe all of these afterlife scenarios…. Whether or not they are the result of divine revelations, they were described by ancient peoples who wouldn't understand a burning match, an airplane, or what a molecule is. Has anyone ever truly been to heaven and returned? We really have no real idea what is in store for our eternal soul.

     So let's strip it down to the basic belief, and assume the only part they got right was that our consciousness exists forever… somewhere… and that everything else is wrong. 

     How can anyone make assumptions about what a soul’s existence will be like without it's corporeal body? We don’t know.  Without eyes, will we see? Without a mouth will we communicate? How will we hear without ears?  We will have no nose to smell with or body to feel.  Death could very well be complete and absolute sensory deprivation without any outside stimulation.   No contact with other souls.   Floating.  Silent.  Alone.  Left only with what we can visualize in our minds, forever

     ....but would we have an eternity to dwell on every regret and misdeed of our former lives?

”Sensory deprivation functions in a similar manner as meditation. Both of them reduce the perception of external stimulus. Whereas meditation accomplishes this through mental processes, sensory deprivation is a direct manipulation of the environment” ~Wallace & Fisher 1991

“Technically, total sensory deprivation is very difficult to achieve. However, in severe deprivation environments noticeable differences emerge. White-out conditions, prolonged isolation, or a highly structured environment intensifies the altered state experience. If brain stimulation from sensory inputs is eliminated or greatly altered the brain begins to "fill in" and/or compensate for the change. Hallucinations likely result; all perceptual experience is being drawn from internal sources. Loss of identity, difficulty meeting basic survival needs, apathy, and depression have been known to occur in a total sensory deprivation environment. Research subjects typically find the experience intolerable within only 4 days" ~Auerbach 1996

     This sounds like hell to me, and though some of us try, perhaps no amount of spiritual preparation will save us from this maddening experience.  In our mind, we would still carry the memories and desires of the physical world.  The alcoholic would still be mentally addicted to alcohol. The gluttonous still craving cheesecake. The sex addict still horny as hell, and no way of fulfilling carnal desire! 

     Is this why some of the holiest of men give up all attachment to the material world? 

     But maybe there is a slim chance for a few of us…. those who can keep their minds occupied forever.  The musician could compose a million masterpieces in his mind. The mathematician could calculate equations to prove new hypotheses. The poet could write prose, poems and sonnets...

     …and that could be difference heaven and hell.

....Well anyway, I don't believe this shit.... I was just thinking