Afterlife

As the result of some of my recent reading, I have been thinking a good bit about life after death lately.  It is one of the great mysteries of human life - what happens to us when we die?  Einstein tells us that energy never ceases to exist; it simply changes form.  Certainly, it is true that the physical body returns to its constituent elements, as in the Genesis phrase, ashes to ashes and dust to dust.  The trouble comes when we consider the force that animates those “ashes”, what some might call a soul.

A hard and fast materialist will argue that there is no such thing; that humans are simply a high order animal with a remarkable ability to manipulate their environment.  Very few people seem to buy into that notion though and that is where the argument really begins because, even though we do not know for certain what becomes of us after death, humans seem pretty eager to convince others that their version of the afterlife is correct.  

Humans also seem to have a remarkable facility for assembling stories about the afterlife and then using them in religions as means of social control.  Look at what happens to you in the afterlife if you do not lead a ‘good’ life in any other major religions of the world.  If you do not abide by the recognized proper behaviors, the best that you can hope for seems to be a lower rebirth (Buddhism) but you could just as easily end up in a very hot place for eternity (Christianity and Islam come to mind).  Even the Spiritualists, whose afterlife seems pretty harmless, own the idea that, if you have not acted according to their set of Natural Laws, then you are are likely to undergo rather extensive counseling after you “cross over”.  

So, is the afterlife simply a myth devised by societies to get humans beings to behave in a manner that is conducive to the ongoing needs of the society?  I honestly do not know but it is certainly an element of the afterlife equation.  All anyone can really go on when considering what happens after the corporeal form ceases to exist is that equation mentioned above.  Energy does not cease to exist; it simply changes form.  If, like me, you believe that there is something more to a human being than a 1.99 bag of chemicals, you need to consider this profound question.  

Set aside your religious opinions for a moment and really think about what could happen to the fundamental energy that makes you different from the person next to you.  I’ll say more as I continue to think on this one but I want to leave you with one thought.  One of my teachers was very fond of an idea that he read in a book called The Body of Myth.  The author of that work propounded the idea, which I have seen echoed in other esoteric writings, that what happens to us after we die is guided, in large part, by what we believe will happen to us.  

Dreams

I have been thinking a lot about dreams lately.  When I was younger, I brought dreams back from my sleeping time all the time but some time ago, and I can not quite remember when, I stopped remembering dreams.  I tried any number of 'fixes' that I read about but nothing seemed to help so I resigned myself to falling into oblivion each night and went on.  After all, I had a whole daytime life to live. 

Still, I felt vaguely jealous whenever someone told me about the ‘weird dream' that they had the night before.  I remembered dreaming and some of the best spiritual guidance (and most puzzling) I ever received came in dreams.  I could not pretend that I understood my dreams but, if I spent enough time with them, some nugget of insight almost always came forth.  My dreams were a rich source of journalling fodder.

Just to add to my dream lust, every now and again, I would bring back a dream or, more likely, some fragment of a dream.  Hope would spark in me that the long drought was over but then the oblivious nights would begin again - immediately - and I would go back to dreaming of having dreams.  

For some reason that I can not explain, that seems to have changed over the weekend.  I have had dreams that I brought back to consciousness three of the the past five nights and I was aware, on the nights when I did not recall a dream, that I was dreaming.  At least one of those dreams seems to have a real message for me and I have been sitting with it for a couple of days.  Mostly though, I am just happy to have a nightscape back.  

As I said, I have no idea what provoked this change.  Stacey has been working intently with her dreams as per our teacher’s instruction and that may have something do with it.   I have been re-reading a Tom Cowan book about core shamanism as a spiritual practice and the presence of that energy could certainly have something to do with my renewed night rambles.  It could simply be that I have arrived in a place on the path where I have a need to access that information.  

Whatever the cause, I am just happy to be getting those night time messages again.  Sure, most dreams are simply your consciousness downloading from the day but even those dreams are useful monitors of your subconscious.  Occasionally though, one has a dream that is a very clear message from . . . elsewhere.  Spirit, God, the spirits, whatever designation you wish to use.  Those clear, life like dreams are the ones that I really missed and I have been fortunate enough to have one in this interlude.  

So, if you are one of those people, like Stacey, who dreams regularly, enjoy it and pay attention.  You never know when that gift might be denied you for a while.  For the most part, dreams are something to be grateful for.  Listen to them, work with them and be happy you have them.