Alan - thanks for responding. It must be out of love that we exist - love not just for each of us but also for all of creation. The limit is not on the infinite spirit's ability to experience all, or any part of all, but to experience it while embedded within creation and believing that creation is beyond anything and everything. In other words, to know how it appears from within, not from without. Jim
On Jun 19, 11:15 pm, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, Jim. I think we DP guys have an professional affinity for the view > you expressed that "all that happens at death is that the physical > body cease to function". We have so many models in DP of software as a > quasi-mathematical entity outliving the hardware substrate. Hardware > comes and goes but bits are immortal. Read any Plato? You should. He > formulated these ideas before Christ was born. There have been some > improvements since then, however, it is a quantum leap over the crass > materialism in which it is thought death is total annihilation. > > You say "the only way the infinite consciousness can experience this > universe from within the universe is to use such a veil to conceal > from the individual’s consciousness his connection to the whole. ".. > I take in-finite to mean not finite. As in: no limits. But it would > seem to me if the only way an infinite consciousness can experience > the universe is by making use of us, then the we can think of an even > greater consciousness: one not having that limit. One who wills we > exist not out of some lacking, but simply because the One knew we > would enjoy the gift of existence. So the question to ask yourself is: > do we existence out of need? Or Love? > > On Jun 18, 1:16 pm, retiredjim34 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > For some time, being retired, I have been thinking about such > > ultimate questions as: why are we here, what is life all about, what > > happens when we die, and do we continue to exist after we die. Drawing > > on a lifetime of reading and experience, I think I’ve arrived at some > > unusual answers. > > To begin building a foundation for those answers, I first wondered > > about just who I am; what is it that is me? I don’t believe I’m the > > reflection I see in the mirror. No. If I lost an arm or leg, I still > > believe I would be 100% me. It seems that the real me, then, is the > > consciousness that is within my body. Hmmm. How might I check this? > > How about my memory. During part of my working career I was involved > > with data storage and encoding, the object being to pack as much > > information into as little storage as possible. If you think about all > > the things you remember – scenes, happenings, conversations, other > > sounds, smells, numbers, taught information, etc. – and the capacity > > of the human brain, it is clear that the human brain can remember at > > most only a day or two of recent events. So where are the things I > > remember stored? > > I happen to have had a couple of out-of-body experiences. I recall > > being conscious of looking at my body lying on a bed, and of being > > able to look around the room and out the window. Each time the > > experience scared me, and I quickly returned to my body. But while out- > > of-body I now realize that I could recall everything I could think of > > while in my body; the me that was in my body was still the me that was > > out of my body. > > Many books describe out-of-body experiences. The best, I think, is > > Thirty Years Among the Dead by Dr. Carl Wickland. In it, he discusses > > numerous examples of patients who had died yet whose spirit was still > > “here,” entwined with another body. In each case, the spirit of the > > now dead person had what seems to be a perfectly normal memory of > > their life, and exhibited the personality quirks they had while alive. > > So it seems that the human memory resides elsewhere that in the human > > body. > > Fine, but still why am I here? Indeed, why is anybody or anything > > here? Consider what “here” is. We know that this world, and everything > > else in the universe, is matter disbursed in an almost infinite amount > > of space. But then we also know that E=mc². In words, this "here" can > > be reduced to the simple statement that all is energy, even matter. So > > “here” is a vast pool of energy, a pool that includes each of us as > > well as everything else in this physical universe. Yet it seems that > > our memory does not reside in this physical universe, given that it is > > not the me in the mirror but is present in out-of-body experiences. > > Could it be that there is a consciousness, what might be called an > > infinite consciousness, that contains each of our memories as well as > > everything else that has ever happened anywhere in the universe at any > > time, and maybe even a lot more than that? I don’t know of anything to > > disprove this possibility, so let’s assume for now that it might be > > correct. > > So why am I here? Well, all that is in the universe might be here > > simply because it pleases the infinite consciousness that this is so. > > It is simply an exercise of an attribute of that consciousness. Fine. > > But why am I here? Assume that the infinite consciousness wishes to > > experience this physical universe. Of course this could be done by > > endowing each thing in the universe with its own consciousness. That > > consciousness would know that it was part of a much greater whole. But > > it would also know that it was discrete in and of itself. Yet we don’t > > know that – each of us believes that we are complete and separate from > > all others; we have the freedom to be whatever we choose and do > > whatever we want. It’s as if there is a veil or curtain between our > > discrete consciousness and the infinite consciousness, this veil > > concealing our connection to the whole. (Unless we ponder such things > > as where our memories are stored.) Put differently, the only way the > > infinite consciousness can experience this universe from within the > > universe is to use such a veil to conceal from the individual’s > > consciousness his connection to the whole. Could that be why we are > > here? I think so. > > So what happens at death? Drawing on this view of consciousness, > > both > > individual and infinite, it would seem that all that happens at death > > is that the physical body ceases to function. The individual > > consciousness continues. And that is just what books like Dr. > > Wickland’s report. If you want to know what happens beyond death, the > > Seth books by Jane Roberts gives one view, or answer, a view that > > seems to build on that expressed by Dr. Wickland. > > I would welcome reading your reaction to all this. Does it make > > sense > > to you? Is this a rational and sufficient explanation of the ultimate > > questions, or of why we are here? Or not?- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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