In this writing, I wish to approach the subjects of death and dying from a wholly different perspective to shed some light on this vital topic. The mystery of death has been the preoccupation of religion and philosophy since the dawn of both, yet the best attempts have thus far only yielded speculation and dogma. Where is the evidence? Where is the reason? Is the answer to what happens at death confined to personal opinion and faith, or can we find an objective explanation?
One of the problems with man's ability to make objective observations is that he tends to view everything in the universe according to his own time and scale. From electrons to galaxies, man perceives everything in terms of his existence which introduces errors in his perception.
To arrive at a clear understanding, one must observe the phenomenon from three vantage points: the octave above its station, the octave in which it resides, and the octave below its station. In the case of man, the octave above would be the world of 'nature,' and the octave below would be the world of 'organs.'
The Octave of Nature
When referring to 'nature,' we are speaking about the thin layer of organic life on the planet. This includes a wide variety of single-cell organisms, multicellular organisms, plants, animals, and humans, not as individual entities but as entire living ecosystems. From this standpoint, the fundamental purpose of nature is the transformation of extraplanetary force (or influences). This can readily be seen in the process of photosynthesis in plant life but has not primarily been recognized by the scientific community concerning higher life forms.
One of the chief features of 'nature' is that of reincarnation. Season after season, year after year, decade after decade, one can witness the carnal aspects of birth, growth, life, and death, only to be repeated again and again. In this, it is essential to note that while the individual entity is not the same, its form and function are identical from one season to the next. It is as if nature has a quota to fill on the quantity and quality of each form of life she tends. While it may not be the same dog, cat, canary, or daffodil through each successive season, the essential qualities of dog-ness, cat-ness, canary-ness, and daffodil-ness remain. It can be said that in each living creature, a 'spoonful' of an essential nature according to its design has been infused into its form.
Another feature of the expression of nature is that of extinction. Throughout the eons, many species have once reigned mighty and then dwindled and eventually died out completely. It is as if some greater intelligence has deemed them unnecessary and removed the permission of repetitive continuance. But this begs the question - where does the life force go? Evidence suggests that this is where evolution plays a part; just as modern birds carry the genetic markers of some of their dinosaur ancestors, modern humans carry the markers of earlier forms of humanoid species, such as the Neanderthals.
The destruction of one coarser species makes room for introducing another finer species. Is this process not reminiscent of the concept of reincarnation? And yet, if one looks at reincarnation from the natural perspective, it seems clear that its purpose is one of evolutionary refinement, which tends to exclude the common, fanciful notion of reincarnation at one's current level (i.e., one who claims to have previously been a soldier in the civil war and before that, Cleopatra, and before that a pharaoh of ancient Egypt).
So, in the higher octave of nature, one finds the first two possibilities of the state after death, namely, extinction or evolutionary reincarnation into a higher form of life.
The Octave of Organs
Click down a notch from the octave of the human organism, and one enters the world of individual organs. The heart, lungs, intestines, eyes, skin, and so on. It is interesting to note that within man exist all of the elements of the greater octave of nature on a lesser scale. For instance, have you considered the mineral life that constitutes your skeletal structure or the flora life that inhabits your gut, the animal life that is your body, and the human life that is your brain? Is it not evident that each component composing the human complex is akin to some class of species that composes the larger body of nature?
Organs are composed of cells. Cells are composed of molecules. Molecules are composed of atoms, and atoms are composed of subatomic particles, each constituting a 'world' of their own. Consider that every night when you go to sleep, several million cells die and are replaced, but your heart, liver, lungs, intestines, eyes, and skin all remain the same. That is to say that they have an eternal recurrence within the span of your life.
Similarly, with each breath you take, the molecules that you inhale 'die' and are replaced every three seconds, yet your blood ecology remains the same in eternal recurrence for as long as you continue to draw the breath of life. This provides a clue to another after-death potential; eternal recurrence for as long as nature lives - the possibility of which requires an additional explanation of the nature of time.
The Three Dimensions of Time
In another writing, we demonstrated that time, like space, is three-dimensional; however, we are only fully conscious of the lowest dimension [continuity] while being semi-conscious of the next higher dimension of time [concurrence] and utterly unconscious of the third [eternity]. In other words, we are fully aware of the 'line of time' as it applies to the events unfolding in our life. We are partially aware of the 'plane of time' where certain events are happening simultaneously. We are also entirely unaware of the 'sphere of time' where past, present, and future exist in the eternal now.
Although somewhat paradoxical to our fettered mind, this more complete view of time enables us to see the third possibility for our state of being after death: Recurrence.
Just as the cells in your body continuously die and are reborn to serve the higher function of your organs, the process of recurrence as a form of 'life after death' entails that upon your death, a vital part of you reinvigorates and reanimates your body at the moment of your conception. In other words, the final breath you take on your deathbed is also the first breath you take as a newborn in the circular lifespan of your existence. Thus, if a man were born in 1972 and dies in 2052, upon his death, his vital essence incarnates back into 1972 at the moment of his birth, and he begins to live the same life again and again for as long as nature lives.
This notion, when fully grasped, can be pretty sobering, for it implies that one may have lived the same life tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times! Born to the same parents, attending the same schools, making the same friends, married the same person, having the same children, and dying the same way repeatedly.
The most common argument against reincarnation or recurrence is that if it were the case, shouldn't one remember their past life or recurrence? Yet, it can be argued that in our ordinary state of awareness, we can barely recall what we did last week with any degree of vividness and clarity, so why should it be assumed that we would recall anything from a past existence?
Yet, it is the author's contention (and experience) that the possibility exists to attain a full recollection of past recurrences and position oneself for evolutionary reincarnation during one's next death opportunity. Before this can be examined, more must be said about the roles of 'essence' and 'personality.'
Essence and Personality
Man is born 1/3 fixed and 2/3 incomplete. So, a distinction must be made between one's natural divine essence and artificially acquired personality. One's essence can be described as what one is, whereas one's personality can be described as who one becomes. One's essence is derived from heredity, innate predispositions, and astrological influences present at conception. One's personality is simply a product of parenting, peering, and education. Essence is from the inside; personality is from the outside.
This does not imply that one's personality does not play a vital role, for it was said at the outset that man is 2/3 incomplete - a blank slate. Herein lies the possibility of escape from the cycles of eternal recurrence into the realms of evolutionary reincarnation.
Observation of the history of the evolution of life on this planet indicates that nature has engaged in a progressive series of experiments. For example, at one point in nature's evolutionary history, the best she could create was single-cell organisms. Then came multicellular organisms, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, and recently man.
If one observes the process of evolution spanning eons of time, it seems apparent that nature began to experiment first with form, then with function, and finally with consciousness.
By way of example, one of the standard arguments against evolution is "if we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?" which demonstrates a very limited view of the nature of evolution. It is akin to asking, "if a house evolved from mud huts, why are there still mud huts in some parts of the world?". The answer is quite apparent - at one point in time, building mud huts was the best the human mind could conceive of. Just because in some parts of the world, the intelligence and resources now exist to build houses from bricks and wood does not mean that mud huts are not still valuable for more primitive peoples.
Similarly, just because humans now occupy the pinnacle of conscious evolutionary possibility does not mean that the planet no longer needs other forms of life.
Take, for example, nature's gradual experiment with form: At one point in time, the only way an organism could 'move' was through accidental movements within the medium in which it lived. A single cell's movement from one place to another depends entirely on the currents it finds itself in. Later, some single-cell organisms developed a tail that allowed the possibility of greater freedom of movement, even against the current. Still, later, nature experimented with adding multiple tails (i.e., fins) to allow greater control. Eventually, insects with multiple legs emerged, and even quadrupedal land animals.
It should be noted that all land animals' spines are oriented horizontally when moving, whereas in humans, it is oriented vertically. This allows humans to look up at the sky and stars and contemplate one's existence concerning the heavens and the earth, an ability that animals lack. Does this imply that our vertical orientation allows us greater freedom of conscious contemplation of our place in the universe?
Returning to the topic of essence vs. personality, it was said that man is 2/3rds incomplete. Our society provides a type of automatic filling of our personality, but it is up to us to grow our essence, which is done through conscious participation in life.
Now at this point, most would argue that they are 'conscious' and possess the qualities of 'will' and 'individuality,' and this is precisely the trap that keeps one in the cycle of eternal recurrence. What one calls 'individuality,' I would call an 'intricate personality.' What one calls 'will,' I would instead offer the words 'no choice,' and what one calls 'consciousness,' I would call 'barely awake.' For, there exists a higher level of these conditions, but they cannot be obtained unless one first discards the belief that he already possesses them.
In every person's life, there are moments of consciousness usually brought about by accidental shocks. Most everyone can recall an experience from their past with the same vividness as though it just happened. Yet, most don't realize that with the right kind of intense effort, it is possible to introduce this level of vivification into one's life. This is the level of consciousness we are speaking of here, quite unlike the 'consciousness' that is commonly known.
Incidentally, moments of Deja Vu are just those from previous recurrences where one experienced an accidental 'shock' of real consciousness. They are so vivid that their energy can arc from a previous recurrence to the present and offer that strange sensation of having done something before and knowing what will happen next.
Although the techniques for acquiring this type of consciousness will not be elaborated here because they have been and will be discussed elsewhere, it can be understood that this level of consciousness fuels the development of one's true essence at the expense of one's acquired personality.
Offering a Return
It was mentioned before that nature has gradually improved its design through various stages of evolution. It is as if each successive stage of her natural development rests upon the intelligence gained from previous stages of experimentation.
Suppose nature's current efforts are in the realms of consciousness in the form of the human experience (or experiment). In that case, it is not only our privilege but also our obligation to endeavor to embrace and develop to the fullest extent the potential we have been given.
Striving towards conscious awakening enriches not only the intelligence of nature and the planet but also allows her new future possibilities in the realms of evolutionary refinement. Indeed, at her present stage of evolution, a semi-conscious automaton is of less functional value than a fully conscious entity.
Whether one is offered reincarnation, recurrence or extinction rests solely on one's individual efforts to either consciously assist the process of evolution, semi-consciously drift through life, or unconsciously be of no further use.
Many respects,
Pierce!