Can We Survive Death ?

10.23.2013

©2013 El Veasey Publishing

This is an age old question that people have been debating since time immemorial.But what’s the answer to this burning question?

Some say the soul leaves the body at death and goes to its just rewards: Heaven or Hell.

Others say the soul or consciousness is just a function of the brain and when the brain stops functioning, the soul stops functioning.

During the 1800s and the early 1900s, seances were very popular, The curious and the unsuspecting, paid very nice sums of money, in an effort to try to contact, their deceased loved ones, or some famous historical character. Ouija boards were also popular and were almost a national pastime. Many homes had them, and used them, to try and contact the spirits of the dearly departed.

The popular stage magician, Harry Houdini, visited many “mediums” in an effort to contact his deceased mother, but to no avail. But he did unmasked many fraudulent “mediums” preying upon their unsuspecting, grieving and curious patrons. Houdini was so obsessed with the issue that he vowed that when he died if there was life after death he would return and let everyone know…but…as of yet…he's a no show!

Speaking of shows, television shows with ghostly themes are more popular than ever: The Ghost Whisperer, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Celebrity Ghost Stories, Ghostly Encounters, Ghostly Adventures and Haunted Collector to name a few.

This is not that surprising, a spirit is a ghost isn’t it?

People have been seeing ghosts for ages.

One of the first reports of a ghost haunting, a dwelling, was reported by, Pliny the younger, in the first century AD. He said, he saw the ghostly specter of an old man, with a long white beard, who was rattling chains, as he walked about his house.

Even the ghost of the notorious mobster, Al Capone, is said to heckle visitors who are disrespectful to him at his grave site.

On the television series “Through the Wormhole”The actor, Morgan Freeman, recently hosted a show about whether there is life after death.

He began the show by asking "Is there some other resting place for the soul?” “Does our consciousness just shimmer out of existence during our last moments on Earth?” “Is the soul nothing more than a network of neural processors, something that one day can be recreated in a machine?” “Or does the quantum state of our brains, get reabsorbed into the universe at large?”

Freeman goes on to say the scientists think they’re getting closer and closer to providing an answer to those questions.

But, scientists are divided over the question of whether consciousness is able to separate from the body and live on after death.

One of the scientist interviewed on the show about his views on the subject said "When you lose consciousness, you lose everything. That the world doesn’t exist for you anymore and your friends don’t exist for you any more. And you don’t exist. Everything is lost.”

In contrast to he’s views, a different scientist said, "if you take near death experiences at face value. They suggest our minds or consciousness can exist without the body".

And still another scientist states, "that the quantum approach to the issue, can in principle, explain why we’re here and what our purpose is, Quantum physics can explain the possibility of life after death and how consciousness can persist beyond the death of our bodies".

And yet another scientist sounds almost religious in his views rather than scientific, stating that, he "has great belief and knowledge that there’s a wonderful world and existence outside of this earthly realm, awaiting us when we die. And that this will be our “true” experience when we leave this earth".

Really? I wonder how he knows that, don't you?

For Freeman the big question seems to be, will we be conscious of our fate when we die, or as he poetically put it, “entering our last hour will we know our true fate”.

I guess no matter on what side of the question you come down on. We'll all only find out for sure, when we die!…or…maybe not!

By that I mean, Could the age old belief that there is life after death, in heaven, or some other place, be just a soothing fairy tale, to divert our attention away from the fact, that when we die, only darkness awaits?

I hope not. But what say you?

What side of the fence, does your your feet come down on this question?

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