Purport: Some will see the answer to life and death, only after death..... after they die, they will know that death is an illusion, by seeing themsleves alive and thinking after they have tasted death; but those who are absolutely convicted that life is eternal and only bodies die, don't need to die (phisically) to know...they know ahead of death; while others know only after death. That is what I mean by being ahead of death. We have died many many times...all of us; but if we can't even rmember last night's dream, does it mean we did not dream...? Think.
How do you know this is so? Because you read it somewhere? Fact is, none of us has died yet, or we wouldn't be posting here.
We all believe a lot of things we have read, and that is one of the things that separates us from the monkeys.
Every moment we are dying. Every moment thousands of cells expire. Medicine has shown that the body regenerates every few years, so you actually don't have a single cell in common with the body you had as a child. So if death be defined as the end of the body, your body has indeed died. If death be defined as the end of a personality, then too you have died, for your thoughts and ideas are totally different from what they were when you were a baby. If death be defined as change, then you die in every moment. If death be a permanent cessation of all vital physical functions, then also your body has died, since the child body no longer functions, what is functioning now has 0 cells in common with it. And even otherwise, there are enough documented instances of people who have been clinically dead and then revived.
What about neuronal cells?-most neuronal cells do not divide, they stay with you, only their synaptic connections change. Also cells that divide mitotically tend to be common or alike with their parent cell. In celldivision and growth, the parent cell has become two daughter cells, is that death?
In sleep we die, (have no idea of where the living body is) in sex we die,(sperm is life we give up as our very shakti) in meditation we die,(enter into Brahman) in ignorance we die (we adhere to the mode of darkness where we deny life is our beingness) in hate we die (we forget love is better).
Death means death - not changes in the persona or cellular regeneration, but death. The cessation of bodily functions on a permanant basis. My body has not died since I was kid, only changed, grown. That is part of life. Life is change not stasis. As to OBE's - did those folks die? Probably not totally. They went close to death and were brought back. There is no proof that they left their bodies or experienced anything outside their own brain functions. Jedi is right that neural cells do not regenerate.
The word 'death' is used to indicate things that are not actually death in the strict sense. 'Ego death' etc. Transformations. This is partly the meaning of the Tarot card 'death', But in terms of re-incarnation, death means death, or it doesn't have much relevance. If you interpret re-incarnation as something which takes place within the one lifetime, why call it death? It is simply the natural processes of change.
That was an old theory but it has been disproven. The brain produces thousands of new cells everyday. - Link to the Society of Neuroscience article- http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_adult_neurogenesis
You'll find that Nisargadatta Maharaja will agree with you on that..I tried to suscribe to that and with great endeavor even reading his book daily, but eventually I had to come back to believe in a personal God, and the personal rewards of worshipping a Supreme being. For me the scriptures prove themselves by the very power of their words. Some may read Shakespeare and think the words have power, yet they have absolutely nothing; even the words of Emerson and other famous writers pale in comparision to the dephts of what's in the great scriptures. It's what we need, it's what the world needs. If this had been proven to be false in the last thirty years, then I would declare that; but it's been the opposite, I find more and more depht in them, greater and greater meaning, a sense of satsifaction and great assurance. I don't get that by reading the daily news. There is no trying involved, it either leaps at you or it don't, if it doesn't then it does not have the right thing. You can't put a book down before you read it. Any great book must have a strong effect on you in the moment..it cannot be one that says you must do this or that, or be this or that, but one that by reading it alone, you sense a transformation, a growth. Before any book can do that or be that, it has to be written by one who has transcended ignorance, and is on another level already.
I'm not really looking for re-assurance. What interests me is how we can have a better future, and ensure that all humans have the possibility to harness their full potential. That would seem to be in line with the fact that nature has spent so long just to produce these fabulous forms we now inhabit. One day we will all die - I don't personally think that anyone can say what happens then, despite the various theories advanced by religion. Myself I prefer to deal with it when it comes, and try to be good just because I percieve that as the best way for humans to be. Some scriptures like the New Testament contain moral teachings which are generally useful, such as 'love one another' 'do unto others' etc. But once you know that, I see little need for repitition or constant re-reading. Better to just get out there and try to find some way, no matter how small, to put that love into practice, unlike the religious hypocrites who say one thing and practice another. (I'm not accusing any individual here of that - but it is something we see all the time, from Dubya's war to the popes hand made shoes)
Thank you, I know about this. But I was referring to the fact that we dont have a new brain everyday. It is only the old brain, molded in different ways. Neurogenesis is not as rampant as the division of skin cells.
Your assumption that if we close our eyes, we die is a false assumption. Death of an organism can be defined as this: The irreversible cessation of function in all organs, including the brain. In sleep, our body relaxes, but the brain is still active, the heart is still pumping blood and we are still breathing. It is not death of the body.
Personally I have found great spiritual depth in many movies and music. Depth I have not found in reading scripture. I think you can experience the devine in everything.
I don't doubt that, but think for a moment how many great books those who made those movies must've read. I know they did, and more probably than I have.
Reasurance of what? books that enliven are not writings that promise something and then repeat it...ignorant peoples' interpretation of some prophet's teachings is not to be taken as real teaching. I believe in karma but also in grace, if one studies both well, chances are wherever he or she goes to after will be a better situation. Providing there has been more than just study, but some practice as well. About religious hipocrisy....yes it's out there; striking with its deadly sting. Hipocrisy is not spirituality, but actually its worst enemy.
You mean like fundamentalist who believe myth to be history? Better to forgo filling your mind with even more over constructed notions and just get on with trying to do something positive.
