A Frog’s Dream
Many times I’ve been asked, ‘Do you believe there is life after death?’.
My answer is no, not in the way we experience life, not even in the way we are conscious. In fact, the very nature of human consciousness prohibits knowledge of what happens after life, and what happened before it. We are the proverbial frog at the bottom of the well: we can only see the little patch of sky that is open to us. The human capability for knowledge is also its limitation. The rest is speculation.
Allow me to share a dream.
Imagine a stream, a stream that is infinite, that both its origin and destination are infinite. There is only the coursing and flowing, and we are part of this stream. Imagine that life is a blip in the flow of this stream in which we assume a body and consciousness. If all goes well, there is birth, childhood, growth, puberty, love, hate, parenthood, maturity, aging, death, and all the drama in between. All in a bubble of the stream. When the bubble bursts, our consciousness disappears with it. The only sure thing now is that we’ve embarked on a mysterious journey.
Can we transition with courage and curiosity and not fear?
After all, when we were born into this world, our journey was equally mysterious. We had no idea what it was all about. We were born into a mystery. Out of the mystery came experience, even knowledge. The new mystery is something to get excited about!
Now let’s come back to mundane time. Happy New Year!
And for a New Year’s resolution, I suggest creativity. Resolve to be more creative and adventurous, to step out of your habitual mode of thinking, feeling, and doing. Try something different. Climb out of that well and explore new horizons!