Home > Humanities And Science > Metaphysical

POSSIBLE HUMAN IMMORTALITY VERSUS THE WHEEL OF EXISTENCE - IS ENDLESS LIFE ENOUGH?

by Judi Thomases

Exploring the Subject Using Astrology, Channeling, Eastern Philosophy, & Tolkein

Recently, a national magazine devoted an entire issue to the pros and cons of immortality. In J. R .R. Tolkein's Ring trilogy, Elves, who are immortal, face the predicament of endless life, and are thus subject to the disease of world-weariness, whereas mankind has been given the gift of death . In my book, Wisdom's Game (Cypress House), which came about through the mediumistic process called channeling, this is a key point. As given through spirit guides, the chapter that speaks about endless bliss as boring addresses the same notion: that eternity is a long time for spirit to do nothing, and so the game of life (and death) was invented as God's play.

Some believe that life's highest purpose and noblest pursuit is the accumulation of knowledge. Rather, wisdom is life's most ennobling goal. Put another way, knowledge is figuring out how to wire an electrical outlet; wisdom is what results when you put a paperclip into it.

Karma - the wheel of existence - is the basis for gaining wisdom. Wisdom is gotten when the divine aspect of humanity is encased in the lower body, thus producing suffering; suffering is "the abrasion that produces wisdom" (WG, Chapter Two). "There is no coming to consciousness without pain." (Carl Jung) This has everything to do with any debate about the merits of immortality.

Astrology is a map of that life's karma. Although accepted by the soul, the karma more often than not entails challenges, with the horoscope portraying the life's built-in, periodically recurring pain as lessons. It's a rare chart that lacks them. When these hard aspects kick in again and again, maybe every seven years, ask yourself if you really want to perpetuate that forever. In other words, to eliminate death is to never "change your clothes". Wearing the same dress forever is not only boring, but less wisdom-producing, and in the case where the label rubs raw, certainly not something to be craved Unless your horoscope holds few hard knocks, to seek its eternal persistence is to ask for endlessly repetitious suffering…of the same type

Yet to stay on the wheel we must face the issue of death. So the question arises: is death mere recycling? Or the chance to take a beauty nap between struggles-of-life? Or is it the all-necessary opportunity to review the life experience and the wisdom learned therein? "The birth is at the end," as the spiritual guides have said.
The heart of the issue for me is a feeling about the deep wrongness of infinite life extension. We incarnate in order to learn the wisdom inherent in physicality. If we can transcend physicality's limits while still in a body (i.e., reaching the pure timeless presence), then we're essentially back in spirit's realm… and why need a body at all anymore? We've finished the job.

The fastest way to get to full enlightenment is through sequential lives, not eternal life-extension. The whole point of the universe is to provide the wheel of karma, not cause it to be obsolete On the other hand, awakening during any lifetime, and reaching full mastery of thought (which, from sages to Edgar Cayce to quantum physics, is recognized as the builder of reality), offers an interesting experiment: perpetuating timelessness while in time, in physicality.

Having had occasion to step out of my body (astral travel), I no longer fear death. Weighing options, I'll cast my vote to keep passing through death's door, changing my wardrobe frequently to play with the all the universe's costumes until I and the I-AM fully reunite.

© Judi Thomases, 2006