To begin, I'd like to quote the birlliant philosopher Alan Watts (because he is far more eloquent than I):
"So then, if you awaken from this illusion, and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death--or shall I say, death implies life--you can conceive yourself. Not conceive, but FEEL yourself, not as a stranger in the world, not as someone here on sufferance, on probation, not as something that has arrived here by fluke, but you can begin to feel your own existence as absolutely fundamental. What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.
So, say in Hindu mythology, they say that the world is the drama of God. God is not something in Hindu mythology with a white beard that sits on a throne, that has royal perogatives. God in Indian mythology is the self, 'Satchitananda.' Which means 'sat,' that which is, 'chit,' that which is consciousness; that which is 'ananda' is bliss. In other words, what exists, reality itself is gorgeous, it is the fullness of total joy. Wowee! And all those stars, if you look out in the sky, is a firework display like you see on the fourth of July, which is a great occasion for celebration; the universe is a celebration, it is a fireworks show to celebrate that existence is. Wowee.
And then they say, 'But, however, there's no point in just sustaining bliss.' Let's suppose you were able, every night, to dream any dream you wanted to dream, and that you could for example have the power to dream in one night 75 years worth of time. Or any length of time you wanted to have. And you would, naturally, as you began on this adventure of dreams, fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure you could conceive. And after several nights of 75 years of total pleasure each, you would say 'Well, that was pretty great. But now let's have a surprise. Let's have a dream which isn't under control, where something is going to happen to me that I don't know what it's going to be.' And you would dig that, and come out of it and say 'That was a close shave, now wasn't it?' Then you would get more and more adventurous, and you would make further and further gambles as to what you would dream, and finally you would dream where you are now. You would dream the dream of the life that you are actually living today. That would be within the infinite multiplicity of the choices you would have. Of playing that you weren't God. Because the whole nature of the godhead, according to this idea, is to play that he's not. The first thing that he says to himself is 'Man, get lost,' because he gives himself away. The nature of love is self-abandonment, not clinging to oneself. Throwing yourself out, for instance as in basketball; you're always getting rid of the ball. You say to the other fellow 'Have a ball.' See? And that keeps things moving. That's the nature of life.
So in this idea, then, everybody is fundamentally the ultimate reality. Not God in a politically kingly sense, but God in the sense of being the self, the deep-down basic whatever there is. And you're all that, only you're pretending you're not. And it's perfectly OK to pretend you're not, to be perfectly convinced, because this is the whole notion of drama. When you come into the theater, there is an arch, and a stage, and down there is the audience. Everybody assumes their seats in the theater, gone to see a comedy, a tragedy, a thriller, whatever it is, and they all know as they come in and pay their admissions, that what is going to happen on the stage is not for real. But the actors have a conspiracy against this, because they're going to try and persuade the audience that what is happening on the stage IS for real. They want to get everybody sitting on the edge of their chairs, they want you terrified, or crying, or laughing. Absolutely captivated by the drama. And if a skillful human actor can take in an audience and make people cry, think what the cosmic actor can do. Why he can take himself in completely. He can play so much for real that he thinks he really is. Like you sitting in this room, you think you're really here. Well, you've persuaded yourself that way. You've acted it so damn well that you KNOW that this is the real world. But you're playing it. As well, the audience and the actor as one. Because behind the stage is the green room, offscene, where the actors take off their masks. Do you know that the word 'person' means 'mask'? The 'persona' which is the mask worn by actors in Greco-Roman drama, because it has a megaphone-type mouth which throws the sound out in an open-air theater. So the 'per'--through--'sona'--what the sound comes through--that's the mask. How to be a real person. How to be a genuine fake. So the 'dramatis persona' at the beginning of a play is the list of masks that the actors will wear. And so in the course of forgetting that this world is a drama, the word for the role, the word for the mask has come to mean who you are genuinely. The person. The proper person. Incidentally, the word 'parson' is derived from the word 'person.' The 'person' of the village. The 'person' around town, the parson.
So anyway, then, this is a drama, and what I want you to is-- I'm not trying to sell you on this idea in the sense of converting you to it; I want you to play with it. I want you to think of its possibilities. I'm not trying to prove it, I'm just putting it forward as a possibility of life to think about. So then, this means that you're not victims of a scheme of things, of a mechanical world, or of an autocratic god. The life you're living is what YOU have put yourself into. Only you don't admit it, because you want to play the game that it's happened to you. In other words, I got mixed up in this world; I had a father who got hot pants over a girl, and she was my mother, and because he was just a horny old man, and as a result of that, I got born, and I blame him for it and say 'Well that's your fault; you've got to look after me,' and he says 'I don't see why I should look after you; you're just a result.' But let's suppose we admit that I really wanted to get born, and that I WAS the ugly gleam in my father's eye when he approached my mother. That was me. I was desire. And I deliberately got involved in this thing. Look at it that way instead. And that really, even if I got myself into an awful mess, and I got born with syphilis, and the great Siberian itch, and tuberculosis in a Nazi concentration camp, nevertheless this was a game, which was a very far out play. It was a kind of cosmic masochism. But I did it.
Isn't that an optimal game rule for life? Because if you play life on the supposition that you're a helpless little puppet that got involved. Or you played on the supposition that it's a frightful, serious risk, and that we really ought to do something about it, and so on, it's a drag. There's no point in going on living unless we make the assumption that the situation of life is optimal. That really and truly we're all in a state of total bliss and delight, but we're going to pretend we aren't just for kicks. In other words, you play non-bliss in order to be able to experience bliss. And you can go as far out in non-bliss as you want to go. And when you wake up, it'll be great. You know, you can slam yourself on the head with a hammer because it's so nice when you stop. And it makes you realize how great things are when you forget that's the way it is. And that's just like black and white: you don't know black unless you know white; you don't know white unless you know black. This is simply fundamental."
That is what Alan Watts had to say about the nature of reality and I think that makes a lot of sense.
We seem to live in a world of duality, where reality appears to oscillate between two extremes of polarity: light and dark; night and day; black and white; good and evil; god and the devil; heaven and hell; on and off; dead or alive; action and inaction; hot and cold; male and female; love and hate; true and false; the binary ones and zeroes of the digital computer; finite and infinite; something and nothing. But what about opposites such as something and nothing; wholeness and parts; whole and hole; fullness and emptiness (the so-called void)? Duality is an illusion, the illusion of separation as we will see. And thus there is no true separation between the so called emptiness or Void and Fullness or Completeness. We shouldn't think of the Void as empty any more than we think of the Void as being full. It is a full void or a pregnant void also as we will see when we look at the dozens of near death experiences in the void and also how physicists are currently describing the 99.99% empty space around us in the zero point field. When we see the term 'void' we tend to think of it as emptiness, but this is not the whole story (the "hole" story) so every time you see the word 'void' in this article, remember to think of it as the FULL VOID. There are many names for it such as luminous emptiness, the Illuminating Void and the Infinite Void, but it is non-duality.
Hindus, Buddhists, and Gnostics have talked about the reincarnation trap and the need for liberation for millennia now so really it is nothing new. It's just that the near death experience and going to the light is relatively recent. There are a lot of people who are aware of the Light trap now. The first step is waking up from this dream state we are in and realizing our true nature and what is going on here, but it is only the first part of the equation. **
It is extremely important to work on oneself while on this earth plane in order to deprogram from the systems in which we have been indoctrinated. We need to free our minds and spirit from the addictive patterns the culture helps to promote. In order to break free and move on after death we need to no longer be attached to the world and its cares. This may include not only breaking the obvious harmful addictions associated with the ego such as fear, anger, hate, greed, power, lust, envy, materialsim, pride, selfishness, etc. but also maybe even the need to be loved and give love. Acting in kindness toward all humans is encouraged. But is "love" an emotional attachment? I think attachments to loved ones may keep us bound just as much. Attachments to the need to worship or praise a God could fall into this category as well. It's okay to enjoy things in the world in moderation because that maintains a healthy balance and it could be about the journey and not the destination. But remember to be in the world, but not of the world. **
One needs to have an exit strategy or escape plan in place for when one dies. Or at least have thought about it. I think there are several options available. One could remain in the void or darkness without panicing and realize that it is very peaceful, and hope that one could remain there for eternity and it won;t get boring and you won't eventually run out of energy and need to find energy at some point to sustain yourself (perhaps in a vacuum energy doesn't dissipate and energy cannot be destroyed). One could choose to go to the light and take a chance that the Beings there will not force or convince you to come back whether immediately or eventually. Perhaps they will agree to graduate you or you could negotiate a better place to go to. Another option would be to start out in the void and then set your Intention on manifesting an all positive or mostly positive place of your imagining whether it is one of your own invention or Original "Source", the Pleroma / Eternal Light Realms, The Buddha Planes, or on an ideal such as Truth, Goodness, Pure Light, Love or whatever else resonates within you. One could just set their Intention on moving inward and/or raising in frequency but perhaps true liberation lies beyond waves and frequency altogether? **
And I think it's important to note that if one doesn't go to the light, one might find oneself in a void or dark place and that one shouldn't be afraid of it and freak out -- which could likely result in scary projections and hallucinations, but be prepared that it might happen and realize that it is the true nature of our being. Furthermore, it is important to have thought about what you want to do -- whether to stay in that peaceful, formless state forever -- or take on a form or project one. And, if so, in what kind of world.
All there is in the world is just forms of pure awareness/beingness, and it's important to understand and experience this awareness here on Earth while we are alive in order not to fall into illusions of separate self and have false beliefs in the separate reality of the forms. **
Many near death experiencers do find themselves imnediately in complete darkness or a void like place. One thing I have noticed about the void experiences is that the quality of the experience depends on the state of the individual having it. Most find the void to be very peaceful and pleasant. I estimate that between 2/3 and 3/4 of the void experiences seemed to be pleasant and peaceful. The void is neutrality and is a choice, including the choice of staying in this state or perhaps immediately manifesting any experience one would like.
Some are not prepared to be in such an empty place by themself alone with their consciousness. So some react in fear and manifest an unpleasant experience. So they start in the Void and then, not recognizing the Clear Light of awareness and the illusion of their self, interpret the void as darkness and loneliness. Then the fear and desperation start and evocates their fears. The fears start manifesting into hellish environment. So it is critically important not to panic if one finds oneself in darkness or a void. This is your true nature.
If you don't recognize the fundamental nature of your awareness or being, you will be always looking for some experiences and places, for the "truth", "God", love, rapture, Samadhi, you name it. But those are all forms, they always change, come and go, they are not permanent, they are just what happens in the dream that appears in Awareness.
I think it's important to stay in the Void, recollect all our knowledge and experiences, past lives if possible, and make a conscious choice on what we want to do next - whether to stay there for as long as we wish or to move to and join some other higher realms (pure lands, Pleroma) by intention and raising our vibration, or perhaps simply manifest a "world" and place to live for ourselves and stay there. I think there is always a choice to stay there in pure Void for good - and that would exactly be Buddha's nibbana or Samadhi (abiding in nothing else than pure formless Awareness). **
You can choose to remain in this peaceful state forever, if you like. There is a state of pure formless awareness-beingness with no mental activity. As Buddha explained, there are various states of consciousness on the way of ascending, as he experienced them himself, and the intermediate ones are very joyful and blissful, but then the emotion of joy fades away and what is left is just simple peaceful motionless awareness. In Advaita (Ramana Maharshi or Avadhuta Gita) they also describe Samadhi as a state of emotionless and thoughtless peace of abiding in pure awareness.
In the Mahayana Buddhist view of Nirvana one has an active life in a pure and peaceful state of awakening/enlightment. Mahayanists believe that once you reach spiritual maturity, get to that enlightened state and incarnate in those pure lands of Buddhas, you can stay there forever and never again incarnate in lower worlds.
There are different options and one can do it either way: you can stop any awareness and mental activity at all, including "awareness of awareness" (total cessation of consciousness), stay in pure awareness with no forms or other mental activity, or, while staying in the "awareness of awareness", allow for certain but only pure mental activity.
I think after death I would not be interested in merging with any Gods in love or staying in the Samadhi state of formless awareness of awareness. I would rather try to find a free community of pure souls that do creative activities like music, mathematics or maybe others. No sensational pleasures or emotions. Everything is good in balance and moderation. I'm more attracted to the beauty of pure forms like music or mathematical ideas. And there is never any danger in them. I'm sure such communities must exist somewhere in the realms of pure lands.
I think in this huge conscious reality there is no such thing as a single "True" path, but there is a big variety of different choices and paths. Some of them, going downwards, lead to suffering and miserable life, others lead to peaceful existence with pure creative activities, others lead to various states of consciousness like union in pure love or staying in pure awareness, others lead to various formless meditation states (Arupadhatu worlds), and there is also a choice of nibbana - cessation of any states of consciousness at all.
My worry is that even eternal nibbana may not work -- after spending googles of eons in the formless state all memories and knowledge will be gone, and, caused by some quantum fluctuation, we may wake up as a fresh-new-born soul with no prior knowledge and memories and start this journey of "wanting to know ourselves" again. I think the safer way is "controlled" nibbana where we stay in nibbana for a while but once in a while wake up, refresh our memories and knowledge, do some neutral mental exercises without developing any desires or addictions (music, math etc) to keep the consciousness in a good shape, and then go back into nibbana. I would definitely be cautious not to be reborn in any worlds or join any communities.
I'm always cautious to join any community. I've been with so many on Earth, including religious, professional etc and there are always some hidden agendas and hierarchies. There might be non-hierarchical communities in Rupaloka spheres with honest and mature souls, no agendas or hierarchies, but we should be very careful. The first thing is always to check when we communicate with any souls or communities here or there is whether they are enlightened or not. Never join any community of unenlightened souls. They are inevitably corrupted in one way or another.
It's safer to stay alone. It may be fine to temporarily visit them to get any further knowledge as long as there is always an exit.
In Tibetian Buddhism there is a belief that the liberated souls abide in the Dharmadhatu (liberated enlightened state of Awareness, not a manifested world) but can "project" themselves into any worlds and appear in those worlds as bodies without actually incarnating in order to help the souls there to get enlightened. When they project in material bodies they are called "Tulku". This is, as they believe, how Boddhisattvas do their helping jobs - they do not actually incarnate. I think it might be possible but we need to develop the psychic skills for that. This is the safe way - even if our projection gets in any unsafe places or traps we will never be entrapped there.
However,
I feel like the encouragement in Buddhism for souls not to leave the matrix, but to remain to help those still imprisoned is a trap. If it is true -- as some near death experiencers have said -- that after death we can manifest our reality instantaneously with Intention, then if we set our Intention on helping or saving souls imprisoned in a matrix we would actually be manifesting the need for the souls to be trapped so we could play the role of savior.
I think we may have a choice - be in a thoughtless blissful state or be in a positive enlightened disembodied non-polar-drama state and we can go back and forth whenever we want. I don't think you can run out of math ever even after eternity because math is also infinite. Music is infinite too. And there is always a lot of challenges in them.
The key thing is to get rid of this addiction to thrilling dramas and sensual desires that keep us attached to this quasi-material world. Addictions are healed by replacement - find non-addictive healthy activities that you enjoy more than addictions. So basically we need to find activities or states of consciousness that do not require the body and that satisfy us more than those thrills and sensual pleasures of the embodied life. Whether it's a practice of thoughtless meditation or any non-material creative activities - doesn't matter, whatever works for us. You don't need hands and paper to do math up there and you don't need musical instruments to create and enjoy music up there (Beethoven composed music even when he was deaf). And I'm sure there are plenty of other creative possibilities up there that we don't even know about. **
I think what happens in the disembodied state is that the desires, passions, addictions, worldviews, values stay inside us. We carry them over. If we do not develop any positive conscious states while we are here in this body that do not require the body and that can keep us satisfied, then we will be drawn back to the material world by our same sensual passions and addictions so we must break free of these attachments and addictions while on Earth. **
No one knows for certain what happens after death. It is up to each and every individual to make their own conclusions based on their own intuition and what resonates as truth within the core of their being. i think we all have to find the answers from within and not seek an external authority to tell us what is so. So I strongly encourage everyone to go within.
Most importantly, I think it is important to realize that we have the power to create our own reality using our Intention and Will Power. **
The material realm is a "collective manifestation of a group of Light Beings" - the astral scenes that NDErs are experiencing is either manifestation of the NDErs themselves, or other "Light Beings" who try to make the scene "comfortable" for the NDErs, or both.
The bottomline is: it is ALL manifestation. And what is manifestation? A fake and fabricated virtual reality. That's what the majority of souls are doing here - being "mystified", or simply deceived or deceiving themselves to make it interesting, and creating so much confusion, ignorance and suffering in that process. I don't buy into that.
There are other, more healthy ways to entertain ourselves. Creating fake mysteries, exploiting and deceiving ourselves or other beings, or, as another extreme, going into a coma/vegetable state of formless nothingless are not the only alternatives. You can entertain yourself without mystification and lies. There is endless potential for creativity: art, music, math. It's also manifestation, but you know it is fake, so what? Music is all fabricated, fake, but it's so much fun to listen and play. Creativity is beautiful, unlimited, positive and with no suffering, no lying, no exploiting of other beings. Healthy, never boring.
So what do we need to do when we die? Nothing. You don't have to do anything. You don't need to "go" anywhere. You don't need to go "home". You're already home. You don't have to return to "source". You are original source. You don't have to "learn" anything. Or "believe" in anything external. Just know. Just be. Everything -- the demiurge, the being of light, the white light, angels, archons, aliens, guides, masters, family, etc. all are external projections. Illusions. Hallucinations. Fabrications of awareness. Do not fear archons. They have no power over you, only the power you willingly choose to give them. Set the power of your unwavering, focused Intention on the reality you Will into existence, but don't ever forget that you are playing a game. That may be the hidden "meaning of life". "The meaning of life" is hidden within itself as an anagram: "the fine game of nil".
And in my next article, which might be called "Wish"-craft, I may write about exploring the possibility of manifesting an afterlife, only if one chooses not to stay in the so-called void forever, if for some reason one is not satisfied. It's not technically "wishing", but rather "willing". The wish or desire/want (what you perceive to be lacking) becomes "reality" with will power. You aren't lacking anything, but you temporarily fabricate a game of illusion for your own entertainment. I'm not sure I would recommend manifesting anything. If you read the near death experiences I have included in this article, they all seemed perfectly content indefinitely. But if one did choose to manifest an external reality, we can look at what options might be available. There are the Buddhic planes where the "gods" live. But manifesting anything is possible from the pregnant void. It's really up to you and your imagination. Just be careful because if it involves duality, then one would have to choose how big of a seesaw one wants to ride, whether one with minimal swings between the poles or large ones. But the key would be never to forget you are Pure Awareness and never ever forget that you are playing a "fine game of nil".
[NOTE: Once again, as I posted on the top of the main page of this site, everything on this web site is just my speculative opinion. I do not pretend to know for certain what the truth is. But I hope that I can contribute in some small way toward formulating your own view of reality.]
I would love some feedback on others' thoughts. What is your exit strategy or escape plan? I can be reached at waynejbush@protonmail . com
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