Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily…. Is Life but A Dream?

What is Life?  What is Death?  Is one a beginning and one an end?  Or is it a continual cycle of one after another?  Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily….  Is Life but A Dream?

Do we do work on earth so that we maximize our quality of after-life?   Does our spirit do work in the ever-after to maximize our quality of earth-life?   And why is it that the day we find out the answer to that question for sure,  it’s one day too late…..

Or is it?  Maybe the twist at the end of the story is that, as hard as our earthly minds work at understanding the abstract concepts of death and what exists beyond it while we are here alive,  that maybe as long as our after-life-selves understand it, that’s the important part.  Maybe we have our “life” definition mixed up and over-the-rainbow is where it’s really all at.  Just maybe,  the world we know here is merely the stage where we practice and work out the kinks for the real show that comes afterward.

I’m not writing this today as an answer to that question.  And by no means as a be-all-and-end-all that sums it all up neatly.  But since my family faced the question this week,  it felt fake to write about anything except the one thing that’s been swirling around in my mind all week.  How the heck does it all work?

Personally, I don’t think any one religion has it all right.  Or all wrong.  Why can’t they all contain truths?  And why do any, except the one we happened to choose,  have to be false? 

It reminds me of that story about the elephant and the 5 blind men.  Was it an elephant?  I don’t actually remember the details of the story, but it’s the gist that counts.  Anyway,  they all tried to feel the part of the animal they were next to and describe it to figure out what it actually was.  They all experienced completely different things.  Tusks,  huge ears, a big belly,  4 thick appendages, a tail….  all different parts so described differently, but all correctly part of the same bigger picture.  So maybe all faiths are right on target for the part of the bigger picture they are tapping into.

In high school we had a comparative religions class.  Each religion written about from a person who honestly believed in that faith.  So they all sounded awesome.  At the end,  we had to write about which one we connected to…. did you believe the teachings of Christianity, Judaism, Mormanism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Bahai, etc… or something  completely different even…. 

My answer was   “Yes”.     How could we not find beauty and comfort in all of them? 

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One of the most interesting books I’ve read recently is “The Inhabiter:  A Journey Into the Nature of Reality” by Holly Marie Pollard-Wright.  In it she tells how researching brain function and consciousness “evolved to include spirituality”.  

I’ve read about people trying to prove spirituality through examples in science, but here was someone studying science who realized it had a spiritual basis.  It’s a subtle difference, but a profound one.  This was a conclusion came to by someone who did not have an agenda to reach a particular outcome.  This was an outcome reached just because that is where the neuro-science lead.  She wrote that “in order to fully understand what makes reality,  I need to combine both science and spirituality”.   I liked that.

In her book, she states that “there is an observer and an experiencer of reality that is separate from the brain.  She named the observer the “Inhabiter”.   She also sensitively adds that “reality and spirituality will be experienced differently among different Inhabitors”.    Meaning that each unique person may use a different belief system to tie all the pieces together…  and that’s ok.

She explains how “consciousness differs from brain function” and that each person’s life is their own “reality movie” that is “directed” by their own unique Inhabitor.  Each person’s physical body and “computer brain” is the main “I” character in their own movie and at some time that body and brain will die,  but their Inhabitor will not.  

At that point,  it’s journey “will be affected by the time it has spent inhabiting the computer brain in it’s reality movie.  The challenge becomes whether each person’s Inhabitor directs their life movie consciously,  or allows it to be done unconsciously.  Will the brain follow cues from it’s Inhabitor….  or will the Inhabitor, not realizing it even exists,  just blindly follow the brain?  Will we perceive ourselves as the brain and body’s “I” character,  or as the Inhabitor that lives on even when those other parts do not?   Our experience of the afterlife can be vary dependent on that level of awareness. 

I’m actually going to read it again during this time of questioning to help remind me of this grounding perspective.  I think we all have those times of questioning, don’t we?  Maybe it comes after a death.  Or a birth.  Or a life transition.  Regardless of the event,  life gives us many landmark experiences that remind us that there is a lot we do not understand.   And a lot we forget to think about during times in our lives when things go smoothly or get busy. 

But maybe if we remind ourselves not to forget more often,  we can give ourselves the chance to make more enlightened choices,  that over time will shape the being we truly are, our authentic self.  And not just during grand milestone forks in the road,  but for all the everyday choices of how we decide to react to each situation that presents itself in front of us.  That gives us a lot of chances to shape who we actually want to be!

I won’t come back and write more after re-reading it,  because what I pick out of it this time is different from what would stand out to you.  Since my life’s “reality movie” is different from yours,  we each need to find the parts that speak to us and vibrate “just right” within us.

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Which is now making me think of Goldilocks  and the Three Bears.   In my current mind’s version,  one bear’s beliefs of the afterlife may be too “fill in the blank”.   And another bear’s beliefs of the afterlife may be too “fill in the blank”.   But if you can become in sync with what truths speak to the YOU bear (or the ME bear),  we just might find an awareness of the ever-after that feels “just right”.

So then what is the bigger picture?  Is it love thy neighbor as thyself?  Is it do unto others as you would have done unto you?  Is it don’t sweat the small stuff?  Is it just be good?  Or is it the first thought and first image you had in your head when you first heard that question?   My answer still feels the same as it did thirty years ago….  “Yes”.

Is this current life the “real” life,  or is what happens after our body dies the “real” life?   Is the ever-after part something we just tell ourselves so we won’t be sad or scared?   Or is it like when we fall asleep and dream?  Or is IT,  the ever-after,  where we are most “real”,  and  HERE that is the dream of that other us up there?  And if that’s the case,  are our dreams here a chance to tap into the us up there,  just to check in?

One thing I do know is that as long as we’re asking ourselves these questions,  we’re on the right path.  And as long as we’re open to any and all possibilities that present themselves before us,  we’re on the right path.

For me, experiencing the emotions of this week has made me think of a few things I want to remember to remember. 

Be open to the little signs.  Open to the “coincidences” that probably are not “coincidences”.   Be open to the dream you wake up thinking about or the song that keeps replaying in your head.  Be open to what was happening around you the moment you got goosebumps or the chimes that rang in the breeze right after you thought of someone special who has passed over to the other side.  Be open to the silver lining,  even in times that seem, on the surface,  couldn’t possibly have one.   Be open to the “happy accidents” of “serendipity”.   Just be open…..

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Book reference:  “The Inhabitor: A Journey Into the Nature of Reality”   by Holly Marie Pollard-Wright    

    (1st book of her series)     http://amzn.to/2tYifwl 

Photo credit:   grahamfineart.com  –  Tomasz Alen Kopera, ‘Reborn’  )