Thank you, Tony, for always putting extra information at our disposal
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TONY: I believe we have existed forever in our silent, intangible, eternal, infinite spirit !!
However, any memories I had before the age of about 7 in 1945 were forgotten ??
Your message here is so amazing that I have hope that I might recall my transition.
My idea of the human experience is that it is a dream we can use when we wake up
I hope so, Tony. What do you mean by transition? Is it your NDE?
Thomas Metzinger is a German philosopher who has written extensively on the nature of consciousness. He argues that there is no such thing as a self in the traditional sense, but rather that the self is a phenomenal experience that is created by the brain. He calls this the "self-model theory of subjectivity."
If this single quote were true, then our individual self that NDErs experience as having always existed, as in Betty Eadie’s case, would be a plain product of the physical brain, NDEs would be a product of the physical brain, and this individual Self would be doomed to dissapear with the death of the physical brain.
In my opinion, when people try to analyse the nature of existence from the only perspective of our rational understanding, they are doomed to fail.
Then questions began coming to my mind. I wanted to know why I had died as I had—not prematurely, but how my spirit had come to him before the resurrection. I was still laboring under the teachings and beliefs of my childhood. His light now began to fill my mind, and my questions were answered even before I fully asked them. His light was knowledge. It had power to fill me with all truth. As I gained confidence and let the light flow into me, my questions came faster than I thought possible, and they were just as quickly answered. And the answers were absolute and complete. In my fears, I had misinterpreted death, had expected something that was not so. The grave was never intended for the spirit—only for the body. I felt no judgment for having been mistaken. There was just a feeling that a simple, living truth had replaced my error. I understood that he was the Son of God, though he himself was also a God, and that he had chosen from before the creation of the world to be our Savior. I understood, or rather, I remembered, his role as creator of the earth. His mission was to come into the world to teach love. This knowledge was more like remembering. Things were coming back to me from long before my life on earth, things that had been purposely blocked from me by a "veil" of forgetfulness at my birth.
I wanted to learn the purpose of life on the earth. Why are we here? As I basked in the love of Jesus Christ, I couldn't imagine why any spirit would voluntarily leave this wonderful paradise and all it offered—worlds to explore and ideas to create and knowledge to gain. Why would anyone want to come here? In answer, I remembered the creation of the earth. I actually experienced it as if it were being reenacted before my eyes. This was important, Jesus wanted me to internalize this knowledge. He wanted me to know how I felt when the creation occurred. And the only way to do that was for me to view it again and feel what I had felt before. All people as spirits in the pre-mortal world took part in the creation of the earth. We were thrilled to be part of it. We were with God, and we knew that he created us, that we were his very own children. He was pleased with our development and was filled with absolute love for each one of us. Also, Jesus Christ was there. I understood, to my surprise, that Jesus was a separate being from God, with his own divine purpose, and I knew that God was our mutual Father. My Protestant upbringing had taught me that God the Father and Jesus Christ were one being. As we all assembled, the Father explained that coming to earth for a time would further our spiritual growth. Each spirit who was to come to earth assisted in planning the conditions on earth, including the laws of mortality which would govern us. These included the laws of physics as we know them, the limitations of our bodies, and spiritual powers that we would be able to access. We assisted God in the development of plants and animal life that would be here. Everything was created of spirit matter before it was created physically—solar systems, suns, moons, stars planets, life upon the planets, mountains, rivers, seas, etc. I saw this process, and then, to further understand it, I was told by the Savior that the spirit creation could be compared to one of our photographic prints; the spirit creation would be like a sharp, brilliant print, and the earth would be like its dark negative. This earth is only a shadow of the beauty and glory of its spirit creation, but it is what we needed for our growth. It was important that I understand that we all assisted in creating our conditions here. Many times the creative thoughts we have in this life are the result of unseen inspiration. Many of our important inventions and even technological developments were first created in the spirit by spirit prodigies. Then individuals on earth received the inspiration to create these inventions here. I understood that there is a vital, dynamic link between the spirit world and mortality, and that we need the spirits on the other side for our progression. I also saw that they are very happy to assist us in any way they can. I saw that in the pre-mortal world we knew about and even chose our missions in life. I understood that our stations in life are based upon the objectives of those missions. Through divine knowledge we knew what many of our tests and experiences would be, and we prepared accordingly. We bonded with others—family members and friends—to help us complete our missions. We needed their help. We came as volunteers, each eager to learn and experience all that God had created for us. I knew that each of us who made the decision to come here was a valiant spirit. Even the least developed among us here was strong and valiant there.
I wanted to know why there were so many churches in the world. Why didn't God give us only one church, one pure religion? The answer came to me with the purest of understanding. Each of us, I was told, is at a different level of spiritual development and understanding. Each person is therefore prepared for a different level of spiritual knowledge. All religions upon the earth are necessary because there are people who need what they teach. People in one religion may not have a complete understanding of the Lord's gospel and never will have while in that religion. But that religion is used as a stepping stone to further knowledge. Each church fulfills spiritual needs that perhaps others cannot fill. No one church can fulfill everybody's needs at every level. As an individual raises his level of understanding about God and his own eternal progress, he might feel discontented with the teachings of his present church and seek a different philosophy or religion to fill that void. When this occurs he has reached another level of understanding and will long for further truth and knowledge and for another opportunity to grow. And at every step of the way, these new opportunities to learn will be given.
Quoted from “Embraced by the Light] by Betty Eadie (a Christian’s NDE)
Going back to Metzinger:
The self is not a thing, but rather a process.
The self is an illusion created by the brain's self-modeling abilities.
The self is constantly changing and evolving.
The self is not identical to the body.
The self is not a substance, but rather a property of the brain.
The idea that our physical mortal brain is an essential tool in order to co-create with God as a reducing valve of our eternal knowledge and understanding is very interesting, but I would be careful about using the word “illusion”. I have myself referred to physical life as a “dream” but I have come to mean the word “dream” as something that is just as real as waking reality, a bond with our Eternal Individual Spirit Self that is meant to permanently enrich it, and in so doing, enrich our Divine Source.
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