My Views on the Afterlife/Eschatology
Mar. 25th, 2019 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
causticusMy own beliefs on the afterlife are similar to that of various Eastern doctrines. In that, I believe in reincarnation, some form of karma, and that the purpose of living as a human on Earth is to spiritually grow and mature (through many human incarnations) and eventually self-actualize one's soul enough to liberate oneself from the necessity of material rebirths and thus get closer to God/the Divine and/or reunite with the true spiritual Self.
Q: What are your views on the salvation of all mankind?
I have no firm view on this, other than I'm not so convinced that the human species on this particular planet, among a cosmic sea of likely countless other planets harboring life, is all that special in the grand scheme of things. I do believe our souls are however, and all other sentient souls out there wherever and all over. Down here on Earth, I believe most incarnate humans are just trying to get a basic grip on what it means to be human and aren't necessarily interested in higher religious/spiritual teachings; the kind of religion less mature souls will relate to will be those that revolve around concrete rules and base superstitions.
Where do people go when they die?
Depends on the person. Though for the average person of mixed deeds and accomplishments, from what I understand they will ascend up into an astral realm (there's countless numbers of these) that's akin to their own soul-character and acquired knowledge and habits; there eventually after some time of reflection, the discarnate soul will grow bored and restless and start longing once again for an earthly life, owing to unresolved desires from past flesh incarnations. The less Gnosis this soul has soul has acquired in the past several lives, the less control they will have over the conditions of their new life; there will be spiritual entities (we could call angels) who pick these conditions and guide the soul toward their next life. However, more mature souls who have accumulated more spiritual wisdom (Gnosis) will have a greater degree of control over how and where they will next incarnate. Souls that resolved all their karmic baggage and have thus been freed from the rebirth cycle may voluntarily choose another earthly life for the express purpose of helping other humans become enlightened/liberated. These souls may have full control over the conditions of their new birth.
Will there be a form of eternal torment for some or many?
No, only a sick psychopath would implement such an arrangement. No good/loving God would be responsible for such a reprehensible thing. The idea that if a person screws up in during just ONE tiny little lifetime (we need to take into account the cosmic timescale) they will be damned, is beyond sadistic. In reality, (according to my view) it takes many lifetimes to make mistakes and then learn from those mistakes and then transcend those mistakes. During a single lifetime there's simply a lot of random and weird things that can suddenly cut your life short at a moment's notice. And of course, simply refusing to follow some arbitrary man-made set of laws, or being born in a part of the world that has no access to that doctrine, certainly does NOT mean any kind of afterlife punishment for the person/soul in question. Such a belief is preposterous and doctrines that assert this view were devised merely to instill fear in people and make them compliant toward some state or priestly authority. But yes, I do believe people who commit very awful deeds during their life and have little-to-no awareness they have done so, will experience some kind of temporary punishment that may last one or several lives, or perhaps a limbo period in an unpleasant realm.
Will there be a judgment, and what will that look like?
As one singular event for all of humanity? No. If there is any judgement, it's a person-by-person judgement, each occurring at different times. I believe all human souls have a "Higher Self" or "Guardian Spirit" counterpart that exists to provide subtle subconscious guidance and then after death help facilitate a reflection period for past deeds committed. That itself may be seen as a kind of judgement. Fundamentally I believe the Higher aspects of our Selves are our most harsh judges.
Regarding so-called "immature souls" as the kinds of beliefs and lifestyles they are attracted toward, some of them will certainly be drawn to black/white concrete beliefs and/or firm, predictable rules for securing a sense of comfort and certitude. Whereas other immature souls may just want to just fuck around and lead totally hedonistic lives, i.e. experience as many sense-pleasures as they are able to before their bodies fall into a state of decrepitude. I think for most those it's a mix of these two desires; the average person wants to have fun and at the same time feel sure and secure. Moderately mature souls (not necessarily ones drawn to mysticism, philosophy, or spirituality) will probably desire some kind of creative outlet and perhaps have an artistic, intellectual or inventive temperament. And of course, the even more mature will be actively seeking out higher meaning and will have likely done so in their most recent lives. In my view, a "good religion" for the masses would include outlets for sense-joy/pleasure, higher teachings, and rules for ideal conduct.
What might differentiate me from some other Gnostics is that I try my best (though often fail to) to have a great deal of compassion for the less mature souls of this world. Every person on Earth is at a slightly different place and thus has different spiritual needs. The one thing that grinds my gears the most is one-size-fits all ideological and spiritual prescriptions for humanity. And this also clusters into different populations. A belief system that might be beneficial for one culture, could be a total disaster for another culture.
Q: What are your views on the salvation of all mankind?
I have no firm view on this, other than I'm not so convinced that the human species on this particular planet, among a cosmic sea of likely countless other planets harboring life, is all that special in the grand scheme of things. I do believe our souls are however, and all other sentient souls out there wherever and all over. Down here on Earth, I believe most incarnate humans are just trying to get a basic grip on what it means to be human and aren't necessarily interested in higher religious/spiritual teachings; the kind of religion less mature souls will relate to will be those that revolve around concrete rules and base superstitions.
Where do people go when they die?
Depends on the person. Though for the average person of mixed deeds and accomplishments, from what I understand they will ascend up into an astral realm (there's countless numbers of these) that's akin to their own soul-character and acquired knowledge and habits; there eventually after some time of reflection, the discarnate soul will grow bored and restless and start longing once again for an earthly life, owing to unresolved desires from past flesh incarnations. The less Gnosis this soul has soul has acquired in the past several lives, the less control they will have over the conditions of their new life; there will be spiritual entities (we could call angels) who pick these conditions and guide the soul toward their next life. However, more mature souls who have accumulated more spiritual wisdom (Gnosis) will have a greater degree of control over how and where they will next incarnate. Souls that resolved all their karmic baggage and have thus been freed from the rebirth cycle may voluntarily choose another earthly life for the express purpose of helping other humans become enlightened/liberated. These souls may have full control over the conditions of their new birth.
Will there be a form of eternal torment for some or many?
No, only a sick psychopath would implement such an arrangement. No good/loving God would be responsible for such a reprehensible thing. The idea that if a person screws up in during just ONE tiny little lifetime (we need to take into account the cosmic timescale) they will be damned, is beyond sadistic. In reality, (according to my view) it takes many lifetimes to make mistakes and then learn from those mistakes and then transcend those mistakes. During a single lifetime there's simply a lot of random and weird things that can suddenly cut your life short at a moment's notice. And of course, simply refusing to follow some arbitrary man-made set of laws, or being born in a part of the world that has no access to that doctrine, certainly does NOT mean any kind of afterlife punishment for the person/soul in question. Such a belief is preposterous and doctrines that assert this view were devised merely to instill fear in people and make them compliant toward some state or priestly authority. But yes, I do believe people who commit very awful deeds during their life and have little-to-no awareness they have done so, will experience some kind of temporary punishment that may last one or several lives, or perhaps a limbo period in an unpleasant realm.
Will there be a judgment, and what will that look like?
As one singular event for all of humanity? No. If there is any judgement, it's a person-by-person judgement, each occurring at different times. I believe all human souls have a "Higher Self" or "Guardian Spirit" counterpart that exists to provide subtle subconscious guidance and then after death help facilitate a reflection period for past deeds committed. That itself may be seen as a kind of judgement. Fundamentally I believe the Higher aspects of our Selves are our most harsh judges.
Regarding so-called "immature souls" as the kinds of beliefs and lifestyles they are attracted toward, some of them will certainly be drawn to black/white concrete beliefs and/or firm, predictable rules for securing a sense of comfort and certitude. Whereas other immature souls may just want to just fuck around and lead totally hedonistic lives, i.e. experience as many sense-pleasures as they are able to before their bodies fall into a state of decrepitude. I think for most those it's a mix of these two desires; the average person wants to have fun and at the same time feel sure and secure. Moderately mature souls (not necessarily ones drawn to mysticism, philosophy, or spirituality) will probably desire some kind of creative outlet and perhaps have an artistic, intellectual or inventive temperament. And of course, the even more mature will be actively seeking out higher meaning and will have likely done so in their most recent lives. In my view, a "good religion" for the masses would include outlets for sense-joy/pleasure, higher teachings, and rules for ideal conduct.
What might differentiate me from some other Gnostics is that I try my best (though often fail to) to have a great deal of compassion for the less mature souls of this world. Every person on Earth is at a slightly different place and thus has different spiritual needs. The one thing that grinds my gears the most is one-size-fits all ideological and spiritual prescriptions for humanity. And this also clusters into different populations. A belief system that might be beneficial for one culture, could be a total disaster for another culture.
