Taboo

[poliphilo]

I don't think it's death that's the taboo subject in our society- because, God only knows, our media are as full of images of mortality as an 18th century graveyard. No, it's not death we don't want to discuss, it's what comes after, that undiscovered country etc etc. The not very good movie I watched yesterday afternoon is predicated on society's reluctance to deal with it. Our heroine- played by Cecile de France- is told (because she's a well-known public face) that her publishers will take any book she cares to throw at them. She pitches a biography of Francois Mitterand. They say, "Great, here's a huge advance." So she goes away and thinks about it and decides she's not that interested in Mitterand after all and instead turns in the first couple of chapters of a book about her Near Death Experience. Her publishers squirm.

I was thinking, that's a bit exaggerated, but then I thought, no, actually, it's not. We don't talk about the afterlife. We're embarrassed by it.. The odd newspaper article- more likely to be published in the Mail than the Guardian- draws comments about "sky fairies" and all that fundamentalist rot from semi-literate Dawkinsians- and one realises why people who have something to say on the subject are reluctant to put themselves in the spotlight. Mention angels or spirit guides in any public arena and expect the cabbage stalks to fly.  My readers on LJ are too polite to shout at me but I notice that I never get any comments if I post about- say- the spiritualist books I've been reading. I used to have conversations here about God and the afterlife with dear jackiejj but since she went off to explore the undiscovered country for herself there's been next to nothing.

I refuse to believe people are simply not interested, because, really, what subject could be more relevant or urgent? We're all going to die and we're all either going to wink out like a candle flame or find out that, hey, actually...

Comments

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I'm not embarrassed by the afterlife. I don't see the point in talking deeply about something that probably doesn't exist. But I don't want to get in the way of someone else talking about it, if that makes them feel better. So I leave that conversation for people who find meaning in it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You see I've always wanted to know whether it exists or not, and so....

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I used to think it did. Now I am mostly convinced it doesn't. The idea of permanent non-existence and being forgotten from the historical record after a generation or two upsets me deeply. But living with that upset feels more authentic to me than the stories I was told of what "heaven" would be like ever did.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The thing about heaven is we don't have the ability to imagine it- it's like trying to picture an extra dimension or a set of colours that don't exist on earth- and so we fall back on the most magnificent imagery at our disposal- and build up a picture of a city made of precious stones inhabited by harp-playing winged angels- and of course it falls short and disappoints. We're mistaking the symbols for the thing itself.

I don't mind being forgotten. The earthly self is just a mask- a temporary identity- adopted by a real self which is eternal and has lived many many different lives.

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I find the idea of a real self that has lived many lives I don't remember just as disturbing as being forgotten. For starters, we don't know "the earthly self is just a mask". That is what we tell ourselves in our attempts to explain the unexplainable. But if that is true that means I am bearing the burdens and paying for the crimes of a self I don't remember, of acts I don't even remember. That is not fair in the least. If hell is a real thing, that is hell.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Why do you think you're being punished? That's a very legalistic view of karma. The way I see it we choose our lives- bearing in mind everything we've already done- with a view to expanding our experience. We might choose a hard life- not as punishment exactly- not unless we're masochists- but because we want to set ourselves a challenge.

From the viewpoint of an eternally existing soul- which has lived and will live hundreds of lives- it would be no big deal to take on a really tough life every now and then.

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

When I look at all of the hurtful, harmful, limiting things that have happened to me and are outside of my power to control or even influence, the only conclusion I can come to is punishment.

If I had a choice, I would have chosen a life where I don't have to worry about money, my partner's health, my parents' health, or finding ways to make meaningful a life that is radically more limited than my aspirations have always been. If I lived past lives, I would think my aspirations come from what I know I am capable of doing. To be dumped into an existence that can't come anywhere close to that is not something I would ever choose and can only be a punishment.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I can imagine choosing a tough life for the same sort of reasons that people do gratuitously difficult things like walking across Antarctica.

Surely difficulty can be a spur to achievement? I mean, if you start off with everything there's much less reason to push for anything.

Of course I know almost nothing about your life- but I've visited your website- and you're a very good photographer.
I don't know what your aspirations are, but I think of you as a person who has achieved things...

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I am not one to do gratuitously difficult things either. :-) Though I suppose some of what I have achieved is difficult, but the difficulty was worth it, because the process and/or end goal was meaningful for me. I suppose someone who believes, as you do, that we choose in a past life what kind of life we will have now would say that is what you mean by choosing a tough life.

I have achieved things, and thank you for your compliment on my photography. But there are many other things I had wanted to achieve/experience that were outside of the limits of my resources and connections. If I had had the opportunity to choose my life, I would have chosen a life with far more resources, both material and emotional, than the environment I was born into. Those limitations made certain aspects of my life unnecessarily difficult.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Restrictions are what life on earth is all about. For example, and maybe this is a silly example, we can't fly without using machinery. That restriction applies to us all, but everyone of us is born with a particular and different set of restrictions. Even the Queen of England suffers them. In fact, for all her wealth and privilege, she is very tightly restricted. Can you imagine what it must be like never to be able to go anywhere incognito or do the shopping like a normal person or not have everyone you meet defer to you? All our lives are limited by genes and gender and race and class and nationality and place and time.

I think the point of the exercise- leaving the spirit world where anything is possible and coming to the material world where all things are difficult and many are impossible- is to thoroughly explore the possibilities to a limited field of action, to make the most of it and- if we're particularly pushy or creative- transcend it. Every life is unique and every life is worth living. Dealing with limitations builds character.

And if a particular life turns out to be disappointing- well, we get to have another go. And another. And another.

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I have found my character is far less salty the fewer limitations I must deal with. :-D