"This could be Heaven, right here on earth"

I was speaking to a friend recently about her opinion of life, and the possibility of an after-life. I myself am non-religious, yet I’ve always tried to remain open minded to any and all possibilities. She just flat out didn't believe. She did make - what seemed at the time - to be a good point though: "Doesn't it seem even slightly absurd to you that something with a beginning, could not have an ending?". "What were you before you were born?" she asked.. "Isn't this exactly what you'll be after you die?"

I naturally assumed that before I was born I was nothing. I can't remember anything from it, so therefore I couldn't have possibly existed. I was convinced that I was nothing then, and therefore I’ll be nothing after I die - but I was wrong. Before being born, I was simply energy existing in some form other than human. I was part of the universe, but not as a sentient being. I was my parents and their parents before them, I was the food they ate, and I was the air they breathed. Until one day I became an intelligent (open to debate ) and sentient form of energy - a human being.

So after we die, we again change into some other energy state. It may well be that all we are is our physical selves, and the remaining energy in our body is merely sucked out and fed to the surrounding environment - ie. animals and trees. Or, maybe we really are more than our physical selves, and that non-physical part of us continues on as some other unknown form of energy ("apparently" scientists are currently unable to account for all the energy in the universe - which is known to exist, but unknown as to where or in what form).

In any case, what we change into is possibly not that important anyway.. what is important (in my eyes at least), is what we take with us during this transformation. We certainly can't take our bodies, but maybe we can take our experiences, and our memories, and who we have become - for these are not material objects, and yet we still 'have' them.

All you will be is who you have become,
all you will have is what you have experienced,
all you will know is what you have learned.

Every day we manipulate the present in order to create the future. This is no different. During our time as humans, we are simply creating our future as non-humans. Every day we are creating our heaven or hell - whatever you want to call it I believe it is the same thing. In the end it's only perceptual anyway. Nothing is intrinsically "good" or "bad". What is good for you is good for you, you're the one who lives (and eventually dies) with it.

If you had to sit for eternity in a dark room, with only the memories of your life as comfort, would you be in heaven or hell. Ultimately it's our own choice.

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I originally wrote the above about a year ago, but never posted it - anywhere. It followed what I guess you could call a near death experience - but to be honest I don't know what it was. Maybe it was a dream, maybe something else, who knows. All I know is I woke up one night and believed with all my heart that I was dead - and if you believe something without any doubts at all, then it produces exactly the same response in your mind as it would if it were really happening (a bit like a dream I guess). In any case, mine was a "hellish" experience, and it really really disturbed me. It did, however make me take a very long hard look at my life, my beliefs, and my attitudes, and I think ultimately resulted in a positive change.

So that above is merely my personal opinion. What do you guys think? What do you believe?

-As angels debate chance and fate-
i was riding through melbourne on a midget giraffe, things were peachy.

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