Introduction
Among other things, it discusses the idea of a collective consciousness – namely that there is a consciousness, for example a racial or a human one, that all of us who belong to it share. This idea was first formulated in the early 20th century by Carl Jung.
What followed was an overview of the earliest records and mentions of the afterlife in various civilizations:
Egypt
The oldest religious texts about belief in an afterlife come from Egypt, specifically from the walls of the pyramids at Saqqara. Sins were weighed on a scale, with the heart on one side and a feather on the other. However, the Egyptians believed that a person could take certain material things “to the other shore“.
Greece:
The Greek view of this subject shows up, for example, in Homer’s poems, such as the Odyssey. The underworld was ruled by Persephone together with her husband Hades.
Judaism:
At first it held that after death everyone descends as a “shade” (soul) into Sheol – a place of darkness and dust – and stays there forever. Eventually, however, a short passage was added in Daniel 12:2 saying that the righteous will in the end reach everlasting life, while the wicked will face shame and everlasting contempt.
Hinduism and Buddhism:
Hell exists, but it is not eternal for a person. What is more, a person can be freed by a Bodhisattva – someone who, over a long time and through previous lives, has reached a high level of spiritual development.
Islam:
The faith is rooted in the holy book, the Quran, and also in a further collection of texts – the Tradition. The basic idea of the Quran is that people should submit to the will of God or else bear harsh consequences. After death and burial, two angels arrive and examine the deceased on their knowledge of the Quran and the Tradition. If their knowledge is good, they go to heaven; otherwise they go to hell, where their ribs are crushed first. They remain there until the Last Judgment. There is also a mention of the Bridge over Hell (familiar from Zoroastrianism) and of the “Book of Life” (familiar from Christianity).
Christianity:
The core element of Christianity is Eternal life and Jesus Christ, who says, “Whoever believes in me will be saved and will have eternal life” (my note – somewhere in the Bible it also says that a person must be baptized, along with other necessary things, so it is not that simple). There is hell – the eternal fires of hell. There is also purgatory – a temporary hell, where the vast majority of souls will go after the Last Judgment. (My note: I would say this smacks a lot of Catholicism.) Christians today tend to believe that hell means separation from God rather than some far worse and more painful torment.
Australian Aborigines:
The central figure here is the Shaman, who is an important keeper of knowledge. People often stay in the same position for several hours while in a state of altered consciousness. These people have a strong spiritual sense and build their lives on premonitions and the capacity for empathy.
Native Americans:
They believe that the dead exist in another dimension, but that our dimension and their “dead” one influence each other. During the conquest of Native American lands and their Christianization, the so-called Dance of the Spirits (Ghost Dance) emerged. It begins with a few Native Americans singing in a circle, and others gradually join them – up to 500 or even more. People keep dancing and singing until many of them fall into a trance. They then leave their bodies and visit the spirit world.
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These are my notes, and sometimes also “copied-out passages”, from the book Life After Death (subtitle Exploring the Mysteries of Life and Death) by Jenny Randles and Peter Hough (ISBN 80-85928-04-3).
I have to return the book to the library, so I am at least keeping a memory of it in this form. If you want to find all the chapters I have written up like this on this blog, type something like “These are my notes from the book Life After Death” (without the quotes, of course) into the search box on the right, because this intro will be included in all of these notes and blog posts. If you want to tell me anything, use the email sunamocz@gmail.com . You can ask for my ICQ, Jabber or anything else, and I will try to give you everything. You can also tell me off, express your sympathy or even give me some praise.
I really have neither the desire nor the mood nor anything else to copy out the whole book. I have tried to capture the main ideas I came across here, and since this book was packed with brilliant and remarkable ideas from the first letter to the last, I cannot cover absolutely everything. I hope it all makes sense to you. I apologize for any spelling mistakes; this has not gone through proofreading or any spell-checker. Enjoy!