Death and Afterlife

I realise I don't post very often. In part this is due to access, but also I am simply
becoming more silent. When we work with the alchemical aether, the vacuum, the
void, dark matter, akasha, etc, space is emphasized. The space between the subatomic
particle-waves seems to grow larger, and hence there is less to say less often. :)

Ha. "The space between" reminds me of one of my favorite songs. It's quite appropriate
in my mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H67uEgRZs2Y

"The space between what's wrong and right
Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you...
Take my hand 'cause we're walking out of here."


Death is a subject much neglected, perhaps due to lack of explorers. I would venture to
say that death is as enigmatic as the Philosophers' stone. I would also say that this is
because death IS the Philosophers' stone, by which I mean that the realm or dimension
of death is the realm of aether, i.e. non-physical existence. Castaneda claimed that our
destiny or evolution is to become inorganic beings. It is not unpopular to say that we are
more than our bodies, but how few truly know what that entails. I have said before that
the more life/infinity that we realize, the more we "embody" death/no-thing-ness. Such is
the relationship between the One and the All.

Anyway, it is not my intention to rehash what has been said, but to share some additional
views and realizations. These are very fresh for me and it will be difficult to find the words
that accompany the visions, but here goes...
It is an uncommon thought to entertain, that life is a preparation for death. Even saying that
now doesn't 'sound right', but that is due to the stigma we have associated with the word 'death'.
It is evident enough that death follows life, but few are willing to go further and say life is
preparation for death. In stark contrast, some hold the view that death is the failure of life. No.
It's really a matter of the degree of awareness/consciousness one can bring to life and death.
There are societies that see reincarnation as an unconscious loop, the fate of sleepers. Hence
Plato and soma sema: "We are dead and the body (soma) is a tomb (sema)". So I am not alone
if I view this life as a preparation to die well/successfully. :) That could lead to a very long post
visiting all sorts of Mystery religions. Let me just leave you with the Egyptian version of weighing
one's heart/soul against a feather (of truth) and we'll move on.

I recently saw how unprepared I am to die, which startled me because I thought I was accruing
some experience in this area. I wish to relay to you just how rooted we are in this physical
interpretation, and how frightening it can be to lose your grasp on what you have thought was
reality for so many years. I do not equate the two ideas of dying peacefully and dying successfully.
One can have a peaceful dream, a peaceful belief which satisfies and comforts. But I say "beware
the comfort; beware the known". If your death leads you to something familiar, it is not a successful
death, unless no-thing-ness is familiar to you. The fear of the unknown is an essential ingredient of
hell. Indeed, hell is trying to maintain your grasp on what you have known. Hell is dying unprepared.
Hell is realizing that manifest life was supposed to be more than a vacation from unmanifest death. :)
This reminds me of the short fable where the ants prepare for winter and the grasshopper doesn't.
http://www.bartleby.com/17/1/36.html

I also saw how the desire to be grounded in something, to have fixity, leads the afterlife awareness
back to a body. I had been aware of the description where the entity that is waiting to be born is aware
of the parents and such. Some even suggest that we choose our parents. But the experience I had was
not like that. It was a more primal consciousness that was not aware of humans at all or even such a
human possibility. It was simply force and energy and desire to have fixity/stability which magnetically
drew the awareness to a place in infinity where this could occur, and that may happen to be the cells which
are dividing inside a human womb. That is how the primordial soup comes into manifestation. That some
awareness may choose its parents is certainly possible, and indicative of some degree of retained awareness,
i.e. preparation. And this is the whole of alchemy - solve et coagula, volatility and fixity, desire and being/essence.
(a funny synchronicity - my Dad is playing music and the song "Higher Love" is on and the lyric was:
"I could light the night up with my soul on fire. I could make the sun shine from pure desire.")

Well, I'll leave this thread with the suggestion that you give some thought to preparation for death, the 99%
unmanifest realms. Alchemy begins with a death. The depiction in the Matrix movie of the atrophy of Neo's
awakened body due to not having been used is very apropos. Consider preparation. Do not assume that when
one dies there is automatic access to the subtle bodies. These must be exercised prior to death.
How do you do that? Don't wait until winter like the grasshopper to contemplate such essentials.

Blessed be. :)