Do We Only Live Once?

A fascinating subject, not necessarily a religious topic, although we have been taught this is so. The Bible says that 'eternity is writ in men's hearts' (paraphrased) and probably similar sentiments are found in many religious traditions.  In the oldest traditions (not necessarily religious) when society was more matriarchal and paid homage to many goddesses, the view was "birth/life/death/infinity" - to borrow a phrase from the old t.v. series.  (Image: Old Europe Cucuteni 4900 - 4750 bce fired clay 21 figurines and 13 chairs.  My guess is that the 13 chairs reflect the 13 lunar cycles per year).  The entire process of human existence, from birth to death, was seen as a never-ending circle that was reflected in the entire world around us - the never-ending cycle of the seasons, the rotations of the stars about our heads, the rebirth of the earth and its bounty every year during spring. 

To this very day we usually don't say that somebody has died, we say that person has "passed away."  Of course the implication is that the person has left behind physical life and moved on to something else - vaguely visualized as "something better."  The body may moulder inside an expensive casket (what a waste of money!) but the "soul" if you will - that essential spark and unique identity that is each of us - survives. 

What happens to that unique identity once the physical body dies is the subject of endless debate.  But the fact that the debate itself exists, is very telling, isn't it :)

For the record, I do believe that our unique selves survive and incarnate into human beings again.

I saw a link to this article through a friend's comment at Facebook. Here are the introductory paragraphs from the Huffington Post.

Robert Lanza, M.D.Scientist; author, "Biocentrism"
Posted: March 24, 2010 09:11 AM
Do You Only Live Once? Experiments Suggest Life Not One-Time Deal

We think we die and rot into the ground, and thus must squeeze everything in before it's too late. If life -- yours, mine -- is a just a one-time deal, then we're as likely to be screwed as pampered. But experiments suggest this view of the world may be wrong.

The results of quantum physics confirm that observations can't be predicted absolutely. Instead, there's a range of possible observations each with a different probability. One mainstream explanation, the "many-worlds" interpretation, states that there are an infinite number of universes (the "multiverse"). Everything that can possibly happen occurs in some universe. The old mechanical -- "we're just a bunch of atoms" −- view of life loses its grip in these scenarios.

Biocentrism extends this idea, suggesting that life is a flowering and adventure that transcends our ordinary linear way of thinking. Although our individual bodies are destined to self-destruct, the "me'' feeling is just energy operating in the brain. But this energy doesn't go away at death. One of the surest principles of science is that energy never dies; it can neither be created nor destroyed. When we die, we do so not in the random billiard ball matrix but in the inescapable life matrix. Life has a non-linear dimensionality −- it's like a perennial flower that returns to bloom in the multiverse.

A series of landmark experiments show that measurements an observer makes can influence events that have already happened in the past. One experiment (Science 315, 966, 2007) confirmed that flipping a switch could retroactively change a result that had happened before the switch was flipped. Regardless of the choice you, the observer, make, it'll be you who will experience the outcomes −- the universes −- that will result.