Life and Death

March 24, 2010 · Posted in Tao 200 views

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I am often asked questions such as “Do you believe in the soul?” or “Do you believe in an afterlife?” First, I make it clear that Taoists as a whole do not all share the same views on this subject. Views can range from a type of reward or punishment existence to reincarnation. What follows are my own personal views:

Tao is the source of all things. What this means is that I consider all matter, all energy, all things and the emptiness between things to be part of the Tao. It’s similar to saying, “everything in the universe”.

To quote Carl Sagan, “We are made of star stuff.” We understand matter to the point where we can trace everything down to protons, neutrons and electrons. These same basic building blocks can be found in everything from a grain of sand to the brightest star.

But what are we beyond the body? Our thoughts are the result of brain activity: continuous bio-chemical-electric activity. I sometimes like to imagine thoughts as looking like lightning streaking back and forth within storm clouds. I know that when I die, my body will eventually decompose, and the material that I once used will return to the Earth and be made available to be reused. Just as my body once took from available resources to come into existence and grow, it will be used again. Nature naturally recycles.

But what about the electrical energies used by my body? I believe energy is not created nor destroyed. It can be transformed and dispersed, but it too will be given use by nature, or Tao. In the strictest manner of speaking, we are all reused in the universe, so you could say this is a type of reincarnation.

Do I believe in the concept that a specific soul, retaining definition from previous lifetimes is reborn as an intact entity? No. When the energy of my life is released from the body, it will immediately follow whatever natural paths exist. Perhaps it is partially absorbed by those around me. Perhaps it is drawn to the sky and joins the clouds. It’s all speculative certainly, but I do not believe I will retain the same “self awareness” that I have now since the concept of self is tied to being an entity.

Everything I am, everything that I have been will continue to exist (and eventually become part of something else) after I die … except for the “I” part.

“Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form, that is the Portal of God” - Chuang Tzu

Tags: afterlife, Carl Sagan, death, life, reincarnation