This is the final message in this series. To read Parts 1 and 2 of “The Personal Identity,” (January 23, 2009 and January 27, 2009), go to www.YourSpiritualJourney.net  .

After publishing Part 2 of this series, I received two emails. Thus it appears that many people do not wish to investigate the reality of their personal identity. This isn’t a bad thing. I’m not saying that you “should” be interested in this subject. Personally, I think everyone is where they are supposed to be.

One who is willing to investigate the personal identity is not superior in any way to one who refuses to even discuss the topic.

What I do believe is that this subject is frightening to many people. This is understandable. To question the nature of the individual personality, we must be ready to re-examine who and what we are. The vast majority of people are not willing to do that, preferring to cling to their existing beliefs and assumptions. I too was not willing to let go of my cherished beliefs until a few years ago.

I invite you to consider this hypothetical example.

Let’s assume you have a 9 year-old daughter. She comes home from school one day, looking very worried and you can see that she has been crying. You ask her what is wrong and she says:

“In school today during science class, the teacher said that there is no proof that any of us has an individual identity – that there is no way to locate any individual in the body. Then, the teacher said (and your daughter starts to cry), that physics has proven that everything (all matter) we see in the world – including people, desks, trees and animals – consists of energy waves in EMPTY SPACE. Nothing is solid.”

Your daughter looks you in the eye, tears streaming down her face, and says, “Please, please tell me what is going on here. If everything is made of empty space, why do I see everything as solid objects? If I have no individual identity, who or what am I? I feel like my whole world has been destroyed. I want you to tell me the truth about myself. Why has nobody told me the truth about this before? What are you hiding from me?”

Your daughter continues sobbing and begs you to explain these things to her.

What would you do? What would you say to her?

Would you assure her that she does indeed have a personal identity? Where would you tell her it is located – and what proof would you offer? How would you handle her question about all matter being waves of energy in empty space?

These would be very difficult issues to discuss with your daughter. What approach would you take to address your daughter’s concerns?

– Jeff Keller
© 2009

For those who wish to review Part 1 of The Personal Identity (January 23, 2009), go to www.YourSpiritualJourney.net  .

In this message, I will include some reader comments that I received on this topic. Most of those who responded had some previous experience in which they came to question the idea of a personal identity.

I am not surprised that I didn’t get a lot of emails in response to Part 1. This is a topic that many people feel is irrelevant, or just plain crazy. Questioning the personal identity is a frightening exercise for the mind, which has no interest in being “written out of the script.” After all, if the personal identity doesn’t exist, then who or what am I? The mind finds it much safer to avoid this discussion.

In this issue of the newsletter, I’ll include some of the subscriber comments. In the next issue, I’ll offer some additional thoughts of my own on this topic.

I invite you to keep an open mind on this subject. Feel free to offer your comments, whether you agree or disagree with anything I and others have said — or if you think this topic is nonsense. ALL comments are welcome, and I feel that everyone can benefit by being exposed to numerous perspectives.

– Jeff Keller

* * * *

Subscriber Comments:

When we are adults, we think that we are a personal identity. Let’s go backwards in time and imagine we are a very young child. We did not have a job or a car, and we didn’t want to be alone. We wanted to be together with our mother and/or father. We had a name but “me” and “you” didn’t really exist in our mind. There was just we.

If you still think we are a personal identity, let’s take a journey further back in time. When we go back even further, we experience ourselves as an embryo in our mothers’ womb - we feel very connected with our mother and are not a separate identity anymore. We are still in the body of someone else, of our mother. Something was forming our body. Our body was very tiny - where is the identity? When we go back even further, we came into existence when a sperm cell and an egg-cell connected. So, where is the personal identity? Where are we? Then we look into the cell and somewhere find the atom and deeper we just find energy or a field of connected particles. So where is the identity and where are we?

Now we can see that a personal identity was formed, but that we ARE NOT a personal identity. There’s a difference. It’s not about giving up all we have, but just to realize that we HAVE it and not that we BE it.

* * * *

My understanding is that we indeed have a personal identity that is the personality, aka, the spirit and as you said, is simply energy that permeates and surrounds us. However, it’s the soul, the higher self, that is one with all. As the soul reincarnates, it chooses a spirit/personality in which it will experience physical life within a body for the purpose of its own evolvement. At the time of the physical body’s death, the soul transcends, releasing the spirit to live on for an eternity. As the soul, the light of God, decides to evolve and experience physical life once again for the purpose of its evolvement, it chooses a new spirit/personality to reincarnate with.
Looking forward to hearing other perspectives. Thanks for helping people to lift their thoughts to more than deciding which TV show to watch or what to have for dinner!

* * * *

Great topic today. I so much enjoy your “digging” around to try to stir up our thought lives.
My personal belief is that each of our “spirits” or energies are intertwined with all other spirits and energies in the universe. I believe there to be a Unity so great that any of us on their road of discovery has merely scratched the surface into its true depth. As far as not wanting to “rock the boat”, I am a known boat tipper. I believe the words of Og Mandino : “Opportunity exists in your own back yard” and I will tip and rock all I have to in order to discover them!

* * * *

A most excellent commentary and questioning. This is the crux of the matter! I started down this path of investigation myself when I attended a weekend workshop in 2007 with Arjuna Ardargh, author of The Translucent Revolution and Awakening Into Oneness. He had the group of about 45 of us sit one-on-one with a partner and ask the other person “Who or what is Sandra” for example, over and over again until we had really gone through a deep questioning of the immediate thoughts that arose in response and felt that we had come to a more deeply felt truth or experience of what the answer was.

What was amazing is that so many of the people there had the revelation that this “thing”, this “person”, that we believed was who we were was not even really “there”! The common theme of what we had discovered is that we are that proverbial “no-thing”, yet we also are everything…all at the same time. What a profound shift in understanding and perspective! My life has never been the same since.

For me, one of the more immediate benefits to this realization is the ability to go inside and on a physical level get in touch with this “nothingness and everythingness” that I am when I am stressing or judging, or being in fear or negativity. It definitely helps to dissipate some of these thoughts and feelings. It has also helped to make me much less attached to things. And funnily, I also feel LESS (in a good way - I am less dense and lighter as I move through this life knowing that I am not this “heavy” load of concepts and constructs that I have to carry around & stay slave to) but also am in touch with a sense that I am MORE (in a good way - I feel the power and significance of my absolute Being as I know that I am truly a part of everything in this amazing Cosmos).

* * * *

Who am I? Most of the time I think I am a human being, separate, independent, autonomous, and unique - who thinks he is on a spiritual journey. But the truth is that I am a spiritual being having a human experience and my journey is really about remembering who I truly am. It’s a journey without distance, a journey that takes place entirely within the mind.

As a human being, I think I am the author of my own identity. I’m a work in progress, changing as I pass through the various stages of life and as I assume different roles. I evaluate my progress according to many different measures and expectations. My life is a series of challenges and obstacles. It is a drama interspersed with moments of love and joy and pain and suffering but inevitably ends in certain death.

On the other hand, as a spiritual being, I am not my own author. Rather I was created in the likeness of a much greater Author, Who is pure Spirit, all-encompassing Love and eternal Life. He created me as part of Him, not separate or apart, but one with Him and all Creation. Once again, my journey is about the reawakening of the knowledge of who I have always been, reuniting with my Father and all creation in eternity.

Borrowing from Shakespeare: “O, what fools we mortals be!”

* * * *

The more I move from one experience/life situation to another on my journey in this world the more I see the oneness of us all. We mostly have the same good and bad characteristics. I know we commit the same sins excluding the extremes. I’m always discovering how much I have in common with people with regards to thoughts, feelings, experiences, struggles, victories and the overall peaks and valleys of life. No, we are not separate. We are one. We are connected. We are candles (the lights of the world) that have to share our Spiritual and Material Blessings with our fellow brother and sister. It is only when we see the God in each other that we find out what our true essence is.

* * * *

It is very interesting that the current book I am reading deals with these matters and I would recommend to any of the readers of your newsletter that if they indeed want information on personal identity research but would rather read an in-depth investigation already done for them, to get this book. The book is entitled “The God Theory by Bernard Haisch. Mr. Haisch is an astrophysicist who differs in belief with most of his scientific brothers about who are we and why are we. His belief in Intelligent Design from the viewpoint of a scientist puts him at odds with most of the scientific community that believes that humans are just a bunch of chemical and neurological interactions of the brain. And much research data is presented to substantiate the scientific point of view.

So to read him defend the Intelligent Design point of view against this overwhelming data presented has been fascinating.

* * * *

I am in the course of writing a book on this topic, the self and the personal identity/mask. In this book I write about some experiences of my own life that I became conscious of. Those experiences showed me that I’m not a personality. So I’d like to share one of those experiences with you and others.

I was sitting at my desk and was thinking some thoughts. Suddenly, from one moment to another, I realized that something had changed. I still saw my body through my eyes, but at the same time the “I” also took another perspective. The other perspective that the “I” took was observing my breathing and I realized that I didn’t breathe. The breathing was automatic, without any use of the will. So, in these moments I observed my breathing which ran automatically AND additionally I admired what took place before my eyes and in consciousness.

It was kind of a split, at the same time the “I” took two different perspectives. So, this was my first experience that showed me that “I” am not my body, not my limited mind, and not my personality.

* * * *

If your dear friend or relative were the victim of a vicious, violent crime, you’d want the police and detectives assigned to the case to follow every lead and leave no stone unturned until the person who committed the crime was arrested and punished.

You would not accept vague or unsubstantiated guesses from the police as to what might have happened. You would be very annoyed if they told you a particular lead would not be thoroughly investigated, or if they assumed certain facts to be true without checking on their validity.

Simply put, you would want to know the truth and you would settle for nothing less.

I’m inviting you to take this same thorough approach with another investigation – what I will call an investigation of “your personal identity.” Most people are convinced that they exist as an independent, personal identity – somehow separate from others, each of whom also has an independent, personal identity.

Even those who take the position that everyone is a “child of God,” or that all beings are created by God, generally believe that each body (Joe, Maria, etc.) in this universe is a separate, independent entity that makes decisions and exercises control (partially or completely) throughout the life of that human body.

Well, if you exist as the personal identity called __________ (and you can fill in your own name here), where is this individual person actually located? What – and Where — is this entity that is “You”? Where is the control center that is steering this personal entity you take yourself to be?

In essence, I am asking “Who are you?” and “Where are you located?” These questions have been asked, and investigated, for thousands of years.

For purposes of this message, let’s assume we are referring to a person named “Robert.” If you prefer to substitute your own name for Robert each time, feel free to do so.

If I approach Robert and first ask, “Who are you?,” what is likely to happen? Most likely, Robert will start to THINK about who he is. He will search his mind and he will then tell me facts or descriptions about himself. In other words, he might say that he is a man, has a wife, and two children. He might tell what kind of work he does, or when and where he was born.

These are all facts about Robert’s life situation. Do these facts really tell us anything about the essence of Robert, about who he really is? Is Robert simply a bunch of facts that make up his biography? Very few of us would say that’s what Robert is. We sense in our hearts that Robert is more than that.

Many people would say that Robert, in his essence, is Spirit (inhabiting a human body). Where is this essence of Robert located in his body? If there is a personal identity called Robert making decisions for this body, then Robert’s essence, or control center, must be located somewhere. Where is the personal identity (even if you call it Spirit) located in Robert’s body?

When I ask this question to people, the vast majority say that this personal identity is located in the brain. No other part of the body would seem to be a likely candidate. The arm is not the essence or control center of Robert. The leg is not Robert. None of the other internal organs would appear to be Robert – not even the heart organ. If we removed Robert’s physical heart and put it on a table, I doubt that people would say “That’s Robert.”

The brain seems to be where the personal identity might be located.

Do you believe the personal identity is located in the brain? In other words, is what makes this person Robert located in a bunch of brain cells? Could we carve out some of Robert’s brain cells, put them on a table and say “That’s Robert”?

I do not know of any scientific proof that has ever been produced to establish that the personal identity is located in the brain.

Even if we were to believe the personal identity somehow resided in the brain, we have a bigger hurdle to overcome.

What undisputed science HAS established is that all matter consists of vibrating particles or energy waves in 99.99% EMPTY SPACE. No tangible thing you see or feel is actually solid. It consists of empty space. That includes you, your computer, or the Empire State Building.

Your brain, if put under a high powered microscope or particle accelerator, will be shown to consist of empty space. How can a personal identity (or Spirit) be inside a brain, if the brain is comprised of empty space? How can something be contained in empty space?

Perhaps what you consider to be your personal identity is nothing more than a thought or an image in the mind?

Please understand that I am not denying that separate bodies appear in this universe. The issue is whether these bodies are inhabited by separate, individual entities who are exercising significant control.

Are you willing to do a rigorous investigation of this matter of the personal identity? You just might find something quite fascinating about yourself.

There are some who will not like this message or the questions raised. This discussion can be very threatening to the mind, which doesn’t want its current notion of reality to be challenged or upset in any way. When the existence of the individual ego is questioned, the mind tends to get defensive or looks to avoid the subject altogether.

I welcome your comments and insights on the issues raised in this message. I’d like to know your thoughts on the nature of the personal identity.

In my own experience, this is not just an intellectual debate. It goes to the core of our spiritual nature and how we live our lives. We CAN learn important (and very practical) things about ourselves if we are willing to question the validity of our notion that we all live as separate, independent entities.

There came a time in my own life where I was willing to examine these issues from scratch and to put aside my preconceived ideas about the nature of the personal identity. I found that I had many misconceptions. Some “rock solid” beliefs I had for 50 years just melted away once I was willing to investigate.

You may or may not be willing to do a thorough investigation. I respect and honor your path, even if it differs from mine. If you have no interest in this topic, I fully understand.

For those interested in participating, I look forward to receiving your comments — and to continuing this exploration of the personal identity in upcoming messages.

– Jeff Keller
© 2009

If you did not read the first two parts of this series titled “Life and Death,” (January 13, 2009 and January 16, 2009), you can find them at www.YourSpiritualJourney.net .

In this issue, I am including more comments submitted by subscribers relating to the fear of death.

* * * *
Subscriber Comments:

Maybe people fear death because it is something that they don’t understand. They have not been through it and really don’t know what to expect.

Just because they have been told it is peace and joy, they probably don’t believe it. Today’s horror movies say that there is a dark side to death, while today’s comedies turn it into something humorous. The church talks of heaven
and hell and which one that we are going to. Well, which is it? Am I good enough to go to heaven?

Until these answers are cleared up, we may never know what the afterlife is like.
* * * *
My only fear of death is what emptiness I will leave behind in the lives of those I love. If it were to happen now at age 42, my 10 year old daughter and 7 year old son would grow up without a physical father. That scares me and is my fear of death. I have full faith in heaven and God’s promises of life with him, however, not having ever seen the place I do have some uncertainty. That uncertainty is not that it exists, but the process and what it will be like.

My faith as a Christian is strong and helps me get through the valleys of life.

* * * *

I think the fear of dying is the same fear we experience when we journey into any unknown place. We have never been there, so we don’t really know what it will be like. We trust Jesus who promised to go prepare a place for us. Jesus is the only one who has come back from the dead. We did not see him ourselves but trust in the words of the bible. Everyone we have actually known who has died stays gone, and we don’t see or hear from them again. We trust that they live on in some other form.

However, whatever form they take after death is one with which we cannot communicate. To me, it is the unknown that makes us fear death. The people that I have known or heard of who do not fear death are mostly those who have lived a good life and think their time here on earth is up. Sometimes this is because their bodies are failing, they are in pain or they are very old and ready to move on. I guess we all have some doubt, which I believe is often a part of faith.

* * * *

For me personally is not the fact that I fear death so much, there are time when I feel like I would like to be in heaven now. I am a single mother of three children ages 17, 15 and 8. What I would like most is to see them grow up and on their own before God decides my time on earth is up. Although, I can’t say without a doubt that I would be not fearful of how I might die, maybe God will show me mercy and take me quickly when the time comes. For now, I pray that God would grant me the time to see them off and doing well, after that whatever His plan for my life is I will not have any second thoughts.

* * * *

Why are we afraid of death? My answer is that our ego is afraid to experience the unknown, it’s comfortable with the familiar.

* * * *

I think that we fear death because we are concerned we are not worthy of the peace and bliss that is promised us all. After all, even the best of us live in fear and sin. In our minds no matter how much we ‘believe’ we all question, “How do we let sin go to become who God meant us to be if we aren’t doing it now?”

* * * *

I think I can honestly & truthfully say that NO, I am not afraid of dying because I know this spirit will live on and that this ‘life’ is only one very small part of a very special journey. That’s not to say that I am not learning to love this life and I certainly intend to make the very most of whatever time is allotted to me.

I had the discomfort of having breast cancer about five years ago. I had the surgery, the treatment and went on with life. The prospect of dying did not phase me one bit, and I accepted everything on a daily basis. I was not overly positive, nor did I go mad with obsessively trying to live as purely or healthily as possible. I just accepted the things I could not change, tried to find courage to take things as they came, and just knew that whatever happened, ‘I’ would be okay.

* * * *

So many have expressed faith in what we should expect as a Believer. However so much on not wanting pain, doubt of leaving loved ones or how they will make it. If we knew how and the appointed time how would this change us? If we have faith then we know all things work for the Good of God; the Devil will attempt to side track us with every temporal thing he can.

Can our pain/mental anguish, be any greater than Christ`s before and on the cross? Where is our faith? If I have doubt then I am giving substance to the Devil, his ways were defeated on the cross, doubt about anything is not from God Almighty. I am sure when my time comes…my mission, my work is finished, and I will leave the rest to Him. Can my pain, anguish be any greater than Christ on the Cross? I do not believe so.

* * * *

I am one of those people, Jeff - believing that there is everlasting joy in the next realm, yet still harboring fear in the dying. Part of my fear is in the actual process of dying - will it be painful? How difficult will it be? Another piece of my fear is about those I leave behind — will they be miserable with my passing? Will I be leaving them to endure unimaginable grief - without my comfort? Then, it goes deeper - will I ever see these people I love again? My belief system says “yes” - but my humanity says, “I don’t know.”

In truth, my fear of dying… lies in the very frailty of faith itself. I have no problems with faith, I know what I believe to be true - about God, about life, about death — my problems come with the shift from faith to TRUST. Can I, as a mere human form, find complete TRUST in my view of God and my view of death? No, I know that I am incredibly fallible. The weakness, the fear, is in my humanity - my knowledge of my own limitations — causing me to harbor some doubt as to their veracity. I can trust in GOD… but can I trust in MY view of God? Not entirely.

How can my itty bitty human mind conjure up a clear conception of something so magnificent? Likewise, how can my imagination conceive of what comes after this life? I know that I am too limited to know all that God is - or all that God has planned.

* * * *

©2009

To access the first part of this message, Life and Death (Part 1), published on January 13, 2009, go to   www.YourSpiritualJourney.net .

I received many responses from subscribers who offered insights about the fear of death. In fact, I received more responses than I’ve gotten for any message that has ever been published in this newsletter. Thanks for your enthusiastic response. I learned a lot from your comments.

While I can’t publish all of the emails I received, I’m going to take the next few issues of the newsletter to share many of them with you. This is the first installment.

– Jeff

Subscriber Comments:

I believe that people can fear the pain and what they will possibly go through in order for the physical body to pass. So this is not so much a fear of death as it is a fear of pain. So this might look or seem like a fear of death but is actually a fear of the extreme discomfort they may have to go through to release the body. People can’t be sure that the death can be fast and painless.

* * * *

Personally I am more scared of leaving my children than dying. Actually it is more selfish than this. I should say that I am scared of being , dead or alive, without my children and the ones I love. What is an everlasting life of joy if you do not have the ones who love to share with? My kids can drive me insane, but yet I just can’t imagine a life without them!

* * * *

I’m not so much afraid of death as I am of leaving and missing those I love so dearly. I believe in an afterlife of peace and joy, and I welcome that time when it is due. My only hesitation is leaving this life before my work or purpose on earth is complete. I don’t want to come short of fulfilling God’s will for my life and the life of others. I also believe that you can have a piece of heaven on earth.

* * * *

I think the manner in which we die is a real question. I would not be afraid to die IF death came quickly and painlessly. Since there are no guarantees that death will not be pain free or lingering, the fear is there. Believing in a life after death can be a separate issue. I do believe in that.

* * * *

Since I had come to the idea that there is life after death, I would welcome death. But understand that I have a purpose to fulfill while I am here. I will leave at my appointed time and not before. I watch my father who is 82 and has no belief of life after death, and is constantly busy, almost as if to elude death. I watch as he shakes when the subject of death comes up. I have tried to share my belief with him only to be told I have gone “overboard in religion”. (his words, not mine.) Peace, joy and things unbelievable await us. This time on earth is our test.

* * * *

It’s not necessarily that I fear the after life - being with God, my parents and other loved ones that have passed. I fear the unknown of HOW I will die. The dying process. Also, leaving behind my loved ones still here. I will miss being in their lives like I am now. My parents have been gone 9 years and I still miss them terribly every day!

* * * *

I wanted to share that I believe in everlasting peace and joy after life. Though I don’t know if I can truly say that I’m afraid of dying itself, I would say that I am afraid to die too soon. I love my life on earth right now and I live it spiritually and in peace. I feel that I have so much more to accomplish and experience here on earth before my departure from it, so that is where I would be afraid of dying.

* * * *

Personally, I think many people are not afraid of what comes after death; they are afraid of dying. The physical act of how and when it will happen. Maybe that’s too simplistic but that is the way I see it.
* * * *
Regarding your “life and death” discussion. I see the disconnect between believing in the spiritual afterlife and the fear of death as people “fearing the process.” Listen to most people and you will hear them say, “I hope I go in my sleep.” To me, this means people fear the pain of death. There are so many unpleasant ways to die. No one wants to suffer….even if it means moving them to a realm of bliss.
* * * *
I do believe in life eternal after physical death. I don’t believe that it is so much a fear of dying but just not wanting to die. Feeling that your time on earth is not quite through yet.
Also, I believe it is the fear of the unknown. Even though I do feel that it will be peaceful when that time comes, it is unknown and different. Even though something may be positive it is new, different and a change and we as humans sometimes resist/fear change whether good or bad.

* * * *

Many Christians I know often use a quote related to life and living such as: “It (Living – waking up each morning) sure beats the alternative (death).” But if Christians and those of other religions have faith in the afterlife, why do we make such comments? Is it possibly, that we do not want to leave our loved ones yet – our spouses, children and grandchildren? But, if the afterlife is so glorious, why do we fear it?

* * * *

I am a Seventh Day Adventist and we believe what the Bible says - that when you die you go to sleep. Your spirit returns to God but you are asleep and know nothing. You are asleep waiting for Christ to return and take back this world to reign forever. Yes I do somewhat fear death because no one really knows what is going to happen when you die but I have faith that God is good and loves us enough that death will be worthwhile when he returns and reigns forever - that is when we who are believers will have our peace and joy. Just some thoughts and this is what I really believe - because that is what the Bible says.

* * * *

I have felt for a long time that people aren’t afraid to die, they are afraid of HOW they are going to die. No one wants to die as a result of pain and suffering (a plane crash, murder, cancer, etc). But because we identify ourselves with our bodies, and bodies can be affected by pain and suffering, the fear of death is really the fear of pain and suffering that would be felt by those who identify with being a body.

* * * *

I think it starts with the conditioned fear of anything in the future. We all say we have faith and yet are always wringing our hands over what will happen next. We need faith in all of it before we can embrace the forever of it.

I am not afraid of dying. As a mother and a wife I have every confidence that everything happens for a purpose. There is value in every event. I have no fear of the world with out me and I have no fear of the afterlife. I am enjoying this life immensely and believe the beauty will continue to astound in the next whatever. I have attachment to this world but I have faith that there are truths I can’t know or judge. I am comfortable with only knowing that things always do work out. We live in a loving universe where peace can always be found within. The growth that comes from losing someone can change the world.

* * * *

I do not fear death of the body. I only have one hope….that I DO NOT die in my sleep. I think the actual experience of dying can be compared to the last great orgasm of life. I want to be fully conscious for this event. My body has been great, and I honor it, but it is not who I am.
* * * *
Personally, I am at peace and not at all afraid of death. As a Christian, I am confident of everlasting peace and love. What I am afraid of, is the people I will leave behind. My children. Are they ready to face the world without their Mom? Probably not. I have a 24 year old son, probably will be okay. A 21 year old daughter, no, still needs direction. 13 year old daughter, definitely not. She still needs me in so many ways. For myself, I am ready when it is my time. I hope it’s not too soon, only because I am not done teaching here.

* * * *
I believe the largest part of our fear of death is actually just a fear of the unknown. We like to know what is going to happen, what to expect, how to plan or prepare for whatever is next. I believe that if we knew what life after physical death was like we would probably all be trying to get to that wonderful place of PEACE!
However, our ego doesn’t want us to believe such a thing. Our ego wants us to stay in the physical realm where we think we are in control. If we could control that ego, then maybe we would embrace death as just a doorway to walk through. Imagine walking through that door as if stepping onto the stage… you have landed your “dream” role, your spotlight is the Glory of God! He has been waiting for you to join Him. You may be a little nervous, butterflies in the stomach, but oh, the thrill of finally being in God’s presence…it is overwhelming… better than anything you could have possibly imagined on Earth. You say to yourself, “Now, THIS is LIVING!”

The problem is we “Can Only Imagine”. Our minds (egos) allow doubt to slip in and ignite that fear because we have nothing on Earth to compare to the afterlife. We doubt that anything could be that wonderful.
* * * *
I will include more reader comments in the next issue of the newsletter.

– Jeff Keller

If you ask most spiritually-minded people if they believe that we survive our physical death and continue to exist eternally in some way, the overwhelming majority would answer YES, and without hesitation.

Most would not only say they believe in the everlasting life of the spirit – they would also say that they expect to live in peace and joy, following the death of the human body.

For those who believe that they will in fact live in everlasting peace and joy following their death, I have one more question to ask you:

“Are you afraid to die?”

Well, are you?

Answer honestly from your heart.

It is my guess that a considerable number of people would admit they ARE afraid to die.

What happened to the belief in an afterlife of peace and joy? Why would anyone be afraid of entering everlasting peace and joy? Most of us would say we don’t have complete joy and peace in THIS life. Yet we’re afraid to enter a state of bliss?

Something doesn’t make sense here.

How do you reconcile these two responses – that people claim to believe in everlasting peace and joy – and yet they are afraid to die?

I invite you to submit your views on this subject. I’ll offer a few thoughts of my own here.

As I see it, there is no logical way to explain these responses. One possibility is that people claim to believe in an everlasting life of peace and joy, yet they have considerable doubt that this is in fact the case. They want to believe it, but they really aren’t sure.

Another possible explanation: it is simply human nature to fear death and we can’t help ourselves from having that fear. In other words, we are powerless to get rid of this fear, regardless of what we attempt to believe about life after death. I’m not convinced by this explanation, as I have known people who do NOT seem to fear death. Such people are rare, but I have come across them. Thus, I feel it is not impossible for humans to overcome the fear of death.

Well, I guess I’m back to my first explanation. Those who say they believe in everlasting life, yet fear death, have doubt. They just don’t have faith in what they claim to believe. Perhaps I am missing something here and there are other explanations.

Feel free to offer your perspective on this subject by sending an email to jeff@YourSpiritualJourney.net . If some or all of your comments are published in an upcoming issue, your name and email address will NOT be published. Thus, your privacy will be protected.

If someone sees you typing your response on your computer and asks what you are doing, you can say that you are addressing a matter of life and death.

–Jeff Keller
© 2009

If you’re looking for words of wisdom to guide you in the New Year, perhaps you will find (as I did) that these words from poet e.e. cummings are quite helpful:

“to be nobody-but-myself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me everybody else means, to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.”

Are you ready to be “nobody but yourself” as we begin the New Year? If not, why not? If not now, when?

– Jeff Keller

Year after year, many people set New Year’s resolutions. They’re going on a diet to lose weight or they decide to exercise more, or increase their income. The list goes on and on.

Can you recall the New Year’s resolutions you have set throughout your life? How successful were you in achieving what you set out to do? Have any items kept showing up on your list year after year?

If you’re like most people, you have a very disappointing success rate. And when I say “success,” I mean maintaining the objective you wished to achieve, as opposed to exercising for the first two weeks in January and then giving up the exercise program. I’m referring to long term success.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is only one resolution I need to make this year:

CONNECT WITH SPIRIT.

I could have called it “being one with spirit,” having a closer relationship with God, or recognizing my spiritual foundation. You may use different words, and that is fine. Furthermore, you may wish to pursue traditional New Year’s resolutions that you develop with your thinking mind. If that works for you, by all means keep doing that.

What I have discovered is that it’s often our thinking mind and its elaborate belief systems that are the SOURCE of our unhappiness. Thus, we have thoughts such as:

“I’m too fat.”

“I should exercise more.”

Contrary to popular belief, the mind is not going to make everything better by setting more goals and exerting more willpower. The same mind that sets the goals is constantly chattering about your deficiencies and your lack of discipline. It’s sabotaging you before you even begin to create this new future for yourself.

When you set traditional New Year’s resolutions, you’re also saying something very important – that you don’t accept yourself – or like yourself – in your present condition. You’re at war with reality as it presents itself now – and you want to create a new, better reality. This strategy may seem very logical to you. But you’ve got to admit that you’ve used this approach all your life, and you’ve probably gotten horrible results.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make changes. But there is no proof that being unhappy with our current situation is the best way to make those changes. Why do we have to treat ourselves as “damaged goods” to make improvements?

As I see it, the key to improving your conditions is not to focus on the thinking mind and its willpower, although I admit this strategy can work on occasion. You improve your life by connecting with spirit, with your Divine Self. You begin to receive intuitive guidance moment by moment. There is nothing for your thinking mind to figure out.

Your job is to be in the present moment, relax body and mind to the extent possible, and allow spirit to speak to you. You will then receive the golden nuggets of wisdom that your mind could never provide. You don’t have to be passive and sit on the couch all day. Spirit can speak to you while you engage in your work and daily activities.

To follow spirit requires a lot of trust. The thinking mind tempts you with its specific agenda and will tell you that the “vague” guidance of the spirit is inferior to the stated plans of the mind. Yet if you look carefully into the plans of the mind, you’ll find that it seeks many objectives that are culturally programmed – and do not reflect the deep longings of your heart.

Do you really believe your heart longs for sculpted abdominal muscles as advertised on TV and in magazines? Take a look at most of your traditional New Year’s resolutions and you’ll find that many of them involve comparisons with other people – how you “should” look or what type of lifestyle you “should” lead.

Your spirit will show you the way to what you “really” want. It may take time for us to strengthen this spiritual connection. This is not an easy road and we will feel frustration from time to time. But I’m relying on spirit to carry me, as I realize the mind is not suited to showing the way.

Each of us has a different way of connecting with spirit. Perhaps you do it through prayer and/or reading spiritual texts. Some spend time in solitude each day. There are countless approaches; do whatever works for you.

The thinking mind and its willpower may bring you temporary results, but I doubt that it will bring you the deep peace and fulfillment you’re longing for.

May you connect with spirit in new and wonderful ways in the New Year!

– Jeff Keller
© 2009

P.S. I am so grateful for the many emails I received wishing me the best for the holiday season and New Year. I am also delighted that so many of you find this newsletter to be of value.