Series on Eternal Conditions: Part 1

The foundation of very nearly every failure is formed by a lack of knowledge… How many times, in looking back upon your own life circumstances (failures, or just things that could have had a better outcome), do you have the thought: If I had only known then what I know now???
Read. Consider. Adopt or Reject.
Please do not awaken to eternity – surprised – after your body fails, and have to think: If I had only known… If I had only listened… If I had not failed to consider… things could have been different.
In this series, we are delving into topics that others avoid, such as What are the Possible Eternal Conditions, How Could a God of Love Allow Evil, or Create a Place of Eternal Torment and then Send anyone there. We will also discuss answers to questions such as, Are there Many Roads to Heaven? How Can We Know? What Can We Know? What Should We Believe? Is there a Best Decision and Why IS it Best.
Whether your agree with the titles, or subtitles,  or content, you cannot harm yourself by considering other information…
Yes, you may “waste” a few minutes of your time, but how important is a few minutes compared to the endless reaches of the universe and the unending existence and unchangeable stretch of time???

Shiloette of a Seated Man Contemplating a Night Sky and Faint Stars through Clouds

Introduction

In my service to Christ my King, through teaching, encouraging, and serving others, I have been repeatedly asked some very profound questions concerning my faith, as it relates to other Teachings, Doctrines, Spiritual Paths, and other Gods. I was asked, with special emphasis, What Makes Your Faith, Your Way, Your God, the Only Right Way…

Some call the answers I provided Defending the Faith, but even though I guess that is correct, I never viewed it from that perspective… and neither did the persons of other faiths, the atheists, the agnostics, or the members of various cults, that questioned me with sincere curiosity…

None of them disliked me for my faith. None of them challenged me in frustration or anger or hatred or resentment. I was, and I am, open to sincerely discuss – with anyone – my faith, my beliefs and why I believe what I do. I am also willing to discuss theirs and why they believe what they do. 

I could never look down on anyone, after the life I lived prior to finally allowing God to mold me into the vessel He had intended me to be from the womb.

Some Christians look down their noses, or disregard, or even slander, people of other denominations and certainly other belief systems entirely… They Browbeat, Scorn, Ostracize… They attempt to “win” people to belief in Eternal Life by beating them to death with the scriptures…

Gandhi once said, “I’d be a Christian, if it were not for the Christians.” The prisons, in which I was incarcerated for just short of 36 continuous years (read the Full Story Here), are full of individuals who have adopted a version of Gandhi’s statement of belief: “I’d be a Christian, if I didn’t know so many.”

What is missed in this belief is that while there are bad or even mean and especially misguided Christians, it is the people that practice a distorted methodology of Biblical Instruction that produce the negativity… Not the scriptures themselves… It is the people that are untrue, not the Word of God.

Be that as it may, I have never looked down on anyone for their faith or lack thereof. Whether they be wayward Christians, People of Other Beliefs, people without any belief system at all, or people that Have Chosen Evil…

After all, God provided for, and set before, each and every single person, the choice for Good or Evil… And God will honor their choice…

Are we to stand against evil? Does God provide us with the instructions for doing so? Yes, read Ephesians 6: 10-18.

Yes. There are truly evil people. Persons who intentionally choose darkness over light, evil over good. There are also, however, those that are misguided, misinformed, confused, even damaged beyond any natural healing…

I cannot hate them for what they have done… I can hate the acts; hate what they do, as I have hated what I, myself, have done, but having been redeemed by God, after having been determined and labeled Irredeemable by mankind, I never lose site of the Worth of Others in God’s Eyes… After all, He Sacrificed His Only Begotten Son for Them and for Me…

This series will discuss many of the topics and questions mentioned before, as well as any others that may arise.

In the First Blog Post of this Series, we will kick things off by considering the three possible conditions that occur after breathing our last breath..

Following Our Last Breath: Three Possibilities Only

1. The non-self-aware energy, that previously enlivened our failed brain and body, returns to the source of all energy (Wherever that may be in the Universe or Multiverse), or simply dissipates, goes to ground, or ceases to exist… When physical death occurs, we know nothing, feel nothing, and No Longer ARE.
2. There IS a somewhat self-aware energy, or soul, that is reborn in the same, or different, species, all according to some form of karma; correlating to how we lived in the now expired body…
3. There IS a self-aware, sentient, energy, or soul, that continues into eternity after we have drawn our last breath and the body fails this force that enlivened it…

1. The Non-Self-Aware Energy or Life-force or Soul Ceases to Exist When the Body Fails

While every major culture, and all peoples on the Earth, have secular factions, virtually every one of them have a storied, competing, history of individual spirituality that continues, in some form or fashion, after the natural body fails.

This belief in some form of ongoing spirituality is widespread, consistent, and strongly held, across cultural diversities and social happenstance…

It is the belief in some form of continued existence that is the impetus for order and peace in the world…

Yet, it is definitely a possibility that there is nothing beyond the grave…

This particular possibility means there is no spiritual accountability, or reward, for the way you live your life.

It means, simply, that all of your rewards or punishment are determinant and experienced while you live your life, and then will expire with your physical death.

You Live. You Die. There IS No More You.

IF this belief was proven to be true to everyone – to every individual alive – the hope for a better existence would end. Chaos would reign…

With no higher standards to live by and hope for, we would become little more than animals…

It would truly be dog-eat-dog for all of humanity… With no reason to aspire to a better condition than the present human condition, the strong would be unrestrained, and the weak would be annihilated… We would have no greater reason to exist than serving self…

The argument can be made that Higher Standards of Living came about because humans became tired of brutality and living in fear. So, they banded together in order to stand against those with the strength to do to others exactly as they pleased…

In that regard, and through the course of evolving human society, goodness entered into living standards by the necessity of survival…

So, what does that mean to our discussion? If there is nothing; no reward, no punishment, no continued self-awareness, after breathing our last breath, then quality living becomes its own temporal reward… and, insofar as, quality is defined by humanity as good, or better, or best, living good brings its own reward… living better brings higher reward… and living best brings the greatest reward…

Even in this regard, practicing and perfecting Biblical Living will gain you a good, better, or best life — to whatever degree of perfection in Biblical Living you achieve… and then you will die., and know nothing evermore.

So, the belief in there being nothing after breathing our last breath is, by no means, antithetical to Biblical Living.

Quite the Contrary, the belief, itself, should be a solid reason for Biblical Living… You will learn how to live a life of love, how to encourage and be encouraged, how to share and contribute, how to have peace that passes understanding; you will have a quality life, built upon a tried and tested solid foundation… and then you will die, satisfied with the way you have lived…

On the other hand, and since there is no eternal possibilities for reward or punishment with this belief system, one can live as they please, irrespective of potential spiritual consequence or reward…

There is a certain freedom, while you live, in that belief… But there is also immense danger… what if you are wrong, and you awaken to consciousness after your body fails??? After all it’s a 50/50 proposition, with an equal risk of being wrong…

I, personally, think this is a rather dismal possibility. But it could, arguably, be the case… It is certainly in the realm of possibility — this I readily acknowledge, as unhappy of a thought as it certainly is.

So, what does believing and following God’s Holy Word mean to that scenario? Well…

So, in the position that there is nothing after the body fails, there is absolutely no reason, logically, to not follow the living instructions of the Bible. There is, however, proven – time tested – evidence that, when followed, biblical instruction produces, satisfactory, joyous, contented lives, that reach a satisfied ending… This is yet another reason for Living Biblical Instruction to the fullest.

It also, has been proven over and over that when those instructions are not followed – though there are certainly exceptions – even great success produces dissatisfied lives…

But here is the fact: While you may live a reasonably satisfied life without biblical instruction, living TRUELY by Biblical Instruction produces joy and satisfaction that non-believers have trouble understanding, though the evidence is undeniable, even to them… (And for the record, I am not talking about Christians who profess belief, but violate the scriptures… I am simply declaring that living TRUELY by Biblical Instruction produces good, quality, lives)

It produces lives that care for families, neighbors, and themselves… Living Truly Biblical is a good thing, in every respect… It is only when biblical instruction is not practiced as prescribed, that followers fail to find satisfaction in living…

So, even if there is no life after death of the physical body, there is every reason to follow biblical instructions… In point of fact, those who have lived successful lives (and enjoyed the benefits thereof), have often done so by way of biblical instruction — often without even knowing or realizing that the way they have lived corelates with biblical standards, precepts and principles…

So – in the case of non-continuance after death of the physical body – there is every reason to follow Biblical Instructions for living, and not a single negative happenstance for doing so…

Now we will move to the second possibility.

2. Nirvana: Reincarnation, According to Some Form of Karma or Right-living

According to the Oxford Dictionary on Lexico, Nirvana is a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.

Wikipedia informs us that: In Indian religions, nirvana is synonymous with moksha and mukti.  All Indian religions assert it to be a state of perfect quietude, freedom, highest happiness as well as the liberation from or ending of samsara, the repeating cycle of birth, life and death. However, non-Buddhist and Buddhist traditions describe these terms for liberation differently.

Wikipedia goes on to list the Noble 8-fold Path to acquiring Nirvana as:

The eight Buddhist practices in the Noble Eightfold Path are:

1. Right View: our actions have consequences, death is not the end, and our actions and beliefs have consequences after death. The Buddha followed and taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven and underworld/hell). Later on, right view came to explicitly include karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when “insight” became central to Buddhist soteriology.

2. Right Resolve or Intention: the giving up of home and adopting the life of a religious mendicant in order to follow the path; this concept aims at peaceful renunciation, into an environment of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to loving kindness), away from cruelty (to compassion) Such an environment aids contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and non-Self.

3. Right Speech: no lying, no rude speech, no telling one person what another says about him to cause discord or harm their relationship.

4. Right Conduct or Action: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct

5. Right Livelihood: Gaining one’s livelihood by benefiting others, also not selling weapons, poisons or intoxicants

6. Right Effort: preventing the arising of unwholesome states, and generating wholesome states, the bojjhagā (seven factors of awakening). This includes indriya-samvara, “guarding the sense-doors”, restraint of the sense faculties.

7. Right Mindfulness: “retention”, being mindful of the dhammas (“teachings”, “elements”) that are beneficial to the Buddhist path. Movement, sati is interpreted as “bare attention”: never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing; this encourages the awareness of the impermanence of body, feeling and mind, as well as to experience the five aggregates (skandhas), the five hindrances, the four True Realities and seven factors of awakening.

8. Right samadhi (Passaddhi; Ekaggata; sampasadana): practicing four stages of dhyāna (“meditation”), which includes samadhi proper in the second stage, and reinforces the development of the bojjhagā, culminating into upekkha (equanimity) and mindfulness. In the Theravada tradition and the Vipassana movement, this is interpreted as ekaggata, concentration or one-pointedness of the mind, and supplemented with Vipassana-meditation, which aims at insight.

I do not profess or pretend to be enlightened in these religions or practices or beliefs… I simply offer this as one of the three eternal possibilities occurring when we have taken our last breath.

One thing not to be missed, however, is the similarities in benevolent living being spiritually rewarded with some form of happiness, bliss, or an escape from suffering…

I would refer you to the bullet list of Biblical Instruction for living a good, better, or best life, in the First Possibility of there being nothing beyond the grave. After reading them again, and considering Nirvana and how to get there, by the many different cultures and peoples, there is absolutely no reason forego living truly biblical lives…

But you have every reason for so doing: Truly Living by Biblical Instructions will automatically qualify you for Nirvana, and earn you the desired spiritual eternity…

Biblical Instruction calls for benevolent living, self-sacrifice, renouncing self and worldly passions… It calls for right resolve, meditation on truth and self-reflection, non-ill-will, right conduct… all of the criteria listed above for the Noble Eightfold Path to Nirvana…

Again, living by Biblical Instruction meets the standards of living requirements for the best possible spiritual condition in major and minor cultural belief systems for Reincarnation/Nirvana. The Live Good to avoid Spiritual Suffering is a common theme throughout mankind and historical record, documents, artifacts and orally preserved traditions.

    • The Bible teaches us how to respect and love our neighbors and that we should strive earnestly to do so.
    • It informs us that the real test in morality is to love our enemies, even while we hold them accountable, in the hope that they will be redeemed.
    • The Bible teaches us the precepts and principles of do unto others as you would have them do unto you…
    • The Bible teaches that there is satisfaction in working for what we obtain, and in sharing those things with the less fortunate…
    • The Bible teaches time-proven management skill sets. You practice these things and prosperity and good will follow. You practice those other things and debt and bad will follow.
    • You invest your time and resources wisely and it will be returned to you in good measure…
    • Deal honestly with people, treat people with kindness and compassion, and loyalty follows such actions.
    • The Bible teaches the value of friendship and the dangers of making enemies and how to stand when they come against you.
    • The Bible teaches, and it is proven over and over and over, as time ticks on into the distant future, that living by Biblical Precepts, Principles, and Instruction, is the key to Peace, Prosperity, and the ability to Love and be Loved…

We established in the First Eternal Possibility, that Living by Biblical Instruction meets the standards for having a good life, a better life, a best life (in direct proportion to the level you practice – and perfect – living the scriptures), if there IS no knowing, sentient, existence after the natural body fails).

Here, in this Second Eternal Possibility, we have established that Living by Biblical Instruction meets the standards for achieving a good, better, or best, reincarnation, or even the desired state of eternal happiness, or eternal non-suffering — eternal nothingness… the ultimate state of being Self-Unaware…

3. There IS a Self-Aware, Sentient, Energy, or Soul, that Continues into Eternity

In this, the third Possible Eternal Condition, we are self-aware, sentient, and fully cognitive; alive outside 0f the failed, deceased, natural body.

In the First Possibility of knowing and feeling nothing after we breathe our last breath, there is no penalty for a wrong choice, but living by way of Biblical Instruction provided a good, better, or best life, while alive on the Earth.

In the Second Possibility of Reincarnation until we get it right and achieve Nirvana, living by Biblical Instruction provides a solid pathway to Nirvana… practicing Biblical Instruction until you perfect that way of life, will get you to a better and better reincarnation situation, until – once perfected – Nirvana is attained.

This Third Possibility provides that who we are inside of our natural bodies is a spiritual force that enlivens it, and that force or soul or spirit will proceed into eternity , bodiless, but feeling, thinking, emoting, with full knowledge of  circumstance and happenstance… Aware of environment, fully able to ascertain facts, and to deduce, by way of reasoning, what may lie ahead, based on past experience and beliefs.

Of the three possibilities, this – by far – is the most intriguing, the most interesting, and the most consequential… It is, certainly, the most demanding of consideration before departing from our natural bodies… I think you might agree that if there is any possibility that we continue into eternity with self-identity and awareness in tack, it would behoove us to gather all the knowledge available to us, prior to be launched into, and having to dwell within the evermore.

This is, also, the most relevant to formulating a decision on the various eternal conditions and what we should plan for… You know, Best-Case/Worst-Case Scenarios…

In this series, I will discuss what we can know, what we should surmise, how we should plan, and how to pick the plan that provides the best assurance for a non-suffering, happy eternity…

We will look at how to get there, whether there are many roads, or a sing road, for doing so, and the possible consequences of wrong choice, as well as Who God is, Why He allows Evil, Why He created Hell and for Whom that is reserved… we will delve into every aspect of self-awareness after we breathe our last breath and awaken to an eternity that stretches before us, based on what we believed and planned for while living in the earthly vessel of our natural bodies…

I hope you will find this series of blog posts as interesting as I have always found them to be… And if you get nothing else from them: You will have exposed yourself to possible truths that may provide the ability to plan for a better eternity…

I hope, very sincerely, that you will join me for each of however many blog posts this turns out to be… and I will welcome your feedback, questions, and even your diatribes… 

Thanks for all of your time and consideration… One can never have too much information.

John Dainwood

I once was lost; now I am found. I once was blind; now I see. I once was a destroyer; now I am a Peace Maker. I once was bound; now I am free. I once was imprisoned; My chains are Gone. I have been Transformed by the Very Power of God; I now share The Way, The Truth, & The Life, with everyone interested in Miraculous Change.