What is the Point of the Afterlife

      

By Stephen William

By Stephen William. He is a UK based Medium and Healer and Author of “Nostradamus His Prophecy Finally Explained.” Available on Kindle now Click Here   AN IMAGE OF THE AFTERLIFE CREATED BY THE MYSTIC AND ARTIST-WRITER WILLIAM BLAKE IN THE 1820s. HE DIED QUITE SOON AFTER CREATING THIS PICTURE. IT IS A VERY IMAGINATIVE IMAGE, I HOPE HE WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! What is the Point of the Afterlife? That is question sometimes asked by people who are skeptical not only of mysticism and spiritualism, but also conventional religions view of the Afterlife. It is a good question. One that about 30 years ago I may have posed. Before I became a spiritualist, for a few years , I was an atheist. This came about because I was aware of obvious contradictions in the Bible, the cruelty of various characters in the Old Testament apparently in the service of God and the lack of modern proof to a spiritual dimension and an afterlife . The final straw which broke my faith, was hearing a discussion on the car radio whilst I was driving one day, where a well-known Anglican Minister of Religion was being interviewed about various books he had written on religion and also TV programmes , he had made about religion. To my astonishment, he claimed that many well- informed Anglican Ministers no longer believed in a spiritual God ,nor an actual Afterlife! He claimed they were a medieval or primitive view of existence and in the modern world a belief in God should be converted into just a belief of the brotherhood of humankind. He stated clearly was no literal God or an Afterlife and it was old fashioned to believe so. This hit me like a thunderbolt! What was the point holding a religious belief which I already had doubts about, if some of the ministers of religion of the Church I had been baptized into, no longer believed in God or any kind of spiritual dimension to existence? I was quite pleased with some aspects of my new atheist life. No more feeling that everything I did was being watched and judged. Also no fear of eternal punishment and torment for some very human transgressions, despite trying to live a good and kindly life. However about six years after this loss of belief in spirituality, a chance meeting with a spiritual medium and the dramatic proof she presented about passed people I had known and an Afterlife actually existing changed everything. It completely turned over my view of life and human existence and of course led to me become a spiritualist and then develop to be a medium myself. A hard-line skeptic would say I still had a “primitive” need for a belief in an Afterlife and was willing “prey” to a skilled “trickster.” However as I have already mentioned, in my atheist “period” of life I was quite relieved not to be facing any punishment in the hereafter! I had also “rationalized” as when the time came, I would be dead and not aware of anything, so would not regret experiencing an afterlife. Also since being developed into being medium myself, I get direct spiritual contact with the deceased myself and give accurate readings to other people. Therefore I know it is not an overactive imagination at work and that I and other reputable mediums are not “tricksters.” To clarify the Afterlife is generally understood asa continuation of consciousness beyond physical death, serving as a realm for spiritual evolution and reunion with loved ones, or an end to earthly suffering. It provides hope, meaning, and consequence to earthly actions, with many beliefs viewing it as a state of growth, rest, or karmic justice. Key Purposes of the Afterlife.   Meaning and Accountability. The Afterlife infuses earthly life with purpose, as actions and decisions in this life determine one's spiritual journey in the next. It may ensure that justice is served for actions that escaped consequences on earth. Spiritual Evolution and Learning. Many believe the Afterlife is a place to continue growing in wisdom, love and understanding, or a state for the soul to progress after leaving the physical body. Meaning and Accountability. The Afterlife infuses earthly life with purpose, as actions and decisions in this life determine one's spiritual journey in the next. It may ensure that justice is served for actions that escaped consequences on earth. Spiritual Evolution and Learning. Many believe the Afterlife is a place to continue growing in wisdom, love and understanding, or a state for the soul to progress after leaving the physical body. Reunion and Comfort. It offers the hope of reuniting with deceased loved ones and provides comfort, reducing the fear of death by suggesting it is not the final end. Reincarnation/Cycle: In traditions like Hinduism and other Dharmic religions, the Afterlife is part of a cycle of rebirth (samsara), where the soul takes on a new body to continue its journey. Eternal Reward or Punishment? Major religions often view it as a final destination, such as Heaven, Hell, or similar states, based on one's faith or deeds, allowing for divine justice. Resolution. It is seen as a space where life's unanswered questions are resolved and where individuals can experience full, unrestricted consciousness. Ultimately, the Afterlife addresses the human desire for continuity, justice, and the hope that existence extends beyond the physical . With regard to the question of whether the Afterlife is a method of punishment for a misspent life , mediums in our contacts with the departed , although we sometimes encounter sad and apologetic spirits, they are not screaming in agony or similar because of terrible flames or tormenting demons etc. around them! Most spirits seem to be quite happy in their current state. The traditional view of Hell in not only the Christian religion, but some others, seems to have been influenced by the Graeco-Roman pre-Christian Tartarus . This terrible fiery place was ruled over by blood-stained goddess who whipped the tormented souls. This awful place probably reflected the punishment meted out by the cruel Roman Empire or some of the Greek states like Sparta, rather than an actual spiritually inspired vision of post-death punishment. The Afterlife we mediums mystically encounter appears to be like Sheol, which is mentioned early on in the Old Testament. All people apparently go there. When King Saul the first King of Israel goes to a medium (mistranslated in the original King James Bible as a “witch” and now corrected as a medium in the New English Bible as it was in the original Hebrew) to contact the prophet Samuel, that appears to be where he is. Perhaps the part of the New Testament that most explains how the Afterlife is really like, is when Jesus says, “In my Father’s House are many mansions, if it were not so , I would tell you,” John 14 2-6 (NKJV). Various meanings have been attributed to this famous verse. However in my view ,it shows that no one is ever completely “lost” ,you are still in the “Father’s House,” but there are different parts of it for different people in different stages of spiritual development. So what is the point of the Afterlife? Why can we just not cease to exist, whether we have had a nice life or a terrible one? Or behaved well or badly? A TRADITIONAL VIEW OF PUNISHMENT THE AFTERLIFE! HOWEVER MOST MYSTICS AND MEDIUMS DO NOT ENCOUNTER THIS TORMENT IN THE COMMUNICATIONS WE HAVE WITH IT. I think the answer is Love. Love exists in many forms , not just parental love or sexual love. Sometimes friends and more distant relatives just “love” to be in your company . You make them laugh or are kind or comfort them. Or perhaps you helped them through a difficult period of their life and they greatly respect you for that. Or they respect the way you lead your life. Whatever the reason, love never seems to die. The main reason why people wish to contact the deceased regularly is because they wish to contact a person they loved or liked. They want their affection and guidance . The reason why the deceased come through to the live person seeking contact is because they wish to return that love and let you know they are okay where they are and also offer guidance if they can. Humans are communal beings and even if some of us do not like to admit it, we need the love and respect of others almost to justify our existence. Without this love and respect our life becomes just a basic existence of sleeping, getting up, eating ,working, then eating and going back to bed to sleep again. A bit like a worker ant or bee. A continued form of lonely existence very often drives people into a form of mental illness or even suicide. Why do you think one of the punishments in prison, is solitary confinement? So Love in its various forms is the reason for an Afterlife in my opinion. Otherwise the Afterlife would be another slow meaningless trudge through eternity. If Love for our fellow human beings were not the reason for it, the great spiritual teachers of the past would not have spent so much time preaching about loving your fellow human beings and sometimes paying with their lives for it. So if someone says, “What is the point of the Afterlife?” , tell them “Forever Love for Everybody.” ©Stephen William International Copyright. If you wish to read my book, it is available on this link at Amazon. Click Here