I am certain that awareness continues beyond physical death… as are plenty of pretty smart and reputable folk. I have more than enough experiential evidence to convince me that we do not just fade into oblivion upon our physical death, although I cannot claim to know exactly how it all works. I have concluded that the experience of death, and beyond, is not the same for every soul, and that our individual evolution continues… if that is what we choose. I have, on many, many occasions, seriously challenged my own beliefs – agonising over them, even. I have questioned what is often presented as a nice, neatly packaged ‘truth’ about life after death, instead seeking out that which makes sense to me. And I have been baffled (and irritated!) by those who merely accept what they hear or are taught without question, repeating it to others as if it is fact that is written in stone. I don’t understand passive acceptance and slavish following, and I don’t understand aggressive closed-mindedness… both emanate from a place of fear and ignorance, I would say!

Millions, probably billions, of people believe in some kind of existence beyond physical death – and science cannot prove them right… OR wrong, despite the claims of some of the most committed cynics. And I often wonder why it is so important to these highly vocal nay-sayers to attempt to ‘convert’ believers to non-believers: what, of any worth, could possibly be gained from that, and who would benefit?

Admittedly, I do have my own pretty firm opinion on the subject; I am not into the commercialised version of ‘spiritual communication’, and I don’t watch TV mediums or associated programmes (apart from Psychic Detectives – I quite enjoy that every now and then!). Also, it doesn’t make any sense to me that deceased people float around in the sky for eternity, looking down on the still-living, fascinated by their every move and sending them love. If it turns out that that is actually how it is, I will deem myself to have arrived in my own version of Hell!

You are entitled to your beliefs!

However, people are entitled to the beliefs that make sense to them. If you feel completely sure that there is nothing but oblivion beyond physical death, that this is it and all there is… well, good for you – but why would you want to persuade someone who is gaining great comfort from a feeling of certainty that conscious awareness continues beyond the experience of life on Earth, that they are not only wrong but also feeble-minded and naive? And I say feeble-minded and naive because the accusation that is most commonly levelled at those who work within the spiritual arena is that they are con-artists, preying on the vulnerable; if I had £5 for every time this has happened to me I’d have a nice little stash of cash right now! To suggest that everyone who believes in life after death, and who chooses to use the services of a medium, is completely open to manipulation and incapable of thinking for themselves, is patronising and insulting.

SOME mediums/psychics are con-artists.

SOME people are vulnerable, and open to manipulation.

And there are SOME people in all walks of life, and in all lines of business, who ‘prey on the vulnerable’. There is all manner of vulnerability in this world, and billions of people are being sold to, through their vulnerability, every second of every day. Distorted body image, addiction, fear of not being good enough, fear of ageing, fear of not keeping up with the latest fashion or technology… all of these create a sense of need – desperation, even – and there is always someone eagerly waiting to supply the next ‘fix’… and always at a price. However, it is only that which is labelled as ‘woo-woo’ that is challenged by society, science, and those who consider themselves to be too ‘scientifically minded’ to buy into anything they don’t understand.  

We are all part of something bigger… I believe!

I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent and grounded, and I have certainly lived my life in the ‘real’ world, sometimes in a very nitty-gritty way… and I am absolutely certain that I am part of an immeasurable, all-powerful network of energetic intelligence that is in constant motion… call it what you will. I have, over the years, become increasingly aware that I am not alone, and that I have unconditional access to a source of… I don’t know what to call it… guidance? Wisdom? Insight? That doesn’t mean that I have everything sussed, and never need to struggle or strain – far from it. However, I have learned that the ‘voice’ that responds to me always makes sense, and is always right, even though I often doubt it. And when I say voice, I believe that the response comes from an energetic source which my own mind translates into something I can physically hear. Sometimes it even appears as an image on the screen of my mind. And I believe that every single human being who has ever lived, and who ever will live, also has access to this source. I still have to make my own decisions, and figure out how to respond to life’s circumstances; I still have to deal with my own emotions and learn how to handle them; I still have to choose my own pathway. However, I have a quiet, calm ‘friend’ who is never too busy to listen, but who is entirely unintrusive. It is a relationship that has developed over many years, and I can’t believe that there was a time when I couldn’t feel or hear this presence… I suppose I just wasn’t open to it. Thinking about it, intuition is just another way in which the source communicates with us, as I don’t believe that it demands or expects us to enter into a direct relationship with it, unless we choose to. And it is certainly possible to open ourselves up to ongoing development of our intuitive capacity, regardless of our beliefs.

Oblivion or continued awareness?

Really, it all comes down to what we feel is true, rather than trying to turn it into a completely intellectual process. And just because we can’t feel what someone else can doesn’t mean that it isn’t so. There is often an arrogance to non-believers, but I can’t see what there is to be arrogant about. And as for science, well, there seems to be a strange belief out there that it is always right and correct, and is the only way to measure anything and everything in this universe. I envy those with scientific intelligence, and find the subjects of string theory, black holes, multi-verses and dark matter breathtakingly fascinating, even though I don’t understand even a zillionth of what I have listened to or read! It seems to me that scientists must have incredible imaginations, otherwise how could they do what they do? Interestingly, there is always conflict within the world of science, with many disagreements taking place. And those scientists who have spiritual beliefs, or who promote the idea that we can change our own brains (and therefore our lives) through meditation, are dismissed as ‘quacks’ by what is known as mainstream science. As I said earlier, there are con-artists within the spiritual arena, as in all areas of life, but there is much that could be seriously explored, rather than being automatically shut down.

If you believe in the power of the human mind, intuition, and in continued awareness beyond physical death, be sure to question and attempt to form your own conclusions, but don’t be intimidated by those who want you to see their version of the ‘truth’: that there is nothing more to us than blood, bone and tissue, and that there is nothing but oblivion when all of that ceases to function. That might be true for them… that might well be the destiny they have chosen. But it doesn’t have to be true for you, and you are free to believe what you want to, as long as it isn’t causing harm to other living beings.

And to those who arrogantly claim to be too scientifically minded to believe in such b******t (heard it a thousand times!), I say: “don’t blame science for your mindset. Your beliefs are your own, created for, and accepted by, yourself; science really doesn’t deserve to be used as a smokescreen!”