Why can one believe that we survive death?
The human mind survives bodily death because subjective consciousness is not part of objective physical reality.
Also, because every mind has the ability to shape itself in a way that transcends the natural effects of ‘nature and nurture’.
This is possible because human beings have an inner freedom of moral choice that makes us responsible for what we are.
What is life after death like?
Swedenborg, as well as spirit communicators, describe a non-physical realm of consciousness after death.
The environment after death is a projection of inner thoughts and feelings.
Time and space obey psychological rather than physical rules.
The individual awakens in a spiritual body with sensations and movement.
The character of one’s mind determines the quality of one’s environment in the afterlife.
The individual character does not change with death.
Our individual mind reflects the character we have become before we die.
Our individual character is formed from the pattern of intentions that we choose during corporeal life.
The inner character of a person can be seen in the light of divine truth, but not recognized in the darkness of self-righteousness.
Those who have an altruistic character are separated from those who have a selfish character.
During the afterlife, those with basic good intentions go through experiences that remove their wrong ways of thinking so that they live in the light.
Rational understanding is eliminated in those who are basically self-centered.
In the afterlife, one associates with those similar in character to one’s own who will be like-minded.
In the afterlife, how people want to live limits their happiness
When you want what you want for yourself, there can only be restlessness and frustration because others want the same thing.
When everyone is like that, there is rivalry and no sense of shared community.
However, selfish people are only happy when they try to get their own way.
However, a deeper kind of happiness arises from focusing our minds on the needs of others and fulfilling some useful function.
If the light of truth were to shine on the life that selfish people have chosen for themselves, they would suffer anguish and want to hide.
Those of selfish character remain in their selfish state
During life after death, selfish people prefer to continue in delusions of self-justification.
Only when the light of truth sometimes shines do they recognize their egotistical character which is reflected in their ugly distorted features.
So they want to go back to their normal self where they don’t have to honestly face themselves for who they are.
Universal compassion wants to steer such people away from their selfish state of life, but not if it means taking away their freedom to choose the life they want.
conclusion
If we live after death, then we should live differently here and now. By improving our lives on earth, we can improve our life circumstances after death. The longing for worldly things closes the door to the spiritual. Not indulging in worldly and bodily pleasures makes more room for deeper experiences. The afterlife of the spirit is not only accessible after death. It is also a real dimension of the here and now that we can become more aware of through meditation and reflection.
What Christian mistakes are made about life after death?
If what we are saying is true, then there are some Christian mistakes in thinking about the next life.
1: It is a mistake to believe that at some point after death, one’s existing physical body will be resurrected.
Although the churches taught this widely in the past, no geographer or astronomer has ever located a heavenly paradise or a hellish hell. It is one of the Christian errors to assume that the afterlife is a physical place where one will live in a physical body resurrected from this life on earth.
As I have described, Swedenborg says that, after death, we wake up in a spiritual body, not a physical one. This spiritual body can see, hear, and smell, as well as think and feel. Consequently, the ‘spirit world’ follows psychological rather than physical rules.
2: It is not true that hell is an eternal punishment for a life badly lived.
The old idea in Europe was that if I’ve been a bad person, I’ll ‘rot in hell’. These days, however, the image of such a place of endless torture is highly dubious. However, Christians still see the afterlife as a reward for good people and eternal punishment for bad people.
I would like to say that this teaching is not strictly accurate. It is true that it has the advantage of showing the importance of how we choose to live our lives. But I think it wrongly implies a process of judgment by a higher divine power; a deity thought to condemn certain people to eternal damnation. I don’t see how a God of love could adopt such an attitude by doling out rewards and punishments in this way.
An alternative view that I have presented is more associated with the idea of self-determination. The quality of life that is experienced will not be a reward for good behavior or a punishment for bad behavior during life. Each person’s afterlife will simply be a continuation of the kind of life they led before death. It is we who separate ourselves from the realm of loving-kindness when we adopt self-centered ways.
3: It is a mistake to assume that hell is for those who lack religious beliefs
The account of an afterlife that I have given challenges the old Christian idea that entering heaven is simply a matter of believing in God and confessing when the time comes.
4: It is a mistake to think that an almighty God of love will rescue those who have paid the price for their sins
A loving God would certainly want everyone to be at peace, contentment, and joy. But this can only result from generosity of spirit, consideration for others, and other virtues of a selfless person. This is the divine hope for all. But by giving us the freedom to live how we want, God allows us to sabotage the divine plan, and tragically, many people do. Hence one of the Roman Catholic Church’s statements about hell:
“a state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed.”
Swedenborg asserts that God’s compassion will nonetheless do what it can. The power of love continually tries to lead people, if they so wish, away from the sadness of selfishness to the heavenly joy of kindness and compassion. However, if they cling to their egoism, then all that can be done is to try to bring them from a more painful hellish state to a lighter one.
I would say that it is a kindness of a loving God to allow those who are unwilling to give up their selfishness and all related evil desires to escape the light of justice. Because if they were continually exposed to it, the light of truth would produce continual discomfort.
The Lord protects those who are not ready to change. If they did, then they can go back to their old ways and be worse.
“Otherwise they will see with their eyes, they will hear with their ears, they will understand with their hearts, and they will turn and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10)
In reality, Swedenborg says, in the afterlife, people are as happy as possible given the way they want to live. Unfortunately, selfish people are only happy when they try to get their own way.