OK, here's a possible scenario. I'm not claiming this is Truth or that I even believe it. It's not even good enough for a theory, but it's a story. Maybe it's fiction; maybe it is not.
You die. What's left of you would normally go to the next plane. Most do. Once in awhile you still have a very vested interest for remaining on the earth plane, so you stick around as a 'spirit/ghost'. Your vested interest might be a traumatic event, such as being killed in warfare, so you feel robbed of your earthly existence. It may be a loved one you do not wish to leave, or it may be you just don't want to leave your stock portfolio. If you look at the instances of ghosts, there is normally some sort of emotional tie to keep them around. In some instances, the death may have been so quick that the person doesn't really realize they are dead.
(OK, so far, I'm with ya on all the above..)
In any case you can't interact with the rest of us.
(...except perhaps some can... whether accidentally or purposely, and therein lie those rare but possible 'hauntings' in one form or another)
Your physical body is gone and though you can navigate around just fine, including through walls, it ultimately is going to get kind of boring.
So you decide to investigate what is next, perhaps with help, and you leave.
In the next plane you reunite with people who have gone before you and rejoin your 'family' who, you find out, were all in this together.
By 'family' I don't mean Mom & Dad,
(actually, I struggle with this and WANT to believe/look forward to seeing my loved ones again...or should I say beloved
personalities again. And who knows, maybe it will happen to me..because I WANT it to..and at this time, I think what happens after your death is whatever you want/believe)
.....but a larger family of similarly-inclined beings.
Knowledge hidden from you is now regained (agree with this) and you realize you decided you wanted an earth life, you more or less planned its general outlines, and you agreed to 'forget' what you were really about for the duration of your earthly existence.
(Agree. I liken it to an IV Tube and IV Bag (at this time). When we are in our bodies and have our coagulated personalities, we have pinched shut the IV Tube from the bag, so that we can 'play the game without knowing' kinda thing. I believe that the IV Bag is ourselves AS 'Our Higher Self'. And our Higher Self is who helps us in life, kinda thing.)
So you undergo this 'life review' thing and see where you screwed up and where you did well and you realize some of your screw-ups were actually pre-planned and weren't so much screw-ups as set-ups. In fact, your whole life was a set-up. You played your own avatar in the multi-player second life reality show. It was a game you agreed to play.
The thing is, you'll see what you believe. If you're of a particular religious persuasion, you'll be 'met by Jesus' and hang out with the Christian dead who feel vindicated because, after all, they just survived death and are now in Heaven. If you're Islamic, perhaps you'll see your 72 virgins or Allah. Or maybe you will be met by Buddha.
(Perfect! I tend to think/believe this!).
If you don't believe in any of that stuff, well, your higher self is going to have to sit down with you and explain that all this time, you were wrong.
(....Please.....elaborate.....)
I would love to be a fly on the wall when Randi dies. On the other hand, understand that he is also playing a part while here.
Now, your family is going to exert some considerable pressure on you to do this all over again.
(I don't know about this, in my opinion, I think they'll be no pressure to do or not do anything).
You may be happy to do so, or you may resist, but your family has a vested interest in you doing so because the group advances as a whole. If you resist, then they ultimately say good bye and leave you to find a family more suited to your pace of advancement.
(I don't know about this, either).
Maybe you can get away with dropping out of the game, maybe not. In any case, if you do continue to play, you (which now includes your higher self)
(I say you ARE your Higher Self, and that there are no 'lessons' to 'get' or 'learn' or anything...it's all just....existences, experiences, no right or wrong)
will begin to put together a new personality with traits appropriate to the task at hand, and send it (not you) back down as a new avatar to continue to play.
So maybe you can take solace that you, specifically, won’t have to do this again, but you will still be involved in the game by running your own avatars.
Some will not like this set-up at all. It's tantamount to having a bag placed over your head hiding knowledge you already have and told to go back down and 'do good.' I'm sympathetic to this position, but maybe that's because I do not think I have done well. I’m reminded of the Star Wars movie where Luke finally finds out Darth Vader is his father. Vader tells him, ‘You know it is true. You feel it in your bones.’ Well, I feel this is the general idea of what happens, with lots of missing specifics. I feel it in my bones.
(Great analogy!)
And the UFO Guys™? They’ve already figured this out. Their science advanced them to the point that they can travel between these planes with relative ease. For them, religion and science have merged. They feel superior to us, of course, but that’s only because they have superior technology. We feel superior to the New Guinea Highlander, too, and even if we are egalitarian in nature, still see him as ignorant. But if the truth be known, his IQ may be superior to ours. If he had grown up in an aristocratic British household, he would have done well at Eton and Oxford. We are fond of suggesting ‘they’ are so far advanced that we are like ants compared to them. Don’t you believe it. Ants don’t do quantum mechanics. Never shortchange your own intelligence or mock yourself as inferior.
(If by 'UFO Guys' you are referring to 'non-human sentient entities', I think they're in the same boat we are all in and go through the same death experience, except that they chose to be in a non-human game/existence...don't know if they have any distinct and varying personalities to speak of tho...)
In any case, the UFO Guys™ have apparently taken on some shepherding roll here as they interfere with our lives.
(Perhaps so)
They'll be there, waving at us from the sidelines. I’m thinking they are more like the guy who says, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” I don’t want their stinking help, and I intend to fight them every step of the way.
(lol.)
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A very well-thought-out and well-written post, thank you, Schuyler!
It's fun to theorize about stuff like this, 'cause there's really no way to 'prove' a finite answer (imho).
And in the end...we are ALL 'right' I suppose...
(in the case I've stated, in that 'whatever happens is whatever you believe' kinda thing).
Hoping I don't step on too many toes here, but...I (at this time) do not think that there is any finite 'place' like 'Heaven' or 'Hell'. I don't think that doing 'good' vs doing 'evil' will necessarily 'place' you differently
(after you die, that is).
Regarding Reincarnation and Past Lives: I think we've been ALL personalities and done ALL things (or are in process of doing so? Idk..still processing
thoughts on this one).
It's all like a game...like a video game as Schuyler's put it. There's no right or wrong, only consequences of one's actions, that's it.
