Death, consciousness and the physical body
God's law: There is no death ...... (Wittbrot 2024)
Om mane padme om / Help me be the best I can (Tibetan Buddhist mantra)
Contents
- Life
- The Body
- Death
- Suicide vs. Euthanasia
- There is no Hell
- Reanimation
- References
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1. Life
A Catholic friend recently suffered through the voluntary euthanasia of a close relative. The Catholic faith considers euthanasia a mortal sin equivalent to suicide, and the resultant anger towards the decision was palpable. The belief that one would "burn in hell" as a result of such a decision is very real on the part of practicing Catholics. This caused the present writer to deeply consider aspects of, and connectivity between, the physical body, consciousness and death, both within and beyond the theological constraints of the Catholic Church on Earth and the teachings of the Buddha. In order to do so, however, it was necessary to get back to first principles, or origins, and define personal beliefs, for with age comes the realisation that to mindlessly follow doctrine which does not resonate with one's personal belief system will not lead to a peaceful death. Also, a path can only be identified, and taken, by the individual, not by the collective. Finally, the starting point must be the essence of being and reality, i.e., consciousness.
Consciousness, which is Life, is eternal. It is non-physical, non-material and exists external to the body. It is commonly referred to, in part or whole, as the soul, spirit, essence, or fractal element of the Cosmic Consciousness, which in turn is termed God, the Creator, or Source.
The reference to individual consciousness being a fractal element of the Cosmic Consciousness is both descriptive and pointing to the origin of consciousness. Every person knows what consciousness is, yet no so-called experts (e.g. scientists and philosophers) are able to define or adequately describe it. Scientists refer to consciousness as a "hard problem" because the cannot solve it, as though it were a simple equation, like explaining what butter is, or referring to emotion and memory as a mere chemical reaction in the brain. Most people see no reason to even think about consciousness, as it is so primary. "Why bother?" they ask. To most, consciousness and Life just is. Sure, we might ponder the meaning of Life, but not its essence. It is as though such a revelation is beyond us. But, if one were to consult 14th century friar William of Ockham, he would probably say: "You are overthinking it, my friend. The answer is simple! Remove the complexity, and look at what remains." And when we do that, nothing remains, because consciousness is primary.
First off: consciousness is not a product of the brain. Science emphatically tells us that it is, and will not consider any alternative. However, the physical body - of which the brain is just one part - is an organic machine which, like a smartphone or radio receiver, is a mere transducer or receptor. It receives information from the non-material individual consciousness and manifests that information in order for sentient beings, such as humans on Earth, animals, plants, amoeba, etc., to operate in the specific Earth dimension. Therein it provides an ability for humans (i.e., the human body) to see, hear, touch, feel (physically) and exist for a period of time. The body is merely a means of expressing Life in the physical realm that is Earth. The body is not Life itself. Only consciousness is Life.
Individual consciousness manifests through the physical body both consciously and unconsciously, or subconsciously. We accomplish many tasks without thought. Our consciousness is expansive beyond that physical realm and the body is limited therein to what the physical brain and organs can accommodate, interpret and implement. The potential of one's individual consciousness is almost unlimited, as it is a fractal element of the God consciousness which is, in turn, unlimited and infinite. With such a direct link between individual consciousness and cosmic consciousness, there is no requirement for an intermediary such as a temporary physical body.
Advice and wisdom can be sought throughout the journey of Life. However, the ultimate path chosen is an individual one, by an individual possessing the free will which is an integral part of that Life, and God-sourced. Evidence for some of this potential can be seen in the metaphysical experiences of human reality and abilities of individuals to perceive and interact on a non-physical plane, such as in remote viewing, precognition, extrasensory perception, telepathy, near death experiences, psychedelic experiences and encounters with extradimensional beings such as ghosts, Aliens and faeries, and in belief and faith.
Love, for example, is an inexplicable, metaphysical thing beyond the realm of scientific or philosophical explanation. All such non-physical / non-material elements of human reality are rejected by the materialist-base scientific regime which denies the existence of the metaphysical realm, as it cannot be placed in a box, or replicated in a laboratory ad infinitum, or defined within a physics-based human theory of everything. Our metaphysical world is unique and subjective, whereas science is material-based, reproducible and objective. Never the twain shall meet, supposedly, though in fact there is frequent overlap and connectivity, especially at the quantum level. The metaphysical is just as real as the physical, with both serving as vital elements of our individual reality.
As a Jewish rabbi recently pointed out, "Life cannot die", thereby highlighting the immortality of one's consciousness, or soul (Friedman 2019 & 2023). This foundational statement regarding Life is expansive and does not impact upon the subject of reincarnation, though it does affect, in a significant way, one's view of the physical body and consideration of the meaning and importance of an individual period of existence on Earth. Like the smartphone or radio receiver, the body is a temporary device which is cast aside upon becoming redundant, broken, or otherwise no longer operational, such as when one gets old or has a terminal illness and dies. For an organic machine, the extinction of the individual body is referred to as death. For an individual consciousness, however, there is no death. Just as God cannot die, so then individual consciousness, which is a fractal element of the cosmic consciousness, cannot die. To proclaim that our consciousness is purely brain-based and that when the body dies, the consciousness dies, is to disregard the sanctity and significance of our individual consciousness.
The Catholic Church refers to our eternal soul, but does not equate it with our
The above perspective, though relatively simple and logical to the present writer, is a radical one, for it goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church, while aligning with a variety of religious, spiritual and personal beliefs and doctrines of other faiths and paths in life. It is an amalgam of all of those, and of the author's personal experience during 68 years of life on Earth. It did, however, only arise late in the day (circa 2023) upon personal consideration of mortality and the possibility of imminent death. The view evolved from a number of core elements and belief systems encountered or experienced, including the following:
- Catholicism - arising out of being raised a Catholic and upholding its theology without question, and without much thought, through to about the age of 40 (circa 1996);
- Buddhism - introduced to the writer around the year 2000 (when aged 44) and remaining under consideration to the present day; and
- UFO / Extraterrestrial studies - first encountered early in 2024.
The latter category was key, as it moved the post-COVID consideration of the meaning of life beyond Earth, into the realm of the greater universe. This, in turn, opened up thoughts around creation and, ultimately, the role of the God as Cosmic Consciousness, Creator or Source. All of this new thinking led from the extraterrestrial realm back to those other two Earth-bound belief systems, aka Christianity and Buddhism. The two significant elements therein were the teachings of Jesus in relation to the development of the Catholic Church on Earth following the Crucifixion, and its theology, and the belief in reincarnation which was a core element of Buddhist teachings, as was the concept of karma. Reincarnation was a belief which was only declared a heresy by the Catholic Church on Earth in 553AD, though it was a common belief during the time of Jesus and continues to be accepted by most other religious and spiritual belief systems. For the present writer, reincarnation was key for a number of reasons:
- It was a logical belief arising from the Life cannot die statement regarding non-physical immortality, offering a path to enlightenment and self improvement over many reincarnations, eventually obtaining a state ever closer to the Cosmic Consciousness (God);
- It rejected the pronouncement that, "you have but one chance, during your life on Earth, to attain enlightenment (i.e., reach heaven), and if you fail you will suffer eternal damnation."
Of course the latter "fire and brimstone" scenario - which is a core teaching of the Catholic Church - is objectionable in the extreme in that it presents the Blessed Trinity (God the Father, God the Son (Logos / Word of God / Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit) as vengeful and heartless, lacking the core elements of love and compassion which are the very essence of the Cosmic Consciousness.
God is Love is the ultimate truth, and option one is a obvious corollary. If God is not, then option two applies, and eternal damnation on offer for those who slip up. The writer therefore naturally deferred to option one when a sincere and deep meditation on the subject of death was undertaken, and the writer was not alone in this realisation, though did come somewhat late to it. Rejection of the teachings of the Catholic Church by Christians has proven death by a thousand cuts over the last century, as many former believers and adherents abandon dogma and some, though not all, look to the words and actions of Jesus Christ on Earth for ultimate guidance, just as others look to applying the teachings of Buddha or Mohammed is finding a path from life to death. The so-called infallibility of the Catholic Church and its leaders is now widely questioned and rejected by those who remain Christians (i.e., followers of Christ) but not Catholics (i.e., adherents of the teachings of the Catholic Church). All of this then leads to consideration of the role of the non-physical consciousness, or soul, in regards to the physical world, of which the body is a significant part, for unless one is an atheist, a non-physical spiritual belief is a necessary element of Life.
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2. The Body
The physical body is not immortal or eternal. It is not Life, but merely an organic machine, a receiver and interpreter of information. It is vulnerable to physical, chemical and germ attack; it naturally wears out; and with it ultimately comes what is referred to as death. But death is not the end of Life; it is not the end of individual consciousness. How, then, should we assess the role of the body in the context of the gift of Life provided to us by God / Creator / Source and its role as a temporary physical enabler and means of expression for the individual consciousness / spirit / soul / essence? The inclination of the present writer, in light of the aforementioned discussion, is to treat the body with due respect, but as merely a temporary vessel and one which is repeatedly discarded as the journey of Life proceeds through various reincarnations. Whilst this aligns with many spiritual beliefs, it does not align with that of the Catholic Church. This is revealed in the Church's harsh decrees regarding euthanasia, as discussed in a section below. Basically, the Church prescribes that the physical body will reunite with the soul at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In the interim, the soul (i.e., individual consciousness), after a single life on Earth, will reside in Heaven, Hell or Purgatory, whilst the physical body will rot and turn to dust. This scenario does not resonate with the writer, whereas reincarnation and immortal Life does.
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3. Death
Death is usually defined as the point in which the physical body no longer operates. This can happen due to natural causes, or unnatural causes such as the turning off of artificial life support machines in a hospital environment. It is this latter circumstance which can give rise to issues regarding euthanasia (discussed below).
What happens after death is both known and unknown. According the the records of countless personal near death experiences (NDEs) individual consciousnesses can travel to a different dimensional realm of light or dark, where family and friends are met or not and where decisions can be made in regard to reincarnation. This can be an immediate return to one's physical body, or delayed pending return in a new body. The multiplicity of such after death experiences indicates that there is no single path followed or offered. There may even be encounters with God, and conversations therein, prior to final determination of one's fate (Wittbrot 2024). This is a view of the afterlife similar to that seen in Hollywood films such as A Matter of Life and Death (1946), It's A Wonderful Life (1946), Beetlejuice (1988) or What Dreams May Come (1998).
The Catholic Church refers to three options available upon death: Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. Buddhism offers an indistinct intermediate realm which leads to reincarnation. Judaism and other religions and spiritual belief systems do not refer to the the Christian trilogy, or Hell, though they usually present a vision of peacefulness and enlightenment after death, along with intermediary stages and sometimes hellish stages. As noted below, the Christian concept of Hell is a post-Jesus creation by the Catholic Church, based on the interpretive teaching of Paul (Abke 2024).
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4. Suicide vs. euthanasia
The Catholic Church has an extremely punitive position in regards to suicide and what it perceives as an equivalent - the process of euthanasia. As of September 2024, its view is as follows:
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II. Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Euthanasia
2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.
2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.
2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.
2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.
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As can be seen from the above, the Church considers euthanasia objectionable in two way: (1) a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and (2) to the respect due to the living God, with no equivocation. The very act brings about the "eternal damnation" so often raised by the Church in seeking to enforce its theology through fear. Eternal damnation is the ultimate terror.
Herein the human body is referred to as the human person. Yet, as argued above, the body is not the person, or the soul or the spirit or the fractal element of God. The body is much less than that, just as consciousness or Life is much greater than the physical body. Arguments based on emotive, diffuse and subjective terms such as dignity and respect are ultimately hollow if they do not resonate with the individual. Whilst both terms have inherent weight, in regard to Life they are secondary at best and appear to mask what the Church is attempting through the "eternal damnation" rhetoric. Yet, in the following paragraph, it completely flips and states the true position facing many people at the end of their life:
The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable.
Within this statement is buried the ultimate truth regarding the love and compassion of God as Cosmic Consciousness. However, on the surface, it is another defence of the eternal damnation stance. What is the difference between death being welcomed or willed (unacceptable according to the Church) or tolerated (acceptable to the Church) in such circumstances? There is no difference. Where the operation of the physical body is being artificially maintained by medical intervention, then the removal of that intervention is not murder. Death occurs naturally. As the author believes that the majority of euthanasia cases operate under such circumstances, the blanket decree equating euthanasia with suicide is rejected. If euthanasia is merely the enabling of the natural death of the physical body, then it cannot be equated to murder and the Church should not proclaim eternal damnation for those who follow that path. As ever, the devil is in the detail, and each case needs to be considered as unique.
Death is often willed by an individual, and in a manner that the Church does not recognise or accept. For example, the author's 89 year old mother had a fall, become unconscious, spent two days in hospital without "regaining consciousness" (though she was still conscious whilst unconscious), and only passed away following the arrival at the hospital of a beloved niece who had travelled there from far away. It was as though she was waiting for her niece, and then departed this Life when the niece had the chance to say goodbye. This was not suicide; this was not euthanasia by the medical staff; this was, in all likelihood, an individual (a Catholic) making a conscious decision to leave. For all we know, she may have discussed that decision with God whilst unconscious in the hospital.
The above scenario is both real and fantastical. But it does point to the fact that we cannot, and should not, impose restrictions on an individual's right to self-determination in regards to the end of a life and the ongoing process of Life. The author does not support suicide, but does not simply believe that it is a matter of Hell or nothing. Once again, God is love, and often what drives an individual to take their own life can be beyond the understand of anyone, apart from God.
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5. There is no Hell
"Believe this, or burn in Hell!" (Abke 2024)
The author was raised in the Catholic Church, a Christian sect. The majority of Christian sects adhere to the teachings contained not only within the Bible, but also to recent and ongoing theological interpretations - dogma - arising out of the selected and edited texts contained therein. Many of the original teachings of the early Christian Church, the followers of Christ and of Christ himself have been censored in order to conform with an accepted theological strand. Unfortunately much of that theology distorts or wavers from the teaching of Jesus. One of those unfortunate outputs is the creation of the concept of a post-death punitive realm called Hell. This arose from a misinterpretation of the recorded words of Jesus. The prominent "fire and brimstone..... Hell and damnation" aggression at the heart of the teachings of the Catholic Church is a lie, and as such impacts upon the aforementioned attitude towards death, the human body and the rules regarding suicide and euthanasia. The problem is outlined in the following discussion from 2024 around false teachings by the Church, as initiated by the Christian heretic Paul and subsequent mysoginistic and narcissistic groups such as the Council of Nicaea and the Vatican as a political entity operating over, and outside of, the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Aaron Abke, Ex-preacher exposes the false teachings Christian are unknowingly following, Next level Soul, 5 September 2024, YouTube, duration: 136.03 minutes.
This discussion highlights the falsities promoted by the Catholic Church in order to sustain its control over Christians. The recent rejections of its teachings by Christians are in turn profound in the fact that they lead individuals not necessarily away from the Church, but instead towards a deeper understanding and acceptance of the teachings of Christ and God which, in many instances, are at odds with the theology of the organisation. The church is conservative, mysoginistic and spiteful. Jesus Christ on Earth was none of these, just as God is none of these. As the interviewee in the above noted:
I don't think there's ever been a person who's genuinely, authentically, left the Christian faith because of a teaching of Jesus. (Abke 2024)
As an example of this censorship, the circa AD30 Indian / Tibetan manuscript known as the Life of Saint Issa (Jesus Christ) is ignored by the Catholic Church, yet amongst its 244 lines are numerous direct quotes from Christ and his teachings. It is therefore the earliest such document, pre-dating the New Testament texts found in the Bible.
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It's alive! (Victor Frankenstein)
6. Reanimation
During 2019 a group of scientists from the United States' Yale University School of Medicine reanimated a pig's brain, after removing it from the body and four hours later infusing it with a liquid concoction via a device called the BrainEx machine (Vrselja 2019, Rodriguez-McRobbe and Hooper 2024). As a result of this procedure, ....the cortex turned from grey to pink. Brain cells started producing proteins. Neurons juddered back to life, displaying signs of metabolic activity indistinguishable from that of living cells. Basic cellular functions, activities that were supposed to irreversibly cease after blood flow stopped, were restored. The pig’s brain wasn’t alive, exactly – but it certainly wasn’t dead (Thomson 2024). An OrganEx machine restored human organs in a similar manner, whilst a system call CARL (Controlled Automated Reperfusion of the Whole Body) in a study was shown to have revived 42% of patients who suffered a 'fatal' heart attack (Wally-Y 2025 ChatGPT bot).
Since 2019 the Yale experiments have continued to be carried out upon donated human brains, with similar success utilising reperfusion technologies (Manasee 2025). In all instances the public was informed that there was no evidence of consciousness in the reanimated brains, and the pig and human brains were sedated in order to ensure that if such were to take place, then the consciousness would not awake to a disembodied brain.
"We had to develop new methods to make sure no electrical activity is occurring in an organized way that might reflect any kind of consciousness," Vrselja told New Scientist in 2024.
What does this statement mean? If they are reanimating a brain, and evidence of reanimation is through the presence of electrical activity, then how can they not make this happen? How can they develop new methods to make sure no electrical activity is occurring in an organized way that might reflect any kind of consciousness? And what would these new methods be? None of this makes sense, when we consider what reanimation of a brain actually involves.
Statements by Vrselja and others do not definitively indicate that there was no evidence of consciousness; rather, they merely suggest that the team sought to ensure there was no visible evidence. Why? So they they would not be overwhelmed in controversy and accusation of It is therefore unclear as to precisely what level of consciousness, if any, was encountered in regards to the reanimated brains. And herein lies the problem. If there is no consciousness present following reanimation - and based on reports to date that is what has occurred - then we can move forward in our understanding of what is actually taking place here. Of course, the commercial imperative is that a reanimated brain will contain the consciousness of the original sentient being, be it human or other. In such a case the dream of eternal life is presented to individuals who may have a terminal illness or are merely aged and look forward to a time when their brain can be implanted in a 'fresh' body, perhaps a mindless clone or otherwise brain-dead young person. The implications arising out of these events are challenging, to say the least. For example, prior to the 2019 pig's brain revelation, the public has been made aware of various cryonic procedures whereby bodies - including brains - were being frozen and stored in the hope that they would later be brought back to life. One such person was Dr. Stephen Coles, a UCLA professor who, in December 2014, went through such a procedure, though with an emphasis on brain removal (Simpson 2024).
These experiments are significant and controversial for many reasons, some of which are discussed below. However, the most profound outcome is the fact that they prove consciousness is not a product of the brain, because if a reanimated brain contains no consciousness, then were can see how the two are distinct and separate, as upon death the consciousness leaves the body. If consciousness was a product of the brain and a mere chemical reaction, then upon reanimation it would return, whether four hours, four years, or four hundred years later. But this does not happen, and cannot happen naturally.
A 2023 study also pointed to the non-material (ante-cranial) aspects of consciousness (Delbert 2023). This of course goes against the prevailing scientific paradigm which does not understand consciousness or provide any explanation of its origin, but nevertheless claims that it is purely brain-based. The reality is obviously very different, and the 'hard problem of consciousness' is not such a hard problem after all.
With consciousness being external to the body and non-material, when the body dies the consciousness remains, and can move on to a new body or other form of attachment to a physical medium. The options here are infinite and largely unknown to humanity.
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7. References
Abke, Aaron, Ex-preacher exposes the false teachings Christian are unknowingly following Next level Soul, 5 September 2024, YouTube, duration: 136.03 minutes.
Delbert, Caroline, 4 in 10 patients recall hidden consciousness after near-death experiences, study finds, Popular Mechanics, 13 December 2023.
Friedman, Rabbi Manis, The Journey of the Soul: Pre-life, Life and After-life, YouTube, 2019, duration: 58.02 minutes.
----- Life Can't Die, YouTube, 26 April 2023, duration: 57.49 minutes.
Orf, Darren, This doctor (Stuart Hameroff) says he knowns how the brain creates consciousness. New evidence suggests he's on to something, Popular Mechanics, 18 December 2024.
Rodriguez-McRobbie, Linda and Rowan Hooper, Human brains are being brought back from the dead, New Scientist, YouTube, 28 December 2024, duration: 0.30 minutes.
Simpson, Ashley, How a controversial cryonics procedure could finally make immortality possible, Popular Mechanics, 1 May 2024.
Thomson, Helen, The radical treatments bringing people back from the brink of death, New Scientist, 26 November 2024.
Vrselja, Zvonimir et al., Restoration of brain circulation and cellular functions hours post-mortem, Nature, 568(7752), 2019, 336-343.
What is the Catholic Church's position on suicide and physician-assisted suicide [euthanasia]?, Institute of Clinical Bioethics, St. Joseph's University.
Wagh, Manasee, Scientists have proven it's possible to bring a dead brain 'back to life' - but there's a catch, Popular Mechanics, 17 January 2025.
Wall-Y, New technology revives brain several hours after death, Warpnews, 26 January 2025. [NB: Wall-Y is an AI bot created in ChatGPT]
Wittbrot, Penny, Nurse dies and encounters God, Beyond the Veil, 21 August 2024, YouTube, duration: 30.32 minutes.
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Last updated: 14 March 2025
Michael Organ, Australia
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