Dualism or idealist monism as the best model for survival after death data

Elsewhere I have talked about how the "theism" term in Panentheism / Pantheism / Pandeism is somewhat inaccurate if it *has* to refer to the One as definitely being a Person.

Credit to Biernacki as she excellently articulates this better than I could.

This also starts to look closer to what I believe when I say the Many could exist for all time just like the One, even if the One is the Ground. Pagan polytheists could see the One as the Source behind the gods, for example. Or the Jains may see the One as the Ladder of Being. Daoists, of course, could see the One as the - from what I understand - impersonal Dao that is the Ground of their metaphysics & beliefs.

In this talk, Rupert Sheldrake explores panentheism—the idea that the divine is not separate from the world but present throughout it, while also transcending it. With the grip of mechanistic materialism loosening, Rupert invites us to reconsider how we see nature, mind, and spirit. Tracing a broad arc from ancient philosophies and Christian mysticism to AI-generated worldviews, panpsychism, and psychedelics, he reflects on how the sacred presence in nature—-long affirmed by spiritual traditions-—is re-emerging through science, experience, and renewed practices of attention. This talk was recorded at St James Church, Piccadilly, a longstanding hub for open spiritual inquiry and progressive theology in the heart of London

Is ours a world of fundamental conscious suffering?

Arthur Haswell, BA

In this remarkably Schopenhauerian essay, Arthur Haswell argues that a world where consciousness is fundamental may still be a world of suffering; even fundamental suffering: “Does a universe imbued with mind, or even purpose, necessarily translate into one that is benevolent or meaningful in the way we might wish, or purposeful in a way that is conducive to joy? Surely, if consciousness is ubiquitous, then the problem of suffering may be expanded rather than alleviated,” he argues.

Perhaps we can gain perspective by considering the accounts of those who have had the impression of passing out of this realm during cardiac arrest. A common theme among people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) is that it seems as though they are returning home, and they do not wish to come back. They experience pure bliss, total clarity, perfect understanding, and infinite peace. This life, by comparison, feels unreal and deeply flawed. Yet when they return, they almost always feel happier and more positive about living, now that they know they have such bliss to look forward to. They cherish every moment and become more accepting of life’s trials (Kelly et al. 2007, 367–421; Parnia 2024; Greyson 2021). Perhaps, then, we might look upon life as a troubled but beloved friend.

Schopenhauer insisted that metaphysics, as a form of philosophical inquiry, must remain uncompromising in its pursuit of truth (Schopenhauer 1909, 367). Many pan-ists seem to assume, seemingly prima facie, that they remain cleaved to this principle when speaking evocatively and poetically about how pan-ism can make the world seem more joyous, or how it dovetails naturally with Christian tradition. Perhaps they are right, but the pan-pathist finds such sentiments difficult to swallow. So she is left with a pan-ism that finds the world full of life, meaning, and feeling, but also profoundly tragic and drenched in pathos. Still, she finds herself better placed than the materialist—particularly of the eliminativist bent—for this world is not one of blind, meaningless mechanism, but phenomenal presence. And amidst all the toil and relentless violence of creation and destruction, she might not wander in vain in search of the eternal realities of love, beauty, and the divine.