Whimsical Speculations on the Dangers of an Afterlife

Whimsical Speculations on the Dangers of an Afterlife

Michael Grosso

The most important message from the Tibetan Book of the Dead: recognize that the demons and angels we see in the next world are projections of our own minds.  The light that casts a spell on us, and all the dark and fearful monsters, are parts of ourselves, only  externalized.   

Not sure about this, but of course if Grosso is wrong not clear how one is going to get past these beings...

For many, perhaps, afterlife might turn out to be more miserable than embodied life. Consider another way to imagine the dangers of the afterlife.  In the liberation of consciousness at death, the subconscious memories of our lives may flood and send us through hells of recrimination, brooding, and obsessing on what we did or might have done. Working through it all would be purgatory.

 

On the bright side, purgatory should end, and the mind will figure out ways to explore and enjoy its new mode of being...

I liked the idea, as it seems like a combination of Justice and Mercy. Plus Purgatorio is my favorite book in the Divine Comedy as it reflects the capacity for change.

"In your world there is only the ugly caterpillar, just as in the world above there is only the beautiful butterfly.

 Only in my world, the world of change, can the caterpillar become the butterfly.

 Darling, You Shall Go To The Ball!"
  -Grant Morrison, Invisibles

I think life after death may be very boring for some people. And for people who die in the 21st century, many will suffer because they won’t have their Smartphones, their computers, or their sex organs.  I think I know what happens next, at least if the Tibetan Book of the Dead is right.  The bored, restless and maladjusted in the next world become peeping Toms and Janes; they spy on living folk making love to each other, and get turned on.  That’s  how they get sucked back into the world via reincarnation.

I don't think it's exactly like that, and I think Grosso might be too into the idea of reincarnation being a kind of failure. We know Native American cases - and some replacement reincarnation cases - that being born again into this world can actually be an act of willed purpose.