What Happens To Souls After Death
Friday, April 5, 2013
SPIRITUAL REWARD
&
PUNISHMENT
By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
4/5/2013
A friend, Pat Ivers, asked me to address the notion of “What happens to mean souls after they die?” Pat knows, however, that I do not believe that God will do any punishing because I believe that God is IN everything and everyone - thus making it an irrational idea to have God punish - or reward - anyone. How can something that is INSIDE of you be OUTSIDE of you as an agent to punish - or reward?
I realize that my thinking on that is somewhat abnormal because I think many - and maybe most - have an idea that God is a person that can and will deal with all subjects. I will be addressing that notion that God can’t be a person in the first place in my next blog that I call THE UNIVERSALITY OF GOD; but given such a belief that no one need fear punishment - or reward - by God because God is not a reality to do such, do I believe that any punishment will be forthcoming? And if so, by whom?
Thanks for asking for my opinion, Pat. Let me begin by saying I DON’T KNOW for sure, but then no one does - regardless of many being absolutely sure of their minds on such a subject. No, I do not know; and I do not mind admitting that; but I do have an opinion - and that is what I am offering to Pat - and anyone who cares to listen.
First of all, do I believe in sin - in order that a sinner might need or receive punishment for it? No, I do not believe in sin as “separation from God,” a somewhat traditional view of sin; but I do believe in sin as just plain “meanness.” Oh, yes I do! Given a definition of sin as being “meanness,” yes I do believe in sin - or that people sin - because just living makes that obvious. There are many who are mean in life - in and outside of permitted social order. Thus, there are many who are “sinners.” I can’t sin in terms of being separated from God because I can’t be separated from something inside of me, but I can sin in terms of being mean to others - even if I am using God as some kind of measure to be mean to others. Lots of people do that. Meanness has many wardrobes, though it has but one intent - to make others suffer.
So, to answer Pat, what should happen to me in life if I am mean? In life, I suppose it might be likely that in some fashion I will be punished for being mean. Some meanness might even get me imprisoned by society. I do believe that is obvious. People are often mean in life for imposing on others; but outside of punishment by another, am I punished in life for being mean?
My answer to that is yes. I think meanness is punished as virtue is rewarded simply by way of attitude and continuing an attitude. I do not believe there is any punishment for meanness more severe than simply continuing to be mean. Continuation of meanness, in my opinion, is the worst punishment of all for meanness - as continuation of kindness is the greatest reward for kindness.
Given that I am mean, however, what would be my worst punishment for being mean? To continue to be mean. Now, you can flog me or imprison me for my being mean, and that would not be pleasant, but once your flogging is done, your punishment is done too; but my self punishment would not be done until I change course in life. Would it? Until I change my attitude, my punishment would continue. Would it not?
Now, take that a step further. Say I die with an attitude of meanness. Oh, woe is me! As I lived a life of despair - or meanness - maybe nothing will change when I die. Maybe I won’t be able to change my attitude of meanness because it will follow me wherever I might go. If so, my own “self punishment” would continue - even after death.
Of course, I do not know that is the case. No one does; but given my experience in life, attitude continues - until changed; and it is really attitude that is the biggest issue of life. Attitude says it all; and thus, if attitude is not likely to change in my soul after my soul will have departed from a body, then it behooves me to make sure my attitude is right in life to assure that it will be right in death. Makes sense. Right?
There is a lot of meanness in this old world; and much of it could just be stemming from previously mean people just returning to life in another incarnation. It is unlikely, I think, that if I was a mean soul last time that I won’t find a way to be mean a next time too. If you wonder where some meanness came from - even amidst otherwise kind souls - the answer could well be that it simply continued from a previous life.
I am guessing, of course, but I think it is a pretty good guess. Why? Because it is based on experience within life. I think we have all witnessed people who have steadfastly maintained a certain perspective - even after that perspective has been demonstrated as false; and, if we are honest, we will include ourselves in that number. They - or we - are always right - even if they - or we - are proved wrong; and that is certain proof that souls simply continue as they are. Thus, one can be almost certain that each of us will wake up tomorrow and be the same person that we were today - regardless of any different opinion about us.
If life demonstrates continuation of attitude of soul, why should we believe that death can change that? And if a soul is reborn into another body or vessel once one body has been discharged, so to speak, it is completely likely it will maintain its last attitude. Life teaches us that people do not change their attitudes - for the most part - and that says to me that souls probably do not change attitude upon “charging” into another body. If souls have some sort of soulful attitude that pervades their human existence - once they enter human bodies and become human - then I think it is likely that attitude will attach itself to a next life.
That doesn’t sound very appealing, however, to lots of minds. Some people think that a mean person ought to be punished by God or some other person or agent when they die - and some people think that it is unfair that a mean person can’t begin with a whole clean slate - once they pass from a given life.
Well, I somewhat sympathize with both sentiments, but I do not see that it is likely that anyone is punished by another as a soul once they pass from a body simply because they no longer have a body to punish; and I don’t think any soul can begin with a “clean slate” upon passing from life because it is likely a soul will have to continue as it is - that is at least in terms of “attitude” or “disposition.”
That is not to say, however, that a mean soul can’t change. It is only to say that having to retain an attitude would probably make it hard for a mean person to change - or a kind person to become mean. Change happens all the time, however. People do “see the light” and change to become something other than they were. There is no reason to say people - even super mean people - can’t change. In that light, “redemption” - if you want to call it that - is always possible.
I think we all know mean people who think they are not mean, however. They think they are somehow “just.” They are not mean in demanding punishment for others. They are simply “just minded.” Well, whatever they are, they will continue with that attitude - and that will be just as much a “punishment” for them as they chose to punish others.
In soulful reality, one gets back what one gives out. Call it soulful trickery, if you wish, but if you insist on punishing another, your act turns back on yourself - and you become what you do to another. If you think you are being just and you are punishing me for something by slapping me in the face, you are also slapping yourself in the face - even if it is for a lack of compassion. You pay in some way - if you punish. So, why spend anytime in life at all seeking to punish when it all comes back to you - in some way?
Meanness comes in all sorts of packages. Doesn’t it? In the end, it does not matter what any law might define as meanness, if one is mean, one is mean - and it is meanness itself that is the greatest punishment for meanness - just as it is kindness itself that is the greatest reward for kindness. It is my attitude - and it makes no difference if that attitude is shared by others or not. Whatever is my attitude, logic says it will continue - until I change it.
But what a world we could have if people did not deal out meanness for meanness - and call it justice. If you are miserable because you think someone else did you a terrible wrong, you are mostly miserable because of a failure to forgive. You are not mostly miserable because of something another did. Each of us has it within ourselves, I think, to treat others as we want to be treated - and that is irrespective of the way we may have been treated by someone else.
There is an old saying that goes: Except for the Grace of God, there go I. Well, I do not believe the “Grace of God” has anything to do with it because I think all are equally blessed and imbued of God, but the sentiment is correct. Except for my having a fortunate upbringing, there go I. It only makes sense to realize that others might not have been so blessed as I was - and realize that if I had been in “their shoes,” I might have done the same thing.
As it was said in a play I recently was privileged to participate in, Forgiveness Is The Answer. And it is in forgiving that I can stop being mean. We all know some who absolutely refuse to forgive - with some legal judges and prosecutors and prison guards being right there in front - but legal judge or prosecutor or prison guard or otherwise, we have to pay for our lack of forgiveness - simply because our attitudes are our punishment. At least, I think so.
I am reminded of a current court case in Denver, Colorado. Last year, a young man planned and executed a horrible crime in that he assaulted and killed many in a theatre in the area. No, I do not think the lad, James Holmes, should be let go and not reprimanded for what he did, but I think it serves no one any good to act like we might not have done what he did - given walking in his shoes. I feel very sorry for all who bear horrible grudges because it is their bearing their grudges that will make them suffer the most.
I am told that James Holmes recently agreed to plead guilty without possibility of parole if he would be spared the death penalty. Many of his victims - and survivors of his victims - would have preferred such a course so they could get on with their lives - perhaps with some proper forgiveness attached - but many others - including the main prosecutor - believe Mr. Holmes deserves no less than death and will not accept his guilty plea on condition he be spared the death penalty. No, they want him tried and proved guilty so they can kill the poor man as he killed others - even though that course of trial may take a year to complete and cost millions of dollars and untold human misery to pursue. Mr. Holmes is willing to admit guilt, but that is not enough. Some think they must punish Mr. Holmes to the so called “fullest extent of the law.”
What absolute stupidity in my opinion! Little do they realize that they are the ones who will suffer the most - not James Holmes - because they will have to live their hatred - not only until James Holmes is rendered guilty or innocent by insanity - but perhaps forever - even after death in this life.
But let’s get back to what I think happens to a soul when it dies - or when the body of a soul dies? I do not think many people really think about the issue when they offer that a soul is likely to be punished if it “deserves” punishment - that is, by another. The main reason for that is that punishment by another is probably strictly body oriented. Thus, if my soul no longer has a body, then how can it be punished? No body - no punishment. That is how I see that it probably is.
Many will object, of course. They want another who was mean to them to “burn in Hell” forever - or the like; but once again, no body, no pain. How can I “burn in Hell” if I have no body with which to be burned? Tell me that.
In a way, then, since I can’t get to a body of yours to punish you after death since you will have no body, then it is true you can “begin again.” In that way, your soul can start again with a “clean slate”; and I am grateful for that because I do not want anyone to suffer for any reason. That is just me. I am glad that upon death of your body that you will have a clean slate in that no one is likely to be able to pursue you, but I think having to continue a next life - if one chooses to incarnate again - with the same attitude of a previous life, it should behoove all of us to live this life like we will have to live it all over again - in the same way.
With that, let me offer that personally I think a soul needs a body to maneuver itself. That is probably why souls choose to incarnate in bodies in the first place. I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Why would I now be in a body if I did not think there is some advantage in having a body - or being in a body? Maybe a soul by itself can do nothing. Maybe it needs a body with which to act as it might act. If so, If I can’t do anything to express myself as a soul without a body, then when I get a body again, it is likely “full speed ahead” - starting out with the same attitude with which I ended my last life.
We have all heard the argument - BORN THAT WAY. Well, I think it is likely true. I was “born that way” in terms of having to inherit myself from a previous life. Why do some seem to have an “inherent” talent when they are born - to become a master musician or a master painter or a master anything? Well, I would suspect it has a lot to do with how they lived their last life. In some way if one was a musician in a last life, then they might be born again with “music in their soul.” That would explain why we all seem to be born with different talents.
But like one could have spent a last life appealing to the music inside of them, another could have spent it as a rapist or murderer. Sad to say, murder can be in my person’s soul too - if that is what one was in a last life. If I spent my last life looking for a way to murder you and kill you and divest you of peace, then it is likely if I return, I will be on the lookout for one like you all over again - to murder anew. In that way, one can be BORN THAT WAY too.
But, Pat, what this is all to say is that whatever I am, I will likely inherit that self - even beyond the grave; and that is my greatest form of punishment or reward - to have to inherit me to do me all over again - until I might change course, of course.
To put it in a personal frame, I was born delighted with life. I do not know how I was as a baby, but I would not doubt that my parents could not keep clothes on me. Why? Because in inheriting the me of a last life, I had no need for clothes. I wanted to explore the life I had been given; and my guess is that even as a baby, I began that way. I began that way because in all likelihood, I ended that way in a last life.
And if I was not that way as a baby, I was that way as a child. Every chance I got - when I knew I could get away with it - off went my clothes. If I was walking in a field on the family farm, off went my clothes. If I was wading in a canal that passed through the farm, off went my clothes. If I was hiking in the hills beyond the family farm, off went my clothes. Why? Because I was simply practicing what I had learned in a past life - that real virtue is embracing the gift of life - not denouncing it for some ulterior purpose of being able to control it - or more likely, control others by denouncing their most precious possession - their bodies.
So, as a child I was free to be me - even though I lived with two parents who did not sympathize with me and seven siblings who may have thought me outrageous if they had known what I was doing. I do admit I kept most of my love of life a secret because, having been raised a Catholic, I knew such activity would not be applauded. So, for the most part, I “hid out in nakedness” in secret. But I was BORN THAT WAY - and the likely reason I was “born that way” and practiced even differently from my own family is that I had simply inherited the me of the past. Probably!
And I am still that way today. Even though I live in a world that frowns upon accepting nakedness - except for sex - I still throw off my clothes every chance I get in order to embrace the real gift of life I have. It is not at all a matter of sex for me. It is simply doing what is right - being unashamed of the gift of life. For what it’s worth, I strongly encourage it. I am not so much enthralled with me - by embracing the naked me - as I am enthralled with Nature in general. I go naked not to be different, but to know I am the same as all others and to experience bonding with Nature and being part of it. I have no shame because it makes no sense to be ashamed of a gift. Does it?
Many are born with shame, however. Aren’t they? Why? I think it is largely because that is the way they lived in a past life - and past lives perhaps. Those many are simply continuing their attitude of the past - just like I am continuing my attitude - as perhaps current rapists and killers and executioners are continuing their attitudes. We are all probably BORN THAT WAY; and if we are perceptive, we will learn from our experiences and either continue living some way - or change to be able to inherit another way and another perceptive.
But maybe I can help another wayward soul who was not born the way I was born too, having inherited a very different self than that which I inherited. Maybe I can make contact with another soul who entered this world as a “lost soul” and maybe I can show him that rage and anger - and justice over forgiveness - is not very healthy for a soul. Maybe he can reach out to another life and another attitude - simply because I offered him an alternative by my example. That is always possible. Isn’t it?
Personally, I think that is why souls like Jesus were born, Pat - and probably continue to be born - to declare their own personal peace and hope it runs off them to others who may need it. I don’t think Jesus was a Jewish or Christian Messiah intent on saving a world from sin because I don’t think Jesus even believed in sin in the traditional sense of “being separated from God” - but I do believe that Jesus probably lived - not only to experience life himself - but to show others the way - by example, mostly by forgiving to avoid being driven by grudge; and, perhaps, I am like that too - as everyone of us can be.
Perhaps there is a little Jesus in me, Pat - as I think it would be good if there were a little Jesus in everyone. Don’t you?
And now a preview of my next article - THE UNIVERSALITY OF GOD - to be added as a blog to my website one week from today - April 12th, my departed Mom’s 105th birthday. I can’t promise satisfying answers to spiritual questions, but as I have responded to a friend’s question in this effort, I will be most happy to respond to any question - as I can. OK?
As part of that next essay, I will be including a rather long poem (or song) I just wrote called EVERY PLACE IS HEAVEN. Let me end this by offering the first verse of that one.
Every place is Heaven;
it’s just a matter of a view.
There is no God outside of life
that’s not inside it too.
You cannot divide Infinity
into what’s evil and what’s good.
So, let everyone realize
All’s one great brotherhood.
Thanks! (FWB)