Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
We Are Immortal

We Are Immortal

Last updated on: August 13, 2020 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

We Are Immortal 2020-08-12T14:45:03-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What are we to do with questions that trouble us or that pique our curiosity, even though we know they can never be answered conclusively?

Some cling to the teachings of their childhood religion and fight those who suggest their myths might not be literally true. Some say that if we cannot know for sure we must believe nothing. Others attempt to be openminded but mostly end up ignoring the questions.

My philosophy is “hold loosely but practice deeply.” We understand that some questions cannot be answered with certainty, so we respect all who wrestle with them in good faith and with good will. We know we might be wrong, so we remain open to new evidence and new experiences. But while we believe something, we act as though that belief is absolutely true, and we follow our line of belief and practice as far as we can.

This post is not about the case for immortality or for life after death. I’ve talked about these things before, especially in the post titled One Pagan’s Thoughts on What Comes After Death. That’s the “hold loosely” part.

This post is about the “practice deeply” part.

What does it mean that we are immortal?

This world is only one part of life

All that lives will someday die – this is self-evidently true. We will die, and our bodies will decay and return to the elements from whence they came. But as important and sacred as our bodies are, they are not all we are. As important and sacred as our brain activity is, the essence of who we are is more.

We are not bodies who have spirits. We are spirits who – for the moment – have bodies.

What happens to our spirits when they are no longer attached to our bodies? Most of the world’s religious traditions say they go… somewhere. I say they go to the Otherworld because I don’t have a better word for the land of our Gods and ancestors.

Is there one Otherworld or are there many? Is it separated from this world by a “veil” or is it right here with us and we’re unable to sense it (most of the time, anyway)? Does time truly run differently there?

That’s another big question that deserves our consideration, but not in this post. For now, what’s important is that when we die, the essence of who we are goes somewhere.

But we don’t stay there forever.

You may not have lived before, but you will live again

The commonly heard statement that there are more people living today than have ever lived is not correct – it’s not even close. But with an early human population likely in the tens of thousands and a current world population around 7.5 billion, it’s obvious that in every era a good number of people are living in this world for the first time.

Any time I bring up the topic of reincarnation, people start speculating about who they were in a previous life. I have past life memories, including some that are quite old. They help me understand why I am the way I am in this life. But they don’t define me – they aren’t my identity.

The important part of reincarnation isn’t who we were but who we will become.

On the question of free will vs. fate, I come down strongly on the side of free will. At the same time, I recognize that the combination of our environment, our experiences, and our choices shapes our futures in a way that looks a lot like fate.

How you live now has an impact on how you’ll live next year, in ten years, and in the final years of your life.

And it has an impact on how you’ll live in your next life.

You don’t have to do it all in this lifetime

Transportation, telecommunications, and especially the internet have made our world far smaller than it used to be. But these incredibly shrunken “distances” have dramatically increased the options and information available to us.

Some of my friends would like to abandon modern society and go back to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. I wish that was a viable option for them, but I have no desire to join them. I like modern technology, I like being able to travel the world, and I especially like being able to learn and do things my parents and grandparents couldn’t even dream about.

And I recognize that our world is still too unfair and unjust. I want to learn as much as I can, and I also want to leave the world a better place than I found it.

Knowing that I can’t get to all of that in this lifetime is both a blessing (I’ll never get bored!) and a curse. I will die with many, many things left undone – both for myself and with my communities.

But because we are immortal, we don’t have to do it all in this lifetime. We will live again, and while we can’t exactly pick up where we left off, we can continue to learn and grow, and to build a better world where ever – and whenever – we are.

But wasting from abundance is still a waste

Perhaps the best moral case against immortality is that a single lifetime is an urgent lifetime. You only get one chance so make the most of it. If you knew you had forever, you’d put things off and never get them done, year after year and lifetime after lifetime.

While there’s something to be said for urgency, there’s a certain Protestant and capitalist undercurrent in that argument. The value of a lifetime is more than what you produce, or even the knowledge you accumulate – and I say that as someone who’s a rabid accumulator of knowledge.

Still, there’s a qualitative difference between time spent in rest, contemplation, or play on one hand, and time mindlessly flittered away on the other.

And there’s a difference between extravagance and waste. Extravagance can be beautiful and inspiring, it brings us pleasure and shows us what is possible. Waste consumes valuable resources and provides nothing in return, neither tangible nor intangible.

Wasting a lifetime because you know you have more is still a waste.

The Hungarian Parliament Building, Budapest, 2019. Extravagant? Yes. A waste? Definitely not.

And others need your help

Beyond the ethics of waste is the fact that life isn’t all about you – you aren’t here just for yourself.

There are people who are suffering right now. Yes, they’ll get another life too, but why should they have to suffer in this one – particularly when that suffering can be removed?

Some of them need your direct assistance. Many more need your work to build the kind of world where charity is unnecessary.

And some just need your friendship.

The immortals of fiction are often said to become callous and uncaring – they live on while the rest of us die quickly. What’s one more death, or a thousand, or a million?

But when we realize that we are all immortal, we start to understand the need to build a better world here and now. We will be back, and so will our loved ones. Let’s make the next time better than this time, for everyone.

Rebirth won’t go on forever

In about five billion years, the sun will expand into a red giant and engulf the inner planets – including the Earth. We may be reborn here many times, but we cannot be reborn here forever. Further, some traditions – especially Buddhism – teach that eventually we learn and accomplish all we intend to do and we end our cycle of rebirth.

What happens then? Do we take up permanent residence in the Otherworld? Will we be reborn on another planet? Perhaps we have already lived on other planets and simply can’t recognize them in our past life memories. Will we become Gods or demigods?

I don’t know – I’m pushing it to see into the next life, much less many lives in the future. But I’m sure of one thing.

Even after we stop being reborn, we will still be immortal.

Live fearlessly – the details will sort themselves out

The big questions of life are not idle speculations by people who have no “real work” to do. They’re a response to the realities of life that face us all. It’s been said that to be human is to be aware that you are alive and also aware that someday you will die.

For the vast majority of people for the vast majority of time, the existence of life beyond death was an unquestioned reality. I think we are wise to question that belief, as we are wise to question and examine all our beliefs. But having examined it, I’m convinced it’s true. And so I fear neither death nor a life that is less than perfect.

Do I have all the details exactly right? Probably not. But the details will sort themselves out.

Hold loosely but practice deeply.

Let’s embrace our immortality as deeply as we can.

Foundations and Context

Previous Post

August 11, 2020

Trump is Fundamentalism’s Battle of the Bulge

Next Post

August 16, 2020 Is There Forgiveness in Paganism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the first miracle Jesus performed according to John's Gospel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Turning water into wine Feeding the 5000 Raising Lazarus Walking on water