The Immortal Spirit

I recently saw a post on social media by a respectable musician who I’ll refer to as Ra, who said something to the effect of, ‘death is only in our mind. It’s time to move past this limited thought construct…we are the programmers.’

“Renewal” Acrylic on canvas 16x20” - 2024

That sounds ridiculous according to the normal frame of mind that we have been taught to exist within. But is Ra on to something?

We could look at this idea closer but not without first defining what death is. Do we even know what death really is? I believe that we live in a recycling system of oneness which is perpetually digesting itself in order to sustain itself. Nothing can escape this perpetually hungry hungry hippo, and so it seems that everything must die. But what if Spirit is like a watermelon seed and the Hippo is devouring the flesh of the fruit and spiting out the seeds? In other words, does Spirit carry on immortal? These are the types of questions that would have to be answered before beginning to understand what death really is, and I’m not sure they are answerable.

I’m not sure if Ra meant physical immortality, I don’t think so, but for arguments sake let’s say he did. The first problem that comes to mind is this: If we as humans have been programed over the ages into believing that death is inevitable and that the only reason we die is because we believe that death is unavoidable, then what about the animal and plant world? They’re not being programmed by lies too are they? Do they die by association to us, or what? It doesn’t stand up. All physical things must die. Any instance of arising energy burns out and fades into oblivion. Observe anything in nature, even just a wave on the shore and you can see that this is true. Physical immortality can’t exist in nature as far as I can see.

If you want to really open your mind to this concept you could consider that reality as a whole is a fabrication, or simulation or whatever. We have analyzed our world through refined sciences with advanced instruments, we’ve categorized and ordered EVERYTHING and explained it all halfway to the grave and yet it remains a fact that we only know a partial truth based on our limited point of view. If we had a different point of view it is quite possible that we would see an entirely different reality. And furthermore, is there only one reality?

I think Ra was talking about something other than physical death. He’s an intelligent guy and I know he knows that everything dies. Maybe what he wanted to cultivate was the notion that Spirit is immortal, which might leads us to thinking more about the distant future. This would cultivate a mindset that frees us from the me me me vortex: “I’m this and that is mine and I need to preserve what is mine in this life…”

If we believe that spirit is immortal then surely we can see the importance of preserving it.

If we can see the long-game then we would be obligated to take better care of the precious spirit which has been loaned to us in this life, so that when we pass on physically we are leaving that spirit in better condition than when we found it (or it found us). You know, like when you go camping and the campsite is littered with trash when you get there and you take the time to pick it all up so the next person doesn’t have to do it. I think that’s the idea Ra was trying to evoke.

I think I believe that Spirit is immortal, even if I’m not really sure what Spirit even is. I believe that what I do in this life matters. Maybe not so much my actual output, but more the way I manage my own slice of Spirit, and in turn the way I directly affect other people with my informed actions. Or maybe I don’t even need to come in direct contact with others for my Spirit to have a positive effect on the whole?

Maybe my little paintings can have a positive effect on people too but eventually all those painted canvases and boards will be returned to the earth and no one will know with their conscious mind that I ever existed.

Immortality is better sought, the way I see it, by practicing selflessness and contributing directly to the well-being of the immortal spirit through the cultivation of good-naturedness and love. This point of view also frees me up from the exhausting task of farming ‘likes’ and trying to be right all the time on social media. Ugh, please do kill me if that’s what The Immortal are left to face.

For the record, I’m not trying to figure anything out here. This isn’t a concept that the human mind can understand, nor do I believe that there is a hard-and-fast reality to understand in the first place. Freeing myself from this hamster-wheel-of-thought and admitting that not only do I not know the answers to anything, but that I don’t need to know, is a huge relief.

It’s still fun to ask these questions, however. The age-old riddles such as what is the meaning of life? are meant to inspire us to explore, and nothing more. There can’t be an answer that doesn’t lead to more questions. The want to know burns like an iron in the forge of the human heart and it is this fire in us that is the very essence of being human. While that sounds glorious, it’s also our fatal flaw because for the most part we don’t have the good sense to know when to quit. It is a truth that we will invent our own extinction!

Thanks for reading this thought experiment. Leave feedback below if you have anything to add to this discussion. Also feel free to browse my artwork and sign up for my newsletter if you feel inclined.