Like Russ Paladino, I’ve been watching YouTube videos on this subject ever since four people close to me died over the past four years. One of them, a fellow musician, more or less coached me through her own passing — we talked a lot about the possibilities of what might come next, and how we felt about it. We watched countless videos together and studied A Course in Miracles, among other books.
Then my precious chosen uncle died suddenly. I was lucky to be with him at the end, and to arrange his burial. So grateful to have saved him from dying a John Doe death in hospital. It doesn't even bear thinking about. I’ll never forget crying in a cab on the way to visit him in the hospital, and the driver saying, “Don’t be sad! Be happy! Wish him to be reborn to a beautiful family!”
And now this Friday marks one year since my mum passed away. Thank God for music to process all these endings with.
I’ve definitely felt the presence of all of them after they were gone. Maybe we really do get to go around again, and that’s why some people feel so instantly familiar — like we’ve known them before.
By the way, if you’re interested… I wrote a post with some of my thoughts on the topic. Included in my post is a piece that I wrote, called “Floating” that sort of my impression of how it feels, or how I hope it feels after death.
I’ve been watching a lot of near death testimonials lately, since my dad died. You’ve described exactly the conclusions that I’ve come to myself.
My dad was 85 and afraid of death. He didn’t really want to discuss the metaphysical aspects of it. He kind of wanted to avoid it for as long as possible. Now my 84-year-old mom has health issues and she’s scared because she thinks that when you die it’s just lights out.
I’ve tried to convey her how this doesn’t make sense, how if we took inanimate bones and flesh and pumped blood through it, it would not become a conscious human being. Something else exists, and I actually love the way you’ve described it here as a possibility.
On the best days, you will have unconscious moments as an artist. I’m talking about those times when a melody or song idea comes into your head from nowhere, or taking a solo with eyes closed and at the end, realizing you got all turned around and forgot about your surroundings. I’ve had those moments And once you do, you hope to have them again. There’s also times when I listen back to something that I’ve written and recorded, after time has gone by, and wonder how the hell I did it. So I do believe that we become channels of some consciousness, or collective consciousness, that we perhaps return to after the soul leaves the body.
Anyway, beautifully written and thought-provoking as usual. Thank you.
I've had similar experiences to what you've stated in your penultimate paragraph. It's an incredible feeling. You realize you are a "creator". I recently found a box of cassette tapes of unfinished songs. I grabbed one and listened to it and it totally blew my mind. The whole tape has completed songs that were amazing. I have "0" recollection of writing them. All I know now is I want to put re-learn and play them.
Many people will point to books written on their near-death or post-death and miraculous recovery. The Bible, both Jewish and Christian, has stories of restoration of some to life after death. Skeptics have a right to their doubts. Whether life survives death in a different form or dimension may be unproven and may depend on definitions subject to discussion. Your speculation based on the power of beauty is as valid as any. An intuition that rests on a gut feeling that there has to be more life beyond death for all creatures may seem narcissistic. The visions of survivors, mystics and children have particulars that psychologists can quarrel with, but they are many through centuries and different cultures. *Que sera sera*. I can live with this saying. A hospice worker, Richard Holmes, I believe, wrote a brief non-copyrighted book, *Crossing the Creek* that uses his experience to explore what happens before the last breath. He suggests that souls may continue their vitality beyond what can be observed by those who live as we do. A mature person can live with uncertainty and doesn't need to apologize for trusting in what may come next. As Rabbi Abraham Heschel says, "Just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy." Spiritual terms may be doubted, but may they also be reinterpreted as, for example, "supreme"? (As with Coltrane?)
Once again, another engaging and excellent shared view that is spot on. Our bodies die but that which makes us who we are goes to the next level if you will. I've never had a "dying" experience, but I had incredible experiences while put under during surgery. It's that space between "will you return, or continue moving forward...". I felt a peace like no other and the colors were vibrant. Some would say it was the medication to put me under. I say no. Perhaps I was supposed to "go", but was sent back. There have been times when I am performing and as a musician there is often that space where you connect with the audience, with the other musicians on stage, or even when I play "solo" where I felt like there was a beam of light going through me from the soles of my feet through the top of my head, straight up to "God", or whatever you want to call it. A feeling like no other. A pure energy. I believe that's what moves forward, to another level.
We may be conscious OF consciousness, but that isn't the same as being Conscious AS Consciousness. I derive this idea from a book, Thinking And Destiny, which is a bitch of a read but important to my development. You're such a great writer, Bret. I enjoy your work so much.
It sounds like we both had very similar experiences with our Grandfathers. A very big part of me is ME because of him. From him I learned everything from how to cook to how to throw the perfect cross and land on the nose. Yes, he taught me to stand up for myself and protect myself. Yes. I believe and know who we are never dies. We just shed this vessel that allowed us to live the earth experience. That infinite "thing" that sends us into a transcendent state when we listen to music from that realm, be it "A Love Supreme" or "Sundays at the Village Vanguard - Bill Evans Trio" for me, is a connection to our higher selves - the self that never dies.
As always, thank you Bret. For holding up the mirror.
Huh, interesting, interesting the convergence in this life. You post this today and it’s the first thing i read. The last thing I read last night, (on Substack) Carlita Shaw, “Water’s Sacred Memory”. I won’t say more than it’s more than an extrapolation of science. I will quote Edgar Allen Poe, “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream”. Until i read you again…peace be with you
Interesting speculations about a subject that all of us speculate about at one point or another, especially as we get closer to slipping on the banana peel, and a good reminder to climb Maslow's ladder while we still can.
Is there life after birth? How many of us have near life experiences and believe, by default, that we're alive? Hmmm (in concert Eflat).
Like Russ Paladino, I’ve been watching YouTube videos on this subject ever since four people close to me died over the past four years. One of them, a fellow musician, more or less coached me through her own passing — we talked a lot about the possibilities of what might come next, and how we felt about it. We watched countless videos together and studied A Course in Miracles, among other books.
Then my precious chosen uncle died suddenly. I was lucky to be with him at the end, and to arrange his burial. So grateful to have saved him from dying a John Doe death in hospital. It doesn't even bear thinking about. I’ll never forget crying in a cab on the way to visit him in the hospital, and the driver saying, “Don’t be sad! Be happy! Wish him to be reborn to a beautiful family!”
And now this Friday marks one year since my mum passed away. Thank God for music to process all these endings with.
I’ve definitely felt the presence of all of them after they were gone. Maybe we really do get to go around again, and that’s why some people feel so instantly familiar — like we’ve known them before.
I think I love your grandfather. I know I love you, brother Bret. 💞 or at least your writing here! Xoxo
By the way, if you’re interested… I wrote a post with some of my thoughts on the topic. Included in my post is a piece that I wrote, called “Floating” that sort of my impression of how it feels, or how I hope it feels after death.
https://open.substack.com/pub/russpaladino/p/if-i-could-be-for-only-an-hour?r=bvwmt&utm_medium=ios
I’ve been watching a lot of near death testimonials lately, since my dad died. You’ve described exactly the conclusions that I’ve come to myself.
My dad was 85 and afraid of death. He didn’t really want to discuss the metaphysical aspects of it. He kind of wanted to avoid it for as long as possible. Now my 84-year-old mom has health issues and she’s scared because she thinks that when you die it’s just lights out.
I’ve tried to convey her how this doesn’t make sense, how if we took inanimate bones and flesh and pumped blood through it, it would not become a conscious human being. Something else exists, and I actually love the way you’ve described it here as a possibility.
On the best days, you will have unconscious moments as an artist. I’m talking about those times when a melody or song idea comes into your head from nowhere, or taking a solo with eyes closed and at the end, realizing you got all turned around and forgot about your surroundings. I’ve had those moments And once you do, you hope to have them again. There’s also times when I listen back to something that I’ve written and recorded, after time has gone by, and wonder how the hell I did it. So I do believe that we become channels of some consciousness, or collective consciousness, that we perhaps return to after the soul leaves the body.
Anyway, beautifully written and thought-provoking as usual. Thank you.
I've had similar experiences to what you've stated in your penultimate paragraph. It's an incredible feeling. You realize you are a "creator". I recently found a box of cassette tapes of unfinished songs. I grabbed one and listened to it and it totally blew my mind. The whole tape has completed songs that were amazing. I have "0" recollection of writing them. All I know now is I want to put re-learn and play them.
Many people will point to books written on their near-death or post-death and miraculous recovery. The Bible, both Jewish and Christian, has stories of restoration of some to life after death. Skeptics have a right to their doubts. Whether life survives death in a different form or dimension may be unproven and may depend on definitions subject to discussion. Your speculation based on the power of beauty is as valid as any. An intuition that rests on a gut feeling that there has to be more life beyond death for all creatures may seem narcissistic. The visions of survivors, mystics and children have particulars that psychologists can quarrel with, but they are many through centuries and different cultures. *Que sera sera*. I can live with this saying. A hospice worker, Richard Holmes, I believe, wrote a brief non-copyrighted book, *Crossing the Creek* that uses his experience to explore what happens before the last breath. He suggests that souls may continue their vitality beyond what can be observed by those who live as we do. A mature person can live with uncertainty and doesn't need to apologize for trusting in what may come next. As Rabbi Abraham Heschel says, "Just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy." Spiritual terms may be doubted, but may they also be reinterpreted as, for example, "supreme"? (As with Coltrane?)
Beautiful Bret
Once again, another engaging and excellent shared view that is spot on. Our bodies die but that which makes us who we are goes to the next level if you will. I've never had a "dying" experience, but I had incredible experiences while put under during surgery. It's that space between "will you return, or continue moving forward...". I felt a peace like no other and the colors were vibrant. Some would say it was the medication to put me under. I say no. Perhaps I was supposed to "go", but was sent back. There have been times when I am performing and as a musician there is often that space where you connect with the audience, with the other musicians on stage, or even when I play "solo" where I felt like there was a beam of light going through me from the soles of my feet through the top of my head, straight up to "God", or whatever you want to call it. A feeling like no other. A pure energy. I believe that's what moves forward, to another level.
Seeking transcendence...
We may be conscious OF consciousness, but that isn't the same as being Conscious AS Consciousness. I derive this idea from a book, Thinking And Destiny, which is a bitch of a read but important to my development. You're such a great writer, Bret. I enjoy your work so much.
It sounds like we both had very similar experiences with our Grandfathers. A very big part of me is ME because of him. From him I learned everything from how to cook to how to throw the perfect cross and land on the nose. Yes, he taught me to stand up for myself and protect myself. Yes. I believe and know who we are never dies. We just shed this vessel that allowed us to live the earth experience. That infinite "thing" that sends us into a transcendent state when we listen to music from that realm, be it "A Love Supreme" or "Sundays at the Village Vanguard - Bill Evans Trio" for me, is a connection to our higher selves - the self that never dies.
As always, thank you Bret. For holding up the mirror.
Alley Valley
Scurrying down the middle of the street, keys between my fingers,
wishing for eyes in the back of my head.
A small car with a big driver stops across the street.
He has been following me.
Hunter seeks prey --- it is a desperate race.
A block from sanctuary,
I run, the rabbit pursued.
A hostile embrace,
iron fingers closing off my breath.
He's dragging me into the alley, clawing at my breast.
I'm wearing layers --- leotard, shirt and jeans.
He can't get through to me, can't get through to me.
I'm in a tranquil valley.
A quiet stream meanders near a sunlit hill.
Reluctantly, I return.
He's standing over me, saying, "Don't scream, or I'll kill you."
Of course, I scream bloody murder, which well it might have been.
He hits me in the eye as porch lights come on.
A star-shaped scar is my reminder
of that sunlit valley in a scary alley,
more than forty years ago.
Huh, interesting, interesting the convergence in this life. You post this today and it’s the first thing i read. The last thing I read last night, (on Substack) Carlita Shaw, “Water’s Sacred Memory”. I won’t say more than it’s more than an extrapolation of science. I will quote Edgar Allen Poe, “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream”. Until i read you again…peace be with you
Interesting speculations about a subject that all of us speculate about at one point or another, especially as we get closer to slipping on the banana peel, and a good reminder to climb Maslow's ladder while we still can.