What is the afterlife like?

In my book, Life After Death, Powerful Evidence You Will Never Die, I report on quite a number of studies by scientists, some go back all the way back to the 1930s, that when taken together make an overwhelmingly strong case that our consciousness will continue after our physical bodies wear out and die. The results of these studies have for the most part been ignored by the mainstream press because they are in direct contradiction to the erroneous tenets of nineteenth century scientific materialist dogma still being taught today in our colleges and schools. Many scientists I have spoken to—quantum physicists in particular—no longer buy these tenets but apparently they don’t want to be the ones to buck the system. That's why I've done my best to bring the evidence together into one place in order to get the word out.

One question that remains unanswered, however, is what the afterlife is like. Near death survivors tell us what the first few minutes were like for them, and their reports are remarkably consistent—you know, passing through a tunnel toward and then into a light, being greeted by deceased relatives, or angels, or perhaps even Jesus, maybe having a full life review. But perhaps because no one I know of has come back after being there more than half an hour or so, reliable reports on what the afterlife is like longterm are difficult, if not impossible, to come by.

One view of the afterlife I find plausible is that of the eighteen-century philosopher, scientist, and theologian, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). I learned about him and his teachings fairly recently from YouTube videos produced by the Swedenborg Foundation. You can find them on a YouTube channel called, “Off the Left Eye.”

Swedenborg claimed to have had a spiritual awakening at age 53 that allowed him to travel back and forth between the spiritual dimensions and the physical world. According to him, seven levels of the spiritual world exist, and we end up in the one that best suits us in terms of how evolved we are spiritually. In other words, we go to a place in the afterlife where we live, work, and play with others who are like us. So, what does that mean? What would land us on the top level?

As you know, according to Jesus, the Great Commandment is to love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and your neighbor as yourself (see Matthew 22:36-40). Those who actually do that, not because they have been coerced to but because they want to, get to live in the highest level of heaven where everyone loves everyone else. As Swedenborg is reported to have said, “Love consists in desiring to give what is our own to another and feeling his delight as our own.” Imagine what a great place that would be.

The levels below the highest are inhabited by those at progressively lower levels of spiritual evolution all the way down to hell. The inhabitants there hate others and want to do them harm. That sounds like the perfect place for some—like say, ISIS terrorists, or those who were responsible for the Nazi death camps of the Third Reich.

So, according to Swedenborg, no one is sent to heaven or to hell. We simply go to a place in the afterlife that suits who we are and what we have become. If this true, we make our own heaven or hell, and that makes sense to me.

By the way, if you aren’t totally convinced you are eternal, but think it might be a possibility, I suggest you check out Life After Death, Powerful Evidence You Will Never Die. CLICK HERE. What you learn may prompt you to change your approach to life.