Chapter-4
IN SEARCH OF IMMORTALITY
Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me –
The carriage held but just Ourselves,
And immortality.
– Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death.”
The Epic of Gilgamesh
“Western civilization originated from the place between the Tigris and the Euphrates (Iraq), where Hammurabi created his legal code and where Gilgamesh was written – the oldest story in the world, a thousand years older than the Iliad or the Bible. Its hero was a historical king Gilgamesh, who reigned in the Mesopotamian city of Uruk in about 2750 BCE. In the epic, he has an intimate friend, Enkidu, a naked wild man who has been civilized through the erotic arts of temple priestess. With him Gilgamesh battles monsters, and when Enkidu dies, he is inconsolable. He sets out on a desperate journey to find the one man who can tell him how to escape death.
…When Gilgamesh leaves his city and goes into unchanted territory in search of a way beyond death, he is looking for something that is impossible to find …… The quest proves the futility of the quest. There is no way to overcome death; there is no way to control reality.” When I argue with reality, I lose,” Byron Katie writes, “-but only 100 percent of the time.”
From Introduction – Gilgamesh,
A new English Version by Stephen Mitchel 2004.
I love the 4500 years old story of Gilgamesh. It’s hero, Gilgamesh goes in search of eternal life and does not find it.
Siduri (the wiseman) said,
“Gilgamesh, where are you roaming?
You will never find the eternal life that you seek.
When the gods created mankind, they also created death,
and they held eternal life for themselves back alone.
Human are born, they live, they die,
this is the order that gods have decreed.
But until the ends comes, enjoy your life,
spend it in happiness, not despair.
Savor your food, make each of your days a delight,
bathe and anoit yourself,
wear bright clothes that are sparkling clean,
let music and dancing fill your house,
love the child who holds you by the hand and
give your wife pleasure in your embrace.
That is the best way for a man to live.
– Translated by Stephen Mitchell
What a great advice! Wiseman Siduri’s advice would be good even today. Don’t waste your time searching for immortality. Live your life.
Religious Beliefs of After Life
The belief in an afterlife is a fundamental tenet of most religions, including Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Judiasm and Islam, however, the concept of an immortal soul is not. The “soul” itself has different meanings and is not used in the same way in different religions. The world’s major religions hold a number of perspectives on spiritual immortality. They believe that physical body dies, but the “soul” or the “spirit” lives on.
Hinduism and Buddhism
Hinduism and Buddhism postulate that every living being, be it a human or animal has a body and a soul (consciousness) and the bridge between is the mind. “Death” as we know it, is the ceasing of the body to function. The soul (Atman) which is immortal migrates to another body and occupies some-other mind thereby creating consciousness there. The migration of the soul into a human or animal depends upon the “Karma” or “Past deeds” done in the previous physical life or lives.
Hindus and Buddhists believe in an immortal soul which is reincarnated after death. People repeat a process of life, death, and rebirth in a cycle called samsara. If they live their life well, their Karma improves and their station in next life will be higher, and conversely lower if they live their life poorly. Eventually, after many life times of perfecting its Karma, the soul is freed from the cycle and lives in perpetual bliss.
Know this Atman (Soul or Spirit)
Unborn, undying,
Never ceasing,
Never beginning,
Deathless, birthless,
Unchanging forever,
How can it die
The death of the body
Bhagavad – Gita, Hindu Scripture.
Ancient Greek Religion
In ancient Greek religion, immortality always included an eternal union of body and soul, as can been seen in Homer, Hesiod, and various other ancient tests. The soul was considered to have an eternal existence in Hades, but without the body the soul was considered dead. A number of men and women were considered to have gained physical immortality. Asclepius was killed by Zeus only to be resurrected and transformed into a major deity. Achilles, after being killed, was snatched from his funeral pyre by his divine mother Thetis, resurrected and brought to an immortal existence. According to Herodotus’ Histories, the 7th century BC sage Aristeas of Proconnesus was first found dead after which his body disappeared from a locked room. Later on he was found not only to have been resurrected but to have gain immortality.
The philosophical idea of an immortal soul was advocated by Plato and his followers. This, however never became the general norm in Hellenistic thought. However, many or perhaps most Greeks maintained the conviction that certain individuals were resurrected from the dead and made physically immortal. The parallel between these traditional beliefs and the later resurrection of Jesus was not lost on the early Christians. (Dag Osteen)
Judaism
In both Judaism and Christianity, there is no biblical support of “soul immortality.” The focus is on attaining resurrection life after death on the part of the believers. Judaism claims that the righteous dead will be resurrected in the Messianic age with the coming of the messiah (any deliverer). They will then be granted immortality in a perfect world. The wicked dead, on the other hand, will not be resurrected at all. However this is not the only Jewish belief about the afterlife. The Tanakh is not specific about the afterlife, so there are wide differences in views and explanations among the believers.
Christianity
Christian theology holds that Adam and Eve lost physical immortality and all their descendants in the Fall of Man. Christians who profess the Nicene Creed believe that every dead person (whether they believed in Christ or not) will be resurrected from dead. This belief is known as Universal resurrection.
Contrary to common belief, there is no biblical support of “soul immortality” as such in the New Testament. The theme in the Bible is “resurrection life” which imparts immortality, and not about “soul” remaining after birth. Luther and others rejected Calvin’s idea of “soul immortality.”
Islam
Muslims believe that everyone will be resurrected after death. Those who believed in Islam and led an evil life will undergo correction in Jahannam (Hell) but once this correction is over, they are admitted to Jannat (Paradise) and attain immortality.
Say, “Allah causes you to life, then causes you to die; then he will assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt,” but most of the people do not know.
Quran, 45:24-26
The doctrine of immortality is essential to many of the world’s religions. There are numerous symbols representing immortality. The “ankh” is an Egyptian symbol of life that holds connotations of immortality. Other examples include the Ouroboros, the Chinese fungus of longevity, the phoenix, the peacock in Christianity, and the color amaranth in Western culture and peach (in Chinese culture).
Compounds Credited for Immortality
| Time | Place | Means
|
| C-1500 B.C | India | Soma in the Rig Veda. “Sweet drink of life.” A Plant juice that causes drinkers to feel immortal.
|
| C-470 B.C | Greece | Nectar and Ambrosia Tantalus stole from the god “the nectar and ambrosia that made him immortal.” |
| C-1320 | England | The philosopher stone “makes and old Man Young and drives out all sickness of the body.”
|
| C-1891 | Plains American Indian | “Ghost dance” Continuous dance for five days, every six weeks. “The dead are alive again.
|
| C-1964 | Detroit, USA | “Cryonic” Keeping dead people Frozen indefinitely with the hope that science will find a way to revive the dead body.
|
- Lampham’s Quaterly, Vol.VI. Fall, 2013.
Arguing about whether there is an afterlife or not is not important. It is up to you to believe in it or not. What others also think about is not relevant. As Robert G. Ingersoll said – “The only evidence, so far as I know, about another life is, first, we have no evidence; secondly, that we are rather sorry that we have not, and we wish we had.”
Sources
- Mitchel, Stephen. “Gilgamesh, A New English Version.” New York: Free Press, 2004
- Translated by Prabhananda Swami and Isherwood Christopher, “Bhagavad- Gita” New York : Barnes and Noble Books, 1995
- Dag Oistein Endsjo, “Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christionity”. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009
- Wikipedia,org/Immortality 12/27/2013