WarpMyMind

Maybe not just self, but a justification to the afterlife and other life wonders also. :)

The philosophical approach to the existence of self - you
Life after death:
Many situations suggest the existence of consciousness upon death. Suggestions as such, include; past-life regression, NDE’s, OOBE’s, ghosts, white noise and many more. However, these are more commonly debunked as; illusions. They’re commonly suggested as the subconscious creating the given nature, whereas ghosts are suggested to have either been faked or optical/mental illusions. OOBE’s are said to be the perception of ones reality within itself (The brain creating its own reality, rather than to percept the current reality). NDE’s are said to have been subconscious or either illusions.

Here are examples of videos suggesting the existence of consciousness upon death…
Check through all, skip some perhaps or watch all, but check all at least
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVtHBEZbN6I[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXlJzOn77qg&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TfxHZXa0mg&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr-xBTipxos&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibPlspMNq8o&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibPlspMNq8o&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raIYnqWp8Gk&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axn0j-67-Z0&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADxYnU7NH5U&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hCDhAK-BL0&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Da22fzBK-0&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsV2oWL0bK0&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swO80jQ8IGk[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1FPWMKqZ0A&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnQBaFgEFyg&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tThm6bJWA0&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMhsCZtqoPA&feature=related[/media]

I’d firstly like to state: The videos may be inconsistent, may feature a lack of scientific evidence and may appear as ‘bogus’. However, watch them as you wish, to greater your understanding/curiosity.

The self becomes conscious of reality upon the awareness of reality. Reality is produced from the brain from converted signals of which become data. Signals of such are percepted from the 6 senses we’re born with. The data initiated from the signals becomes information once it hits the memory cortex within the brain. The information becomes incredibly sophisticated throughout our lifetime, constantly being initiated by the brain.

You could see the brain as the subconscious, in which, the subconscious being a processor. There are various actions you are regulated from committing upon the brain. Actions such as; controlling organs and growth are prevented from being controlled consciously. You could see this similar to task manager. When you attempt to end core processes, you are prevented from doing so, introduced with a notification telling you that the process is critical and cannot be terminated.

The consciousness is limited to the reality and memory signaled from the brain – the subconscious. Specific areas from within the cerebral cortex are initiated upon the desire of a given thought. For instance; if you were to commit a maths sum, your brain would initiate the area featuring mathematical calculations within the cerebral cortex. However, at times you are less aware of your environment and are more aware of a screen perhaps (This thread? The thoughts of consciousness). Your brain would be signaling information from within a specific area of which features data upon the consciousness within your memory cortex within your brain. However, we cannot become aware of everything, such as; common mistakes, complex mistakes and rare mistakes, calculations, requirements and more, simultaneously. Perhaps this is the limit of the brain, a limited functionality of which can only signal a given amount of data to the consciousness.

There are times in which you feel you’re aware of everything, aware of existence and solutions to problems. Well, your brain has most likely initiated a majority of areas within your memory cortex, allowing you – the self consciousness, to receive data from those areas, consciously. You may feel heat or a sense of euphoria (A nice feeling) within your head once this occurs.

However, there are times of which you feel as if your becoming separated from your brain and body, times that suggest the feeling of an out of body experience. I’ve had a similar one within a dream-like state – I originally percepted it as sleeping paralysis, but was more consciously aware at the time, than usual. This time, I was able to get up out of my bed, walk around and think. However, throughout the procedure, I had fell and heard large footsteps slam towards my bedroom door. I had become paralyzed just prior to falling onto the floor. I had also fell in an awkward position. The entity or imagination that had attempted to commit something over me, had forced myself under my bed, through to a space of emptiness. I had also felt every sense of pain whilst being forced under the bed. Also, as I walked around my room whilst conscious within this dream-like state, I had visualized and felt everything as it was in reality. After the procedure, I had woken up in the exact position I had slept in (my head facing towards the ceiling). Perhaps it could have been an out of body experience or it may have been my brain processing the reality.

Anyway, aside from the story, back to the idea. At times you’ll commit actions without being aware of them, as you will do so automatically, behaving obedient. Actions may be based upon morality or social ethics. You may also feel barriers from committing certain actions.

Your self is regulated. Rather than to be a pure-self existing entity, featured with a biological component utilized for processing reality, the self would view characteristics, rather than a self-conscious existence. You are identified as a given set of characteristics, in which, your subconscious would fall obedient to them, leaving you, the self puzzled as to why you do such actions. However, that occurs on occasions. The problem, we will become dependent of certain objects, such as; money, sports and other forms of entertainment. We lose the self-conscious, as we become more and more obedient to these items. We become dependent on them. I mean… we see ourselves as characteristics, rather than self-conscious forms of life. If the self percepts self as characteristics, the subconscious would process any form of data based upon those characteristics and desires. *sigh*, I’ll explain a bit more later with examples. Watch this for the time being, it should give you a similar idea…

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v3YGtsK-XY[/media]

The location of consciousness - self, within the brain
Well the location would be unknown, but can be suggested. A component - gland, situated within the center of the brain, known as; the pineal gland, is known to be responsible for altering the perception of reality, creating hallucgenic perception and NDE's (Near-death experiences). Many suggest that the soul, of which is percepted as pure self-existence in this theory, is situated within this gland.

There are many situations that suggest that the self continues to exist after death, such as; NDE's (Near death experiences), OOBE's (Out of body experiences) and many more. However, they are mostly debunked as psychadelic hallucinations created by the brain. The question upon the pineal gland releasing DMT to induce the illusion of life after death, is why?

[highligh]A few words may put you off the theory, but I have added extra's to it. Keep on reading![/highlight]

Ghosts - a self-characteristic consciousness existing upon death
Well, many have claimed to have seen ghosts and other forms of life created upon a non-biological substance. I theorize that ghosts are the form of consciousness that hasn't realized upon the occurence of it's inevitable death.

For instance; as the theory suggests, the consciousness is created of non-biological existence. If the consciousness was to believe it was still existence, without realizing upon death, it would possibly continue it's initial existence. However, logically, this would require memory sent from the brain, to be stored somewhere else. Past-life experiences suggest that the consciousness would have possibly stored memory transfered from a previous brain - a perception of reality, in another form of space.

If an individual - a self-existing entity, was to believe upon it's initial existence, in which, the brain had died, but memory was transfered and stored into another location, then the individual would percieve the reality of which had previously occured. The ghost couldn't possibly interact with areas that hadn't been experienced throughout the life time, featured with a mechanism that creates a form of reality - a brain for instance.

However, according to many, ghosts somehow interact with our world. The self-existing entity could be part of a another dimmension our brains are incapable of processing. A dimmension, such as; the forth. It would make sense to prevent the pursue of self-existence, to prevent self from meeting self, and thus; creating a paradox. It would require more thought to solve this issue, however, if a self-existing entity is a forth dimmentional form of existence, then it would pursue the current, past and further - all movements of particles.

The subconscious
The mind is incredibly sophisticated. You could see the mind as software, whilst the brain would be hardware. However, the consciousness was pure self-existence, then self isn't software, as the subconscious is. The subconscious can be altered from an external source, rather than direct - the brain.

The brain may as well be the subconscious as a whole. If a segment of the brain was removed, then the subconscious would feature less functionality.

The subconscious controls bodily organs - components as such; the hearth, lungs, etc. However, it also controls our senses, converting data into information, through to knowledge. Since the subconscious controls reality, altering this component would result in the alteration of self - the consciousness.

Infinite
How do we know time had a beginning? If time stopped, that is, if there was no timelines but one, time could never initiate again. Time in my perception, is the movement of life; growth of existence. If the Universe was based upon a timeline, in which case, if there was parallel universes, more universes beyond our own, then there must be a master timeline, a timeline of which features sub-timelines, each for every universe.

Okay, so, lets say time is infinite, as a whole. If time is infinite, it features no start nor end. This being said leaves the possibility for anything and everything to occur. However, if time is infinite, then everything cannot exist and thus; only infinite existence is possible. If only infinite existence is possible, nothing cannot exist, no nothing.

With no end nor start, infinite existences occur throughout the infinite time and thus; infinite possibilities of infinite existances throughout an infinite time, occur. Just think for a moment, think about this. Infinite pleasure and suffering occurs spontanously, present, past, future and simutanously.

I mean... (*sigh*, check the image for the illustration on fith dimmension)..


'a' represents a cube or square. The lines suggest the possible positions for the object to move. 3 suggests the past, 1 suggests the present and 2 suggests the future.


Everything cannot exist, as there are only infinite existences of entities. Infinite time leaves the possibility for infinite existences and thus; infinite possibilities for infinite existences. Infinite possibilities can also manipulate the infinite time, and thus; creating timelines. Infinite timelines allowing the occurrence of infinite possibilites over infinite time and existences.

Infinite is occuring spontanously, now, past and future, throughout an infinite time. If you picture this, it's pretty fucked up but pretty awesome.

You will see... infinite pleasure, possibilities, suffering; existence and possibility, over an infinite timeline.

This idea has many conflicts, such as; if infinite exists, then nothing cannot exist, but nothing is a possibility.

However, this idea said, you have existed here right now an infinite amount of times, are doing so now and are doing so elsewhere now in another dimmension or place, your just not aware of it.

Why - the why of conscious philosophy
Why must you become conscious - self-existent for a single lifetime, spontanously. There are an incomprehensive amount of self-existing entites throughout life, in which case, you could have been any one of them, but no, you are you, you are sitting within the body of yourself, not the body of another self.

You could have been conscious a week prior to your birth, but you wern't. You could have been self-existent a hundred years prior to your existence, but no, you wern't. You spontanously exist now and persue your own existence, following death, for eternity. You are to exist for a given amount of time, to never exist again.

Now, why must this be? I don't understand, and sure, biological science suggests that we live one life. However, other areas suggest we live further on.

The process of unconsciousness
Throughout a coma or a dream of which you lack awareness of (unable to remember), you were conscious. If you wern't conscious throughout the procedure, you would have been dead. However, you were self-existent throughout the time, you just don't remember it.

For instance; if you were to exist within a coma for a few months, you would exist consciously elsewhere throughout that given time. However, upon your awakening, it would feel as if it was a split second from falling into a coma and back to awakening.

Hypnotism commits a similar occurence over yourself, creating a trance throughout a given amount of time, only to wake you up and if chosen, to prevent you from remembering the trance, and thus; you'd believe you were in trance for a split second/would be confused.

Now... lets say your consciousness - you, the self-existence, becomes aware of death and realizes that the brain signals no reality, as it has become non-functional. Upon your next life, you would remember nothing, you would be a conscious as you were in your previous life, but would experience a new life - a new reality created by the new form of matter (A system of which would instantiate a reality for the consciousness).

You could be self-existent throughout billions of years prior to your next life. However, upon your next life, you wouldn't realize it, as there was no memory stored, and if you became aware of a past life, you could have possibly accessed a form of memory stored within a conscious location (Perhaps another dimmension - read previous paragraphs). You could picture it similar to this...

Consciously aware of a form of reality -> death -- self-existent with no reality -- (Billions of years pass by) -- Consciously aware of a second form of reality -> repeat.

To create a perspective to this: The brain is part of the consciousness, rather than the consciousness being part of the brain. The consciousness - the self existence, percepts reality sent from the brain. If the brain was to become non-functional, the self would recieve no reality from the brain.

"tl;dr"? :?

It is too early in the morning for me to read all of that. It looks like it might be interesting, though.

Being a spiritualist and exorcist, for lack of better terms. (No, not religiously aligned, so I won't bring that in here) My specialty as a spiritualist has been located almost entirely on a few specific subjects, the major one being self/anima web/souls. Due to my research into this, please keep in mind you may not agree with what I have to say, but, as long as you think about it, I'll consider the effort I spend writing this worth it.

Consciousness, as we define it now is the act of being aware of oneself as a singular entity with differences from other things. This is a state that follows even after death, and before it. I won't go into my research of what happens to a soul after death beyond what is necessary to the explanation, as it would incite heavy debate. To first define what represents Consciousness and how it is different from other states of mind and being, I will get into the 4 layers of what makes up a human soul, and by defining the spirit, defining the mind.

The first layer is the conscious mind, the physically inclined and guided processes that science has done a very good job at defining what makes people tick, to incline them to actions and certain thoughts. Since we're all hypnosis interested here, I'll assume people will or have done research as to the limits of what makes up a mind's conscious portion.

The second layer is the Subconscious mind, the primordial and evolution driven aspect that keeps in motion the portions of our brain and thoughts, our instincts and primal responses to things. It is a conglomerate of all of what our conscious mind is, and more. Again, there's better explanations then what I could give as to what the subconscious is and does.

The third layer of being is the first to delve into the spiritual, it is our link to things around us, the Anima Web for lack of better terms. This is a emotional, spiritual, and wholly unexplored facet of the mind. It represents and connects us to everything else with a spirit around us, whether we realize and recognize it or not. This is the part of us that develops more then mere emotions towards something and someone, or cultivates a sense of belonging to our homes. This is also the major portion of what holds back dead people from passing on, is the fickle and sticky connections of the Anima Web. When a person resonates so strongly to a duty, person, place, ideal, their soul may refuse to leave and pass on, to head onto their final journey of this life. Being a Exorcist, I deal mainly with "ghosts" of this type, who refuse to leave. By centering themselves on their connection to things around them, you get Ghosts of three types, conscious and aware, with most if not all memories of their life. Unaware Ghosts, with few memories and driven by subconscious instincts and feelings that really have little to no control over what they have holding them back. And finally the malevolent spirits, those who are held back by their desire to cause negative stimuli in the living. These are the mischievous, the murderous, and the presence that is quite capable of making the hair stand up on the back of ones neck, if not do more. They are separated from the other two by how the only thing they have in common with others like a Malevolent Ghost is it's malice and negative emotions.

The final layer is the Soul, that which powers the mortal shell of life, the guiding force. I won't get into what defines a soul, as my research is my own, and certainly not to be used to cause chaos and debate for no reason.

Reality itself... is, ironically, a very real Illusion. Spiritually, it exists as a conglomerated mass of spirits and souls, or hopes and dreams, of emotions and thoughts. There are great sentience(s) out there, whether you call them gods or different, that act as anchors for reality to stay centered. The most important ideal to consider when thinking about the universe is, simply by others wanting it to, it has it's own sentience, as far beyond our own that it is. It is a island of order and chaos, of simple existence inside a great Void of possibilities a branching tree of multiverses extending in a ever growing sapling of timelines and alternate realities, of universes created by mere thought to universes that define others by simple existence.

How this relates to the original poster's post is as follows. The consciousness is dependent of the soul, not the brain, and, when removed from access to the brains senses, it tends to shut down sentient and conscious thought until it receives input. If the mortal body is forced into a comatose state or death, the soul/spiritual/mind tends to seek outlets to branch out in a form of astral projection. if the anima web is used to keep a soul anchored and from passing on as quickly as it should, many spirits of this type use the anima web, the psychic impressions of spirits and things around them to replace their senses, and thus receive new input, if altered.

Infinite does exist, the joyous and complete ideal that everything is, or someday will be possible. instead of saying nothing exists, one should say everything exists. yes, one may need to branch out into alternate dimensions and timelines to define some possibilities, but they are out there.

Now, I may be off my mark somewhat about the subject matter of the original post, but I'm doing my best to be coherent and understandable in my sleep deprived state. keep in mind, this is all from personal research into dimensional spiritual physics, so, you may not agree. But hey, it works for me, hopefully it works for you.