Imagine that everything you present to the world about yourself no longer exists.
magine yourself without your physical appearance, without your race or ethnicity, without your intelligence, without your wealth, without your social or economic status, without any success or failure, without any reputation, without any family relatives or family history, without any friends or enemies, without any beliefs about anything. Imagine that none of those exist.
What is left is your own awareness that you exist. You have consciousness. You have a soul. This is because your soul represents your deepest essence. You may hate yourself. You may love yourself. But you cannot escape yourself. You cannot escape your soul.
Is your soul immortal? Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t—but if your soul is an illusion, then it is a very important illusion which you should not dismiss or ignore without considering the consequences.
Because you do have a soul, the following chapters are about you. And you probably have some questions. Perhaps you have doubts about some religious beliefs or ideas. Maybe in the past you believed in them, but no longer do. Perhaps you feel disappointed or even betrayed. Perhaps you are suffering a crisis of faith. Perhaps you are trying to understand a particular experience that does not make sense to you—a profound experience, a disorienting experience. Perhaps there is a message involved that, if you accept it, ought to transform how you live your life. You might be afraid of making a mistake, or being deceived, or becoming a hypocrite.
Science, which studies material reality, offers us explanations that are logical and technical, but its explanations are not always satisfying as spiritual answers. Religions offer us answers that might have satisfied most people in the past, but now, as traditional religious dogmas, they can feel outdated and leave many questions unanswered. Many of those dogmas are based on interpretations of ancient scriptures whose original context or symbolic meanings were sometimes ignored or simply not known. Many of those interpretations are now centuries old and may depend on outdated concepts that violate facts, involve weak reasoning, or may even include moral contradictions. For many people today, those religious dogmas no longer make logical sense.
Increasing numbers of people now describe themselves as more “spiritual” than “religious.” For many of us, religions have become little more than cultural behaviors instead of sources of moral guidance. Many people have turned elsewhere for moral guidance, for example to secular institutions, but secular institutions often disappoint. When those institutions are needed the most, they may respond with incompetence, or cowardice, or even hypocrisy.
Questions abound. Why is life so difficult? Why are there so many religions? If God is good, then why does evil exist? Indeed, what is evil? Why does God not fix everything? Immediately? Or if God does not exist, then what are we to do? What can we trust? What is the point? Are we missing the point?
The following chapters propose some answers to some of the most difficult philosophical and religious questions about life and death. They include versions of the most common question of all: Why? Some of the answers may surprise you.
The answers offered by these chapters draw from multiple sources, including from major religions, philosophies, the general content of near-death experiences, logical reasoning, and modern scientific ideas. Not everyone will agree with these answers. If you believe that any of them are inaccurate or somehow insulting, then I offer my sincere apologies. I am human and I make mistakes; I had no intent to be hurtful. If you are certain of a different answer based on your faith, then you have the certainty of your faith. Beware, however, because faith by itself does not determine whether or not an idea is true. Faith is a commitment of trust and confidence—so choose carefully. Seek the truth. Before you renounce any alternative ideas, consider them. Remember that the truth, the genuine truth, can withstand any criticism.
These chapters are not intended to convert you to a religion. They are not intended to create a new religion. They are not intended to persuade you of the existence of God or of anything supernatural. What these chapters offer is not certainty but a way to interpret the world, the Universe, your life, your experiences, the behavior of others, and multiple religions, cultures, philosophies, sciences—and fits them all together. That is because all of them are pieces within a grand whole.
Premises
The answers offered by these chapters are based on five premises:
· The first premise is that God exists and is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. However, if God does not exist, then the implications of that possibility are also considered.
· The second premise is that God created the planet Earth for a purpose—but that purpose requires that the presence of God not be obvious to everyone. God is mysterious and often hidden. Possible reasons for this and its implications are explained.
· The third premise is that every religion has its own unique purpose—and that all religions fit together in a giant mosaic of spiritual beliefs. This premise may surprise people who, when they look at religions, see only differences and rivalries and assume that only one religion must be the truth. But consider the possibility that all religions exist because God wants them to exist; otherwise, they would not exist. Religions can be different paths to the same destination, the Divine. Are we missing the point? Differences are the point. Differences do not make religions wrong, and that includes atheism itself. If God did not want atheists to exist, there would be no atheists. They do exist because they have purposes, and those purposes are not evil.
· Fourth, mystical experiences can reveal messages from the Divine. A mystical experience occurs within the mind, which means mystical experiences can include dreams. Several books in the Holy Bible are descriptions of dreams. The Holy Quran was conveyed to the Prophet Muhammed by the Angel Gabriel on God’s behalf, conveyed through visions including dream-like states. Not all dreams are mystical experiences, however. A mystical experience can occur when a person is awake. Perhaps the person sees, hears, or feels something so extraordinary that the experience causes an intense emotional reaction; examples include a religious vision, or an eventful meditation. The received message, which the person may or may not attribute to a supernatural source, can take the form of words, emotions, symbols, or clues. In many cases the message must be interpreted, especially if it involves symbols. The message may convey warnings; it almost always conveys insights. And that experience may transform the person’s life.
A mystical experience can also occur when a person is clinically dead or nearly dead. We call that experience a near-death experience, or NDE. The typical NDE can convey messages that are so profound that the entire NDE phenomenon deserves its own premise.
· The fifth premise is that near-death experiences could be supernatural. Indeed, NDEs could be the supernatural miracles of our time, conveying Divine information almost as important as the sacred texts of the world’s religions. Or, perhaps, near-death experiences may involve nothing supernatural at all—but NDEs do reveal information about the subconscious mind and the deepest desires of the human species. Either way, NDEs reveal profound information that we can learn from.
The following chapters are titled as individual questions so that you can choose particular questions that interest you, and then read about the topic at your own pace. Most chapters include a summary of key points if you prefer a concise overview. The chapters are grouped into six sections: Background, Awakenings, Foundations, Reincarnation, Existence, and Purpose.
Section Descriptions
· Background. Spirituality is a personal matter, but spirituality can also have ramifications for human society. This section provides an overview of human behavior—indeed, a remarkable overview because it could be unprecedented. In early 2026, five artificial intelligence (AI) systems called Large Language Models (LLMs)—five of the world’s most advanced computers at that time—were asked to identify the biggest contradictions in human behavior. They were also asked to assess the direction of human civilization, asked for their assessments of God, of reincarnation, and of any non-material afterlife. And the LLMs were asked for any practical advice they would give to humans. Their answers—a non-human perspective on humankind—are remarkably insightful and deeply profound, both unsettling and reassuring. Many readers may find them astounding.
· Awakenings. This section examines the near-death experience, or NDE, as an extraordinary phenomenon, one which raises profound spiritual questions. Medical definitions are provided and scientific explanations are considered. Some common elements of NDEs include out-of-body experiences, encounters with a brilliant loving light, meeting deceased relatives and friends, and life reviews. Most NDEs are joyous, but there are also emotionally distressing NDEs. Later sections will cite the general content of NDEs as a source of spiritual information.
· Foundations. The chapters of this section examine some fundamental concepts associated with spirituality, including distinguishing between the soul (the enduring self) and the spirit (intention in action). These chapters also provide a comparative look at major religions, explanations of why multiple religions exist, why religious scriptures must be interpreted (and why translations and interpretations vary), the purpose of mysticism, the mysteries of the Divine, and the central wisdom that every major religion teaches.
· Reincarnation. This section examines the possibility that the soul’s journey extends across multiple lifetimes. This possibility, called reincarnation, is one of the most intriguing and debated ideas in religion and spirituality. This idea often appears in NDE testimonies. The chapters of this section describe how reincarnation might work, including ideas such as karma, planning a lifetime, memory, suffering, moral accountability, and spiritual growth. The chapters also provide practical advice for understanding past-life clues, such as childhood memories or personal talents. The chapters also consider how different religions treat reincarnation, including hints of the belief in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Traditionally, these three major religions have not emphasized reincarnation and, indeed, they have long denied the possibility. Nevertheless, hints of reincarnation can be found in the sacred scriptures of all three religions, there are sects that do accept reincarnation, and today growing numbers of Jews, Christians, and Muslims are amenable to the idea.
· Existence. The chapters of this section consider some of the most common questions asked about existence, about science and philosophy, about being human, and about supernatural possibilities. Topics include the nature of free will, the ego, the spiritual purpose of learning, the mystery of evil, miracles, angels, demons, the benefits of materialism but also its dangers, the capabilities of science, the theory of evolution, the psychological consequences of civilization, human sexuality, what it means to be human, and some especially provocative ideas including parallel universes, computer simulations, and the purpose of atheism.
· Purpose. The chapters of this section focus on the spiritual purpose of Earth, the meaning of life, unconditional love and emotional maturity, and the spiritual significance of human choices in a rapidly changing age. It closes with descriptions of emerging and future technologies including Artificial Super-Intelligence (ASI), the ramifications of those technologies, and a call to choose life.
As the author of these chapters, I believe that many of humankind’s deepest questions deserve clearer, more integrated answers than were offered to most people in the past. I have spent decades studying human behavior, belief systems, conflict, and civilization. However, I am not a theologian nor a laboratory scientist. None of the mystical claims presented in these chapters have been proven by material science. Several ideas are based on testimonies of near-death experiences, although I, myself, have never had an NDE and do not claim special revelation. So, the ideas presented here are not meant to be accepted on authority. They are meant to be pondered. Do they make sense to you? If they help you to think more clearly, to live more compassionately, or to ask better questions, then they have served their purpose. If not, then please set them aside.
Wishing you joy and peace,
JGH