The Green Room

 

Where do people go when they die? Nowhere. Life as a person is carried out completely on a stage. When you and I walk off the stage, that’s when we see the green room and that’s when we open that door and step in. the first couple of steps into the green room and we remember who we are.

Of course, as a philosopher, we all try to say things in a metaphorical way; like a myth or a parable. But there is not an actual stage. There is not a literal green room. So what really happens?

Well, the short answer is that our persona is tied to our thoughts. And, of course, our thoughts will cease.

Let us consider Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty. We saw them as characters, Dylan and Brenda and we saw the series come to an end. Those actors stepped away from the cameras and the whole act was over. Now, a few years later, we have witnessed the actors stepping away from the world in which we live. What we do not see is their essence, returning to its former state. For those who watched the show, it is not as though it never happened, and for those who knew Luke and Shannen personally, there is a leftover effect of having known them. But the truly mysterious, and nearly unanswerable question is: Where are they now?

I think it is important to remember that actors are actors; even when they are sharing scenes with us.

In other words, asking where Luke and Shannen are now is very much the same as asking where Brenda and Dylan are now. Is there any reason for me to try to speculate on the spiritual whereabouts of Brenda, from 90210? Of course not. Until yesterday, I would have said, “Brenda was not a real person; she was played by an actor who is still living.”

So why not accord Shannen the same treatment?

“Shannen was not real; she was played by universal consciousness and it is still living.”

Trying to imagine what Shannen is doing today is to confuse the question again. Shannen is not doing anything today. Shannen was a skeleton, with organs and muscles and skin. Shannen had brain and her brain was filled with Shannen’s entire personality and some of her memories. That brain stopped working around the same time her fingers stopped working. Shannen did not die; Life withdrew. Life did not end with any part of Shannen’s death. Life is like a hand with 8 billion fingers. All 8 billion fractals of Life will be fine; with or without a glove.

Let me be clear: Shannen is not okay. She is dead. So is Brenda. However, that which Animated Brenda was alive until yesterday and that which animated Shannen is still alive today.

I hope this makes sense: we could never have another show featuring Brenda, because there is no Shannen to play her. Unless, of course, some other living person becomes Brenda. Likewise, We cannot have another visit with Shannen, unless, of course, Life animates a very decent copy in another actor.

I want to be careful here and respect those who just lost Shannen, but I also want to speak to this while it is on my mind.

I am reminded of the self-taught botanist, John Muir, who said, “If it looks like another species, they are probably related.” Paraphrased.

He was fascinated by the different colors of squirrels and the different sizes of poplar leaves in different regions.

I bring that up for a good reason. This next idea is not going to come easily. In fact, it will feel like a roller coaster, but I want to say it:

If we met someone who looks and acts like Shannen, we are there with Shannen. The two different persons are related, but on the essential level.

I know this gets crazy, but I had a dog named Aslan. She was a Golden Retriever and she died in 2008. However, I meet other Goldens who look and behave just as she did. Is the new Dog Aslan? Essentially, yes.

When I die, Life will disrobe this persona, but I won’t be forgotten by others or by Life. Shannen knew some of Brenda’s lines and she could still remember Brenda’s parts. Life can now recall many of Shannen’s lines and parts. But Life has other things going on and one of the fingers has a new cover on it.

Will I remember being me? No, but Life will remember being me.

Brenda cannot recall a thing because she wasn’t actually real. The same could be said of Shannen. The same could be said of me when I die. I won't remember this act, but Life will.

Yesterday, I went to an “Escape Room” With Stick, Gary and Michelle. For one hour of my life-story, the story was in one room; or so I thought; until I got a few clues and managed to get the right pieces together to get into the next room and then, even a third room. The end result was this: We managed to get out.

The life-story I am now fully involved with, is but an 80-90 year, escape challenge.

The doors to the next rooms are hidden. They pop open when you have figured out everything you needed to know about the first room. Aldus Huxley would have gladly used an escape-room to talk about the doors of perception. Perception has secrets and the doors into any view of your life-story, are hidden in plain sight.

Furthermore, Blake was right; if the windows were cleansed, the doors of perception would allow us to see eternity.

So, to perhaps the most burning question someone might ask: What happens to me when I die?

Nothing. Your body will be wherever it falls and it won’t have any experience at all. This is why awareness could possibly bring you peace even now; knowing that that which has the experience is not the experience should make the experience even better.

I hate to use the worn out example, but Life really is like a dream. Note: I did not say it is a dream. I said it is like a dream. There is a very big difference. In this life-experience, you could test anything to see if it conforms to the rules of experience and anything will hold up. But this does not mean that experience is fundamental or essential; it just means you are in a room and the room is as real as it gets.

 

But let’s think about the experience you are having right now. I can only suppose you are sitting in a chair, so think of that chair as gone. Are you still there? Okay, think of the things around you and now think of them as gone. Are you still there? Think of the planets and the stars, the sun and the earth and think of them as gone, are you still there? Now that nothing else is going to happen, due to the lack of everything, think of your past. Are you there? Think of just moments earlier, when you had all of the experiences of the chair and the room and planets, are you there? Now, think of time passing and think of thoughts. In one hundred years of this silence, think of your memory of the chair as having gone. Are you still there? Now think of your memories of planets and rooms and the earth and the sun and think of all that you ever knew, slowly being forgotten and there are no newer memories of more recent experiences. Are you still there? Yes You Are.

So what is it that has survived to affirm You Are Alive? Your Essence.

Now, with this thought in mind, imagine a chair.