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Physical Immortality: Questions and Answers
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Why would you want to be physically immortal? |
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The 8 most asked questions about Physical Immortality Why would you want to live forever? Q: Why would you want to live forever in a world that's so stressed out, screwed up, polluted and negative? Jim: Well, if nothing else, to outlive those things. I'm excited about an evolution on my two feet without dying. The way human beings have evolved through the death cycles we just go right back and repeat the same old patterns again. You live, you die, you carry on where your ancestors left off and pass it on to your children who take over from you and repeat it or make it worse and it keeps on going in that cycle. I feel there's an evolution without dying. So I'm excited about outliving our problems, I'm excited about outliving death. Bernie: I find no reason to die, no matter what condition the world is in. I'm looking forward to a time when it won't be this way. I can see it and I'm going to stay around to see the changes take place. Back to Interview Top Q: No one has ever done this before, you don't see immortals walking around the streets. What makes you think that it's possible to live forever? Jim: First of all, I feel it. Every human advancement on this planet began with a feeling. The Wright brothers, before they flew, they felt it. Also Roger Bannister who broke the 4 minute mile barrier - he felt he could do it before he did it. Everything begins with a feeling. I think that our bodies have the ability to continuously rejuvenate themselves in the right environment and that's the feeling I have about it. Bernie: We're just the progression that's supposed to be taking place. We were bound to happen. There was bound to be a time when human beings wouldn't die anymore. We're writing our story as we go along. It is time for human beings to live without death. Back to Interview Top Q: Do you have an immortal bible or how-to manual that outlines the steps of not dying? Jim: No bible, no manual - we just write this book as we go along. We're not trying to make a religion out of this. We're like new scientists delving into human potential. We've looked at the earth and the universe. We're looking at human potential - what we're capable of really doing. Bernie: All religions that I know of have their set beliefs, doctrines, their rituals. I will never be a religion because I cannot set a bunch of rules to live by, it's not possible for me. I like change, I like experiencing the new and the fresh all the time. And we have something to do about that. What I'm experiencing today I won't experience tomorrow. There's always for me something new and fresh. Back to Interview Top Q: Do you believe in life after death? Jim: I believe in life before death. I think that's the most important. For me personally, I don't believe there's any life after death. It's something we as human beings created to make death more palatable. Bernie: I think that we've created in our minds, life after death. I don't believe there's a reality to that at all. I've given much much thought to this, I'm not shallow in my way of thinking at all, and I know there is no life after death. I know it. There is no life after death, I'm not interested in it. I'm interested in the life after death walking on two feet. We constantly drop off that which we've experienced. I can't live on the great experiences that I've had. I've had some great experiences but they were for the moment, for that time. I can't look back. I can't recapture anything. I'm ready for a new experience daily, moment by moment. Back to Interview Top Q: What about overpopulation? Is there room for everyone to live forever? Bernie: Right now there's plenty of room for many more people on this planet. I've travelled all over the world. I've seen from the airplane thousands of miles of barren land. There's plenty of land that can be developed. I don't feel right now that that's a problem. When it becomes a problem we'll have an answer for it. To me everything is possible. I see inhabiting other worlds. I think human beings are capable of doing anything we want to do, including anything we want to do to make it more comfortable for ourselves - we're totally capable of that. There are a lot of things involved in overpopulation. When a person really wakes up to live, they're not so interested in creating large families, having lots of children to carry on for them after they're dead. If you bring another person into the world it's because you really want to have that person in your life and recognize them as the individual that they are. You want to give them every opportunity to experience a quality of living that has never been experienced, but should be experienced by all of us. That's definitely what we're going for. Jim: I think with immortality there'll be a natural balance in the propogation of children. There's evidence that species who have a lot of death in them, breed faster and produce more to keep the species going. Also, it's a myth about there being no room on the planet. It's the same as saying there's not enough life, there's not enough money, there's not enough food. This is propogated by the intelligence of death, people with that outlook. The reality is, there's plenty of everything. What has to end is the greed of death, those who move in that intelligence - who move in that chemistry. Back to Interview Top Q: How are you going to look in a thousand years? Most people begin to worry about their appearance at an early age and are pretty much concerned about it day by day after that. Jim: We're going to look just great. First of all, it's been proven that our bodies have the ability to continuously rejuvenate in the right environment. But the reality is, we have not had that right environment. It's like a seed on barren ground. If it's not nourished or watered, it's not going to blossom to its full potential. It's the same thing with human beings. So it's crucial to have the environment that's conducive to human life, rather than the stress-oriented, dog-eat-dog world that we've created. And the toxic human environment is far more deadly than all the toxins we create around us outside ourselves. By ending the toxicity of the human interaction which is all propagated by a death consciousness, we'll have a new interaction with each other based on life and the encouragement of life. Bernie: I feel that if all of our energy, money and many other things were devoted to the betterment of human beings in living rather than dying, then we'd see very rapid development in this area. We would come up with ways of taking care of whatever needs to be taken care of with the physical body. So much money has been put into warfare, into death, into dying. Our whole system is built around death, and much of our money goes in these ways. Insurance, burial plots, all kinds of things that have nothing to do with being alive. Jim: I thought of creating a bumper sticker that says: "Quit Dying: Heaven's Overcrowded", or "Quit Dying: Live Here". Let's save heaven. It's so important not to look in the mirror and when you see a gray hair, or a few gray hairs, go, "Oh I'm dying!". People are constantly measuring themselves. We have to realize that we are in constant change, but to allow that constant change to happen you have to open yourself up to all the possibilities. Back to Interview Top Q: Where does God fit into the picture with immortality? Jim: No gods for me. I've been there, done that. I feel that people created God for their insecurities and because they didn't want to take the resposibility themselves for their own life. It's really tremendous when you get right down to the place where you're taking full responsibilty for your own life: where you're going, what you do. It's amazing what happens when you face that reality. Bernie: It's a very big subject. It seems like everything in one's life has been formed around God. I experienced God in my life because I came by way of religion. But I'm not religious anymore. Once I woke up to being physically immortal, I really got in touch with the fact that it was me all the time. It's other people that make a difference. We were giving god all the honor and worship but it came down to one another. When I really had the experience of being physically immortal, I got in touch with you, and that's what made the difference for me. We have never thought that human beings were pure enough to really be able to put our whole selves into one another, to really experience who we are to each other - and it's really very precious who we are to one another. You've taken the place of God for me. I don't have a God. I found that it was you all the time, it was my self that made the difference. It's so fulfilling to have this experience. But really, coming through all of that, I really thought I was going to die, physically die, because God was my reality for even being alive. I had to get in touch with even greater realities. We really are responsible for everything that happens, including the creation of human beings. We are responsible. We're the ones who bring forth other people It's people who bring forth people. Jim: That's so true. You do bring forth people. That's what I've seen you do. You've done so much for me in that. You make it so physical, what we are. You've helped me, as a person, to take the responsibility for who and what I am on this planet. Not just to wait on a God, as most people do, to clean everthing up some dispensation away. You encourage and inspire me, and others, to really make the difference now. And that's what immortality is about. It's taking the responsibility to really live now, totally, not wait for some time down the line, when you've got it all together, or some Messiah comes, or some god changes everything. We are the ones, we are the people that can make the difference right now. Back to Interview Top Q: How is living immortally different from living as a mortal person? It sounds like a completely different life. Jim: Even though we live in this world, we interact with everybody, we have a real respect for people as a whole, but we have no respect for death and we don't enter into that chemistry. You can interact with people and not enter into that chemistry that so many people get into around death. Talking continuously about there age, how old they are, how they can't do this now. Talking about how their arthritis is killing them; how their grandfather had heart trouble and their going to have heart trouble.Talking about their grave plot, and talking about their life insurance policy and giving their inheritance to their kids when they die. And their kids are sitting back waiting for them to die, loving them yet waiting for their parents to die so they can get the money. Everything revolving around death. We have a new world that we've created. We don't give an inheritance to our kids, we don't have life insurance policies waiting for us to die, we don't have grave plots around the corner just in case we die. We've closed all those doors. It's a very vibrant and very stimulating and very on-the-edge way to live. But it keeps you sharp, it keeps you moving all the time, it keeps you thinking all the time. So I want to encourage people to think the unthinkable - do not be afraid to go past those sacred cows. Question whether there's a god or not. Question whether you have to die or not. Even if you don't want to believe in immortality, I encourage you to question, to uncover those mysteries for yourself, turn over those stones. Don't just believe in it or go along with what somebody else has said. Something that you've been taught all your life, or has been taught for many thousands of years in the religious structure. I live a different life. It's great. Sometimes it takes a lot of energy to make the changes, because we're taking the responsibility. Human beings have a tendency to get very stuck in their ruts, in their patterns and they're very habitual . We have to be alert all the time, to be willing to change patterns, to stimulate ourselves and be around people who are also willing to inspire us and stimulate us to be more ourself all the time. That's great, when you have interaction with people who want to live and feel the same way you do about life. Bernie: We're not here to convince anyone of anything, to get into a war with individuals. We're here to come in contact with people who feel what we feel. And there has to be a lot of people like me in this world. That's who I'm after, that's who I want to come in contact with. I don't find a challenge in trying to destroy somebody's belief system. I'm not interested in doing that. But I am interested in coming in contact with those of you who have really tried with everything you've done and everything you've experienced, and you're ready to move on in your life. You're ready for staying alive. Back to Interview Top Q: What does physical immortality mean? Physical immortality means living forever as the person you are in the body you are. It means never dying - never going to a different dimension. It means taking responsibility for your flesh and making your stand now to keep it forever. To be physically immortal is to make every person - you, I and everyone else - important enough to be worth keeping around forever. Q: How does physical immortality work? There is no set path to physical immortality, no twelve step program to overcome the addiction to death. However, here is one of the most radical suggestions, and certainly the most unique, that struck a chord in me when I first heard it in 1988. It was not expressed in these exact words, but the feeling of "rightness" is still the same. We're on this planet to move together, not in isolation. "None of us can be immortal as lone identities . . . Many people have strived for this, and it has never been accomplished. We contain the power within ourselves to keep each other's lives, to stir that which has never been stirred before in each other's bodies, to stimulate the immortal potential that is there, the eternal flame. This flame exists already in the cells and atoms of our bodies. It is the stirring of one another's bodies, what we call the quickening of one another, that fans the flame and causes it to spread until it consumes the whole body. This is why intimacy is an integral part of physical immortality. Immortality is the greatest state of intimacy, the deepest intimacy that anyone has had or will have on this planet. Immortality requires us to put aside our egos, our tendencies to separate from one another, all of our divisions from one another. We have to put all that aside to really fuse with another, because it is the fusion that keeps our lives. It is our fusion that releases the necessary energy of life from our cells, releases it through the body and makes us not only want to live forever, but causes the reactions in the body that can heal the scars of death. It is the supression of this life energy that kills our bodies, that creates disease, and that creates all of the divisions from one another on this planet." From "Together Forever: An invitation to be physically immortal", by Charles Brown, Bernadeane and James Strole, 1990. More Information Q: Is physical immortality a religion? "Belief is not capable of making anyone immortal. A belief is something that an be accepted or rejected, that you can be convinced of, or disuaded from, that can be the subject of arguement. Our images of the mind and the body and the relationship between them have been of the mind being the superior power, being in control, and the body doing the bidding of the mind. Scientific research, however, shows that the mind and the rest of the body are so intertwined that they cannot say which, if either, is in control. Many people today realize the power of the mind, the power of affirmations, the power of belief. The mind is powerful, but the mind is nothing compared to the power of the whole body. The power of a belief held only in the mind is nothing compared to the power of cellular passion felt throughout the whole body. Physical immortality is not a truth that you can believe or disbelieve - it is something you awaken to. It is something you feel from within that is more powerful than anything you have ever felt - you feel it in every cell of your body. It is your awakening to yourself, your true identity. Physical immortality is your very substance - it is you. Physical immortality is the body, it's not a religion. Religion comes out from man. Religion is something that man has created for himself to live by. One can't create physical immortality to live by, it's already in the body. What has been taking place is an awakening to who we have always been. Once you awaken to your true nature, you can no more deny it than you can deny your own heartbeat. Once you awaken to physical immortality, you can no more give it up than you can give up breathing." From "Together Forever: An invitation to be physically immortal", by Charles Brown, Bernadeane and James Strole, 1990. More Information Q: Why would you want to be physically immortal? For me, physical immortality is about creating a living with other people that is so exciting and nourishing that I want to be here forever - not because I don't want to die, or because it makes sense to live, but because life just keeps getting better. It's about creating unbreakable connections with other people, it's about making each other so precious that we have to stay around. Q: Are you contending that there is a difference between mortal and immortal intelligence? If so, could you define both qualitatively, and go into some of the difference between the two? When you have an immortal intelligence you see things from the point of view of being unlimited - so you don't assume limits on what is possible, particularly for human beings. With a mortal intelligence you see things from the point of view of being limited - so you set limits all the time, particularly on human beings. Q: What are the reasons for you believing you are immortal right now? The short answer is that it doesn't make sense to believe otherwise. We already know that "as go our thoughts, so goes our experience", so taking on the "act as if" philosophy makes sense. But we also know that positive thinking, enlightenment and every other form of mental or spiritual activity hasn't produced one immortal (I know there are some people who believe differently, but until these so-called, materializing/de-materializing immortals are willing to stand up and be counted, they're no more real than God), so the "act as if" isn't going to do it, we need to take physical action - but what kind? People don't suddenly die. Accidental death, violent death may be a result of years of programming or of the human environment we are surrounded by. Similarly, dying from old-age or disease doesn't suddenly just hit you, it's a result of everything we put ourselves through up to that point. It's an accumulation of death, if you like, until that one cell dies that tips the balance of your body from life into death. To be physically immortal now, you have to stop death in its tracks every day, every moment, whenever and wherever it appears. What does this mean? In any situation there is a choice to be made, whether to build your aliveness or to give into death. A lot of of the time, though, we can't see it, or what we need to do - and even when we can, we very often don't have the knowledge or resolve to do it. This is why we have to take advantage of the power of human beings moving together as one. This is why I believe I am physically immortal now. Because I am part of a human environment of individuals moving together as one with the primary focus of expanding each others' aliveness forever. Individuals who value human life above everything else. Individuals who treasure your person so much that they're willing to reach beyond personalities, taboos, resistance or discomfort - yours or theirs - to feel the real human being you are and share themselves in the process, so that together we may eliminate the day-to-day touch of death in our bodies. This is the power that's been missing, this is the power no science can replace, this is the power of physical immortality now. Q: Maybe we can go beyond what we think our limits are. However, if we go beyond our limits, aren't we in danger of damaging ourselves - runners knee, bad back, confusion brought on by mental and/or physical exhaustion? When you value yourself enough to be physically immortal and are going to be around forever, you take on a greater awareness of your physical needs and what you can safely achieve. The limits we need to "go beyond" are those we impose on ourselves concerning what may or may not be possible for us as human beings, based on our programming or beliefs. This is particularly evident when the subject of "physical immortality now" is raised. My experience is that most people want to be physically immortal without having to make any fundamental changes in their lifestyle or thinking. Now this may be possible, but it seems to me to be a bit like looking to lose weight without changing the way you eat and/or other aspects of your lifestyle, and without addressing the reasons why you're overweight in the first place. When you value yourself as being worthy to live forever now, you begin to value everyone else and the planet differently. When you're not just "passing through", you have a vested interest in their survival and wellbeing as well as your own - you never know who's going to be around forever. You develop a greater awareness of the quality of the human environment around you. This doesn't necessarily mean you stop doing the activities you enjoy, but it does mean you develop a more realistic assessment of your own abilities, vulnerabilities, and needs. And a greater sensitivity to those of others. Risk assessment is based on a different set of values. Q: We are told that young people act recklessly, don't take care of themselves, etc. because they feel they are "immortal" and not vulnerable. Rationally speaking, wouldn't the fact that you believe you have "a lot more living to do" cause you to be more cautious in your actions because you have more to lose? The question in itself implies that caution is in some way negative. And I suspect this is rooted in a traditional mindset that, to borrow from Dr Max More, only thinks "superficially about the possibilities and consequences of indefinite lifespans", arriving at "a picture of stagnant people grown bored with life. They picture those advanced in age to be psychologically decrepit. They equate deep maturity with boredom and ennui" - and by extension, cautious and predictable. As he says: "This is a false image, except for those who (at any age) choose a passive life of stagnation despite the pressures of change." To a large extent, the attraction to the "adrenalin rush" from "dicing with death" that people experience when they take part in a dangerous activity, stems from the feeling that in tempting death and avoiding it, they feel somehow more in control of the circumstances, more in control of their life. Why else would they feel that "risking death" makes them feel "more alive"? When you're physically immortal you've already taken charge. You don't need that element of additional risk to "feel alive" or enjoy what you do - the enjoyment is in living and doing, not in avoiding a possible negative outcome. As far as young people are concerned: what we're told about why they act the way they do and the reality could well be worlds apart. I suspect that very young children, at least, don't think in terms of dying. How soon the inevitability of death becomes an ingrained part of their thinking depends on the human environment they're exposed to. I can remember when I was a teen, the idea of dying young while I was in my prime - like James Dean for instance - seemed preferable to growing old and senile, and then dying. That young people "act recklessly" or "don't take care of themselves" is because they are surrounded by a human environment that lives the message that human life is expendable and has no value. They're just acting out what everyone else around them does. No matter how much you take care of yourself personally, if you consider death not only acceptable but inevitable, that is the message you are living and communicating. Finally, my experience is that living physical immortality now requires an abandonment to living and other people that is as far from caution as you can get. While everyone else is tippy-toeing around the subject looking for proof before they commit themselves, or being discreet in case they upset anyone, we're actually saying "Yes, I'm physically immortal now, whether anyone else believes it or not. I'm not waiting for proof or science or anything else to make it OK. I deserve to live, and what's more, so do you!". |
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