Life Unlimited

To ponder the idea of unlimited life—of living a joyous, disease-free existence, one in which even death has been conquered—is to test the very fabric of our being, our soul, our sanity. Until recently, such thoughts would have been universally condemned as folly or madness and, to this day, are still regarded as such by just about everyone.

And yet, one of the very exciting aspects of life on this planet at this time is the degree to which there are open minds willing to embrace new paradigms. All around the globe, people are realizing that we have more influence over our personal destinies than we had ever dreamed possible. We are powerful beings, no denying that. But equally true is the fact that many of us have covered up or hidden our power for fear of shining too brightly, or worse, actively misused or misdirected it and created suffering for ourselves through our very belief in its necessity. As our consciousness as humans expands, it makes sense that we would increasingly explore the heart of our convictions. What do we truly believe about God, about life, and about death? Maybe the New Age should more aptly be called the New Aging, as it is so swiftly redefining how we view the process of growing older. The old paradigm lies prostrate in awe of and in service to sickness, aging, and death. Ironically, that model itself is now aged and dying.

We stand at the threshold of discovery. We live in a time far more rich and exciting than any other in history. Everything that has been taken for granted for aeons, from the origin of the universe up to and including the inevitability of death, is now being questioned. In return, it seems we are being asked to adopt change and alter our notions in ways that have not been asked of us previously. Although in some cases as daunting and challenging as they are novel, these demands are not without their rewards. Over the last hundred years, we have seen mind-boggling advances in science, medicine, and technology. Consider how outlandish the idea of in vitro fertilization or cloning would have been a century ago. Indeed, that which is accepted as science today was not even in the realm of science fiction a hundred years ago. On the sociocultural and humanistic fronts, the whole self-help movement (spawning books by Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, and the like) was an unforeseen entity. There has no doubt been a change in consciousness. People want to know, more than ever before, what their lives and life itself are about. No longer silent pioneers, we are speaking up and talking back.

We have also witnessed a major breakthrough in the attitudes of the general public and the medical profession toward holistic modalities. Can you imagine a Harvard-educated physician a mere generation ago writing books such as those Andrew Weil now pens? Probably not. Clearly life is going through its own metamorphosis, with most of us rarely stopping to consider just how rapidly things are changing. But changing they are.

During this present period of evolution, some spiritualists are saying that time itself is speeding up—that is, things are manifesting more quickly. Put plainly, there is no time left for sitting on the fence. And there’s no better time than now to play an active role in manifesting the true beauty of life, much of which currently exists only as potential. It requires only our commitment to doing so.

A key underlying principle running throughout this book is that our thoughts are a potent source of creation and manifestation. Although they cannot be seen or heard outside our heads, our thoughts have as much power and pull as anything physical we might create. The mind/body connection, as it is commonly called, has reached a level of acceptance to the point where even many traditional doctors will concede that positive, life-affirming thoughts in the face of physical illness can do no harm and could possibly even do some good. Put in the simplest way, the essential tenet behind mind/body medicine is that our thoughts have a real and actual impact on our bodies. For the physicians who spearheaded mind/body medicine, this has long been a well-established fact used to patients’ advantages (see Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra or Love, Medicine & Miracles by Bernie Siegel on the suggested reading list).

Your experience of reading this book will be greatly enhanced if you keep your personal vision of life in the years ahead close at hand. What do you see? Is it a world without sickness, without famine, without war? It is all possible. As our conscious awareness grows, we cannot help but manifest unprecedented change. And that change begins with the recognition of the power of our thoughts.

I would like to make clear from the outset that I have no special talent, gift, or connection to the divine, nor am I one of a chosen few. You do not have to do any particular thing in form to walk toward physical immortality. It’s not so much about behavior as it is about perception and belief.

I’d also like to introduce you, right at the start, to two words that are likely not a part of your present vocabulary: “deathist” and “immortalist,” representing opposite ends of a life philosophy. One whose beliefs are deathist is one who believes in the inevitability of death, with each passing day bringing them closer to the void of nonexistence or the gates of heaven, depending on their faith orientation. By way of contrast, one whose beliefs are immortalist believes that life can lead to a greater expression of itself and ultimately become ongoing in any way one desires—in spirit, if they choose to leave the physical body, or in form, if they choose to remain incarnate.

Let’s acknowledge that we live, by and large, in a deathist society. Walk into any greeting card store, and you will find a variety of cards subliminally proclaiming the inevitability of death through their ostensibly humorous portrayal of birthdays as dreaded, horrible things. Certainly no one would deny that our “number” increases with the passing years. But what says that this number must also dictate how we look, feel, or act? Nothing. No thing. We alone decide the effect time will have on us. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As a people, we operate on a mostly unconscious level where the issue of death is concerned. We tend to avoid discussing it at all costs. Perhaps upon accumulating a certain amount of wealth or reaching an age we perceive as a milestone, we may, in the spirit of being dutiful citizens, go about the business of preparing a will. And some of us, particularly those with families, might purchase life insurance as a means of protecting our loved ones in the event of our untimely demise. With the exception of these two fleeting examples, death is not something we are usually willing to look at. But such denial comes at a very substantial price.