The Great Gamble: Finality or Continuation

THE GREAT GAMBLE: FINALITY OR CONTINUATION

​The Great Gamble

This is the second letter on the topic of "memento mori," the remembrance of death as a spiritual practice cultivating wisdom and inspiring greater service to life. This letter delves into the concept of "The Great Gamble."

The Great Gamble involves contemplating what happens after physical death. While various concepts and individual perspectives exist, it comes down to two options. For those of the materialistic reductionist perspective: you are born, you exist, you die—end of story. For others, the death event marks a point of radical transformation and liberation.

This raises the Great Gamble: do you invest in the idea of continuing to exist in some way, shape, or form after the death event, or do you align with ideas of annihilationism? Buddhists have a way of addressing this debate.

If a person believes in cessation, the finality of consciousness upon death, they cannot confirm whether they are correct. If they are right, it means experiencing only life's final moments before the lights dim and the curtain closes. Finito! However, what if their idea of finality is incorrect, and upon releasing the physical body, a part of their consciousness continues on a radical journey? What would that mean?

There's some good news and some not-so-good news about what might occur at this point, depending on how the person lived their life, developed their mind, and the effects of their thoughts and actions.

Due to their belief in annihilationism, did they live selfishly? Did they believe they could be dishonest, violent, or greedy because they could get away with it, or did they choose to live ethically in service to something greater than themselves?

Those from religious backgrounds and spiritual mindsets believing in some type of continuation after death tend to strive to live ethically and in service to some greater good. However, this isn't always the case, as some have done terrible things in the name of God and religion.

Those aligning with a materialistic reductionistic perspective can also go either way—living in some degree of selfishness and nihilism or rejecting what they view as superstitious beliefs, choosing instead to be noble citizens purely by their own accord.

In terms of the Great Gamble—finality or continuation—here might be a rational approach. Just in case there's continuation, wouldn't it be rational to live life accordingly? Even if nothing follows death, living a good, service-oriented, and positive life leaves no regret. If wrong and there is some type of continuation, at least the groundwork has been laid, reaping its rewards.

It does not matter if you believe in something divine or an afterlife of any kind. Yet, you can practice, practice, practice to refine your own consciousness, acknowledging how your actions will continue to affect people even after you have left. You can work hard to remove the seeds of suffering within yourself and help spread healing and regeneration in your community and this world before your time runs out.

Death contemplation, remembering the truth of your eventual death, is a powerfully transformative practice that both spiritually minded people and materialistic reductionists can do to receive great benefit in this very life. If you would like to try it yourself, reach out to me—what do you have to lose?

Yours Deeply,
Michael Garber
December 31, 2023