Let’s be real for a moment. Death freaks a lot of us out. We may not talk about it over breakfast, but it’s one of those things that lurks in the back of our minds especially when we get older — like a browser tab that’s always open. Sometimes we try to sugarcoat it. We say people have “passed on,” like they’ve just gone on a trip somewhere. Or we imagine them looking down on us, like some cosmic version of CCTV. “Dad’s up there watching over me,” someone might say. “Grandma’s my guardian angel.” And it’s comforting, isn’t it? It softens the blow.
But deep down, many of us wonder: is that just wishful thinking?
Because, truth be told, we can’t know for sure what happens after death. There’s no smoking gun universally accepted proof that we continue to exist in some form. There are even people who straight up say, “When you’re dead, you’re dead. End of story.” They think consciousness just switches off like a lightbulb. No more thoughts. No dreams. Just… nothing.
Still, that question nags at us: Do we perish—or do we somehow survive?
You are probably wondering can I really live outside of time and space? Here’s where things start to get interesting. There’s actually research out there—yes, real scientific stuff—that suggests the human mind might not be as tightly bound to the physical world as we once thought. Some studies hint that our consciousness might not be fully tied to our brain. Like, it could possibly operate outside of time and space.
No, this isn’t science fiction. Academics like Harvey Irwin and Caroline Watt have looked into many research papers on anomalous phenomena like telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition— evidence that suggests the mind can access information beyond what our senses and logic would normally allow.
Still sceptical? That’s fair. But let’s take a different angle.
Even in our day-to-day lives, isn’t it kind of obvious that not everything about us is physical? We dream, we think, we feel. Those aren’t things you can pop under a microscope. You can measure brainwaves, sure, but no scientist can see your actual thoughts or emotions. Your inner experience—your consciousness—is private, invisible, and unique to you.
So, if part of us already exists beyond the physical world, why is it so hard to imagine that something of us could continue after death?
Let’s talk about something else science struggles to pin down: our intentions. I mean, rocks don’t have desires. Cells don’t want to go on holiday. But you do. You’ve got goals. Maybe it’s finishing that novel, or raising your kids well, or just making a tasty lasagna. Whatever it is, those intentions help define who you are. They’re you.
And honestly, doesn’t it feel like it would be such a waste for all of that—your love, your learning, your personal growth—to just vanish the moment you die? It would be tragic if everything we’ve experienced and strived for just disappeared like we were never here.
It’s not just you or me wondering about consciousness. When you think of it, this question about human destiny has been a fundamental question across all cultures. You’ve asked, I’ve asked, every thinking person asks. “Where am I headed after I die?” For thousands of years, people across the globe have tried to make sense of what comes next.
- Christians believe in heaven and eternal life for those who believe in God and live a good life.
- Muslims also believe in an afterlife—paradise for the faithful and hell for the wicked.
- Hindus see death as a transition, not an end. The soul gets reborn in a new body.
- Some Buddhists, particularly in Dzogchen teachings, believe you can transform your physical body into a “rainbow body”—a kind of light form that continues beyond death.
- In Taoism, some teachings say that if you live simply and purely, your soul can ascend into spiritual realms beyond the physical.
- Indigenous cultures—like the Native North Americans, Australian Aboriginals, and Ancient Egyptians—all had strong beliefs in an afterlife and a spirit world.
In other words, the idea that something survives death isn’t fringe thinking—it’s pretty much a universal human intuition.
Let’s say we do survive death. Then what? Do we wake up like we’re just coming out of a weird dream? Do we still feel like ourselves? Do we remember who we were? Can we see our loved ones again? Can we move, think, feel?
These are the huge questions.
If we come from a Christian background, we may wonder if it is a mistake to believe that the afterlife is a place where one will live in a physical body resurrected from this life on earth. Although the churches widely teach this, no geographer or astronomer has ever located a heavenly paradise or hellish inferno.
Today many Christians apparently accept there is a real evil force influencing us. But the topic of hell has become embarrassing to many of those who had been brought up with church beliefs. They rightly ask how could those who worship a loving Father believe in eternal damnation by a punitive deity? And the figure of Satan is often seen as superstitious nonsense.
While there’s no unanimous answer to the what happens after death, one person’s account stands out: Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century mystic and spiritual philosopher. He didn’t die and come back, like in a near-death experience. But for 28 years, he claimed he was able to mystically access a different level of consciousness—what he called the spiritual world. He described it in great detail.
In his view, when we die, we wake up in a “spirit body.” It feels physical, but it isn’t made of the same stuff as our earthly body. This spirit body can see, hear, smell, think, and feel—maybe even more vividly than we do now. The world we enter isn’t part of our physical universe. It’s a different dimension, governed not by physics but by psychology—by our inner state.
According to Swedenborg, and echoed by other spiritual sources and mediums, our mental state after death shapes our surroundings. If you’re the type of person who seeks kindness, love, and beauty, that’s what you’ll experience around you. But if you’re drawn to cruelty, selfishness, or negativity, your environment will reflect that too.
Although many Christians no longer talk of hell per se, nevertheless, people in general often use the words heaven and hell when we say things like “I’m in heaven” meaning a feeling of peace and contentment. A “hellish” state of mind, is when our “inner demons” are troubling us. We also speak of a terrible situation as “hell on earth” and “a living hell”. When catastrophic things happen, the phrase “all hell is breaking loose” comes to mind. In other words, in using the term hell, people are referring to a state of mind rather than an external place.
So, imagine heaven not as some cloud palace in the sky, but as a state of deep inner peace and joy. And hell? That might be more like being trapped in your own bitterness, unable to escape the emotional world you created. According to Swedenborg, selfish people don’t get punished because of their bad lives on earth. Their hellish state is more the result of spiritual gravity. You just naturally end up where your inner self feels at home.
Here’s another idea: Swedenborg claims that in the afterlife, time and space don’t work the way they do here.
In our world, we measure time with clocks and calendars. But think about how time feels. When you’re bored, it drags. When you’re doing something you love, it flies. That’s subjective time. According to Swedenborg, that’s exactly what time is like in the spirit world—it depends on your mental state.
Same with space. In our reality, how far away someone is depends on physical distance. But in the spirit world, closeness is emotional. If you feel connected to someone, you’ll actually be near them. If you don’t? You won’t be. It’s kind of sensible, really.
Are you wondering ‘Is There Support for These Ideas?’
Actually, yes. Swedenborg isn’t alone. Many mediums—people who claim to receive messages from the deceased—report similar things. One respected researcher, Professor David Fontana, studied this extensively and wrote a book called Is There an Afterlife?
He found that people supposedly communicating from the afterlife say similar things over and over: that the next world reflects our thoughts, that we gravitate toward people who think and feel like we do, and that the spirit world is more vivid than the physical one.
Skeptical? Understandable. Some mediums have been caught faking it. And science tends to be extremely cautious about this stuff. But when so many independent sources describe similar afterlife experiences, it’s hard to completely ignore.
So… will the next life be happy? That depends. If Swedenborg and others are right, the afterlife isn’t a reward or punishment system. Like how being kind makes your life richer now—it seems to carry over. It’s more like a natural continuation of who you are. If you’ve cultivated love, wisdom, and a genuine desire to do good—not just to look good—you’ll find yourself in a place that mirrors that.
Swedenborg called the joyful part of the spirit world caelo (Latin for heaven). And apparently, it’s beautiful. There are gardens, rivers, even towns. People fall in love. They build lives. They grow. Kind of like Earth could be—if we all just chilled out and cared more. He saw it not as a reward, but as a natural social environment for people who had been developing inner goodness. It’s not about how many good deeds you racked up, but whether you wanted to do good because it felt right to your soul.
So, where does all this leave us? If you’re someone who’s unsure about what happens after death, you’re not alone. It’s okay not to have all the answers. Keep asking. Keep wondering. Just don’t feel like you need to settle for “nothingness” if that idea doesn’t sit right with you. Maybe, just maybe, consciousness doesn’t flicker out. Maybe it continues—transformed, but still you. If so many people—from ancient tribes to modern scientists—have been catching glimpses of something beyond. If they are not mistaken, then your thoughts, your loves, your growth—they’re not wasted. They’re part of something much bigger than this single life. And maybe that’s the big point. You are more than you think you are. More than just skin, bones, and brainwaves. More than a fleeting spark in an indifferent universe. You’re a conscious being. And that consciousness—mysterious, rich, and deeply human—might just have a future beyond the grave.
Copyright 2025 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of The Great Questions of Life
