Concerning the Question

Concerning the question of whether or not

we will have a personal identity in the after-

life (not to mention the question of an after-

life itself), there are those who contend that

the experience of the eternal is the experience

of selflessness, not knowing that one exists,

not even thinking about it because one is so

totally taken up into the experience of the

moment which itself is moment-less –

totally absorbed, making a painting, sculpting,

sewing, solving a mathematical problem,

engaged in a solution to a Sudoku,

fashioning a drawing, working a crossword

puzzle, reflecting on a complex situation,

listening intently, absently as a matter

of fact, to another, forgetting to eat lunch,

perhaps even writing a poem.

So the question is, “If someone totally loses him

or herself in the eternal now and no one else is

there, does that person exist now or will that person

exist in the afterlife, or should we just be glad

the person disappeared happily into eternity

now and really found him or herself –

forever?”