Thank you. I’ve been listening to Alan Watts a lot lately and this helps me contextualize some of his references. I am not religious, but I am convinced of the philosophy that everything in existence is so interconnected and inseparable that it is as if we are all one thing, just like the cells in our body are greater than the sum of themselves.

I had a realization while reading what you wrote. If one chooses to believe in a spiritual concept (by which I mean not based in sound logic or fact), such as reincarnation or God, this belief can be false, because spiritual beliefs rely upon the existence of some specific thing which MUST either be right or wrong. For example, either God exists, or he doesn’t. If God does not exist, the belief is incorrect.

However, there is another type of belief which is free from this true-false split. That is the kind of belief which is merely a matter of subjective perspective, rather than factual. An example would be the question of whether a swan is beautiful. Another example is the question of whether each of us is part of an interconnected whole. Undeniably, everything in existence IS in a single existence. Whether that means I am part of a whole with a star, other human, or centipede is subjective. It’s all about how you choose to look at it. Likewise with death. If I believe that death is inconsequential because I am part of a whole that continues, it cannot be objectively true or false. Therefore whatever I believe about it, that is, whether we are one or separate, becomes my personal truth. If I think a swan is beautiful, for me, the swan is in fact beautiful.

My conclusion is that if you think when you die, the thing you are one with carries on, that “you” are part of it and not exactly dead, it is true. If you do not believe this, it is false. It is a case where thinking makes it so, which is an incredible power.