Our Recycling Universe
I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic, and this is my weekly blog post. The large Sunday Bizarro comic above is mine, as are the comments below. The past week’s Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics that follow were written and drawn by my partner Wayno, whose weekly blog post I highly recommend.
And here’s this week’s ANSWER KEY to my Sunday comic’s Secret Symbols.
I’ve been reading again, and it has opened my mind further.
I’ve always got a book or two going, and I read articles daily, so the reading part is nothing new. But the mind with which I absorb the words is a stranger I’m still getting to know.
As I mentioned in my weekly post a few weeks ago, until very recently, I was certain reincarnation was a laughable concept. It is easy to make jokes about people who imagine they used to be King Tut or Calamity Jane.
Then I read the well-known book, Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation, and it opened my naturally skeptical mind. Which isn’t easy to do.
As I contemplated the concept, I recalled that scientists hold that matter and energy can change forms but are never created or destroyed. As far as we know, everything in the universe is part of an enormous recycling program.
Furthermore, despite all the amazing things we know about the universe, we don’t know jack-crap about consciousness: what it is, where it comes from, or how it works.
It has long been assumed to originate in the brain, and that when the brain is dead or offline, consciousness disappears. But a multitude of near-death experiences seem to soundly contradict that. Many people have recounted details of things that happened and were said while their brains were flatlining.
So should we be so certain consciousness disappears after death? Nothing in the universe disappears, it only changes. Why should we believe consciousness is the one exception to this infinite recycling process?
(Those are my thoughts and are not included in the book. It gives convincing evidence of other sorts that is difficult to attribute to anything other than our consciousness continuing after the death of our bodies.)
***
It is tempting to say that belief in reincarnation arises from wishful thinking and a fear of death. I can’t speak for anyone else, but that is most definitely not the case with me.
I have never feared the thought of my mind ceasing to exist after death. Like a deep sleep or being under anesthesia, I wouldn’t be able to care about anything I’m not aware of.
And the current state and direction of the world certainly rules out wishful thinking. As much of humanity seems intent on self-extinction, I find no relief in the notion that I may return for more of this nonsense. To the contrary, it’s a fairly frightening proposition.
***
But on the other hand, practice is how we improve. Perhaps our return visits make us better at life, more connected to our fellow beings of all species, more respectful of our mothership, and less combative, selfish, and greedy. That process would also explain why some of us are naturally more wise and peaceful, while others obsessively chase money, sex, power, and other fleeting dopamine hits: Old souls vs. new ones.
Human history has always been an undulating series of peaks and valleys. Despite the recent valley the MAGAsphere and their ilk have dragged us into, the arc of humanity has been gradually civilizing. Believe it or not, the world was even more cruel and chaotic a thousand years ago, and even worse a thousand years before that.
Perhaps our next peak will be higher, longer lasting, more grand, and worth returning for.
***
That part is wishful thinking, yes. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Hoping next week’s weather will be lovely isn’t foolish or dangerous; it could happen, and hoping for it makes me happy in the interim. No harm done.
I also suspect that if our consciousnesses continue beyond a single lifetime, though we lose our memories of previous lives, we retain wisdom and abilities. Maybe that’s the mechanism for the improvement of our species on this little floating paradise.
Is there a better motivator for learning to do this life well than believing it could help me in the next one? I may return to a better world, and be a better artist, writer, and cartoonist to boot! Maybe sequential lives will allow me to pursue other fields of creativity that I don’t have time to perfect in a single life. That would be even better than lovely weather next week!
I’m hoping, however, I’ll have the choice of delaying my return until the world is on the upswing again. God knows I could use a break from this rollercoaster!
Let’s break now for some smiles and giggles with Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons from the week…
Guano is worth a lot more than bird shit. Just sayin’.
I wonder what he might’ve created if he’d asked for an “end table.”
Unless he’s choking on one of the rope knots.
It’s always good to get the hen scoop from the Hen’s Coop.
In one of my Naked Cartoonist articles, I commented on how odd it is that numerous counties in the Bible Belt have laws against the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages, while their primary mascot is famous for turning water into wine.
We’re ready to put this episode of the Bizarro Blog to bed, Jazz Pickles. Thanks for tucking us in.
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