(02-19-2017, 02:36 AM)APeacefulWarrior Wrote: I dunno. Seth just struck me as being a storyteller, relating incidents he was involved in. It never really seemed like bragging to me, just telling interesting anecdotes.
But as for your question... I'd actually been pondering it for the last couple days, but ultimately, the only real answer I can give you is that I trust my friends\guides on the other side to see me safely across without the need to pile additional distortions\expectations onto the process. More to the point, perhaps, I've come to accept that the other side is what it is and it's not what any human stories tell about it. That was actually one of the primary pieces of information imparted to me when I made contact with the cosmos.
And so in the same way that it is best to seek contact with the cosmos\intelligent infinity without expectations, it is probably also best to seek to rejoin the cosmos with as few expectations as possible.
Ok that was a bit strong to say he's bragging because the tone is not braggy at all. But still I had to skip two chapters because they were all about him and although one could learn about it, it was a bit unsettling because there aren't much explanation. Maybe I'l go back to those chapters in a bit and see how it feels like this time.
Of course, it is still one the best material I've come accross so far because it totally matches the 'picture' I had created in mind about all this which comes from cross-checking a lot of information from very different sources for the last 5 years. Really in 'sync' with all the conclusions I have made so far.
I disagree when you say that afterlife is 'not what any human stories tell about it' because as it turns out, whatever you think the afterlife will be, it becomes. The human stories are wrong in the content part of it (because they miss the point that afterlife experience is mostly self-created) but I think there are right in their forms because they describe one or several type of experience which are subjective so they can't be wrong about that. Seth explains that religions have served as a way to shape people's afterlife because they would shape their expectations. When people testify about their NDE, their story is valid in the sense that they tell us about their perspective.
I'm a very sensitive person and I've grown anxious over the years. I like to be in control of most situations because any issue might have a big impact on me. For example, if I go hiking and forget to bring (hot) water, I'll up feeling bad at the end of the day.
Also, I've noticed that I do much better in any situation if I was able to mentally prepare myself to that situation and the different possible outcomes. If I just go with an open mind and hope for the better, I usually end up missing many opportunities and/or I end up with my opinion not being heard. I've noticed that to some extent, my natural reactions don't make the situation evolve in a favorable way to me. For instance, I tend to give people too much credit and like to think they will have the correct behaviour, will be open-minded and will try for the best. The truth is they really don't so if I haven't prepared myself to 'do that part of the job for them' then things always take the wrong direction. Basically I expect them to be responsible for their actions which very rarely ends up to be true and gets me ver frustrated. When I'm able to anticipate situations and make the correct adjustements, things go much better.
I find that if you let things flow, you are rarely rewarded. This apllies to my photography too. If I just go unprepared to a shoot I will get nice shots because I'm good at improvising. However if I do a lot of location scouting and a lot of thinking about my concepts, what I want to do with them and how I want to best use the location then I usually get some really great shots.
So obviously I'm a bit of a control freak in a sense and that also applies to what is coming next, my afterlife. I don't want to get there and be like 'Ok, let's see what happens now' because it feels like anything bad could happen or that it wouldn't be that productive.
Also, without even talking about planning precise things, I feel that mental preparation helps me to make sure that I don't make stupid instinctual actions. When we are presented with a new experience, our actions are usually driven by our instincts which act out of fear that to me is never good.
For instance, just knowing that afterlife exists might already make a big difference over not knowing it. As Seth points out, it would be really easy to get scared/disorientated if afterlife comes as a surprise. At best that wouldn't be really productive and at worse it could turn into a terrible experience.
So yeah, I'm also quite obsessional about 'productivity' and I hate it when situations/efforts don't lead you anywhere or don't 'go forward'. That being said, I'm a very spontaneous and adventurous person as well !
To sum it up, and since the experience is self-created, it feels that if I didn't prepare (in just mental preparation but also planning) for my afterlife, the experience could be driven by my fears and instincts. On the other hand, preparing myself feels like I would be able to handle the shock of the experience but also be able to control it and turn it into something productive.