Can we talk about this death business for a minute? You said this third book was going to be about higher truths; about uni-versal truths. Well, through all the conversation we’ve had, we haven’t talked that much about death—and what happens after that. Let’s do that now. Let’s get to that.

Fine. What do you want to know?

What happens when you die?

What do you choose to have happen?

You mean that what happens is whatever we choose to have happen?

Do you think that just because you’ve died you stop creating?

I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking You.

Fair enough. (You do know, incidentally, but I see you have forgotten—which is great. Everything’s gone according to plan.)

When you die, you do not stop creating. Is that de-finitive enough for you?

Yes.

Good.

Now the reason you do not stop creating when you die is that you don’t ever die. You cannot. For you are life itself. And life cannot not be life. Therefore you can-not die.

So, at the moment of your death what happens is... you go on living.

This is why so many people who have “died” do not believe it—because they do not have the experience of being dead. On the contrary, they feel (because they are) very much alive. So there’s confusion.

The Self may see the body lying there, all crumpled¹ up, not moving, yet the Self is suddenly moving all over the place. It has the experience, often, of literally² flying all over the room—then of being everywhere in the space, all at once. And when it desires a particular point of view, it suddenly finds itself experiencing that.

If the soul (the name we will now give to the Self) wonders, “Gee, why is my body not moving?” it will find itself right there, hovering³ right over the body, watching the stillness curiously⁴.

If someone enters the room, and the soul thinks, “Who is that?”—immediately the soul is in front of, or next to, that person.

Thus, in a very short time the soul learns that it can go anywhere—with the speed of its thought.

A feeling of incredible freedom and lightness over-takes the soul, and it usually takes a little while for the

点击收听单词发音  

1 crumpled
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句：
She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。 She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

2 literally
adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实
参考例句：
He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。 Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 hovering
鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫
参考例句：
The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。 I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

4 curiously
adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地
参考例句：
He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。 He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

5 immediate
adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的
参考例句：
His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。 We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 entity
n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物
参考例句：
The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。 As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

7 simultaneously
adv.同时发生地，同时进行地
参考例句：
The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。 The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

8 manifestation
n.表现形式；表明；现象
参考例句：
Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。 What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

9 lapse
n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效
参考例句：
The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。 I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

10 fully
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。 They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 efficiently
adv.高效率地，有能力地
参考例句：
The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。 Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

12 tranquillity
n. 平静, 安静
参考例句：
The phenomenon was so striking and disturbing that his philosophical tranquillity vanished. 这个令人惶惑不安的现象，扰乱了他的旷达宁静的心境。 My value for domestic tranquillity should much exceed theirs. 我应该远比他们重视家庭的平静生活。

13 awareness
n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智
参考例句：
There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。 Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

14 rinsed
v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉
参考例句：
She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 cosmos
n.宇宙；秩序，和谐
参考例句：
Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。 Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

16 parable
n.寓言，比喻
参考例句：
This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。 The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

17 countless
adj.无数的，多得不计其数的
参考例句：
In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。 I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

18 neutrons
n.中子( neutron的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The neutrons and protons form the core of the atom. 中子和质子构成了原子核。 来自《简明英汉词典》 When an atom of U235 is split,several neutrons are set free. 一个铀235原子分裂时，释放出几个中子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 racing
n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的
参考例句：
I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。 The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

20 precisely
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。 The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

21 liar
n.说谎的人
参考例句：
I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！ She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

22 charlatan
n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行
参考例句：
The charlatan boasted that he could charm off any disease.这个江湖骗子吹牛说他能用符咒治好各种疾病。 He was sure that he was dealing with a charlatan.他真以为自己遇上了江湖骗子。

23 molecule
n.分子，克分子
参考例句：
A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。 This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

24 condemn
vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑
参考例句：
Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。 We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

25 behold
v.看，注视，看到
参考例句：
The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。 The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

26 illuminate
vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释
参考例句：
Dreams kindle a flame to illuminate our dark roads.梦想点燃火炬照亮我们黑暗的道路。 They use games and drawings to illuminate their subject.他们用游戏和图画来阐明他们的主题。