Why is it that almost everyone is afraid to die? Indeed, quite a lot of people can only think of death as something horrible. Yet this process, which we call "death", is something that, to all unfinished living beings, is quite inevitable. None of us who live in a physical organism can escape it. We all have to pass through its gateway. But, when man, and most of the higher animals, are afraid of death, their fear may be attributed to the general, indeed almost complete ignorance of the true nature and purpose of death.

Terrestrial man's knowledge of said process comprises only that part of it which takes place on the physical plane. The really concrete fact, however, is just that a normal "death" manifests itself as an irrevocable state of sleep, which overwhelms the being in question. This kind of sleep distinguishes itself from ordinary sleep in that the sleeper does not re-awaken any more to life and activity in his physical body - which accordingly becomes a "corpse". Survivors see that the dead body now enters upon a state of disintegration or decay. Whatever it was that used this organism to manifest itself or signalize its presence to others, heard with its ears, saw with its eyes, or actuated the organism, has totally disappeared. Said organism has thus been abandoned, or released by this "something". And consequently, it is now a corpse; a wreck, which, like withered leaves in autumn, must disintegrate or decay in order to re-enter the cycle.

As the "something" which previously controlled said organism and caused it to "live", is something quite imperceptible to physical senses, and hence can only be apprehended by its presence as the director of said physical organism - which has now become a corpse - the superstition or misconception has arisen, and has become widely accepted, that this invisible "something" was identical with its organism. People thus regard the physical body as being identical with the actual "living something" which revealed its presence through said organism. Indeed, as it was imperceptible to physical senses, people did not even recognize its existence. And when this "something" was not recognized, the organism was all that was left - for people could recognize and accept only things that were physically visible, or perceivable by physical senses. And having once acquired this misconception people could hardly avoid the impression that the dissolution of an organism signified also the dissolution of its originator. And with such a prospect of dissolution and extinction of life in view, death did not appear a very attractive experience. Indeed, it is not a very inspiring or pleasure-promoting prospect even today. The better a person is situated on the physical plane, and the more he enjoys his physical and material benefits, the greater is his fear of having to "die". And very naturally, for he is convinced that his "death" means the total extinction of his life and whole existence.

As death is a process applying equally to all living physical beings, analogous with their birth, their satisfaction of hunger, the quenching of their thirst, their evacuation, their sleep and the other permanent, daily functions of life, it is obvious that there must be something fallacious about man's fear of death; For it is certainly a pleasure or gratification for living being to enjoy these recurring processes in life. It is a pleasure to gratify one's hunger or assuage one's thirst, just as it is a pleasure to evacuate when one needs to, and to rest or sleep when rest is necessary. Normally, no one fears these processes, on the contrary, they are accepted as pleasures. Why, then, do people feel such a fear or horror of "death"? Why shouldn't death be even as great a pleasure as the other vital processes? For it is just as much a release of something vital to the being as a release in case of satiation of hunger, sleep or evacuation.

In normal circumstances death does not take place before the being has become "full of days". Now, as the physical organism is a created or built-up instrument enabling a being to manifest itself and experience life physically, this instrument, like all physically created things, must be subject to wear and tear. And it is this slow decay that is the cause of "old age". When his decay has advanced so far that the organism no longer serves as an efficient tool for experiencing life physically, it will be released by the aforesaid "something" for which it acted as tool. That this "something" gets liberated from an organism that has become so feeble that the being can no longer find its way about or look after itself alone on the physical plane, can hardly be anything but a divine blessing for this same "something". Consequently "death" becomes a convenience analogous with those other processes mentioned above which also were an enjoyment and a pleasure. If beings are nevertheless afraid of "death" it is, as said above, solely because they consider themselves identical with their physical body, and are convinced that the dissolution of this body means their own total extinction. If the beings were not victimized by this superstition they would be overjoyed at the prospect of such a liberation from an enfeebled or damaged, and hence useless physical body - as "death" in its normal or natural form most decidedly is.

If death is thus nothing but a liberation and no total extinction of the existence of the living being, why has Nature or Providence not provided living beings with senses through which they might realize this liberation, or the true nature of "death", and thus be saved from all this mortal fear or horror of death which they now experience? The answer is, that such senses are actually on the way in the mentality of terrestrial man. Living beings are all in course of development, and this development will most assuredly equip humanity with senses through which all will be able, not only to experience their own immortality, but also to fathom the solution of every psychic riddle which today is bound up with their physical existence and their individual fate, in order eventually to acquire full cosmic consciousness and be at one with God and thus come to fulfil in its entirety God's purpose with man, viz. "to make him in His image, after His likeness."

When we consider a living being in the light of our physical senses, what, exactly, do we see? We see a physical organism which is controlled and directed by "something" we cannot see. This "something" is what we characterize as our "I". Consequently this "something" is not physical, for it cannot be perceived by physical senses. How then can we know that it does exist and that our organism and this "I" are not identical? If we carefully observe the physical organism, we cannot fail to gain this knowledge. The more carefully we do observe it, the more clearly do we see that it constitutes solely and only a tool. Its whole structure is built up solely with the object of fulfilling a specific purpose. Thus we realize that the organism of a living being does not constitute the primary aspect of said being. Indeed it cannot in itself be the actual living being, for it is controlled and directed solely by an invisible "something". Hence this "something" - or the "I" - that rules the organism, must incontestably be the only thing that is truly alive.

In speech and indeed in our whole manifestation, we continually express this "I" as the deciding factor in our behaviour and in our will, just as we also indicate this same "I" as the something that wishes and desires, as the something that feels pleased or sorry, etc. In all situations connected with ourselves, we express ourselves through the medium of this "I". Now, as this "I" expresses itself, or makes itself known, by means of the physical body, just as this body constitutes the medium for all its sensations and experiences, the living being becomes apparent as a "something" which possesses an instrument enabling it to experience and to manifest itself. At the same time, it becomes obvious to us, that this instrument is a created object. It had a beginning, just as it will one day come to an end. So this instrument is limited in time and space. We see that it constitutes an enormous combination of organs, each created for its own specific purpose, so that the "something" named, or the "I", can use it to create its own experience of life, and its own manifestation. Now, as this instrument, namely the being's physical body, is constructed of physical materials, it will, like all other created physical objects, be liable to injury or damage, and in like manner that said instrument, or tool, suffers damage, it will cease to be a useful tool for the "l" in question. Indeed, the damage may be so great, that said tool becomes totally unusable by the "I". Consequently, the tool, viz. the organism or physical body, will, as pointed out above, be released from the "I". The "I" is thus liberated from the organism which it no longer has any use for. Indeed it would be a fearful nuisance to the I if it could not be released from this now useless tool.

That the physical body is thus destroyed, either through damage or wear and tear, in no way signifies that the "I" is also destroyed. Only the latter can no longer manifest itself in physical matter. And this is why survivors are led to believe that the being in question, or the "I" which manifested itself through the organism, is dead, which in this case means that it had completely ceased to exist. And it is this conviction, or belief that a being's life and existence ceases entirely when the I is released from its useless, physical body, or physical sensory instrument, that causes survivors' fear or horror of death, just as it causes the grief felt by surviving friends of the "deceased", because they can no longer enjoy their friend's company on the physical plane. But this opinion of "death" is most definitely a complete illusion. "Death" is certainly in no way an absolute or real death.

Consequently, as death is nothing more than a process of dissolution it cannot possibly happen to anything that has not been created. Only things that have been constructed or created can be destroyed. But as the I of a living being cannot possibly have been constructed or created, but in itself the only reality in existence that can create or build things up, it cannot possibly itself be either destroyed or broken down. Thus it constitutes, in itself, the Creator, and cannot, therefore, be identical with the thing created. Only created things can come into being, and later be destroyed. But realities that have not been created or constructed cannot possibly perish or be destroyed. Such realities cannot but be imperishable and thus eternal. Consequently, the I is eternal and thus immortal.

As the whole universe reveals itself to us as one enormous creative process, and thus also as a corresponding multiplicity of created phenomena, all of which in their supreme analysis prove to be a joy and a blessing to living creatures, it becomes obvious that the universe must constitute three incontestable analyses, namely: the Creator, the Creative Power, and the thing created. These three realities contain precisely the three principles that are necessary for a "something" to be able to manifest itself as a living being. As these three principles cannot exist independently, or in disassociation from each other, they constitute a Trinitarian Principle. If the Creator did not exist, neither the Creative Power, or the objects created, could come about. If the creative ability did not exist, every created thing in existence, that is to say, the whole universe with its multiplicity of details, could never have come into being. Consequently the universe in itself constitutes a living being in which we all live and move and have our being Now, if we consider ourselves, we see that we, too, constitute the same Trinitarian Principle. Our I constitutes the Creator, just as we, too, possess a Creative Power and a result of this power, viz. our organism, our mode of behaviour and all our other manifestations. Thus, in our cosmic structure, we are definitely in God's image.

If now, in our Highest Self, we thus constitute the supreme principle, which manifests itself through the other two principles, viz. the Creative Power and the objects created, we are definitely superior to the limits of Time and Space. And, as our Highest Self is identical with the Creator, it cannot itself have ever been created. It has always existed, and is thus eternal. But if it has always existed, it can have no age. We cannot say of it: it is so and so old, for it never had a beginning, but is infinite. Consequently, it is superior to all conceptions of Time. Now a in itself it constitutes the Creator, and is thus the producer of what has been created, it cannot in itself, have any analysis, for, whatever, we may say of our higher self, we can only express it by citing something it has created. If we say of it, it is Evil, or it is Good, this Evil or this Good is something it has produced, and thus cannot constitute an analysis of itself, for it existed before the thing created. Hence, it cannot be anything but nameless in its true cosmic nature It is superior to all created phenomena, and thus cannot be expressed as being identical with any of these. As only created things constitute Time and Space, our higher self is consequently superior to all conceptions regarding Time and Space. Only objects it has created are time- and space-dimensional, and hence transitory and impermanent. As the living being can thus manifest itself only through transitory phenomena, including also its own physical organism, it is not surprising that it is considered mortal, as long as people - due to their lacking development - are unable to perceive the cosmic structure of the living being.

The true fundamental and eternal structure of living beings is thus invisible, and can only be perceived indirectly through its manifestations, among which is, of course, its physical body. But as this body is something that has been created by the living being in question, it certainly cannot constitute the living being itself. So, as the organism does not constitute the true self of said being, we none of us have ever seen an actual living being. In this way, we have never really seen the real self of either friends or enemies, of our parents, relations or any other kind of being. We have seen only their temporary organisms, or the created instruments by means of which they manifested their spirit, or revealed their presence.

The transformations which these bodies or instruments go through, in order that said beings may manifest themselves, does not apply to the true Self of said beings. This Self is eternally unchangeable. It is solely in the manifestations of said being, or I, that transformations of any kind can take place. These manifestations may be perfect or they may be less perfect, they may be evil or they may be good, they may disintegrate or be destroyed, they may be old, or they may be new, etc., but the true structure of a being is neither good nor bad. It can neither age nor be youthful, it cannot disintegrate or be destroyed. The true and only possible analysis of the being is that is constitutes "something that is". On the other hand, it may reveal itself in a multiplicity of variations. And when such a being comes to experience the so-called "death", it is certainly not its cosmic structure, or I that dies, but solely its physical manifestations, which in this case means its physical body. Thus we realize that the actual living being can never die. Whatever it is, in a living being, that constitutes the Creator and the Creative Power, it still exists, even if the physical organism has completely passed away. So, in other words, the being itself goes on living and can still experience and create, but temporarily no longer on the physical plane.

Thus far we have given instances of some of the realities which prove that a living being is not identical with its physical body, but in fact constitutes an eternal, changeless reality which can experience and create. But, incidentally, we have so far only ascertained that said manifestation and experience was in virtue of said being's physical organism. But as the actual being which controls this organism constitutes an eternal reality which can create and experience, it would be highly unreasonable to assume that its present physical organism, which is only a temporary instrument - and, incidentally a very impermanent one at that - should be the only organism this eternally - existing, cosmic being has created or controlled. Or, moreover, that the brief physical life to be gained by its means, should definitely be the only medium at disposal for experiencing life or for manifesting itself on the physical plane that it has any possibility of employing. And then, again, what about the infinite former existence that it enjoyed before its present incarnation? - And further, what about the limitless future before it and after it has completed its present life? Should this eternal existence beyond the present incarnation be merely a lonely, desert wandering through an existence entirely without incident or manifestation of any kind - merely a deathlike sleep? - What use, then, its eternal creative power? - What use its present physical life, this infinitesimally tiny fraction of a second compared with all eternity? - What use an eternal life at all, and a corresponding creative power, if said living being is to use it solely and only to create the insignificant iota of experience which a single physical life on earth would contain, when compared with said eternal existence, and correspondingly infinite possibility for creation? - No, such a preposterous conception could never exist in the Divine Scheme of Things. Everything created in His world is designed and created solely to fulfil definitely useful purposes. And the sole object of every purpose is to constitute a joy and a blessing for living beings. Consequently, the sole object of an eternal creative power is to give the eternal existence of the living being a correspondingly eternal, permanent experience of life in the form of manifestation and creation.

In order that the above description can be accepted as a fact, it will be necessary to show that there must be something about a living being that proves that it is able not only to manipulate, or put physical matter to its own use, but also to manipulate invisible matter, which, unlike physical matter, is not directly perceivable by physical senses. Such application or employment of non-physical matter - or substance - is evident in the functioning of the being's consciousness. Its percipient and sensory impressions are created through a kind of matter that is not discernible by physical senses. Everything that a being normally reveals through its physical manifestations, has been first conceived in the form of mental images or thought structures. This experience of mental pictures or thought-combinations is most certainly not a physical experience. It constitutes an incontestable, so-called: "spiritual experience". Without such a condition of spiritual experience any possibility of an I being able to manifest itself would be out of the question. It is in this mental world that a being's physical existence is created and experienced. In addition to its physical body every being has thus a spiritual structure as well. As it is able with this structure to form and create mental images, to guide and direct its physical organism, and to guide and direct its manifestations and experiences on the physical plane, we see here once again that the physical body of a true living being is simply and only an instrument that is implemented by a spiritual being.

In this way it becomes obvious that, in point of fact, living beings do not live on the physical plane at all. Their fundamental consciousness, their process of thinking and use of will, all constitutes solely a function of, or a manipulating of spiritual matter. And, in this way, we come to realize that there must be a higher level of existence than the physical, and that it is on this plane that living beings exist and have their true home. Through their physical body they apprehend only the reactions to contacts made by their physical body with physical matter. Through the physical, sensory system these reactions are then transformed into spiritual impulses - that is to say, into electrical impulses. These impulses are thereupon transferred to the being's spiritual structure, and there result in discernment or perception. Only through this perceptive cognition can a being know what it is he experiences through said sensory impulses. And thus it is only here that his experiences are transformed into consciousness, knowledge and memory. Consequently it is not on the physical plane that he becomes cognizant of what he perceives by means of his physical senses. The physical senses can only register reactions, and with the assistance of the cerebral system, transform them into electrical impulses which then make contact with the being's spiritual structure, which is solely an organ or medium for transforming these physical, sensory impulses into discernment or knowledge, which again enter a special-spiritual organ for storage as memory. In my main work: Livets Bog ("The Book of Life") this organ has been termed the "Fate-element". All the experiences met with by a being exist in this organ as memories. These memories form the basis of everything the being possesses of understanding and knowledge. Upon the strength and quality of this knowledge depends how much a being can understand and transform into perception and cognizance of new experiences, or sensory impulses.

But as the consciousness, knowledge and perceptive faculties of a living being are all on the spiritual plane, and thus its fundamental, experiencing and manifestational structure is, in reality, solely on this plane, said structure cannot, of course, be affected by the loss of its physical body. The being still retains its consciousness, mental faculties and knowledge intact. As its physical body has now ceased-to exist, it can no longer receive physical sensory impulses, and consequently can no longer directly experience the physical world. But, as its consciousness and thus its functions of thought still exist, said being can still think, viz. create in spiritual matter. Here matter forms itself automatically in accordance with the being's thoughts or mental images. And as it no longer possesses a physical body, and can no longer sense physically, its own thoughts, and the thoughts of other beings come to form its outward surroundings on the spiritual plane of existence.

Through this very brief survey of the cosmic structure of living beings, we have been able to realize the fact that in their true higher identity or cosmic existence living beings are not identical with their physical bodies which were manifested more or less in physical matter. Hence, this organism has nothing to do with the cosmic being who directed said organism in any other way than by forming a temporary instrument for the being in question. And as this instrument is a created thing, it is, of course, transitory or ephemeral. It is subject to wear and tear, and consequently must be doomed to extinction, just as it once had to be brought into being. Thus its period of existence, its age, is not the age of the living being that directs it, and for whom it constitutes a medium for experience and manifestation. When we say of a living being that he is so and so old, it is, in reality, only the age of the organism that we speak about. When we say of the same person that he or she is good-looking, so and so tall or short etc., our remarks refer only to the organism and not to the being that directs it.

The invisible being which controls an organism is a Cosmic Being, and thus exists beyond Time and Space. It is not a created thing, but, on the contrary, constitutes the "something" that is the Author and Creator of said organism, who uses it as an instrument or medium for his manifestation and as a means of experiencing life. But as creation can only be a manifestation of Time and Space, the Creator cannot be identical with Time and Space. Said Creator must have existed before the object created, for how could said object have otherwise come about? - And then, as the Creator must exist before the object created his existence cannot be dependent on that of the object he had created. Consequently the Creator can just as well exist after the object created is no longer in being, as he could exist before said created object ever came about. This Creator, or this "Something" is the same as the "I" of every living being. This I with its intrinsic cosmic structure has thus never itself been created, but has existed from all Eternity, and similarly, will continue to exist for all Eternity. Now, as the inmost cosmic structure or the I of a living being can, unquestionably, only constitute the "Creator", it cannot possibly be identical with the "object created". Hence it is definitely superior to and beyond anything that is Time and Space dimensional. And that is why it cannot be analysed in any other way than as "Something that is", the analysis of which is again exactly the same as that of "Eternity", which also can only be expressed as: "Something that is". Consequently the I in every living being is thus identical with Eternity. It is true that the term "Eternity" is normally used as an expression for unlimited or infinite Time, but, unlimited Time, just as unlimited Space, cannot possibly exist. As soon as the analysis of something can only be expressed as "unlimited", said analysis can no longer constitute an analysis of the object in question, but on the contrary, constitutes solely a term expressing the Creator or director of said object, which Creator is precisely the only one that can exist beyond the limits of Time and Space, for these limits can exist only as a product brought into being by said Creator. And thus it becomes obvious that Eternity and Infinity have both exactly the same analysis as the I of the Creator. They can only constitute "Something that is". Now, as this analysis also expresses the supreme cosmic identity of the Godhead, all living beings in existence - whether in the Microcosmos, the Macrocosmos or the Intermediate Cosmos - are each and all one with Eternity, Infinity and Deity.