I expect there are as many answers to this question as there are persons to ask, here is one more. I think perhaps it is best to start with the question of what is life. There is a concept in Hinduism called the Akashic Records.


As one “anecdotal account”, I would submit the quantum field as one potential contender for that “non-physical”/ “etheric” plane of Akashic information from which physical reality arises. A physical reality which arises dependent upon what part of that infinite information source is observed and held in awareness by a conscious observer.

Perhaps life arises when a soul, unbound by space and time, reads a first person account of one portion of the Akashic records. An account in the first person that is so thoroughly written so as to include all of the events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intentions of the character. An account written with not only one character arc, but many arcs, perhaps an infinity of them. A story written with not one ending, but a compendium of all conceivable story paths to all conceivable endings, no matter how improbable, from which the reader can choose. A story so well written that if the soul will focus all of its awareness onto that account, pushing out awareness of everything else, it will come to believe they are that character. Perhaps, this is how a being outside of time and space, without limitations and boundaries, comes to believe and experience itself as a living limited physical human being. As any good story teller will know, any story so well written will of course have to include a good deal of conflict, otherwise the reader will inevitably become bored and stop reading. However, the story should not have so much suspense, anxiety, and troubles that the reader can no longer stand it and must stop reading. Yet if a story is to have all conceivable paths and all conceivable endings, then such paths are inevitable and hence the story experienced and its ending is determined by which story path the reader chooses. Despite being a story of unlimited paths and endings, it is but one story of a compendium of infinite other stories and infinite other characters from which to read.
Death is just relaxing the focus of your awareness on one story and refocusing on another, or if you prefer, not focusing your awareness on anything, and thereby being nothing, for a little while or as long as you like. If and when a soul decides to read some more, with an infinity of stories and experiences to choose from, that soul can create any experience and “be” anything it wishes, with any degree of suspense or harmony it wishes.

Perhaps a more pressing question is, “Why is the soul reading the story it is experiencing, and be-ing, in this present moment?”


P.S. As an interesting aside, if we take the word “believe” and drop an e and add a space we get “be live”. I find it interesting how words seem to work out this way and just how often I run across similar situations. Sometimes it feels like someone is messing with me, weaving subtle little hints into the story, like breadcrumbs on a path for me to follow.....to....?.