This is taken from another venue. I hope you will excuse the interviewformat. It is done to spark thought and comment. Would you care to?
Want2know: I know you call yourself a model agnostic. What does that mean?
Meph: It means that I am acquainted with many different models/belief systems and am not married to any single one as "what I believe." Instead I take from each what I find valuable, and use it...and for it to be valuable, it has to have some practical application.
Want2know: Yet you have studied so many things...every major belief system and many minor ones. You have lived in them for periods of time. How can you not have an opinion about which is most likely to be right.
Meph: I think they are each right and each wrong. The ultimate reality, the ultimate truth, if there is such a thing (and I am not sure there is) is beyond what humans can concieve of. So each of the models is a very crude window into what may be there, or great deception. At best, it is like 10 blind men describing an elephant...each knows he is right, but only has a small part of the total picture...so therefore, both right and wrong.
Want2know: OK then, will you play a game with me?
Meph: What's that?
Want2know: Will you answer some questions and assume 1) there is an ultimate reality and single truth, and 2) that you know what it is?
Meph: This goes against everything I believe in (wink), but OK, let's give it a go.
Want2know: Do humans have souls and do we reincarnate?
Meph: That is a very poorly worded question. There are animals called homo sapiens. The have advanced brain functions, are self aware, and can accomplish many different things. There are also "souls" for lack of a better term--spirit beings that can live on and on, and can join with physical beings, such as humans, for a particular life (or part of it). Souls may also choose to incarnate into other beings, be they of this world or not.
Want2know: Well, if there are souls, where do they all come from? There are almost as many people living right now as have ever lived. Soon their will be more alive than have ever died. Were the souls just waiting around forever to finally find a human?
Meph: Where did all the human bodies come from? There is stuff that humans are made of, it is everywhere here on this planet. There is also stuff that souls are made of. It is also everywhere. When it is time for a new soul to form, it is formed from that stuff.
Want2know: So then some people have souls that have reincarnated, and some have new souls?
Meph: Yes! Some souls have come from other "planets" and are here either as students, tourists, teachers, and perhaps even criminals serving time. These tend to be older souls, but don't have to be. Other souls are of this planet, and have been around as long as humans have, perhaps longer. Others are younger, having only been around once or twice, and the vast majority are first timers. And there are humans out there, that for whatever reason, did not join with a soul, and do not "have" one.
Want2know: What happens to the soul when the body dies?
Meph: You heard the phrase "go into the light!" Well, don't! The light is the soul recycling plant. Souls that go there are returned to soul stuff like the body is returned to dust. It is a bad idea, though most souls find it irresistable.
Want2know: Well then, how can the light be avoided?
Meph: A soul must achieve a "critical mass" of consiousness in it's first lifetime, so that it is connected with the Akashic, the collective unconsciousness, and knows to avoid it. This can be done consciously by the human/soul during the life of the human, or, more often, it is done unconsciously by the human, but consciously by the soul.
Want2know: Where do the soul's go then?
Meph: An astral plane. Early on, a soul will know not to go to the light, and will wander until it finds another being that can point it to a soul "youth hostile" where it can meet other young souls. Some will find a teacher to teach them how to reincarnate. Others may wander aimlessly until going into the light seems like a good idea.
Want 2 know: Yes, but the more advanced ones?
Meph: Well, after a soul has been around a time or it, it figures out that the energy and thought power that the human/soul being have can be focused on creating a "heaven" for that soul on the astral plane; A temple so to speak; This can be done as a solo effort, but can also be done in groups of souls, and/or with a particular group--hence the term soul mate or soul groups. An aside: a soulmate does not necessarily have anything to do with who the human/soul being's lover is going to be in a particular life time.
Want2know: What about those who don't believe in reincarnation, but believe in heaven, hell, or some other afterlife?
Meph: Most will go directly into the light thinking that it is Jesus or some other diety calling them, and like a misquito flying into a bug zapper, not even have enough time to be surprised that they are wrong.
Want2know: And the others?
Meph: Those who were able to channel their will strongly enough have a couple of alternatives....if it is an older soul, all the human energy spent on heaven is taken by the soul and used to build the "real" heaven/temple. If it is a younger soul, unforunately, the human/soul being may build what they have been dreaming of--but a heaven built of apherisms and banalities could be more of a hell than any hell is. Imagine the poor suicide bomber that is expecting a heaven full of an allocation of virgins, arriving and finding out that they are virgins, and will remain so....
Want2know: And what about hell?
Meph: Likewise, if a high-energy, strong-willed human/soul plans to go to hell, they will probably create it and go there. Oddley, some of those who desire heaven, but fear hell and dwelll on it will create hell for themselves anyway.
Want2know: And what happens to those souls that go to the heaven/hell they created?
Meph: Most of the constructs are not internally consistent, and will collapse one the human energy/will is not there to sustain it. Then the soul will either go into the light or wander. Some, though, are very well crafted, and a soul could spend the rest of time trapped in one of these heavens or hells.
Want2know: What about memories of past lifes?
Meph: Most memories of past lives are fantasy. Some are picking up the thought patterns in the Akashic of some very strong individuals. Others are based on picking up archtypal information. A few are actually correct, some because of a natural connection, but more often, because of pre-planning.
Want2know: What do you mean by preplanning? As the human/soul being builds the temple, information can be stored there about past lives, knowledge, skill, wisdom, other souls, etc. When a new human/older soul being combine, the soul, can go back to that temple, and retrieve this information and stuff, and, make some or all of it available to the human's consciousness as well.
Want2know: Wow, my head is spinning. You have answered so clearly and definitively. How do you know all of this is true?
Meph: I don't! I only believe it when it is useful to me to believe it. I have experiences to support this set of beliefs. However, these experiences can be explained by many other models, including one that provides for nothing but the material universe and an overactive imagination.
Want2know: So, do you have any parting words of advice?
Meph: Well, if you want to explore this futher, learn to astral travel, and go find your sacred place, or build one. But most importantly remember:
Nothing is True; All is Permitted!