Part 3: Connecting Theory with Details
It is said that at the time of death, the human brain is still active for several minutes after all bodily function has stopped. One study, published in PNAS, found evidence following cardiac arrest (albeit in rats) that the “mammalian brain can, albeit paradoxically, generate neural correlates of heightened conscious processing near death” which “exceeded levels found during the conscious waking state”. The study found a high level of internal information processing occurring within the brain during clinical death (i.e. NDE or near death experience), where different brain regions and frequencies (i.e. gamma, theta, alpha waves) were communicating with one another in a highly correlated fashion. The researchers in this study concluded that the evidence of increased brain activity may help to explain findings of surges in EEG activity following human, cardiac death.
Given the proposed mechanism of karma as a type of patterned, energy fluctuation affecting physical reality, similar to how electromagnetic forces can affect the orientation and properties of particles, then, building upon this, an increased surge in brain activity could be a vehicle of reincarnation. In this case, the final surge of activity would generate a higher level of vibrational influence on the surrounding environment, propagating to a larger degree than perhaps at other points in an individual’s life. Some Buddhists might state that meditation is learning the art of dying, and the ultimate lesson is learning to peacefully and joyfully release oneself from clinging to life at the time of one’s death. For it is the desires and state of mind at this time that determines the chain of continuation into the next, causal condition of samsara (i.e. cycle of suffering/rebirth).
Thus, the surge would be affected by the individual’s cognitive and emotional state prior to death, and this might dictate the type of unique, energy signature they are radiating into the universe. So, if a person is full of anger or sadness or fear or love, etc, that final signal will be the last pebble dropped into the ocean of their current life, and any causal rippling that occurs afterwards will be tinged with the specifics of that frequency. The energy of the present moment becomes the seed which gives birth to the next or, in this case, rebirth. For on some level, every moment we die and are reborn anew, like a candle’s flickering flame, making the nature of the present moment a product of the past, and wholly within our influential capacity in the now.
This could also correlate with the practice of Tibetan Buddhist monks identifying candidates of reincarnation for the Dalai Lama to continue the previous Lama’s life work. In the past, previous Lamas are said to have meditative visions describing their reincarnation, which they then provide clues of the area for other monks to locate the reincarnated individual. Interestingly, the date of rebirth does not necessarily align with the date of a monk’s death, and can often occur after quite some time has passed. In Mahayana Buddhism, this passage of time between death and rebirth is described as possibly taking from days up to years to occur.
This non-alignment between death and rebirth may have to do with the propagation/permeation of the vibrational signature into the universe. Although the effect of its generation upon the physical reality would be immediate to the action itself, any observable effect on the environment may take some time to manifest. As subtlety upon subtlety builds into a crescendo that brings forth the fruit of causality into the macroscopic world.
Additionally, following this logic, it would seem likely that, depending on the timescale, reincarnation would occur within the surrounding areas of the epicenter of individual, energy generation (especially if reincarnation occurs closer to the time of death). Thus, wherever a person spends a majority of their time, and more especially in the periods prior to their passing, might also be the general area most likely to maintain a higher concentration of an individual’s energy reverberation embedded within the causal environment. Ripples in a pond are always most prominent closest to where the pebble is dropped. Therefore, it might be expected that a future reincarnation would be more likely to occur within the vicinity of death the sooner the manifestation occurs. Though, the reincarnation would not be one of self, but of one’s karmic signature.
Of course, this is assuming the karmic energy follows a linear path of transference and dissipation. If, on the other hand, it acts on a level akin to the quantum state, then it is not necessarily bound by the constructs of space-time and locality. Instead, the energy would have the capacity to have a rippling effect in all directions of time and space from the point of transmission, and the attributes of karmic-manifested events and reincarnation would be more dependent upon the conditions/frequency of the energy itself.
In this case, perhaps the reverberations of karmic energy from all points of space-time also allow for a latently existent karmic force within the universe, similar to gravity. Except, instead of the result of the interaction between physical bodies, it manifests itself as a result of interacting energy frequencies. Any karmic events related to a specific vibrational frequency would occur in physical reality when any individual projects an energy signature compatible with that particular level of vibration. Then the energy would have at least two degrees of interaction, one bound within localized, macroscopic space-time and one that is a microscopic, quantum state.
Like a radio tuner or CB radio, the quantum-level would be like a bandwidth of latent karmic energy to which an individual’s energy signature may tune to a certain station (i.e. frequency of karmic energy) through their own state of mind. By tuning into a particular station, the individual’s energy begins a sort of dialogue with the energy permeating, echoing, and transmitting through space-time, the interaction of which creates a manifestation in physical reality related to the karmic energy exchange. This, in turn, creates a broadcast into the present reality as a result of the interaction. By altering our mind state, an individual is able to adjust their emitted frequency, and thus interact with a different vibration, the interaction of which garners different manifestations/results, just like different radio stations might transmit static or different songs/information.
There are some interesting implications if this is the case. It would mean that the spectrum within which karmic perturbations may occur is an inherent aspect of the physical reality. The spectrum itself would have no latent energy of its own, and would instead be maintained as a neutral state as long as no karmic energy is generated. The spectrum would be like a container in which the generation of vibrations that contain a karmic component would occur within it, allowing for karma to permeate non-local time-space. Therefore, if no karma is generated, then karmic manifestations would cease, once the rippling echoes have dissipated the remaining remnants of any vibrations of karmic energy.
Still, this cessation of dissipation might not be possible if karmic energy is non-local within space-time. Because this would mean that any energy vibration has the capacity to cause ripples in any point in space and time. Thus, the ripples of karmic energy from a future event could have an impact on a past event, creating an ouroboros of perpetual, karmic vibrations within physical reality, a self-feeding karmic loop. This would align with Buddhist philosophy stating that the only way to escape from the cycle of rebirth would be to not generate karma, which would allow a person to disconnect from the karmic dimension of manifestation. A person would need to act in a way that does not have long-lasting causal implications, the effects of which dissipate as soon as they arise, preventing/minimizing karmic perturbations. The dissipation would be the constant rippling of vibrations causing a cancellation effect, so that even if energy vibrations can occur at an point in space-time, there cumulative interaction becomes zero stasis.
Also, if karmic energy is not bound to a linear causality within time, then perhaps this gives credence to the idea that we are all already Buddhas, and to the historical Buddha’s revelation that there were countless Buddhas before and after him. For what if reincarnation and karmic manifestations are on some level also not bound to a one directional linearity of time? What if the karmic repercussions of our actions allow for Buddhas in the past to achieve enlightenment? What if some of those Buddhas in the past are actually some of us reaching enlightenment, and our current lives are a part of our bodhisattva path to help others to reach enlightenment? What if the path is not to achieve enlightenment, but to remember that we have the flame of enlightenment within us which we may always turn towards? Like the radio analogy, we just have to turn the dial to the station and transmit the signal. Or maybe, what we are doing is exactly what needs to be done, as all paths eventually lead to the mountaintop. The only difference being that certain actions lead to less suffering along the way, depending on the point of view.
Additional Thoughts:
There are situations in which the energy surge in relation to death may not occur, such as during severe head trauma. This does not preclude the energy vibrations that have been generated up to that point, nor their effect upon the physical universe. My suggestion merely points out that such a surge may have a more pointed effect on any subsequent, karmic manifestation. In such a case, an individual’s subsequent rebirth may not be as shaded by the state during death, though it might also increase the variability in reincarnation, depending on how residual vibrations permeate throughout physical reality.
It seems wholly imaginable that a fully enlightened being would be aware of the subtle nuances of the karmic dimension, and would be able to utilize their awareness to direct the field in certain ways, taking into account the countless interactions and manifestations that arise thereabouts, not only from their actions, but from all sentient beings. Perhaps they are able to utilize their awareness to transmit an energy signature that creates a particular pattern of ripples, which to the layman may appear chaotic, but align, in perfect cadence with the aware mind, in achieving the goal of enlightenment for all sentient beings as a matter of fact that is bound to happen.