DAILY MESSAGE ARCHIVES OCTOBER 2021

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October 22, 2021

The solid substance of things is another illusion. It too is a fancy projected by the mind into the eternal world. We have chased the solid substance from the continuous liquid of the atom, from the atom to the electron, and there we have lost it. Actualities have been lost in the exigencies of the chase.

I assert the nature of all reality is spiritual, not material or a dualism of matter and spirit.

                                        Werner Heisenberg, Nobel Prize in Physics (1932)

Mind is, by its very nature, a singulare tantum, I should say: the overall number of minds in just one. I venture to call it indestructible since it has a peculiar timetable, namely time is always now.
There really is no before and after for mind.

The show that is going on obviously acquires a meaning only with regard to the mind that contemplates it. But what science tells us about this relationship is patently absurd: as if mind had only been produced by the very display that it is now watching. 

                                  Erwin Schrodinger 1887–1961, Nobel Prize in Physics (1933)

Are the brain and mind the same thing? But If we are essentially spirits in a material body that live after the death of the body, what happens to the mind when we no longer have a material brain? How would it be possible to function in the afterlife? Not surprisingly, most neural scientists would say it's not possible and so obviously there can be no afterlife. This subject is debated and discussed several times throughout Elysium's Passage. 

For anyone interested in the question of who and what we are, I have included a short excerpt of a discussion on this topic that occurs between the two main characters James and Mo. This is taken from Chapter 7 of Elysium's Passage; The Summit. Are we spirits or are we just material beings that have evolved over time by chance? James, the philosopher, argues for the material brain as being mind while his companion Mo argues that the consciousness of the mind is of the Spirit.

The dialogue below is one of their first discussions on this controversy.

Eli hadn't returned with the firewood yet, so Mo suggested we take a short hike along the Summit. While we climbed up to the ridge, he said, ‘Eli and I were wondering if you still have any questions about how the life you’re experiencing here with us now.’ Had he been reading my mind?

‘Of course,’ I said, most emphatically. Ever since I got here I’ve asked you and Eli about a lot of things without getting any satisfactory answers.’  

‘So what would you like to know,’ he said. ‘Aren’t things rather obvious to you by now? Have we not been constantly telling you that you now exist here as an immortal spirit body, even while your mortal physical earth body remains convalescing in London. The problem with our answers is that you can’t seem to accept them, preferring to dismiss them as fantasy. Once you accept your current state of existence, however, everything else will make sense to you. So why do you still find this so hard to believe?’

‘Because it makes no sense,’ I said, almost shouting. ‘It’s simply not possible for anyone to exist outside their biological body. As I’ve said before, one may have hallucinations of being outside the body, but such experiences are only mental distortions of what’s occurring within the brain: nothing more. You don't go anywhere, it’s only an illusion. And so, whatever paranormal experiences I seem to be having up here is a result of my brain being knocked about during my fall.’

‘I see,’ Mo said, ‘it would appear then, you really don’t have any questions, since you already have it all figured out. Or is it simply a matter of beliefs; what you believe to be possible and you don’t? If so, then let me tell you how important it is that you don’t cling too tightly to old beliefs because they may blind you from seeing the truth of what else is out there.

‘Contrary to what some say, reality isn’t just based on whatever we wish to believe. Though perceptions may vary, truth is truth. Even though it’s possible to create an illusion of reality, which is what the ego does, the truth is often much different than what many are willing to accept. Spiritual reality, from which all temporal experiences are derived, is more expansive than can possibly be imagined, which is why it scares so many into living small insular lives when they could have so much more.

‘With that said, let me reaffirm your current state of existence here since you still seem to have much confusion about it. Though your physical body continues to function on the earth plane, albeit marginally, you are here with us in an imperishable, non-temporal form. Let me state once again, most emphatically, this is not a dream or hallucinatory state of existence you are experiencing with us. This will later become obvious when we visit your body in London.

‘In the future, after you awake in your physical body, you will become aware of all your lessons here, including whatever experiences you may have in an even higher dimension. Assuming, of course, you return to your biological body.’

‘But then,’ I said, ‘what is it that’s having these experiences here? You seem to have forgotten the question of individuation. Obviously, it wouldn’t be possible to have an individuated identity without the boundaries of a body.’

‘That's correct,’ Mo said, ‘and that's why we keep telling you that you will always have a body, even after the death of your mortal body. You seem to still have this belief that only your physical body can be a body. Not so! In fact, it never was who you were, no matter how impressive you thought you looked on the outside. It never was your identity, but the means by which you express your identity and whatever beauty lies within. As we say, what appears outwardly in the spirit body is what already exists within; form follows content, never otherwise.

‘It may be said, therefore, inward consciousness is what characterizes the soul no matter what suit you may be wearing. Yet it's difficult for you to accept you're not currently in your biological form, even though your current experiences and past memories will always remain accessible to you in this spirit body.’  

‘Let's back up a moment,’ I said. ‘You still didn’t answer how it would be possible for me to have memories if I didn’t have a brain.’

‘It’s possible because your memories aren’t there, only the material impressions are. And of course, these memories can be stimulated from these imprints, which are adaptations for the material plane of existence. But these are but recorded effects of your memories like grove imprints on a CD or vinyl record. They are not the music; the music belongs to the spirit, therefore the music remains when the soul departs the body.’

‘But still, where are they? They have to be somewhere if not in the brain.’

‘And so they are,’ Mo said. ‘Like a radiant wave, they dwell in the amorphous field or cloud of universal consciousness. But memories are not composed of brain meat. By the way, materialists don’t appreciate this frank talk about meat when such starkness threatens their reverence for the brain.’

‘It does seem rather disrespectful,’ I said, ‘to not give credit to what it is able to do.’ 

'The wonderment isn’t what it does,’ Mo said, ‘but how it does. Consciousness may create brain patterns, as the science of neo-plasticity shows, but the brain can’t create consciousness, no more than it can create memories.

'However, the brain’s ability to access memories, or remain conscious, may be affected by biological limitations, which is often evident with ageing or brain injury, as with you. Regardless of memory loss, or the brain’s decomposition after death, memories remain in the universal field of consciousness, which may also be understood as ultimately existing within the Mind of God, since the Source is all there is or can be.’

‘That may be fine for you to believe. Perhaps you're a religious man, but I’m not. With few exceptions in the past, I would describe myself as an agonistic.’

‘The same goes for agnostics, atheists and mud wrestlers; no exceptions,’ he said. ‘Reality is reality whether you acknowledge it or not.’

‘Well fine, but in my reality, I would say that one body is plenty enough. And most obviously that body is mine!’

‘Of course, it is; but it’s interesting that you didn’t say that body is me, just that it is mine.’

‘Yes, I suppose that’s rather interesting I would say that. I must be spending too much time with you two.’

‘What you don't realize,’ Mo said, ‘is that in order for you to be here with us, you had to leave that body behind, along with its brain, since it’s limitations obstructed your view of us in this domain, and for that matter, the view of our cabin.’

‘And yet I know of no respectable philosophical discipline which accepts such a notion of leaving the body behind.’

‘No?’ Mo said. ‘Well, you may be astonished how many traditions accept these beliefs, whether you consider them respectable or not.....

 

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I have included another short but interesting dialogue from the yet unpublished Book 4, Elysium's Passage: Surreal Adventures, that occurs in a university lecture hall in a virtual world called the Flatlands.

‘Thank you for your query,’ he said; ‘are there other questions in the audience?'

‘I have one more,’ Rhom said, ‘since you have yet to satisfactorily address the first.’

By now it was very apparent there was a trouble maker in the crowd. Many looked back at us, some seemingly angry. The speaker didn’t seem pleased either with Rhom’s continued impudence.

It’s amazing! Rhom said to the speaker; how nature can of its own, with enough time and chance, self-organize, create and then replicate as though creation was a posteriori rather than being a priori. This doesn’t make any sense to me. You say nature explains everything, but I still don’t understand the process.

The speaker was now looking a bit stunned, searching in his mind how best to respond or whether to end the session by saying time has run out.’

‘Perhaps,’ Rhom said, ‘as you’re thinking about this, you can also tell me how nature was able created consciousness. How did the brain eventually emerge out of the elements with sufficient awareness to provide us with awareness? A most curious phenomenon; wouldn’t you say, considering no one on earth seems to know what consciousness is?’

Again the speaker, looked down at his notes, I’m sure wishing this would all be over so he wouldn’t have to put up with more of Rhom’s effrontery.

‘Perhaps I should restate the question more succinctly,’ Rhom said. ‘How could the consciousness of mind be derived from unconscious matter? In other words, how was the animated brain derived from inanimate, inert chemicals, the very ones it now observes through our eyes in the laboratory? As the esteemed Physicist, Erwin Schrodinger so aptly commented several years ago, as if the mind had only been produced by the very display that it is now watching.[1]

Saying consciousness is an epiphenomenon of the brain, is a way of saying a few pounds of fleshly matter is what brings our reality into existence. As superficial as that is, they buy it. That’s what we pity. It’s like giving names to energy particles to make mind-stuff seem more materially palatable.

There was some murmuring from the audience and then silence. Then after a few more moments of reflection, the speaker regained his composure and finally looked up with a condescending smirk.

‘Sir,’ he said, ‘if you were at all familiar with the concept of consciousness, you wouldn’t need to ask such a question because you would already know awareness is nothing more than an epiphenomenon of the brain, sometimes referred to as an emergent quality within the cortex.’

‘I see,’ said Rhom, ‘but what does that mean and how does it work?’

‘If it helps you to understand,’ the speaker said, ‘think of consciousness as an emanation of an electromagnetic wave from the brain, much like a hot current emanating off a wire as with heat off a turbine. Thank you for your question but I think it’s time we move on to other questions more relevant to the topic.

‘Could we now have a more judicious inquiry about the intricacies of the brain, he asked the audience, ones that are factually based on science?’

Considering the renewed raucous laughter, the crowd must have been relieved and pleased with his repartee as several hands shot up, presumable so the speaker wouldn’t have to endure more of Rhom’s brazen audacity.

Not feeling especially welcomed here anymore, we walked out and down the street. Rhom said, with a chuckle; it seems I’ve been duly informed about the nature of human existence. It’s too bad I had to come halfway across the universe only to find consciousness is like a hot current emanating off a wire.

Simple minds require simple answers,’ I said; ‘it sounds reasonable, so I guess it must be.

‘I doubt if there was one person there that caught that non-sequitur;’ I said, ‘which was tantamount to saying consciousness exists because it’s like a hot current emanating from the wires of the brain. Somehow the question of how a hot current is anything like consciousness was forgotten, along with the question of what it means for consciousness to emanate.

‘Did the instructor really believe what he said or did he just use circular reasoning to say what the Flatland authorities expected him to say. Nevertheless, I can see myself standing in this crowd as an impressionable undergraduate several years ago, nodding my head like all the other bobbing heads there. And I think, at least until I came to this side, I was still too often bobbing my head unquestioningly along with everyone else. Which makes me wonder, what was I thinking? After all, philosophers are supposed to be incisive enough to critique underlying assumptions, rather than just apologists for the status quo.’   

‘Don’t be too hard on yourself, matey. You were hardly alone who assumed everyone knew what were they’re talking about. From my observations, it seems to be rather common for philosophers to critique only what issues are currently considered appropriate for critiquing. It’s safer that way since no one will accuse you ad hominine of questioning what isn’t to be questioned. One’s career may depend on having a few blind spots rather than probing the legitimacy of popular beliefs.

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The video below featuring Dr Leaf gives a brief but excellent understanding of the relationship between the brain and mind.

Dr Leaf is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist with a Masters and PhD in Communication Pathology and a BSc in Logopaedics, specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. Since the early 1980s, she has researched the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory. She was one of the first in her field to study how the brain can change (neuroplasticity) with directed mind input. During her years in clinical practice and her work with thousands of underprivileged teachers and students in her home country of South Africa and in the USA, she developed her theory (called the Geodesic Information Processing Theory) of how we think, build memory, and learn into tools and processes that have transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), learning disabilities (ADD, ADHD), autism, dementia and mental ill-health issues like anxiety and depression. She has helped hundreds of thousands of students and adults learn how to use their minds to detox and grow their brains to succeed in every area of their lives, including school, university, and the workplace. Dr. Leaf is also the bestselling author of Switch on Your Brain, Think Learn Succeed, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, and many more. works She teaches at academic, medical, and neuroscience conferences, churches, and to various audiences around the world. Dr. Leaf is also involved in the global ECHO movement, which trains physicians worldwide on the mind-brain-body connection, mental health, and how to avoid physician burnout. Dr. Leaf is currently conducting clinical trials using the 5-step program she developed while in private practice to further demonstrate the effectiveness of mind-directed techniques to help relieve mental ill-health problems such as anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts. The primary aim of these trials is to make mental health care more affordable, applicable, and accessible worldwide, and to reduce the stigma around mental health.

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October 12, 2021

CONSCIOUSNESS: WHAT IS IT?
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The title of this post asks "How Conscious Are You?" But before we pursue this question, it would be helpful for us to first understand what consciousness is. So where does one begin? Some might say you either are or you aren't conscious; you're awake or you're asleep. And yet how many think they are awake when in actuality they go through life in what is effectively a soul slumber.

If you have read Elysium's Passage, you will know that the book's plot and themes are very much entangled with the topic of consciousness. James, the main character has had an accident and remains unconscious in a year-long coma. And yet he, not his body, seems to be more conscious than ever before. How could that be?

It would be difficult to attempt an answer without having at least a rudimentary understanding of what, in essence, consciousness is. So where do we start?

Some say consciousness is simply being aware, but then isn't that just another word for the same thing? Others may say its simply a function of the brain doing its thing. Okay, but how can we explain how five pounds of meat is able to create our reality just by doing its thing? Or do we find a fancy word for consciousness such as being an 'epiphenomena' of the brain? As if that explains anything. (See the post 'A NO-BRAINER' for a fuller examination of these shenanigans.) 

Whatever it is, one thing is certain, without consciousness there would be nothing out there for us to know or experience, including ourselves. It was said several centuries ago by George Berkeley, (the British philosopher) that "to be is to be perceived," (Esse Is Percipi). Or, as 20th-century physicist John Wheeler stated, "no phenomenon is a physical phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon." If these statements are true, this would suggest there could be nothing out there for us to observe without consciousness since consciousness is obviously necessary to observe. How else could we perceive and observe by any means other than consciousness?

But that would mean that everything that is, and everything that happens to us must be in the mind because that's the only place it can know to exist. How do you prove it exists outside the mind?... you can't. Those believing in the God/Source/Energy might state this as being the One unindividuated Mind that we all participate in, even in our individuated state of being.

In any case, what could be more real than that which reveals the reality of the world to us? If, however, we view reality dualistically in terms of subject and object, (me and them, them and us), then what Berkeley and many others have stated may not appeal to our Western culture's materialist sensibilities of separation.  

Yet it remains obvious that consciousness is the only means we have available to know ourselves and whatever else we might experience 'out there.' There's nothing dualistic about it! There's nothing we can intrinsically examine other than what is doing the examining... which is why consciousness must forever remain a mystery. And so, in this post, how is it possible to objectively discuss something as subjective as consciousness when all we have is consciousness to examine the very consciousness we are examining? Though we might discuss what consciousness does when we're thinking and observing life, that won't tell us what it is, where it comes from or where it goes.

This reminds me of a statement that Erwin Schrodinger made after winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. "The show that is going on obviously acquires a meaning only with regard to the mind that contemplates it. But what science tells us about this relationship is patently absurd: as if mind had only been produced by the very display that it is now watching."

In other words, if it's only the consciousness of our mind's intelligence that can tell us what consciousness is, then how? -- is it from "the display" that observes itself by means of itself? Since this would be absurd, as Schrodinger states, perhaps the best we can do is observe our inward emotions. I mean, what else is there to go on? That, however, doesn't tell us very much about the essence of consciousness. So how can we measure something so subjective: Is there some way to measure if we are consciously awake or asleep, active or reactive?

Though there are countless ways to examine the topic of consciousness, I decided to disclose something that might seem a rather surprising notion: What if there was an objective means of measuring levels of consciousness that are not related to one's Intelligence Quotient? Specifically, what if there was a method to scale and calibrate conscious awareness? If so, we might think of this as our 'CQ' - Consciousness Quotient.

Before considering this intriguing possibility, I have selected some interesting insights on the topic of consciousness from a few enlightened scientists and philosophers. These might give some context and orientation to the questions we are considering. 

"We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Max Planck, Physicist

"All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.”
Max Planck, Physicist

"In order to awaken, first of all, one must realize that one is in a state of sleep. And in order to realize that one is indeed in a state of sleep, one must recognize and fully understand the nature of the forces which operate to keep one in the state of sleep, or hypnosis. It's absurd to think that this can be done by seeking information from the very source which induces the hypnosis." G.I Gurdjieff

"In speaking of evolution it is necessary to understand from the outset that no mechanical evolution is possible. The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness." G. I. Gurdjieff

"Let us not forget this: mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience, all else is remote inference." Physicist Werner Heisenberg 

“No phenomenon is a physical phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon. The universe does not exist 'out there,' independent of us. We are inescapably involved in bringing about that which appears to be happening. We are not only observers. We are participators. In some strange sense, this is a participatory universe.” Physicist John Wheeler

"Because men believe they already possess consciousness they give themselves so little effort in acquiring it." Friedrich Nietzsche

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Physicist Albert Einstein 

"The less consciousness we have, the more our actions may be contrary to morality. In any case, the first necessity for moral action is that it must be conscious." P.D. Ouspensky 

“Culture is a plot against the expansion of consciousness.”  Terence McKenna

To read the full article, go to How Conscious are you?
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/how-conscious-are-you 

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October 4, 2021

SERVICE TO SELF OR SERVICE TO OTHERS:

YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEONE
 

"It maybe the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to service somebody." 

                                                                                       Bob Dylan

 

A good question we need to ask ourselves from time to time is whether we are in service to self or are we in service to others? There really is no other choice. Whether it be metaphorically 'the devil or the Lord,' there are only two orientations; that of service towards others or to ourselves. 

It might be said there are two selves we can serve, the false ego-self and the true ‘divine’ Self. The ego-self lives in the delusion of separation and fear, the divine Self in the essence of union and love. Humanity can experience both but naturally defaults to the ego unless we consciously decide to do something about it. Mahatma Gandhi had a great suggestion:

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

The worlds collective calibration of consciousness is dependent on which self dominates. A selfish, self-seeking society rates at the bottom on the scale of consciousness with its fears, greed, separation and pride.

I'm an optimist, mostly, and feel the scale is beginning to tip towards the positive as evil continues to surface and be exposed for what it is. At some point, hopefully soon, many will grow weary of the corruption and abuse of power that we have fallen into and wake up to the contrast between good and evil, service to others and service to self. At least, I hope so.

See the article on human consciousness, and the Hawkins Scale of Consciousness; How Conscious are You? https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/how-conscious-are-you   

There is a quote in the book, A Course of Love, that remains universally true through all time and ages: We receive what we give. That is, we find that what we offer, we receive one way or another in whatever form it may come. What we receive in this cycle might not be material, but something more such as love and appreciation, or maybe a strong bonding of relationships that continues to give.

What if giving and receiving were one and seamless? Maybe that's why it is written that it's better to give than to receive, be of service to others rather than just to ourselves. Some might argue that others will take advantage of us if all we do is give. This might be the case in a dysfunctional relationship since there are a lot of 'takers' out there, yet that doesn't negate this spiritual principle.

Rather, we need to exercise a little wisdom in our inter-personal relationships and question whether we, in our mode of giving are, in effect, enabling destructive behaviour. For example, why would one give money to someone to sustain their addiction? That would hardly be in service to the other while volunteering at AA might be the better way to give to that person. 

It's important to know ourselves (Know Thyself) and determine what qualities exist within our souls that compel us to do what we do. Who runs the show, the ego or our divine spirit? We need to look within and examine what it means to be in service to others or, alternatively, in service to self. Where are we on this question? Does anyone even ask? Over the last several years, I have visited seniors’ residences and have often been dismayed by how little families seem to care to visit their ageing parents and grandparents. Perhaps they are too busy to care. Too busy being in service of themselves.

Those who most lack empathy and compassion, taken to extremes, are the psychotic narcissists that commit atrocities against humanity because they don't know the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood. These become so bound in ego-self phantoms that they are practically soulless, having lost touch with their divine essence. 

Because they are consumed with and by their illusory ego, they remain separate from all that is real. Thomas Aquinas stated the only way out of this hell: Charity brings to life those who are spiritually dead. Indeed, service to others is the only way to awaken from spiritual death.

Those who we often describe as being saints, sages and humanitarians were orientated to the positive qualities of service to others by giving of themselves. Though there are several high-profile personalities like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Madela we often esteem, and maybe over esteem, there are countless others who receive little recognition or honour for their service. 

Generally, they are the humblest among us, not often seen or recognized. Still, they carry on with their service because that's who and what they are, or we might say, have become. Have you relatives like this, perhaps parents or grandparents? I did. Among others, I was most fortunate to have my mother, who passed away this spring, March 18, 2021. She was unassuming, yet overwhelmingly giving in her words and deeds. She received little recognition for this, rather, the joy of giving was a sufficient reward unto itself. See my tribute to her. https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/mother-s-commenoration-and-tribute  

The partial list of personal qualities identifies characteristics under service to self or service to others. This is further subsumed between EGO LOVE and SOUL LOVE. We easily recognize no one lives their life in just the category of service to self or to others, yet we are orientated one way or the other. The question is which one is our resting point; the one that determines the quality of our being.

Since we are not static, but dynamic, it's good to ask ourselves from time to time which direction we are drifting. How do we move towards service to others when our ego-self would hold us in the spiritual inertia of service to self? Of course, that's a vast topic but we might consider but looking at the union of our heart and mind is a good place to start. See the post below: Union of Heart and Mind. https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/union-of-heart-and-mind   

This union is important because if we aren't whole, we will remain separate and ego-driven, stuck only in service to self. Through our hearts, we open the divine portal to love. Through willing service to others, we fulfil our higher calling and purpose in life. As Pablo Picasso stated: The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

I could go on discussing this at length, but I'll stop here and leave the last word to Bob. 

 

                 

 

Lyrics: First Stanza

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

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QUOTES ON SERVICE

 

The end of all knowledge should be service to others. Cesar Chavez

The most important service to others is service to those who are not like yourself. J. Irwin Miller

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. Muhammad Ali

The highest of distinctions is service to others. King George VI

Always have a willing hand to help someone, you might be the only one that does. Roy Bennett

As you forget self in service to others, you will find that, without seeking it, your own cup of happiness will be full. Paramahansa Yogananda

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READER REVIEWS 
ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE

 

The following comments are among the first Amazon reviews of Elysium’s Passage. All are Five Stars! Other reader reviews are included below, along with excerpts from two professional reviews. To read full reviews, go to READER REVIEWS on www.elysiumspassage.com

"A delightful mix of fantasy, reality, conjecture and humour; Mr Meyers draws the reader into the story with a gentle narrative that captures the imagination, leaving one anxious to get to the next page drawing you into his exceptional world.”

"Quietly, gently, and without imposition, the Author unfolds the pages, creating an intricate, interlocking bridge spanning the chasm between mind and heart. Renewing, refreshing, restoring. In my bereavement, it was vigil and light…"

“Excellently written with an exceedingly deep understanding of this world and the next. The characters are very well written and engaging that takes the reader on both a philosophical and spiritual journey, a journey that at times is both disquieting and tranquil. James, a British Philosopher can be irreverent and caustic, traits that should have left me cringing, but instead made me laugh out loud. Elysium’s Passage is a fun, enlightening and remarkable book.”

“This is a masterful fantasy, becoming a real possibility, as the reader is drawn into the story. The Summit leaves you anxious for the next book in the series, yet also leaves you totally satisfied with the world you have just visited. Genius! An exciting, yet calming, experience that is not to be missed."

"There was hardly a page on which I did not find at least one sentence worthy of hi-lighting for future reference. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, James, whose personality and passionate verbal exchanges with the other characters, kept me coming back for more. I am reading the book for a second time while I wait for the next one in this series to be made available."

 “N.G. Meyers has clearly put a great deal of research and thought into what the afterlife may look like and I like his perspective. It’s an altogether welcoming and exciting vision. The book gives one a great deal to think about and a reassuring confidence that the end of our lives is truly the beginning of life in the next. I highly recommend it."

"I am really enjoying your book, it’s fantastic! It is so incredible and diversified that I can’t really explain it, other people, so what I say is just read this book. Thank you so much for the blessings that you’ve given the world!"

“The humour interjected into a serious discussion makes me laugh out loud. Totally unexpected....l may be in the presence of at least a master, if not a genius. A fair ride into reality... seeking that which is unseen, yet absolutely real.”

“An engaging story of adventure embracing man's deepest desire to search for meaning and purpose, N.G. Meyers takes the reader on an adventurous thought-provoking journey. This book has substance. It is a perfect blend of adventure and fantasy combined with spiritual philosophy. It ignited my imagination. The author magically weaves a good story laced with wit and humour together with deep philosophical wisdom. This book has it all!”

“An evolution in thought is triggered by many fresh philosophical themes which could inspire readers to re-think their reality and former ideologies that have dictated their lives… the author fires readers’ imaginations to view what could be possible when spirit vacates the body.”

“This is the book spiritual seekers have been waiting for. For me, it granted a great read as well as increased inspiration to live every day with a heightened sense of purpose. I highly recommend it.

“The Summit is capable of hooking readers and luring them to search for Book 2 to discover more about Dr. Philip’s surreal trek into the mysterious unknown universe. This thick book is well worth the read and to share…”

“The Elysium’s Passage series challenges and excites the reader while taking him into parallel quests for truth with the hero, James. It can be a fast fantasy read or a longer deliberation about what is reality or illusion; veracity or platitude. Take the journey!”

“Mind-blowing statements and speculation (‘…everyone is a non-physical thought form conceived in the Mind of God, preserved for all eternity because God’s thoughts never die…’). Many will find Meyers’ journey up the Mountain intriguing—and possibly even life-changing.” (BLUEINK REVIEW)

“In its effort to grapple with fundamental questions about the meaning of life, it raises questions that have echoed throughout the ages, including about where we come from, where we are going, who we are.”  (CLARION REVIEW)

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACT INFORMATION

EMAIL: nmeyers@shaw.ca  

WEBSITE: www.elysiumspassage.com  

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/elysiumspassage/ 

TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/Neil1113  

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/meyersneil/   

PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.ca/neilmeyers/  

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-meyers   

BLOG POSTINGS: https://digitalbloggers.com/articles/elysiumspassage or by way of Elysium's Passage website  

PRESS REVIEW: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/05/prweb15515775.htm  

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Summary Introduction to Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

 

After experiencing a near-fatal fall while climbing to the summit of a remote mountain in the Andes, James awakens in a new dimension. He soon encounters two mysterious beings who provide him with a very different perspective on the nature of his existence. Over the next year, before his body recovers from the coma, he is challenged to re-examine his understanding of life’s meaning and purpose far beyond anything he previously believed or could believe. An engaging and sometimes surreal adventure with intimations of impending romance, the narrative explores the most important questions about life, death, reality and our ultimate destiny. 

 

The following titles of Elysium’s Passage are to be published in 2024

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1. The Ascent is the first novel in the Chronicles of Elysium Passage series that’s foundational to everything else that happens in the following books, embarking on an adventure that will surprise and delight the reader like no other book.

It all begins with an extreme adventure of climbing a remote and challenging mountain somewhere in the Andean Mountains. Just as James, the protagonist, is about to reach the mountain summit, he falls into an abyss that leaves him in a coma for almost a year.

After being airlifted by a forestry helicopter and flown back to London, where his body remains for almost a year. Eventually, he learns it was not him but his body that was rescued. Several days later, without understanding what happened, he continues to climb to the summit in an alternate dimension of higher consciousness.

Fortuitously, he meets two adventurers on the summit ridge who are no longer of this world. After that, his surreal life leads him to several new adventures in the subsequent chronicles that include a rich mix of adventure, romance, and fantasy, along with profound discussions of philosophy, spirituality and the afterlife.

 
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2. The  Summit, the second novel in the Chronicles of Elysium Passage series, carries on where James, the narrator and protagonist, is taught more about a multidimensional reality that he finds difficult to comprehend.

Not only does he find he’s not as clever as he imagined, but his off-world companions on the summit demonstrate that much of what he believed about life was not just parochial but wrong. At first, he finds this difficult to comprehend since their teachings are contrary to his limited understanding of non-material reality.

After being tricked into teleporting off a ledge where he was trapped, James becomes aware of the new reality that makes him capable of far more adventures than could have ever been experienced previously in his physical body back home.

Now, if only he would win over the only woman in this life who matters, the nurse on the other side of the veil, who continually demonstrates her unconditional love toward his healing.

Warning: This book may also open the reader’s eyes to a much vaster reality than most might be aware. As with the other Chronicles, there are discussions of philosophy, the spiritual afterlife and what might seem like fantasy.

 
 

3. Quantum Leaps is the third novel in Chronicles of Elysium Passage, where James, the philosopher-protagonist, teleports back to London to visit his body and make contact with the special nurse taking care of it in his absence. Immediately, he feels an inexplicable spiritual bond with her for reasons he remains unaware of.

Now aroused by a renewed interest in matters of love, the beginnings of a relationship begin to emerge as he attempts to reach across the chasm of their worlds. But it’s not until the fifth novel, Mystical Romance, that he encounters her in a way that he finds difficult to believe.

However, before that can happen, there is much about his failed relationships that must be resolved before he is ready to move forward in his new life in Elysium’s Passage. It is during this time he christens his comatose body as the fall guy since it took the fall for him down the abyss so he could learn the lessons he’s now learning.

That will be the next focus of his life, where in his next Surreal Adventures, he is given virtual lessons to release many of his past beliefs about life.

 
 

4. Surreal Adventures is the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Elysium Passage, which finds James, the protagonist and narrator, escorted by his companions to a remote South Pacific Island, where he is left to reflect on what he’s learned.

During the next forty days, he battles the demons of his past as he works through some rather painful issues from his early youth. Here, in a tropical storm, he encounters an eery suspended spectre of the one he loved yet still resents for abandoning him as a child.

After this, he achieves peace of mind and is ready to return to his lodge to join his off-world companions on the Andes summit. However, just when it seemed things couldn’t get any stranger, a sixteenth-century sea captain sails his ancient ‘ghost’ ship onto the beach. Together, they sail off on a mystical ocean voyage to a couple of virtual islands supposedly in the South Pacific, where he witnesses and, at times, participates in several important life lessons.

His surreal encounters in the Flatlands illustrate the deficiencies of contemporary academia. Next, they sail off to the next island, the Hill Country, where he witnesses several peculiarities in organized religion. These experiences, though virtual, provide him with fascinating and enlightening allegorical examples of his life in the world.

Near the end, these encounters help prepare him for a new challenge within the interior of a mountain, where he falls deep into a dark tomb of fear. After being rescued by a mysterious stranger wielding his Excaliber, he continues on to where his life is about to be transformed in the following chronicle, Mystical Romance.

 
 

5. Mystical Romance is the fifth chronicle in Elysium Passage, which will surprise the reader with a romantic twist of how love is expressed in higher realms. From this lofty perspective, everything about intimacy is understood as within, so without.

After escaping his tomb, James, the narrator and protagonist, makes his way through a maze of tunnels until he arrives at a large oak door, which he opens with the golden key he had been given. There, he steps into Elysium’s Passage’s Great Hall, where his life and recent achievements are celebrated now that his eyes have been opened to perceive a fascinating interior world of wonderment… and romance.

To say more might risk diminishing the multitude of delightful surprises as circumstances begin to open to The Elixir, where James is about to re-enter his earthly body’s existence.

 
 

6. The Elixir is the sixth chronicle of the Elysium Passage series that prepares James, the narrator-protagonist, to awaken and return to his body in London. Before that can happen, however, his off-worlder friend presents a mysterious equation enshrouded with a light code frequency that will stimulate multidimensional DNA strands within him.

Much of this narration is centred in London, where his nurse unknowingly becomes involved in how the Elixir’s equation finds its way from a taxi cab driver to higher echelons of science. There are many twists in how she unwittingly brings the Elixir to the attention of mathematicians and physicists, after which they eventually discover how to code the equation into a laser ray to stimulate his fall-guy body into full consciousness.

Ostensibly a new Adam, he is destined to return humanity to a higher multidimensional existence. How this happens is filled with intrigue, as is his shocking return to his earthly body.

 
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7. The Return is the seventh and last chronicle in the series where James, the narrator and protagonist, has re-emerged from Elysium’s Passage as he readjusts to life in the third dimension. Many of the events experienced in the previous novels are tied together in an exciting, fast-moving, action-packed narrative.

Now, back in the third dimension, all memories seem to have been lost, with his fall guy’s brain not being aware of what happened to him in the last year. As a consequence, it takes a while for him to be convinced he had been out of his earthly body for almost a year.

Through some rather unexpected events and his girlfriend’s urging, he is brought to an awareness of much that occurred out of the body. Though much of the chronicle, this brain hasn’t caught up to the changes he experienced in his heart in the alternate realm.

Through some harsh life lessons back home, he discovers what he has become and the many challenges that lie ahead of him in fulfilling his mission to bring change to this planet.