Category Archives: Immortality

The Crown of Immortality is a literary and religious metaphor traditionally represented in art first as a laurel wreath and later as a symbolic circle of stars (often a crown, tiara, halo or aureola). The Crown appears in a number of Baroque iconographic and allegoric works of art to indicate the wearer's immortality.

In ancient Egypt, the crown of justification was a wreath placed on the deceased to represent victory over death in the afterlife, in emulation of the resurrecting god Osiris. It was made of various materials including laurel, palm, feathers, papyrus, roses, or precious metals, with numerous examples represented on the Fayum mummy portraits of the Roman Imperial period.[1]

In ancient Greece, a wreath of laurel or olive was awarded to victorious athletes and later poets. Among the Romans, generals celebrating a formal triumph wore a laurel wreath, an honor that during the Empire was restricted to the Imperial family. The placing of the wreath was often called a "crowning", and its relation to immortality was problematic; it was supposed to secure the wearer immortality in the form of enduring fame, but the triumphator was also reminded of his place within the mortal world: in the traditional tableaux, an accompanying slave whispered continually in the general's ear Memento mori, "Remember you are mortal".[2] Funerary wreaths of gold leaf were associated particularly with initiates into the mystery religions.[3]

From the Early Christian era the phrase "crown of immortality" was widely used by the Church Fathers in writing about martyrs; the immortality was now both of reputation on earth, and of eternal life in heaven. The usual visual attribute of a martyr in art, was a palm frond, not a wreath.[citation needed] The phrase may have originated in scriptural references, or from incidents such as this reported by Eusebius (Bk V of History) describing the persecution in Lyon in 177, in which he refers to literal crowns, and also brings in an athletic metaphor of the "victor's crown" at the end:

"From that time on, their martyrdoms embraced death in all its forms. From flowers of every shape and color they wove a crown to offer to the Father; and so it was fitting that the valiant champions should endure an ever-changing conflict, and having triumphed gloriously should win the mighty crown of immortality. Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus were taken into the amphitheater to face the wild beasts, and to furnish open proof of the inhumanity of the heathen, the day of fighting wild beasts being purposely arranged for our people. There, before the eyes of all, Maturus and Sanctus were again taken through the whole series of punishments, as if they had suffered nothing at all before, or rather as if they had already defeated their opponent in bout after bout and were now battling for the victor's crown."[4]

The first use seems to be that attributed to the martyr Ignatius of Antioch in 107.[citation needed]

An Advent wreath is a ring of candles, usually made with evergreen cuttings and used for household devotion by some Christians during the season of Advent. The wreath is meant to represent God's eternity. On Saint Lucy's Day, December 13, it is common to wear crowns of candles in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Bosnia, Iceland, and Croatia.

Before the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, St. Lucy's Day fell on the winter solstice. The representation of Saint Lucy seems to derive from the Roman goddess Lucina, who is connected to the solstice.[5][6]

Martyrs often are idealized as combatants, with the spectacle of the arena transposed to the martyr's struggle with Satan. Ignatius of Antioch, condemned to fight beasts in the year 107, "asked his friends not to try to save him and so rob him of the crown of immortality."[7] In 155, Polycarp, Christian bishop of Smyrna, was stabbed after a failed attempt to burn him at the stake. He is said to have been " crowned with the wreath of immortality ... having through patience overcome the unjust governor, and thus acquired the crown of immortality."[8]Eusebius uses similar imagery to speak of Blandina, martyred in the arena at Lyon in 177:

The crown of stars, representing immortality, may derive from the story of Ariadne, especially as told by Ovid, in which the unhappy Ariadne is turned into a constellation of stars, the Corona Borealis (Crown of the North), modelled on a jewelled crown she wore, and thus becoming immortal. In Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne (152023, National Gallery, London), the constellation is shown above Ariadne's head as a circle of eight stars (though Ovid specifies nine), very similar to what would become the standard depiction of the motif. Although the crown was probably depicted in classical art, and is described in several literary sources, no classical visual depictions have survived.[11] The Titian therefore appears to be the earliest such representation to survive, and it was also at this period that illustrations in prints of the Apocalypse by artists such as Drer[12][13] and Jean Duvet were receiving very wide circulation.

In Ariadne, Venus and Bacchus, by Tintoretto (1576, Doge's Palace, Venice), a flying Venus crowns Ariadne with a circle of stars, and many similar compositions exist, such as the ceiling of the Egyptian Hall at Boughton House of 1695.

The first use of the crown of stars as an allegorical Crown of Immortality may be the ceiling fresco, Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power (163339), in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome by Pietro da Cortona. Here a figure identified as Immortality is flying, with her crown of stars held out in front of her, near the centre of the large ceiling. According to the earliest descriptions she is about to crown the Barberini emblems, representing Pope Urban VIII, who was also a poet.[14][15][16] Immortality seems to have been a preoccupation of Urban; his funeral monument by Bernini in St Peter's Basilica in Rome has Death as a life-size skeleton writing his name on a scroll.

Two further examples of the Crown of Immortality can be found in Sweden, firstly in the great hall ceiling fresco of the Swedish House of Knights by David Klcker Ehrenstrahl (between 16701675) which pictures among many allegoric figures Eterna (eternity) who holds in her hands the Crown of Immortality.[17] The second is in Drottningholm Palace, the home of the Swedish Royal Family, in a ceiling fresco named The Great Deeds of The Swedish Kings, painted in 1695 by David Klcker Ehrenstrahl.[18] This has the same motif as the fresco in the House of Knights mentioned above. The Drottningholm fresco, was shown in the 1000th stamp[19] by Czesaw Sania, the Polish postage stamp and banknote engraver.

The crown was also painted by the French Neoclassical painter Louis-Jean-Franois Lagrene, 17251805, in his Allegory on the Death of the Dauphin, where the crown was held by a young son who had pre-deceased the father (alternative titles specifically mention the crown of Immortality).[20]

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Teachings of the Immortals

You will find no role playing games here, no pretenses or pretenders. What is offered is real knowledge - the secret of immortality which has been suppressed and intentionally distorted by governments, religions & cultural bias for centuries, but which is now being offered openly for those who seek it with an Immortal Spirit.

Are vampires real? What is Lifeforce or animus? Do all things die, or can we use our quantum-energetic nature to evolve beyond the ability of death to undo? What is the answer to the riddle: you have to be immortal before you will know how to become immortal...?

These and many other questions will be answered here, and in the phenomenal publication, "Teachings of the Immortals."

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No faith or belief are required (in fact both are strongly discouraged) and all who enter here are expected to test the teachings for themselves. Where do these teachings come from? For now, let's simply say they come from a higher source, an evolved being whom some would call an ascended master, an immortal vampire. Yet such labels are only limiting, and we must strive to remember that words can only diminish and distort experience.We hear with the heart. We see with the spirit. We Know with the totality of our being.

What is required for understanding is Intent.

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The power of transformation lies within yourself - solely and wholly.

Thou art God. Create yourself accordingly.

In these pages, you will learn the forbidden knowledge of the immortals. It has the power to free you from the tyranny of humanform mortality, and enable you to recreate yourself as anything you choose to be, for we live in a quantum universe where Thought is energy, and energy holds the key to transformation.

The only limits are those you bring with you.

The only restrictions are those you place on yourself.

Open your heart... inside you will discover the immortal twin: the vampire's reflection, visible only to those who know how to See.

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Real Vampires, Immortality, Gothic, Pagan, Eternal Life ...

Xian (Chinese: //; pinyin: xin; WadeGiles: hsien) is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as:

Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and T'ai chi ch'uan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality".

The xian archetype is described by Victor H. Mair.

They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as i who possessed similar traits.1994:376

According to the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, Chinese xian () can mean Sanskrit i (rishi "inspired sage in the Vedas").

The most famous Chinese compound of xin is Bxin ( "the Eight Immortals"). Other common words include xinrn ( sennin in Japanese, "immortal person; transcendent", see Xinrn Dng), xinrnzhng ( "immortal's palm; cactus"), xinn ( "immortal woman; female celestial; angel"), and shnxin ( "gods and immortals; divine immortal"). Besides humans, xin can also refer to supernatural animals. The mythological hlijng (lit. "fox spirit") "fox fairy; vixen; witch; enchantress" has an alternate name of hxin (lit. "fox immortal").

The etymology of xin remains uncertain. The circa 200 CE Shiming, a Chinese dictionary that provided word-pun "etymologies", defines xin () as "to get old and not die," and explains it as someone who qin ( "moves into") the mountains."

Edward H. Schafer (1966:204) defined xian as "transcendent, sylph (a being who, through alchemical, gymnastic and other disciplines, has achieved a refined and perhaps immortal body, able to fly like a bird beyond the trammels of the base material world into the realms of aether, and nourish himself on air and dew.)" Schafer noted xian was cognate to xian "soar up", qian "remove", and xianxian "a flapping dance movement"; and compared Chinese yuren "feathered man; xian" with English peri "a fairy or supernatural being in Persian mythology" (Persian pari from par "feather; wing").

Two linguistic hypotheses for the etymology of xian involve the Arabic language and Sino-Tibetan languages. Wu and Davis (1935:224) suggested the source was jinn, or jinni "genie" (from Arabic jinn). "The marvelous powers of the Hsien are so like those of the jinni of the Arabian Nights that one wonders whether the Arabic word, jinn, may not be derived from the Chinese Hsien." Axel Schuessler's etymological dictionary (2007:527) suggests a Sino-Tibetan connection between xin (Old Chinese *san or *sen) "'An immortal' men and women who attain supernatural abilities; after death they become immortals and deities who can fly through the air" and Tibetan gen < g-syen "shaman, one who has supernatural abilities, incl[uding] travel through the air".

The word xin is written with three characters , , or , which combine the logographic "radical" rn ( or "person; human") with two "phonetic" elements (see Chinese character classification). The oldest recorded xin character has a xin ("rise up; ascend") phonetic supposedly because immortals could "ascend into the heavens". (Compare qin "move; transfer; change" combining this phonetic and the motion radical.) The usual modern xin character , and its rare variant , have a shn ( "mountain") phonetic. For a character analysis, Schipper (1993:164) interprets "'the human being of the mountain,' or alternatively, 'human mountain.' The two explanations are appropriate to these beings: they haunt the holy mountains, while also embodying nature."

The Shijing (220/3) contains the oldest occurrence of the character , reduplicated as xinxin ( "dance lightly; hop about; jump around"), and rhymed with qin (). "But when they have drunk too much, Their deportment becomes light and frivolousThey leave their seats, and [] go elsewhere, They keep [] dancing and capering." (tr. James Legge)[1] Needham and Wang (1956:134) suggest xian was cognate with wu "shamanic" dancing. Paper (1995:55) writes, "the function of the term xian in a line describing dancing may be to denote the height of the leaps. Since, "to live for a long time" has no etymological relation to xian, it may be a later accretion."

The 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi, the first important dictionary of Chinese characters, does not enter except in the definition for (Wo Quan "name of an ancient immortal"). It defines as "live long and move away" and as "appearance of a person on a mountaintop".

This section chronologically reviews how Chinese texts describe xian "immortals; transcendents". While the early Zhuangzi, Chuci, and Liezi texts allegorically used xian immortals and magic islands to describe spiritual immortality, later ones like the Shenxian zhuan and Baopuzi took immortality literally and described esoteric Chinese alchemical techniques for physical longevity. On one the hand, neidan ( "internal alchemy") techniques included taixi ( "embryo respiration") breath control, meditation, visualization, sexual training, and Tao Yin exercises (which later evolved into Qigong and T'ai chi ch'uan). On the other hand, waidan ( "external alchemy") techniques for immortality included alchemical recipes, magic plants, rare minerals, herbal medicines, drugs, and dietetic techniques like inedia.

The earliest representations of Chinese immortals, dating from the Han Dynasty, portray them flying with feathery wings (the word yuren "feathered person" later meant "Daoist") or riding dragons. In Chinese art, xian are often pictured with symbols of immortality including the dragon, crane, fox, white deer, pine tree, peach, and mushroom.

Besides the following major Chinese texts, many others use both graphic variants of xian. Xian () occurs in the Chunqiu Fanlu, Fengsu Tongyi, Qian fu lun, Fayan, and Shenjian; xian () occurs in the Caizhong langji, Fengsu Tongyi, Guanzi, and Shenjian.

Two circa 3rd century BCE "Outer Chapters" of the Zhuangzi ( "[Book of] Master Zhuang") use the archaic character xian . Chapter 11 has a parable about "Cloud Chief" () and "Big Concealment" () that uses the Shijing compound xianxian ("dance; jump"):

Big Concealment said, "If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Instead, the beasts will scatter from their herds, the birds will cry all night, disaster will come to the grass and trees, misfortune will reach even to the insects. Ah, this is the fault of men who 'govern'!" "Then what should I do?" said Cloud Chief. "Ah," said Big Concealment, "you are too far gone! [] Up, up, stir yourself and be off!" Cloud Chief said, "Heavenly Master, it has been hard indeed for me to meet with youI beg one word of instruction!" "Well, thenmindnourishment!" said Big Concealment. "You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the rootreturn to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaosto the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally end of themselves." Cloud Chief said, "The Heavenly Master has favored me with this Virtue, instructed me in this Silence. All my life I have been looking for it, and now at last I have it!" He bowed his head twice, stood up, took his leave, and went away. (11, tr. Burton Watson 1968:122-3)

Chapter 12 uses xian when mythical Emperor Yao describes a shengren ( "sagely person").

The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight who leaves no trail behind. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. And after a thousand years, should he weary of the world, he will leave it and [] ascend to [] the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God. (12, tr. Watson 1968:130)

Without using the word xian, several Zhuangzi passages employ xian imagery, like flying in the clouds, to describe individuals with superhuman powers. For example, Chapter 1, within the circa 3rd century BCE "Inner Chapters", has two portrayals. First is this description of Liezi (below).

Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on? Therefore, I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. (1, tr. Watson 1968:32)

Second is this description of a shenren ( "divine person").

He said that there is a Holy Man living on faraway [] Ku-she Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn't eat the five grains, but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the Four Seas. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. (1, tr. Watson 1968:33)

The authors of the Zhuangzi had a lyrical view of life and death, seeing them as complimentary aspects of natural changes. This is antithetical to the physical immortality (changshengbulao "live forever and never age") sought by later Daoist alchemists. Consider this famous passage about accepting death.

Chuang Tzu's wife died. When Hui Tzu went to convey his condolences, he found Chuang Tzu sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. "You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old," said Hui Tzu. "It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singingthis is going too far, isn't it?" Chuang Tzu said, "You're wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn't grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there's been another change and she's dead. It's just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter." "Now she's going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don't understand anything about fate. So I stopped. (18, tr. Watson 1968:1912)

Alan Fox explains this anecdote about Zhuangzi's wife.

Many conclusions can be reached on the basis of this story, but it seems that death is regarded as a natural part of the ebb and flow of transformations which constitute the movement of Dao. To grieve over death, or to fear one's own death, for that matter, is to arbitrarily evaluate what is inevitable. Of course, this reading is somewhat ironic given the fact that much of the subsequent Daoist tradition comes to seek longevity and immortality, and bases some of their basic models on the Zhuangzi. (1995:100)

The 3rd-2nd century BCE Chuci ( "Lyrics of Chu") anthology of poems uses xian once and xian twice, reflecting the disparate origins of the text. These three contexts mention the legendary Daoist xian immortals Chi Song ( "Red Pine", see Kohn 1993:1424) and Wang Qiao (, or Zi Qiao ). In later Daoist hagiography, Chi Song was Lord of Rain under Shennong, the legendary inventor of agriculture; and Wang Qiao was a son of King Ling of Zhou (r. 571545 BCE), who flew away on a giant white bird, became an immortal and was never again seen.

The "Yuan You" ( "Far-off Journey") poem describes a spiritual journey into the realms of gods and immortals, frequently referring to Daoist myths and techniques.

My spirit darted forth and did not return to me, And my body, left tenantless, grew withered and lifeless. Then I looked into myself to strengthen my resolution, And sought to learn from where the primal spirit issues. In emptiness and silence I found serenity; In tranquil inaction I gained true satisfaction. I heard how once Red Pine had washed the world's dust off: I would model myself on the pattern he had left me. I honoured the wondrous powers of the [] Pure Ones, And those of past ages who had become [] Immortals. They departed in the flux of change and vanished from men's sight, Leaving a famous name that endures after them. (tr. Hawkes 1985:194)

The "Xi shi" ( "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed") resembles the "Yuan You", and both reflect Daoist ideas from the Han period. "Though unoriginal in theme," says Hawkes (1985:239), "its description of air travel, written in a pre-aeroplane age, is exhilarating and rather impressive."

We gazed down of the Middle Land [China] with its myriad people As we rested on the whirlwind, drifting about at random. In this way we came at last to the moor of Shao-yuan: There, with the other blessed ones, were Red Pine and Wang Qiao. The two Masters held zithers tuned in perfect concord: I sang the Qing Shang air to their playing. In tranquil calm and quiet enjoyment, Gently I floated, inhaling all the essences. But then I thought that this immortal life of [] the blessed, Was not worth the sacrifice of my home-returning. (tr. Hawkes 1985:240)

The "Ai shi ming" ( "Alas That My Lot Was Not Cast") describes a celestial journey similar to the previous two.

Far and forlorn, with no hope of return: Sadly I gaze in the distance, over the empty plain. Below, I fish in the valley streamlet; Above, I seek out [] holy hermits. I enter into friendship with Red Pine; I join Wang Qiao as his companion. We send the Xiao Yang in front to guide us; The White Tiger runs back and forth in attendance. Floating on the cloud and mist, we enter the dim height of heaven; Riding on the white deer we sport and take our pleasure. tr. Hawkes 1985:266)

The "Li Sao" ( "On Encountering Trouble"), the most famous Chuci poem, is usually interpreted as describing ecstatic flights and trance techniques of Chinese shamans. The above three poems are variations describing Daoist xian.

Some other Chuci poems refer to immortals with synonyms of xian. For instance, "Shou zhi" ( "Maintaining Resolution), uses zhenren ( "true person", tr. "Pure Ones" above in "Yuan You"), which Wang Yi's commentary glosses as zhen xianren ( "true immortal person").

I visited Fu Yue, bestriding a dragon, Joined in marriage with the Weaving Maiden, Lifted up Heaven's Net to capture evil, Drew the Bow of Heaven to shoot at wickedness, Followed the [] Immortals fluttering through the sky, Ate of the Primal Essence to prolong my life. (tr. Hawkes 1985:318)

The Liezi ( "[Book of] Master Lie"), which Louis Komjathy (2004:36) says "was probably compiled in the 3rd century CE (while containing earlier textual layers)", uses xian four times, always in the compound xiansheng ( "immortal sage").

Nearly half of Chapter 2 ("The Yellow Emperor") comes from the Zhuangzi, including this recounting of the above fable about Mount Gushe (, or Guye, or Miao Gushe ).

The Ku-ye mountains stand on a chain of islands where the Yellow River enters the sea. Upon the mountains there lives a Divine Man, who inhales the wind and drinks the dew, and does not eat the five grains. His mind is like a bottomless spring, his body is like a virgin's. He knows neither intimacy nor love, yet [] immortals and sages serve him as ministers. He inspires no awe, he is never angry, yet the eager and diligent act as his messengers. He is without kindness and bounty, but others have enough by themselves; he does not store and save, but he himself never lacks. The Yin and Yang are always in tune, the sun and moon always shine, the four seasons are always regular, wind and rain are always temperate, breeding is always timely, the harvest is always rich, and there are no plagues to ravage the land, no early deaths to afflict men, animals have no diseases, and ghosts have no uncanny echoes. (tr. Graham 1960:35)

Chapter 5 uses xiansheng three times in a conversation set between legendary rulers Tang () of the Shang Dynasty and Ji () of the Xia Dynasty.

T'ang asked again: 'Are there large things and small, long and short, similar and different?' 'To the East of the Gulf of Chih-li, who knows how many thousands and millions of miles, there is a deep ravine, a valley truly without bottom; and its bottomless underneath is named "The Entry to the Void". The waters of the eight corners and the nine regions, the stream of the Milky Way, all pour into it, but it neither shrinks nor grows. Within it there are five mountains, called Tai-y, Yan-chiao, Fang-hu, Ying-chou and P'eng-Iai. These mountains are thirty thousand miles high, and as many miles round; the tablelands on their summits extend for nine thousand miles. It is seventy thousand miles from one mountain to the next, but they are considered close neighbours. The towers and terraces upon them are all gold and jade, the beasts and birds are all unsullied white; trees of pearl and garnet always grow densely, flowering and bearing fruit which is always luscious, and those who eat of it never grow old and die. The men who dwell there are all of the race of [] immortal sages, who fly, too many to be counted, to and from one mountain to another in a day and a night. Yet the bases of the five mountains used to rest on nothing; they were always rising and falling, going and returning, with the ebb and flow of the tide, and never for a moment stood firm. The [] immortals found this troublesome, and complained about it to God. God was afraid that they would drift to the far West and he would lose the home of his sages. So he commanded Y-ch'iang to make fifteen [] giant turtles carry the five mountains on their lifted heads, taking turns in three watches, each sixty thousand years long; and for the first time the mountains stood firm and did not move. 'But there was a giant from the kingdom of the Dragon Earl, who came to the place of the five mountains in no more than a few strides. In one throw he hooked six of the turtles in a bunch, hurried back to his country carrying them together on his back, and scorched their bones to tell fortunes by the cracks. Thereupon two of the mountains, Tai-y and Yan-chiao, drifted to the far North and sank in the great sea; the [] immortals who were carried away numbered many millions. God was very angry, and reduced by degrees the size of the Dragon Earl's kingdom and the height of his subjects. At the time of Fu-hsi and Shen-nung, the people of this country were still several hundred feet high.' (tr. Graham 1960:978)

Penglai Mountain became the most famous of these five mythical peaks where the elixir of life supposedly grew, and is known as Horai in Japanese legends. The first emperor Qin Shi Huang sent his court alchemist Xu Fu on expeditions to find these plants of immortality, but he never returned (although by some accounts, he discovered Japan).

Holmes Welch (1957:8897) analyzed the beginnings of Daoism, sometime around the 4th-3rd centuries BCE, from four separate streams: philosophical Daoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi, Liezi), a "hygiene school" that cultivated longevity through breathing exercises and yoga, Chinese alchemy and Five Elements philosophy, and those who sought Penglai and elixirs of "immortality". This is what he concludes about xian.

It is my own opinion, therefore, that though the word hsien, or Immortal, is used by Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu, and though they attributed to their idealized individual the magic powers that were attributed to the hsien in later times, nonetheless the hsien ideal was something they did not believe ineither that it was possible or that it was good. The magic powers are allegories and hyperboles for the natural powers that come from identification with Tao. Spiritualized Man, P'eng-lai, and the rest are features of a genre which is meant to entertain, disturb, and exalt us, not to be taken as literal hagiography. Then and later, the philosophical Taoists were distinguished from all other schools of Taoism by their rejection of the pursuit of immortality. As we shall see, their books came to be adopted as scriptural authority by those who did practice magic and seek to become immortal. But it was their misunderstanding of philosophical Taoism that was the reason they adopted it. (Welch 1957:95)

The Shenxian zhuan ( Biographies of Spirit Immortals") is a hagiography of xian. Although it was traditionally attributed to Ge Hong (283343 CE), Komjathy (2004:43) says, "The received versions of the text contain some 100-odd hagiographies, most of which date from 6th-8th centuries at the earliest."

According to the Shenxian zhuan, there are four schools of immortality:

Q (Pneumas): Breath control and meditation. Those who belong to this school can

"...blow on water and it will flow against its own current for several paces; blow on fire, and it will be extinguished; blow at tigers or wolves, and they will crouch down and not be able to move; blow at serpents, and they will coil up and be unable to flee. If someone is wounded by a weapon, blow on the wound, and the bleeding will stop. If you hear of someone who has suffered a poisonous insect bite, even if you are not in his presence, you can, from a distance, blow and say in incantation over your own hand (males on the left hand, females on the right), and the person will at once be healed even if more than a hundred li away. And if you yourself are struck by a sudden illness, you have merely to swallow pneumas in three series of nine, and you will immediately recover. But the most essential thing [among such arts] is fetal breathing. Those who obtain [the technique of] fetal breathing become able to breathe without using their nose or mouth, as if in the womb, and this is the culmination of the way [of pneumatic cultivation]." (Campany 2002:21)

Fn (Diet): Ingestion of herbal compounds and abstention from the Sn Sh Fn (Three-Corpses food)Meats (raw fish, pork, dog, leeks, and scallions) and grains. The Shenxian zhuan uses this story to illustrate the importance of bigu "grain avoidance":

"During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black hair. Upon seeing this person, the hunters wanted to pursue and capture him, but the person leapt over gullies and valleys as if in flight, and so could not be overtaken. [But after being surrounded and captured, it was discovered this person was a 200 plus year old woman, who had once been a concubine of Qin Emperor Ziying. When he had surrendered to the 'invaders of the east', she fled into the mountains where she learned to subside on 'the resin and nuts of pines' from an old man. Afterwards, this diet 'enabled [her] to feel neither hunger nor thirst; in winter [she] was not cold, in summer [she] was not hot.'] The hunters took the woman back in. They offered her grain to eat. When she first smelled the stink of grain, she vomited, and only after several days could she tolerate it. After little more than two years of this [diet], her body hair fell out; she turned old and died. Had she not been caught by men, she would have become a transcendent." (Campany 2002:2223)

Fngzhng Zh Sh (Arts of the Bedchamber): Sexual yoga. (Campany 2002:3031) According to a discourse between the Yellow Emperor and the immortaless Sn (Plain Girl), one of the three daughters of Hsi Wang Mu,

The sexual behaviors between a man and woman are identical to how the universe itself came into creation. Like Heaven and Earth, the male and female share a parallel relationship in attaining an immortal existence. They both must learn how to engage and develop their natural sexual instincts and behaviors; otherwise the only result is decay and traumatic discord of their physical lives. However, if they engage in the utmost joys of sensuality and apply the principles of yin and yang to their sexual activity, their health, vigor, and joy of love will bear them the fruits of longevity and immortality. (Hsi 2002:99100)

The White Tigress Manual, a treatise on female sexual yoga, states,

A female can completely restore her youthfulness and attain immortality if she refrains from allowing just one or two men in her life from stealing and destroying her [sexual] essence, which will only serve in aging her at a rapid rate and bring about an early death. However, if she can acquire the sexual essence of a thousand males through absorption, she will acquire the great benefits of youthfulness and immortality. (Hsi 2001:48)

Dn ("Alchemy", literally "Cinnabar"): Elixir of Immortality.(Campany 2002:31)

The 4th century CE Baopuzi ( "[Book of] Master Embracing Simplicity"), which was written by Ge Hong, gives some highly detailed descriptions of xian.

The text lists three classes of immortals:

These titles were usually given to humans who had either not proven themselves worthy of or were not fated to become immortals. One such famous agent was Fei Changfang, who was eventually murdered by evil spirits because he lost his book of magic talismans. However, some immortals are written to have used this method in order to escape execution. (Campany 2002:5260)

Ge Hong wrote in his book The Master Who Embraces Simplicity,

The [immortals] Dark Girl and Plain Girl compared sexual activity as the intermingling of fire [yang/male] and water [yin/female], claiming that water and fire can kill people but can also regenerate their life, depending on whether or not they know the correct methods of sexual activity according to their nature. These arts are based on the theory that the more females a man copulates with, the greater benefit he will derive from the act. Men who are ignorant of this art, copulating with only one or two females during their life, will only suffice to bring about their untimely and early death. (Hsi 2001:48)

The Zhong L Chuan Dao Ji (/ "Anthology of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhong[li Quan] to L [Dongbin]") is associated with Zhongli Quan (2nd century CE?) and L Dongbin (9th century CE), two of the legendary Eight Immortals. It is part of the so-called Zhong-L () textual tradition of internal alchemy (neidan). Komjathy (2004:57) describes it as, "Probably dating from the late Tang (618906), the text is in question-and-answer format, containing a dialogue between L and his teacher Zhongli on aspects of alchemical terminology and methods."

The Zhong L Chuan Dao Ji lists five classes of immortals:

The ragama Stra, in an approach to Taoist teachings, discusses the characteristics of ten types of xian who exist between the world of devas ("gods") and that of human beings. This position, in Buddhist literature, is usually occupied by asuras ("Titans", "antigods"). These xian are not considered true cultivators of samadhi ("unification of mind"), as their methods differ from the practice of dhyna ("meditation").[2][3]

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Xian (Taoism) - Wikipedia

Angel: Buffy, be careful with this gift. A lot of things that seem strong, good and powerful, they can be painful. Buffy: Like say... immortality? Angel: Exactly. I'm dying to get rid of that. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Put your hand down. This is not a vote. The worst fate possible might well be immortality. Sure, you might like the idea that you get to live forever and see what the world's like hundreds of years from now, but what's eternal life compared to the pain of life in general? From eventual boredom to eternal entrapment and torture to the emotional anguish of seeing your loved ones die, one by one, as you stay fixed in time. When done Anviliciously, this can seem like Sour Grapes on the part of the very much mortal writers. May be used as a Fantastic Aesop. This attitude toward immortality is Older Than Feudalism, going back at least as far as the Greek myths about Tithonos's Age Without Youth and Prometheus's punishment and of course the appeal behind He why is your hand still up!? Compare Blessed with Suck for those that angst as well as And I Must Scream for the mindset this can create. Contrast Living Forever Is Awesome for those who like it, and Immortality Seeker for those who seek it, and Eternal Love where immortals fall in love. See Living Forever Is No Big Deal for the middle ground. See also Immortality Hurts, which is a subtrope. Immunity Disability is a supertrope (here, the "immunity" is to death). See Analysis for more horrifying details.

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A thousand years have come and gone, but time has passed me by Stars stopped in the sky Frozen in an everlasting view Waiting for the world to end, weary of the night Praying for the light Prison of the lost Xanadu

And there's never gonna be enough money And there's never gonna be drugs And we're never gonna get old And there's never gonna be enough bullets And there's never gonna be sex And we're never gonna get old

If I've lived a thousand times before And if I'm gonna live anymore Always brings me down Everyone wants to live forever Thinkin' that it'd be a lot better... Everyone wants to live forever But no one ever gets it together

Radiation got me as well made me immortal in this hell An old dream coming true but why now when there is nothing to do? Since then I've been searching around going from town to town Could it only have happened to me? Am I doomed to be I'm the last man on earth

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"Eternity is permanent boredom A cheerless cycle with neither beginning, nor end For all the time the same is repeated from the start No exultation, no horror Only the boring Idiotic Eternity"

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Nothing ever really happens to me. I am completely safe from harm, and this is a great burden... I think that one day, this world will simply talk itself to death, and I will be left to flit about in the void. I will be the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives Nowhere.

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Freeze: You want to live like this? Abandoned and alone, A prisoner in a world you can see but never touch. Old and infirm as you are, I'd trade a thousand of my frozen years for your worst day.

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Who Wants to Live Forever? - TV Tropes

Study, along the lines which the theologies have mapped, will never lead us to discovery of the fundamental facts of our existence. That goal must be attained by means of exact science and can only be achieved by such means. The fact that man, for ages, has superstitiously believed in what he calls a God does not prove at all that his theory has been right. There have been many gods all makeshifts, born of inability to fathom the deep fundamental truth. There must be something at the bottom of existence, and man, in ignorance, being unable to discover what it is through reason, because his reason has been so imperfect, undeveloped, has used, instead, imagination, and created figments, of one kind or another, which, according to the country he was born in, the suggestions of his environment, satisfied him for the time being. Not one of all the gods of all the various theologies has ever really been proved. We accept no ordinary scientific fact without the final proof; why should we, then, be satisfied in this most mighty of all matters, with a mere theory?

Destruction of false theories will not decrease the sum of human happiness in future, any more than it has in the past... The days of miracles have passed. I do not believe, of course, that there was ever any day of actual miracles. I cannot understand that there were ever any miracles at all. My guide must be my reason, and at thought of miracles my reason is rebellious. Personally, I do not believe that Christ laid claim to doing miracles, or asserted that he had miraculous power...

Our intelligence is the aggregate intelligence of the cells which make us up. There is no soul, distinct from mind, and what we speak of as the mind is just the aggregate intelligence of cells. It is fallacious to declare that we have souls apart from animal intelligence, apart from brains. It is the brain that keeps us going. There is nothing beyond that.

Life goes on endlessly, but no more in human beings than in other animals, or, for that matter, than in vegetables. Life, collectively, must be immortal, human beings, individually, cannot be, as I see it, for they are not the individuals they are mere aggregates of cells.

There is no supernatural. We are continually learning new things. There are powers within us which have not yet been developed and they will develop. We shall learn things of ourselves, which will be full of wonders, but none of them will be beyond the natural.

[Columbian Magazine interview] Thomas A. Edison

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Quotes About Immortality (482 quotes)

So this is who I am, And this is all I know, And I must choose to live, For all that I can give, The spark that makes the power grow

And I will stand for my dream if I can, Symbol of my faith in who I am, But you are my only, And I must follow on the road that lies ahead, And I won't let my heart control my head, But you are my only And we don't say goodbye, And I know what I've got to be

Immortality I make my journey through eternity I keep the memory of you and me inside

Fulfill your destiny, Is there within the child, My storm will never end, My fate is on the wind, The king of hearts, the joker's wild, But we don't say goodbye, I'll make them all remember me

Cos I have found a dream that must come true, Every ounce of me must see it though, But you are my only I'm sorry I don't have a role for love to play, Hand over my heart I'll find my way, I will make them give to me

Immortality There is a vision and a fire in me I keep the memory of you and me, inside And we don't say goodbye We don't say goodbye With all my love for you And what else we may do We don't say, goodbye

Visit http://www.azlyrics.com for these lyrics.

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CELINE DION LYRICS - Immortality

Garlic Jr. becomes immortal

Immortality (, Fushi), also called Eternal Life (, Eien no Inochi), is the concept of living in physical or spiritual form for an infinite length of time without dying. There are several outside methods in the series which can be sought after in order to become immortal, the most common being to make such a wish to the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, using the seven Dragon Balls.

Frieza gaining immortality in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai

Frieza after wishing for an immortal body in Supersonic Warriors

Even if one is immortal, there is one crucial flaw, which is that, even though they are immortal, they are still susceptible to being trapped in a place where they cannot escape, be it a different time era, dimension, etc. They are also susceptible when fusing with a mortal being, spiraling the fused body out of control, causing the fusion to be granted with semi-immortality, susceptible to being killed. They also susceptible to being erased from existence by certain entities such as the Omni-King. There are examples of these such as:

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Immortality | Dragon Ball Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia

Lord Voldemort, a wizard who sought after, and temporarily achieved, immortality

Immortality (or eternal life) is the concept of living in a physical form for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time. Immortality is one of the known limits to magic; it is nearly impossible to make oneself immortal; the only known and working ways are making and using a mystical object of great power to sustain life (such as the Philosopher's Stone created by Nicolas Flamel or a Horcrux, the latter having been used by Lord Voldemort). If one were to possess the three Deathly Hallows, it is fabled that they would possess the tools to become the "Master of Death". However, being a true "Master of Death" is to be willing to accept that death is inevitable.

Immortality is not to be confused with amortality, which is for something being unable to die due to never having been alive.

The Elixir of Life

The Philosopher's Stone, a stone created by famous alchemist Nicolas Flamel, is able to produce the Elixir of Life, one of the known means of immortality. In 1991 and 1992, a weakened Lord Voldemort tried to gain possession of the Stone so he could rise again after his downfall ten years prior. The Stone was then destroyed by Albus Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel himself in order to prevent this from happening again. With the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone, all individuals who were immortal because they drank the Elixir of Life (like Flamel and his wife) died after the supply of Elixir ran out.[1]

The Elixir does not truly grant immortality, as it only extends the drinker's lifespan, as opposed to rendering them invulnerable to damage. Thus, it is possible for them to die even while drinking the potion. It must be drunk regularly, for all eternity, to maintain one's eternal youth.

Some of Voldemort's Horcruxes

A Horcrux is an object chosen for the purpose of being a receptacle of part of one's soul, split by doing the most inhumane action: murder. If all the Horcruxes (and by extension the wizard's soul) are intact, the wizard is considered immortal. Splitting one's soul is considered a violation of the very laws of nature, and existence in such a form is preferred by very few, and is therefore considered Dark Arts of the most vile.[2]Herpo the Foul was the first wizard ever to create a Horcrux, and therefore the person to be accredited to this Dark magic's discovery.

Lord Voldemort split his soul six times in order to maintain his status of immortal being, and kept his Horcurxes a secret from absolutely everyone to protect his own life. He had split his soul that many times in the likely belief that seven is a powerful and magical number, but had intended to make only six Horcruxes, with the seventh part of his soul remaining inside himself, thus a seven part soul. He is the only wizard in history to have created more than one Horcrux and therefore considered the one closest to true immortality. Unbeknownst to him, his soul was split a seventh time. The seven Horcruxes were all items owned by reputable people that played an important or scarring role in his life, including the Four Founders. His best plans were, however, beaten due to his arrogance, when Regulus Black, Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger discovered his secret and found each one of his Horcruxes and destroyed them (Vincent Crabbe also destroyed one, but he did it unknowingly and likely did not know that Voldemort had any at all), returning Voldemort his mortality and led to his eventual and final death.[3]

Fawkes's rebirth from his ashes

Whenever phoenixes die, whether from old age or something like a Killing Curse, they always reborn from their remaining ashes, technically making them immortal. They are so far the only living beings who possess natural immortality, as it seems there is no known method to truly and permanently kill a phoenix. They are also the only creatures who defy the absolute law that nothing can truly bring back the dead. A phoenix bursting into flames to die and then to be reborn (usually by old age) is known as a Burning Day.

Fawkes, the pet phoenix of Albus Dumbledore, has been reborn from old age many times, and revived instantly from his remaining ashes when swallowing Lord Voldemort's Killing Curse meant for Dumbledore during their duel in the Ministry Atrium, he exploded after swallowing it.

Unicorn blood, which maintains the drinker's life

Unicorn blood has the gift to save a drinker from death even when they are nearing it. This makes it similar to the Elixir of Life, which also extends the life of the drinker. However, if taken, it will lead the drinkers to be cursed for all life, as they had slayed an innocent creature.

Quirinus Quirrell drank unicorn's blood while he was possessed by Voldemort, in order to maintain both of their critically near-end lives, until they can gain access to the Elixir of Life. Later, Voldemort had Peter Pettigrew to craft a Dark potion that requires unicorn blood as one of the ingredients to regain his rudimentary physical form, which would require him continuous intake of the potion to maintain the little health he regained.

Symbol of the Deathly Hallows

Many wizards believe that the person who masters the three Deathly Hallows (which are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility) will be the Master of Death and will achieve some form of immortality, while a larger proportion dismiss both the concept and the three artefacts as a fairy-tale.

However, becoming immortal from gathering the three is a misconception, as being a true Master of Death is realising and accepting the fact that everyone will die and there are worse things than death. Harry Potter collected the three Hallows and was willing to accept death and so became the Master of Death. According to Dumbledore, the Hallows were a desperate man's dream, dangerous, and a lure for fools. Indeed, many died in their pursuit of the Hallows and the "Master of Death" legend.

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Immortality | Harry Potter Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia

1999 James A. FowlerYou are free to download this outline provided it remains intact without alteration. You are also free to transmit this outline electronically provided that you do so in its entirety with proper citation of authorship included. IMMORTALITY

I. Biblical usages - NASB (exhaustive)

A. Greek word athanasia 1. Meaning - "no death" 2. Usages I Cor. 15:53 - "this mortal must put on immortality" I Cor. 15:54 - "when this mortal shall have put on immortality" I Tim. 6:16 - "King of Kings and Lord of Lords; who alone possesses immortality..." B. Greek words aphtharsia and aphthartos 1. Meaning - "no destruction, no corruption, imperishable" 2. Usages Rom. 2:7 - "those who seek for glory, honor and immortality, (will get) eternal life" I Tim. 1:17 - "believe in Him (Jesus) for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God..." II Tim. 1:10 - "our Savior, Christ Jesus, abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel"

II. Background of thought concerning immortality

A. Greek philosophy 1. Plato indicated that soul of man is essentially divine, pre-existent and eternal. 2. Aristotle limited divinity, eternality and immortality to "active intellect" of man's soul (rationalism) B. Jewish thought 1. Saduccees a. Did not believe in future life b. Matt. 22:29 - "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God." 2. Pharisees a. Believed in resurrection of the body b. Such was a reanimation or re-embodiment of physical, racial Jewish bodies in a physical, national community/kingdom.

III. Immortality in Biblical perspective.

A. God and immortality 1. God is immortal. John 5:26 - "the Father has life in Himself..." I Tim. 1:17 - "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God" 2. Immortality is an attribute of God alone I Tim. 6:16 - "who alone possesses immortality" 3. God's attributes are exclusive and non-transferable 4. God manifests His attributes ontologically a. God expresses Himself in His own Person and presence b. God expresses Himself in His own acts c. God expresses Himself by His Son and His Spirit B. Man and immortality 1. Man is not essentially or inherently immortal a. physiologically - body b. psychologically - soul c. spiritually - spirit 2. We must not attribute God's attributes to man a. Such deifies man b. Man is not divine, eternal or immortal c. Such realities are extrinsic to man. 3. God's life and immortality can be invested in man a. God is the creative source and sustenance of all forms of life Neh. 9:6 - "Thou doest give life to all of them" Acts 17:25,28 - "He Himself gives to all life and breath..." I Tim. 6:13 - "God, who gives life to all things" b. God is the sole source of spiritual, eternal life in man. Jn. 17:3 - "this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent" c. Christocentric immortality and eternal life I Tim. 1:17 - "the King eternal, immortal..." Jn. 14:6 - "I am the way, the truth, and the life" Col. 3:4 - "Christ is our life" II Tim. 1:10 - "Christ Jesus abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" d. Immortality in man is derived ontologically and dynamically from God in Christ by His grace John 11:26 - "everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die" John 14:19 - "because I live, you shall live also" e. Immortality in man is conditioned on our receptivity of the ontological essence of God's immortality made available in Jesus Christ Rom. 2:7 - "those who seek..immortality, find eternal life" Gal. 6:8 - "the one who sows to the flesh reaps corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life" f. Immortality and eternal life are received in regeneration Jn. 3:7 - "you must be born again" Jn. 3:16 - "whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" I Pet. 1:3 - "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" g. Immortality and eternal life will be displayed in our future bodily resurrection (1) The glorified and spiritual body will be an immortal body I Cor. 15:53,54 - "the mortal shall have put on immortality" (2) Spiritual immortality of eternal life is not delayed until bodily resurrection. It is not just a future acquisition. (3) There is a perpetuity and continuum of our spiritual identification with the character and destiny of spiritual being. (a) Not annihilationism (b) No denial of the perpetuity of hell Matt. 25:41 - "eternal fire prepared for devil and his angels" Matt. 25:46 - "eternal punishment" II Thess. 1:9 - "eternal destruction..."

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IMMORTALITY. An outline study of what the Bible says about ...

Immortality, in philosophy and religion, the indefinite continuation of the mental, spiritual, or physical existence of individual human beings. In many philosophical and religious traditions, immortality is specifically conceived as the continued existence of an immaterial soul or mind beyond the physical death of the body.

The earlier anthropologists, such as Sir Edward Burnett Tylor and Sir James George Frazer, assembled convincing evidence that the belief in a future life was widespread in the regions of primitive culture. Among most peoples the belief has continued through the centuries. But the nature of future existence has been conceived in very different ways. As Tylor showed, in the earliest known times there was little, often no, ethical relation between conduct on earth and the life beyond. Morris Jastrow wrote of the almost complete absence of all ethical considerations in connection with the dead in ancient Babylonia and Assyria.

In some regions and early religious traditions, it came to be declared that warriors who died in battle went to a place of happiness. Later there was a general development of the ethical idea that the afterlife would be one of rewards and punishments for conduct on earth. So in ancient Egypt at death the individual was represented as coming before judges as to that conduct. The Persian followers of Zoroaster accepted the notion of Chinvat peretu, or the Bridge of the Requiter, which was to be crossed after death and which was broad for the righteous and narrow for the wicked, who fell from it into hell. In Indian philosophy and religion, the steps upwardor downwardin the series of future incarnated lives have been (and still are) regarded as consequences of conduct and attitudes in the present life (see karma). The idea of future rewards and punishments was pervasive among Christians in the Middle Ages and is held today by many Christians of all denominations. In contrast, many secular thinkers maintain that the morally good is to be sought for itself and evil shunned on its own account, irrespective of any belief in a future life.

That the belief in immortality has been widespread through history is no proof of its truth. It may be a superstition that arose from dreams or other natural experiences. Thus, the question of its validity has been raised philosophically from the earliest times that people began to engage in intelligent reflection. In the Hindu Katha Upanishad, Naciketas says: This doubt there is about a man departedsome say: He is; some: He does not exist. Of this would I know. The Upanishadsthe basis of most traditional philosophy in Indiaare predominantly a discussion of the nature of humanity and its ultimate destiny.

Immortality was also one of the chief problems of Platos thought. With the contention that reality, as such, is fundamentally spiritual, he tried to prove immortality, maintaining that nothing could destroy the soul. Aristotle conceived of reason as eternal but did not defend personal immortality, as he thought the soul could not exist in a disembodied state. The Epicureans, from a materialistic standpoint, held that there is no consciousness after death, and it is thus not to be feared. The Stoics believed that it is the rational universe as a whole that persists. Individual humans, as the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote, simply have their allotted periods in the drama of existence. The Roman orator Cicero, however, finally accepted personal immortality. St. Augustine of Hippo, following Neoplatonism, regarded human beings souls as being in essence eternal.

The Islamic philosopher Avicenna declared the soul immortal, but his coreligionist Averros, keeping closer to Aristotle, accepted the eternity only of universal reason. St. Albertus Magnus defended immortality on the ground that the soul, in itself a cause, is an independent reality. John Scotus Erigena contended that personal immortality cannot be proved or disproved by reason. Benedict de Spinoza, taking God as ultimate reality, as a whole maintained his eternity but not the immortality of individual persons within him. The German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz contended that reality is constituted of spiritual monads. Human beings, as finite monads, not capable of origination by composition, are created by God, who could also annihilate them. However, because God has planted in humans a striving for spiritual perfection, there may be faith that he will ensure their continued existence, thus giving them the possibility to achieve it.

The French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal argued that belief in the God of Christianityand accordingly in the immortality of the soulis justified on practical grounds by the fact that one who believes has everything to gain if he is right and nothing to lose if he is wrong, while one who does not believe has everything to lose if he is wrong and nothing to gain if he is right. The German Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant held that immortality cannot be demonstrated by pure reason but must be accepted as an essential condition of morality. Holiness, the perfect accordance of the will with the moral law, demands endless progress only possible on the supposition of an endless duration of the existence and personality of the same rational being (which is called the immortality of the soul). Considerably less-sophisticated arguments both before and after Kant attempted to demonstrate the reality of an immortal soul by asserting that human beings would have no motivation to behave morally unless they believed in an eternal afterlife in which the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. A related argument held that denying an eternal afterlife of reward and punishment would lead to the repugnant conclusion that the universe is unjust.

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In the late 19th century, the concept of immortality waned as a philosophical preoccupation, in part because of the secularization of philosophy under the growing influence of science.

in Indian religion and philosophy, the universal causal law by which good or bad actions determine the future modes of an individuals existence. Karma represents the ethical dimension of the process of rebirth (samsara), belief in which is generally shared among the religious traditions of...

Human beings seem always to have had some notion of a shadowy double that survives the death of the body. But the idea of the soul as a mental entity, with intellectual and moral qualities, interacting with a physical organism but capable of continuing after its dissolution, derives in Western thought from Plato and entered into Judaism during approximately the last century before the Common...

There is, however, a significant exception to this general rule: the human rational soul. One can affirm the existence of ones soul from direct consciousness of ones self (what one means by I), and one can imagine this happening even in the absence of external objects and bodily organs. This proves, according to Avicenna, that the soul is indivisible, immaterial, and...

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