Well… I haven’t really, exactly. In that I can’t prove it. I’m 55 at the moment and so have not proved one can live forever. But then it’s something that can’t be proven anyway—a person could live to be 300 years old and die the next day.
But I thought I’d tell the story of how I came across the idea of physical immortality.
In the mid-80s I lived in a household of musicians, and two regular visitors were Andy and Mike. Andy played bass and trombone, and Mike played saxophone. Both of them had their head completely shaved—the idea being that this allowed the cosmic rays to penetrate their scalp more easily, making them immortal.
Now Andy was quite a character. He had previously lived in our house and seemed to think he still did—he stored his bee pollen in our fridge for some reason (I don’t think he had a fridge) and he ate half our fruit after we had been to the market. He had a reputation for covering our kitchen with carrot pulp from juicing carrots, and having orange palms from drinking too much of the makings. Setting up our house for a 4 a.m. mini-golf game didn’t seem out of the ordinary. I don’t remember much about Mike—only that he had a nice girlfriend.
The point of all this is that the shaved heads, and the reason for them, was just one more entertaining weirdo occurrence in our house.
Andy and Mike were quite adamant about their immortality quest, and I interpreted the thinking to mean that we could lead a better life if we spent it believing we were not going to die—but actually not dying didn’t enter the equation. I didn’t see any point in it, and gave it little thought.
At around that time, another friend of the household—Andy’s ex-girlfriend Susan, a piano player—was telling us about a prosperity workshop she had been to. I pricked up my ears, because I had plenty of money at the time and the musicians all around me had very little, but they seemed to be so much more alive and interesting than I was, and were making plans for their money while I had no idea of what to do with mine.
New discoveries
Susan suggested a book I could read: Money is My Friend by Phil Laut. I liked it and ended up buying another book by Phil Laut—this time Rebirthing: The Science of Enjoying All of Your Life, by him and Jim Leonard.
The book was mainly about rebirthing which I was not especially interested in, but I still remember sitting there on the burgundy-striped couch in that Edwardian musicians’ house reading ‘Part 5: Immortalist Philosophy’. The idea really WAS about not dying. It was saying death was not natural and we could keep our bodies youthful and avoid disasters by healing ourselves. It all rang very true for me.
I remember, ironically, feeling very heavy and depressed while reading this section of the book. I later learned this was because I was suddenly feeling much safer in the world than I had ever felt before, and was therefore allowing myself to experience feelings I had been keeping well-and-truly suppressed up till then.
Anyway, I started doing workshops run by the community behind these books, and so embarked on a period of focused healing that lasted for several years (which did NOT involve shaving my head!) I never ever went back to seeing myself as mortal—from the moment I really understood these ideas, I was “sold”. Funnily, Andy and Mike grew their hair back and forgot about physical immortality, and went on to some other in-thing.
Part of life
Physical immortality has been more like a context I live my life in than an “important belief.” Life goes on… it seems to me to be the natural way to live. I know that for me life is far more joyful and expanded coming from this perspective.
Since I really understood these concepts, I’ve never gone back to the old way of thinking… not even for a few moments. Learning about it was like remembering something I already knew, which is a common feeling amongst the physical immortality crowd (who apparently don’t have blogs). I’ve occasionally forced myself to consider that maybe I was batty, but it went nowhere.
Comments are very welcome, if you would like to write something in the comments section below.
photo by geishaboy500
Hi Robin,
Good to see another aussie in the blogosphere (I’ve just moved from Sydney to Hobart). I found you because you commented on my blog (thanks).
At the moment I’m not sure about physical immortality – death is quite natural it seems to me, millions of parts of “us” die everyday, to be replaced. The physical limitation seems to be the end of the telomeres.
I do think though, as you say, that the idea of physical immortality is a great way to figure out your blocks. At the moment the parts of life I find tiresome (would hate to have to do for ever) are about marketing my blog and the money making side of it. I have started to work with an alternative way of thinking about this: I am delighted to become a millionaire by making friends and giving exceptional value. But there is lots to be done between here and there!
The topic of your blog is certainly provocative, it sure has got me thinking. So I’m very grateful you are in the blogosphere.
Evans last blog post..How to Respond to Disappointment
PS. Did you know there is an Aussie Bloggers Forum?
http://www.aussiebloggers.com.au/forum/index.php
Evan
Evans last blog post..How to Respond to Disappointment
@Evan – Hi there and great to hear from you! Those pesky telomeres do seem to be an issue, don’t they! Are they following our “instructions”?
Best of luck with making some money from blogging, and thanks for your kind words and the link to the forum – I’ll check it out. Cheers!
I’m really interested in how “we could keep our bodies youthful and avoid disasters by healing ourselves.”
Are there other ways to heal ourselves aside from the conventional methods?
chriss last blog post..Compass Points
I have a question!
So, you aare 55 and obviously your body is getting older… what it will be like when you’re 300? Or do you think the gaing process will slow down the older you get?
vereds last blog post..Are Bloggers Allowed To Have A Life?
@Chris – I’ve been skirting around making suggestions about this because each person’s path is so unique – I don’t really know what to say. I think the best basic reading for alternative healing is still the Louise Hay book “You Can Heal Your Life”, which I’ve listed on the Recommended page. After that, there are lots of other books and techniques to explore.
I went down the rebirthing route myself – I think it’s good to find a physical therapy that will help us integrate what we “know” into our physical body (by clearing out old, stuck feelings), but I wouldn’t suggest rebirthing is the only way of doing that.
Apart from all that, I think that removing the belief that death is inevitable from our consciousness brings about healing in itself. The Ken Carey books and The Door of Everything can put us into that space quite nicely. Sorry to be so brief!
@Vered – Hi – The idea is that by healing ourselves (as above, and my post Staying Young), we can reverse the aging process.
I look young for my age – people are often surprised when they find out how old I am. But I have definitely aged since I got into all this in 1986, and other people in my family also look young anyway. So I haven’t mastered aging – I’m still working on it. However I KNOW that I would be a good deal unhealthier, and aged, if I wasn’t into this.
@Robin: I’m writing an article on gratitude and scientific research shows that having an attitude of gratitude increases life-span. So I think that at least we can increase our life expectancy by cultivating certain mental attitudes. Mini-golf at 4:00 a.m.?!
Marelisas last blog post..Inspiration Sunday, June 29, 2008
Hi Robin,
Very interesting blog you have over here … thanks for commenting on mine!
The idea of physical longevity is very central to Taoism and a few other spiritual traditions. Certain spiritual practices lead to the birthing of the eternal Light body, which transforms the physical body into immortality. You might want to check out http://www.meditationexpert.com – it’s a great site!
Blessings,
Andrea
Andrea Hess|Empowered Souls last blog post..Cultivating Inner Wisdom
Robin,
What I learned from this post is that physical immortality may be a far fetch reality but it is the source of optimism. It allows us to instill feeling of well-being leading to positive actions. It is true that when a person is positive, he/she lives longer. My mother is a good example. She lost her kidney when I was hardly 10 years old. She was told to remain bed ridden. She refused to do that and strongly believed that she will live a long life. Well, she is still very active and looks quite young for her age. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Shilpan
Shilpan | successsoul.coms last blog post..Albert Einstein’s 7 Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks
@Marelisa – In the book ‘The Door Of Everything’ there’s a chapter ‘The Ascension Attitudes’, which talks about love, praise and gratitude. For example: “The vibration of gratitude is such a mighty creative force that it alone, if indulged continuously, could uplift you free of the sub-creation more rapidly than you realize.” It’s good stuff!
@Andrea – great to hear from you! And thanks for the info. I’ll be checking out the material you have about intuition on your blog.
@Shilpan – hi – thanks for stopping by – optimism certainly helps in life!
Hi Robin,
You do look young for your age.
I’m thinking, would I WANT to live to be 300? Gosh, what stories a person could tell if they lived that long.
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..NBOTW Author Says “Life Is A Jungle”
Thought-provoking post you have here. Certainly the way many of us die now isn’t natural, and I’d like to keep my body tuned up and running right for a long time to come. Most importantly, at least for me, it seems that discarding all the baggage that most of us carry around about death would be a liberating experience. While I don’t consider myself overly afraid of death, I have on occasion found myself rather concerned about it, especially while doing field research in southern Africa. Then again, I know some people who seem absolutely fearless and this does seem to make them capable of experiencing a much richer depthness to life.
Billys last blog post..Journalism 101: Blog to the Beat, Pt. 1
Snap! I’m 55 too. I think I look older than you do, so maybe that proves that your attitude helps. And yes – I guess that’s the bottom line, if you think you can live forever and that helps you to enjoy life, it doesn’t really matter whether you can live forever or not. How you are *now* is what matters. Who is going to argue with something which allows you to live more joyfully?
Simons last blog post..The Door To The Garden
Funny descriptions of your housemates (or former mates who refused to admit it!). Puts me in mind of experiences I had in the 70s when my parents were on a board for a street youth drop in centre. Will have to write about those sometime. Anyway, regarding the subject at hand. I guess I’m not really concerned about whether I live forever or I don’t. However, this statement–Physical immortality has been more like a context I live my life in than an “important belief.”–made me think of the expression ‘Live like you are going to die tomorrow’ and I think that really puts a negative spin on things. I ‘live like I am going to live tomorrow’. That way, everything I do Today, I am accountable to Tomorrow for. Not as a burden, but as a joy.
Urban Panthers last blog post..Exposure
@Barbara – thanks Barbara – I think we are all just starting out, really, and will truly have many stories to tell (except we might be so excited about what we are doing we might forget them!) Cheers.
@Billy – great to hear from you – your “field research in southern Africa” sounds interesting – thanks for adding to the discussion, and good luck with your new blog.
@Simon – great to hear from you again – I know many would argue, but the thinking is that “knowing” you are going to die one day stops us from REALLY living in the present moment.
@Urban Panther – hi there and great to hear from you – I think you are right-on in your thoughts about the “Live like you are going to die tomorrow” saying. I am planning to do a post on that saying soon – and you have given me an idea for an extra dimension I can add to it! (the being accountable bit) Thanks! Happy prowling.
Robin, it’s funny you should write this: we could lead a better life if we spent it believing we were not going to die.
I “believe” that, I live like I’m going to live forever, you know how young people walk around like they really are immortal, especially when they walk in front of my car…..I know I may die,but I would have to see it to believe it. 🙂
Naturals last blog post..High Priced Domain
@Natural – Good on ya – I reckon it’s strange the way people criticise young people for behaving as if they are immortal – I mean, we want them to be safe, but maybe thinking they are immortal is not the real problem when they have accidents. A quote from Leonard Orr is “You are immortal until you prove otherwise”.
Hi Robin – you look a whole heap younger than 55, so it must be working for you.
I’m not sure if I would like to live on this earth until I’m 300 though. I’ve often thought about people who live well into their nineties and it must get really lonely when everyone you know has died.
But I do like the idea of our souls living on and being reborn into another physical body.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Is Blogging Putting You at Risk?
I think we’re all going to live forever whether we’re in this body or not. This is a really nice post! I’ve read that there are yogis in India who pop in and out of the body as they wish.
Dots last blog post..Weeping Willow
Hi Robin,
I just found your blog searching the web for blogs from like-minded people.
I too went on a quest to extend my own life and went looking for the oldest people living among us. One day I found a man whom I fully believe is nearly 2,800 years old and began in earnest to find out from this man his secret to immortality.
If you are interested in my research, check out my main blog at Ben-Abba.com and my soon-to-be released book “Secrets of an Immortal – An Eyewitness Account of 2,800 Years of History”
Be Well, Live Long, and Prosper!
Hello Robin,
glad to have found your blog. It seems these days many people hop on the physical immortality train. It would almost seem like it is an idea whose time has come.
@those who ‘are not sure’ whether they want to live until 300 (which is not a lot for a true immortal):
Why not? Which number seems more ‘appropriate’ to you? 100? Assumed you can stay healthy and young, what do you think will change in x years from now so you will conclude “this is it, I would like to die”?
@Cath – I do look young for my age – but I don’t look 30 either, by any means. I’m still working on healing myself of the baggage that ages us. I do think that these ideas are ones that everyone will catch onto eventually, so that we will no longer be separated from our loved ones.
@Dot – yes – I’m just talking about what the yogis you mentioned are doing – they have a choice and they exercise it.
@Ben – Hi there Ben! Your discovery of an immortal sounds very interesting! I understand there are quite a few of them around – maybe it will become a bit more commonplace to know of them, in the next few years.
@Ragnar – Hi there and welcome! It’s always great to hear from someone who is into physical immortality, and I think the question you ask above is a very useful one. Thanks!
Check http://www.imminst.org/forum if you are not aware of it already
That’s a great story Robin. I know after I had my “awakening” that Immortality for me was a ‘knowing’….
and it has never been anything else since.
I chuckled when you mentioned that we Immortalists don’t have blogs…;)
That’s changing and I am soon to be part of it!
Thanks for leading the way!
Kathy
.-= Kathy Dobson´s last blog ..Tweet Dynamite…Grab it at a Discount =-.
thank you Robin for starting this blog…
Hi Robin. Wonderful blog. Just wanna share my piece. A Physical Immortal always lives in the ETERNAL NOW. There is no past nor future. It’s always the ETERNAL NOW. Being a Physical Immortal is an inner knowing.
Physical Immortality is in our mind as well as in the heart & the body forever! Alleluia! Amen!
Hey Robin, nice story, i really hear you on believing that we could keep our bodies youthful and that we could healing ourselves. “It all rang very true for me.”… still in 2019 people is looking for this, i’m really happy with my live right now and would not mind to be around for a while if you know what i mean, still can not prove is true, but we will see, ill keep you posted.
Thanks for sharing.