Heaven - Part II

Disclaimer:
As I previously indicated, there is very little Biblical material to give us insight into the nature of Heaven, and therefore this post will be made up entirely of my musings on the nature of heaven/hell based upon information other than the Bible.  In the past I was fearful to ponder theological issues which could not be tied back (no matter how thinly or tangentially) to the Bible.  But as I have become firmly convinced that God expects us to find Truth and Beauty all around us and not just what we can find in the Bible, my thoughts are free to wander.  I fully accept the speculative nature of all that follows as I enjoy asking "what if...?"

Background:
A.    Eastern religion's view of the afterlife has at its center a reunion.  By reunion, I don't mean a simple meeting of old friends, but rather it is a rejoining of our spirits with God.  We become one with God.  The Bible speaks of becoming one with God, but evangelicals (infused with our Western individualism) will mock at any hint of having to lose one's individuality.

B.    The study of consciousness and technology fascinates me.  It is clear that computers will continue to improve and become faster, smaller, more powerful and less expensive.  These improvements will not stop.  Likewise with brain science.  We are learning more and more about how the brain works and adding to our total knowledge every year about how it is wired.  These discoveries will not stop.  In light of those two incontrovertible facts and despite how crazy it sounds, it is a near certainty that one day we will create a computer that has true "artificial intelligence" or in other words, becomes conscious.  The implications of this are truly staggering, but I want to focus on one aspect:  It will be possible to copy, store, and share consciousness - our consciousnesses.

A day is coming when that part of me that is defined by my brain (my thoughts, my feelings, my perceptions, fears, greed, desires, joys, etc.) can be put on a flash drive and shared.  This will redefine relationships and intimacies of all sorts, but again I want to focus on one implication in particular.  If someone could share their consciousness with me, then so could two, three, or a hundred people.  Indeed it seems to me that there would soon be a large consciousness that we would all want to share in together - the ultimate in crowd-sourcing!

The immediate objection is, "why would I want to combine my consciousness with the evil parts of others?"  But remember we do have control over what is added to this consciousness.  Undoubtedly there would be a large consciousness developed that was made up of only the "good" aspects of our consciousness e.g. love, generosity, beauty, compassion, etc.  In other words all the individual consciousnesses would be sanctified first.

C.     I read a book written by a recovering stroke victim.  She was a neuroscientist that had spent her early life studying the brain, and then she herself had a massive stroke on the right side of her brain.  Until she recovered, she experienced reality solely through her left (intuitive) side of her brain.   The book is amazing in how it describes her experience of reality during this time, but most importantly for me it made me realize that the right brain's experience of reality is no more "real" than the left, and who knows what "view" of reality I will have after I die and am no longer bound by my right or left brain.

What if?
It is interesting to me how much overlap exists between Eastern religion's view of the afterlife and where future technology is taking us.  If I can momentarily subdue my Western indoctrination that places the value of the individual over all else, I can see that the Bible and Jesus' teachings on the afterlife can be reconciled with a heaven that is a wonderful, perfect, and complete intimacy between God and all of His redeemed and sanctified creation.  It is satisfying to me that in this case I don't have to choose between and evangelical view, Eastern mysticism, or science.  Though they are all different, they all could contain major components of how it will actually be some day.

Heaven - perfect unity/intimacy with God.  Perfect unity/intimacy with others.  Completely and perfectly knowing God and others.  Completely and perfectly being known by God and others.  Unlimited by left or right brains.  No shame, sin, guilt, insecurity, jealousy, or competition.  Oneness.  Wholeness.  Intimacy.  Significance.  Love.