The existence of an afterlife has always been a subject of medical, philosophical and theological debate.

And since it is the cornerstone of many religions, which cannot be proven wrong, the afterlife has been the biggest puzzle for secularists and adherents of scientism.

But recently, an American scientist claimed that he had “hard proof” to indicate that there is indeed life after death.

According to a report published by Daily Mail on November 14, Professor Robert Lanza of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, argued that the theory of biocentrism teaches that death as we know it is an illusion created by our consciousness.

Biocentrism, as a school of thought of quantum physics, holds that life and biology are central to reality and that life creates the universe, not the other way around, so death may not be as terminal as we think it is, according to the report.

This suggests a person’s consciousness determines the shape and size of objects in the universe.

He further explained by citing the example of the way we perceive the world around us. A person sees a blue sky, and is told that the color they are seeing is blue, but the cells in a person’s brain could be changed to make the sky look green or red, he said.

‘Perennial flower’

In terms of how this affects life after death, Lanza explains that when we die, our life becomes a “perennial flower that returns to bloom in the multiverse.”

“Life is an adventure that transcends our ordinary linear way of thinking,” he added.

Honestly, this theory appears too abstruse for anyone not trained to think like a quantum physicist.

However, it is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for believers in an afterlife, the existence of which has been supported by other scientific research.

It is as if science had admitted the triumph of religion yet again, just as Isaac Newton, the great discoverer of gravity, conceded toward the end of his life that the Earth rotates because God wants it to.

To some extent, Lanza’s finding — which doesn’t look so convincing as it involves little more than metaphysical hypothesizing and reasoning — is the triumph of both science and religion. It doesn’t back up one against the other.

The reason afterlife is such an obsession is our fears of death and what awaits us after the inevitable happens. Religion has partly allayed those fears by offering the soothing prospect of an afterlife.

And research on the lead-up to that prospect has revealed near-death experiences seeming to lend credence to the belief in an afterlife.

Compared to Lanza’s linear reasoning, which might be original yet not so accessible, those experiences are more convincing, and revolutionary.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the late expert on life and death matters, held the view that medical records confirm the existence of an afterlife. Kubler-Ross was the pioneering voice of the hospice movement in the United States and she changed the way Americans looked at death with a series of books on the topic.

Kubler-Ross’ proof was the testimony of “near-death experiences” by numerous patients, who reported remarkably similar visions after being brought back from the brink of death.

They speak of floating above their own bodies, watching frantic doctors work to resuscitate them.

Mysterious guides are there to usher them down a long tunnel, into a luminous white light, reported the San Francisco Chronicle in a 1997 interview with the Swiss-born psychiatrist.

Elusive conclusion

In fact, these descriptions are common, and they encouraged Kubler-Ross, who in the 1960s still perceived belief in life after death as a “form of denial,” to change her mind in the 1970s and endorse afterlife.

Whether afterlife is mere superstition or can be buttressed will spark debates for a long time to come. A permanent conclusion may be elusive.

The “near-death experiences” might be explained away as simply hallucinations caused by great pain, and discoveries made by scientists like Lanza are but “pseudo-science” in the eyes of secularists.

For Chinese, many of whom are nominally atheistic, the idea of an afterlife has never quite gone away. Chinese observe the centuries-old tradition of burning paper money supposed to be used by their deceased relatives in the afterlife. And most seek solace in the belief in an afterlife so that they will be reunited with their relatives when their time comes.

The power of afterlife is its admonition to secular life on Earth.

Both Buddhist conceptions of reincarnation and karma and Christian ones of the day of reckoning and redemption see to it that the devout restrain their behavior and do good deeds. The humanizing attribute of religious faith is definitely a force for good, as it encourages people to be good Samaritans.

In view of how ethics have been under siege in China over the years, with many milestone cases suggesting pervasive moral nihilism, afterlife is a timely nudge for virtuous actions.

Some observers argued years back that had there been intervention from a positive force, the toddler run over twice in 2011 in Foshan, Guangdong Province, would not be left to die as  none of the pedestrians stopped to help. That force, they noted, could well be religion or national law.

Of course, the latter would be very unpleasant and disgraceful for a nation priding itself on its heritage of moral indoctrination.

In a similar vein, it can be observed that corrupt officials, those behind food safety scandals and wanton environmental pollution will be driven to do more good than harm by the threat of comeuppance in an afterlife, such as separation from their kin in heaven.

Fury of Mother Nature

Those fears have eluded the minds of many for too long to make them remorseful over the fury of Mother Nature’s occasional revenge.

From this perspective, the religious aspect of afterlife has increasingly been transcended by the secular and present need to practice good deeds and cherish the moment.

Contrary to the perception of secularists, this heightened consciousness of afterlife points not to an alarming expansion of religion, but to the comeback of religious spirit, which can only be good and healthy for mankind.

During centuries of contention between science and religion, science emerged triumphant most of the time. A legacy is that we learn to regard the world too “rationally” and play down spirituality.

The failure to subdue fears about death plunges us into an abyss of nihilism. A people unafraid of getting comeuppances can only be encouraged in recklessness.

Modern scientific progress has lulled them to believe that rather than placing themselves at the feet of nature in awe of its power, it is something they can change to their liking.

Chinese today have largely forgotten that their ancestors interpreted natural disasters or abnormal celestial activity as omens of divine punishment and would express penitence for transgressions. The power of spirituality, of awe for the unknown, allows society to cleanse itself of malaises and move on.

For individuals, reflections on an afterlife help to ease one’s transition into the great beyond. As such, the recent release of “hard proof” of an afterlife, be it true or not, is an occasion to start meaningful reflection.