21 Aug Koan 177

What happens when we die?

What happens when we die!

When we die, we transition from “Who” we are in the now to “What” we are before and after the now.

The “Who” is the self, our identity in the now.

The “What” is transcendental. The “What” is God.

In the Bible, God self-describes: “I am what I am.”

In several religious traditions, God is nameless; for if God is this, then God is not that. God is nameless because God is what it all is whatever it all is.

As every thing in the now is a manifestation of God, the “Who” is an expression of the “What”.

As the “Who” exists only in the now, the “Who” is finite.

Those who view themselves as solely a “Who” die when they are no longer in the now.

Those realizing they are the “What” are eternal beings, constantly transitioning back and forth between “What” and “Who”.