The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon, #6)

by Dan Brown

“I show you this for a simple reason—to remind us that human perception is riddled with blind spots,” Katherine concluded. “Sometimes we’re so busy looking the wrong way…that we don’t see what’s right before our eyes.”

Coincidence is God’s way of staying anonymous.

Buddha: With our thoughts, we create the world. Jesus: Whatever you ask for in prayer, it will be yours. Hinduism: You have the power of God.

Everything is created twice; first in the mind, and then in reality.

Everything you can imagine is real.

The dust returns to the ground it came from…and the spirit returns to God who gave it.—Ecclesiastes 12:7.

My brain is only a receiver. In the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge.

Far too many fear death and regard it as the worst disaster that can befall them: they know nothing of what they speak. Death comes as a dissolution from an exhausted body…Just as the body leaves the mother’s womb when it is mature in it, so also does the soul leave the body when it has come to perfection.

“Fear makes us selfish,” Katherine said. “The more we fear death, the more we cling to ourselves, our belongings, our safe spaces…to that which is familiar. We exhibit increased nationalism, racism, and religious intolerance. We flout authority, ignore social mores, steal from others to provide for ourselves, and become more materialistic. We even abandon our feelings of environmental responsibility because we sense the planet is a lost cause and we’re all doomed anyway.”

The most important point in the research, however, shows that those who do not fear death, for whatever reason, tend to exhibit behavior that is more benevolent, accepting of others, cooperative, and caring about the environment. Essentially, this means that if we could all free our minds of the burden, of the terror we feel about death…” “Then we would find ourselves in a dramatically improved world.”

‘The elimination of the fear of death transforms the individual’s way of being in the world.’

I believe our views on death are about to change. Top scientists around the world are increasingly convinced that reality is not at all as we believe. This includes the provocative idea that death is, quite possibly, an illusion…that our consciousness survives physical death and lives on. If this is true, and if we can prove it, then within several generations, the human mind will function under an entirely different premise—the belief that death is not so terrifying after all…” Katherine’s voice was brimming with passion. “Just think about that. The one universal fear that drives so much of humankind’s destructive behavior…would evaporate. If we can hold on long enough to arrive at that paradigm shift without blowing ourselves up or destroying our planet, then our species may well turn a philosophical corner that ushers in an unimaginably peaceful future.”

First loves are important, she recalled a romantic movie once saying. Because they open our hearts for what’s to come.