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The afterlife is a shared delusion…created to make our actual life bearable.
The City of a Hundred Spires.
“noetic science is the study of human consciousness. Contrary to what many believe, consciousness research is not a new science—it is, in fact, the oldest science on earth. Since the dawn of history, we have sought answers to the enduring mysteries of the human mind…the nature of consciousness and of the soul. And for centuries, we have explored these questions primarily through…the lens of religion.”
world-renowned scholar of religious symbology, Professor Robert Langdon.”
“I’m curious, Professor…what is the most common religious symbol on earth?” The answer was simple, and either Katherine had read Langdon’s article on the topic and knew what was coming, or she was about to be very disappointed.
“the world’s most common religious symbol? Does anyone have a guess?” A dozen hands went up. “Excellent,” Langdon said. “Any guesses that are not the crucifix?” Every single hand went down.
“The halo,” Langdon continued, “is the disk of light that appears over the head of an enlightened being. In Christianity, halos hover over Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Going further back, a sun disk hovered over the ancient Egyptian god Ra, and in Eastern religions a nimbus halo appeared over the Buddha and the Hindu deities.”
“The Statue of Liberty wears a radiant crown—an ancient halo—that universal icon we have used through history to identify special individuals who we believe possess divine enlightenment…or an advanced state of…consciousness.”
“So can we all start by agreeing on the basics? Consciousness is created by your brain—the three-pound bundle of eighty-six billion neurons inside your skull—and therefore consciousness is located inside our heads.”
“The problem is…the currently accepted model is dead wrong. Your consciousness is not created by your brain. And in fact, your consciousness is not even located inside your head.”
אמת The three Hebrew letters—aleph, mem, tav—from right to left, spelled EMET. Truth. Truth is what had brought The Golěm to Prague. And Truth is what Dr. Gessner had revealed to him earlier tonight—a detailed confession of the atrocities that she and her partners had committed deep beneath Prague. Their crimes were abhorrent, and yet they paled in comparison to what was planned for the near future. I will destroy it all, he told himself. Reduce it to rubble.
To bear the burdens of another was the noblest of callings; but to do so anonymously, without any recognition at all…that was a truly selfless act of love. Guardian angels take many forms.
She claims to have discovered something incredible. Katherine’s discovery—whatever it might be—was a secret. She had not shared it yet with anyone, including Langdon, though she had alluded to it several times in recent days, confiding in him that the research for her book had led to a stunning breakthrough. After her lecture last night, Langdon felt a growing sense that Katherine’s book might well have explosive potential.
Despite being deemed ‘para’-normal, they are, in fact, entirely normal. They occur every day, both in science labs with carefully controlled experiments…and also in the real world.” The room had now fallen completely silent. “The question is not if these phenomena are real,” Katherine said. “Science has proven they are. The question is…why do so many of us remain blind to them?”
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.”
Katherine Solomon was poised to become a trailblazing voice in the field. If her theory proved correct, then the human mind was not at all as had been imagined; the truth would bring about a profound shift in our views of humanity, life, and even death.
Einstein had famously declared: Coincidence is God’s way of staying anonymous.
Precognition. The ability to sense or foresee future events before they happen.
the notion that human thoughts create reality—existed at the core of most major spiritual teachings. 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.
The concept, Langdon knew, was echoed by modern progressive thinkers and artistic geniuses as well. Business guru Robin Sharma declared: Everything is created twice; first in the mind, and then in reality. Pablo Picasso’s most enduring quote proclaimed: Everything you can imagine is real.
Prague was a city of drama and fantasy, and revelers regularly walked the streets masquerading as storied characters from her history—famous ghosts, witches, star-crossed lovers, martyred saints…and this hulking monster made of clay. Prague’s oldest legend. A mystical guardian…just like me.
The Golěm knew the clay monster’s tale by heart because it was his own—a protective spirit…thrust into physical form…tasked with sacrificing his own comfort to carry another’s pain.
Judah Loew dug wet clay from the banks of the Vltava River and used it to build a monster that he ho...
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The rabbi called his creation a golem—meaning “raw material” in Hebrew—a reference to the earthen clay from which the monster had been forged. Thereafter, the golem patrolled the streets of the Jewish Ghetto, protecting those in danger, killing evildoers, and ensuring the safety of the community.
ÚZSI. The acronym, he informed Langdon, stood for Úřad pro zahraniční styky a informace—the Office for Foreign Relations and Information—and was pronounced “exactly like the submachine gun—Uzi.”
Prague was a city of surveillance, and cameras with facial recognition software were ubiquitous in public places. It was often said that Prague’s passion for costumes and masks was simply its citizens attempting to enjoy a fleeting anonymous moment.
young people who lacked the energy to spell “technological development” should not be given millions of dollars to develop anything at all.
Social media, Dana thought. The biggest intelligence boon since the Catholic Church invented confession.
Katherine Solomon was even more impressive in real life than she was on paper. Not unlike Langdon himself, she was affable, humble, and razor-sharp. She was also naturally promotable—possessing a rare combination of charm and striking beauty that would be an ideal fit for the brave new world of twenty-first-century publishing,
sometimes a change in perspective is all it takes to reveal the Truth.”
Christians had heaven; the Jews had gilgul; the Muslims had Jannah; the Hindus and Buddhists had devaloka; the New Age philosophers had past lives; Plato had metempsychosis. A constant in all spiritual philosophies was that the soul was…eternal.
The notion of the afterlife, he believed, was a comforting story, a coping mechanism,
Mortality salience, as it was known—the knowledge that we would die—was frightening not because we feared losing our physical bodies, but rather because we feared losing our memories, our dreams, our emotional connections…in essence, our soul.
Timor mortis est pater religionis, Langdon mused, recalling the ancient saying made famous by Upton Sinclair. Fear of death is the father of religion.
the only reason to do anything anymore was to post it for the world to see.
Miracles and mystery had always been catalysts for hope—“reality softeners,”
“Your brain is just a receiver—an unimaginably complex, superbly advanced receiver—that chooses which specific signals it wants to receive from the existing cloud of global consciousness. Just like a Wi-Fi signal, global consciousness is always hovering there, fully intact, whether or not you access it.”
“That’s how we humans have always dealt with phenomena that don’t fit our reality. We ignore the occasional oddity rather than admit our entire model is wrong.”
“Consciousness is not a flesh-and-blood organ in your body. Consciousness exists in the quantum realm. It is therefore extremely difficult to observe with any predictability or repeatability.
It is said that in death, all things become clear.
There are only two paths…Truth or Death. The Golěm had chosen both. Unveil Truth. Accept Death.
Unlike most of life’s unknowable mysteries, however, this was a secret that was guaranteed to be unveiled to every one of us…yet only at the end. Our last moments of life…become our first moments of truth.
