How is your memory?

     I apologize for not posting in a while, but as I am sure that you can relate, sometimes life gets in the way. I have written before about the nature of memory and consciousness, but my ninety-eight-year-old dad has me thinking about it again. Although he remains healthy and retains his sense of humor, his short-term memory has deteriorated significantly. During a five-minute conversation he will repeat the same thing five times, each time believing that it was an original thought. I listen patiently and always respond as if I was hearing it for the first time. Oddly enough, his long-term memory remains good, and we can converse about events that occurred sixty years ago.

     I do not know a great deal about brain mapping and identifying areas of the brain that are assumed to be centers of memory. However, short term memory must include information that is stored temporarily. As a young student I had the ability to do well on tests because I would stay up the night before memorizing the information. However, if you gave me the same questions a month later, I would fail miserably. That says something about our education process and learning, but I digress. Long term memories appear to grow stronger over time, perhaps due to neural processes, and such memories are easier to retrieve. However, when the retrieval apparatus or receiver is compromised (the brain), it becomes difficult or impossible to remember short term memories. And, as in the case of dementia, long term memories can no longer be retrieved. The memories continued to be stored, but the keys to the vault are missing.

     As difficult as some may find to believe, there are credible researchers who suggest that memories are not even stored in the brain. Our consciousness connects with everything, acts independently of our brains, and can access vast fields of information. Near death experiencers meet every definition that medical science has for death. No brain waves. No heartbeat. No respiration. No reflexes. Yet, those are able to be resuscitated report clear and lucid thinking, describing it as “realer than real.” Some report leaving their bodies, often watching as doctors work on them. Not only do they have memory recall, but a significant percentage have life reviews, like watching a movie reel of their life experiences. This should not be possible when the brain is not operating. Mediumship research has shown that some people are able to receive information from discarnates, and the information conveyed includes memories that the person had when they were in the physical realm. Countless studies involving psi phenomena such as telepathy and remote viewing show that our consciousness extends beyond the body.

     So, it is important for us to recognize that, although the radio is broken, the signals are still being transmitted. While embodied we may be restricted, but once free of the body it is likely that we will move to a realm of pure consciousness and connectedness that we never dreamed possible.