Until now, human civilization has used the heart and blood as the chief symbols for life. This symbolism is so pervasive (and obvious) that no one ever thinks of raising a question about its relevance, but what are the preconceptions behind such symbolism? Such symbolism says that we equate life with our physical bodies. In other words, we think that life is the physical body, and a function of the physical body. But think for a moment if we consider life in the new paradigm of body, energy, and spirit. Such consideration becomes common sense. Ilchi Lee ask what would happen then?
In all probability, the term, “death,” might disappear, or at least be defined differently. We would undergo a profound and fundamental shift in our attitudes toward death. Our death experience would become a much more relaxed and comfortable affair. It would not be a time of grief, but a precious time to share hard-won experience and information with others. We would have a much more mature cultural view of death. When we will arrive at this level of understanding about death, we will no longer strive ceaselessly and at any cost to maintain the life functions of a physical body while neglecting our energy and spiritual bodies. This does not have to do with the sacredness of life but with a larger question of the definition of life.
The chief symbolism of life will change under those circumstances, from the heart and blood to the brain and information. We will judge a person’s life by the quality of constructive information that she produces. Simultaneous with a change in the definition of life, controversy about genetic cloning and other ethical problems generated by scientific advances will disappear. We may be able to interchange our body parts with impunity, but we will probably not even bother, for an action designed merely to prolong our hold over material possessions and the physical body would imply a dire and embarrassing lack of the essence of life. As we realign our currently materialistic value system to correspond more closely to a newly earned and deeper understanding of life, we will use Earth’s resources with more care and distribute them more equitably.