Hello Steve,

My son is a pilot for a regional airline. He's now a first officer and hopes to be a captain in the near future.

You asked,
From the physical Earth perspective, our perception of the universe is what we can see through optical and radio telescopes. We see the universe as a mixture of various gases, dust particles, planets, stars and other celestrial bodies, but what does it look like from the other side?

There are various explanations, from the belief that the "out there" in the material realm is really there to the explanation that all we know is the experience, and thus the "out there" is all "in here." I am convinced of the latter.

What that means is we never really know what the physical realm is. We look at it, but the photons are just bouncing off of things, so we don't really see the things, and when we get the photons, the image is old (although only nanoseconds old). And then the photons convert to electricity at the retina and travel along the optic nerve. To this point, we still haven't had an experience. We still haven't "seen." But the image is far from some object "out there" that light bounced off of that we don't even really sense by itself. Then the electrical impulses go to the optical cortex where they're magically turned into neurotransmitters (chemicals) that allow the neurons to fire, and the image, which is in pieces, is assembled at various parts of the brain. And then there's an experience. The experience is very far from that thing outside the photons bounced off of that we didn't really have any contact with. We can't know anything about what's "out there." We only know what the neurotransmitter chemicals cause us to get "in here." And then we have the hard problem in neuroscience. Who's having the experience? The neurotransmitters and neurons can't have an experience. Someone hs to be having the experience as a result of what they do. Who is that?

And if all we have is the experience in the mind, then do we need the body and the world at all? Do the body and the world really exist? We don't know. All we know is the experience. We can never know!

And so it's very reasonable to believe that nothing exists but the experience. Instead of a big bang, the universe is likely a big thought. As Amit Goswami, the quantum physicist, said, "There is nothing but God." We are one God and are part of the mind of God. We're having experiences, but all we know is that the galaxies and suns and black holes and atoms and strings are just what we experience when we look deeply into space or deeply into the atom. They're still just experiences, and that means they could as likely be happening without anything "out there" as with having things "out there." I believe there's more evidence that nothing is "out there" than there is that there is. We're eternal beings having physical experiences. That's all that we know, and in the end, that's all that's important.

When we transition into the afterlife, the experiences are all very similar, but different. That illustrates that the experiences are all that is primary.

You asked,
Do we live on planets as we do now? Are there boundaries or is it as limitless as the imagination? You described how souls get around by walking or thinking where they want to be and arriving instantly, but I wonder is it possible to fly or float above your surroundings? --I'm a pilot and enjoy flying.

Anything is possible. Everything is possible. It's all a matter of mind and attitude. Right now, you're living in a body and you feel comfortable in it. You aren't shocked to wake up and find you're a lizard or that all of your friends have disappeared and been replaced by a troupe of new people. We have consistency and the world fits our expectations. Then we can go on to learn lessons and live normal lives.

The same is true on the next plane of life. We will always be in surroundings that fit our expectations. They will be consistent and comfortable. If you want to walk somewhere, you do that. The world fits that for you. If you want to transport yourself by intending to be somewhere else, you can do that, but only because you expect that you can do it and you're comfortable with it. You won't be shocked; no one changes your life when you're not looking. Your inner self, your attitudes and expectations, create your life.

And so, if you want to fly, you will be able to do so. I suspect that you could even have an airplane there if you wanted it. It isn't that it would magically appear. You'd just walk to a place you knew was an "airport" and there would be a plane. But there would be no engine or fossil fuel. I really don't know that, though. I'm just surmising based on everything else I know. But trust that whatever you love and want, it will be available to you.

Love and peace, Craig