A Memory from the Other Side Just Before This Life

I sat at a table with friends in a great pavilions. One of my friends absentmindedly questioned, “What is it like to be an atheist?” My instantaneous response was, “Oh, don’t try to remember that–it’s no fun.”

He took my casual dismissal as a challenge, “What? You don’t think I’d like being an atheist? I’ll show you.” And, he jumped into a human life. For us, an entire human lifetime passed like a afternoon of poker. After he left, I went to plan a life where I could check up on him. I saw my thousands of past lives lined up like a couple 3 foot stacks of papers. I had done this so many times that I had absolute confidence in how to plan a life.

In this life, I met this friend in my late 30s. As it turned out, he had taken no shortcuts. He was born without one arm, started out as an ardent believer, and was the son of a mom with a psychological disorder. He even went through a long depression. He became an atheist in his 20’s, became happy in his 40’s, and managed with some difficulty to maintain his athesism despite a few spiritual experiences. By the time of his death at 71, he was indeed an atheist and happy. He won the bet.