To Infinity and Beyond

He came when I beckoned and sat on the couch, stroking Evy under the chin, and listened quietly to what I had to say. When I offered him a drink he said, "I've been dead now for forty years. What do I need with a drink?"
"Sorry. You used to drink."
"O.K.", he said, "I'll have sherry."
"How about a beer?", thinking I should really stock up on sherry, then realized that keeping a stocked liquor cabinet for the rare appearance of the dead is a little more crazy than I'm comfortable with.
"What do you want?"

He was in a bad mood; not surprising as he always appears ready to reflect my own state. I told him about the dreams. I asked him why the dead visit periodically and what it is they want?
"Well,", he said expansively, jostling Evy from her repose as he shifted his weight on the couch, "It is my belief that, if there is an afterlife at all, it is essentially a cessation of consciousness. As much as the unconscious mind offers clues to our existence in life, so does the conscious mind provide fodder for it's deep dwelling progenitor. Without consciousness the unconscious mind has lost its inside man, so to speak. The unconscious mind, if it survives at all after the bodily death, remains at an impasse and at times seeks the world of the living for further illumination. I believe this is the basis for the oriental belief in re-incarnation."
I thought about that for a moment and then said, "They've pulled over on the highway, before reaching their destination, and flag us down from time to time to get a look at the map."

C.G. sighed and sat back on the cat, who took a swipe at him and promptly lost his balance and fell off the couch. He gloomily looked back at C.G. and decided he should be ignored.
"Your ability to suck the life out of my work astounds me.", he said crustily .
"I was taught that when I die all the secrets of the cosmos will be revealed to me.", I accused.
"Yeah, and you'll sit at God's feet eating an endless ham and cheese sandwich, getting a foot rub from some beautiful, blonde bimbo. What is it they want, in your dreams? Do they ever impart secrets from the beyond? Do they come encircled by angels, with fanfares and hallelujahs? Or do they appear, pretty much the same as the were in life, asking about friends and family, wondering who's made it to the world cup and who won the cold war?"
"The cold war? You have been dead for a while.", I said.
"My point, exactly. You are living, my friend. The path to wholeness is essentially supplying the unconscious mind with all the information it can acquire. This has nothing to do with nice cars or big houses, but your relation to the infinite. The unconscious mind is your link to the infinite, but it's a two way street. Your waking mind is limited by what you see, hear, smell and touch but this contact is essential for growth as a whole. If you learn this you will understand that you are both limited and eternal and you will become conscious of the eternal.
"Uh-would you like another beer?"
"You're an idiot and I've got work to do. Do me a favour, would you? Consider this. Just as our unconscious affects us, so the increase in our consciousness affects the unconscious. The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. Your being here poses a question which only you, throughout your life, can answer."
"Oh.", I said, standing up. "Thanks for coming by." And he was gone.

I sat there for a while, thinking about what he had said, and wondered if it wasn't more simple than that. Maybe I dream about dead people because I miss them and wish that they were still around so I could talk to them.

However, if he's right, and real reason that I'm here and they are not is because I don't know the answer to the question I pose, then I guess I've got work to do, too.