We can find the idea of immortality in every culture across the world, in every philosophy, and even in different genres of literature. This obsession with immortality has led to different myths across the centuries, with one of the most famous ones being the Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring of water believed to restore youth and grant immortality. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Egyptians believed in the existence of this legendary body of water. Still, it wasn’t until the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León arrived in Florida, where he was said to be searching for this mystical spring, that the legend really took off.
In the Bible, we see a specific instance in which David, the psalmist, describes God as akin to the “fountain of youth.” People want eternal youth due to this renewal of life that youth evokes, but what if true life came from a spiritual transformation rather than a mystical experience? What if this mythical fountain points to the deep yearning we have as souls seeking for a divine connection that gives us hope, renewal and the redemption of lost time due to mistakes. To desire to go back to our youth means that we would like a restoration of our previous years.
“For with You is the fountain of life;
‘In Your light we see light.”
Psalm 36:9 (New King James Version)
Here, David says that God’s Spirit provides a “fountain of life,” reflecting His nature – God’s Spirit flows to give life to all things in this world and a purity of light that reflects the holiness of His awesome power.
Youthfulness is often associated with life, and so even in the previously mentioned, the search for eternal youth is equivalent to the search for eternal life.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord“
Romans 6:23 (King James Version)
In Hinduism and some Buddhist sects, immortality is viewed through the lens of the soul. The soul is considered eternal, due to its being considered immortal, unchanging, and indestructible. Buddhist philosophy considers the soul immortal in another sense, as the ultimate goal is to overcome the cycles of death and rebirth (samsara) in order to achieve nirvana, better known as a “deathless” (amṛta) state. This deathless state is a spiritual ascension of the soul that allows for a cessation of suffering through the ending of the eternal continuation of a “fixed self.” Both spiritual practices, therefore, do not believe there is a divine being in charge of all, but rather a spiritual essence that flows through all of us. Because life is seen through cycles, the soul continuously reincarnates in both ideologies.
In one line of thinking, it leads to a person going on an eternal chase to seek spiritual ascension as a way to achieve immortality over these death and life cycles, as the heaviness of one’s own mortality starts to sink in. In the other line of thought, the acceptance of being immortal and having endless time means that you can mess up more often than not, and can sway one into spiritual slumber, because the only thing being asked of you is to flow with the current of the universe itself. There is no moral basis or value system ascribed to these spiritual practices other than “vibrating high” in new age circles, with the idea that feeling fear will only cause one to vibrate low.
Spiritual bypassing, which involves using spiritual explanations to dismiss or avoid complicated emotions or psychological issues, is very common in both of these spiritual practices. What happens then is the use of flowery spiritual language to numb these “undesirable” feelings, leading to a lack of compassion, burnout, and stagnancy disguised as forward movement. Whereas God always asks us to be completely honest with Him. Even Jesus wept when on this Earth physically.
Then Jesus wept.
John 11:35 (New Living Translation)
Despite death being inevitable, there is this false sense of transcendence based on deception that we do not need to fear death because immortality is already yours, so no matter how risky you live your life, you will continue to live. This line of thought builds up pride because you subconsciously start to take life for granted. There are many chances ahead to make it all work out, so why even try? There is no specific standard to obtain, just a blueprint to follow – often through Vedic Astrology, although Western Astrology may be used as well. Because this higher power is leading one through this life, and the lives we believe we are entitled to because of our status as a soul, we live our lives following a voice that perverts the meaning of what it means to be a soul in this day and age.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
– Matthew 10:28 (New King James Version)
According to the Bible, we all have souls, and souls are the mind, will, and emotions of a person. We are also given a spirit and a body, and within the body, the flesh, meaning the sinful, self-centered nature and mindset apart from God that lives in our fallen nature often seeks its own will and resists the Holy Spirit. Outside of the Bible, there isn’t a depth of this understanding in other spiritualities because Jesus truly is the way, the truth, and the life.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 (New King James Version)
God does give us immortal souls when we give our lives to Him. Before that, we were dead in our trespasses, and we were condemned to hell because our flesh was in charge of our souls, and/ or different spirits that we may have been invoking through rituals.
And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
Romans 8:10-11 (New Living Translation)
Why is that? Because if He had given us immortality without first purifying our souls from the darkness of sin, from the darkness that our flesh let into our souls, and from the darkness found in partnering with other spirits aside from the Holy Spirit, heaven would not be heaven. Because heaven is the place where God lives and reigns, and He is so holy, so set apart, it means that we, in our fallen nature, could not be in His presence. Therefore, if we were immortal beings with this fallen nature, we would automatically be sent to hell for eternity. Hell was always meant for the fallen angels, the demons, the principalities that are fighting against the governance of God.
So when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are now an eternal being, because He has placed a promise of everlasting life, and even a new body through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean that you won’t experience a physical death. Because of our fallen nature, because sin leads to death, death has entered humanity. The only way to be redeemed from perpetual death is through eternal life.
SARAÍ MERINO VEGA 
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