The realm of scientific spirituality!

Krishna: “After death, my dispersed energy and matter, converted from what once made me, turns into nature and starts a new cycle”

That is right. But “cycles”, not just ‘one cycle’.

“If that gives rise to a new being who feels "I am" but has none of my identity or memories, is that the illusion of me starting over again?”

This is where you mis-stepped!

Your matter (atoms - particles your present body is made of) and energy get scattered in Nature. They will be recycled. They will be taken by several other forms - both living and non-living - not just one living being.

When a living body dies, the energy it contains doesn't disappear, but rather converts into other forms of energy and is dispersed into the environment. This energy transfer happens through decomposition, where bacteria and other organisms break down the body, releasing heat and other chemical compounds. Additionally, the body's heat dissipates into the surroundings.

The heat energy is transferred to the surrounding environment.

The chemical energy stored in the body's molecules is released as bacteria decompose the body. This process releases heat and other chemical compounds.

Decomposers like bacteria and fungi break down the body, releasing nutrients back into the soil or water, which can then be used by other organisms.

If a body is cremated, the stored chemical energy is released as heat and light.

The released energy and nutrients can be used by other organisms like insects, plants, and microorganisms.

The energy released by a dead body is not exclusively taken by existing organisms to create new life. Instead, the energy is primarily dissipated as heat into the environment, while some of it is consumed by decomposers like bacteria and fungi, who break down the organic matter. This decomposition process releases nutrients and energy back into the ecosystem, which can then be utilized by other living organisms, but it doesn't directly lead to the spontaneous generation of new life.

The decomposition process releases various chemical compounds and gases that can be taken up by plants, which form the base of many food chains, thus’ indirectly supporting the growth and development of other organisms’.

So a new being that can feel “I , me , myself” or consciousness doesn’t get generated from it directly.

Image source: Shutterstock

“Is that the illusion of me starting over again?”

Yes, undoubtedly! Once you are dead, there will never be another ‘you’ again as the same conscious being.

You have borrowed some matter and energy for a life time and then returned it to the universe for the recycling process to continue. Everything here belongs to the universe, not you.

And science directs this eternal show! (1)

The atoms and molecules in your body came from other forms and then go to other forms after your death. This is a never ending cycle. You can never exist in this form again. The atoms in your body can never be in the same body and same form like it is now. It will never have the same consciousness. So there will never be ‘another you’.

You exist only once. The consciousness that tells you who you are now came into existence because the atoms, molecules in your body that formed a particular matter called neural mass in your brain and work only in a particular way. Without interaction between specific-chemical-interaction-structured-neurons and their interactions with one another in a special way, there won't be any consciousness. Although nerve cells exist throughout the body, only the specific collective interactions of neurons with the help of other neurons in the body in a brain causes consciousness.

The way these atoms and molecules of neurons in your brain came together, the way the neurons formed circuits, the way they interact now is unique to you only now. They were never the same earlier when they were in other forms and they can never be the same again. Because no matter how many times they try to be a part of living matter ( for that matter non-living matter too), and in how many bodies they interact with, they can never be in the same combinations and actions or interactions.

‘You’ just have one birth. “You” just live only once. After your death the atoms and molecules in your body form part of other living and non-living entities, but never in the same way, and therefore, can never be the same ‘you’.

Just because you were born once doesn’t mean you will be born again. Just because you have one form now with a particular consciousness doesn’t mean you will have the same one again and again.

There won’t be another ‘you’ again. If some people say there will be, it is just ‘imagination without solid evidence’ to get some sort of mental comfort to overcome the discomfort the thought of death brings.

So forget about ‘other births’. Just live your one life satisfactorily now.

The words ‘my and mine’ are an illusion too. Everything here is everybody’s! Most importantly, the Universe’s.

Now we are getting into the realm of scientific spirituality! :)

Footnotes:

1. Science and Spirituality