Is the world a prison for souls? Or is this a simulation of the afterlife? Or is it a trap to keep us in this reincarnation cycle forever?

I’ve been having a lot of these strange experiences lately, so I have been doing some research. I’ve been reading about past life regression hypnosis, out-of-body experiences, astral projection, near-death experiences, reincarnation, gnosticism, the afterlife, etc. It’s been blowing my mind. I was a huge skeptic in the afterlife before. I still don’t know if I believe anything, but this is all very interesting. I’m open to the possibility that this could all be bullshit. But what if there is some truth to this? <br><br>I was watching a video about past life regression hypnosis where the hypnotherapist was putting people under a trance and asking them to describe their past lives. I think most of it is staged bullshit, but there were some interesting observations. Some people said they remembered being in ancient Egypt, Greece, or other places throughout history. They described things they knew nothing about before. One woman was put under a trance and asked about a previous life. She said she remembered being a man in ancient Greece. She said he was a fisherman, and then he got sick and died. But that wasn’t the end of the story. She said his soul went into the afterlife where there was a huge library. There were books upon books upon books, and each book represented different possibilities for where his soul would go next. She said he picked a book, and then he found himself in a new body in a different time and place. This is interesting because some religions believe in the predestination of souls. <br><br>Another video I watched was about out-of-body experiences. Some people claim they can leave their bodies and travel anywhere they want while their physical bodies are in an unconscious state. The most famous out-of-body experience is probably the near-death experience. Some people who have been clinically dead and brought back have described floating above their bodies, watching people trying to revive them, seeing a bright light at the end of a tunnel, meeting deceased family members or friends, feeling infinite love, and being sent back into their bodies. <br><br>This all makes me wonder about the nature of reality. What are we? What happens when we die? Is there a soul or some sort of energy that leaves our bodies? Is the afterlife a paradise, a place of suffering, a realm of reincarnation, or something else? What’s the point of life? Is this a simulated reality?