The question of eternity

It is an incontrovertible truth that every human being desires to 'be' eternal. The thought of one's annihilation is not only counter-intuitive, it cannot be intellectually accepted. If the only truth that I am absolutely certain of is my existence, then how can I comprehend when I am not? Even when we think of death, of our own demise, we assume the continuation of our consciousness into the far away future. When we contemplate the death of a close one, we again believe in some corner of our heart of their continual 'being' in a form which may be inexplicable at present, but there nonetheless.

The question of eternity, of our own timeless existence into the continuum of forever, is a significant one. We live this transitory life with the hope of an everlasting life after death, most religions teach us this, rather, it is (some contend) the reason detre of religions. They console and placate us with a promise of an endless life if we follow their dictums in this one. The problem is who would be that 'eternal' self? if I exist for thousands and thousands of years would I be the same person as now? or would I change to something profoundly different and in that case, I would cease to be and in my place someone else would come to be.