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Skill guide · Immortality

Immortality and longevity: from alchemy to science

From Gilgamesh and Taoist elixirs to cryonics, longevity biotech and “Don’t Die”. The texts on physical immortality I have collected, next to who teaches or sells the quest today, what it costs, what the evidence says, and what is happening in Brussels.

My immortality textsWhat science says
The Flood Tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, British Museum
The Eight Immortals crossing the sea, Chinese painting
The Alchemist by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771
Health caution
This page collects ideas and claims about overcoming death. No person is known to have lived beyond 122 years, and no method to stop ageing has been shown to work in humans. Nothing here is medical, financial or legal advice. Before you start a fasting, breathing or supplement routine, buy a longevity programme or sign a preservation contract, talk to your doctor and read the provider’s terms.
From my library

Texts on physical immortality

In here you’ll find everything which I’ve helped to make available on this website about the subject of physical immortality.

Esoteric text
William Mistele: On attaining physical immortality

In here I’ve found an online text on the training of attaining physical immortality: read Mistele’s essay.

About the text: Mistele builds on Franz Bardon’s hermetic system. He claims that breathing exercises which build “vital force” can lead, “somewhere between level eight and nine”, to a body that “stops growing old”. He also calls Bardon’s breathing “my weakest area of practice”. A personal account of belief and practice, not proof.
Secrets of an immortal - Ben Abba - THE Golden Library
Spiritual story
Ben Abba: Secrets of an Immortal

Here is a short book about a man who lives already more than 2800 years:

View the book on AmazonBen Abba’s blog
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The “2,800-year-old man” is unnamed; his age cannot be checked.
Quoted from Ben Abba

Messages of hope by Ben Abba

I thought I would offer everyone some of the messages of inspiration and hope that I received from the remarkable man whom I have been interviewing for many years.

You see, I have also found hope that anything was possible since I first heard the story of the incredible man who defied death 2,000 years ago. But like most of you, I still needed to see, hear, or better yet experience such death defying feats during our modern age to really take “to heart” what we were taught by those famous biblical prophets.

So when it occurred to me that there actually were people living past 125 years of age, and way beyond that number, I started to “feel my heart” stir to the possibility many of our ancient myths may have been much more than stories of hope. Could they conceivably be accounts of actual people who found “the answers to achieving the impossible”? Did these people achieve such incredible feats, because the has nothing to fear? Or because they simply decided not to allow their lives to be conquered by their fears? Or, perhaps, they discovered the secret of living a life without fears which allowed these people to accomplish all that their heart’s desired? Clearly, fear in our lives, disables us, blocks us from growing, stops us for moving forward, hampers us in attaining our life’s dreams; and in some cases, perhaps in many ways, destroys our lives from the inside out. So, if fear is what keeps us from what we want, what we need, what we desire; then is it possible that the “lack of fear” or the “absence of fear” will allow us to obtain what we work for, what we struggle for, and what we sacrifice for? From what what I have learned from my 2,800 year friend, and from the man who made history 2,000 years ago, is a big, blatant YES to these questions. Certainly they both had fears, but it is quite obvious from what I have heard from the both of them is simply: conquer your fears and you will achieve results. So how did these 2 incredible men face their fears and conquer them? The simplest of answers I could ascertain from the both of them, happens to be the same message: 1. Do not believe in the fear. Believe instead in the “opposite of fear” which is love. 2. Do not believe in death. Believe instead in the “opposite of death” which is life. 3. Do not live your lives believing in fear and in death, but instead live your lives believing in love and in life. Have you ever met a person who believes in love and in life? When you do, you automatically be moved by the presence, their words, and all that surrounds them. Is that not how we, deep down inside, really want to live? A life of contentment without worries, fears, and experiencing life at its fullest? We can seek out these people for guidance, we can model our lives after these people … or we can start today and simply add this simple knowledge into our lives, in everything we say, everything we do, and when we deal with all that life deals to us.

This is what I have learned from a 2,800 year man, who lives this way every day. And I am embarrassed to say, this is what I should have learned from the man who taught us all this; 2,000 years ago today.Â

Key numbers

At a glance

122
years and 164 days: the longest verified human life
Jeanne Calment, died 4 Aug 1997 (Wikipedia)
117
age of the oldest living person
Ethel Caterham (UK), born 21 Aug 1909 (GRG)
2.24M
YouTube subscribers for Bryan Johnson
The biggest “Don’t Die” voice; checked 10 Oct 2026
€200K
whole-body cryopreservation at Tomorrow.bio
Members’ price; Tomorrow.bio
0
humans revived after cryopreservation
None demonstrated (Wikipedia)
12
Belgian members of the Cryonics Institute
CI statistics, March 2025 (CI)

One word, three audiences. Longevity and biohacking is where the attention and money are. Cryonics and digital afterlife is small but expensive. Spiritual “physical immortality” teaching, the tradition of the texts above, is tiny online: most channels have between 890 and 25,000 subscribers.

An old quest

Where the dream of living forever comes from

The quest is very old and has failed again and again. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the hero is told: “Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share” (Wikipedia). Legends below are what a tradition tells about itself, not proof of what happened.

Flood Tablet, Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia
Sumerian poems perhaps from c. 2100 BCE; the hero seeks the flood survivor Utnapishtim for the secret of eternal life. Flood Tablet, British Museum. Photo CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Eight Immortals crossing the sea
China: elixirs and the Eight Immortals
Han emperors tried alchemical elixirs; under the Tang “several emperors died from alchemical elixir poisoning” (Wikipedia). Public domain.
Woodcut portrait of Ge Hong
Ge Hong (283–343 or 364)
Wrote the Baopuzi (AD 317) on elixirs and Taoist immortality; later inner alchemy (neidan) turned to breath, diet and meditation. Woodcut, CC0.
Churning of the ocean of milk, Indian painting about 1820
India: amrita and Babaji
The nectar amrita comes from the churning of the ocean. The “deathless” Babaji was first claimed in Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi (1946). Painting c. 1820, public domain.
Eos and Tithonus on a Greek red-figure cup
Greece: the Tithonus warning
Eos won eternal life for her lover Tithonus but not eternal youth: the classic warning. Red-figure kylix, Boston MFA, public domain.
The Alchemist, Joseph Wright of Derby
The philosopher’s stone
Said to make gold and an elixir of “rejuvenation and immortality”. Legends of Flamel’s immortality only appear in the 17th century; records show he died in 1418. Painting 1771, public domain.
Al-Khidr, Persian miniature
Khidr, Enoch and Elijah
Enoch “was no more; for God took him” (Gen 5:24). The Quran does not call Khidr immortal; later scholars told of him drinking from the River of Life. Public domain.
Nicolas Flamel, line engraving
Masters who never die
Theosophy (from 1875) spoke of hidden Masters; occult lore made the Count of St. Germain, whose death was recorded in 1784, one of them. Flamel engraving, Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0.
Timeline of the immortality quest from Gilgamesh to XPRIZE Healthspan
Timeline from Web researcher’s report. Sources: Wikipedia (Gilgamesh, Waidan, Ge Hong, Theosophical Society, Ettinger, Cryonics, Calico, Altos Labs), XPRIZE and NewLimit news.
ThenNowThe same idea
Elixirs and the philosopher’s stoneRapamycin, metformin, NAD boosters, cell reprogramming“A master recipe exists and is close”; the testing standard is what changed
Inner alchemy: breath, diet, disciplineBiohacking: sensors, supplements, saunaThe body as a laboratory
Deathless masters: Khidr, Babaji, St. GermainAI “digital twins” and griefbotsA guide who outlives death
Afterlife and resurrectionCryonics (Ettinger, The Prospect of Immortality, 1962)Death as a pause, not an end
Who is selling forever

Modern movements and schools

Counts and prices checked 10 October 2026 by Web researcher. “Claim” means the group’s own statement. Figures marked * were seen only in a search-result summary.

Longevity and biohacking

NameWhat they claim or doAudience (10 Oct 2026)
David SinclairClaim: ageing is a loss of epigenetic information and can be reversed; critics say “reverse aging” is the wrong termYouTube 522K
Peter Attia“Longevity medicine”: exercise, sleep, screening; healthspan, not immortalityYouTube 1.04M
Aubrey de Grey (LEV Foundation)Claim: ageing is repairable damage; estimates a 50/50 chance of “longevity escape velocity” in the late 2030s*No official channel found
Ray KurzweilClaim: medicine will add more than a year of life per year around 2029–2035; takes about 80 pills a day*Books, talks
Altos LabsCell “rejuvenation programming”; launched Jan 2022 with $3B; no public clinical candidateNot a consumer offer
NewLimitEpigenetic reprogramming of liver cells; first human trial planned for 2027; $435M Series C (June 2026)Not a consumer offer

Cryonics and digital immortality

Digital immortality: Replika’s founder built a chatbot from a dead friend’s messages; HereAfter AI, which let relatives “talk to” recorded life stories, shut down in July 2026; the 2045 Initiative (2011) aims to move a personality into a non-biological carrier. No upload of a mind has been shown.

Spiritual and “physical immortality” schools

Screenshot of William Mistele
Esoteric text
William Mistele
Free essay
Bardon-based breathing towards a body that “stops growing old” (claim). No audience figures found.
Read the essay →
Screenshot of Ben Abba
Spiritual story
Ben Abba
Free blog
Reports conversations with an unnamed man of about 2,800 years (claim); plans a book series.
Read the blog →
Screenshot of Mantak Chia: Taoist inner alchemy
Teacher
Mantak Chia: Taoist inner alchemy
YouTube 344K · €890 a week
Neidan and qigong retreats at Tao Garden; two-week bundle €1,720.
Visit site →
Screenshot of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga
Teacher
Babaji’s Kriya Yoga
$397 first initiation
Kriya pranayama and 18 postures; the lineage rests on Yogananda’s 1946 account of a deathless master.
Open the flyer →
Screenshot of People Unlimited (Arizona)
Claim tested by time
People Unlimited (Arizona)
$135–$255 a month
Its founders taught physical immortality through “cellular awakening”; both have died (2014 and 2024, the latter cryopreserved) (The Skeptic).
Visit site →
Screenshot of The Skeptic: “The immortality cult”
Critique
The Skeptic: “The immortality cult”
August 2026
A sceptical look at cryonics and the Arizona physical-immortality movement.
Read the article →
Watch

Popular videos: explainers, claims and debunks

Views as shown on YouTube on 10 October 2026. Music videos such as Evanescence’s “My Immortal” are left out.

Video thumbnail: Can You Upload Your Mind & Live Forever?
▶
Explainer
Can You Upload Your Mind & Live Forever?
Kurzgesagt · 13.1M views
The biggest video on digital immortality.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Let’s Kill You a Billion Times to Make You Immortal
▶
Explainer
Let’s Kill You a Billion Times to Make You Immortal
Kurzgesagt · 4.9M views
Biological immortality, animated.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: How to Slow Aging (and even reverse it)
▶
Science
How to Slow Aging (and even reverse it)
Veritasium · 7.4M views
What slows ageing in the lab.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: What If No One Ever Died? (Dr Binocs)
▶
For kids
What If No One Ever Died? (Dr Binocs)
Peekaboo Kidz · 20.6M views
The most-viewed video found on the topic.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: What It Feels Like to Live as An Immortal?
▶
Thought experiment
What It Feels Like to Live as An Immortal?
Lazy Owl · 7.4M views
What an endless life might feel like.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Dr David Sinclair: Can Aging Be Reversed?
▶
Claim
Dr David Sinclair: Can Aging Be Reversed?
The Diary Of A CEO · 6.7M views
A celebrity scientist on “reversing” ageing; see the critiques above.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Dr. Peter Attia on your final decade
▶
Interview
Dr. Peter Attia on your final decade
60 Minutes · 3.7M views
Healthspan rather than immortality.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Frozen humans brought back to life
▶
Documentary
Frozen humans brought back to life
60 Minutes Australia · 5.1M views
TV report on cryonics.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Storing dead people at −196 °C
▶
Facility visit
Storing dead people at −196 °C
Tom Scott · 2.8M views
Inside a cryonics store.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Science of Immortality: Sadhana, Diet, Yoga, Longevity (Guru Pashupati)
▶
Yogic view
Science of Immortality: Sadhana, Diet, Yoga, Longevity (Guru Pashupati)
SHLLOKA · 482K views
Immortality in a spiritual sense.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: The Yoga of Physical Immortality, Immortal Yogis and Babaji (Leonard Orr)
▶
Claim
The Yoga of Physical Immortality, Immortal Yogis and Babaji (Leonard Orr)
illuminaticongo (re-upload) · 76K views
Archival lecture on “physical immortality” and Babaji.
Watch on YouTube →
Video thumbnail: Leonard Orr on Immortality
▶
Claim
Leonard Orr on Immortality
Leslie McCandless · 36K views
Another Leonard Orr lecture.
Watch on YouTube →

The sceptical and funny side

Most-viewed immortality and longevity videos on YouTube
Most-viewed videos on the topic, YouTube, 10 Oct 2026. Chart from Web researcher’s report.
YouTube subscribers of the main longevity, cryonics and immortality channels
Audience size of the main channels (log scale), YouTube, 10 Oct 2026. Every cryonics channel is below 6K and every physical-immortality group below 5K.
What it costs

Prices: from free texts to a million a year

Published prices for supplements, clinics, cryonics and courses
List prices as published (USD or EUR, not converted; log scale). Chart from Web researcher’s report.
ItemPublished priceSource
Mistele essay, Ben Abba blogFreeMistele, Ben Abba
Kriya Yoga first initiation$397 + taxFlyer
Mantak Chia retreat€890 a week, €1,720 for twomantakchia.com
People Unlimited$135–$255 a monthpeopleunlimitedinc.com
Blueprint Essential Capsules$49 for 30 daysBlueprint
Bryan Johnson “Immortals” concierge$75,000–$1M a yearAxios, 8 Oct 2026
Fountain Life$10,500 / $21,500 a yearFountain Life
The Clynique, BrugesIntake from €150 (90 min)theclynique.be
Minicircle gene therapy (unapproved)$25,000 a dose (2023 report)Fortune
Cryonics$28,000 to $220,000*; €75,000–€200,000Providers above
Close to home

Belgium and Brussels

Brussels is a real longevity-policy city but a thin grassroots one. Web researcher found no physical-immortality group in Brussels.

Screenshot of European Healthy Aging Summit
Event
European Healthy Aging Summit
15 Oct 2026 · €237
One day in Brussels; prevention, nutrition, epigenetics and policy (academic €166).
Visit site →
Screenshot of Eurosymposium on Healthy Ageing
Event
Eurosymposium on Healthy Ageing
5–6 Nov 2026, Brussels and online
7th edition, organised by HEALES and the International Longevity Alliance; price not published.
Visit site →
Screenshot of HEALES (Healthy Life Extension Society)
Association
HEALES (Healthy Life Extension Society)
Monthly online meeting
Brussels association that “promotes and supports anti-aging research”; first Sunday at 16:00.
Visit site →
Screenshot of CLEA Longevity+ (VUB)
University
CLEA Longevity+ (VUB)
Free online seminars
Seminars on ageing, rejuvenation and hormesis; Aubrey de Grey spoke in the series.
Visit site →
Screenshot of Longevity Brussels
Meetup
Longevity Brussels
69 members
One past event so far (23 Feb 2025, 2 attendees).
View the group →
Screenshot of Uperform, Brussels
Clinic
Uperform, Brussels
No price published
Preventive longevity programme for ages 35–70, with a free first assessment.
Visit site →

Cryonics from Belgium: the Cryonics Institute lists 12 Belgian members (March 2025); Belgium is not in Tomorrow.bio’s top ten countries. A Belgian member would also pay for transport and standby.

Google Trends, pulled 10 October 2026. Worldwide over 12 months “longevity” averages 75 on a shared scale, “anti aging” 28 and “immortality” 17 (probably inflated by songs). In Belgium “anti aging” beats “longevity”, and Brussels is the top region for “longevity”.

Google Trends worldwide, five terms, past 12 months
Worldwide, past 12 months, five terms on one scale.
Google Trends Belgium, five terms, past 5 years
Belgium, past 5 years. Belgian data are sparse; “cryonics” has no non-zero weeks.
Google Trends interest by Belgian region
Belgian regions, 5 years: Brussels 100 for “longevity”, Flanders 46, Wallonia 18.
The evidence

What science says

TopicWhat the sources show
Hayflick limitNormal human cells divide about 40–60 times in culture and then stop (Wikipedia). “Immortal” cells are a feature of cancer cells, not healthy bodies.
RapamycinRaised mean lifespan of mice by 9% (males) and 13% (females) (Nature 2009). The 48-week human PEARL trial did not measure lifespan (Aging). It is a transplant immunosuppressant.
Metformin (TAME)The famous ageing trial has never started (AFAR).
“Biological age” testsTechnical noise alone can shift major epigenetic clocks by up to 3–9 years (Nature Aging 2022).
Cryonics“Generally viewed as a pseudoscience”; about 600 people preserved by 2024; no revival of a vitrified human is known (Wikipedia).
Physical-immortality teachingNo peer-reviewed evidence of anyone living indefinitely through breath, diet or ascension. Teachers who claimed it have died (The Skeptic).
Stay safe

Risks, scams and ethics

Unapproved therapies
The FDA warns that stem-cell, exosome and similar products sold outside approved trials can cause infections, tumours and blindness. Belgium’s FAGG warns against unapproved stem-cell treatments abroad.
Supplement hype
Even Bryan Johnson told Axios that “basically everything on social media” about longevity treatments is snake oil.
Breatharianism
Living on “light” without food has been linked to deaths: five by 2017 tied to one teacher’s publications (Wikipedia). Do not stop eating or drinking.
Money and grief
Cryonics depends on organisations lasting for decades; griefbot apps can close (HereAfter AI, 2026). Be careful when you are bereaved or ill.
Questions

FAQ

Has anyone become physically immortal?
No one has been shown to. The longest verified life is 122 years (Jeanne Calment). Mistele’s and Ben Abba’s texts are personal and spiritual accounts.
Can I slow down ageing?
Mainstream longevity medicine focuses on healthspan: exercise, sleep, nutrition and screening. Talk to your doctor before taking drugs such as rapamycin or metformin for ageing.
Is cryonics legal and how much is it?
Providers charge from about $28,000 to $220,000*, or €75,000 to €200,000 in Europe, usually paid through life insurance. Legal rules for Belgians were not researched.
Are the breathing practices dangerous?
Gentle breathing and qigong are usually low-risk, but fasting, “living on light” or extreme breath-holding can be dangerous. Ask a doctor first if you have a health condition.
Where can I meet others in Brussels?
HEALES, the VUB CLEA seminars, the Eurosymposium and Longevity Brussels; or discuss it on our forum.
THE Golden Library Forum

Discuss Immortality in the forum

Share your progress, ask questions and practise together with other students on the Immortality board.

Join the Immortality forumCreate a free accountJoin THE Golden Library Research Group
References

Sources

Also used: YouTube, TikTok, Meetup, RedPulse and Google Trends, all checked 10 Oct 2026, from THE Golden Library report “Immortality”. Figures marked * come from search-result summaries only. Image credits: historical images from Wikimedia Commons (public domain, CC0, or CC BY / CC BY-SA 4.0 as stated in each caption; Flood Tablet photo and jellyfish photo CC BY-SA 4.0, Flamel engraving Wellcome Collection CC BY 4.0); video thumbnails belong to their YouTube channels; website previews are screenshots of the linked pages; charts are our own.

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