Afterlife....

[rebeldude]

I noticed an old thread was brought back to life about going to Heaven or Hell. Lets put that one to rest and try something new. I have recently started a study on beliefs and religions other than my own. (I am Christian). I am very curious as to what you believe happens after you die. If you are Christian, I know what you believe, but if your not, what happens after death? Be serious.

[Cianne]

You find out who was right.

[cocky4ever]

I have thought about a lot of different possibilities that could happen after death. For me personally reincarnation makes the most sense. I also believe in a universal conciousness(God). I think that a lot of religions put emphasis on their own personal body and associate their physical body as being solely theirs. This is why we have people who talk about going to Heaven and being reunited with dead family members. I dont see things that way. I see the body as a physical vessel that souls can enter to learn lessons that can only be appreciated when viewed from a physical perspective. Once we die we are no longer seperated as different entities. The seperation only occurs on the physical level because we are trapped in a single viewpoint, no matter how hard we try to see things from outside our own mind. I believe there is a part of our conciousness that lives on after death and reincarnation seems to make sense to me. If that doesnt happen then I guess the next logical possibility would be that there is not life and our conciousness just goes back to the universal one with no more physical lives to live. If that isnt the case then I think the most logical after those two is that we just become worm food. The last one sounds pretty bad but if you think about it you wont be around to care so its not really all that bad. I guess there are basically an infinite possibility of outcomes. While I do enjoy philosophical and religous conversations I dont really worry about it too much. I'll just find out when I get there. For now I just try to live the life that I know for sure I have.

[scunyon]

Don't you know that we all go back to the Machine City and hope to come back as Neo and free others from the Matrix :D

[WayzUp]

I have thought about a lot of different possibilities that could happen after death. For me personally reincarnation makes the most sense. I also believe in a universal conciousness(God). I think that a lot of religions put emphasis on their own personal body and associate their physical body as being solely theirs. This is why we have people who talk about going to Heaven and being reunited with dead family members. I dont see things that way. I see the body as a physical vessel that souls can enter to learn lessons that can only be appreciated when viewed from a physical perspective. Once we die we are no longer seperated as different entities. The seperation only occurs on the physical level because we are trapped in a single viewpoint, no matter how hard we try to see things from outside our own mind. I believe there is a part of our conciousness that lives on after death and reincarnation seems to make sense to me. If that doesnt happen then I guess the next logical possibility would be that there is not life and our conciousness just goes back to the universal one with no more physical lives to live. If that isnt the case then I think the most logical after those two is that we just become worm food. The last one sounds pretty bad but if you think about it you wont be around to care so its not really all that bad. I guess there are basically an infinite possibility of outcomes. While I do enjoy philosophical and religous conversations I dont really worry about it too much. I'll just find out when I get there. For now I just try to live the life that I know for sure I have.
What he said. :)

Organized religion, in my humble opinion, places too much emphasis on eternity-long physical & emotional pain as a deterrent to sinning for me to buy into it. I do believe Jesus Christ and his disciples walked the Earth and did a lot of what is stated in the Bible (with more than a few exceptions) but I think times were so hard when they did, people were willing to believe anything that offered something better. And the use of Heaven as a reward that can be taken away by one act (as in Mortal Sins, which are conveniently defined by the Church) seems more of a control mechanism that a decree by "God."

That's just how I see it and I was raised Catholic...I don't ever remember a time that I actually believed but I did go to Sunday school & Sunday Mass & all that. I really think most people just want to believe in something and use their religion of choice to explain away things they don't understand or can't comprehend.

Good post, c4e, as alwayz. :cool:

[crimsonnation713]

I have thought about a lot of different possibilities that could happen after death. For me personally reincarnation makes the most sense. I also believe in a universal conciousness(God). I think that a lot of religions put emphasis on their own personal body and associate their physical body as being solely theirs. This is why we have people who talk about going to Heaven and being reunited with dead family members. I dont see things that way. I see the body as a physical vessel that souls can enter to learn lessons that can only be appreciated when viewed from a physical perspective. Once we die we are no longer seperated as different entities. The seperation only occurs on the physical level because we are trapped in a single viewpoint, no matter how hard we try to see things from outside our own mind. I believe there is a part of our conciousness that lives on after death and reincarnation seems to make sense to me. If that doesnt happen then I guess the next logical possibility would be that there is not life and our conciousness just goes back to the universal one with no more physical lives to live. If that isnt the case then I think the most logical after those two is that we just become worm food. The last one sounds pretty bad but if you think about it you wont be around to care so its not really all that bad. I guess there are basically an infinite possibility of outcomes. While I do enjoy philosophical and religous conversations I dont really worry about it too much. I'll just find out when I get there. For now I just try to live the life that I know for sure I have.



but then people are interviewed after a near death experience and see the "light".... seeing loved ones...feeling a sense of calm and happiness...and some have said they didnt want to come back...hows that explained?

[uscrebel]

but then people are interviewed after a near death experience and see the "light".... seeing loved ones...feeling a sense of calm and happiness...and some have said they didnt want to come back...hows that explained?

I have the same experience after half a bottle of tequila.

[cocky4ever]

but then people are interviewed after a near death experience and see the "light".... seeing loved ones...feeling a sense of calm and happiness...and some have said they didnt want to come back...hows that explained?
One of my friends died on a hospital operating table as a kid and was brought back to life. He said he was looking down at the doctors who were working on him. He said he didnt see any kind of light or anything, though Im sure some people do. The brain can do all kinds of things. People can get "phantom pains" in limbs that they havent had for years. There are even chemicals that can cause out of body experiences, like ketamine, DMT, salvia, etc. When the brain is shutting down Im sure there are all kinds of synapses and signals firing off and giving all kinds of sensations. Im not saying that those experiences arent spiritual because they very well could be. Im just saying its also very possible that its nothing more than the brain releasing chemicals that results in these types of sensations.

[GeauxTo]

Don't you know that we all go back to the Machine City and hope to come back as Neo and free others from the Matrix :D
Ah ha! You've decided to follow the rules and be serious.
:p

[ColonelKurtz]

I have the same experience after half a bottle of tequila.

:D

Tell ya what......you folks who are so engrossed with what happens when you die are doing nothing more than "living to die" instead of living life!

I too am curious about it, but not so that it gets in the way of being all I can be whilest sucking air. Given that to date we've no documented testimony from anyone who has communicated after death, I pretty much put this topic in the 'idle wonderment' folder of things I might ponder when driving for extended periods.

[GeauxTo]

Like Rebeldude, I'm quite comfortable and content with my Christian view of afterlife. As I look out my window today at a beautiful, sunshiny day on the Bayou and see nature exploding in a pre-spring burst, I am sustained even more in my belief. This beautiful world didn't just happen, folks.
:)

[rebeldude]

:D

Tell ya what......you folks who are so engrossed with what happens when you die are doing nothing more than "living to die" instead of living life!

I too am curious about it, but not so that it gets in the way of being all I can be whilest sucking air. Given that to date we've no documented testimony from anyone who has communicated after death, I pretty much put this topic in the 'idle wonderment' folder of things I might ponder when driving for extended periods.

If you are so curious and I know you have put some thought in it. Go Ahead and tell us what you think. BTW.. I live life to the fullest my friend. Christians do have fun ya know. I just don't wake up at 11am with an 8 hour hangover and then have to go to work.
:D

[rebeldude]

Like Rebeldude, I'm quite comfortable and content with my Christian view of afterlife. As I look out my window today at a beautiful, sunshiny day on the Bayou and see nature exploding in a pre-spring burst, I am sustained even more in my belief. This beautiful world didn't just happen, folks.
:)

You are sooo right, but I am looking at Snow!
:)

[cocky4ever]

Like Rebeldude, I'm quite comfortable and content with my Christian view of afterlife. As I look out my window today at a beautiful, sunshiny day on the Bayou and see nature exploding in a pre-spring burst, I am sustained even more in my belief. This beautiful world didn't just happen, folks.
:)

It doesnt really matter to me what beliefs someone has. If you're appreciating the world around you then you're heading in the right direction.

[GeauxTo]

It doesnt really matter to me what beliefs someone has. If you're appreciating the world around you then you're heading in the right direction.
You seem to be an excellent human being Cocky; someone that any of us would like as a neighbor.
;)

[cocky4ever]

You seem to be an excellent human being Cocky; someone that any of us would like as a neighbor.
;)
Thanks for the compliments :)

However, I think some of my neigbors would disagree during football season...other than that Im pretty orderly though :p

[Cianne]

but then people are interviewed after a near death experience and see the "light".... seeing loved ones...feeling a sense of calm and happiness...and some have said they didnt want to come back...hows that explained?

The angular gyrus is a section of the brain that if stimulated correctly gives you the out of body experience and feeling of a "greater power" around you. A researcher with an electric probe could do it to you while you're still conscious.

[ColonelKurtz]

If you are so curious and I know you have put some thought in it. Go Ahead and tell us what you think. BTW.. I live life to the fullest my friend. Christians do have fun ya know. I just don't wake up at 11am with an 8 hour hangover and then have to go to work.
:D

As the 'afterlife' is a concept which predates all known faiths, I treat it the same as that of our origin. While we are certain that we a physically here right now, it isn't of any importance to the struggle to survive in this Reality to do anything more than speculate about the start & finish as it's the race in between which offers us our only rock solid connection with what life is all about.

I'm sure that you and others of faith are comfortable in the manner in which you lall live just as I and others who do not require it. Therein lies the differences in philosophy, for in every instance it is those of faith who feel that trumpeting their DECISION to follow some dogma is of some greater importance to something which matters absolutely not, like what happens when one dies. The Reality is that only so long as you are among the Living are you able to exercise some control over how your life goes and once that ends, nobody knows.

Living a 'Godly' life is no better than living the bard's life when you get down to cases, for you either die as a person who tried to live what society considers to be a 'good' life or what it holds as a 'bad' life. Neither matter at the end, for the same result for both is assured: death. If you and other wish to hold that some reward awaits you after your life fine, but don't mind me and others who hold that concept as something not worthy of the concern which you of faith hold.