That’s still within the guidelines of IMHO after all we all have our own opinions which we can share without debating.
I’ve got a couple of ideas myself.
You, being defined as your consciousness, simply ceases to exist.
or
You “dream” an afterlife between unconsciousness and death whereby all sense of time is gone and you “live” ultimately forever in your imagination. That life of course could only be fractions of a second but that wouldn’t matter.
I’m about 99.999% sure it’s the former but a guy can hope can’t he? If I could choose I’d like to live as a ghost and wander the world forever, I wouldn’t mind a couple of other ghosts but I wouldn’t want anything amounting to a population.
Well, if there is afterlife, every one of them except ONE is wrong.
Further, even if there is afterlife, maybe none of them have it right, but another prophet will come along that gets it right. Or a lot more prophets come along that keep getting it wrong.
Back on topic, I don’t think there’s anywhere you go. Not that I ever thought otherwise, but I was thinking about it when I had knee surgery that day. They put me under, and I’m gone, buddy. Gone. No concsiousness, no waking me up with cold water in my face, gone.
I was thinking after that. . .that must be just what it’s like to die. If I died somehow while under anathesia, that’s it. The last bit of my existence was that silly conversation they held with me before I went down.
This realization made me think. . .whatever, dude.
End of consciousness. Boom. No more nothing. I’m comfortable with it.
Don’t know. I’d love to think there’s more to it all, but, to reference Carl Sagan once more, that seems like wishful thinking. It’s probably a good idea to hedge your bets and appreciate life. I’m a bit against making demands like “strive to achieve the most” and so forth, because saddling yourself with too much pressure tends to ruin a potentially good time. My main goal is to be happy and content as much as possible, and at least try not to add more than my share to the surplus of suffering the world already has, both in myself, and in others. What will be when I perish will be.
There is an afterlife. The soul exists eternally. I also believe in universal salvation. Your Mom is in Heaven. I’m not entirely sure what exactly Heaven is like, but she’s there.
Nope. As I said, I believe in universal salvation. And a good case can be made that universal salvation is in no way inconsistent with Catholic theology.
That doesn’t mean that Hell doesn’t exist, just that there are no human souls there.
Thousands of years ago, the Egyptians built massive Pyramids to help their dead into the afterlife.
Do you believe in Ra, the Sun God?
Viking cultures had wonderful send-offs in burning longboats. Ther warriors would fight on heavenly battlefields.
Do you believe in Odin and his Valkyries?
Judaism is based on the Old Testament. They say the the Messiah has not yet come, and that Jesus was just a prophet.
Do you agree with them?
Christianity is founded on the belief that Jesus was the Son of God and rose from the dead. The only evidence for this is 4 books, written 30 to 100 years later, quoting a handful of eye-witness reports.
I could continue - there have been so many religions in history.
In particular, although the teachings of Jesus are inspiring, his modern-day followers have a massive range of views. They are split over the authority of the Pope. Some fight each other. Some say evolution is wrong. Some say you can be healed at services. Some say blood transfusion is a sin.
There are similar splits in Islam.
From the scientific viewpoint, there is no evidence for any religion. There’s not even a way to decide which sect of any religion is the correct one.
I don’t think anything “happens” when you die, either. A professor, who’s an agnostic Jew (I think), explained his view to me, (which also might be from Judaism, but I’m not sure) that our spirit goes on in those that continue living. I think it’s a good approach. It provides a personal reminder to me that you should try to be a good person in your life. (Though I’m not perfect.) It sounds like this theory has at least been achieved in your case, since your mom does live on with you.
Damn, those are good points…never thought of them.
Well what about if the afterlife is all & everything you mentioned, ala The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul ??? It COULD be possible right…but then again, anything could be possible…
I think you are correct, prsent existence of a particular religion does not imply validity on this topic. For all we know they could all be true or maybe the Vikings were right.
I simply can’t picture my dear mom as a Valkyrie. :eek:
You go to the Halls of Mandos to sit and wait for the End of Days. What happens then, you’re not quite sure, but you think it has something to do with that one mortal guy (who let HIM in anyway?) kicking Morgoth’s butt.
I’ve come to think that when you die your essence, or spirit, dissipates into the universe around us. Then, as a new being is formed, their spirit is a coalescence of free spirit. Thus, parts of you live on in many living things.
Not a bad way to think about it, regardless of whether or not you think we go somewhere, get reincarnated, or do nothing…I think I prefer not to think of it as “hedging [my] bets”, but more like “living in the moment” or “when in Rome…”
Speaking of Rome, this reminds me of my trip to Italy. I was there for 3-4 months…and towards the end of my stay, I started taking advantage of my free time, going to visit various places, because the way I figured it, hey, I might never be back in Italy.
Doesn’t matter to me whether or not anything happens when we die. If there is, it’s the next adventure. If there’s not, you might not consciously regret it after you die, but you might shortly before. Well, actually, it does matter, and I do wonder about it - but I’ve realized that what I may think doesn’t affect what actually is…and I’ve accepted that.
Basically, I don’t think this is a problem for most people…but every now and then you see some people that are too caught up in worrying about things not of this world to make the best of the time they have (or, sometimes, are just too anxious to go to heaven or whatever)…usually, we see them on TV.
Yumblie, I’m still giggling at that even after reading the other posts. Excellent job working in that circle of life.
The body is a shell. At some point at or after conception it is attached to part of a noncorporeal being. This being is capable of attaching to multiple bodies, probably even multiple species. The qualities & desires of the spiritual being are expressed as action via the brain, which acts as an interface between the spirit the body. Damage or deform the brain and its capacity to interpret the desires of the spirit into bodily action is altered–it’s just an organ. It is through this attachment that the spiritual being is able to experience this plane of existence. Once the living body fails, the spirit detaches and is reabsorbed like a drop into an ocean.
Morality, a human construct, ceases to exist upon death: the body decomposes & re-enters The Circle of Life and the spirit simply returns to its source where it will mix with the other “drops” and reinhabit another body or maybe just reside indefinitely deep within the spirit as part of its consciousess.
The Universe is not so profligate as to throw itself away. Mind under matter and all that stuff.
AFTER THE BODY
Now that this meat is still and I
have outworn my welcome in it,
now that smaller creatures
call it home and cold cellar,
now that I have no bones to wear
how shall I dress for the party?
Should I sport six well-oiled legs
and emerge from a creche on Jupiter?
Or might I arise on a planet of smoke,
first a smoulder, then a wisp?
Adolescence is uneasy everywhere.
There are only columns in this hall;
not at all what we'd call walls.
The guests are arrayed in a variety of forms,
every shape has its own dance of angles and curves
and bites at the wildness out there.
More light than darkness defines them all,
but they are all defined, somehow.
After this body, how will I look?
Perhaps I'll be on foot again,
though I'd rather be on wing.
Maybe I'll wear the stars themselves
and come as everything.
