What do you think happens when you die

Dana said:
Interesting thread Serenity...this is my view.
Thank you Dana
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Dana said:
A question that’s impossible to answer and we can only give a response that corresponds with our own personal beliefs and hopes. If one’s belief gives them comfort, then that’s fine, but to say with any certainty that you do know what happens when you die, is being fanciful in the extreme.
I agree..we can not know with certainty........yet :)
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Dana said:
I am not religious although I was brought up in the Catholic faith and went to a Catholic school, but would describe myself more along the lines of being a spiritual person.
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Same here..amazing how Catholocism loses so many of us..I call myself a nonpracticing Catholic because it is my understanding the church continues to claim us once we are baptized... unless we are excommunicated..

Dana said:
However, I have spent time over the years reading about the various religions. The Abrahamic religions … Christianity, Judaism and Islam believe when you die, the soul (mind) lives on. On the other hand, the major Eastern religions Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism believe in reincarnation.
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Me too re: readings!

Dana said:
I believe the same as the Abrahamic religions, I do believe the soul moves on to our next stage of the cycle…I see no point in reincarnation and I mean no disrespect to those who do.
I still consider the possibility of reincarnation..seems it would justice personified though I really do not like the idea. I am ok with going to different dimensions but earth? AGAIN..😲
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Dana said:
So the question: what do I think what happens when I die? Well, I don’t know..we shall never know until we experience it…but I’ll say this, I am excited to find out!
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I am excited too and have lost all fear of dying..
Dana said:


Mentioning that I accept evolution and not creationism might explain why I believe in the continuation of 'life' after our physical bodies die...

Seems to me evolution can be explained by creationism ..if I am correctly understanding their meanings
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mellowyellow said:
I'm determined to go through that tunnel and see my mum and dad there smiling, so don't burst my bubble with science. :)
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It is my understanding that scientists. especially physicists are beginning to connect science with spirituality. One of my fav books is The Tao of Physics..
In the book I am currently reading Proof of Heaven the author was a neurosurgeon, and an atheist with no belief in the afterlife until his own near-death experience.
So I say keep on keeping on 🙂
 
HoneyNut said:
I don't think we exist after we die. There doesn't seem to be any reason to think we would.
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IMO It would be terribly unfair if there were no afterlife. Yes many claim life is not fair but I believe it is..afterlife and especially reincarnation provides justice to all to experience...though again, I really do not want reincarnation as I understand it..

Humans like to feel like they understand things and have some control. There used to be fanciful stories to explain scary natural phenomena such as thunder, and I think religious beliefs are just like that, fanciful stories we've told each other to provide comfort, hope, and a feeling of control over things we can't control (and to try to control other people's behavior in ways that fortify society).
IMO As we evolve so does our understanding
 
Pepper said:
Thanatophobia is the cause of many a fantasy.
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I agree that fear of death/dying is a reason some believe in an afterlife. I think I was one of them in my early 20s 🙂

I don't fear death anymore ...for some weird reason it is comforting to know if there is no afterlife, I'll never know...but considering the awesomeness of the universe and of all of us, I really think there is more besides this short existence on earth
 
Serenity4321 said:
It would be terribly unfair if there were no afterlife.
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Don't know about 'unfair' but I agree it is a disappointment to not get to read the rest of the chapters. But the good thing about not existing after death is not having to feel left out of all the fun. It is such a marvelous thing that we are conscious of our existence, how amazingly cool it is to be alive.
I think I'd love to see the developments of the next few hundred thousand years (assuming they are good/interesting), but I can feel enough sorrow now about how someday the last baby will be born, the last dog will die, the last kitten will squeak a cute meow, the oceans will evaporate, the last fish will die, the earth's core will stop its movement and the solar winds will strip away the earth's protection, etc until the last atom in the universe and its constituent pieces fall apart. Better to live now at the best of times and then not exist.
 
ohioboy said:
If I murder 100 people and never get caught by the police and die, if I am wrong about an afterlife, I lose. If there is no afterlife and murder 100 people, I win?

Belief in a final punishment is what most people fear, or there would be thousands of murders/rapes a day, you think? If I base my life believing in God and have an eternal soul, and am wrong, I lose nothing, but that's a pair of dice I do not wish to roll.

Not commenting on any final judgment's of anyone, but rapists and murders do not worry about an eternal soul, Hitler didn't.
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This isn’t true for most people. Please read Humanity: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman for an excellent explanation of why this isn’t the case. I’m sure there are a very few people who do choose not to do things to prevent their perceived eternal damnation but I would guess it’s a very small number.
 
HoneyNut said:
Don't know about 'unfair' but I agree it is a disappointment to not get to read the rest of the chapters.
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Unfair as I think about it, is the babies who never could grow up or the younger people who died early. Also the fact some suffer more than others through war, illness, accidents etc..If there were reincarnations one could have a variety of experiences..that would be fair iMO

HoneyNut said:
But the good thing about not existing after death is not having to feel left out of all the fun. It is such a marvelous thing that we are conscious of our existence, how amazingly cool it is to be alive.
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Not understanding.... wouldn't it be better to exist and have the opportunity to join in the fun..
HoneyNut said:
I think I'd love to see the developments of the next few hundred thousand years (assuming they are good/interesting), but I can feel enough sorrow now about how someday the last baby will be born, the last dog will die, the last kitten will squeak a cute meow, the oceans will evaporate, the last fish will die, the earth's core will stop its movement and the solar winds will strip away the earth's protection, etc until the last atom in the universe and its constituent pieces fall apart. Better to live now at the best of times and then not exist.
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I believe our consciousness is forever...and I also believe dogs, kittens and all living things have energy spirits;)
 
ohioboy said:
If I murder 100 people and never get caught by the police and die, if I am wrong about an afterlife, I lose. If there is no afterlife and murder 100 people, I win?

Belief in a final punishment is what most people fear, or there would be thousands of murders/rapes a day, you think? If I base my life believing in God and have an eternal soul, and am wrong, I lose nothing, but that's a pair of dice I do not wish to roll.

Not commenting on any final judgment's of anyone, but rapists and murders do not worry about an eternal soul, Hitler didn't.
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In one of the books by Elizabeth Kubler Ross, she speculated true justice would be if we experienced the pain we had inflicted on others ..I agree with that.
I tend to think souls/spirits evolve ..even Hitler's
Once more..I do believe in a just world..our universe is just too magnificent not to have ultimate justice..IMHO
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I imagine it's pretty much the same as before you were born.
Strangely, I'm more concerned about what will happen on earth after I die than any afterlife. It's like your reading this really good novel, and you're about the come to the end, and damn you die, without knowing the ending.
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LOL
 
Aunt Marg said:
I say whatever helps each of us prepare ourselves for our dirt-naps or barbecue, then so be it, the sky is the limit as to our wandering imaginations and incense and peppermints visions. :)
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It’s the barbecue for me, already payed for, just bring the sauce😍
 

Ecclesiastes 9:5​


“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”

Many believe in the old pagan ideas that there is some form of after life such as a Paradise or a Valhalla. But history shows that these idealized "rewards" were created by myth makers as a means of providing incentives for people to engage in certain desired behaviors. Valhalla, for example, was created in order to stimulate some to become soldiers and to fight/die for their tribe or state in order to defend it. The divine reward was promised for those who died protecting their state/people. To this day, however, no one has ever proven such a place exists.

The better way to view death's ultimate reward or idealized immortality was made by the inspired words of Miss Emily Dickinson:


My Holiday shall be
--- That they remember me.
My Paradise the fame
--- That they pronounce my name.




This is how you will be immortalized. I honestly cannot think of a better way to achieve this goal.
 
asp3 said:
This isn’t true for most people. Please read Humanity: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman for an excellent explanation of why this isn’t the case. I’m sure there are a very few people who do choose not to do things to prevent their perceived eternal damnation but I would guess it’s a very small number.
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That book is indeed excellent; I highly recommend it.
 

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