I see there are some quite interesting people on this forum. I waned to know what you think of the afterlife.
First of all:
Do you believe we somehow persist after death?
If yes, how? What happens? How is the world after we die?
Will our ''sins'' or bad actions will be somehow punished, our good actions rewarded?
I know this topic is closely related to religion, so you can talk about that too.
Personally, I'm agnostic ( and have always been). Altough, I do believe there is something after we die, just because my intuition suggests so, and because the opposite is inconceivable to me. I have read theories here and there on the afterlife, but nothing that made me think and feel : '' Yes. THIS must be how it really is.''
So what do yout think about it?
( Yes excuse me for starting something that might probably be a very long thread.)
I discussed it on another forum, and we all agreed that it's a useless question to ponder.
These are the options I'm considering:
Most cryptic: cyclical. After we die, we relive our lives without past memory, exactly as before.
Preferable: human-to-human reincarnation. For the observation of progress and sharing of suffering and joy.
Unidentified: tier; after we die here, we move on to a new plane of existence.
Materialistic: we just stop thinking, feeling, existing.
Total Recall / eXistenZ: this was all a video game and we wake up in the world that played that video game.
My take on reincarnation:
This theory assumes that consciousness cannot be destroyed and must be recycled.
Supposedly, if the creator(s) began with animals, animals may have reincarnated into each other for the recycling of the consciousness, and at some point, humans were created. Given that humans and animals are different at the core, it would make sense to divide the two, rather than allow cross-reincarnation (animals into humans and vice versa). Animals also fulfill the food and fun niche of the humans, and it would be too hard and negative on the humans to allow to-animal reincarnation, with humans not wanting to harm animals, even for food, which is against the natural order of things.
In addition, merit-based reincarnation is nonsensical, because a person's accomplishments or detriments during its life are often situational rather than personal, and thus reincarnation must be random. Reincarnation will allow each individual to be interested in progress and life of others after death, given that he may, again, exist in this world. E.g., fuel corps may be more worried about killing the Earth if they know they can come back as a trailer park person to support a half-destroyed planet. People will also be more interested in treatment of others since they may, in turn, become those others. People will be able to understand situational factors better if they dare imagine themselves in that situation.
Killing an infant or aborting a child means virtually nothing in this case, they just transfer to the next place, and there's plenty.
As of now, humans mostly assume that the life they are living is the only one that they will ever have in this world. It is therefore easy to assume yourself as "I was lucky" or "unlucky" and care only about personal consequences, since this is, supposedly, the only life, and neither the past nor the future will ever matter. Nor do matter other people, since I am more important than Them.
Reincarnation will explain where I was before this century, too, and why I ended up so many years later.
Reincarnation will give each person a chance, rather than giving some people too much and some too little. You may be born rich, poor, healthy, weak, olympic champion, whatever. Everyone gets a piece of the cake. This way, the world may actually be pretty fair.
I suppose the logical ways of my thinking really lead me to conclude that once I am dead, my consciousness really will cease to exist and all that will remain of myself are ashes and dust.
But my logical side also wonders about the things about human physiology and consciousness that we may not understand yet. If I want to continue existing in some form after I die, I think there may be hope in this lack of understanding. Because it could be that there are forms of energy inside my body that I am unaware of that cannot simply stop within my body after I die. I'd like to think my thoughts are tagged onto this energy and that I would have some form of control over it.
In other words, I am not religious and hardly spiritual so I don't believe there is some designated place such as Heaven that my spirit will go to. And if I totally cease to exist, that definitely is a scary thought. But I think that scares us the most because we think we may feel what it's like not to exist and the very prospect is terrifying to say the least. But I also wonder if science has yet to discover things about the body and mind that would actually indicate a "spirit" or something akin to that in which I may go on existing on a conscious level.
It may sound corny, but I try and find as much meaning in life as can before I do die and hope that helps me be at peace when my death is near.
I've always thought it'd be cool to be reincarnated in another galaxy.
I've always thought it was interesting just how far away everything is. In between galaxies there is nothing, it's like a dark void, with inconceivable distance between galaxies.
I've always thought it was interesting how scientist seem to be so "certain" that physics are the same everywhere in the Universe, which is why a lot dismiss other life in the universe, saying that what's needed is far too rare. But what says that the physics don't change between Galaxies?
I don't talk about this much because it's kind of an odd conversation but since it was brought up here. I can tell you that you do leave your body and head upward within the first few minutes; there is an element of control you have, after that I don't know. I'm 42 now and have a long time to reflect on an incident that occurred to me when I was 16. In the name of brevity I won't go into details of how died for a few moments. I will simply say I was able to look down on my body and made it about 15 feet in the air before I realized I wasn't supposed to be there (I was inside and I had gone up past the ceiling but was still able to look into the room where my body was). I could hear all the conversation going on below, and when I realized I wasn't supposed to be out of my body I had a choice of continuing up or going back to my body. I can testify you don't just dissipate or cease to exist. When I got back into my body my first words were ‘OK I’m back’.
Some might think that would have drawn me closer to a particular faith but it did not, instead it made me realize most people seek out a religion or faith is largely out of fear (no matter what they say to try and convince themselves to the contrary) about having control over the one moment in life we can't control, death. Simply they don't know what to expect in death and they fear the unknown. How can I say that? Often one of the first questions you get by people attempting to convince you to join their faith is 'don't you want everlasting life?' (at least here in America).
I've looked at dozen different faiths, they speak on the topic of death and afterlife with overtones of authoritative knowledge and yet none of the authors of a particular holy text (I’ve seen) died for any significant period of time to came back and write about it. For me their alleged divinely inspired writings is insufficient because of the ones I've looked at the authors take others word for it.
Personally I think God exists and is amorphous but I think people have it wrong, entirely wrong and we're all in for a big surprise when that moment comes to see all the stuff we have fought about, written about, and held as truth was just us imposing limitations on ourselves. I don’t think God would entrust a message to men, it opens the door to self interest, segregation, power over others, and corruption. All lessons are already provided in nature around us everyday. Diligence and teamwork provided by ants, frugality and preparation provided by squirrels, vision provided by birds, etc. Nature’s most replete message is our interdependence and most faiths completely miss it.
Roll the clock back 2000 or 5000 years and remember everything was about who had God's or a gods favor, if crops did well, out comes in battle, prosperity, etc. They didn't know a fraction of what we know today so the best explanation was divine favor. My god is better than your god, all mythology and modern faith is mix of known reality and ethereal stories and that makes it hard to confirm or discount them. I know this much for certain, the first few minutes of death isn't as scary as many think it will be.
as for me, i would call myself Christian, however i follow no church. Just what i think to be right in the eyes of God; i learn and try to improve on the mistakes of others and be a good person. I think probably the biggest thing that rules my life is to do onto others as you would have them do unto you.
this quote makes me think, that if someone wanted so badly to come back with all their will, would they be able to.
"Listen but closely Brothers, for my life's breath is all but spent. There shall come a time far from now when our Chapter itself is dying, even as I am now dying, and our foes shall gather to destroy us. Then my children, I shall listen for your call in whatever realm of death holds me, and come I shall, no matter what the laws of life and death forbid. At the end I will be there. For the final battle. For the Wolftime." ~ Leman Russ
The prospect of living life for nothing but a personal goal is too much for my brain to handle. Similarly, the prospect of living for nothing but a divine entity, be it Zeus, Pluto, or God, is also too much for my brain to handle. Ultimately, however, I'm a firm believer that some entity, a superior entity at that, exists to govern, rule over, and guide the specs of the world.
However, think this through logically. The main things that bring most people together, also happen to be the things which divide them, namely comfort and fear. One can safely assume (and radically so) that religion and all its basis are part of a bigger ploy, in order to control the masses; given the fact that it's such a powerful and influential tool for authority to use in order to implement its desires and goals.
Every single day, every passing hour, every passing second, and every passing breath we are being violated. Why not through religion? Why not something that most hold so dear to their hearts?
Fear, religion, psychological comfort; they all ride in the same wagon. Why do some (if not most) become so religious when catastrophe strikes ? Why do some pray before a major exam? Why do most pray before a family member goes under the knife? It's all, amidst the major schema of things, returning back, through the same detour, to psychological comfort. The comfort that something larger than ourselves and larger than whatever we may hope to become, governs our problems and concerns, and might somehow be able to morph them into something that is most suitable for our way of life.
Afterlife. Living for nothing, or living to live again, is a pretty silly concept. Living for heaven (or hell, for everyone who thinks it's cool or whatever) is a thought more welcome to my acceptance. I'm not talking about Heaven where you anally bang angels, or hell where you're anally banged by Satan, but rather a place of bliss, and a place of sorrow. It's nice to know that you're living for something worthy of living for. It's allowed to believe out of fear, but "believing" is a term not to be trifled with. One can not go about saying "well, if God exists, then I'm safe..but if not, then fuck it, I believed!", so be careful how you take my words.
I hope that aided you in whatever it is you would like to read about.
no doubt someone will accuse me of spam for this post but i had to say that that was an extremely well thought out post and was a really good addition to this thread. I really enjoyed reading it and im glad you posted.
no doubt someone will accuse me of spam for this post but i had to say that that was an extremely well thought out post and was a really good addition to this thread. I really enjoyed reading it and im glad you posted.
I believe heaven is like a fountain filled with water, each drop of water represents one soul. as soon as you die your drop of water returns to that fountain and is mixed again with the others. When someone is born they are given one drop and that drop could of been a mix of other souls. Then we have reincarnation of someone famous like Budhha, Jesus, and any other prophets i may have missed. that is when your drop of soul is almost the same as that certain person.
I don't talk about this much because it's kind of an odd conversation but since it was brought up here. I can tell you that you do leave your body and head upward within the first few minutes; there is an element of control you have, after that I don't know. I'm 42 now and have a long time to reflect on an incident that occurred to me when I was 16. In the name of brevity I won't go into details of how died for a few moments. I will simply say I was able to look down on my body and made it about 15 feet in the air before I realized I wasn't supposed to be there (I was inside and I had gone up past the ceiling but was still able to look into the room where my body was). I could hear all the conversation going on below, and when I realized I wasn't supposed to be out of my body I had a choice of continuing up or going back to my body. I can testify you don't just dissipate or cease to exist. When I got back into my body my first words were ?OK I?m back?.
Some might think that would have drawn me closer to a particular faith but it did not, instead it made me realize most people seek out a religion or faith is largely out of fear (no matter what they say to try and convince themselves to the contrary) about having control over the one moment in life we can't control, death. Simply they don't know what to expect in death and they fear the unknown. How can I say that? Often one of the first questions you get by people attempting to convince you to join their faith is 'don't you want everlasting life?' (at least here in America).
I've looked at dozen different faiths, they speak on the topic of death and afterlife with overtones of authoritative knowledge and yet none of the authors of a particular holy text (I?ve seen) died for any significant period of time to came back and write about it. For me their alleged divinely inspired writings is insufficient because of the ones I've looked at the authors take others word for it.
Personally I think God exists and is amorphous but I think people have it wrong, entirely wrong and we're all in for a big surprise when that moment comes to see all the stuff we have fought about, written about, and held as truth was just us imposing limitations on ourselves. I don?t think God would entrust a message to men, it opens the door to self interest, segregation, power over others, and corruption. All lessons are already provided in nature around us everyday. Diligence and teamwork provided by ants, frugality and preparation provided by squirrels, vision provided by birds, etc. Nature?s most replete message is our interdependence and most faiths completely miss it.
Roll the clock back 2000 or 5000 years and remember everything was about who had God's or a gods favor, if crops did well, out comes in battle, prosperity, etc. They didn't know a fraction of what we know today so the best explanation was divine favor. My god is better than your god, all mythology and modern faith is mix of known reality and ethereal stories and that makes it hard to confirm or discount them. I know this much for certain, the first few minutes of death isn't as scary as many think it will be.
Your "experience" is much like others, and I honestly can not completely disregard the fact that it can merely be DMT secretions, or a predetermined thought instilled in your brain about how that "moment" would be, then that moment being consequently reconstructed by your own self. There can be a scientific explanation, just as there can be a non-scientific one, if you know what I mean.
I do however, to a certain extent, agree with you on the remainder of your post. There are however, thousands of aspects to look at things from. Is God testing us? Could God have actually trusted men to spread religion? God knows the future, so he KNOWS that these men will do as he pleases. However, this will spur forth other questions, like "are our paths predetermined" ? Of which the answer is "yes, God knows what we will do, but he isn't forcing us to do, He is merely knowledgeable of it. We are on Earth because God put us here, so when Judgment Day comes, his Judgment will not be questioned by any soul". What I mean by that is, imagine you didn't live, and God told you that "Religion X" is the true religion, and that you followed "Religion Y". Putting you through life is just a way of showing you that you DID follow Y and not X, so that you will not say "I would have followed X, your ways are unjust".
Sorry for drifting. Returning to your post. It's a silly world we live in, which is why I prefer to live in my own world, believing what I want to believe, and doing what I please, withing the limitations put forth by my flimsy society (careful though, in a way, every society is flimsy).
Look 2000 or 5000 years INTO the future. The Quran, the Bible and the Torah, will probably be as significant as Aphrodite, Herodotis, and Poseidon. Mere bedtime stories and movies to project the feeble intellect of previous existances. That's my expectation, and through my own knowledge, I believe in what I think is most suitable, keeping in mind the past, the present, the future, and what history has to offer me.
Theres two ways of looking at consciousness. that I know of anyway
1) A separate piece, like a cog. A piece of the brain? A 'lump' of energy?
2) Consciousness is phenomena which is greater than its individual constituents and only exists when those individual components are correctly assembled. Simplest example I can possible think of... A chair vs a pile of wood
The idea of Reincarnation would fit nicely into example 1, not so much in example 2
What if the energy that holds my consciousness is turned into other types of energy and never returns? What if something goes wrong in the reincarnation process? What if I die in the middle of a stars nuclear furnace millions of lightyears away from the nearest fetus?
If example 1 is true, then consciousness could be destroyed... perhaps not by modern science. Thats a scary idea nonetheless
And if its example 2 then never fear. Consciousness was just this quirky thing that arose from an extraordinarily complex arrangement - just like my computers ability to... do things, arises from the reasonably complex arrangement of silicon, ones and zeros, electons... n' all that
P.S - I dont see whats so great about the idea of Reincarnation anyway... I cant even remember my past life so whats the point :confused:
Your "experience" is much like others, and I honestly can not completely disregard the fact that it can merely be DMT secretions, or a predetermined thought instilled in your brain about how that "moment" would be, then that moment being consequently reconstructed by your own self. There can be a scientific explanation, just as there can be a non-scientific one, if you know what I mean.
I understand people's skepticism so I share it as my experience. I will add; this occurred in 1981 in small city in Iowa, up to that time I had not heard any near death stories, public media was still very limited, cable had only just started becoming available, what I am saying is to a large degree we lived in our own little world, and sadly the town still does.
It wasn't until some years later after I moved to California did I hear other experiences similar to mine. Until then I talked to no one about it, I didn't think anyone would believe me and didn't want to be embarrassed. I remember the event as vividly today as the day it occurred, it is surreal to be able to look down on your own body in the third person.
I know that their have been efforts in recent years to quantify and explain the phenomenon as something the brain does but there is no explanation which will suffice for me. When I looked down on myself not only did I hear the conversations but I also saw exactly where others were standing in the room, when I came back into my body as I descended I saw everything right up to entering my body. When I opened my eyes everyone was standing exactly where I saw them from above, my eyes were closed up to that point.
Vegasrage, I would just like to say I found that story to be very inspirational. Whether what happened to you was a manifestation of your brain, or if it did actually happen, I think it is impossible to say for sure unless tested!. There is a logical explanation for everything that happened to you, and it is also valid that what you believe happened, did actually happen. I would just like to say thank you for sparking my brain, Vegas.
There is, however one way to test this theory, and it is simply with your vision. Lets just assume this a sick test and you are crazy enough to volunteer for it. You are going to be killed and revived on purpose (go along with me) and asked to read a word from a distant computer monitor... Say you could see the room, (when you were out of your body),now suppose there was this computer screen saver on, that just spammed a random word every ten minutes. No one in the room would be able to see this monitor from the position they were in for the period of time you were (dead). The word "GOD" randomly flashed and no one (including you) unless you were in fact 10 or 15 feet in the air would be able to see this word. Now suppose there was a security camera, inside the room, that did record the image of the word "GOD". Now just as you are revived, you are asked so what was the word? and then after your response, the security camera is checked. You could actually prove or disprove what happened to you based on what you described earlier with a simple controlled test. If you were in fact able to identify this random word, it would prove your experience was legitimate since there is no other way you would have been physically seen what was written on that screen, unless you were in fact, floating above your corpse.
I think (let me just say first I happen to be a sick man) that this is an experiment worth looking into, because many people have reported very similar things to what you described, many people of all religions and ethnic backgrounds.
Now we just need to find a few people that are fearless enough to volunteer for such an experiment. As well as a nice safe hiding spot where no one will be able to intervene.
I know that similar tests have been done on animals, and In almost every case the animal was brought back it was zombie like with glazed eyes.
But now we are questioning, at what point are you really dead, when your heart stops beating>? when your brain dies from lack of oxygen? I am not a doctor so I do not know the limits and what is "legally dead" and cannot answer that, but what I do know is that humans in general seem to be more resistant to such punishment when compared to other species, so maybe this is worth researching>???!!!
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First of all:
Do you believe we somehow persist after death?
If yes, how? What happens? How is the world after we die?
Will our ''sins'' or bad actions will be somehow punished, our good actions rewarded?
I know this topic is closely related to religion, so you can talk about that too.
Personally, I'm agnostic ( and have always been). Altough, I do believe there is something after we die, just because my intuition suggests so, and because the opposite is inconceivable to me. I have read theories here and there on the afterlife, but nothing that made me think and feel : '' Yes. THIS must be how it really is.''
So what do yout think about it?
( Yes excuse me for starting something that might probably be a very long thread.)
These are the options I'm considering:
Most cryptic: cyclical. After we die, we relive our lives without past memory, exactly as before.
Preferable: human-to-human reincarnation. For the observation of progress and sharing of suffering and joy.
Unidentified: tier; after we die here, we move on to a new plane of existence.
Materialistic: we just stop thinking, feeling, existing.
Total Recall / eXistenZ: this was all a video game and we wake up in the world that played that video game.
My take on reincarnation:
This theory assumes that consciousness cannot be destroyed and must be recycled.
Supposedly, if the creator(s) began with animals, animals may have reincarnated into each other for the recycling of the consciousness, and at some point, humans were created. Given that humans and animals are different at the core, it would make sense to divide the two, rather than allow cross-reincarnation (animals into humans and vice versa). Animals also fulfill the food and fun niche of the humans, and it would be too hard and negative on the humans to allow to-animal reincarnation, with humans not wanting to harm animals, even for food, which is against the natural order of things.
In addition, merit-based reincarnation is nonsensical, because a person's accomplishments or detriments during its life are often situational rather than personal, and thus reincarnation must be random. Reincarnation will allow each individual to be interested in progress and life of others after death, given that he may, again, exist in this world. E.g., fuel corps may be more worried about killing the Earth if they know they can come back as a trailer park person to support a half-destroyed planet. People will also be more interested in treatment of others since they may, in turn, become those others. People will be able to understand situational factors better if they dare imagine themselves in that situation.
Killing an infant or aborting a child means virtually nothing in this case, they just transfer to the next place, and there's plenty.
As of now, humans mostly assume that the life they are living is the only one that they will ever have in this world. It is therefore easy to assume yourself as "I was lucky" or "unlucky" and care only about personal consequences, since this is, supposedly, the only life, and neither the past nor the future will ever matter. Nor do matter other people, since I am more important than Them.
Reincarnation will explain where I was before this century, too, and why I ended up so many years later.
Reincarnation will give each person a chance, rather than giving some people too much and some too little. You may be born rich, poor, healthy, weak, olympic champion, whatever. Everyone gets a piece of the cake. This way, the world may actually be pretty fair.
Although, this is all theoretical, of course.
But my logical side also wonders about the things about human physiology and consciousness that we may not understand yet. If I want to continue existing in some form after I die, I think there may be hope in this lack of understanding. Because it could be that there are forms of energy inside my body that I am unaware of that cannot simply stop within my body after I die. I'd like to think my thoughts are tagged onto this energy and that I would have some form of control over it.
In other words, I am not religious and hardly spiritual so I don't believe there is some designated place such as Heaven that my spirit will go to. And if I totally cease to exist, that definitely is a scary thought. But I think that scares us the most because we think we may feel what it's like not to exist and the very prospect is terrifying to say the least. But I also wonder if science has yet to discover things about the body and mind that would actually indicate a "spirit" or something akin to that in which I may go on existing on a conscious level.
It may sound corny, but I try and find as much meaning in life as can before I do die and hope that helps me be at peace when my death is near.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Yea, now that i think about it. True. Should have thought of that before creating the thread.
Anyhow, thanks for your opinion. I just hope it's not cyclical.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
I've always thought it was interesting just how far away everything is. In between galaxies there is nothing, it's like a dark void, with inconceivable distance between galaxies.
I've always thought it was interesting how scientist seem to be so "certain" that physics are the same everywhere in the Universe, which is why a lot dismiss other life in the universe, saying that what's needed is far too rare. But what says that the physics don't change between Galaxies?
I got off-topic, I know.
CyberPunk RP Nexus
Some might think that would have drawn me closer to a particular faith but it did not, instead it made me realize most people seek out a religion or faith is largely out of fear (no matter what they say to try and convince themselves to the contrary) about having control over the one moment in life we can't control, death. Simply they don't know what to expect in death and they fear the unknown. How can I say that? Often one of the first questions you get by people attempting to convince you to join their faith is 'don't you want everlasting life?' (at least here in America).
I've looked at dozen different faiths, they speak on the topic of death and afterlife with overtones of authoritative knowledge and yet none of the authors of a particular holy text (I’ve seen) died for any significant period of time to came back and write about it. For me their alleged divinely inspired writings is insufficient because of the ones I've looked at the authors take others word for it.
Personally I think God exists and is amorphous but I think people have it wrong, entirely wrong and we're all in for a big surprise when that moment comes to see all the stuff we have fought about, written about, and held as truth was just us imposing limitations on ourselves. I don’t think God would entrust a message to men, it opens the door to self interest, segregation, power over others, and corruption. All lessons are already provided in nature around us everyday. Diligence and teamwork provided by ants, frugality and preparation provided by squirrels, vision provided by birds, etc. Nature’s most replete message is our interdependence and most faiths completely miss it.
Roll the clock back 2000 or 5000 years and remember everything was about who had God's or a gods favor, if crops did well, out comes in battle, prosperity, etc. They didn't know a fraction of what we know today so the best explanation was divine favor. My god is better than your god, all mythology and modern faith is mix of known reality and ethereal stories and that makes it hard to confirm or discount them. I know this much for certain, the first few minutes of death isn't as scary as many think it will be.
as for me, i would call myself Christian, however i follow no church. Just what i think to be right in the eyes of God; i learn and try to improve on the mistakes of others and be a good person. I think probably the biggest thing that rules my life is to do onto others as you would have them do unto you.
this quote makes me think, that if someone wanted so badly to come back with all their will, would they be able to.
"Listen but closely Brothers, for my life's breath is all but spent. There shall come a time far from now when our Chapter itself is dying, even as I am now dying, and our foes shall gather to destroy us. Then my children, I shall listen for your call in whatever realm of death holds me, and come I shall, no matter what the laws of life and death forbid. At the end I will be there. For the final battle. For the Wolftime." ~ Leman Russ
However, think this through logically. The main things that bring most people together, also happen to be the things which divide them, namely comfort and fear. One can safely assume (and radically so) that religion and all its basis are part of a bigger ploy, in order to control the masses; given the fact that it's such a powerful and influential tool for authority to use in order to implement its desires and goals.
Every single day, every passing hour, every passing second, and every passing breath we are being violated. Why not through religion? Why not something that most hold so dear to their hearts?
Fear, religion, psychological comfort; they all ride in the same wagon. Why do some (if not most) become so religious when catastrophe strikes ? Why do some pray before a major exam? Why do most pray before a family member goes under the knife? It's all, amidst the major schema of things, returning back, through the same detour, to psychological comfort. The comfort that something larger than ourselves and larger than whatever we may hope to become, governs our problems and concerns, and might somehow be able to morph them into something that is most suitable for our way of life.
Afterlife. Living for nothing, or living to live again, is a pretty silly concept. Living for heaven (or hell, for everyone who thinks it's cool or whatever) is a thought more welcome to my acceptance. I'm not talking about Heaven where you anally bang angels, or hell where you're anally banged by Satan, but rather a place of bliss, and a place of sorrow. It's nice to know that you're living for something worthy of living for. It's allowed to believe out of fear, but "believing" is a term not to be trifled with. One can not go about saying "well, if God exists, then I'm safe..but if not, then fuck it, I believed!", so be careful how you take my words.
I hope that aided you in whatever it is you would like to read about.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Agreed, it was a well thought out post
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
Your "experience" is much like others, and I honestly can not completely disregard the fact that it can merely be DMT secretions, or a predetermined thought instilled in your brain about how that "moment" would be, then that moment being consequently reconstructed by your own self. There can be a scientific explanation, just as there can be a non-scientific one, if you know what I mean.
I do however, to a certain extent, agree with you on the remainder of your post. There are however, thousands of aspects to look at things from. Is God testing us? Could God have actually trusted men to spread religion? God knows the future, so he KNOWS that these men will do as he pleases. However, this will spur forth other questions, like "are our paths predetermined" ? Of which the answer is "yes, God knows what we will do, but he isn't forcing us to do, He is merely knowledgeable of it. We are on Earth because God put us here, so when Judgment Day comes, his Judgment will not be questioned by any soul". What I mean by that is, imagine you didn't live, and God told you that "Religion X" is the true religion, and that you followed "Religion Y". Putting you through life is just a way of showing you that you DID follow Y and not X, so that you will not say "I would have followed X, your ways are unjust".
Sorry for drifting. Returning to your post. It's a silly world we live in, which is why I prefer to live in my own world, believing what I want to believe, and doing what I please, withing the limitations put forth by my flimsy society (careful though, in a way, every society is flimsy).
Look 2000 or 5000 years INTO the future. The Quran, the Bible and the Torah, will probably be as significant as Aphrodite, Herodotis, and Poseidon. Mere bedtime stories and movies to project the feeble intellect of previous existances. That's my expectation, and through my own knowledge, I believe in what I think is most suitable, keeping in mind the past, the present, the future, and what history has to offer me.
Hope that made sense.
Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions
1) A separate piece, like a cog. A piece of the brain? A 'lump' of energy?
2) Consciousness is phenomena which is greater than its individual constituents and only exists when those individual components are correctly assembled. Simplest example I can possible think of... A chair vs a pile of wood
The idea of Reincarnation would fit nicely into example 1, not so much in example 2
What if the energy that holds my consciousness is turned into other types of energy and never returns? What if something goes wrong in the reincarnation process? What if I die in the middle of a stars nuclear furnace millions of lightyears away from the nearest fetus?
If example 1 is true, then consciousness could be destroyed... perhaps not by modern science. Thats a scary idea nonetheless
And if its example 2 then never fear. Consciousness was just this quirky thing that arose from an extraordinarily complex arrangement - just like my computers ability to... do things, arises from the reasonably complex arrangement of silicon, ones and zeros, electons... n' all that
P.S - I dont see whats so great about the idea of Reincarnation anyway... I cant even remember my past life so whats the point :confused:
I understand people's skepticism so I share it as my experience. I will add; this occurred in 1981 in small city in Iowa, up to that time I had not heard any near death stories, public media was still very limited, cable had only just started becoming available, what I am saying is to a large degree we lived in our own little world, and sadly the town still does.
It wasn't until some years later after I moved to California did I hear other experiences similar to mine. Until then I talked to no one about it, I didn't think anyone would believe me and didn't want to be embarrassed. I remember the event as vividly today as the day it occurred, it is surreal to be able to look down on your own body in the third person.
I know that their have been efforts in recent years to quantify and explain the phenomenon as something the brain does but there is no explanation which will suffice for me. When I looked down on myself not only did I hear the conversations but I also saw exactly where others were standing in the room, when I came back into my body as I descended I saw everything right up to entering my body. When I opened my eyes everyone was standing exactly where I saw them from above, my eyes were closed up to that point.
That baked my noodle for a while
There is, however one way to test this theory, and it is simply with your vision. Lets just assume this a sick test and you are crazy enough to volunteer for it. You are going to be killed and revived on purpose (go along with me) and asked to read a word from a distant computer monitor... Say you could see the room, (when you were out of your body),now suppose there was this computer screen saver on, that just spammed a random word every ten minutes. No one in the room would be able to see this monitor from the position they were in for the period of time you were (dead). The word "GOD" randomly flashed and no one (including you) unless you were in fact 10 or 15 feet in the air would be able to see this word. Now suppose there was a security camera, inside the room, that did record the image of the word "GOD". Now just as you are revived, you are asked so what was the word? and then after your response, the security camera is checked. You could actually prove or disprove what happened to you based on what you described earlier with a simple controlled test. If you were in fact able to identify this random word, it would prove your experience was legitimate since there is no other way you would have been physically seen what was written on that screen, unless you were in fact, floating above your corpse.
I think (let me just say first I happen to be a sick man) that this is an experiment worth looking into, because many people have reported very similar things to what you described, many people of all religions and ethnic backgrounds.
Now we just need to find a few people that are fearless enough to volunteer for such an experiment. As well as a nice safe hiding spot where no one will be able to intervene.
I know that similar tests have been done on animals, and In almost every case the animal was brought back it was zombie like with glazed eyes.
But now we are questioning, at what point are you really dead, when your heart stops beating>? when your brain dies from lack of oxygen? I am not a doctor so I do not know the limits and what is "legally dead" and cannot answer that, but what I do know is that humans in general seem to be more resistant to such punishment when compared to other species, so maybe this is worth researching>???!!!