Death

[no country for old wainds]

What is death, and perhaps more importantly, what follows it? Do we pass into another world - what kind of world? Are we re-incarnated into this one - is our re-incarnated state related to how we led our previous life? Do we simply take another form on Earth; do we merge with the energy which surrounds us? Do you simply cease to exist with only our shells remaining, and can we ask this question without first defining identity; who are 'you', perhaps 'you' exist in everything you have made an impact on in life?

How do you think your viewpoint on death affects your outlook on life and in turn your actions within it?

 

[Lord SteveO]

As far as i'm concerned death is just what it says on the tin. Yu die, cease to exist. Your body is lifeless and is destroyed, either by decomposing or by being cremated.
I don't believe there is an afterlife or anything and i don't think we are re-incarnated. Although i have no evidence for or against these, neither does anyone else though!
Could be something more after dying, but as far as i'm concerned it's not worth worrying about.
Why base you whole life on worrying about being ready for an afterlife if nobody is even sure one exists!
May as well be good to yourself and others whlst you are alive and worry about what's next when you get there.
Can't plan for what you don't know about!

 

[The.Donut]

Aye, SteveO basically summed up my thoughts on death. If you expect nothing from death (other than being dead - the end), and then find out there is some kind of afterlife, then you can't really go wrong.

 

[Kenneth R.]

What is death, and perhaps more importantly, what follows it?
Do we pass into another world - what kind of world?
How do you think your viewpoint on death affects your outlook on life and in turn your actions within it?

for me this is a simple question from my perspective.
1. death is a transition to one of several places, salvation, damnation
2. the 'world' you pass into is one of the above, based on your actions and intentions in this world. the judgment of your life..
3. it doesn't affect my outlook on life all that much. religion shapes my life a great deal, but i would not presume to live for heaven, if i even am worthy of it, that would be to live for death. that's not the point of living the way that i do. as wise people have said, the destination is not important, it is the journey that matters...

 

[The_Isle]

the fact that everyone dies is what makes life meaningful and precious. You only have one go at it. One go to make it count.

 

[10293847]

I don't really give a shit. It's a pointless question. Worry about it when the time comes.

 

[Kenneth R.]

the fact that everyone dies is what makes life meaningful and precious. You only have one go at it. One go to make it count.

i would agree...

 

[Iridium]

If you believe in an eternal afterlife (whether it be heaven, hell, or any other version), what is life but a spec of time in the grand scheme?

 

[NeverIsForever]

Hi guys, long time no post! (lol @ me thinking two weeks is a long time...)

I believe death is an end to consciousness followed by physical disintegration. As far as I'm concerned, when I die my awareness will cease and the rest of me will return to nature to nourish grass and bugs and whatever. And I'm okay with that.

 

[Kenneth R.]

If you believe in an eternal afterlife (whether it be heaven, hell, or any other version), what is life but a spec of time in the grand scheme?

it is the trial by which heaven or hell is decided. God needs evidence upon which to judge, and life on earth presents the case.

 

[Mormagil]

That seems rather unfair and arbitrary to me.

 

[speed]

it is the trial by which heaven or hell is decided. God needs evidence upon which to judge, and life on earth presents the case.

I didnt know God had a law degree. He must really be Yahweh as well. Can I get a good lawyer to exclude certain amounts of evidence?-- Or do I have to rely on a God-appointed counsel?

Epicurus said 2300 years ago, that our atoms would return to the earth, and that would be the end, as the soul would have to be composed of some matter. I personally have accepted nothingness a long time ago. When we die, we return to God who is nothingness. An eternity of never having to suffer, think, eat, pray, laugh, etc. Not bad if you ask me.

 

[Lord SteveO]

Why on earth (or heaven) would a god create beings, and then put them in a world he made for say 100~ years just to know where to put them for the rest of eternity? Kinda seems like if that's the case then he's just playing with us and probably a million other planets or universes as well.
Really doesn't give any backing to the god is a benevolent caring guy idea if all he's doing is a little experiment to see if we get a nice place to live or go and burn in fire for eternity. Sounds more like the sort of thing a bad god would do!

 

[Kenneth R.]

Why on earth (or heaven) would a god create beings, and then put them in a world he made for say 100~ years just to know where to put them for the rest of eternity? Kinda seems like if that's the case then he's just playing with us and probably a million other planets or universes as well.
Really doesn't give any backing to the god is a benevolent caring guy idea if all he's doing is a little experiment to see if we get a nice place to live or go and burn in fire for eternity. Sounds more like the sort of thing a bad god would do!

why would he? choice, or the illusion of it as some of you claim. the freedom to decide our own destinies based on the actions we take in this lifetime. that is the gift given us, a chance to prove ourselves true or false in his eyes. only a "bad god" would immediately judge. why even bother with earth if it is already decided? how cruel fate must be to those who live never knowing that despite how good they are, it is already decided: to hell they will go! and why bother with life at all, just place them in heaven or hell from the start. or even, skip that and just don't create humanity at all.

That seems rather unfair and arbitrary to me.

that's your opinion.

 

[Iridium]

God's a hypocritical bully with a superiority complex. An omniscient deity excludes the possibility of free will. Likewise, an omnipotent and omnibenevolent deity excludes the possibility of evil. God is logically inconsistent.

Death is mental extinction.

 

[Mormagil]

that's your opinion.

So someone cut down by disease or a freak accident in the prime of life before he could find salvation has been given just as much of a chance at getting into heaven as someone who lives for a hundred years? Or is it all predestined, in which case there's no point in living a good life because you'll be rewarded or punished no matter what, depending on the luck of the draw.

I don't think a loving God would throw someone into a chaotic, indifferent universe and say, now, you have seventy-five years (give or take) to acheive spiritual perfection or you'll be damned for all eternity, and all the while you're going to have to dodge predators, famine, disease, other people, etc. but if any of them get you before you're ready for heaven, tough noogies.

 

[Demiurge]

it is the trial by which heaven or hell is decided. God needs evidence upon which to judge, and life on earth presents the case.

I didn't know that God was an entity of such limited consciousness. I also hadn't considered that all humans who die have been subjected to a test.

 

[Lord SteveO]

Even if it's just how he judges us it's a bit of an odd system.
Create beings who will spend most of their eternal existence in either Heaven or Hell.
100 yrs judgement for an eternity of pain or enjoyment?
That's kinda like giving someone a new job in a factory and then saying "you've got 5 mins to let me judge which bit of this place you'll be in for the rest of you life"

Also, if you read the bible, the list of way to get into hell is fairly large and includes some rather odd stuff. In fact it states that ALL people are sinners, death being the "wages of sin".
According to the bibile the olny way into heaven is through Jesus. So what happens to people who've never heard of him? Or those who lived before he was born? I guess they go the Hell? In fact it turns out God still judges then even if they lived before Jesus.

 

[Dushan S]

I don't believe there is an afterlife or anything and i don't think we are re-incarnated. Although i have no evidence for or against these, neither does anyone else though!

Actually, there was a series of experiments with hypnotized subjects that were able to recall their past life memories, and even their "in between the lives" period, or as we may call it pre-natal period.
It can be also done without hypnosis, there are easy techniques to recall memories from the past lives, and it is simple and harmless. Also, it is much better this way, because you can control it and remember whole experience.
Past life memories are no different than remembering something from your early childhood, that you have forgotten and it can be very strong and emotional, depends on the experiences you have had.
Memories are clear and coherent and it is easy to see connections between happenings in past life and how choices back then affect our lives today. It was most interesting for me because of therapeutic possibilities, because after resolving emotional charges from the past, a lot of psychological problems and unwanted behaviors from this very life disappear.

Also there is not much sense in arguing over internet, right? So don't believe me, or on the other hand presume that this all is just imagination. Personally I never let something remain in domain of beliefs so I checked it all by myself so I can have my own experience is this pile of shit or something useful. If you get the chance, try it for yourself.

Idea of the reincarnation and karma has been a misused on the east a lot, in a sense of person does not taking responsibility for his actions because they are results of past lives determination. Also, experience that your soul will be born again inside of other body won’t cure fear of death, because YOU will die. In this life we identify with our personality, ego, and it won’t survive death of physical body, so in a way, as an individual we do disappear and will never be back.
Also, it can be interesting to know that idea of heaven and hell from Christianity is half truth by itself. In between incarnations, there is a period in which soul goes thru “cleaning”, and based on what were its actions in past life, there are subjective experiences of heaven or hell, no different than usual dream, but perfectly clear and real. This is the way to relieve part of the burden for soul before going to another incarnation. So in a way, Christians were not wrong, but not fully informed

One more interesting thing is that most of test subjects had memories of pre-natal period, spending it in the body of pregnant mother, but not in the body of fetus. They were getting “inside” the fetus when the process of birth would start, not before. In case mother looses child before time, soul simply goes to the other place, to other pregnant mother. So in a way it solves puzzle is the abortion murder or not, at least it did that for me.

 

[Lord SteveO]

I'm a bit uncertain about the value of any experiments into re-incarnation etc. I suspect that many such experiments would be seriously biased and as such would not give accurate results. If a series of experiments could be conducted without the subjects having any idea of what they were being tested for then i could see them being more balanced.
The trouble with such tests is that if either the subject or tester has any "ideas" about what might be found then the whole test could be biased.

However i think the idea of death leading to a Heaven/Hell period before reincarnation makes could make some sense.
Look at it as a means of being punished or praised for one life before you get your next chance. Of course that means there would have to be some divine power giving us repeated chances which i can't believe at the moment.

One other point i've never heard raised abouth this. If when we die we (humans) are reincarnated, how is the population of this planet still increasing? Surely if everyone who dies is made into another life after death the number of people should be roughly constant? These "extra" people or being would have to come from somewhere, if they were just created to fill up the world by a god then why bother with reincarnation at all.