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The afterlife, what do you think happens?


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As much as I like to toy with the ideas of reincarnation and recurring life dreams (seconds before you die you relive your entire life. Your mind slows down, and it's like you were born again. Rinse and repeat.), I'm pretty sure that when we die, that's it.

 

Boom. Gone. You cease to exist. No darkness, no eternal anything - you simply experience nothing, as you are not around to experience anything. Since this view is often cited as pessimistic, allow me to put an optimistic spin on it.

 

It's like an eternal sleep, one you don't wake up from. The ultimate relaxation after a long, happy life. There's also the fact that you live on in what you left behind. Creative works, innovations, family, wherever you left your mark, that's where you'll live on.

 

Also, what Michael said.

Edited by Durandal
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When we do, we start over. Like we redo are lives over and over! each time we are the same person we do different things same mom and dad, but they are a bit different too. Thing is we still die the same way now who knows how many times we have relived are lives so far! for all I know this could be my 100000time reliving my life! but the first time you die that it to the world you are dead but to you, you never die in the first place....

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I do not believe in an afterlife. I believe death will be like the billions of years before I was born. Consciousness is created by workings in the brain. Once there are no more workings, the consciousness simply ceases to exist.

 

Do I fear it? No. As I said, I have already spent billions of years in that state.

 

At best, I could be inspiring, and say there is an afterlife. I'm still speaking from truth. Your body remains on the earth. Everything that you considered you. A long time from now, the sun will engulf the earth, and it will eventually form a nebula. All of your cells, that made up you, will be part of that supernova. Eventually that supernova will form a new star, with you being a part of contribution to its powerful gasses that light up space.

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A dark background appears. Then peoples names that were involved in your life scroll through your vision range in white writing while a version of the entertainer plays on an old timey piano.

Honestly, I think it's just darkness for the rest of our days, I don't mind because I won't be able to comprehend it due to my brains nonexistence. I do wish that we enter a permanent lucid dream and essentually build our own afterlife, but I dont think that is the case. I would also be satisfied with a ghost afterlife as well (wow, who would think?)

 

Anything afterwards would be a bit of a surprise to me and I would react accordingly.

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Interesting post ahead:

 

I'm one of those New-Agey yet skeptic (Though far from closed-minded)  folksy things.  I'm completely fascinated by things like Near Death Experiences and Past Life Regressions due to their consistency. 

 

It's mostly because I just can't seem to bring myself to believe that the religious concepts of the creation of a soul by your parents mating passionately or basing your ultimate eternal otherworldly fate on a mere 75-90 years of life, or dying tragically before you get to see your first birthday. 

 

I also believe that we don't "have a soul."  We are a soul inside a human body, having a human experience.  I'm sure some of you have heard that phrase before.  It's not too rare these days.  I equate it to a battle-mech pilot in his barracks with his soldier buddies, swapping war stories and tips with each other, then going into their Mechs for a battle, having their brutal war experience, then going back to camp for the night to share stories again and rest, and then even try out a different Mech the next day for a different kind of fight.  Sometimes they even get to pilot a medivac for an entirely different perspective. 

 

Near Death Experiences are the most fascinating thing. 

 

Past life regressions are another little window into what may happen after death, or rather, between lives.  I've read two of his books, Michael Newton, and they're definitely engaging.  It's not just him, though.  If it were, it would be fascinating fiction.  People like Brian Weiss, Dolores Cannon, and a few others that I can't be arsed to memorize (Because names)  all attain the same information from their clients.  Better yet, it matches on a 1 to 1 ratio with what those who experienced a Near Death Experience have to say.

From there, it's just a hop skip and a jump to the origins of reality.  But that's neither here nor there.
 

From a denier viewpoint, it would be a bit difficult to say that the odds of having a coordinated spoofing and hoaxing project are decent enough to happen, and having both a "lack of oxygen to the brain" (whatever the methodology may be.) and going into a special trance can induce the same stories of non-corporeal existence. 

 

But yes, there is absolutely the possibility that it was all a scientifically inaccurate thought scenario, and a highly elaborate staged falsehood in the hypnotist's chair.  It's just not that big of a possibility.  But it must always be kept in mind to avoid a mind-trap.

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I wonder how many of these topics I can go into and say "Don't know, don't care, whatever happens will happen regardless of what we believe or how we feel about it but it's still fun to theorize, dream and be creative about the afterlife and by extension the ways of the universe." before someone shuts me up. :lol:

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I've always thought about what would happen after we die, there are many theories on what will happen after we die. For now, we can only dream on what will happen after we die.

Edited by Scootalove
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I'm a Christian so that pretty much sums up what I believe if you know what Christianity is. If you don't know it basically is you either go to heaven or you go to hell. People that truly believe and love Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness will go to heaven, and everybody that doesn't will be thrown into hell.

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I've always thought about what would happen after we die, there are many theories on what will happen after we die. For now, we can only dream on what will happen after we die.

You know there's a distinct possibility that all of us will go to where we want to go, or at the very least go where we believe we will go. If we believe in heaven and hell, then we go there. If we believe only in paradise, we go there. If we believe in black nothingness, we go there.

 

I have no real proof, as there is no real way to prove such a thing, but either everyone is just wishfully thinking that there's so many possibilities to life and death to fool ourselves or every single one of these theories to the afterlife had to come from somewhere. That's a pretty good 50/50 right there.

I'm a Christian so that pretty much sums up what I believe if you know what Christianity is. If you don't know it basically is you either go to heaven or you go to hell. People that truly believe and love Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness will go to heaven, and everybody that doesn't will be thrown into hell.

Not to steal your thunder or anything but is there anyone ever that's never heard of Christianity? Perhaps it's because I live in a predominantly Christian-founded country in a very religious town but I don't think there's anyone out there who hasn't heard of it one way or another, even if they don't believe it themselves.

Edited by Discordian
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I was thinking of avoiding this thread because of my religious views but I suppose no one has to listen to me. When you die you go a face God. You are either forgiven, which is what happens when you believe and follow God; or you are damned. When you are damn you are eternally separated from the presence of God and cast into Hell. In Hell there is no comfort, there is no light, there is torture, their is weeping, there is gnashing of teeth. The other people who get to go to heaven spend eternity basking in the glory of God. So take what you want out of that, its pretty extreme for our very politically correct society.

Just gonna give my personal opinion on this and feel free to disagree, which, you will. Absolute nonsense is all I get out of this. How so many people just foam at the mouth to this stuff is far beyond me at this point.

 

Beyond that, what do I think that happens? Others have said it quite well. I think that our being just ceases to be. Complete nothingness. It was that way before we were born and it will be that way after we are gone. It is a terrifyingly simple thing, but it is something to be joyous for. Not death, just the result of it, since these religions are trying to make it into a huge judgement affair. Even with that, death still scares me, but I think that is just natural.

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There is plenty of people, but yes I know most have and most will criticize. I'm am just a messenger of what I truly believe. Also I am not like most Christians I believe very differently than most Christians so please don't judge based on the other Christians you know.

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i would LIKE to believe in heaven or reincarnation, and sometimes i do, but i'm kinda sceptic

i don't really think anything happens after you die

it's gonna be just like before you were born

only for forever

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Our souls will be teleported in a world of colorful equines, then take possesion of a body then live as ponies!!!!!1!

 

Nah I dunno, and I don't care for now. I just know that nothing happen after you die for 15 seconds lol.

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When you die, you actually start over in new game+ with cheat codes and god mode unlocked. Plus you open up sandbox mode.

 

Nah, not really. When we die everything goes black, your body stops working and so does your brain. You won't be able to feel, think, taste, smell or see. Like an endless stream of nothing and you won't be even aware of it.

 

I hope something awesome happens though, but I'm pretty sure the above is going to happen. We still don't know how consciousness and will works so there might be some other possibilities. However, since we have grasped the fundamentals of physics, biology, technology and chemistry we're completely sure you're not going to reincarnate or go to another world.

 

A possibility might be your brain forcing you into a very long illusion or dream by pumping you full with dopamine and serotonin while going into it's sleep cycle, aka your brain starts going into hyper mode to process information. That might happen and I hope it does.

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I understand people and their skepticism. I still sometimes doubt my own beliefs, but everything I have studied and seen it keeps pointing me back to the fact that in my opinion Christianity is the true belief. But that is my opinion and I will not force it upon you if you want to hear more about it just ask me or any of the other Christian bronies. It is not my job to make you believe; it is my job to tell you what I believe and let you decide on your own.

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I wonder how many of these topics I can go into and say "Don't know, don't care, whatever happens will happen regardless of what we believe or how we feel about it but it's still fun to theorize, dream and be creative about the afterlife and by extension the ways of the universe." before someone shuts me up. :lol:

I feel exactly the same way. We don't know what happens after life, nor should we care. We've got this life, and that's what matters. It's just a matter of time before the big sleep, might as well not waste it spending your time worrying about the end of it. 

 

At that point, I don't think we're in much of a position to fight whatever does happen, so why bother worrying about it?

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I feel exactly the same way. We don't know what happens after life, nor should we care. We've got this life, and that's what matters. It's just a matter of time before the big sleep, might as well not waste it spending your time worrying about the end of it. 

 

At that point, I don't think we're in much of a position to fight whatever does happen, so why bother worrying about it?

From our perspective this makes much more sense but there is some credence to other ways of doing it. In Christian lore the purpose of man's life is to better himself to serve and spread around the glory of God. Depending on the denomination this is what they work their whole lives towards. For us it would never work but think about what it does for them: Some Christians come from the depths of depravity and become and infinitely better person because of it and it leads them to believe what they do. From their perspective they were saved by God, so why shouldn't they repay that debt by following his Word?

 

I try not to call anyone out on their beliefs because more often than not they have legit reasons for believing what they do though I still encourage others to consider the alternatives before settling on one. I've heard it said, from a Pastor no less, that blind faith is potentially far more harmful than questioning your faith regardless of the outcome.

 

Sorry if I don't have any other examples to work with. My family is predominantly Christian so for a time I was neck deep in it. I have more experience with that than any other religion so I use it as a counter-argument to my own beliefs as well as others.

Edited by Discordian
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From our perspective this makes much more sense but there is some credence to other ways of doing it. In Christian lore the purpose of man's life is to better himself to serve and spread around the glory of God. Depending on the denomination this is what they work their whole lives towards. For us it would never work but think about what it does for them: Some Christians come from the depths of depravity and become and infinitely better person because of it and it leads them to believe what they do. From their perspective they were saved by God, so why shouldn't they repay that debt by following his Word?

 

I try not to call anyone out on their beliefs because more often than not they have legit reasons for believing what they do though I still encourage others to consider the alternatives before settling on one. I've heard it said, from a Pastor no less, that blind faith is potentially far more harmful than questioning your faith regardless of the outcome.

 

Sorry if I don't have any other examples to work with. My family is predominantly Christian so for a time I was neck deep in it. I have more experience with that than any other religion so I use it as a counter-argument to my own beliefs as well as others.

I completely understand where you are coming from and I have explored many faiths and many beliefs. I came back to Christianity because I have enough solid proof that the Bible stories are true. I can not help but believe 

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I completely understand where you are coming from and I have explored many faiths and many beliefs. I came back to Christianity because I have enough solid proof that the Bible stories are true. I can not help but believe

I fully believe that if you've chosen your religion by your own merits instead of being brought into the world under a religion then you have far more stable foundations and less chance of straying than someone who was raised in a family of Christians and follows simply because their family did too.

 

I say good on ya for making the decision yourself. The families at my mom's church often teach their kids to deliberately shelter themselves from the world for fear that they will stray from Christianity but I wonder about the logic behind it: Is their decision to be Christian really on such fragile foundation that they need to shelter themselves not to stray? What does that say about their beliefs? Are they really their own beliefs?

 

I know that there are biblical reasons for this. I'm not particularly trying to argue that point so much as whether one's faith is truly their own or if it's just learned behavior.

 

Then again, even someone who raises their child areligiously to let them choose for themselves is not really doing anything different and potentially making it harder for their kids too. You can't have any foundation with none at all; no perspective if you never had a place.

 

I'm sure this sounds a little wishy-washy and it's for that reason that I find it's better to practice your own faith to the best of your ability than to judge another person's faith in any way. The bible even says somewhere that it is not man's place to judge. That is a role for God and God alone.

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I would like to hope that it is just darkness and the mind stops. If there is life after death it must be painful mentally to know that you'll be like that forever.

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I don't follow any religeons, but I am not a complete atheist either. I believe we all have souls that 'live' eternally, and that soul decides whether we die or not, no matter how awful that sounds, in what family we are born, when, aproximately how our life will take place... The reason this 'soul' doesn't remind the next body what it was before, would simply be because it wants fresh, new experiences, otherwise life would be boring if we knew everything eh? My dad believes in this, and I'm not sure my explanation could be 100% comfirmed, he took hours and days to explain his belief and to sum it up is a bit tough...

 

Frankly, of course I am a little scared of death, but knowing that I will be able to live again, of course not me as myself but just LIVE again, doesn't scare me as much. Though of course, i won't remember such a thing, if this theory is actually true. We all feel safe, believing in heaven or the afterlife or reincarnation, maybe each person dies in the way they think they will die? It's a little weird to say but, maybe those who believe in heaven or hell will actually go there? Maybe they'll remain a ghost and haunt people? Maybe they will be reincarnated... It could depend on the individual.

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I found this poem a couple years ago and found that if nothing else it was an interesting take on the afterlife. I take no credit for the poem itself:

 

 

The Egg

By: Andy Weir

 

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“More or less,” I said.

“Are you god?” You asked.

“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”

“My kids… my wife,” you said.

“What about them?”

“Will they be all right?”

“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”

You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”

“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”

“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”

“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”

“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”

You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”

“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”

“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”

I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.

“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”

“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”

“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”

“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”

“Where you come from?” You said.

“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”

“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”

“So what’s the point of it all?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”

“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.

I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”

“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”

“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”

“Just me? What about everyone else?”

“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”

You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”

“All you. Different incarnations of you.”

“Wait. I’m everyone!?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.

“I’m every human being who ever lived?”

“Or who will ever live, yes.”

“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”

“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.

“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.

“And you’re the millions he killed.”

“I’m Jesus?”

“And you’re everyone who followed him.”

You fell silent.

“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

You thought for a long time.

“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”

“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”

“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”

“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”

“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

And I sent you on your way.

Regardless of your religious beliefs you gotta admit that is one hell of a story.

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(Story)

That reminds me a lot of the concept of

.  I mean that the story there is the result of it.  (Starts at about the two minute mark.)   The splitting off of consciousness to experience itself from a different perspective other than one-ness, while still being one,  like how a duck zygote that divides many time to become something more complex, yet is still a duck.
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That reminds me a lot of the concept of the Flower of Life.  I mean that the story there is the result of it.  (Starts at about the two minute mark.)   The splitting off of consciousness to experience itself from a different perspective other than one-ness, while still being one,  like how a duck zygote that divides many time to become something more complex, yet is still a duck.

O_O I had no idea that thing even existed. I think I need to watch the rest of this guy's videos. Seems like it's gonna be one hell of an eye opener.

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