The uncertainty of the afterlife

[hobbit709]

[safeinOhio]

1. I've always felt the the after life

will be the same as before life.

[hobbit709]

2. Remember The Handbook for The Recently Deceased?

[safeinOhio]

3. Thanks, I had to google it.

I've had many "near death" experience. Knocked out or fainted. It always meant that the period of unconscious was a time that did not exist. That is, nothingness. It was a period of time that I had no memory of, it just wasn't. Much like my memories of before I was born, which are none. So, it is not hard for me to imagine those times are like what death will be.

[bvf]

8. LOL! Yes! More rules--just great. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

6. Exactly!

I have thought the exact same thing since I was young...It is the only thought of death that seems "natural" to me. All other ideas just seem to be myth born out humans fear of death & want to be with loved ones again in the future.

Now, I am all for continued living for expanded periods of time 500yrs 1000yrs or longer...Even if it is not in a human body! I would be all for watching the world change over time. I know this is not a popular view & most people would like to die at some point but if given the chance I would opt to stick around for as long as possible.

...Once I am dead i won't care I will be dead!

[Moostache]

4. Death is the meaning of Life.

We are all here to share one utterly unavoidable conclusion, we all die.
The actions you take in this brief tour of the conscious are the only thing that lives on beyond your physical self.

If those actions are self-serving and small, you end faster than a candle in the wind.
If those actions are magnanimous and large, you live on like the seemingly eternal stars.

The choices we make on how our brief time alive is spent are the only thing we control.
Can't control anything external to ourselves, though most every GOP and TeaBagger Idiot I have encountered thinks otherwise.
More than anything else, THIS distinction is what separates left from right, red from blue and worthwhile from worthless for me...

If I could only have one answer from someone before deciding if I wanted to spend any time with them at all, it would be "How do you want to be remembered?" If their answer is anything other than "making a positive difference on someone else's life", I'd probably rather keep looking than stop and waste my precious, finite time with them.

We get one chance at life, and then its gone.
That chance can be spend experiencing and sharing or fearing and hoarding.
The choice is ours alone, as individuals and its the meaning of life...time spent searching for an escape of that reality is life wasted.

[Helen Borg]

5. "Can't control anything external to ourselves..." worse than that

It's worse than that. This implies that you can control things that are not external. What can you really control? Your mind? Tell that to people who suffer from serious mental illnesses like major depression or schizophrenia. No, you cannot really control your mind either. You can only hope that the body nature gave you functions smoothly and in doing so it supports a good mind. But when disease destroys your brain, your mind goes as well. Sad, but the reality. There could be an afterlife that has nothing to do with physics, and perhaps we get glimpses of it from time to time. Or perhaps these "glimpses" have nothing to do with it and are just wishful thinking. Nobody knows, really.

[vlyons]

7. yes you can control your mind, but it takes practice.

Speaking as a Buddhist, I have evidence everyday, that controlling my mind is something that can be practiced. You can choose to generate some thoughts, and not exercise and feed other thoughts. For example, I can choose to remain angry and hate someone, or I can choose to see selfishness and foolishness as ignorance and not hate them.

As to life after death, well I have no evidence for it. But I choose to be open minded about it. I've had about a dozen grand mal seizures, so I know about unconsciousness. So if there is no existence, no consciousness, beyond this life, I assume that it's no big deal, and I'm not afraid of nothingness. But if there is some existence beyond this life, then I decided long ago that I choose to be of positive benefit in whatever circumstances I land.

May all of you have good fortune and find yourselves in loving families and happy circumstances. Most importantly, may you encounter an authentic teacher, who teaches you about compassion and wisdom.

[Doctor_J]

9. Mrs d_j believes she's headed for eternal bliss without me

and would like me to get the word so I can join her. Our discussions on the subject are yet another wonderfully fascinating part of our life together.

[joshdawg]

10. The only ones who know for sure about the "afterlife"

are dead......and they're not talking.

[RKP5637]

11. As another poster said someplace on DU, "Nobody gets out of here alive!" n/t

[RKP5637]

12. To me, belief in an afterlife has always been a coping mechanism for some.

It can be a pretty raw deal to some if all of the efforts in this life are gone, eventually, except those memories that linger for the living of one. Hopefully, those memories will be good! It's all in time, the flowing of time. If warped space, well, hmmm ...

[RufusTFirefly]

13. Don't know about an afterlife, but an out-of-body experience can be induced

Neurologists can trigger it in a patient by stimulating the angular gyrus. According to Dr. Peter Brugger (quoted in the New York Times from 2006) “The research shows that the self can be detached from the body and can live a phantom existence on its own, as in an out-of-body experience, or it can be felt outside of personal space, as in a sense of a presence."

And indeed, there have been patients whose angular gyrus has been stimulated who report the presence of a shadowy figure behind them or the experience of looking down on themselves from the ceiling.

[damnedifIknow]

14. Life

A never ending chase for money. So fast and so stupid.

[DerekG]

15. I sympathize tremendously with those who need to believe

In my relatively short life, I've witnessed so much evil and meaningless suffering to render the appeal of a Christian afterlife obvious. I can't believe it myself--too good to be true--but I sympathize. Some folks get a seriously raw deal.

[FLPanhandle]

16. To me there is no uncertainty. It doesn't exist.

Nice fantasy to wish it did and many people want to believe that fantasy.

Me? I'm fine knowing this is it and I'll make the most of the time I have.