The Afterlife

[donco6]

I'm celebrating my five year cancer-free anniversary! I had intermediate grade lymphoma. After chemo and radiation five years ago, it went away and hasn't come back! Pretty good for having a 50/50 shot at living five years at diagnosis.

When you're confronted with death, you think about it a lot. I've refined my beliefs quite a bit, and am comfortable with where I'm at. I believe that the "living" part of all living things is essentially immortal, and that we do go on after death, but in a way that's incomprehensible to us now. I don't believe in heaven and hell in the biblical sense, but I do believe we shed all things that keep us separate from one another. In essence, I'm not afraid of it, but still terribly curious.

So what are your ideas? What happens after you die? Here's a poll for you: After death, . . .

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I'm glad you are still here!

Your concepts of the afterlife are similar to mine. There is an energy, a life flow, that is always there, though the forms change. I've had some mystical experiences where I've seen the energy behind all that appears. Reality is far more complex and more sublime than the simple concepts of heaven/hell, I think.

[donco6]

7. Yes.

"Reality is far more complex and more sublime than the simple concepts of heaven/hell, I think."

I agree. One thing I do think is that the separateness we now experience as humans is an artificial construct that is removed after death. Some call it "being one with the universe", but that sounds like mere dissapation to me. I believe we go on, but not as discrete individuals as we are now. And yet, we don't stop knowing or being, either.

[Onlooker]

2. No afterlife

I'm pretty sure we're all reincarnated as dirt. Don't get me wrong, I would be pleasantly surprised to learn that there is an afterlife. But, if there is one, there's no telling whose description of it is correct--there are about 1,000,000 different descriptions of it, and most of them are pretty scary!

[Jim__]

3. Congratulations on surviving 5 years

I don't know about lymphoma, but a woman I know had breast cancer, and she told me that 5 years was an important benchmark in that. If you make it to 5 years, the chances of it coming back drop dramatically. Hope that's true for lymphoma too!

The question of an afterlife is interesting. My tendency is to believe there is no afterlife. But my current understanding is that physics has found that there is some form of faster than light communication in the universe (I'm thinking about EPR) which makes me believe that a universal consciousness is possible.But I wasn't quite ready to vote for that as a form of afterlife yet.

[Bertha Venation]

4. CONGRATULATIONS

I'm glad you're with us, donco. You enrich life for those who love you as well as some folks you don't even know.

As for the afterlife: I'm pretty sure there's something, but I don't know what it is. It's not the fundies' version of hell, it's not purgatory; it's good. But whether I'll experience it as who I am now or as an ethereal being with a vague recollection of this life or as -- ?? -- who knows?

[sonias]

5. Congratulations donco6 for your 5th year anniversary

My sister was diagnosed with lymphoma last year and went through her rounds of chemo and everything looks good. It's important to celebrate those milestones and to keep your will to live strong. Just keep up celebrating your life and hang on to it.

I wish you many, many more decades of full, happy and heathy life.
:toast:

Sonia

[donco6]

8. Good luck to your sister.

If everything looks good, that's VERY good! Usually, you respond right away or you don't. I was lucky, and sounds like she is, too.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

6. I asked

my husband's grandmother before she died at age 96 what she thought happened after you die. She was so calm about going. She sounded similar to you -- she said she thought it was like a butterfly, you transform into something different, but we can't know what.

At her memorial service, I noticed the room was so calm and peaceful and still, the candles glowed without even moving, it was beautiful. Her friend noticed the same thing and mentioned it to me afterwords.

She had put a pillow with an embroidered butterfly on her husband's bed after he had died shortly before she did, and there was one on a banner at the service. Then my husband's aunt had sent me some little keepsakes of hers, and there was a little enamel box with butterflies on it.

[donco6]

9. What a great analogy.

I think it's very appropros. Does the caterpiller know what he will become once he enters the cocoon? Probably not. It's a source of amazement even for us to see the transformation of a caterpiller to butterfly. So what kind of transformation might we undergo? Who knows. But it's kinda exciting!

[rock]

10. No vessel, no contents

Get it?

[Tripper11]

11. Congratulation donco6 on a fantastic achievement!!!!

I chose "Not sure, but believe in something after death."


I am well into my 2nd year of being cancer free. I was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myloid Leukemia). Although my chances were more along the line of around 70% survivability, it was still rather daunting news to hear and obviously scared the hell out of all of us.
As for the afterlife...after laying in a hospital bed for the better part of a month for initial chemo treatment and recovery I did think a lot about my past life, current life,dying, and the afterlife.
Firstly let me tell you I am a long time lapsed Catholic that didn't buy any of the crap they threw at me, sorry, but that's just me. I am agnostic in my beliefs, but do believe there is something more then this mortal life that awaits us.
As I reflected on my past, it was easy to say to myself that I had a good time. I treated people the way I would have liked to be treated, even the assholes! I had a shit load of fun, saw some amazing things in all facets of life, concerts, travel, and experience.
I very quickly became "OK" with packing it in..I really did. The only remorse I had was my family losing me. I have an amazing wife that I love very, very much, 2 step-kids that I love as much and as my own. My 10 year old son is a diagnosed disorganized schizophrenic, so our lives are very interesting to say the least. My 7 year old daughter is a typical 7 year old. I just knew that I needed to be there for them still.
When I made it through my treatment and went through the testing and found that my cancer was in remission I was ecstatic to say the least, BUT, there was a tiny bit of disappointment in the far reaches of my mind because I wasn't going to find out what "the big prize" was! Like I said in my choice, I don't know what it is, but it's something. I fantasized that I could just cruise around the universe, gettihng all those mortal questions answered that we have. Living through people by hanging out with them for awhile because of course, time means nothing. Also the ability to travel back and forth through time and watch history as it unfloded and watch the future as it unfolded.
I don't know if this makes sense, but I guess I had to say it.

Once again I am very, very happy for you on this 5th anniversary of being cancer free.
I look forward to mine...July 20th, 2007

[donco6]

12. I'm glad to hear about your remission.

I remember, too, thinking about even small things - like not being able to finish the book trilogy I've been reading (George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire), or not seeing my dogs grow older, or not seeing another season change - stuff like that. It certainly rocks your world! I honestly do think I'm a different person for it. I don't put things off - experiences I mean. If I want to go somewhere, I make a plan and do it. I learned to scuba dive - had always wanted to. I submitted my writing to Voices of Colorado to see if I can get published - would never have done that before. In all, it's brought perspective to my life that I think some people don't get a chance to view.

[Tripper11]

13. Thanks....one thing I was surprised about...

was peoples reaction when I told them I did not pray once. Being an agnostic I obviously had no need. The surprise on their faces was amazing to me.

[donco6]

14. I didn't either!

My fundie sisters took care of that for me, I guess. But I purposely did not appeal to "god". I thought it would be unethical, since I've dropped any belief in that type of divine being - one that intervenes in affairs like that.

I thought "Touched By An Angel" was the most appalling show on television. I mean, really. These two angels go around pulling people's lives out of the fire - but what about the rest of the lives that are still in the fire? My brother drowned by falling through ice on a pond when he was three - where was his angel? Ugh. The whole concept makes me ill.

But not that ill.

[Tripper11]

15. I agree 100%

I had enough family members "doing the rounds" for me too. My Grandpa was hitting the church daily! And make no mistake I do/did appreciate it, it's just not my thing.

I had the exact same thoughts...seeing as I had abondoned my beliefs of my own free will, why should I appeal for something now?
And I still came out the other side. Some friends I work with were absolutely shocked that I could even say what I was saying.
I just laughed.

[sweetheart]

16. Reincarnated based on ones state of awareness

They say warriors who die in battle attain heaven. I interpret this that the state of mind at death is selfless and valiant, that one transcends the ego self, which is brilliant "accumulated karma"... Methinks that in a christian culture, the buddhist concept of "accumulated karma" is misinterpreted as "litany of sins at judgement day"... rather than the profundity of ones awakening.

The tibetan book of the dead is a bit difficult to understand
without some buddhist background.... but in short, you fall in to the pure light of reality "dharma kaya" If you can't handle that pure enlightenment, you fall in to lower and lower bardo's (worlds
of awareness) and the one where you're vibration equalizes is where
you reincarnate.

If you've completely transcended the evolutionary awareness of this
earth, you may incarnate elsewhere in the universe, or not take incarnation at all, dissolving instead in to the dharma kaya... which is attaining enlightenment at death.

2 excellent books. "easy death" and "tibetan book of the dead" have
excellent insights in this regard.

[donco6]

18. This is interesting

Thanks for the lowdown - I never have really looked into the reincarnation stuff, though it's very intriguing to me.

[fortyfeetunder]

17. Congratulations on your 5th anniversary

:kick:

Though I think this country has this taboo about discussing death realistically and honestly.

And I am thinking one of the reasons we have this taboo now is because of the extensive materialism Murkans have, how inconceivable the idea none of it will be available after life is over. I think it's a classic case of denial to the nth degree.

[donco6]

19. Yes, how many people really believe . ..

. . . "you can't take it with you."

It seems like so much of our culture revolves around making sure you DO keep everything.

[camero]

20. I was just wondering this last night

I think just about anything is possible. You could be assigned to another planet or universe or you could just not exist anymore depending on how you conducted your life as in Karma.

I think the Native American version of the afterlife is pretty close.

What I'm wondering is, do you get your youthful body back or do you switch?

[donco6]

22. I don't believe you really have a body.

At least not like what we have now. But I do think that the thing that makes us unique - our soul or persona or whatever - will be recognizable.

But what do I know.

[camero]

24. That's a good answer

I don't really know either. I've just been getting real nostalgic lately. And I've seen a ring around the sun which in Native American folklore means that your soul gets to heaven or the higher state of being from what I've heard and read.

But you're right, faced with your own mortality you do try to envision what would come when the envelope is discarded for lack of a better way of putting it.

[Goldberg]

21. My grandpa just died...

so I hold this question very dear to me right now. I believe there is an afterlife. I believe in a Heaven and a Hell. I believe we are all judged according to what we have done and whether or not we worship God and Jesus.

I believe we all have souls and they will go elsewhere when we die.

To think otherwise is totally absurd, imo. To think that we all live a life on Earth here and have it mean nothing when we die (ie turning into dirt and that's it) is harder for me to believe than anything else.

[donco6]

23. So what happens to those judged to be not worthy of heaven?

Do they go to hell? And what is that like?

The part about Christianity that probably bugs me the most is the passage in Revelations where John is describing heaven, and he talks about the smoke from the fires of hell ascending up to heaven forever and ever. That would kinda put a damper on heaven for me - knowing that somewhere down there, there are people burning forever. Just doesn't seem right.

[Goldberg]

25. Yes...in Hell, the souls suffer eternally.

But those people down there knew what they were getting into. The Bible makes it very clear that if you don't worship God and Jesus, you'll suffer eternal damnation. It's spelled out plainly. There's no need to feel bad about the damned souls in Hell. I wouldn't.

As long as you believe in God and Jesus, you're fine.

These are my beliefs.

[MidwestMomma]

26. I think the bonds we make as physical beings on earth...

Are the bonds we carry forwards as spiritural beings after the death of our physical bodies. So to me, if you are a good person who makes connections through family, friends, etc then you have an enriching and rewarding afterlife surrounded by the 'souls' of many others. That's kind of what I would consider heaven.

But if you are a person who cuts through bonds on earth by being cruel or mean then you are alone in the void that is afterlife and that is what I would consider hell.

That's just my philosophy.

[Goldberg]

27. I was kinda thinking hell to be like your beliefs..

you are eternally alone. Have you ever seen the movie What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams? I envision hell to be that. You are all alone for eternity...and you suffer from eternal mental illness. It's depressing, I know, but that's what I make it out to be anyways. :shrug: There's nothing worse than that.

[donco6]

28. Have you ever read The Great Divorce - CS Lewis?

He paints a similar picture. It's quite an interesting little book.

[MidwestMomma]

30. Haven't read that, will have to check it out

I kind of came by my thoughts after years of trying to figure out why our souls were put in these imperfect bodies for life on earth. It seemed if we start out as spiritual beings and end up there, why the trip here in-between? So I figured it was a way for our souls to make connections so we don't float alone in a endless void.

And it kind of explained for me what happens to terribly horrible people like serial killers because they deliberately cut the connections that bind them to others and that would be the greatest 'sin' in my little afterworld scenario.

Also, it helps me deal with the death of loved ones because they will be there with me and I've held onto that for comfort. Plus it helps me be a better person in this life and I always need help with that!

[AlienGirl]

29. We are reincarnated, but "karma" doesn't work as advertised

I know too many people who did truly awful things in past lives and were born into just-regular lives this time to believe that karma (in the sense of a ledgerbook, anyway) works the way people think it does. If it did, half of my friends would be sea slugs right now!

Tucker

[Torgo4]

31. Don't worry About After-Life! Enjoy This One!

"One world at a time!"
---Robert G Ingersoll

:grouphug:

Or...To put a conversation stopper into the mix:

"If you want to know what happens when you die, ask a dead person."
---author unknown


:evilfrown:

[Scottie72]

32. The closest to what i believe is...

the reincarnation based on acumulated karma. Though I one may not necesarrily be reincarnated..

I also believe that we are judged, but we are judged as we have judged others in our lifetime. A saying that many Christians tend to forget is Judge not lest ye be judged.

[methinks2]

33. Good for you

my husband beat cancer in the year 2000. It can be done! Positive attitude has a lot to do with it.
I'm not sure what is on the other side, but I know those who have passed hang around for awhile.


If I go early I promise to haunt those I hate most in the current admin. Oh, yeah, I'll have fun!!!! I'll haunt them in the bathroom, so they'll all be constipated and miserable. Maybe in the shower too. People are so vulnerable when they're naked. giggle

[MrSlayer]

34. Oblivion is what awaits you.

Stop wasting your time worrying about that time you ate meat on Friday or pulled the wings off a fly. It doesn't matter. When the lights go out, that's it.