Though this topic may have been dabbled in here and there I haven’t really
seen a thread dedicated to sharing specifically the ideals of a afterlife
so here is one: Do you feel there’s a ensuing life after this one? What do
you think happens?
I personally think that there is some sort of continuation of life after
death. Having watched a close relative dying, only hours before he died,
and seeing the body shortly after death, I am convinced that there is
something about a living being that has nothing to do with the body. It's
just temporarily located there. When the body ends, that something moves
on. But where or to what kind of existance I have no clue. I have no
known memories of a previous life, so I have no proof of reincarnation, and
quite obviously, I have not died and gone to heaven, so I have no proof of
that type of afterlife either. So I have to say, I'll just have to wait
until it happens to find out what happens.
____________________ "You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and the
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
Anya
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 656 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 07:29 PM
Okay...this is a touchy subject so I'll clearly state that this is what -I-
believe:
I take things under a Karmic scale. There's the Heavens, the Thousand
Hells, then there's Reincarnation. Reincarnation to me is the soul
starting COMPLETELY over since I play skeptic with the afterlife stuff
(though it's possible). It may also be so that the other two are a state
of mind, but I believe that Karma has a lot to do with it and the "upper"
and "lower" are merely states that're very difficult to get out of.
But away from belief, what I would call "physical" Reincarnation exists.
Energy does not die, it merely changes form.
So the condensed version:
The Heavens is the state of complete enlightenment.
The Thousand Hells is the state of deep karmic disgrace.
Reincarnation is reliving on the path of enlightenment (or karmic disgrace,
if the soul chooses to go that direction).
Away from beliefs, I cannot say who will go to the Heavens or the
Hells...hindsight is 20/20.
I refuse to assume anything, as I am still learning. However the likely
outcome is probably as significant as falling asleep and having your
current being converted back into nature. Keep in mind that this happens in
part every time you exhale.
I figure I'll know when I'm dead, so I'll make the most of what I have now
just in case there's nothing beyond my last synapse firing off random
information I've acquired during life. I have a hard time believing in
"afterlife" tho it sounds WAY appealing. I just can't make myself believe.
____________________ Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
Alugarde
Member
Posts: 185 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 08:54 PM
A while back I pondered the idea that there are only two worlds, and when
someone dies in one world they simply go to the other.
____________________ l33t is the bastard cousin of contractions.
Sticupus
Fanatic
Posts: 254 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 09:37 PM
Henry David Thoreau's last two words were "Moose... Indian......"
____________________ The OBOLISK is Divine.
Alugarde
Member
Posts: 185 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 09:46 PM
O.O
[Edited on 7/26/2003 by Alugarde]
____________________ l33t is the bastard cousin of contractions.
Anya
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 656 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 10:25 PM
It is true that there's a lot of unanswered questions in life. Science is
a nice system, but it never explains what is beyond - I can say the same
for a lot of religion (what was there before God? etc?). I just refuse to
believe that the WHOLE truth is in one single book, hence my eclectic
tendencies.
There was something I forgot to mention in my other post. I believe in
those three things for I personally dealt with a "Hellish" mindset when
doing things that I know that I did not want done on myself. The
"Heavenly" mindset usually comes when I feel what I would call "Balanced."
Whether or not that will happen in the afterlife, I believe it may be, but
I also adopt some agnosticism in the concept: who knows?
My beliefs may be right, my beliefs may be wrong. Like everyone else, I'm
human and prone to error and like everyone else, I'll likely find out in
the 'next life.'
Sticupus: I just read that article you posted the link for not so long ago
- I actually enjoyed it. A lot of people outright insist that science is
all the answers, but I find that arrogant...as much as I find it arrogant
for Bible thumpers to think that they know it all for they believe in a
single book. Again, this is coming from an opinionated person [me].
Sticupus
Fanatic
Posts: 254 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 10:35 PM
Actually I think Science is the best approach. It sets standards for
procedure and allows change. You had a wrong interpretation, I'm sorry.
____________________ The OBOLISK is Divine.
Monolycus
Fanatic
Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 25/7/2003 at 11:36 PM
I've got my hands too full with this life to worry about how I'm going to
screw up the next one.
~M.
Anya
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 656 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 26/7/2003 at 05:46 PM
I think science is a good way to approach, as well. When I look at
doctrines and myths, science usually comes first. What I was pointing out
was that nothing explains beyond, which may be one of those things we will
not know about at all. But I probably did have the wrong interpretation.
Human mistake, my bad.
[Edited on 7/27/2003 by Anya]
dead-cell
Fanatic
Posts: 344 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 26/7/2003 at 07:14 PM
All I can offer are my hopes/ beliefs on an after life (if there is one).
The thing about science is to remember it is still young. If all there is,
is science; then I look forward to resting all my muscles and nerves to
complete the circle. If heaven (if we can choose what our heaven looks
like): grassy hills, trees here and there, majestic mountains, 60-70 degree
weather, and most importantly a big blue sky with white fluffy clouds. If
hell: a four walled cubicle, fluorescent lights and all. If reincarnation:
a dog, or a tree (again if I can choose). If continued consciousness
(a.k.a. no longer bound to flesh): I would like to drift the universe.
Visit mars, the rings of Saturn, alien stars.
____________________ co-worker: "Your gay!?"
myself: "Didn't you see my rainbow pin?"
co-worker: "I just thought you liked skettles."
-(yes, it actually happened to me)
Schizo
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 27/7/2003 at 06:04 AM
The problem with science is that it can only (by definition) deal with what
is observable and repeatable. Hence, the scientific method, with it's
progression from hypothesis, to theory in testing, to fact. Some things
just don't fall well under that category.
History, for example, often deals with things that cannot be tested under
the scientific method. History deals with documentation, and ways of
testing that ascertain whether a certain document is valid and worthy of
trust. Science my be used in the process (for example, to test wether the
document was actually from the time period claimed), but some things in
history are completely unprovable scientifically. For example, did Lincoln
actually give the Gettysburg address? The proof is completely contained in
A. the written manuscript of the address, B. the written accounts of the
event, C. accounts passed down by word of mouth, and D. any photographs
that may exist of Lincoln at Gettysburg.
You can observe the present through science. You can document the past
through history. But how can you tell what will happen in the future?
What is there about the presence of any kind of afterlife that can be
tested or documented? Science and history is next to useless in this
circumstance.
____________________ "You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and the
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest
of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
Monolycus
Fanatic
Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 27/7/2003 at 01:59 PM
Thank you, Schiz. You beat me to that punch. Science (as an extension of
natural philosphy) is restricted in its purview to that which is both
observable and repeatable. The branch of science called biology can
explain the simple fact that you have children. The branch of science
called mathematics can explain the simple fact that you have a finite
number of children. The branch of science called physics can explain the
simple fact that your child stumbled and scraped their knee. But no branch
of science can demonstrate the simple fact that you love your child. I
wouldn't look to science for the answers about the afterlife; there is
plenty in the here and now that science is not equipped to answer.
While science might have narrow and specific parameters, scientism does
not. Scientism (not to be confused with Scientology) is the slavish belief
that nothing lies outside the range of scientific discipline, which can
explain anything and everything; scientists are infallible and that their
words carry more weight than any laymen, and that the human race knows more
now than it ever has (it doesn't). Science can be an invaluable tool
within its own limitations, but Scientism makes science into a sacred cow
and scientists into the high priests of an unpopular religion.
~M.
AloneSoul
Fanatic
Posts: 522 Registered: 6/7/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 30/7/2003 at 12:36 PM
Scientism can be welcome when you pinpoint the facts but when you don't it
must be a very cold religion to follow.
Aye, sometimes in a debate science and things such as the paranormal can
clash, co-exist...whatever word you choose but now at least is the time to
go on your principles of faith...
If your faith is in science then go for it. If religion, go for it. If
none, go for it.
There is something that makes a being a being and not just an animated
body, and this thing is not lost when the thing we call death occurs. I
met my grandfather ten years after his death when I was five, and prior to
seeing any pictures of him. I think there are many options available
including reincarnation, dissolution, and a form of rapture which I
consider to be a merging with the universal collective consciousness. Call
it Akashic records, God, Cthulhu, or Warm Brie, it doesn't matter.
My experience with life after death is that it is a lot like life before
death except that people look at you funny afterwards and pretend to care
about your feelings all of a sudden while religiously avoiding the taboo
subject of your death itself and the associated thoughts or emotions. It's
like those touchy-feely bastards that oozed like slime from the Littleton
woodwork after people got shot, the same ones that were previously too
caught up in parking their Lexus SUVs illegally in the lot next to the
Cherry Creek Mall and having the selfish gall to suggest that the owner of
said lot had no right to put the Denver Boot on their car.
Life during death can be cool or suck, depending on your attitude (i.e. do
you feel bad about anything you did) and independent of any external
morality. It's a lot like acid in that regard, what kind of trip you have
is dependent on whether you are a drama qaween or a chill monkey.
The trick to all this shit is to live instead of waiting for death, because
death has a big cock and is into anal.
Sorry for the bluntness and all that, flame me if you don't like it.
Schizo
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 30/7/2003 at 05:25 PM
Good to see you posting, Rogue! You've been pretty quiet lately. We've
missed you.
I like your notions about afterlife.
Maybe you get a choice of what kind of afterlife you get. If you're into
heaven, then heaven. If you want another shot, then reincarnation. I
personally would like to be a ghost for a while, and check up on people,
and make some interesting stories for my still-alive friends to tell each
other before I move on to another life.
And maybe those poor souls who want to end it all truly get to, instead of
going from the frying pan straight into the fiery pit, like I was always
taught.
But I think more likely they get another life, and another chance to learn
the lesson they should have learned from the life they threw away. That
seems more fitting.
____________________ "You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and
the
/>
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest
of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"
daria_4
Member
Posts: 96 Registered: 29/7/2003 Status: Offline
posted on 30/7/2003 at 06:01 PM
I'm not sure that I hold a particular belief concerning another existance
beyond the one I'm locked into at the moment.
I do have some hopes for it--not that I want to "live forever," though. If
there is an afterlife, I only hope that one's "soul" (to use a familiar
term) has the option to end. To quit, as it were. In much the same way that
believing in life everlasting (in any myriad of forms) is comforting to
some, the idea of oblivion gives me that same little warm fuzzy inside.
I like what Schizo said about maybe getting a choice. It reminds me of the
atheist from On a Pale Horse whose soul simply dissipated in the
hands of Thanatos rather than going on to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. I
certainly hope I dissolve out of "being" completely.
____________________ "I've told you before, I don't comprehend religion, although
conviction is a concept I'm beginning to get. In any case, a person
with a real religious conviction is, I propose, a religious convict,
and deserves locking up."
Merry_Widow
Fanatic
Posts: 598 Registered: 24/8/2002 Status: Offline
posted on 30/7/2003 at 07:20 PM
When I die, I want to hang around and haunt the place. And I want to go the
whole nine yards with it, rattling chains, ghastly noises, hallways that
stretch on forever, creepy clown dolls under the bed, writing obscure stuff
on mirrors. I think it sounds like loads of fun.
Pending that, I'll probably just end up sitting around on my ass. As in
life, so in death, or so someone whose black was blacker than my blackest
black once told me.