Does Death End it All?

[Runewolf1973]

I am more on the side that God is the entirety, not the fundamental building block. The truth is, all there is is the entirety, all things together, but they were never apart, that is only an illusion.

But you see I do agree with this. All things together...the Sum of ALL that exists is what I would consider God.

 

[LuisDantas]

Isn't that panentheism?

 

[Runewolf1973]

Life would not be half as healthy were if not for death.

Rejection of death is a problem, death itself is not.

I reject the idea that what we call Life or Death truly exists. To me there is only that which is lifelike...those complex chemical interactions in matter brought about by the fundamental forces of nature. The more complex those interactions, the more lifelike things become, but they are never truly living, so never can they truly die. It is my opinion that some part of those animating forces or interactions remain entact after that transformation we call "death".

 

[Runewolf1973]

Isn't that panentheism?

I think I may have a bit of everything in my belief.

 

[BruceDLimber]

We ALL go on to the Next Life, which the Baha'i scriptures state lasts forever.

As to reincarnation, they explain that it's pure superstition.

Peace,

Bruce

 

[Thief]

A basic observation...if I may....

We did not choose to live.
We may not avoid death....not our choice either.

Speculation...if I may...
The next life is likely the same.

As we stand from the dust....a judgment call is made.

Our continuance is likely in the hands of Something Greater.

I believe peace is an item guarded with jealousy.
Trespass would be met.

 

[Knight of Albion]

Life is a continuum. As the sun sets in one place, so it rises in another - and the progress of the human soul is exactly the same.

We depart this world, only to enter the next world. It's as natural as the changing of the seasons.

Orthodoxy has turned 'death' into a big, black monster. Mainly because it suits their purpose.

So many NDE accounts from all over the world, both sexes, multiple religious faiths and none, yet one common theme occurring in most of them is that the person who underwent the NDE completely loses their fear of dying.

Many pre-death experiences detail 'deceased' loved ones coming to accompany the dying person over. (My favourite one stated 'My mother's face lit up with joy' and she held her arms out to someone the other person couldn't see and then passed away, still with the smile on her face.)

And beloved animals also show up in NDEs - no dog ever read the Bible, no cat ever contemplated the Vedas, or anything else.

Earthly life is a school. We come here to learn (through experience), to grow in wisdom and love, to advance the soul.

All life is evolving, ascending the spheres of light.

Death is not end, nor is it something to be feared. (It is making the most of now we should be concerned about...)

'To die will be an awfully big adventure' - J. M. Barrie

 

[metis]

In Judaism, one of our greatest sages was Moshe Maimonides, who taught that doing good in order to go to heaven is just selfishness, not morality. Instead, he taught that we should do right because God made us but really didn't have to, so we should deeply appreciate that and show that same love to others.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Life is a continuum. As the sun sets in one place, so it rises in another - and the progress of the human soul is exactly the same.

We depart this world, only to enter the next world. It's as natural as the changing of the seasons.

Orthodoxy has turned 'death' into a big, black monster. Mainly because it suits their purpose.

So many NDE accounts from all over the world, both sexes, multiple religious faiths and none, yet one common theme occurring in most of them is that the person who underwent the NDE completely loses their fear of dying.

Many pre-death experiences detail 'deceased' loved ones coming to accompany the dying person over. (My favourite one stated 'My mother's face lit up with joy' and she held her arms out to someone the other person couldn't see and then passed away, still with the smile on her face.)

And beloved animals also show up in NDEs - no dog ever read the Bible, no cat ever contemplated the Vedas, or anything else.

Earthly life is a school. We come here to learn (through experience), to grow in wisdom and love, to advance the soul.

All life is evolving, ascending the spheres of light.

Death is not end, nor is it something to be feared. (It is making the most of now we should be concerned about...)

'To die will be an awfully big adventure' - J. M. Barrie

Very well said.

 

[sandandfoam]

I don't think I believe in the idea of an end.

 

[Runewolf1973]

As to reincarnation, they explain that it's pure superstition.

Those who are on the other side disagree.

 

[Knight of Albion]

In Judaism, one of our greatest sages was Moshe Maimonides, who taught that doing good in order to go to heaven is just selfishness, not morality. Instead, he taught that we should do right because God made us but really didn't have to, so we should deeply appreciate that and show that same love to others.

That is wisdom indeed.

 

[Runewolf1973]

There are animals on the other side, but they are generally the first to move on.

 

[Aquitaine]

It appears that the activity in your brain is what makes you "alive" and enables us to perceive this world.

Just like if you were to lose the functioning of your eyes, you will be blind. Ergo, I think it's reasonable to assume once your brain dies - you die.

So I think it's safe to assume that death is the end.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Hmmm. Just thinking out loud here....

If the whole reason why some species evolved certain complex traits was that those traits gave the ability for those species to survive and adapt better, perhaps some species evolved a sort of highly complex ability or trait that allowed them to survive even after death. Perhaps it is just a whole nother part of that game of survival of the fittest we just don't know about. Given how insanely complex of a state certain creatures were able evolve as is, is it so unrealistic to think they could have evolved other survival traits we don't even realize they or we had?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

What are your individual thoughts on death and where it takes us?

Where does it take us? I suppose it takes the "us" which is our consciousness, personality, and memories, and erases it. It takes the "us" which is the phyiscal elements which comprise our bodies and recycles them back through the environment.

All living things are born, they live, and then die. It's an observable cycle which indicates no existence, nor need, of any non-physically identifiable state beyond this cycle. The inherent, evolutionarily-developed, drive of life to survive has utimately expressed itself, in the consciousness of man, in the form of using the imagination to rationalize rejection of non-existence. This is a natural and understandable drive, but this obsession with the fear of dying, whether one is aware of it or suppresses it, is an unhealthy psychological state. Acceptance of the inevitability of one not existing, seems to be a freeing act, and when one examines the fear of death, one sees that not existing isn't really anything to fear at all.

 

[ametist]

I think to form an opinion one can search final words of people or can read accounts of last minutes of people and see how they interact with 'death' at the start of it. I also think NDEs are useful. Also some contacts in dreams where dead states verifiable new info.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Where does it take us? I suppose it takes the "us" which is our consciousness, personality, and memories, and erases it. It takes the "us" which is the phyiscal elements which comprise our bodies and recycles them back through the environment.

All living things are born, they live, and then die. It's an observable cycle which indicates no existence, nor need, of any non-physically identifiable state beyond this cycle. The inherent, evolutionarily-developed, drive of life to survive has utimately expressed itself, in the consciousness of man, in the form of using the imagination to rationalize rejection of non-existence. This is a natural and understandable drive, but this obsession with the fear of dying, whether one is aware of it or suppresses it, is an unhealthy psychological state. Acceptance of the inevitability of one not existing, seems to be a freeing act, and when one examines the fear of death, one sees that not existing isn't really anything to fear at all.

It is not a fear of death that leads me to believe what I do. Perhaps for some it is though, but for myself I could care less what ultimately happens to us after we die. For me it is something that I believe personally based on certain things that I have seen or experienced for myself. I get that you don't believe in life after death, but I have my own reasons for believing in it and it is not because I have some underlying fear of death. I would say that is an unfair generalization you make of people who simply believe things differently. My girlfriend does not believe this stuff because she fears death, she believes it because she sees it.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

It is not a fear of death that leads me to believe what I do. Perhaps for some it is though, but for myself I could care less what ultimately happens to us after we die. For me it is something that I believe personally based on certain things that I have seen or experienced for myself. I get that you don't believe in life after death, but I have my own reasons for believing in it and it is not because I have some underlying fear of death. I would say that is an unfair generalization you make of people who simply believe things differently. My girlfriend does not believe this stuff because she fears death, she believes it because she sees it.

Anything's possible, I suppose. However, in general, it seems rather disingenuous and nonsensical to say that fear of death is an irrelevant aspect to people believing in continued existence after death.

 

[Erebus]

Anything's possible, I suppose. However, in general, it seems rather disingenuous and nonsensical to say that fear of death is an irrelevant aspect to people believing in continued existence after death.

To play Devil's advocate here, you seem to be arguing that the belief in an afterlife is a form of emotional crutch to assuage the fear of death. Could the same not be argued about the belief in non-existence after death?
You have already argued that non-existence is nothing to worry about (with which I agree) yet to my mind we still don't know what happens for a fact. Could belief in oblivion simply be another expression of the fear of death, or perhaps more specifically, fear of the unknown aspects of death?