Most Religions Believe In An Afterlife

[Sgt. Pepper]

That was the name of that movie "The sixth sense". I think this was the first attempt M. Night Shyamalan, and it was by far his best supernatural movie. For one thing, I believe there are rare people like you that can communicate with dead people, so it was true to life. It also had a good twist at the end, though I had read reviews about the film which said it had a good twist in the end, and by the middle of the film, I knew what the twist was.

Yes, I have seen this film more than once. I told my husband how eerily similar it was in its depiction of the young boy's (Cole Sear) mediumship and how some spirits don't realize that they are dead. I also told him that I could relate to how Cole tried to deal with his psychic abilities on his own. I said this was how I felt for the majority of my life as I tried to deal with my own by myself. It was a lonely existence and quite frightening at times when I was a child.

 

[Trailblazer]

Yes, I have seen this film more than once. I told my husband how eerily similar it was in its depiction of the young boy's (Cole Sear) mediumship and how some spirits don't realize that they are dead.

I never saw that movie but as I recall my late husband saw it and liked it.

I have a curious question. I can understand how a spirit might not know they are dead at first, but if a spirit has been earthbound for a while, how can they not know they are dead when they realize they no longer have a physical body, so they have no need for food or sleep?

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I am very, very happy to read your post and about your experiences. The way forward, I think, is to read the different scriptures. Understand what they are saying about the afterlife, and then put this hypothesis to test with the spirits. Instead of just asking the spirits. If you ask them pointed questions to either honor or dishonor a particular statement, you may get more clear replies. My own experience is that I have met some departed souls of Prophets, and they have guided me, but I have not met any spirits, perhaps in the sense that you are speaking with. I think I have met God as a continuum of the holy sound ‘Om’ or some humming noise that has infinite existence.

I have never connected with or personally interacted with a deity during my lifetime, despite my countless attempts to connect and interact with the biblical God during the forty years I faithfully believed in him. I was a Christian for thirty years and had sincerely believed in God for ten years before that, but I had never seen, experienced, or interacted with him. I knew plenty of Christians who said they felt his "presence" in their lives, but I never felt it, and it wasn't for a lack of trying either. In my case, believing in him by faith didn't exactly work out for me, nor did years of dedicated and earnest prayer to him.

Therefore, I no longer accept the existence of any deity based on faith. Having said that, I'm not willing to entirely dismiss the existence of any deities because I believe in supernatural phenomena, and the existence of deities could be a possibility in this regard. I can honestly say that I believe that human spirits and non-human entities exist, but I don't just claim to believe without providing what I consider to be ample evidence to substantiate my beliefs.

I'm sure that it would make a significant difference for me if I could conclusively document the existence of deities like I can with human spirits and non-human entities as a veteran paranormal researcher and investigator, or if I could sense, see, hear, and directly communicate with any kind of deity like I can with human spirits and non-human entities as a spirit medium. As a medium, I've spent the past forty-five years of my life sensing, seeing, and hearing human spirits, as well as a few non-human entities. For the past seventeen years, I've had direct interactions with human spirits and non-human entities, but I've never experienced any direct encounters (feeling, seeing, hearing, or speaking directly to) with any deity. The only supernatural phenomena I've ever witnessed in a church were the spirits of lost and confused Christians, who had no idea what was happening to them. I truly felt sorry for these lost spirits.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I never saw that movie but as I recall my late husband saw it and liked it.

I have a curious question. I can understand how a spirit might not know they are dead at first, but if a spirit has been earthbound for a while, how can they not know they are dead when they realize they no longer have a physical body, so they have no need for food or sleep?

These spirits do eventually realize that they are dead, but some take longer than others, typically due to shock and confusion, while others are in denial.

 

[Truthseeker]

Yes, I have seen this film more than once. I told my husband how eerily similar it was in its depiction of the young boy's (Cole Sear) mediumship and how some spirits don't realize that they are dead. I also told him that I could relate to how Cole tried to deal with his psychic abilities on his own. I said this was how I felt for the majority of my life as I tried to deal with my own by myself. It was a lonely existence and quite frightening at times when I was a child.

However, thanks to Bruce Willis, he found his purpose in life at a young age in helping other people. It was also redemption for Willis because he had missed someone else like Cole earlier, which led to his death. He was also able to communicate how he loved his wife how he loved her thanks to a tip by Cole. Also I remember Cole saying that sometimes spirits don't know they are dead, which was a hint to Bruce.

I noticed that no one responded to Bruce Willis except Cole after a while. Then I knew what the twist was. Sorry everybody for giving the twist away.

 

[Truthseeker]

I never saw that movie but as I recall my late husband saw it and liked it.

You really should see it. It was a great movie. It should be available somewhere.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

However, thanks to Bruce Willis, he found his purpose in life at a young age in helping other people. It was also redemption for Willis because he had missed someone else like Cole earlier, which led to his death. He was also able to communicate how he loved his wife how he loved her thanks to a tip by Cole. Also I remember Cole saying that sometimes spirits don't know they are dead, which was a hint to Bruce.

I noticed that no one responded to Bruce Willis except Cole after a while. Then I knew what the twist was. Sorry everybody for giving the twist away.

I noticed the film's underlying meaning fairly quickly. I thought it was done well. Have you watched the film The Others with Nicole Kidman?

 

[shunyadragon]

What’s that tell ya? Just maybe there might be one?

Maybe does not get you brass ring. Actually, the goal of ancient Eastern religions is the extinction of any such afterlife, and the ultimate reality is absolutely nothing.

 

[Watchmen]

What’s that tell ya? Just maybe there might be one?

Tells me the psychological need for survival latched on to man-made mythologies to explain that which people did not understand. Now that science has taught us where we’re from and where we’re going, we have no need for these mythologies anymore.

 

[Watchmen]

If there is no afterlife, then we have to answer how do souls come into being and where do they go after death? I am a Hindu and I believe in reincarnation. So, there is afterlife but the afterlife is psychical. The question that Abrahamic religions have to answer is that where from do souls arise? and What happens to them after death? If they are condemned to hell permanently Then does it mean that they exist permanently?

Serious question. How do reincarnation believing Hindis explain the dramatic increase in human population?

 

[Jimmy]

Tells me the psychological need for survival latched on to man-made mythologies to explain that which people did not understand. Now that science has taught us where we’re from and where we’re going, we have no need for these mythologies anymore.

Science taught ya all that huh? Sweet

 

[Truthseeker]

I noticed the film's underlying meaning fairly quickly. I thought it was done well. Have you watched the film The Others with Nicole Kidman?

Yes, that had a good twist too. I did not see that one coming. I only knew about the twist in advance for "the Sixth Sense" was because I saw the review that there was a good twist at the end, so I was warned.

 

[Watchmen]

Science taught ya all that huh? Sweet

Science is cool.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Science taught ya all that huh? Sweet

A lot sweeter than the bitterness that exists between so many religious believers.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Tells me the psychological need for survival latched on to man-made mythologies to explain that which people did not understand. Now that science has taught us where we’re from and where we’re going, we have no need for these mythologies anymore.

Except, obviously, we do need mythology.

Take, for example, the myth of the man made millennium, in which science enlightens us and technology liberates us to realise our potential. This mythical condition is no closer today than it ever was, but still the faithful proclaim the imminence of this brave new world.

 

[shunyadragon]

Science taught ya all that huh? Sweet

This is an over reach of the limits of science. Science does or teach anything one way or the other concerning Gods or afterlife,

 

[Truthseeker]

I noticed the film's underlying meaning fairly quickly. I thought it was done well. Have you watched the film The Others with Nicole Kidman?

I just reviewed the plot on Wikipedia. Of course I remembered that the twist was that Grace and her children are actually ghosts, the housekeeper, etc. are ghosts, and the "others" are living humans who now live in the house. Somehow Grace suppressed the memory that she had killed her children and herself, probably because of how hard it would be to face her guilt. The fact that she didn't realize that herself hid from me that they were ghosts. It fits in with your theme that ghosts sometimes don't realize they are dead.

 

[Copernicus]

Serious question. How do reincarnation believing Hindis explain the dramatic increase in human population?

Technical note: Hindu is the religion. Hindi is one of the many languages that Hindus and others speak in modern India.

I've pursued this same question with Bharat. He believes that souls can be reborn into animal bodies, so the pool of souls is much larger than just for the human population. Among many Hindus, there is a belief that karma has an impact on the manner of rebirth, and that kind of reasoning has been used to justify treating the lower castes differently from higher ones. In theory, one could have a more rewarding rebirth through virtuous behavior or a less rewarding one through unvirtuous behavior. Needless to say, this is a huge oversimplification of a very diverse religious tradition, but my concern was the logic of having a fixed population of souls all competing for rebirth in a varying population of bodies. Bharat also mentioned the possibility of souls attaching to inanimate objects (animism).

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I just reviewed the plot on Wikipedia. Of course I remembered that the twist was that Grace and her children are actually ghosts, the housekeeper, etc. are ghosts, and the "others" are living humans who now live in the house. Somehow Grace suppressed the memory that she had killed her children and herself, probably because of how hard it would be to face her guilt. The fact that she didn't realize that herself hid from me that they were ghosts. It fits in with your theme that ghosts sometimes don't realize they are dead.

Yes, that is correct. It was a plot twist that I also caught onto early on in the film, but I didn't ruin it for my husband, who was watching with me.

 

[Watchmen]

Except, obviously, we do need mythology.

Take, for example, the myth of the man made millennium, in which science enlightens us and technology liberates us to realise our potential. This mythical condition is no closer today than it ever was, but still the faithful proclaim the imminence of this brave new world.

No. We’ve evolved past the need for mythology.