Most Religions Believe In An Afterlife

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

Yes, we can attain the knowledge that prophets have by reading the scriptures, but I don't think we can ever be the same as level as the prophets who were manifestations of God, because I believe that they have a twofold nature that no other humans possess.

“Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold nature; the physical, pertaining to the world of matter, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself. He hath, moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself. To this testifieth the tradition: “Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is.” …. The second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses: “I am but a man like you.” “Say, praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?”

Bahá'í Reference Library - Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Pages 64-69

In Hinduism, we have different levels of incarnations of God. So, the prophets also have different levels, and I do not see any reason why you or I cannot attain the same level as the prophets. The two-fold nature of the prophets is also in us.

 

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

As you may know, I make no distinction between the soul and the mind, since I am a materialist. That is, I do not believe in the existence of disembodied souls. In my view, consciousness is a special property of physical brain activity. When the brain dies, brain activity ceases and the mind therefore ceases to exist. That is, each of us only exists for a brief span of time as an evolving consciousness.



I agree that we all harbor some delusions, but what we know of reality is just a mental framework based on how our bodies interact with it. I'm not sure I would call them the exception. They may be fundamental in some way to the way the brain functions.

There is no point in repeating all the evidence for the existence of an external soul here. There is also a huge science of phenomenology. When reality is dependent upon the objectives or the thinking of a person. So, I think this dialogue has reached a dead end. So let us rest here.

 

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

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.

Same here I have had interactions with the supreme power as well as my ancestors, but none with a deity. But theoretically, I consider that I have not looked for deities. Therefore, I have not found them. I know of people who claim to have conversed with deities. But that is all that I have at the moment.

 

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

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

The souls can be exchanged between animals and human beings. So, if there is more increase in the human population, more animal souls will be incarnated as human beings. Where there is a decrease in the human population, more human souls will incarnate as animals.

 

[Copernicus]

There is no point in repeating all the evidence for the existence of an external soul here. There is also a huge science of phenomenology. When reality is dependent upon the objectives or the thinking of a person. So, I think this dialogue has reached a dead end. So let us rest here.

OK, so I guess that there is no point in repeating all of the rebuttals to that evidence for the existence of an external soul here. There is also a huge science called neurospsychology in which all types of cognition are correlated with physical brain activity. So I think this dialogue has reached a dead end for lack of proof that souls must exist, as you have claimed previously. Without any reasonable proof, there is no real reason to believe in them. Sorry to reply in the same spirit, but you make a lot of unsupported claims about the existence of souls.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

The souls can be exchanged between animals and human beings. So, if there is more increase in the human population, more animal souls will be incarnated as human beings. Where there is a decrease in the human population, more human souls will incarnate as animals.

I believe that animals have spirits just as humans do, so this makes sense to me.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Same here I have had interactions with the supreme power as well as my ancestors, but none with a deity. But theoretically, I consider that I have not looked for deities. Therefore, I have not found them. I know of people who claim to have conversed with deities. But that is all that I have at the moment.

As I explained in my previous posts (such as this one), I diligently sought to connect with the biblical God for forty years, but I never found him. I learned the hard way as a Christian that there is no personal relationship with him or Jesus. In truth, I felt nothing except hopelessness and despair during the four decades that I truly believed in them. I often heard other Christians profess to feel God's presence in their lives and claim to have a personal relationship with him, but I experienced nothing of the sort. After a while, I began to assume that they were simply acting as if they felt God's presence in the same way that I did and that they were playing church in the hope that they would feel it one day. It was one of those "fake it 'til you make it" types of scenarios. I felt, and still suspect, that other Christians faked their emotions during church services and prayer gatherings. And, to validate my suspicion, my husband, a devout Christian, has admitted to me that his emotions were manipulated during church services, but he misconstrued it as feeling God's presence. He said that church services are designed to generate strong emotions from the congregation and that this is accomplished through uplifting praise music as well as preaching and prayer. I never sensed "God's presence" in church or during moments of struggle, despair, or happiness. Now I know that whenever I felt elated in church, it was only because the preaching and singing had a temporary effect on my emotions. Now I know why these emotions were so fleeting.

 

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

As I explained in my previous posts (such as this one), I diligently sought to connect with the biblical God for forty years, but I never found him. I learned the hard way as a Christian that there is no personal relationship with him or Jesus. In truth, I felt nothing except hopelessness and despair during the four decades that I truly believed in them. I often heard other Christians profess to feel God's presence in their lives and claim to have a personal relationship with him, but I experienced nothing of the sort. After a while, I began to assume that they were simply acting as if they felt God's presence in the same way that I did and that they were playing church in the hope that they would feel it one day. It was one of those "fake it 'til you make it" types of scenarios. I felt, and still suspect, that other Christians faked their emotions during church services and prayer gatherings. And, to validate my suspicion, my husband, a devout Christian, has admitted to me that his emotions were manipulated during church services, but he misconstrued it as feeling God's presence. He said that church services are designed to generate strong emotions from the congregation and that this is accomplished through uplifting praise music as well as preaching and prayer. I never sensed "God's presence" in church or during moments of struggle, despair, or happiness. Now I know that whenever I felt elated in church, it was only because the preaching and singing had a temporary effect on my emotions. Now I know why these emotions were so fleeting.

My experience is the same as yours, but at the same time, I have found that meditation has taken me towards the supreme power whom I have perceived as a humming sound and nothing more. But there was a sense of infinity and solitude in that humming sound. I think that is what God is. And deities do not exist, at least in my experience, just as yours. Thank you.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

My experience is the same as yours, but at the same time, I have found that meditation has taken me towards the supreme power whom I have perceived as a humming sound and nothing more. But there was a sense of infinity and solitude in that humming sound. I think that is what God is. And deities do not exist, at least in my experience, just as yours. Thank you.

Thank you for your insightful response, Bharat Jhunjhunwala. I appreciate it.

 

[Bharat Jhunjhunwala]

Thank you for your insightful response, Bharat Jhunjhunwala. I appreciate it.

Welcome