The Afterlife!

[SigurdReginson]

This is a question for folks who believe in afterlives. Keep in mind, this thread is not in the debate section, so I'm not interested in why people are right or wrong: this is simply about your own personal belief.

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?
(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?
(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?
(4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:

(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?
(6) Are there good and bad destinations?
(7) What are those destinations, exactly?
(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?
(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

I'd like detailed explanations if possible! If you folks want to discuss and compare afterlife beliefs, that's fine, but I want to keep things positive!

 

[LightofTruth]

This is a question for folks who believe in afterlives. Keep in mind, this thread is not in the debate section, so I'm not interested in why people are right or wrong: this is simply about your own personal belief.

By the term "afterlife" I assume you mean the life that comes after resurrection from the dead.

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?

According to the Scriptures of the Bible.

(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?

Only the faithful in Christ will experience life eternal by resurrection from the dead.

(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?

They do the will of God.

((4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

Heaven for the faithful. The grave for the wicked.

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:
(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?

I believe only those in covenant with God for resurrection of the dead will be raised from the dead. Some to life eternal and some to face a second death from which there is no resurrection.

(6) Are there good and bad destinations?

To be with God is good. To return to your native earth to never be heard from again is not so good.

(7) What are those destinations, exactly?

The righteous will execute God's judgments upon the wicked and rule with Christ for 1,000 years.

(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?

The day of salvation is still called Today. Grab it while you can.

(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

No.

 

[JustGeorge]

1. I was raised Christian, and I had beliefs about the afterlife that didn't match my religion's. I kept them quiet... and then later in life was thrilled when I found religions existed that held beliefs that more closely matched my own. I think my beliefs were formed some on intuition, and some on reading accounts of other people's experiences with afterlife(near death experiences, reincarnation stories).

2. Yes, with the exception of those who have been freed from the wheel of rebirth.

3. I don't know! If they have RF in the next world, I'll be sure to post back here and let you know.

4. Kind of. I believe a person goes to a place that best fits their own view. I don't necessarily believe that these other realms are somewhere that a person gets to by physical means. Its manifestations could be limitless.

5. See above.

6.Yes, depending on a person's 'condition'. I don't believe any of them are eternal. Everything changes. I believe a being only dwells in them until they go on to the next life.

7. I 'unno.

8. I believe the manifestation will vary according to mindset, mindset is a product of actions taken(or not taken). The two cannot be separated.

9. I don't know! Wouldn't that be fun, though?

 

[SigurdReginson]

They do the will of God.

No.

Interesting! Thanks for taking the time to answer.

According to what I remember when I was a Christian, my beliefs were that a third of the angels in heaven rebelled and we're cast out of heaven to await judgement.

Are people able to rebel after they have gone to heaven as well? Does free will exist for people in heaven? What differentiates the will of an angel vs. the will of a human spirit that exists in heaven?

 

[SigurdReginson]

2. Yes, with the exception of those who have been freed from the wheel of rebirth.

Oh... Mysterious. What happens then?

 

[JustGeorge]

Oh... Mysterious. What happens then?

Moksha! Merging with Brahman(or whatever other term/name one prefers).

 

[WalterTrull]

I don't believe that life ends, changes yes, but not ends. For some reason, it seems to me that life ending is illogical. Do I know what the future brings? Nope. But something. This isn't a religious thing. I don't adhere to any. Spiritual thing, yes.

 

[SigurdReginson]

Moksha! Merging with Brahman(or whatever other term/name one prefers).

Hmmm... What do you assume what it might be like to experience that? Would it be like an instant, infinite realization, like remembering something you forgot? Would you just wake up as a new, infinite person? It's hard to fathom...

What do you think happens after the grand play of life is completed?

 

[JustGeorge]

Hmmm... What do you assume what it might be like to experience that? Would it be like an instant, infinite realization, like remembering something you forgot? Would you just wake up as a new, I finite person? It's hard to fathom...

I haven't the slightest idea. I wonder this, too! It is hard to fathom.

What do you think happens after the grand play of life is completed?

I think it all just goes on. I don't think there is a complete. What's to complete? I believe it all just goes on, with destruction, and creation, destruction, creation... We see this in the cycles of nature, which I believe is just a smaller scale of the larger picture. I feel our current state/being is just a flea's fart in the grand scheme of it all.

 

[LightofTruth]

Interesting! Thanks for taking the time to answer.

According to what I remember when I was a Christian, my beliefs were that a third of the angels in heaven rebelled and we're cast out of heaven to await judgement.

Are people able to rebel after they have gone to heaven as well? Does free will exist for people in heaven? What differentiates the will of an angel vs. the will of a human spirit that exists in heaven?

Jesus said that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. When death is destroyed so too is the ability to sin because the wages of sin is death. So, no one raised to life eternal will have any desire of the flesh to sin against God. They will be as God's angels in heaven.

The angels spoken of in Revelation that are cast out of heaven refers NOT to the heaven where God dwells. There never was, nor ever will be, a war in that heaven. The heaven where these angels are cast out to the earth is their high seat of authority over the earth. They are to be mortal men and not immortal angels.

 

[SigurdReginson]

I haven't the slightest idea. I wonder this, too! It is hard to fathom.



I think it all just goes on. I don't think there is a complete. What's to complete? I believe it all just goes on, with destruction, and creation, destruction, creation... We see this in the cycles of nature, which I believe is just a smaller scale of the larger picture. I feel our current state/being is just a flea's fart in the grand scheme of it all.

Crazy to think of... Entropy is a thing, but so is the collective growth of knowledge that human kind possesses. If we don't manage to wipe ourselves out, where could that lead? How would we evolve over time, and how would that manifest itself in the grand play?

That's one thing I always loved about the various Hindu beliefs I've learned about: they're so expansive and thought provoking. I think that's one reason I never looked into them too deeply, though. I feel like someone would either need to be raised in the culture to have a good understanding, or devote themselves to it's study if they came in from the outside. It's intimidating!

 

[JustGeorge]

Crazy to think of... Entropy is a thing, but so is the collective growth of knowledge that human kind possesses. If we don't manage to wipe ourselves out, where could that lead? How would we evolve over time, and how would that manifest itself in the grand play?

I don't know where we're going, but I am certain, at some point, we'll go. Even if we manage not to wipe ourselves out, some other natural phenomenon will. Even if we manage to make it all the way to the sun's expansion, we'll still go! We can travel to another planet, but I'm still fairly sure this universe will at some point no longer exist. But, it didn't exist at some other point, either... and there we go. It starts up all over again...

 

[George-ananda]

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?

My beliefs comes from following the evidence of the paranormal and those who I believe can experience beyond the physical reality.

(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?

Yes
(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?

Absolutely

(4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

Yes

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:

(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?

There's no limit and it can be individualized by your desires.

(6) Are there good and bad destinations?

Yes but the destinations are only temporary.

(7) What are those destinations, exactly?

On the so-called astral plane.

(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?

Your life may produce your starting point but the individual can move on from there.

(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

Yes, as you progress you can move to more appropriate locales.

 

[SigurdReginson]

Thanks for answering! A few questions...

(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?

Absolutely

Oh! Interesting... So, can they make negative or bad decisions during their time in the afterlife? How would the consequences there work vs. here?

(6) Are there good and bad destinations?

Yes but the destinations are only temporary.

If they are temporary, what conditions need to unfold before they end?

(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

Yes, as you progress you can move to more appropriate locales.

Can you visit people in their versions of the afterlife, or are we forever alone in our own personal afterlives?

 

[George-ananda]

Thanks for answering! A few questions...



Oh! Interesting... So, can they make negative or bad decisions during their time in the afterlife? How would the consequences there work vs. here?

It is a process of changing wrong thinking (anger, hate, selfishness, etcetera) to positive thinking (peace, love, acceptance). Generally, the progress is upwards in decisions and changes. Progress would be entering higher states of love, peace and happiness.

If they are temporary, what conditions need to unfold before they end?

I also believe in reincarnation. After absorbing the lessons of the past life, souls choose to move on to appropriate new experiences.

Can you visit people in their versions of the afterlife, or are we forever alone in our own personal afterlives?

We can visit. The ease of connectedness increases the higher we go on the spiritual planes.

 

[Trailblazer]

This is a question for folks who believe in afterlives. Keep in mind, this thread is not in the debate section, so I'm not interested in why people are right or wrong: this is simply about your own personal belief.

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?
(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?
(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?
(4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:

(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?
(6) Are there good and bad destinations?
(7) What are those destinations, exactly?
(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?
(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

I'd like detailed explanations if possible! If you folks want to discuss and compare afterlife beliefs, that's fine, but I want to keep things positive!

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?

My ideas about the afterlife are primarily dictated by my religious beliefs, but also by other books I have read and also by my own intuition.

(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?

I believe that everyone will experience an afterlife because everyone has an immortal soul that lives on after the body died and goes to the spiritual world. I am 100% certain of that.

(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?

According to my Baha’i beliefs, we will not have free will in the afterlife as we do in this life, so we will not be able to make choices that alter our condition. That is why it is SO important to make the right decisions in this life and why all the Abrahamic holy books stress how important it is to ‘get it right’ in this life. According to my beliefs we will only be able to progress in the afterlife (the spiritual world) by the mercy of God and prayers of others and good works done in our name, not by our free will decisions

(4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

I do not believe that we either go to heaven or hell. That makes no sense because people attain different degrees of spiritual development in this life, and since we will be the same person we were in this life when we cross over to the spiritual world, it would not make sense that there are only two destinations.

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:

(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?

I do not believe that the spiritual world is a geographical location so there are not destinations in the sense of places we go to, but rather there are ‘states of the soul’ which reflect the spiritual development we attained in this life. I believe there are different levels to which we will gravitate in the next life according to what we did and what we believed in this life (our faith and deeds).

(6) Are there good and bad destinations?

Yes, I think there will be good and bad destinations but that there are ‘degrees’ or good and bad, so it will not be an either/or.

(7) What are those destinations, exactly?

That is hard to say because the afterlife is a mystery for the most part, and its nature has not been revealed in my religion. There are books one can read that describe the afterlife in more detail than the Baha’i Writings, and I lend them some credence since they are congruent with what the Baha’i Writings say about the afterlife.

The Afterlife Revealed
Private Dowding
Heaven and Hell

(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?

I do not think we will be able to choose since we will be exactly who we are when we crossed over from this life in the material world to the next life in the spiritual world. Exactly what will happen after we cross over nobody knows, but according to my beliefs we will only be able to make progress the way I noted above, and that is corroborated by the book I listed above called The Afterlife Revealed.

According to that book, we will be in a certain sphere (of seven spheres) which is according to our moral specific gravity and we will stay in the sphere and progress within that sphere. It is possible we will be able to move to a higher sphere, the book explains that in more detail, but we will never regress and return to a lower sphere as all movement will be in the positive direction. This progression is in accordance with my religious beliefs:

“And now concerning thy question regarding the soul of man and its survival after death. Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and bounty.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 155-156

(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

I already answered that in #3 above, I do not believe we will be able to switch because we won’t have free will like we do here. When we cross over into the spiritual world (afterlife) we will be whoever we were are the moment of death. We will only be able to make progress by the mercy of God and prayers of others and good works done in our name, not by our own free will decisions. I believe that other souls who are more advanced than us will be able to help us progress but that is just a personal opinion based upon the books I have read, as cited above, not according to my religious beliefs.

I'd like detailed explanations if possible! If you folks want to discuss and compare afterlife beliefs, that's fine, but I want to keep things positive!

I believe the Baha’i view of the afterlife is positive and hopeful, but there is much more to it that I did not explain, and if you or anyone wants to know I can explain further.

 

[Twilight Hue]

This is a question for folks who believe in afterlives. Keep in mind, this thread is not in the debate section, so I'm not interested in why people are right or wrong: this is simply about your own personal belief.

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?
(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?
(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?
(4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:

(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?
(6) Are there good and bad destinations?
(7) What are those destinations, exactly?
(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?
(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

I'd like detailed explanations if possible! If you folks want to discuss and compare afterlife beliefs, that's fine, but I want to keep things positive!

I consider this the afterlife considering I was dead prior to being born.

 

[Trailblazer]

I consider this the afterlife considering I was dead prior to being born.

Technically speaking, you were not dead before you were born, you simply did not exist before you were born, unless you believe in reincarnation.

 

[The Hammer]

This is a question for folks who believe in afterlives. Keep in mind, this thread is not in the debate section, so I'm not interested in why people are right or wrong: this is simply about your own personal belief.

(1) Are your ideas of the afterlife dictated according to your religious beliefs, according to your intuition, or a little of both?
(2) Do you believe everyone will experience an afterlife?
(3) Can people make impactful decisions in the afterlife that change the experience they have while there?
(4) Do you believe in more than one afterlife destination (I.E. Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Hades, etc)?

If the answer to 4 is yes, then:

(5) How many afterlife destinations are there?
(6) Are there good and bad destinations?
(7) What are those destinations, exactly?
(8) Will everyone get to choose at will which afterlife they can go to, or will that be dictated according to their actions when they were alive?
(9) Are there ways to switch from one afterlife destination to another after you are already there? If question 3 influences that, I'd like to hear about that too.

I'd like detailed explanations if possible! If you folks want to discuss and compare afterlife beliefs, that's fine, but I want to keep things positive!

Norse Ghosts & the Afterlife

This hits on the main ideas of an Afterlife in Germanic and Nordic faith. It really varies on how the person lived there life IMO. No one place of death is better than the other.

"The eddic poem Havamal (Sayings of the High One), which is considered to express the sentiments of certainly a number of the common people in Norway and Iceland in the late Viking Age, scorns mystical beliefs, such as those in a future life. According to this poem, death is the greatest calamity that can befall a man; ill health and injury are better. Even a lame man can ride a horse, a handless man can drive herds, and a deaf man join in battle; it is better to be blind than burned on the funeral pyre. (214)"

Folkvangr's got my vote .

 

[Twilight Hue]

Technically speaking, you were not dead before you were born, you simply did not exist before you were born, unless you believe in reincarnation.

Of course you existed before you were born.

Save the ego that makes you this particular person to which I can agree was never around prior.

Every atom however that caused the lights to come on will still be around, and matter just dosent poof outright into pure nothing. It just changes form.

If it wasn't true, then it would be impossible to be alive now with the reasoning there were no prior manifestation.