The desire to live when there is no afterlife

[Rainbow Mage]

DanielR being thrown back into Samsara would be hell, but I don't believe the Buddha thought one actually is thrown back into Samsara. His teachings were to help one escape from all such bad views. He called his death 'final nirvana'. The deeper teachings of Buddhism indicate all is void, and void is all. The Buddha was more clear at times that one is born back into Samsara in moments- states of our life in which we extremely suffer.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I agree with you in that I don't believe that belief is a choice. You can't choose to be convinced by something you aren't. Going to a religious faith with that mindset would only be lip service anyway.

However, I don't think that understanding and accepting the nature of your mortality needs feeling purposeless and hopeless. The vast majority of atheists I know have no trouble with 'better to have lived and died than never lived at all,' and fill their lives with things that make them feel happy and accomplished.

To echo others here, sounds like there's something bigger than 'survival instinct' warring with skepticism. It sounds like you are struggling with something more clinical, and should maybe think about seeking professional help. Not from churches or fellow atheists, but from trained professional counseling.

 

[The Transcended Omniverse]

I agree with you in that I don't believe that belief is a choice. You can't choose to be convinced by something you aren't. Going to a religious faith with that mindset would only be lip service anyway.

However, I don't think that understanding and accepting the nature of your mortality needs feeling purposeless and hopeless. The vast majority of atheists I know have no trouble with 'better to have lived and died than never lived at all,' and fill their lives with things that make them feel happy and accomplished.

To echo others here, sounds like there's something bigger than 'survival instinct' warring with skepticism. It sounds like you are struggling with something more clinical, and should maybe think about seeking professional help. Not from churches or fellow atheists, but from trained professional counseling.

Well, an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing that matters to me. All that matters to me is that I am able to fully enjoy my life and hobbies with no depression, no suffering, and no death. I think this is a survival instinct. Most of us as human beings have the innate desire to be happy, not suffer, and live forever. It is completely natural. To me, it is completely unnatural for someone to want to have suffering/depression in their lives and for them to not want an afterlife. Since an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing for me and I cling onto it so desperately, then I am desperate to get this belief back to give that sense of hope and meaning back into my life since it is all I have. I am not sure if this can be done though.

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

Well, an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing that matters to me. All that matters to me is that I am able to fully enjoy my life and hobbies with no depression, no suffering, and no death. I think this is a survival instinct. Most of us as human beings have the innate desire to be happy, not suffer, and live forever. It is completely natural. To me, it is completely unnatural for someone to want to have suffering/depression in their lives and for them to not want an afterlife. Since an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing for me and I cling onto it so desperately, then I am desperate to get this belief back to give that sense of hope and meaning back into my life since it is all I have. I am not sure if this can be done though.

And this is fundermental reason I refuse to be depressed , if this all there is , please don't waste being depressed , you must conquer and when you do , you have premise from previous reasoning to ensure you never return to such place

 

[Kueid]

Right, humm... Let's start from the beginning. What is life?

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

DanielR being thrown back into Samsara would be hell, but I don't believe the Buddha thought one actually is thrown back into Samsara. His teachings were to help one escape from all such bad views. He called his death 'final nirvana'. The deeper teachings of Buddhism indicate all is void, and void is all. The Buddha was more clear at times that one is born back into Samsara in moments- states of our life in which we extremely suffer.

But is not void , is humans who are the most precious commodity in the universe .
Life is proof is not void

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

Right, humm... Let's start from the beginning. What is life?

The period between birth and death ?

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

Well, an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing that matters to me. All that matters to me is that I am able to fully enjoy my life and hobbies with no depression, no suffering, and no death. I think this is a survival instinct. Most of us as human beings have the innate desire to be happy, not suffer, and live forever. It is completely natural. To me, it is completely unnatural for someone to want to have suffering/depression in their lives and for them to not want an afterlife. Since an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing for me and I cling onto it so desperately, then I am desperate to get this belief back to give that sense of hope and meaning back into my life since it is all I have. I am not sure if this can be done though.

If you have room and is OK with family and you can take care of his needs and genuinely care for him ,show him kindness get American pit bull terrier he will be your best friend ever ! Or any dog for that matter.
You have to much time to worry . UK dog pounds full of dogs no one wants .
I do not encourage breeding but to give unwanted dog a home is a positive.
You can force positives of all kinds , balance .

 

[psychoslice]

I feel that believing in the after life distroys the life you are living now, when we are too busy enjoying this life we will have no time to worry about another. If there is or isn't another life we will never know, so as I said, enjoy this one for it is most likely the only one.

 

[Father Heathen]

Don't sweat the unknowable.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

But is not void , is humans who are the most precious commodity in the universe .
Life is proof is not void

Isn't it strangely convenient for humans to believe that we are the most precious thing in the universe? How er...obviously not human invented.

 

[Quintessence]

This isn't true. We can't choose what we want to believe. Here is a topic about that:

http://www.religiousforums.com/threads/we-cant-choose-to-believe.185052/page-6#post-4654717

Nonsense. You do realize I strongly disagree with the blogger I quoted in that thread, right?

But if you believe that you can't choose, well... then there's no helping you. A person has to take responsibility for what goes on inside their own heads in order to muster the will to shape it in accord with their will. If you want to abdicate that responsibility, so be it.

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

Isn't it strangely convenient for humans to believe that we are the most precious thing in the universe? How er...obviously not human invented.

Well what else is there ?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Well what else is there ?

Is the rest of life and other creatures nothing?

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Well, an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing that matters to me. All that matters to me is that I am able to fully enjoy my life and hobbies with no depression, no suffering, and no death. I think this is a survival instinct. Most of us as human beings have the innate desire to be happy, not suffer, and live forever. It is completely natural. To me, it is completely unnatural for someone to want to have suffering/depression in their lives and for them to not want an afterlife. Since an eternal blissful life is the one and only thing for me and I cling onto it so desperately, then I am desperate to get this belief back to give that sense of hope and meaning back into my life since it is all I have. I am not sure if this can be done though.

This still sounds selfish, misguided and unbalanced. Please don't confuse your problem with the normative feelings of the rest of us who don't believe in an afterlife. And once again I implore you to seek professional help.

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

Is the rest of life and other creatures nothing?

Lol yeah and hail to the exploding ant also .
Humans care for animals is obligation of being top of evolutionary ladder or obligation to things that are not of this universe.
Reality is one can not got for a walk in the woods without something going crunch underfoot .
Humans including rainbowmage are most precious commodities in this universe there now you happy ?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Lol yeah and hail to the exploding ant also .
Humans care for animals is obligation of being top of evolutionary ladder or obligation to things that are not of this universe.
Reality is one can not got for a walk in the woods without something going crunch underfoot .
Humans including rainbowmage are most precious commodities in this universe there now you happy ?

You think humans being the most precious thing in the universe is anything other than a speciest bias?

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Lol yeah and hail to the exploding ant also .
Humans care for animals is obligation of being top of evolutionary ladder or obligation to things that are not of this universe.
Reality is one can not got for a walk in the woods without something going crunch underfoot .
Humans including rainbowmaige are most precious commodities in this universe there now you happy ?

I see no obligation or top of the evolutionary ladder. It wouldn't be defined by intelligence, size, or any other single trait anyway. It's human ego to think we are cosmically superior and the universe would care if we were squashed any more than those ants. Nor any reason to think that when we safeguard other animals and ecosystem we aren't maintaining a status quo that benefits us and we enjoy, rather than enacting some obligation to something outside that ego.
I'm not saying that's bad, I like being here and protecting what's important to me and what might be important to my kin after me. But I don't fashion myself or humanity (or any life) as having some intrinsic extra value over the cosmos. Just the value we give ourselves.

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

You think humans being the most precious thing in the universe is anything other than a speciest bias?

Animals can care for me ? Take care of my needs ?
Humans is where the buck stops ?

 

[SpeaksForTheTrees]

I see no obligation or top of the evolutionary ladder. It wouldn't be defined by intelligence, size, or any other single trait anyway. It's human ego to think we are cosmically superior and the universe would care if we were squashed any more than those ants. Nor any reason to think that when we safeguard other animals and ecosystem we aren't maintaining a status quo that benefits us and we enjoy, rather than enacting some obligation to something outside that ego.
I'm not saying that's bad, I like being here and protecting what's important to me and what might be important to my kin after me. But I don't fashion myself or humanity (or any life) as having some intrinsic extra value over the cosmos. Just the value we give ourselves.

Did I say the universe would care ? Like it misses the Aztecs .
Subjectively or not , parable or tale , why did God ask Noah to build an ark ?