What do you think happens after we die and how does it make you feel?

[thebigpicture]

I think that death is like sleeping except you never wake up which isn't so bad when one thinks about Hell however the idea of all my thoughts and everything that's in me just fading away seems worse that hell.

I personally know several people who have had a near-death experience or some type of out-of-body experience. Neither of them know one another personally, nor of their experience, yet they all say similar things.

There is a book called “Exploring the Levels of Creation,” that I feel offers a very compelling viewpoint of what happens after death. Not sure if I really believe it exactly as it is described, but it certainly is interesting.

I can say this, I believe there is more to come after death. I definitely believe there is an afterlife.

 

[BruceDLimber]

How does that make you feel?

Pretty good knowing that I don't have to live forever.

In fact, according to the Baha'i scriptures we ALL go on to the Next Life and live there forever!

(More quotes upon request.)

Peace,

Bruce

 

[YmirGF]

What do you think happens after we die and how does it make you feel?

As I have said many time and undoubtedly will say many more times before I croak, what happens directly following physical death is determined by your beliefs on the subject. Whatever you believe happens after the point of physical death, is precisely what will happen for you - at first. For those who believe that consciousness is extinguished upon physical death there is a period that you could liken to psychological playing possum. Since time is quite different in that environment, the length of time spent in this state varies wildly. Some actually refuse to believe, at first, that they are dead and are quite insistent that they are dreaming. Though amusing, they usually come around with a little coaxing.

For those who believe in very strong religious symbols, where all reality stops for them and the creator of all comes rushing in to decided their fate, the drama can be quite extraordinary and SEEMS highly realistic, regardless of how unrealistic their belief structures are in actuality. Surprisingly, things usually work out well for the individual unless they have a very low opinion of themselves. In such cases their judgment scenes can last for quite some time.

For others who have less rigid ideas about what happens once they are finished with their physical body, there are some interesting possibilities. It isn't quite like catching a brass ring, but consciously entering into the event, with ones "eyes" wide open, in a meditative state, can be curiously enlivening and enriching. In our terms, it is about accepting with an open mind possibilities that are currently beyond our wildest dreams. In some ways this ls like the return of a person who has been off traveling for many years and comes back bursting with all sorts of enchanting tales.

I think that death is like sleeping except you never wake up which isn't so bad when one thinks about Hell however the idea of all my thoughts and everything that's in me just fading away seems worse that hell.

What do I think will happen to me. I've already decided. Regardless of what is happening up to the point of my physical death, I will suddenly be aware in the darkness that is giving way to a coming sunrise. I will be met by my dog, MaXx whom I will become aware of curled up next to me. Placidly and in a state of awe we will climb a suddenly materialized hill and sit at the top, with my arm around his shoulders and watch a sunrise like no one can imagine. It's then I'll know that I am Home as we make our way into the Heart of the Sunrise.


Oh well, at least it will be pretty... How will it feel? Pretty neat, actually.

 

[rockstarwife628]

I believe that we all return to God, to "heaven" (I reject the idea of Hell as contradictory to the character and nature of a loving God). I'm not sure what "heaven", or whatever we'll call afterlife, will entail, though....

 

[The Sum of Awe]

In fact, according to the Baha'i scriptures we ALL go on to the Next Life and live there forever!

(More quotes upon request.)

Peace,

Bruce

A little while longer would be fine, no more than a 100 years after this life though

 

[NemisisQ]

Belief isn't really a choice. Why, you think you could make me believe?

Belief isn't really a choice??? When did this happened?

Don't be mistaken, im not trying to make you, or having any subjective intention to do so, all im doing is suggesting, recommend.

 

[outhouse]

we decompose

thats my take.

one you die, the hard drive dies, all memory of the past is erased.



The only reason we follow ancient mans belief of a afterlife is because of fear alone. People are afraid to loose everything. No one wants to stop that wants to live.


:slap:

 

[Silver]

Future scientists might give us the keys to the afterlife.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Future scientists might give us the keys to the afterlife.

I'd imagine at the moment it's quite possible for a virtual-like afterlife to be made for us. The only problem with it is how will we be conscious in it? Otherwise we could have people's faces on the screen of the computer, a chip for them being alive and all, but there needs to be a way to allow them to make their decisions.

 

[jarofthoughts]

In fact, according to the Baha'i scriptures we ALL go on to the Next Life and live there forever!

(More quotes upon request.)

Peace,

Bruce

Not to be mean about this but, what do people DO in this next life that apparently lasts forever?
I've read the biblical account in the Revelations part of the Bible, and that don't sound too appealing... :sarcastic

 

[BruceDLimber]

A little while longer would be fine, no more than a 100 years after this life though.

The scriptures I endeavor to follow state that the Next Life begins immediately after death, and then continues forever!

Best!

Bruce

 

[Pegg]

I think that death is like sleeping except you never wake up which isn't so bad when one thinks about Hell however the idea of all my thoughts and everything that's in me just fading away seems worse that hell.

I believe the same, that death is a sleeplike condition

However, I do believe we can be woken up from it.


But you are right that death is a very sad end considering all that we learn and experience in life is lost to us when we die.

 

[BruceDLimber]

you die; the hard drive dies; all memory of the past is erased.

The Baha'i scriptures state otherwise, and in particular state that we will indeed still know and recognize friends and loved ones in the Next Life!

Peace,

Bruce

 

[BruceDLimber]

Not to be mean about this but, what do people DO in this next life that apparently lasts forever?
I've read the biblical account in the Revelations part of the Bible, and that don't sound too appealing.

Perhaps you should read the Baha'i scriptures instead: they portray a FAR more positive picture! I quote some of it below.

Best!

Bruce
- - - - -

According to the Bahá'í teaching the Resurrection has nothing to do with the gross physical body. That body, once dead, is done with. It becomes decomposed and its atoms will never be recomposed into the same body.

"Resurrection is the birth of the individual to spiritual life, through the gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed through the Manifestation of God. The grave from which he arises is the grave of ignorance and negligence of God. The sleep from which he awakens is the dormant spiritual condition in which many await the dawn of the Day of God. This dawn illumines all who have lived on the face of the earth, whether they are in the body or out of the body, but those who are spiritually blind cannot perceive it. The Day of Resurrection is not a day of twenty-four hours, but an era which has now begun...."
―(Baha'u'llah and the New Era, p. 222)

"Bahá'u'lláh and &'Abdu'l-Bahá regard the descriptions of Heaven and Hell given in some of the older religious writings as symbolic, like the Biblical story of the Creation, and not as literally true. According to Them, Heaven is the state of perfection, and Hell that of imperfection; Heaven is harmony with God's will and with our fellows, and Hell is the want of such harmony; Heaven is the condition of spiritual life, and Hell that of spiritual death. A man may be either in Heaven or in Hell while still in the body. The joys of Heaven are spiritual joys; and the pains of Hell consist in the deprivation of these joys."
―Baha'u'llah and the New Era pp. 190-1

From the Baha'i scriptures:

“Thou hast asked Me whether man, as apart from the Prophets of God and His chosen ones, will retain, after his physical death, the self-same individuality, personality, consciousness, and understanding that characterize his life in this world. If this should be the case, how is it, thou hast observed, that whereas such slight injuries to his mental faculties as fainting and severe illness deprive him of his understanding and consciousness, his death, which must involve the decomposition of his body and the dissolution of its elements, is powerless to destroy that understanding and extinguish that consciousness? How can any one imagine that man's consciousness and personality will be maintained, when the very instruments necessary to their existence and function will have completely disintegrated?

“Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between his soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any bodily ailments. Consider the light of the lamp. Though an external object may interfere with its radiance, the light itself continueth to shine with undiminished power. In like manner, every malady afflicting the body of man is an impediment that preventeth the soul from manifesting its inherent might and power. When it leaveth the body, however, it will evince such ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no force on earth can equal. Every pure, every refined and sanctified soul will be endowed with tremendous power, and shall rejoice with exceeding gladness.”

-- (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pp. 153-154)


“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. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will freely converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made to endure in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. If any man be told that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station.... The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.”

-- (Baha'u'llah, Ibid., pp. 155-157)

"Know that, although the human soul has existed on the earth for prolonged times and ages, yet it is phenomenal. As it is a divine sign, when once it has come into existence, it is eternal. The spirit of man has a beginning, but it has no end; it continues eternally."

-- Some Answered Questions, p. 151
[continues]

 

[BruceDLimber]

[continued]
"You question about eternal life and the entrance into the Kingdom. The outer expression used for the Kingdom is heaven; but this is a comparison and similitude, not a reality or fact, for the Kingdom is not a material place; it is sanctified from time and place. It is a spiritual world, a divine world, and the center of the Sovereignty of God; it is freed from body and that which is corporeal, and it is purified and sanctified from the imaginations of the human world. To be limited to place is a property of bodies and not of spirits. Place and time surround the body, not the mind and spirit. Observe that the body of man is confined to a small place; it covers only two spans of earth. But the spirit and mind of man travel to all countries and regions−even through the limitless space of the heavens−surround all that exists, and make discoveries in the exalted spheres and infinite distances. This is because the spirit has no place; it is placeless; and for the spirit the earth and the heaven are as one since it makes discoveries in both. But the body is limited to a place and does not know that which is beyond it.
"For life is of two kinds: that of the body and that of the spirit. The life of the body is material life, but the life of the spirit expresses the existence of the Kingdom, which consists in receiving the Spirit of God and becoming vivified by the breath of the Holy Spirit. Although the material life has existence, it is pure nonexistence and absolute death for the holy saints. So man exists, and this stone also exists, but what a difference between the existence of man and that of the stone! Though the stone exists, in relation to the existence of man it is nonexistent.
"The meaning of eternal life is the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the flower receives the gift of the season, the air, and the breezes of spring. Consider: this flower had life in the beginning like the life of the mineral; but by the coming of the season of spring, of the bounty of the clouds of the springtime, and of the heat of the glowing sun, it attained to another life of the utmost freshness, delicacy and fragrance. The first life of the flower, in comparison to the second life, is death.
"... [T]he life of the Kingdom is the life of the spirit, the eternal life, and that it is purified from place, like the spirit of man which has no place. For if you examine the human body, you will not find a special spot or locality for the spirit, for it has never had a place; it is immaterial. It has a connection with the body like that of the sun with this mirror. The sun is not within the mirror, but it has a connection with the mirror.
"In the same way the world of the Kingdom is sanctified from everything that can be perceived by the eye or by the other senses - hearing, smell, taste or touch. The mind which is in man, the existence of which is recognized - where is it in him? If you examine the body with the eye, the ear or the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless, it exists. Therefore, the mind has no place, but it is connected with the brain. The Kingdom is also like this. In the same way love has no place, but it is connected with the heart; so the Kingdom has no place, but is connected with man.
"Entrance into the Kingdom is through the love of God, through detachment, through holiness and chastity, through truthfulness, purity, steadfastness, faithfulness and the sacrifice of life.
"These explanations show that man is immortal and lives eternally. For those who believe in God, who have love of God, and faith, life is excellent - that is, it is eternal; but to those souls who are veiled from God, although they have life, it is dark, and in comparison with the life of believers it is nonexistence.
"For example, the eye and the nail are living; but the life of the nail in relation to the life of the eye is nonexistent. This stone and this man both exist; but the stone in relation to the existence of man is nonexistent; it has no being; for when man dies, and his body is destroyed and annihilated, it becomes like stone and earth. Therefore, it is clear that although the mineral exists, in relation to man it is nonexistent.
"In the same way, the souls who are veiled from God, although they exist in this world and in the world after death, are, in comparison with the holy existence of the children of the Kingdom of God, nonexisting and separated from God."
−(Some Answered Questions, Pages: 241-243)
[He also speaks about our status changing in the next world, and what's required for it.]
"When they [men] are delivered through the light of faith from the darkness of these vices, and become illuminated with the radiance of the sun of reality, and ennobled with all the virtues, they esteem this the greatest reward, and they know it to be the true paradise. In the same way they consider that the spiritual punishment ... is to be subjected to the world of nature, to be veiled from God, to be brutal and ignorant, to fall into carnal lusts, to be absorbed in animal frailties, to be characterized with dark qualities ... these are the greatest punishments and tortures....

"...The rewards of the other world are the perfections and the peace obtained in the spiritual worlds after leaving this world ... the spiritual graces, the various spiritual gifts in the Kingdom of God, the gaining of the desires of the heart and the soul, and the meeting of God in the world of eternity. In the same way the punishments of the other world ... consist in being deprived of the special divine blessings and the absolute bounties, and falling into the lowest degrees of existence. He who is deprived of these divine favours, although he continues after death, is considered as dead by the people of truth.

"The wealth of the other world is nearness to God. Consequently it is certain that those who are near the Divine Court are allowed to intercede, and this intercession is approved by God....

"It is even possible that the condition of those who have died in sin and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may become the object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through His justice; for bounty is giving without desert, and justice is giving what is deserved. As we have the power to pray for these souls here, so likewise we shall possess the same power in the other world, which is the Kingdom of God.... Therefore in that world also they can make progress. As here they can receive light by their supplications, there also they can plead for forgiveness, and receive light through entreaties and supplications.

"Both before and after putting off this material form, there is progress in perfection, but not in state.... There is no other being higher than a perfect man. But man when he has reached this state can still make progress in perfections but not in state, because there is no state higher than that of a perfect man to which he can transfer himself. He only progresses in the state of humanity, for the human perfections are infinite. Thus however learned a man may be, we can imagine one more learned.

"Hence, as the perfections of humanity are endless, man can also make progress in perfections after leaving this world."
―Some Answered Questions, pp. 260-274 passim.

 

[jarofthoughts]

Perhaps you should read the Baha'i scriptures instead: they portray a FAR more positive picture! I quote some of it below.

Best!

Bruce

Wow... You really went all out on that one.
Thanks for that.

However, after reading both your posts, extensive as they were, I still found no real answer to what it is that people DO in the afterlife.

I dunno...
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question?

Also, I think Steven Pinker might have some objections to the mind- brain analogy.

 

[Felidae]

We die, there's nothing. Death is the end for the creature you are at that point. Maybe your energy is used again at some point to form another being, I am not sure about that, but I do believe that when you die, that is the end.

This was confirmed to me when in three years time my grandad, aunt and father died, I've never believed them to go on beyond death, their corpses only seemed flesh and bones to me, I've never felt any trace of them since, besides me remembering them.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

People that believe in an afterlife or a soul: Why, when we are unconscious in a coma and such, does our soul not leave our body and we be conscious in it? We just sit there unconscious.

I don't see how with a soul we could ever be unconscious, because most believers in a soul think the soul is the consciousness or replaces the consciousness.

 

[Storm]

I think that death is like sleeping except you never wake up which isn't so bad when one thinks about Hell however the idea of all my thoughts and everything that's in me just fading away seems worse that hell.

Without going into theological detail, I think it's like waking from one of those dreams where you're somebody else. You rest for a while, then reincarnate.

 

[ninerbuff]

I believe when you die, you die.