What really happens to you after you die...

[LuisDantas]

This kind of speculation never made much sense to me.

Yes, I realize that many people want with various degrees of intensity to believe that there is some sort of life after death.

I don't think that is very healthy at all.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

This kind of speculation never made much sense to me.

Yes, I realize that many people want with various degrees of intensity to believe that there is some sort of life after death.

I don't think that is very healthy at all.

I don't know one way or another. But personally I believe we die, when we die, but that is a belief.

 

[LuisDantas]

I don't know one way or another. But personally I believe we die, when we die, but that is a belief.

I do know that people's values and behaviour changes when they take afterlife beliefs too seriously.

It is not a pretty sight.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

I do know that people's values and behaviour changes when they take afterlife beliefs too seriously.

It is not a pretty sight.

Yeah and you can find those non-religious ones who take dying too seriously.
In effect I have never seen any overall evidence that religion is a special negative. Rather I suspect it to be a psychological, social and cultural variation.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I think when you die you are compelled to make a choice. First, you can decide to go into the light, look into the face of God, time stops, and you experience heavenly bliss for all eternity. And second, you decide you are not worthy, for whatever reason, and you turn away from the light. At which point, you are immediately given omnipotent powers.

Once you have omnipotent powers, everything you imagine instantly becomes reality the moment you imagine it. Then, for a few million years or so, you live out all your fantasies. You get to exercise all your desires, demons, and life regrets until they no longer have any power over you. At some point, you become bored because you can't think of anything else to experience that you haven't experienced a million times over. At that exact moment of that feeling, the light at the end of the tunnel reappears. But this time with a clean spirit you go into the light, you look into the face of God, time stops, and you experience heavenly bliss for all eternity.

So everyone will eventually make it into heaven to experience heavenly bliss for all eternity regardless of our earthly sufferings and earthly sins. What a beautiful thought. Don't you agree??? Is there anything more beautiful to hope and wish for than all our friends, family, and enemies getting to experience heavenly bliss for all eternity after they die regardless of their life history and circumstances.

My thoughts about religion are not really conventional. When I was in my 20s, I had a huge argument with a born again Christian. I said, "I can't listen to someone telling me what to think from a pulpit. I believe absolute authority comes from within." He said, "Who told you that?" This went back and forth for a while. Then, I really got the guy mad because he started talking about eternal damnation and where my soul was going to go when I died. I said, "How bad can it be? It can't be worse than living in New Jersey." He did not crack a smile.

I had to work with this guy so I tried to extend him an olive branch. I started talking about the metaphysics of Hell. I said the suffering you experience in Hell must be like an irrational number. If the suffering were a pattern that repeated eventually you would get used to it. So the suffering in Hell must be like an irrational number where it never is quite the same thing each time so as to prevent you from getting used to it. He said, "yeah, yeah, that's it." My born again friend smiled from ear to ear thinking about the prospect of my suffering in Hell. So we parted as friends. But his reaction of joy at the idea of me suffering in Hell always took me aback a bit. How good can a religion be if people who follow it take joy in other people's suffering. Evil is always where you least expect it. And what I have found, the people who are the most obsessed with morality and sin turn out to be the ones who are the most immoral.

Of course, you can speculate and believe whatever you want about the afterlife. In my experience, some religious people like to claim that they know what will happen in the afterlife, but in my opinion, they're merely speculating, just like everyone else. Even within the same religion, people disagree on what happens after death, but they all think they're right and everyone else is wrong. In my experience, most of them never say, "This is what I believe" or "This is my opinion," but instead insist that their own beliefs regarding the afterlife are absolute truth. But I think the fact remains that the spirit world and their afterlife could be entirely different from what they personally believe about them. I believe the same is true for those who don't believe in an afterlife.

I am a spiritualist with years of firsthand experience with the paranormal, and I still wonder what my afterlife will be like, but I can't say that I know for certain. However, my years of research, investigation, and personal encounters with the paranormal have influenced my beliefs about the afterlife. That being said, I believe that a person's character and the decisions they've made throughout their life can or will primarily determine their afterlife. Of course, I could be right or wrong. I don't have a problem with admitting that I don't know. I have beliefs and experiences, but I've never died, so I'm not sure. And finally, it's important to remember that we're just sharing what we believe about the afterlife, whether it's based on our personal spiritual beliefs or not.

 

[Quintessence]

If nothing else, the narrative you created for yourself is consistent with what you want to believe and your values, @dfnj - you choose to believe rejection of authority leads to omnipotence because in your past you've had a problem with authority. The idea that you become omnipotent by rejecting authority is thus self-validating and reinforces your values. In a broader sense, I'd hazard to say that every human's thoughts on after death are self-validating in this way, or a reflection of personal and cultural values.

 

[Trailblazer]

I know. We decompose.

Your body decomposes, but what about your soul? The soul is immortal so it cannot die. Imb.

 

[George-ananda]

What really happens to you after you die...​

I have come to believe the initial experience is foreshadowed by what is described by Near Death Experiencers. I think our astral/soul body will permanently separate from our physical bodies and we will experience an afterlife of beauty and growing lessons. Down the line after that we will reincarnate for further growth opportunities.

 

[shunyadragon]

What is a Good Way to Die?

Damn!

The moment of death is bleak,
It comes and goes in a blink.
It is the moment before to savor,
While you’re still pink.

Some burn lightly,
Some burn brightly,
Some burn both ends,
With others it is a bonfire to go.

Maybe, while in the pink,
I would prefer to be 104,
leaping out my lover’s window,
shot by the husband at the door.

Frank Doonan

 

[Kathryn]

Well, I know what I don't know, and I know what I believe, but I do believe we are all in for a lot of surprises on that day, the date that we all have before us.

You know what, my husband and I passed many, many anniversaries of his approaching death and never knew it. I just think that's interesting.

 

[Alien826]

Traditional Transcriptions – On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at

[Verse 1] / Wheear 'ast tha bin sin' ah saw thee, ah saw thee? / On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at / Wheear 'ast tha bin sin' ah saw thee, ah saw thee? / Wheear 'ast tha bin sin' ah saw thee

genius.com

 

[Trailblazer]

I do believe we are all in for a lot of surprises on that day, the date that we all have before us.

I also believe that it will be a big surprise.
What pisses me off is religious people who are so sure that they have it in the bag.
I hope they get the biggest shock of their lives.

 

[George-ananda]

This kind of speculation never made much sense to me.

I am a believer and I believe I make solid sense given the Afterlife Evidence. And More Afterlife Evidence.

I also think people can get themselves into places where they cannot process evidence fairly. More evidence would mean nothing.

 

[Trailblazer]

I do believe we are all in for a lot of surprises on that day, the date that we all have before us.

I also believe that it will be a big surprise.
What pisses me off is religious people who are so sure that they have it in the bag.
I hope they get the biggest shock of their lives.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I think when you die you are compelled to make a choice. First, you can decide to go into the light, look into the face of God, time stops, and you experience heavenly bliss for all eternity. And second, you decide you are not worthy, for whatever reason, and you turn away from the light. At which point, you are immediately given omnipotent powers.

Once you have omnipotent powers, everything you imagine instantly becomes reality the moment you imagine it. Then, for a few million years or so, you live out all your fantasies. You get to exercise all your desires, demons, and life regrets until they no longer have any power over you. At some point, you become bored because you can't think of anything else to experience that you haven't experienced a million times over. At that exact moment of that feeling, the light at the end of the tunnel reappears. But this time with a clean spirit you go into the light, you look into the face of God, time stops, and you experience heavenly bliss for all eternity.

So everyone will eventually make it into heaven to experience heavenly bliss for all eternity regardless of our earthly sufferings and earthly sins. What a beautiful thought. Don't you agree??? Is there anything more beautiful to hope and wish for than all our friends, family, and enemies getting to experience heavenly bliss for all eternity after they die regardless of their life history and circumstances.

My thoughts about religion are not really conventional. When I was in my 20s, I had a huge argument with a born again Christian. I said, "I can't listen to someone telling me what to think from a pulpit. I believe absolute authority comes from within." He said, "Who told you that?" This went back and forth for a while. Then, I really got the guy mad because he started talking about eternal damnation and where my soul was going to go when I died. I said, "How bad can it be? It can't be worse than living in New Jersey." He did not crack a smile.

I had to work with this guy so I tried to extend him an olive branch. I started talking about the metaphysics of Hell. I said the suffering you experience in Hell must be like an irrational number. If the suffering were a pattern that repeated eventually you would get used to it. So the suffering in Hell must be like an irrational number where it never is quite the same thing each time so as to prevent you from getting used to it. He said, "yeah, yeah, that's it." My born again friend smiled from ear to ear thinking about the prospect of my suffering in Hell. So we parted as friends. But his reaction of joy at the idea of me suffering in Hell always took me aback a bit. How good can a religion be if people who follow it take joy in other people's suffering. Evil is always where you least expect it. And what I have found, the people who are the most obsessed with morality and sin turn out to be the ones who are the most immoral.

Are your views based on anything that you actually know, or have experienced? Or does your scenario just sound like something you'd really like to happen?

It has always seemed to me that much of religion is based on the a desperate attempt to deny the (to me) obvious fact that our life -- and our entire self -- is limited: that we did not exist before we were born, and will not exist after we die. As Mark Twain pointed out, not existing before you are born is not too bothersome, but to accept that you might not exist again, however many years from now, isn't something that Christians (or Muslims) can bear to contemplate.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I am a believer and I believe I make solid sense given the Afterlife Evidence. And More Afterlife Evidence.

These are excellent references, in my opinion. I have an extensive collection of articles as well as numerous books about other people's opinions about what happens to people after they die and/or personal experiences with earthbound spirits. Some of my favorite books are: The Afterlife Revealed, Life With the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned about Ghosts, and Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives. I also recommend reading Goodbye Hello: Processing Grief and Understanding Death through the Paranormal. However, despite all of the articles and books I've read about other people's beliefs about the afterlife and/or personal encounters with spirits, nothing, in my opinion, compares to having these firsthand encounters myself or a lifetime of experiencing them (as I've explained in the following post). It is also gratifying for me when someone tells me that they had such a profound encounter with a spirit (either during a reading or an investigation) that they are no longer a skeptic but a true believer in the paranormal.

Reference post with additional links:

What is Evidence?

I never spoke for others. I simply list simple facts. Which part of my speech made you think that I speak for others, please point it out. Thanks. Who knows how many pages back. Post the whole thing if you're curious.

www.religiousforums.com

I also think people can get themselves into places where they cannot process evidence fairly. More evidence would mean nothing.

This is one of the reasons I believe that "seeing is believing" when it comes to the paranormal. I'm referring to earthbound human spirits and intelligent hauntings, which, in my opinion, would indicate that there is an afterlife. As I've previously stated on this topic, I've come to believe that skeptics won't believe in an afterlife unless they have an up-close and personal experience with it, which could include a NDE, an OBE, or a personal encounter with a spirit(s) that they cannot rationally explain or logically debunk. As a seasoned paranormal investigator, I've had my fair share of encounters with skeptics over the course of nearly 17 years. And I've seen this happen firsthand with them more times than I can count during these years. The vast majority of them denied the existence of spirits and other entities, as well as an afterlife, until they were blue in the face, but their steadfast skepticism began to fade after they either had a personal encounter with a spirit(s) or received a one-on-one reading from a spirit medium that they couldn't logically explain or debunk.

 

[McBell]

What really happens to you after you die...​

I do not know.
However, I do know I would love for it to be Matthew 7.
I would absolutely love to be a fly on the wall.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I also believe that it will be a big surprise.
What pisses me off is religious people who are so sure that they have it in the bag.
I hope they get the biggest shock of their lives.

I sometimes find it frustrating to talk with someone who insists that their beliefs (religious or not) about the afterlife are the absolute truth and that everyone else who disagrees with them is wrong. In my experience, this happens more often with Christians than with any other religious people.

 

[Trailblazer]

I do not know.
However, I do know I would love for it to be Matthew 7.
I would absolutely love to be a fly on the wall.

What in Matthew 7 would you like for it to be like?

 

[YellowFeather]

This kind of speculation never made much sense to me.

Yes, I realize that many people want with various degrees of intensity to believe that there is some sort of life after death.

I don't think that is very healthy at all.

God will judge the whole world at one time. So when we die our soul will sleep until that day. Then Jesus will come down and awaken the dead to be judged. John 5:26 As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall here his voice, 29 and come forth, they that have done good, to resurrection of life; they that have done evil to to resurrection of damnation.