Contemplate existence after life

[Eventhorizon]

I am curious to know how people view an after life assuming they of course believe its a possibility.

It is perhaps interesting to note that searching for the origin of consciousness has been an ongoing past time for me since the time I was 15 or so. This past time first had me aggressively pursue trying to figure out what dreams were to the point that I was taking a full bottle of B12 and B6 at night trying to enhance my dreams. I guess I should have known this would eventually lead to drug use. I wont mention what drug it was, but there was one that essentially let you enter the dream world while awake. There were times I felt as if I were part of the universe floating among the stars.

However later in my life, I became sick and in this state the senses of my body where jumbled up. At one point they were almost non-existent and it was at this time I believe I was closest to death. With most of my senses gone, I found nothing to fall back on. There was simply nothing except for my own voice with-in my head and even that was distant.

Anyway to get on with it, I am interested to know what people think an after life will be like. The more description you can give the better.

Be warned though, I sometimes ask questions in a way that can seem aggressive. Youll have to forgive me if I come across that way.

 

[Eventhorizon]

Hmmm…don’t everyone jump on the band wagon. I have found it interesting how many people don’t actually think about death and what it means. And yet, I do constantly. Primarily because I look around at the world and understand what makes it tick. It is the belief that somehow, the natural cycle of things will skip over you as an individual. Even though it has never skipped over anyone. EVER. It is the belief that a life pursuit of acquiring “Things” is a worthy goal even though you cant take those things with you. Seriously look around you. The entire world revolves around the acquisition of little pieces of paper. More recently, little digital numbers housed in the ether.

How is it that life, the most wondrous thing that can be imagined is so chained to this idea? One life and this is what the vast majority of people will spend their time on. One life, ticking away, every second, everyday.

In the afterlife, you will not see because you will have no eyes to send signals to a no longer existent brain. There will be no light, only complete darkness. You will not hear, taste touch or smell for the same reason. You will not “See” loved ones for lacking eyes to see with.

There is the possibility you may “feel” with your heart because that “feeling” is beyond our known senses. But lacking a brain with which to process anything, what will “you” actually be?

 

[knight in battle]

In the afterlife, you will not see because you will have no eyes to send signals to a no longer existent brain. There will be no light, only complete darkness. You will not hear, taste touch or smell for the same reason. You will not “See” loved ones for lacking eyes to see with.

There is the possibility you may “feel” with your heart because that “feeling” is beyond our known senses. But lacking a brain with which to process anything, what will “you” actually be?

It seems possible to shift from thought consciousness to heart consciousness, if I understand correctly. So at the least, there is the "feeling" after death - unless of course this is only physiological and not spiritual, in which case one feels nothing.

I believe that the "you" will be essentially the same individual as you are now, with perhaps modifications in psychological health and so forth. As is true for most people, I don't believe it's possible to bring material things to the next life, but I believe there will be material things there, including senses and a brain for each individual.

I'm unfamiliar with what you have personally experienced (the loss of senses), but I think there are states in which the individual is operating on his essential being on not on his "usual" level of consciousness - which is actually considered "unconscious" or maladaptive in the sense of causing the individual to collect material things excessively. It reminds me of times when I experienced states in which I'm "conscious" of not thinking or feeling anything (except purely through my senses and through the essential self).

 

[invisible]

i believe that my soul or consciousness or whatever will be dispersed, and that i will no longer exist in any way at all as a unified entity with any sensation or awareness whatsoever whether emotional, spiritual, or otherwise. i dont want to go on existing in an afterlife and i hope i dont, that sounds like a nightmare. death is so sad, but i believe in its finality, and i appreciate what i have.

 

[Eventhorizon]

I believe that the "you" will be essentially the same individual as you are now, with perhaps modifications in psychological health and so forth. As is true for most people, I don't believe it's possible to bring material things to the next life, but I believe there will be material things there, including senses and a brain for each individual.

How do you resolve this in your mind? Do you believe you will be reborn, somewhere else in physical form but with your past memories. If so, do you start out an an infant and grow or are you transported into an already formed body waiting for you?

 

[Eventhorizon]

i believe that my soul or consciousness or whatever will be dispersed, and that i will no longer exist in any way at all as a unified entity with any sensation or awareness whatsoever whether emotional, spiritual, or otherwise. i dont want to go on existing in an afterlife and i hope i dont, that sounds like a nightmare. death is so sad, but i believe in its finality, and i appreciate what i have.

I am a spiritual atheist. What I believe this means is that while I do not believe in any gods, I do want to believe we continue on after death. My own experience says this doesnt happen. Feeling this, believing this is so dark, so absent hope and accompanied by such a feeling of utter aloneness, it may be that my mind was not strong enough to hold the idea\feeling. As a result it may be that this caused me to come up with my idea that when dead, we continue on.

My question to you is, have you sat down and actually thought all the way through what death actually means believing what you believe? A complete and utter ending. It makes no difference that you were ever alive, what you did or experienced. Just, nothing?

 

[invisible]

I am a spiritual atheist. What I believe this means is that while I do not believe in any gods, I do want to believe we continue on after death. My own experience says this doesnt happen. Feeling this, believing this is so dark, so absent hope and accompanied by such a feeling of utter aloneness, it may be that my mind was not strong enough to hold the idea\feeling. As a result it may be that this caused me to come up with my idea that when dead, we continue on.

My question to you is, have you sat down and actually thought all the way through what death actually means believing what you believe? A complete and utter ending. It makes no difference that you were ever alive, what you did or experienced. Just, nothing?

yes!!! i have thought about it deeply. during particular times in my life i became obsessed with death and thought about it incessantly.

when im dead it may make no difference to me whether or not i was ever alive, but that doesnt mean that it doesnt make any difference to me that im alive now. it also doesnt mean that my life will have meant nothing - my life will have had an impact on the world whether i wanted it to or not, so i might as well try to make it count.

sometimes i think about the classical idea of drinking from the lethe and complete forgetfulness, and that this was considered as a reward for the good souls of the earth. thats something like what i think of when i think of death, complete and total forgetfulness. when im dead i dont want to go on worrying about the many sadnesses of life. and also, i think that if i did exist for eternity, i would just be looking down on the earth, wishing i could do something to try and make things better for people, wishing i had used my time alive more effectively.

the difficult thing for me is in considering the deaths of others. i can hardly stand thinking about the death of my mother, but ive realised now that shes getting older and she will die one day, and i will have to do without her. she wont be around anymore, there will just be nothing. so i think that by the time i die, i will be somewhat haunted by losses of people i loved, and i will be ready to "forget" it all.

 

[Eventhorizon]

[MENTION=1814]invisible[/MENTION] I am not saying your idea of "forgetting" is right or wrong. It is just an interesting way of looking at it. To die and simply be while forgetting your life is a strange conception.

II wonder if the cells in our bodies ever experience "life" or some form of consciousness. They all work with such purpose.

 

[knight in battle]

How do you resolve this in your mind? Do you believe you will be reborn, somewhere else in physical form but with your past memories. If so, do you start out an an infant and grow or are you transported into an already formed body waiting for you?

It does seem difficult to resolve. I think most or all physical memories will remain. As such, I am led to believe also that our physical forms would be intact, except in an improved condition. Also, this is a speculation, but I believe we'll show up in that afterlife either as young people or as infants (i.e., a body waiting for us that is an improved condition of our current body) and then grow to be a full adult.

I.e., If we don't have any significant memory of our current life or essential natures, then we wouldn't even be the same person - in which case, an afterlife would of course be nonexistent.

 

[bagelriffic]

When ppl ask what the meaning of life is, it is because they are feeling meaningless, they are not in touch with lifes inherent value. The value of life is found in this moment, and not in time. So any search for value in time won't work, and time focused entities, such as most of us, will inherently suffer from meaningless, some more than others for various reasons. I know this because I have experienced value, felt it, seen the implications of my time based existence and its inherent pointlessness. My life has no meaning not because life has no meaning, but time doesn't.

As far as life after death goes, who knows? I feel comfortable doubting its nothing, because how could anyone experience nothing? Like in dreamless sleep, you don't experience anything, you just wake back up like no time has passed. Probably something like that except who knows where well wake up or who/what well be.

 

[Eventhorizon]

When ppl ask what the meaning of life is, it is because they are feeling meaningless, they are not in touch with lifes inherent value. The value of life is found in this moment, and not in time. So any search for value in time won't work, and time focused entities, such as most of us, will inherently suffer from meaningless, some more than others for various reasons. I know this because I have experienced value, felt it, seen the implications of my time based existence and its inherent pointlessness. My life has no meaning not because life has no meaning, but time doesn't.

As far as life after death goes, who knows? I feel comfortable doubting its nothing, because how could anyone experience nothing? Like in dreamless sleep, you don't experience anything, you just wake back up like no time has passed. Probably something like that except who knows where well wake up or who/what well be.

There is much wisdom in your words. I absolutely struggle with my own value and have only just recently in the last year or so, realized that this is true and happening. I do not see value in myself regarding anything other than what I can do, my intelligence and how I apply it. Just being present in anyones life to be present is something I honestly don’t get.

I have had people, friends I have not seen in 18 years or talked to in 18 years tell me I was their best friend, they had looked up to me and that I made a significant impact to their life. The whole time I am thinking “really” why? Yeah we hung out, had fun and I considered you a friend but you are going a little over board aren’t you? Even my own family tells me, hey stop by and hang out. I think, “what do you need help with” but its nothing, they just want me around. Why? You see, I honestly don’t get that part. I am there but if I am doing nothing, why am I there? I am not a joyful person to be around. I kind of am just there not saying much and when I do say something, its normally about how fed up the world or something has just become.

There seems to be this connection that most people have to other people that eludes me. I think exoverts latch on to things and even they don’t realize why or that they have done it. There is no reason behind it, it just happens. They could latch onto a deadly animal like a killer wolf, imprinting their wants and needs onto it so they don’t see the wolf anymore even though the wolf itself hasn’t changed.
I don’t believe anyone knows who I am, I believe there is the veil over peoples eyes. I am left with showing them who I am and being on my own after that or what seems like a lie. When I was sick I began to see my life as finite and the many lies I had been living to “blend” with people. So I started telling people what I really thought about things and sure enough, I started driving people away.

Anyway this is longer than I knew it was going to be. Your words simply caused me to think.

 

[ThomasJ79]

I have quite difficulty contemplating nothingness and by being aware that one day I will die and lose my consciousness. I used to have a terrible time dealing with the loss of loved ones. It has gotten easier, but it is still difficult thinking about what they are experiencing right up before death. I've witnessed a couple people die before my eyes, one of them my grandmother, and it is frightening to see someone alive and conscious one moment and then gone from this world the next. I've developed my own beliefs throughout the years and I suppose they have helped me cope more.

I think that when we die, we won't have nearly the same sort of consciousness we experienced while we were living, but there is a consciousness that permeates all matter and transcends time, which all comes from what I would identify with as God. I think we build up a stronger consciousness by being alive. The cosmic, or universal consciousness created the energy and matter in our universe and is the driver of life formation. This concentrates the matter and energy in a way that heightens its own awareness. Our brains only filter out part of this consciousness and it becomes our mindfulness or waking consciousness. When we die this type of consciousness fades and becomes a different type of consciousness, one that is closer to the universal consciousness. As I grow older, there is less to be afraid of with death, because our life is just one part of our journey. We were somewhere before we were born and will be somewhere else when we die. A part of us has existed infinitely in the past and will continue to exist infinitely into the future. The hardest part is learning to let go from life when its time. It is no easy task.

 

[Cornerstone]

I think that the afterlife is like the dream world. Maybe it is part of the same place.

In a lucid dream, there is potential to do anything at all. Creation comes directly from thought and is instantaneous.

The only difference I see is that I think the dream world is our...sandbox mode...of sorts. Though the same principles apply, I do think that our lives here are a fraction of our entire individuated being (or soul) and that, whilst theoretically we could do what we want, if and when we reconnect with our soul, we will be compelled to continue our journey in a meaningful way that is likely in accordance with the Great Purpose that all of creation is involved in. Maybe it will be another incarnation. Perhaps it would be some activity on that side of the veil. I suppose it would be different for everyone.

 

[Cornerstone]

I don't see it as being all peaches and cream, mind you.

The 'Grand Purpose' I spoke of I think might be something very loosely like this:

- There is only consciousness itself
- Knowing itself to be infinite, it acts only out of unconditional love
- Our consciousness is an individuation of this infinite consciousness
- Our purpose is to forget and then re-remember this fact

Now, I think this is a mighty long process and possibly takes place over many dimensions. There is no real end except to remember and return to your true sense of self. That is, the infinite consciousness forgetting that that is so and pretending to be distinct entities. It is pretty much just for the sake of it, because creation is the name of the game and then we wanted to experience our creation subjectively. It's the same reason people like magic tricks even though they know it's not real. We suspend our disbelief but then actually properly forget it because we made the simulator REALLY realistic and, being infinite in scope, it can be beautiful but also really vile and brutal and horrific sometimes.

Those causing it to be unpleasant would be somewhere further away from the source, totally unaware they are connected to everything and part of Infinite Unconditional Love. I wonder is that mindset also present in the realms where thought and creation work instantaneously, the ones I mentioned in the post above. Could you be tricked into reincarnating on a rubbish planet? Can a soul, in all it's wisdom, still be naive relative to other souls? It would suggest that what you experience here directly correlates with what your awareness is of the 'big picture' behind the veil. Would it be wise to prepare for when we have to face this new reality? Perhaps through lucid dreaming?

These are all just hypotheses that are based on enough research to make, but not prove, hypotheses.

 

[ThomasJ79]

Hmmm…don’t everyone jump on the band wagon. I have found it interesting how many people don’t actually think about death and what it means. And yet, I do constantly. Primarily because I look around at the world and understand what makes it tick. It is the belief that somehow, the natural cycle of things will skip over you as an individual. Even though it has never skipped over anyone. EVER. It is the belief that a life pursuit of acquiring “Things” is a worthy goal even though you cant take those things with you. Seriously look around you. The entire world revolves around the acquisition of little pieces of paper. More recently, little digital numbers housed in the ether.

How is it that life, the most wondrous thing that can be imagined is so chained to this idea? One life and this is what the vast majority of people will spend their time on. One life, ticking away, every second, everyday.

In the afterlife, you will not see because you will have no eyes to send signals to a no longer existent brain. There will be no light, only complete darkness. You will not hear, taste touch or smell for the same reason. You will not “See” loved ones for lacking eyes to see with.

There is the possibility you may “feel” with your heart because that “feeling” is beyond our known senses. But lacking a brain with which to process anything, what will “you” actually be?

As early as I can remember, I have thought of death and what happens to us when we die. That, I feel, is what sets me apart most from those around me. Most people don't spend that much time contemplating it. Everyone will at one time or another, but most people only think about it in passing, or at least they behave like they haven't put much thought in it, or they just don't like talking about it. For the most part, people are caught up in their own lives in a way that would make me feel trapped. I admire that though. Sometimes I wish I could BE and not be so tied to my thoughts. Its a blessing and a curse, really.

 

[Lark]

One of the most thought provoking things I ever saw in relation to the possibility of an afterlife and spiritual existence which I had not considered or contemplated came up in an episode of the Hulk, released I think as a TV movie called Return of The Incredible Hulk, in which the character of Thor featured, this was the first screen appearence of Thor I ever saw and I didnt think it was a bad one, it was done in a way which suggested to me the possibility of Thor getting a TV serial too but that never happened.

Anyway, Thor was exiled to earth but was none corporeal, bound to his hammer which was discovered by an archeologist he could be summoned or dispelled by the guy taking hold of it and crying "Odin" but Thor explained that he lived an existence without physicality, which was without any sense contact with anything, no pleasures as he had primarily known them. Now I thought the episode was cool because he was basically a giant man-child chating up ladies, impressing people with physical feats, fighting and enjoying the fighting, drinking but also he at one point took a shower and commented that the archeologist guy was "indeed a mighty wizard, hot and cold water conjured from air", or something like that, which I thought was great because it truly did make you consider or contemplate the "everyday-extraordinary" if you know what I mean.

It also made me think about possible afterlives, the philosopher Epicurious makes a might case for not fearing the afterlife because it can not feature sensual pain, the end of life is therefore an end to pain and suffering, in fact I'm pretty sure he was an atheist or at least believed that any afterlife was sufficiently different as to not be considered living or life at all. Depending upon what your pleasures are and how you live perhaps he is correct in that, even if you survive as some sort of consciousness.

Then there is the other school of thought that this life is training or preparation for the afterlife, possibly unnecessarily painful training as supposed at the conclusion of the movie Odd Thomas, but it is possible that life could furnish consciousness with the memory or experience and knowledge to serve it in eternity. Human beings are comparative thinkers, ask yourself if you are happy and you cease to be so etc.

I dont know myself, I've read some pretty sophisticated theories which are broadly speaking scientific and secular which suggest that energy and consciousness can not dissipate or simply cease as athiests have supposed which are not theist or religious or spiritual in any of the ways I understand those terms to be. It interesting to ponder how prepared anyone would be for that possibility given that it is likely to be so different from the present lived reality. Although I think most people consider it as liable or likely to be a continuation of this live or similar to it, often the paradisical hopes or visions are judged in terms of maximal consumption, so you have feasting, reading, fighting, lounging, whatever human pleasure is scarce or time bound in the now, projected as happening infinitely without end. I dont know if that is likely to be but then better treatments of the idea, like what dreams may come, suggest that not only is it the case but the case is it and more, defying any rationalisation or imagination.

 

[Lark]

As early as I can remember, I have thought of death and what happens to us when we die. That, I feel, is what sets me apart most from those around me. Most people don't spend that much time contemplating it. Everyone will at one time or another, but most people only think about it in passing, or at least they behave like they haven't put much thought in it, or they just don't like talking about it. For the most part, people are caught up in their own lives in a way that would make me feel trapped. I admire that though. Sometimes I wish I could BE and not be so tied to my thoughts. Its a blessing and a curse, really.

I experience that too, at least in so far as I can not fathom why people are mean, nasty or lazy, time is limited, with loved ones, with others or to do anything.

Although I think its a gift to be like this, the worse state is the more unawares and unconscious individual who does not comprehend time and choice and therefore squanders it or is brought up short and bitter by events.