Life after / beyond death?

[JonyDarko]

I am also curious for an answer.

In the same way I am curious what Tom Cruise will do next.

[Corneliousrooster]

The Human "EGO" dies along with the Brain and the body - but we'll make great compost to continue feeding all manner of other life - Just as all manner of other life is used to feed us.

Re-incarnation/afterlife - NO Recycling - YES

[steven lloyd]

Life after / beyond death ?

The Human "EGO" dies along with the Brain and the body

That’s definitely one possibility.

[sleepdeprived]

Excellent categorization.

[FunkyBunch]

Considering there is so much we don't about the universe and the way we interact with it, it's impossible to know. There is an infinite amount of possibilities that could happen after death.

We could cease to exist.
We could be reincarnated.
Our "spirit" could travel to an alternate dimension.
We could go to purgatory/heaven/hell.
We could be "enlightened"

One of them is right. As of right now, it's impossible to know for certain which one it is. However (I'm being facetious here), only if you believe the first one and live like the others aren't possible will you be screwed regardless of which one is right.

[Glacier]

Considering there is so much we don't about the universe and the way we interact with it, it's impossible to know. There is an infinite amount of possibilities that could happen after death.

We could cease to exist.
We could be reincarnated.
Our "spirit" could travel to an alternate dimension.
We could go to purgatory/heaven/hell.
We could be "enlightened"

One of them is right. As of right now, it's impossible to know for certain which one it is. However (I'm being facetious here), only if you believe the first one and live like the others aren't possible will you be screwed regardless of which one is right.

I swear there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDWQ8w829tY

[JonyDarko]

Oh damn, I think someone may have just pulled the Pascals Wager card.

[Mr Danksworth]

^
No doubt. Which god are we even talking about? There's lots of them, all with their own versions of the afterlife. What if a christianist spends his/her life worshipping the wrong god? End up in the bad place from someone else's religion? Pascal's wager is yet another way to say 'believe or burn in hell'.

[steven lloyd]

Which god are we even talking about? There's lots of them, all with their own versions of the afterlife. What if a christianist spends his/her life worshipping the wrong god? End up in the bad place from someone else's religion? Pascal's wager is yet another way to say 'believe or burn in hell'.

Is there really more than one God, or are there simply an incredibly diverse set of understandings of what God is? As a theist I believe that for God to exist there can only be one God. Like many well-educated people who do believe in the existence of God, our understanding and perception is not so simplistic as some old guy with long white hair and a beard wearing white robes sitting on some throne in the clouds. It is much more complex than that and I would not presume to understand the true nature and purpose of God, other than to suggest I believe He is infinite and exists everywhere and that He has purpose.

I am not a Christian – that is, I do not ascribe to the dogma or tradition of the Christian religion. In fact, I am not even religious as I do not ascribe to the dogma or tradition of any religion. I recognize there are people who use, and have always used religious belief to manipulate people. However, I also recognize there are people who have used numerous different ideals and principles to manipulate people for their own selfish means (eg. freedom, democracy, capitalism, etc.).

I do not believe any mortal person can understand the purpose and desire of God. I do not even necessarily believe God wants us to worship Him, and I do not believe Christ asked us to worship Him. It has been speculated that Christ studied Buddhism as a young man, and it seems to me that many of his teachings are consistent with Buddhist thought. Imagine that. It could very well be that Jesus Christ was, in fact, Buddhist.

I believe that when Christ was quoted as saying “The way to God is through me” he meant that the way to God was through his teachings. Like many writings from the Bible, this is just another quote taken completely out of context to satisfy someone’s motive. Atheists and religious alike are guilty of doing this. I think we can trust that Christ did tell us there were two simple yet important rules: 1) love God, and 2) love each other.

Even among Christians there is much diversity in understanding and belief. I know a few Christians who are members of the Reformed Church. They believe Christ died on the cross so we could know we would be forgiven and have everlasting life. We are already forgiven. We don’t even have to ask. I’m not sure but I think that is a pretty far cry from Catholicism.

So to get to Pascal’s wager, I would suggest it does not matter which God you believe in, or in fact, if you believe in any God at all. The God I believe in is not going to be offended if you did not believe in Him. He might be more offended if you wasted your life being an @$$ (He would probably forgive you though).

[JonyDarko]

Give credit where credit is due...good post.

[Tumult]

I believe that when Christ was quoted as saying “The way to God is through me” he meant that the way to God was through his teachings. Like many writings from the Bible, this is just another quote taken completely out of context to satisfy someone’s motive. Atheists and religious alike are guilty of doing this. I think we can trust that Christ did tell us there were two simple yet important rules: 1) love God, and 2) love each other.

I agree that Jesus likely meant the way to God was through his teachings.
According to the gospels (for what they're worth), Jesus tells us, not just that these 2 rules are important but that there are no rules (commandments) greater. I find it baffling that those who term themselves Christians rarely focus on this. A commandment after all, is essentially a direct order and yet Christians, by and large focus on salvation through Jesus' name and ignore the simple, explicit, direct order laid out before them in the book that they (usually) believe is given by God or inspired by God or contains truth (from God). (The Gospels tell us) Jesus boiled down the summation of God's Laws as simply to love each other and I find it bizarre and frustrating that this idea is almost never espoused by Christians despite the fact that most hold the bible up as the truth.

[Likesbooks678]

If you really want to know what happens after you die read Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 5 it states "For the living know that they shall die:but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward ; for the memory of them is forgotten. It was satin the Devil that put the false notion that we will not die after death. He said to Eve that you will not positively die. If you believe in the Bible you will be able to read that death is death and life is life unless the Devil has something to do with it. Jesus also states that his friend Lazerith(sorry if the spelling is wrong) is asleep in death, and when you are asleep you are conscious of nothing around you.

[Mr Danksworth]

*removed/Jo*

Jesus also states that his friend Lazerith(sorry if the spelling is wrong) is asleep in death, and when you are asleep you are conscious of nothing around you.

Death is death, it's not sleep. Maybe that's what your parents told you when your goldfish died, but it's time to grow-up, and leave those childish notions behind. The dead cannot be raised, no matter how much you believe. If you don't believe me, prove me wrong....I love a good zombie story.

[_tuts_]

What seems to be the topic of conversation here is something known as eschatology, which the OED defines as a philosophy of final things (ie. death and judgement). More interesting is the diversity of responses to the question at hand which seem to bifrucate into theistic and atheistic perspectives. What is perhaps most intriguing is the fact that we (you, me, our culture etc...) do not have a clearly defined philosophy or mythos to help us rationalize 'the end'. Therefore, we are left twisting in the breeze of mortality either in fear or in awe of what awaits us on the other side of life. Near-death experiences have been attributed to many phenomena, but have not been definitively explained, despite the scientific community's best efforts to do so. In the end, it boils down to what one is most comfortable believing, since death is final and the dead cannot elucidate the end for us. I do not know what to believe, except that i do not want to go any time soon since I am reasonably young and wish to see more of this miraculous thing called life. However, I accept the fact that the end will come, as it always does, and that I am incapable of preventing it. Whether or not near-death experiences are what they seem to be, they allow those who experience them to come to terms with their mortality, and develop an eschatological philosophy of their own.