Life after death

[lost.ghost]

One of the main reasons I haven't CTB yet is because I'm worried about what will happen after I die. What if there is an afterlife? Have any of you had the same problem?

 

[Fgogrl]

Yes I have the same problem. For me it's a combination of things.

 

[JohnDoe1]

So, what if there is? We all will die someday.....whatever is gonna happen to us then, will happen to us now....so, no point worrying about such stuff....

 

[lost.ghost]

So, what if there is? We all will die someday.....whatever is gonna happen to us then, will happen to us now....so, no point worrying about such stuff....

Wow, this is a really good reply. I've never thought about it like this before. Thank you so much

 

[Smilla]

Even if there is nothingness there won't be a you to experience it, so have no fear-though I realize this is easier said than done.

I'm trying to practice radical acceptance: whatever comes, so be it, and it's out of my control anyway so why bother thinking about the possibilities too much.

Maybe it's easier for me than religious or spriritual people because I'm an atheist.

 

[ReadyasEver]

Not really a stopper for me. If there is an afterlife, the faith I was raised in absolutely believes it, then that will be OK. I'm a math guy so I like Pascal's theory on it. Believe in an afterlife because if there is one you'll be happy. If there is not, and all forms of consciousness cease, you'll be be in a never ending slumber with no awareness. That is very neutral. I personally have a hard time with hell, as do many. I always thought it was a scare tactic to whip the troops into shape and fly right ( or the way they wanted you to fly ).

 

[TheRiverStyz]

I was raised Muslim. I haven't practiced in a long time, but I've been so indoctrinated that I can't say I'm not a believer. I believe that I will go to hell. But, considering the bar one must reach to get to heaven, at least 95% of the people I've known in life would be going to hell. Yes, it'll be painful. Yes, it'll be for eternity. But how long is forever and how miserable can you be if pain is all you'll know anyway? Sorry if my reply is bringing everyone down but I just wanted to share.

 

[EmotionlessWanderer]

I'm agnostic. I believe something does happen after death because of mysteries such as the Big Bang and the creation of mankind there is just no chance of proving what it is until we die.

 

[JohnDoe1]

I was raised Muslim. I haven't practiced in a long time, but I've been so indoctrinated that I can't say I'm not a believer. I believe that I will go to hell. But, considering the bar one must reach to get to heaven, at least 95% of the people I've known in life would be going to hell. Yes, it'll be painful. Yes, it'll be for eternity. But how long is forever and how miserable can you be if pain is all you'll know anyway? Sorry if my reply is bringing everyone down but I just wanted to share.

I am an ex-Muslim...All I want to say is, if Allah is the one and only God, then I don't want to be anywhere near that guy....I would rather be in Hell than spend eternity in Islamic Paradise...

 

[Firecaste]

An afterlife is something I would want to believe in, but I can't rationalise it. Maybe I should join a cult and drink the kool-aid before ctb.

 

[TheRiverStyz]

I would rather be in Hell than spend eternity in Islamic Paradise...

What's worse, I was taught that in Paradise you will become like angels, i.e. you no longer have any free will or desires, while surrounded by all those riches. So what's the point?

 

[JohnDoe1]

What's worse, I was taught that in Paradise you will become like angels, i.e. you no longer have any free will or desires, while surrounded by all those riches. So what's the point?

That's exactly my point...If you don't have free will, then that really isn't you...if you can't consciously make decisions, you are just a robot, mindlessly doing Allah's bidding...

Also, Allah promises female virgins to men in paradise, so, if there is no desire(sexual desire), what exactly are you gonna do with them? Similarly, Allah says there would be rivers of wine, honey and milk...if you don't get hungry or thirsty in Heaven, then whats the point?

Islamic Heaven, has so many logical errors...

 

[Sixfeetunder]

This used to concern me a little bit because so many people seem convinced there is an afterlife. But now I am at the point where I just think, whatever, I have to die one day anyway. But I think the most likely option is nothingness.

Reincarnation just doesn't seem likely. If there is an afterlife, I can't imagine a loving God would create hell.

 

[HellinHeaven]

I'm trying to practice radical acceptance: whatever comes, so be it, and it's out of my control anyway so why bother thinking about the possibilities too much.

Maybe it's easier for me than religious or spriritual people because I'm an atheist.

You combine radical acceptance with atheism, that's a interesting combination. Let things go is at least one principle of spirituality.
For me as a spiritual person, I am connected to the world (at least in good times) and if I die, nothing can be lost, I will just return to unity. We are here on earth to make experiences and at a special point you have made enough of them. I cannot make a mistake, just a new experience.

I was an atheist for a few years and I just felt guilty and overwhelmed, because I knew I would never, never be capable of creating enough sense to justify my existence. Acceptance would have been just the confession that I failed, extradited to a force that is bigger than me. You can call it fate or coincidence or what you want, but at this point I got humble and recognized for the first time that there is a vitality/spirit around us and that we have to live in consensus with to fulfill our destiny.

 

[Trulysorry]

There are so many beliefs out there.. I'd like to think it is just over in the end. No memories, no possibilities of coming back.. rather not take a chance of coming back to this earth in a worse of situation than I just left. Guess we'll all come to find out what is in the end. I'm hoping eternal nothingness.

 

[VoloFataliDoce]

I don't believe in an afterlife. We weren't cognizant of anything before we were born - hopefully it'll be the same way in death. If I die, I'm not going to be happy at all if there is life after death, but what can any of us do about it? We are will die eventually, it'll sort itself out.

 

[Heart Shards]

I'm still terrified of the possibillity of hell. Was indoctrinated into christianity at a young age.

 

[Redt2go]

I'm Christian but I'm hoping for a second chance at life. ( I know it's rare but please don't kill my only hope for happiness I have left)

 

[Macc Lad]

One of the main reasons I haven't CTB yet is because I'm worried about what will happen after I die. What if there is an afterlife? Have any of you had the same problem?

i'm not religious....don't believe in a god and all that bible shit....but i firmly believe there is "something".......it's nothing like the bible says.....but it's peaceful and beautiful.....so i don't fear death at all.

 

[21Neberg]

I'm not afraid of it at all. I don't think there is an afterlife. And if there is one, at least I'll be out of this world.

 

[stellabelle]

I think there's another realm. Who knows though. I'm not afraid. And I either want to move on, or sort of linger for a while and haunt.

 

[Psilo]

All I know is that life ends after you die, it works the other way around too. Crazy heh? It's like a circle.

 

[Spyro]

I'm still terrified of the possibillity of hell. Was indoctrinated into christianity at a young age.

Don't worry, every religion in this planet (and their gods) are man-made, that's a fact. Every single piece of information of religious doctrines is just an invention of a human brain.

 

[itsallover]

There's nothing trust me. After being in a coma for several days and seeing nothing I know this is all pointless.

 

[NatureHermit921]

It's a belief kind of thing. If you dont believe in magic why would you believe in an afterlife.
The only thing you can do is hope really.

 

[akita]

when I almost died from my last attempt, it was all black nothingness. No bad emotion. No pain. I'm excited for that feeling permanately.

 

[NoChoice]

Everything you can identify yourself as is biological and will die and never come back. Think of how important the subconscious is though, the nature underlying the processes that have allowed you to live. Even if your life has been miserable suffering, I hope that you can acknowledge the unbelievably unlikely physics and laws of nature that allow this to occur. If you were to calculate the odds of you existing with all the known variables it would be so close to 0 that your brain could never even begin to comprehend it. A portion of you will likely never die, but is not conscious, and even if it becomes conscious again you would never know or you would've at least forgotten everything about this life.

I wouldn't underestimate the universe or pretend to know everything such as what could or could not happen to whatever you consider yourself to be after death, what is fairly certain is that this mind and body you inhabit (which can be argued is everything you are) will die and never come back. While this is valid and probable, I tend to believe the universe is infinite and there is a growing amount of evidence supporting this theory. That being said, you found a way to come into existence against all the odds once so I'd wager you will do it again given the time span of oh, I don't know: all of fucking infinity.

EDIT: Combined two consecutive posts.

My previous post could be perceived as either nihilistic or optimistic depending on what you choose to extract from it. You didn't consciously do anything to bring about your own existence, yet you've arisen somehow through somewhat of a natural miracle.

You've never had control and you never will, so while I understand it's easy to worry about this as somehow who is very guilty of it, it won't change anything. You can either trust the universe or not, I have lost my trust but I will always greatly respect it unequivocally. What we know is that life is relatively rare throughout the universe, which is not to say there isn't a lot of other intelligent life, there likely is.

Any scientist, religious person or philosopher's claims that they know with certainty what happens when we die is lying, because as I stated above: death is a very real and provable biological process that is guaranteed to occur but problems arise when we try quantify or completely trace consciousness. Consciousness is paradoxical in that it is needed to perceive the universe, and thus required for the universe to actually exist in any physical form; with nothing to perceive or experience it, it doesn't necessarily exist in colloquial, based reality so in that sense we are kind of important in this beautiful universe, just not irreplaceable or anomalous on the cosmic scale.

There may not necessarily be a beginning or and end to all things, and the universe may exist in an endless cycle of expansion and contraction; it is our minds that created this linear paradigm of beginning, end and time. They are mere concepts that are supposed to help us have a relative reference point to motion, events and each other but in many ways they end up driving us crazy when we try to wrap our limited minds around them and justify them as more than concepts. Try to understand what infinite means, for there to not have been a beginning to the universe but a fractal echo for all of eternity, it hurts my head and I don't think its our job to save ourselves from death in the grand scheme. All of this to say, I think this universe we exist in is too complex for us to understand and perhaps we are not meant to, so I would like to make as few assumptions as possible while still holding the personally healthy belief that there is a possibility that this life isn't all there is to existence for us. This is mere philosophy from a man who knows nothing yet claims to know something, it may raise more questions than answers.

tl;dr - I don't know what happens to us when we die.

 

[NoChoice]

I was raised Muslim. I haven't practiced in a long time, but I've been so indoctrinated that I can't say I'm not a believer. I believe that I will go to hell. But, considering the bar one must reach to get to heaven, at least 95% of the people I've known in life would be going to hell. Yes, it'll be painful. Yes, it'll be for eternity. But how long is forever and how miserable can you be if pain is all you'll know anyway? Sorry if my reply is bringing everyone down but I just wanted to share.

Wow, that is profound. I've never thought of it like this; what is pain if only relative to pain? It just becomes normal at that point. I don't think you will be going to hell, I'm sorry you were raised that way. I had religious indoctrination as well but I always questioned it and never was a believer. Stay strong, your peace will come.

 

[nooo2]

Reincarnation is my only belief after death. I'd like it not to be, but it just seems very likely. I'm at a point where I don't care if I'm reincarnated, idc if It's eternal bliss, as long as the pain I'm feeling just stops.

 

[NoChoice]

Don't worry, every religion in this planet (and their gods) are man-made, that's a fact. Every single piece of information of religious doctrines is just an invention of a human brain.

It's convincing enough to have the bastards mutilating babies genitals, yuck!