Sudden enlightenment and realisation of death...

Interesting thread ... as a christian I don't have a fear of death as I believe I will be in heaven but still death wouldn't be nice. It's the only thing in life we are sure will happen to us I guess! Once we die our bodies will decay but the soul/the real me will live on. Just throwing in my view for some variety!

must be nice, having faith:)

I'm still glad I don't though
 
Skidder said:
Why do you believe in reincarnation?

Because I believe that our goal in life is to increase in spirituality through continued suffering on Earth, so that ultimately we may become completely one with the universal energy.

Skidder said:
What is "the universal energy"?

It's like God but without the humanistic idea that it's an individual being sitting on a cloud watching us.

I believe that there is an energy that permeates the universe and that we are part of that energy. Call it 'mother nature' if you will.

I also call it the 'Grand Old Design' (See what I did there) :)
 
Because I believe that our goal in life is to increase in spirituality through continued suffering on Earth, so that ultimately we may become completely one with the universal energy.



It's like God but without the humanistic idea that it's an individual being sitting on a cloud watching us.

I believe that there is an energy that permeates the universe and that we are part of that energy. Call it 'mother nature' if you will.

I also call it the 'Grand Old Design' (See what I did there) :)


Interesting, thanks:)
 
Which evidence do you refer to?

I'm not looking for an argument here, or being snide about your faith. :)

My understanding of biology and the other sciences (limited such as it is) suggests to me that it is incredibly unlikely that conciousness continues to exist after death. Why would it? How could it? The onous of proof on that one really lies with those that think it does.
 
Aye, we are so self-aware that the idea of just winking out of existence is extremely hard to understand.

The worst thing I could imagine is getting close to death with the thought "Hang on, I'm not done yet!"

I'm definitely on the fence, pure agnostic, can't prove or disprove a superior being or force, afterlife, etc. I've been far enough into Christianity to really question it and wonder why that particular belief structure should be any more right than the others.

I'd love to have a strong faith but how could someone so universally insignificant as myself actually presume to /know/ which is the correct path? When all religions damn the unbelievers - it seems none of us will get anywhere as we're all wrong and heretics in some other religion's eyes.

The way I see it, we're all down on this planet together - and we have a duty of care to each other as long as we are alive. Some people manage to do great things that echo on long after their deaths, others just affect the people immediately around them - but even if you only manage to improve the life of one person, then you've done good. Hey, maybe it'll set off a chain and he/she goes on to do even more good.

I'd prefer to be good (or as good as my selfish little self can be) for the sake of humanity and pure altruism, rather than for a deity or system in the hope I may get a nicer next-life, or get into heaven, or live on a paradise on Earth, or whatever else...
 
What do you believe or hope that happens then?

I feel the same, it's just the unknown that unnerves me, although I think it will be a mix of excitement and anxiousness.

I hope that I can rest in peace - I don't believe that anything specific happens but I won't know until that time comes. The unknown excites me I must say, but as I said I'm enjoying the mortal plane of existence at the moment and quite happy to carry on living!!
 
I'm not looking for an argument here, or being snide about your faith. :)

My understanding of biology and the other sciences (limited such as it is) suggests to me that it is incredibly unlikely that conciousness continues to exist after death. Why would it? How could it? The onous of proof on that one really lies with those that think it does.

To be honest I don't really know except that I believe that the soul or inner being or whatever you want to call it lives forever and once death comes we enter the time called 'eternity'. The body decays as we know but the soul lives on. There are accounts in the Bible of people in eternity who obviously have some form of consciousness or memory i.e Luke 16. I wouldn't know enough about biology to offer anything else but I think that as only certain people are intelligent enough to grasp it that then it is in a different category of faith to Christianity and is more based around ones own understanding based on their intellect. The counter of that is that faith is something that doesn't require intelligence and therefore is available to all! Sorry if that is confusing!
 
Sometimes when I was younger I used to think about this kinda stuff at night when trying to go to sleep. I used to really zone myself out with deep thinking about death and how insignificant we are and all that jazz. My conclusions on it were: It's not worth thinkin about tbh, just make the most of what you got!

Agree with Sara's post too; I kind of have similar belief's and also think that doing to others as you would have done to you and the whole "Karma" thing very appealing/worthwhile. What goes around comes around so if you are a good person, polite and generally help others you shall be treated in the same way (Hopefully) :)
 
More to the fact, Why is it the life cap of '100'

Why not 200 years, or 50 years, why a 100? (I know majority depart way before that, and some live past it).

When you die, I believe you will be gone, no thoughts, no feelings. What I did used to think would happen when you died is that it would just be 'darkness'.. like you would know you are dead..like a out of body experience, I dunno. Gives me the eebie jeebies tbh.
 
Last edited:
The counter of that is that faith is something that doesn't require intelligence and therefore is available to all! Sorry if that is confusing!

I think that is a very valid point and the various major faiths have certainly benefited from it.

I see all faiths as a way of dealing with uncertainty and white washing over the grey areas. Personally, I deal quite well with unanswered questions and I'm content that as our knowledge progresses we will plug more gaps in our understanding. Not too many more in my lifetime, but I'm ok with that. As such the proliferation of the human race (and looking after this planet and hopefully getting off the planet) should help us close in on even more of the uncertainties which we have previously turned to religion for.

For me, taking on a faith would be like reading the last chapter of a good book before I get to it, out of frustration or impatience.
 
I am terrified of death, not just mine - the people I love.
The "end" of life is something I can't handle very well at all.
I like to believe there is a heaven/afterlife/anything to extend life past mortality.
 
I really have no interest in 'extending my life' after death.
The idea of a some type of after life whatever it maybe is just not something I would want for myself.
The idea of just going on and on and on doesn't feel very appealing. Just death and no more pain, frustration etc all the negative things in life.
And theres that thing that if you went to heaven and were able to look down at your loved ones and how awful might that be. Seeing their grief and pain, and not being able to do anything about it.
No, an eternal sleep, dream and nightmare free thank you.

Mark
 

It is interesting topic indeed. The issue I have with basing everything around science is that we depend on scientific advances to come to conclusions. What did the people do in the years before we had good technology? Like before we had science labs did people all have some form of faith? I just wouldn't like to have to rely on potential evidence that will be discovered in my lifetime but the poor people from 1509 wouldn't have benefitted from! Thats why I put faith and science on completely different levels.
 
Back
Top Bottom