What is the afterlife like?

Mr_Edwino · Feb 2, 2018

ENJOY

Day's Quandry

Imagine a world where daytime was permanent, and day was a living entity. In all of her time, Day knew there would be night eventually, but didn't know when exactly. She loved being Day, the sunshine, the reflections, seeing colors, she often wondered what night would be like. "Would it be like myself, like Day, except lighter? Or warmer? Maybe there are two suns that shine hot and bright. She went on imagining this scenario until one day Night arrived. Much to her surprise it was everything that the day was not. Dark, cold, different creatures awoke and frolicked. There were no warm suns, only distant stars and the moon. Day didn't understand, everything she thought was wrong.

Then a voice spoke:

"That's because I'm not Day, I am Night."

Waterworld

In water world, fire did not exist. Although the inhabitants of Waterworld had speculated about the existence of fire, they had never actually seen it. "Fire is the water without the blue" one man said during a discussion. "No, fire is the place of eternal damnation," shouted a woman. One person said that they came into contact with fire for a moment once, but it disappeared quickly; there was no explanation. There was one wise man that knew: that in the presence of all water, fire would never be able reveal itself to them.

Life and Death

Life extends throughout the Earth, creeping into its cracks and crevices.

Life can fly through the air, and live 10,000 leagues under the sea.

Where day changes to night, and the temperature is right, life seems to make everything right.

A place where people dream, and warriors fight,

Life seems everywhere in sight,

But when sight is no more,

And the darkness looms like a distant storm,

Death is knocking on the door,

And with the knock there will be fear,

and a clamor heard from scholars and peers,

for what will there be, when there is no life?

No more days, no more nights,

No more dreams, no more fights,

No more storms, no more sights,

no more wrongs, no more rights,

so who is knocking on the door?

A mistress from evermore?

maybe a friend who brings the light?

It is death

life's soulmate and wife

EGspirit · Feb 3, 2018

I think that your attachment to EGspirit is the cause of the difficulties you are experiencing. You want EGspirit to live forever. It's not enough for you if the deeper self of EGspirit goes on. You want to know what happens after death and where you go to next and who/what you will be. I don't believe you can find the answers you are looking for through the intellectual mind, and this is my experience. I think that seeking out people (in person, or in books) who have found some of these answers for themselves through lived experience, if you are open to learning from people with different spiritual practices and beliefs, could be helpful. Genuine spiritual Teachers exist. I think these kinds of answers have to be found through one's own lived experience. I think you are getting caught in the intellect, and in philosophy, and I don't believe this will lead you to the answers you are seeking.

Honestly, I don't think so either. Clearly it is either continued experience or 0 existence. EGspirit will cease to exist, just as I do every day, just as I do when I enter a dream. After all, EG is something that exists in this world, and I will die.

All in all, I think there will be an existence of sorts. I think one way or another I will continue to experience. But it won't be me, per se, it will be my consciousness, my mind, but without the stresses of the world, without my biology, what I consider "me" will soon fade away. What is left, I cannot fully know at this time. And what's to come, ultimately, I will have to wait and see.

I don't really want to be alive anymore. And I don't mean that suicidally. I'm not at all thinking of that. So, don't get me wrong. In fact, what I feel these days is not even the same kind of depression I used to feel in the past. Things are changing. But I'm left with a kind of blah about life. I don't really think there's anything good coming my way, not really.

I'm starting a new job on Monday, but I've had lot's of jobs. Still, working in the ER is something I've always wanted to do, so now I'm getting my chance. So, that should be interesting. I like learning, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot. And it will be good to work around people again. In 2017, I just worked from home (not as a nurse), and for the last two months I haven't worked at all. So, it will be good to get back to work as a nurse. I've always thought that was my calling, and I still do.

But life, I honestly think, is not going to get better. It's going to get worse. I'll never be young again, and in truth, I wouldn't want to be. But I'm not depressed--not like I used to get. I'm just tired, somehow. I don't know. It's strange.

So, my thoughts have turned to these things lately, the afterlife, and what it will be like. I feel lucky, because I honestly think I know what God is, and I honestly think I know that the mind is not generated by the brain, so I firmly believe there is a purpose to all of this and that there is life after death. But what it is or what it will be like, we can't know.

Still, I feel like a man waiting on a train, and I keep looking up the tracks to see if it's coming.

But alas, I babble.

Mr_Edwino · Feb 3, 2018

ENJOY
Day's Quandry
Imagine a world where daytime was permanent, and day was a living entity. In all of her time, Day knew there would be night eventually, but didn't know when exactly. She loved being Day, the sunshine, the reflections, seeing colors, she often wondered what night would be like. "Would it be like myself, like Day, except lighter? Or warmer? Maybe there are two suns that shine hot and bright. She went on imagining this scenario until one day Night arrived. Much to her surprise it was everything that the day was not. Dark, cold, different creatures awoke and frolicked. There were no warm suns, only distant stars and the moon. Day didn't understand, everything she thought was wrong.
Then a voice spoke:
"That's because I'm not Day, I am Night."
Waterworld
In water world, fire did not exist. Although the inhabitants of Waterworld had speculated about the existence of fire, they had never actually seen it. "Fire is the water without the blue" one man said during a discussion. "No, fire is the place of eternal damnation," shouted a woman. One person said that they came into contact with fire for a moment once, but it disappeared quickly; there was no explanation. There was one wise man that knew: that in the presence of all water, fire would never be able reveal itself to them.
Life and Death
Life extends throughout the Earth, creeping into its cracks and crevices.
Life can fly through the air, and live 10,000 leagues under the sea.
Where day changes to night, and the temperature is right, life seems to make everything right.
A place where people dream, and warriors fight,
Life seems everywhere in sight,
But when sight is no more,
And the darkness looms like a distant storm,
Death is knocking on the door,
And with the knock there will be fear,
and a clamor heard from scholars and peers,
for what will there be, when there is no life?
No more days, no more nights,
No more dreams, no more fights,
No more storms, no more sights,
no more wrongs, no more rights,
so who is knocking on the door?
A mistress from evermore?
maybe a friend who brings the light?
It is death
life's soulmate and wife

I'm glad you like it. That's how I explain things to my 3 year old; he loves stories

elkpark · Feb 3, 2018

But alas, I babble.

Well, that's the understatement of the year ...

khminh · Feb 3, 2018

I absolutely agree with you. The idea that I will go to heaven is like hell to me. I mean there's no way I would occupy an important place in the Kingdom of God. I know me, and that just couldn't happen. So, while I'm slaving away making burgers and fries for the better people, and doing it for eternity, as they come to the counter with their crowns that have way more jewels in them than mine; why would I want that? Eternally working in a Divine version of McDonald's? I would hope for the option of eternal rest--non-existence. I really don't need to exist that badly. One Christian told me proudly that based on my rather heretical Christian views, I might be scrubbing toilets in heaven, but at least I'd be there. If that's all God is about, if that's what Jesus died for in my case, I would choose eternal sleep, and let everyone else have the world and it's afterlife. To quote Trent Reznor, "You can have it all--my empire of dirt!"

I agree. Eternal sleep is not so horrible after all, is it? What you said reminds me of the last scene of The Notebook. That is what I want. My last moment on earth would be in the arms of my husband. Maybe I die before he does; maybe he would still live on for a long time after I release my last breath. Regardless, that moment to me is heavenly. I don't need to secure my place in an afterlife heaven to experience ultimate happiness.

Well said! Very well said, in my opinion.
And I have kind of thought about that, too. If we are just modalities of an overall consciousness, then when we die, we would just be like a memory to it, or maybe just stored away in its mind never to be thought of again. We would feel like we were alive, but we wouldn't be EGspirit or khminh. But then, I'm not who I was when I was 4, either. I change everyday with every new experience.
So, maybe the question is not will I live after I die, but who and what will I be? After all, I had a pretty wild dream last night, and in that dream, I didn't once think of myself as EGspirit. I was aware. I was conscious, but I had no memory, nor any reflection on this life I am living now.

In my opinion, if my unique identity is a combination of this piece of consciousness and the physical body, it stays unique in the heart of the living people who knows me. If no body in my family is around, my identity would still be unique.

When you read the Bible, you can see that Moses' faith in Yahweh was as strong as Abraham. However, Moses was not Abraham, and he never would be. In God's eyes, Abraham's identity was unique. The concern that Yahweh had for Hebrew people was because of the promise he made with Abraham even when Abraham passed away.

Take Jesus for example, according to Christians, Yahweh, Jesus, and the holy spirit are the same. However, Jesus was unique. After he ascended to heaven, he left his spirit or the holy spirit on earth. When you read on the new testament, you can tell that it was not the same when Jesus, the combination of Mary's fetus and Yahweh's spirit, was no longer on earth.

Of course I don't believe in the Bible, but you get the idea.

EGspirit · Feb 3, 2018

I agree. Eternal sleep is not so horrible after all, is it? What you said reminds me of the last scene of The Notebook. That is what I want. My last moment on earth would be in the arms of my husband. Maybe I die before he does; maybe he would still live on for a long time after I release my last breath. Regardless, that moment to me is heavenly. I don't need to secure my place in an afterlife heaven to experience ultimate happiness.

I wish I had a wife like you. I wish I was a husband that deserved a wife like you. In any case, you are a very positive light. Thank you for your comment, khminh.

khminh · Feb 3, 2018

I wish I had a wife like you. I wish I was a husband that deserved a wife like you. In any case, you are a very positive light. Thank you for your comment, khminh.

Not to burst your positivity, but I am gay actually. I have yet had the luck of meeting the right man to fulfill my romance destiny. What I said to you is an ideal situation. My uncle-in-law passed away due to pancreatic cancer. I heard from my aunt that he died without pain, with a smile, and with her by his side. That moment helped my aunt grieve more effectively seeing him gone in peace.

I'm sure you are a wonderful husband. The fact that you open this topic shows that you are concerned about your unique identity with your wife. I stand by what I said earlier. Your identity is unique regardless of your afterlife. If you live by your religious faith, you know that you are special in your deity's eyes. When you read the new testament, you can see that some disciples are more prominent than others, but that doesn't negate their existence.

Take James for example. Compared to Peter or Paul, he seems to be less important because of his view about faith. Still, his letter is a part of the new testament, and his view is unique. Same thing with Thomas, the doubting disciple. Jesus still took him seriously although many Christians may think of him as a bad example of faith. Because of this disciple, there are nuances of Christianity. He didn't believe until he saw evidence, but he was not an extreme skeptic, so there was still an element of faith in him.

I believe that people's identity doesn't go away just because they die. No two snowballs are the same even though they are simply snow.

EGspirit · Feb 3, 2018

Not to burst your positivity, but I am gay actually. I have yet had the luck of meeting the right man to fulfill my romance destiny. What I said to you is an ideal situation.

It doesn't burst my bubble. I wish you the best of luck finding the right man. It's not easy to do these days.

My uncle-in-law passed away due to pancreatic cancer. I heard from my aunt that he died without pain, with a smile, and with her by his side. That moment helped my aunt grieve more effectively seeing him gone in peace.

Indeed.

I believe that people's identity doesn't go away just because they die. No two snowballs are the same even though they are simply snow.

You do make an interesting point there. Because I've thought about that in the past. God (or the mind of God) can't deny that I existed. He can't forget me. I don't believe even God can make something that existed be as if it never existed. And I am very careful about saying what God can and can't do. But I don't believe a pure consciousness, which God would have to be, could forget an entity he created.

And I think this because I believe God is monistic in nature, and to forget something would be to create a true separation, which I believe is impossible: There would be God, and then apart from God there would be the things he's forgotten. But then the "things he's forgotten" would still be part of his monistic being, so it's a contradiction.

I could expound on that, but I don't want to bore you. The fact is, I hear what you're saying, and you may be very right in it.

Now, I may be confused about what constitutes "me." I may naively believe that EGspirit as he exists on Feb 3, 2018 is the be-all and end-all of my identity. But in fact, like your uncle-in-law, my life is not really defined, my creation is not really complete, until it is over, until it is "finished." That finished identity is what remains, I think, and I think it is integrated after death, unlike now, where it is remembered in a sequence of past events.

At any rate, thanks for making me think some on that. :)

allnurses Guide · Feb 3, 2018

Ok so here's the last thing I am going to say on this matter. In the interest of fairness to the OP I d did an extensive data search on my University's Library search engine which has over 10,000 scholarly and reassure journals. I but in search strings "Life after death", "What is after life" and "Does the mind Exist after death" the answers came up as "0 results found". There was a lot of theoretical stuff but no legitimate studies done. This suggests that there has been no legitimate, scientific, peer reviewed studies done on this subject. I am going to move on to other things now. But as I said since OP refused to cite the scientific evidence to prove the claims made and I wanted to give him/her the benefit of the doubt and try to find her evidence.

For me I don't need scientific evidence to prove what I believe that's why it's called faith!

Hppy

Mr_Edwino · Feb 3, 2018

Ok so here's the last thing I am going to say on this matter. In the interest of fairness to the OP I d did an extensive data search on my University's Library search engine which has over 10,000 scholarly and reassure journals. I but in search strings "Life after death", "What is after life" and "Does the mind Exist after death" the answers came up as "0 results found". There was a lot of theoretical stuff but no legitimate studies done. This suggests that there has been no legitimate, scientific, peer reviewed studies done on this subject. I am going to move on to other things now. But as I said since OP refused to cite the scientific evidence to prove the claims made and I wanted to give him/her the benefit of the doubt and try to find her evidence.
For me I don't need scientific evidence to prove what I believe that's why it's called faith!
Hppy

Nice job, but I'm pretty sure I derailed/debunked this thread about 20 posts ago. :)

Susie2310 · Feb 3, 2018

Honestly, I don't think so either. Clearly it is either continued experience or 0 existence. EGspirit will cease to exist, just as I do every day, just as I do when I enter a dream. After all, EG is something that exists in this world, and I will die.
All in all, I think there will be an existence of sorts. I think one way or another I will continue to experience. But it won't be me, per se, it will be my consciousness, my mind, but without the stresses of the world, without my biology, what I consider "me" will soon fade away. What is left, I cannot fully know at this time. And what's to come, ultimately, I will have to wait and see.
I don't really want to be alive anymore. And I don't mean that suicidally. I'm not at all thinking of that. So, don't get me wrong. In fact, what I feel these days is not even the same kind of depression I used to feel in the past. Things are changing. But I'm left with a kind of blah about life. I don't really think there's anything good coming my way, not really.
I'm starting a new job on Monday, but I've had lot's of jobs. Still, working in the ER is something I've always wanted to do, so now I'm getting my chance. So, that should be interesting. I like learning, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot. And it will be good to work around people again. In 2017, I just worked from home (not as a nurse), and for the last two months I haven't worked at all. So, it will be good to get back to work as a nurse. I've always thought that was my calling, and I still do.
But life, I honestly think, is not going to get better. It's going to get worse. I'll never be young again, and in truth, I wouldn't want to be. But I'm not depressed--not like I used to get. I'm just tired, somehow. I don't know. It's strange.
So, my thoughts have turned to these things lately, the afterlife, and what it will be like. I feel lucky, because I honestly think I know what God is, and I honestly think I know that the mind is not generated by the brain, so I firmly believe there is a purpose to all of this and that there is life after death. But what it is or what it will be like, we can't know.
Still, I feel like a man waiting on a train, and I keep looking up the tracks to see if it's coming.
But alas, I babble.

Do you have people you trust in your life that you talk to about these things?

guest655229 · Feb 3, 2018

I love answering questions like this. I believe an afterlife does exist. I'm a Christian, so I believe in Heaven. I believe our new heavenly bodies are created when we pass from this earth life to our life in heaven where Jesus is. There are many great books of testimony available of peoples experiences regarding the afterlife. One in particular, Within Heaven's Gates by Rebecca Springer is a great account of what she experienced and what God showed her. As a Christian, I try to hold the Bible as my barometer when reading people's accounts of NDE. Also the vision of Marietta Davis, Nine Days in Heaven is incredible. It is hard to wrap my finite mind around eternity but I know in my heart I will spend it with my creator. This is just my personal belief so I hope what I have stated here is not offensive to anyone who is a non-believer as it is not my intent. Just putting in my two cents. :)