Afterlife

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have hard, concrete experiences to back up my belief, but this is what I think about the afterlife (and beforelife):

Since everything we can observe in nature is cyclical (aka matter doesn't cease to exist, it just changes form), it would seem logical to me that the same thing would apply to our souls. I believe in souls because it's the only explanation I can come up with for emotions that are so strong (love, hate, etc.) that pure chemicals and hormones don't seem to provide enough explanation.

All that is to say, I believe in reincarnation. I believe we've all always existed and we'll always exist. We just change form. You know how people say, "I met this person and we had an instant connection, like we've always known each other"? To me, that means you probably met in an earlier life. You might have been a human, or maybe you were an animal, but you met.

I also believe in the Buddhist idea of being able to earn a place outside the suffering, material world by being a really good person while in it. I believe in the idea that if you can focus on what's important--being good to others, really--you stand a chance of reaching a higher plane, where you don't have to deal with the suffering we have in the material world.

It doesn't mean you go to some other planet; you're still here, but you just exist in some way that it's really corporal.

Anyway, hopefully that's somewhat coherent. BTW, I don't strictly define myself as a Buddhist, although I spent a lot of time with Buddhist monks in Thailand and love them. I'm basically a cultural Jew who also accepts a lot of the concepts from Buddhism.

Just because it's the only thing you can come up with doesn't make it factual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to not believe in afterlife. But I've had a few deaths of immediate family members. And after both passed, some very weird stuff happened. Let's put it this way, I'm still unsure, but I certainly now think there might be an afterlife.

Just because some weird stuff happened at a time when you were extremely emotionally vulnerable?

This sounds like how some people get "saved" at revivals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The universe existed for billions of years before you. It will exist for billions of years (or more) after you. The entirety of human existence is just a blip in the fabric of the universe. Death isn't an interruption to your life. Your life is the interruption to the entirety of existence beyond your decades on this rocky orb.

Once you comprehend that, the concept of an afterlife will seem utterly ridiculous.

You think this way because you are only thinking in human materialistic terms. What if there is something beyond time and this universe?

Read the Church Fathers and St. Thomas. Maybe that’ll open your mind a bit

Unless you think the Church Fathers and St Thomas were engaged in wishful thinking or were peddling Christian dogma.

Just because impressive people think something, doesn't make it true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have hard, concrete experiences to back up my belief, but this is what I think about the afterlife (and beforelife):

Since everything we can observe in nature is cyclical (aka matter doesn't cease to exist, it just changes form), it would seem logical to me that the same thing would apply to our souls. I believe in souls because it's the only explanation I can come up with for emotions that are so strong (love, hate, etc.) that pure chemicals and hormones don't seem to provide enough explanation.

All that is to say, I believe in reincarnation. I believe we've all always existed and we'll always exist. We just change form. You know how people say, "I met this person and we had an instant connection, like we've always known each other"? To me, that means you probably met in an earlier life. You might have been a human, or maybe you were an animal, but you met.

I also believe in the Buddhist idea of being able to earn a place outside the suffering, material world by being a really good person while in it. I believe in the idea that if you can focus on what's important--being good to others, really--you stand a chance of reaching a higher plane, where you don't have to deal with the suffering we have in the material world.

It doesn't mean you go to some other planet; you're still here, but you just exist in some way that it's really corporal.

Anyway, hopefully that's somewhat coherent. BTW, I don't strictly define myself as a Buddhist, although I spent a lot of time with Buddhist monks in Thailand and love them. I'm basically a cultural Jew who also accepts a lot of the concepts from Buddhism.

Just because it's the only thing you can come up with doesn't make it factual.

PP here. And just because there are chemical and hormonal reactions that we can measure doesn't mean there isn't something else going on.

The fact of the matter is that, for as long as humans have been around, people have been reporting experiences that just don't have a good explanation. While I can believe that some of those are made up, I find it highly unlikely that they are all BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to not believe in afterlife. But I've had a few deaths of immediate family members. And after both passed, some very weird stuff happened. Let's put it this way, I'm still unsure, but I certainly now think there might be an afterlife.

Just because some weird stuff happened at a time when you were extremely emotionally vulnerable?

This sounds like how some people get "saved" at revivals.

PP here. No, not extremely emotional at the time of the events. And do not fall into the category of someone who has been saved. I’m not even religious. And I’m not even saying I know there’s an afterlife. But I’m certainly open to it now and feel very comforted by the experiences I had. I would say what happened, but I’m really not interested in others dissecting those experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I see and talk to dead people nearly every day. I’m a medium. And a minister. You don’t have to believe in an afterlife. But I’m telling you that when our physical bodies die, we continue to exist. I can always validate my messages from people who have transitioned. It’s not about religion. We simply do not cease to exist. Our death is exactly like our birth. We move from one reality to the next.

Start a spinoff thread! I'm very curious to know how you first learned of this ability, who you see, if there's suffering on the other side, etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I see and talk to dead people nearly every day. I’m a medium. And a minister. You don’t have to believe in an afterlife. But I’m telling you that when our physical bodies die, we continue to exist. I can always validate my messages from people who have transitioned. It’s not about religion. We simply do not cease to exist. Our death is exactly like our birth. We move from one reality to the next.

You're a medium? I am an extra large.

If you genuinely believe what you say, you are deluded and need help. And if you don't -- well, that's the only time I wish there actually was a hell, so people like you that exploit the grieving could burn in it.

Also flying around this thread:

- The Argument from Ignorance Fallacy
- The Argument from Authority Fallacy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I see and talk to dead people nearly every day. I’m a medium. And a minister. You don’t have to believe in an afterlife. But I’m telling you that when our physical bodies die, we continue to exist. I can always validate my messages from people who have transitioned. It’s not about religion. We simply do not cease to exist. Our death is exactly like our birth. We move from one reality to the next.

You're a medium? I am an extra large.

If you genuinely believe what you say, you are deluded and need help. And if you don't -- well, that's the only time I wish there actually was a hell, so people like you that exploit the grieving could burn in it.

Also flying around this thread:

- The Argument from Ignorance Fallacy
- The Argument from Authority Fallacy

You sound deeply unhappy. I’m really sorry for whatever caused this. You don’t have to agree with someone to be kind. Wishing you peace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I see and talk to dead people nearly every day. I’m a medium. And a minister. You don’t have to believe in an afterlife. But I’m telling you that when our physical bodies die, we continue to exist. I can always validate my messages from people who have transitioned. It’s not about religion. We simply do not cease to exist. Our death is exactly like our birth. We move from one reality to the next.

You're a medium? I am an extra large.

If you genuinely believe what you say, you are deluded and need help. And if you don't -- well, that's the only time I wish there actually was a hell, so people like you that exploit the grieving could burn in it.

Also flying around this thread:

- The Argument from Ignorance Fallacy
- The Argument from Authority Fallacy

You sound deeply unhappy. I’m really sorry for whatever caused this. You don’t have to agree with someone to be kind. Wishing you peace.

Agreed. I’m the PP who talked about reincarnation; I assume you’re insulting me too. You don’t have to agree, but you can show kindness.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Thank you everyone for responding (minus the person who posted a few rants about other's opinions). I probably can't give my gratitude to each poster individually without clogging this thread, but your beliefs give me more to think about and I'm grateful for the generally positive responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I see and talk to dead people nearly every day. I’m a medium. And a minister. You don’t have to believe in an afterlife. But I’m telling you that when our physical bodies die, we continue to exist. I can always validate my messages from people who have transitioned. It’s not about religion. We simply do not cease to exist. Our death is exactly like our birth. We move from one reality to the next.

So what is next from current reality? I'm intrigued. Do we stick around here watching the people living? Or go to some other place? I hope it's the second, because this world and people on this earth can be cruel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have hard, concrete experiences to back up my belief, but this is what I think about the afterlife (and beforelife):

Since everything we can observe in nature is cyclical (aka matter doesn't cease to exist, it just changes form), it would seem logical to me that the same thing would apply to our souls. I believe in souls because it's the only explanation I can come up with for emotions that are so strong (love, hate, etc.) that pure chemicals and hormones don't seem to provide enough explanation.

All that is to say, I believe in reincarnation. I believe we've all always existed and we'll always exist. We just change form. You know how people say, "I met this person and we had an instant connection, like we've always known each other"? To me, that means you probably met in an earlier life. You might have been a human, or maybe you were an animal, but you met.

I also believe in the Buddhist idea of being able to earn a place outside the suffering, material world by being a really good person while in it. I believe in the idea that if you can focus on what's important--being good to others, really--you stand a chance of reaching a higher plane, where you don't have to deal with the suffering we have in the material world.

It doesn't mean you go to some other planet; you're still here, but you just exist in some way that it's really corporal.

Anyway, hopefully that's somewhat coherent. BTW, I don't strictly define myself as a Buddhist, although I spent a lot of time with Buddhist monks in Thailand and love them. I'm basically a cultural Jew who also accepts a lot of the concepts from Buddhism.

By higher plane but not some other planet, do you mean like another dimension? I haven't studied buddhism and am agnostic I guess (parents are hindu), but this resonates with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I see and talk to dead people nearly every day. I’m a medium. And a minister. You don’t have to believe in an afterlife. But I’m telling you that when our physical bodies die, we continue to exist. I can always validate my messages from people who have transitioned. It’s not about religion. We simply do not cease to exist. Our death is exactly like our birth. We move from one reality to the next.

You're a medium? I am an extra large.

If you genuinely believe what you say, you are deluded and need help. And if you don't -- well, that's the only time I wish there actually was a hell, so people like you that exploit the grieving could burn in it.

Also flying around this thread:

- The Argument from Ignorance Fallacy
- The Argument from Authority Fallacy

You sound deeply unhappy. I’m really sorry for whatever caused this. You don’t have to agree with someone to be kind. Wishing you peace.

Agreed. I’m the PP who talked about reincarnation; I assume you’re insulting me too. You don’t have to agree, but you can show kindness.

Nah, PP's responses just mean there will be more room in that other dimension for us nice ones here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have hard, concrete experiences to back up my belief, but this is what I think about the afterlife (and beforelife):

Since everything we can observe in nature is cyclical (aka matter doesn't cease to exist, it just changes form), it would seem logical to me that the same thing would apply to our souls. I believe in souls because it's the only explanation I can come up with for emotions that are so strong (love, hate, etc.) that pure chemicals and hormones don't seem to provide enough explanation.

All that is to say, I believe in reincarnation. I believe we've all always existed and we'll always exist. We just change form. You know how people say, "I met this person and we had an instant connection, like we've always known each other"? To me, that means you probably met in an earlier life. You might have been a human, or maybe you were an animal, but you met.

I also believe in the Buddhist idea of being able to earn a place outside the suffering, material world by being a really good person while in it. I believe in the idea that if you can focus on what's important--being good to others, really--you stand a chance of reaching a higher plane, where you don't have to deal with the suffering we have in the material world.

It doesn't mean you go to some other planet; you're still here, but you just exist in some way that it's really corporal.

Anyway, hopefully that's somewhat coherent. BTW, I don't strictly define myself as a Buddhist, although I spent a lot of time with Buddhist monks in Thailand and love them. I'm basically a cultural Jew who also accepts a lot of the concepts from Buddhism.

By higher plane but not some other planet, do you mean like another dimension? I haven't studied buddhism and am agnostic I guess (parents are hindu), but this resonates with me.

Yeah basically. If it resonates with you, check out Buddhism! It’s pretty cool. No god involved. It’s just about focusing on what really matters—basically, being kind to others—and then if you do that, you stand a chance of having your soul go to a different dimension of sorts, called Nirvana.

[Anonymous]

For an excellent introductory book on Buddhism, I suggest The Heart of Buddha’s Teachings by Thich Naht Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk.