Afterlife ?

[Ace Rimmer]

This doesn’t belong in religion, because I don’t think religion has anything to do with the afterlife.
But I value your thoughts and opinions, and this is something else that is hard to bring up at coffee break! I think Aliens brought us all together to help us by letting us help each other muddle through this mess. Don’t mean to get maudlin or anything, I hate sentiment! But really I feel so free to say my mind.

Anyway what happens when we die?

Really high on my list is..Nothing happens; we die and turn into fertilizer.
I often think it is because we are self aware and can’t face the fact.. ya die, Zippo! that it it. You are toast! The Party is over……

Or I really like this idea, to some extent, we make our own reality in life, as much as we can. Perhaps when we die, it is like dreaming…whatever happens is what we expect or think will happen. We create our own realities after death! Cool idea.

I can’t see our spirit/soul going someplace else, well unless it it inter-dimensional. They thing is, we don’t imagine an afterlife for all the other animals on the planet. But!! And it is a big one. I don’t think we are indigenous to this planet. I’ve never felt we really belong here.

Well anyway….

Thoughts?!?

[Nanfran]

I still believe in the Heaven idea...and by God I'm going to continue to believe in it my whole life...a full bar with an endless buffet of everything tasty! But really, I do believe in heaven...it may be wishful thinking, but wish I may, wish I might!!!

The other possibility would be that we change onto another dimensional plane (like you said). It's kind of like that Stargate episode where Samantha goes through the mirrors and goes into other dimensions. That'd be something super!

I have a feeling I'm going to stay on earth as energy/a ghost and haunt the crap out of people just for kicks...or most likely walk around like in "The Sixth Sense"...I just hope it's without that creepy kid!!!

I donno - I just hope none of us find out any time soon though!!!

~ Nancy

[Moon]

The Egyptians believed we went to a place outside of time and space and have many scrolls based on this. There is also some who believe it is possible to physically get there without the body dying, which may explain what happened to some of the pharaohs bodies not being found.

When we die, this is not it. I had an OBE that was very different than anything I had ever experienced. (I have had dizzy spells, and this was a much different feeling.)

Our souls go on a different journey, and whether we are reincarnated or go to this place right away is still a mystery to me.

[Theory]

Yeah, my first thought is this is it, we get one life, live it to the fullest.

second would be...okay this may sound a bit silly or crazy.... Maybe there is something like heaven and hell, but not like the bible thumpers believe. I'll start with "hell" first...if someone dies and there's something they still have to learn, for example compassion, then their soul or energy,whatever you want to call it, must remain on earth until they learn whatever it is they need to learn. I would consider that hell, to be unnoticed by all to be unheard by all to not feel or to be touched, and so on. Now, "heaven" would be going to where we came from or partially came from. I think we would get all of our questions answered, we would meet who created us(ET), and this place could be another dimension or planet. After we get our answers, we will get to choose what happens next.

Wow...never told anyone my second idea before...feels pretty good to share my ideas no matter how crazy they may be Of course my idea of the afterlife may change as I learn more about life among other things.

[Stonehenge]

I'm inclined to believe that there is an afterlife, but I don't believe in it to a certainty.

I'm also always inclined to accept anyone's views on God, gods, heaven, hell, souls, spirits, ghosts, reincarnation, etc., as long as they are telling me what they BELIEVE to be true.

When they start telling me they KNOW it to be true, then I start demanding proof!

Jim

[Jeff Sheets]

OK so, First law of thermodynamics
"Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only change forms.
In any process in an isolated system, the total energy remains the same."

Then there is The "black hole information paradox which results from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It suggests that physical information could "disappear" in a black hole, allowing many physical states to evolve into precisely the same state. This is a contentious subject since it violates a commonly assumed tenet of science—that in principle complete information about a physical system at one point in time should determine its state at any other time."

"Stephen Hawking published a paper and announced a theory that quantum perturbations of the event horizon could allow information to escape from a black hole, which would resolve the information paradox. His argument assumes the unitarity of the AdS/CFT correspondence which implies that an AdS black hole that is dual to a thermal conformal field theory, is unitary. When announcing his result, Hawking also conceded the 1997 bet, paying Preskill with a baseball encyclopedia "from which information can be retrieved at will". However, Thorne remains unconvinced of Hawking's proof and declined to contribute to the award."

I think that this is relevant to whether or not there is an afterlife. Consciousness has very little mass and therefore can be constrained by quantum rules. Maybe we are multi-dimensional beings after all?

I know, its scary that subjects such as the afterlife can be explained by physics. Is physics up to the task?

-Jeff

[Serene]

"Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only change forms.

^^^^^^^
That.
Take a look at my Avi and tell me what you see.....

[Ace Rimmer]

I'm looking Serene, I'm looking.

It's great to hear we all think there is something, I needed to hear some difference perspectives on this.

[goldenstar]

Great subject!

I firmly believe that when our body dies, our soul goes somewhere. Whether it's to be reincarnated (I'm fascinated with this), or it goes to wherever our creator is (heaven.....not really in the Biblical version), or our soul is as a spirit that walks upon Earth for a time for some reason. I don't know WHAT happens exactly, as I have no proof and no one else does either, but I believe something does happen. I feel that our soul, our consciousness that makes us human, that no other animal has, has no end and it moves on to another place.

[Stonehenge]

Great subject!

I firmly believe that when our body dies, our soul goes somewhere. Whether it's to be reincarnated (I'm fascinated with this), or it goes to wherever our creator is (heaven.....not really in the Biblical version), or our soul is as a spirit that walks upon Earth for a time for some reason. I don't know WHAT happens exactly, as I have no proof and no one else does either, but I believe something does happen. I feel that our soul, our consciousness that makes us human, that no other animal has, has no end and it moves on to another place.

I think that's a good, open-minded way of looking at the subject.

I sometimes say that one day, we will all know the answers to these questions.

Or, we WON'T!

Jim

[Moon]

All I know is my soul had left my body for a brief period of time. I did not need my body and was fully aware of what was happening. In fact, my one thought was: "Oh, sh#t! I'm dying!"

I also went back and asked if they put any drugs in me (none) and the air they gave me was the usual nitrous oxide we all breathe (not pure oxygen).

[Stonehenge]

Hmmmm....how did all that happen?

Jim

[Moon]

Hmmmm....how did all that happen?

Jim

I was rushed to the hospital and had the experience in the ambulance. My body did not even "die" or stop, but my soul left my body. It was a very strange feeling that I have never experienced before. I understand what many people now mean when they say it is a calming feeling. I became calm once I started realizing I was going to go somewhere.

I did return to my body (obviously), but it was very noisy and not serene as the feeling I was experiencing. It is very hard to describe unless someone else has experienced it.

[Stonehenge]

Did your return to your body happen while you were in the hospital?

This experience reminds me of a sensation I sometimes experience, and one which I find disturbing, and fight off when it does occur.

It's not an out of body experience at all - I have no sense that I'm leaving my body, or that I'm looking at my own body, or that I'm anywhere other than inside my body.

Rather, it's a sense of mental self-consciousness: that somehow, there's another side to my mind that becomes conscious of my own existence.

It's very difficult to explain.

It's as if somehow I become aware that I am an entity that is doing what he's doing: that rather than being at one with myself doing it, I become bifurcated: part of me becomes aware that I'm an entity, existing in reality, actually seeing and doing and thinking and experiencing whatever is happening.

The best way I can describe it is a kind of flash of illumination that "yes, Jim, you really are alive, there really is a thing called reality, you really do exist in it."

As I said, I find the sensation unpleasant, and scary, and fight it off when it occurs. It usually lasts only a few seconds.

Am I just nuts? Or does anyone else understand what I'm talking about?

Jim

[Serene]

Jim - I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. I remember as a child lying in bed in the dark and this happened to me. And I could not explain it, and I could not talk to anyone about it either. It was just bizarre and it scared the heck out of me. As I became older it did not happen as often and now it doesn't, and I think it's because I am wiser and more knowledgable......I have different experiences now, haha ....but you've done an amazing job putting this into words, my friend. We ARE spiritual beings residing in a physical body, no matter if it's black, white, red, whatever.....so are the Aliens....

[Stonehenge]

Thanks a heap, Serene. I'm glad that there's someone else out there that has experienced this.

I also know exactly what you mean about not discussing this with anyone else. This is only the second time in my life that I ever mentioned it. I asked my wife, and she said that yes, she has had this funny sensation.

Also as you say: I experience it less as I get older (I'm 59 now). The last time was a month or so ago, and I can't remember the last time before that.

It probably has something to do with stress. My wife died in July, and I was upset, thinking about her, as I was walking down the street when the sensation hit me. As I said, I don't like the sensation at all - and quickly fought it off.

Hasn't happened since.

Jim

P.S. I'm glad you liked the way I explained it: it's so weird that it's hard to verbalize.

[Serene]

I'm looking Serene, I'm looking.

It's great to hear we all think there is something, I needed to hear some difference perspectives on this.

Here's the original - not color enhanced - picture.

[Stonehenge]

What sort of strange experiences do you have now, Serene?

Jim

[Serene]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Jim! This must be such a difficult time for you.

[Stonehenge]

Thank you, Serene!

Yes, it's very rough. I'm still not sleeping well: I used to go to bed early, now I stay up late, and get little sleep. Jan and I were always together, when we weren't at work: we were real partners and companions in all things in life.

Losing your spouse, especially when you were close, is a very hard thing.

Jim

[Ace Rimmer]

First off, oh Jim I am so sorry about your wife. I'm 58 and my husband is 62, we do everything together, when one of us does die, it is not going to be easy to go.

Serene, that orb picture is bloody wonderful!

[Moon]

I can completely understand what it is like to have a sensation that cannot be easily explained. I have had dizzy spells and they are what they are. But when I left my body, it was something that was a very strange feeling and I was fully aware of it all. I was not half a sleep or groggy, but knew everything that was going on.

I did return after floating near the ceiling on the outside of the hospital. I started to think about how I would miss my boys dearly, and then I had a very quick sensation of being rushed back in my body. It was like I had fallen down, but yet it was not a falling sensation. Again, a very strange feeling that cannot be readily explained.

My deepest thoughts go out to your loss, Jim. But after my experience, I do know she is not gone, but either in another dimension or else she is still with you. She is quite aware of what is going on too. If my experience taught me one major thing, it is we have souls.

[Stonehenge]

First off, oh Jim I am so sorry about your wife. I'm 58 and my husband is 62, we do everything together, when one of us does die, it is not going to be easy to go.

Serene, that orb picture is bloody wonderful!

Metaluna, thank you!

You sound just like my wife and I. I was 58, she 56, when she died.

I always thought (and hoped) that she would outlive me. She was a very outgoing person with a great network of family and friends. I was always a loner: she was my whole world.

Jim

[Stonehenge]

I can completely understand what it is like to have a sensation that cannot be easily explained. I have had dizzy spells and they are what they are. But when I left my body, it was something that was a very strange feeling and I was fully aware of it all. I was not half a sleep or groggy, but knew everything that was going on.

I did return after floating near the ceiling on the outside of the hospital. I started to think about how I would miss my boys dearly, and then I had a very quick sensation of being rushed back in my body. It was like I had fallen down, but yet it was not a falling sensation. Again, a very strange feeling that cannot be readily explained.

My deepest thoughts go out to your loss, Jim. But after my experience, I do know she is not gone, but either in another dimension or else she is still with you. She is quite aware of what is going on too. If my experience taught me one major thing, it is we have souls.

That's a very comforting thought, Max.

Then again, maybe not: I'm not sure I want her to always know what I'm up to!

Jim

[Stonehenge]

Other thoughts on the afterlife: I once met two French Quarter psychics at a party. Neither of them had any particular opinions about religion. I asked them their views on ghosts. Both of them were inclined to the view that ghosts weren't entities, but residual energy.

One of them noted that when people witness "ghosts". it's usually a scene of great outpouring of energy during life - a very violent murder, for example - or else it's a scene of small but continually repeated energy outputs: such as, the witness sees an old man in a rocking chair: and later learns that a man used to sit in a rocker in that spot every night for 40 years.

Any thoughts?

Jim

[Asfiqur]

One of my theory about our existence is, our existence depends on whole bunch of particles we are made of. Its all about combination. I am me because of my particular molecular structure, specially brain. What I'm trying to say is, if millions or billions of years after this same molecular structure come together, then again I will come to existence again.
What do you people think??

[Stonehenge]

Certainly an original and a most interesting idea. It made me think of the "monkey chained to a typewriter": i.e., that in eternity, the monkey would eventually type Shakespreare's entire opus just by hitting keys at random.

But where would the soul or spirit fit in to your theory? Or would it?

Jim

[Asfiqur]

:D In this theory soul is not something divine. Soul is a mixture of knowledge acquired from the moment we born, how we use this knowledge, how we make decisions which best suit our physical need. By saying Physical need I don't mean only sex or food, its more like some of us write poems because they feel happy to write one and here happiness is a physical need of our brain.
Another thing is all biological entities have a burning desire to produce offspring. I think that's because the best chance for achieve same molecular combination lies in leaving a child. So in short it is the best way to increase your chances of returning back to existence in a comparatively short time. May be we all have this information embedded in our D.N.A. That's why we all try to leave our children in this world before we die.
My English is not so good, or I would have explained more.
:oops:
P.S. Last of all to make this theory of mine work, I had to assume that The Universe is infinite both in size and time. So there is enough time for a monkey to try!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Serene]

Very interesting theory. But I'm afraid that would make me a real misfit as I NEVER had the desire to reproduce....

[Theory]

Very interesting theory. But I'm afraid that would make me a real misfit as I NEVER had the desire to reproduce....

I too was a misfit, never wanted any kids..When I had my son, I told my doc tie my tubes NOW lol But they wouldn't I was too young and not married, I said the samething when I had my daughter and they gave me the same excuse too young and not married(I know, I know I'm going to hell ). I love my kiddos though, they are my light, I couldn't imagine what my life would be like without them;)

[Ace Rimmer]

Very interesting theory. But I'm afraid that would make me a real misfit as I NEVER had the desire to reproduce....

Same here. Never ever felt the need to reproduce! And I have 3 close female friends who never had kids or ever wanted any. And we all found men who did not want children either.
I have always thought the world is going to hell and I didn't want to bring up any kids in it.

[Stonehenge]

No children ever had or wanted here, either (59 year old male).

I'll gladly play with other people's little kids but I prefer to leave them to their parents after I get them acting up!

Jim

[Ace Rimmer]

Hmmm... kind of a pattern emerging here.

[Moon]

No kids of my own, but was a foster parent and adopted. They still are in my life and I love them to pieces. I do not know what my life would be without them.

[Stonehenge]

That's very nice, Max!

Jim