The After Life

[YadaYada]

Did not see any thread title mentioning this particular topic. So, where does the human being go after dying?
This is my outlook: The possibilities are seemingly infinite. All people may simply cease to exist forever, although I do not believe this is true. All people may be reborn. Or each person may go on its own path, such as one person may cease to exist permanently, while another may be reborn, and then another may cease to exist for a certain amount of time. If this is true then there may be factors affecting these paths, some that can be influenced by us and others that are not influenced by us. If we are not to exist ever again after dying then that is the simplest way. If we are to be reborn, then perhaps this is perpetual. And what we are reborn as can be a new human, a different creature on this planet or from another planet, or even into something that is non-living like the wind. Or perhaps it is not perpetual and instead it stops after a certain amount of rebirths. And for the third way, we or some of us may not exist for a certain amount of time (like maybe ten thousand years) and then after come back into existence.

Now I would not dare leave out the possibility of a Heaven or a Hell. Perhaps there are gods and demons monitoring our behaviours. And even these concepts may be complex such as there may be multiple gods and demons or perhaps just one for each. Or each person may go to a different Heaven or Hell; perhaps based on their beliefs. And these destinations can be permanent or temporary. Perhaps it is possible for a mortal human to transform into a deity or divine being. Maybe the gods or demons are in their positions temporarily and will look to transfer these positions to the next holder. And with all of this being stated, there may be some truth to the concept of the "human soul." Is this soul physical? Can it be destroyed?

One more point, all of these concepts may or may not apply to other beings (living and non-living).

 

[JeffFriend]

I like the topic of an afterlife because it allows me to bring up the "Cruelest God" argument. It is based off of Pascal's Wager (which doesn't work by the way) that if there are infinite possible gods, it would be best to worship the most cruel god, because any torment in any other afterlife is not as cruel as the torment of the cruelest god's afterlife. I do hate the idea of life after death though, because it causes things like Heaven's Gate to happen, and it causes people to not live their lives to the fullest, and instead suck up to a god that may not even exist. They can miss out on so much because they bet on something that requires their entire life to reach.
Rebirth is pointless, because it relies on the "soul" (see below) and if all of your experiences are reset upon rebirth, what was the point of living and dying in that previous life. It just implies that there are a limited amount of "souls" that have to be recycled.
The soul is interesting, because how I see the soul is as the complex and unique set of electrical signals jumping between your neurons and nerves, which ceases when you die, so the "soul" is essentially destroyed on death.
I would like to comment on the Christian heaven though. It is apparently supposed to be eternal formless bliss with no actions (at least in one version), which seems more like a hell to me because you only feel eternal thoughtless happiness, as opposed to a range of emotions in eternal torment in the Christian hell (pain, anguish, despair, etc.).

 

[prim90]

Did not see any thread title mentioning this particular topic. So, where does the human being go after dying?
This is my outlook: The possibilities are seemingly infinite. All people may simply cease to exist forever, although I do not believe this is true. All people may be reborn. Or each person may go on its own path, such as one person may cease to exist permanently, while another may be reborn, and then another may cease to exist for a certain amount of time. If this is true then there may be factors affecting these paths, some that can be influenced by us and others that are not influenced by us. If we are not to exist ever again after dying then that is the simplest way. If we are to be reborn, then perhaps this is perpetual. And what we are reborn as can be a new human, a different creature on this planet or from another planet, or even into something that is non-living like the wind. Or perhaps it is not perpetual and instead it stops after a certain amount of rebirths. And for the third way, we or some of us may not exist for a certain amount of time (like maybe ten thousand years) and then after come back into existence.

Now I would not dare leave out the possibility of a Heaven or a Hell. Perhaps there are gods and demons monitoring our behaviours. And even these concepts may be complex such as there may be multiple gods and demons or perhaps just one for each. Or each person may go to a different Heaven or Hell; perhaps based on their beliefs. And these destinations can be permanent or temporary. Perhaps it is possible for a mortal human to transform into a deity or divine being. Maybe the gods or demons are in their positions temporarily and will look to transfer these positions to the next holder. And with all of this being stated, there may be some truth to the concept of the "human soul." Is this soul physical? Can it be destroyed?

One more point, all of these concepts may or may not apply to other beings (living and non-living).

The afterlife is deeply entrenched in most of our recorded histories. All our ancient cultures think upon a afterlife more so the Egyptians who prepared for that reality. The question of what form we take is open. The spiritual body may be much more than just spirit and will probably far excel our present earthly bodies which decay over time. The thought of annihilation and ceasing to exist is a most horrifying thought others may see it differently.

 

[solb999]

After you die, you’re dead. Only resurrecting changes that

 

[justjane]

I believe in God & Heaven ... I'm unsure about the aftermath of our afterlife ... but i will share what some gentleman came in to the gas station I worked out of and told me when I said something to do about six feet under ...

He said it was no joke, that he had recently experienced death on a hospital bed...ans it was nothing but dark and more dark ... that was all that surrounded him... I said well, buddy you're still living maybe you should use the darkness as a sign to repent and relight!