Here is what could be an interesting topic. What do you believe happens to "us" after we die?

AussieMaddie

whichwitch said:

I think we have angels and
I think we have angels and also a guide with us in this life and they are all around us. I beleive in our love ones able to commucation with us after they pass on. I beleive their is a higher plane of life and we are here to help us move on to become better loving and caring. Yes, God is all around us too. We have a lot of support from the spirit world. Hope I don't sound crazy, I have a hard time putting thoughts into words. Am I making any since to anybody??

Very similar to my belief
Hi,

while I don't like to align myself to a particular 'ism' (because I believe that 'isms' are created for the sole protection of beliefs over authentic experience), you beliefs are very similar to mine, which would be considered Spiritualist.

I believe what Teilhard de Chardin said:

'You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.'

And, in believing that, I therefore cannot believe in death of 'us' since 'we' are spiritual. I can only believe in death as the change that takes place when the body returns to the natural elements from which it was derived - and the spirit moves on to learning more about what is real.

AussieMaddie

bluerose

PhillieG said:

Bump
Since no one gave the "correct" answer let's bump this up for those inquiring minds.
;-)

Much more than meets the eye
I personally believe that our bodies are merely vessels that hold that our souls, the soul being the key entity. The body fails and is discarded in whatever way we like but the soul lives on. I think I posted something like this before and mentioned that since we all know that energy never really completely just vanishes it makes sense to me that since we are filled with electricity/energy that we generate we wouldn't just disappear either.

I believe there is far more to us than we even can imagin and I also think that we are all connected far more than we can imagin and from there it's a short hop for me to come to my belief that we are all parts of the same entity, call that what you will.

I think they idea that we go from one dimension to another also could make a great deal of sense but we aren't aware of any of this yet and may never be. Could the presence of ghosts or apparitions be seeping of that from another dimension, one that our souls might progress to (or regress to?) who knows.

I have mentioned my experiences with my healing in hospital but I don't know if I mentioned that I also had an out of body experience while meditating once. Scared the **** out of me because there I was up in the corner of the ceiling, feeling the cold walls on my hands as they reached out for stability, looking down on myself meditating. YIKES. I wasn't trying to go out of body and in fact didn't even know that was possible, just started to meditate for relaxation but it happened never the less. So don't say I psyched myself into the experience because I had no knowledge of it at all prior. Thinks like that that one experiences lead you to believe that there is a definite division between body and soul. Big time.

Anywho, that's my 3 cents. When I pass and can get back I will tap on your shoulder 120 times Phil so you better be alert and ready to count so that you know it is me. lol. I can't only type a few words, precis is not my strong suit as you might have realized over the years of me posting, so overtapping would be just like me. Right? lol.

Hope this response finds you feeling well Phil.

Bluerose

mechellelong

Hi,
Interesting thread. I
Hi,
Interesting thread. I believe what the Bible says concerning death. The condition of the dead is made clear at Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, where we read: “The dead know nothing . . . There is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence, within the grave.” (Moffatt) Death, therefore, is a state of nonexistence. The psalmist wrote that when a person dies, “he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.”—Psalm 146:4.
So the dead are unconscious, inactive. When pronouncing sentence upon Adam, God stated: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Before God formed him from the dust of the ground and gave him life, Adam did not exist. When he died, Adam returned to that state.

Mechelle

bluerose

mechellelong said:

Hi,
Interesting thread. I
Hi,
Interesting thread. I believe what the Bible says concerning death. The condition of the dead is made clear at Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, where we read: “The dead know nothing . . . There is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence, within the grave.” (Moffatt) Death, therefore, is a state of nonexistence. The psalmist wrote that when a person dies, “he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.”—Psalm 146:4.
So the dead are unconscious, inactive. When pronouncing sentence upon Adam, God stated: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Before God formed him from the dust of the ground and gave him life, Adam did not exist. When he died, Adam returned to that state.

Mechelle

The Dr. Oz Show
Yesterday, Sept. 29th, 2011 Dr. Oz did a half of his show on Near Death Experiences and medically what happens in the body plus he interviewed 3 people who had had the experience including a doctor. She said it changed her life and how she practiced medecine. This morning, after seeing that show, I saw this thread again and just wanted to add that I think how people view this topic of life after death depends of course on their basic beliefs but also, and maybe more dramatically, by any real experience they have personally had with near death experiences.

For me my mind was always been opened to the possibility but when I actually had one of my own experiences with this that pretty much sealed the deal for me. You don't go through something like a healing or near death experience of any other kind and come out thinking there is nothing else after this.

Again, just my 3 cents for whatever it is worth.

Have a good day all.

Blessings,

Bluerose

I_Promise

bluerose said:

The Dr. Oz Show
Yesterday, Sept. 29th, 2011 Dr. Oz did a half of his show on Near Death Experiences and medically what happens in the body plus he interviewed 3 people who had had the experience including a doctor. She said it changed her life and how she practiced medecine. This morning, after seeing that show, I saw this thread again and just wanted to add that I think how people view this topic of life after death depends of course on their basic beliefs but also, and maybe more dramatically, by any real experience they have personally had with near death experiences.

For me my mind was always been opened to the possibility but when I actually had one of my own experiences with this that pretty much sealed the deal for me. You don't go through something like a healing or near death experience of any other kind and come out thinking there is nothing else after this.

Again, just my 3 cents for whatever it is worth.

Have a good day all.

Blessings,

Bluerose

Hello all,
My believes (or
Hello all,

My believes (or lack of might offense the very religious; but reading this thread made me feel welcome to be open with my views on the subject.

I did not know whether or not I believed in God before my sister was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. I was very equivocal. I certainly did not believe in the fairytale stories of the Bible but I would believe in the message and the essence of Love everyone, turn the other cheek, do good everyday, be selfless. I still believe in these core values of course.

I travelled extensively in my 20's; and I came across a lot of different religions, both ancient and present; when I was visiting the ancient Greece it struck me how much the ancient romans and atheans really believed in the Oracle (for far longer than christianity, over 2500 years) and Gods like Athena, Jupiter etc... There were as many temples as churches...

It put things in perspective. Religion changes and create new legends, new stories.

So believing that after my death there was a heaven and hell, that seemed silly to me. Like believing that Jupiter would strike me down with lightning.

That left the door open to believing in a higher being, or consciousness, in karma, etc..

And then my baby sister got diagnosed with Brain Cancer. She is the sweetest thing. She truly has a heart of gold. Then what? How to make sense of a universe like that? How is this even possible if there is a loving God? Why not give the tumor to Hitler or a child molester?

It is absurd. I remember reading Sartre and Camus thinking there were too cynical. Unfortunately I tend to agree that life does not make sense.

Not to say that when we die, there is nothing left. I still don't know. I would like to think that we do go on in some other form.

Telling me that the Brain Tumor is a trial is useless. That God doesn't give anything that we can't handle, is madness to me. It would be like a cruel scientist decided to put cancer in an innocent being to "see" how they would react.

Someone posted that the realization of nor believing in God, left them envious of others peoples faith. I agree. Oh how simple it would be to believe that if I just "pray" for a cure it would show up? What a wonderful crutch! How less lonely it would feel if I could delusion myself so.

I hope I have not offended anyone. My goal was to be frank and honest about how I feel and think regarding this MONSTRER CANCERand life after.

Julia

catwink22

I_Promise said:

Hello all,
My believes (or
Hello all,

My believes (or lack of might offense the very religious; but reading this thread made me feel welcome to be open with my views on the subject.

I did not know whether or not I believed in God before my sister was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. I was very equivocal. I certainly did not believe in the fairytale stories of the Bible but I would believe in the message and the essence of Love everyone, turn the other cheek, do good everyday, be selfless. I still believe in these core values of course.

I travelled extensively in my 20's; and I came across a lot of different religions, both ancient and present; when I was visiting the ancient Greece it struck me how much the ancient romans and atheans really believed in the Oracle (for far longer than christianity, over 2500 years) and Gods like Athena, Jupiter etc... There were as many temples as churches...

It put things in perspective. Religion changes and create new legends, new stories.

So believing that after my death there was a heaven and hell, that seemed silly to me. Like believing that Jupiter would strike me down with lightning.

That left the door open to believing in a higher being, or consciousness, in karma, etc..

And then my baby sister got diagnosed with Brain Cancer. She is the sweetest thing. She truly has a heart of gold. Then what? How to make sense of a universe like that? How is this even possible if there is a loving God? Why not give the tumor to Hitler or a child molester?

It is absurd. I remember reading Sartre and Camus thinking there were too cynical. Unfortunately I tend to agree that life does not make sense.

Not to say that when we die, there is nothing left. I still don't know. I would like to think that we do go on in some other form.

Telling me that the Brain Tumor is a trial is useless. That God doesn't give anything that we can't handle, is madness to me. It would be like a cruel scientist decided to put cancer in an innocent being to "see" how they would react.

Someone posted that the realization of nor believing in God, left them envious of others peoples faith. I agree. Oh how simple it would be to believe that if I just "pray" for a cure it would show up? What a wonderful crutch! How less lonely it would feel if I could delusion myself so.

I hope I have not offended anyone. My goal was to be frank and honest about how I feel and think regarding this MONSTRER CANCERand life after.

Julia

Fascinating
I find this topic to be very interesting. I guess I am “spiritual” not “religious”. My mother raised me to choose my own following. She had a distaste of our church (Congregational) because they were judgmental and according to her the only reason people went was to see what others were wearing lol. I didn’t get that feeling, but I was young and we had an AWESOME youth group that I found was very accepting and there was no “you can only come here if you believe what we believe”. I brought friends from different faiths that were accepted unconditionally, but there was no “in my church we do this”. Granted this was a church and there were prayers, but no judgment. Be nice to each other, help each other, and love others.
Without any pressure or convincing I came to believe in God, there are too many stories and occurrences that people attest to and that I’ve experienced. I so WANT to believe that there is an afterlife. This cancer scares me that I will be taken away from family and the thought that I will never see them again quakes me to the core. So in a way I feel that I HAVE to believe so I can cope, so I don’t lose my mind, so I don’t go away kicking and screaming although I do feel that’s what I’ll do! I’d like to have a little dignity, but it’s said there is no dignity in death.
I have been so very fortunate I have not had to deal with death very often. My grandmother is 92, my parents, my 3 siblings and their children, my aunt & uncle and my cousins are all healthy so why do some of us get it and others not? God’s choice? Somehow I don’t believe that. I feel that man has created pollution, chemicals and drugs and dishes them out not knowing how our bodies will respond, but it cures the ailment for the moment and isn’t that what we went to the doctor for in the first place? Don’t we love our machines and modern comforts? Obviously some of us wouldn’t be here without the good chemicals and drugs so we have to take the good with the bad, but how do you separate the two?
For now, I have to Believe, I want to Believe, so I do Believe. Ok I’ve convinced myself.

Hondo

catwink22 said:

Fascinating
I find this topic to be very interesting. I guess I am “spiritual” not “religious”. My mother raised me to choose my own following. She had a distaste of our church (Congregational) because they were judgmental and according to her the only reason people went was to see what others were wearing lol. I didn’t get that feeling, but I was young and we had an AWESOME youth group that I found was very accepting and there was no “you can only come here if you believe what we believe”. I brought friends from different faiths that were accepted unconditionally, but there was no “in my church we do this”. Granted this was a church and there were prayers, but no judgment. Be nice to each other, help each other, and love others.
Without any pressure or convincing I came to believe in God, there are too many stories and occurrences that people attest to and that I’ve experienced. I so WANT to believe that there is an afterlife. This cancer scares me that I will be taken away from family and the thought that I will never see them again quakes me to the core. So in a way I feel that I HAVE to believe so I can cope, so I don’t lose my mind, so I don’t go away kicking and screaming although I do feel that’s what I’ll do! I’d like to have a little dignity, but it’s said there is no dignity in death.
I have been so very fortunate I have not had to deal with death very often. My grandmother is 92, my parents, my 3 siblings and their children, my aunt & uncle and my cousins are all healthy so why do some of us get it and others not? God’s choice? Somehow I don’t believe that. I feel that man has created pollution, chemicals and drugs and dishes them out not knowing how our bodies will respond, but it cures the ailment for the moment and isn’t that what we went to the doctor for in the first place? Don’t we love our machines and modern comforts? Obviously some of us wouldn’t be here without the good chemicals and drugs so we have to take the good with the bad, but how do you separate the two?
For now, I have to Believe, I want to Believe, so I do Believe. Ok I’ve convinced myself.

Hi catwink


Good post, I too don’t believe on blaming God for my cancer or anything else. Like you said we love our modern convenes and sometime sickness it all part of moving forward when we don’t understand that the creation of some of these chemicals are the very thing that is killing us. I too need to believe that there has to be more to live then just live and die. I live my life as good and as close to God as I know how. If I am wrong then when I die I will miss nothing, but if I am right and there is a God I will live in his paradise that he has created for me. I don’t know what people who choose to not believe will do if when they die and find out that there is a God. The Bible said Hell but I am glad that the Devil and Hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire so Hell is not forever.

Thanks
Hondo

laurettas

PhillieG said:

Bump
Since no one gave the "correct" answer let's bump this up for those inquiring minds.
;-)

What a great topic, Phil!
This is the first time I have been to this section. Have spent my time thus far on the colon cancer site. The fact that this thread is still going after two years says a lot, doesn't it? I am going to give my thoughts on this before reading anyone else's because I don't want your good ideas to influence my explanation!

First before I answer the question, I need to qualify it a bit. What I am going to say in a few minutes is not what I have always believed. I was raised in a non-religious family--including extended family. I had never heard of God except as a swear word until I was in school and my friends would try to convince me of their beliefs. As a young person I thought that when we died we became either fertilizer or carrion if no one bothered to bury us. Death was the end of our existence except in the minds of those who knew us.

Now to answer the question--kind of. Where do we go when we die? Well, it depends. On what you might ask. It depends on whether or not we have learned what we were put on earth to learn.

Why are we here anyway? That's a question most of us spend a lifetime trying to figure out! We are here to learn how to love. The earth is a training ground for learning how to love--first ourselves, then others and God. But to know if we have accomplished that, we have to know what love is. Love is the capacity to give of ourselves for the good of another. The capacity to overcome our own selfishness and fears and whatever else, to sacrifice for the good of another.

If we have learned how to love perfectly in this life, then we go immediately to the arms of our Loving Father in heaven. There would be nothing in us to prevent us from receiving the fullness of his love. If, however, we are trying to love but still have some residual selfishness in us, we will need to be purified or purged of that selfishness before we are able to enter fully into the presence of God. The name assigned to that state is Purgatory, a state of intense cleansing that can be quite painful as we realize the fullness of our residual selfishness. If we reach the end of our lives and we are still totally focused on ourselves, and seek only to gratify ourselves, we will continue on that path of self-absorption and be in what we call hell--the state of total isolation from all others, including God.

I could go on and on talking about various aspects of this, but wanted to put out the briefest of summaries and see what you all thought of it. Now I will go back and read all 200 of the earlier comments to see what you have to say!

Hondo

I_Promise said:

Hello all,
My believes (or
Hello all,

My believes (or lack of might offense the very religious; but reading this thread made me feel welcome to be open with my views on the subject.

I did not know whether or not I believed in God before my sister was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. I was very equivocal. I certainly did not believe in the fairytale stories of the Bible but I would believe in the message and the essence of Love everyone, turn the other cheek, do good everyday, be selfless. I still believe in these core values of course.

I travelled extensively in my 20's; and I came across a lot of different religions, both ancient and present; when I was visiting the ancient Greece it struck me how much the ancient romans and atheans really believed in the Oracle (for far longer than christianity, over 2500 years) and Gods like Athena, Jupiter etc... There were as many temples as churches...

It put things in perspective. Religion changes and create new legends, new stories.

So believing that after my death there was a heaven and hell, that seemed silly to me. Like believing that Jupiter would strike me down with lightning.

That left the door open to believing in a higher being, or consciousness, in karma, etc..

And then my baby sister got diagnosed with Brain Cancer. She is the sweetest thing. She truly has a heart of gold. Then what? How to make sense of a universe like that? How is this even possible if there is a loving God? Why not give the tumor to Hitler or a child molester?

It is absurd. I remember reading Sartre and Camus thinking there were too cynical. Unfortunately I tend to agree that life does not make sense.

Not to say that when we die, there is nothing left. I still don't know. I would like to think that we do go on in some other form.

Telling me that the Brain Tumor is a trial is useless. That God doesn't give anything that we can't handle, is madness to me. It would be like a cruel scientist decided to put cancer in an innocent being to "see" how they would react.

Someone posted that the realization of nor believing in God, left them envious of others peoples faith. I agree. Oh how simple it would be to believe that if I just "pray" for a cure it would show up? What a wonderful crutch! How less lonely it would feel if I could delusion myself so.

I hope I have not offended anyone. My goal was to be frank and honest about how I feel and think regarding this MONSTRER CANCERand life after.

Julia

Hi Julia

Thanks for your post and I can understand where you are coming from. I think one of the most common things it that everyone blames God when something goes wrong or something bad happening. I am not sure why that is but I think it was Phil that said because it is the easiest thing to do just blame God for it.

I am a Christian but I don’t blain God for getting cancer three times, I don’t blame him for getting it one time. I think having cancer is just what happens when our bodies get sick just like having any other thing, its all part of life. We are born to die and at some point in life something is going to take us because man has not figure out a way to keep these bodies living.

So with no one having a plan or knowing what happens after we die, why not believe that there is a God, it does not hurt anything. If there is nothing after death then we loose nothing, but what if there is a god. I think I will be on the safe side because all it takes is a little faith nothing more.

Here no one offends anyone we all try to understand the other one point and I thank you for being honest in what you believe.

Wishing you the very best in life my friend
Hondo