Your Thoughts On The "Afterlife"

[koolmike]

A friend of mine e-mailed me this today:

stoned thoughts of the after life

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hello brothers and sisters,

so i was driving home tonight fairly stoned and i started to think about what happens to us after we die. I do not know if there is an after life, and currently i do not hold any beliefs about what or where it is, or what we are in this place or state of mind. What i was thinking about is that after we die in no way could we possibly see this place we are at. We no longer have the sense of vision, because we no longer have eyes. So if we do go to a place which some religions call heaven, we could not see God, other people that have died before us, or any point or all of the universe. We also wont have any of our other senses either. We will no longer have ears so no sense of hearing and theres no way God could tell us about our selves and the nature and future of the universe. None of our senses would register with our mind or self at all, because there are no more receptive processes of our body, such as our nervous system, optical system, auditory sysem, etc, and we also no longer have a brain. the brain puts information and knowledge together, whether from past memories and sensations which the body had once experienced in its life or from rationally thinking in the present. So then there would be no way of us to take in information of any sort. So if this is true, and if there is an after life, then what is it?

I then began to think about what the after life could be, and considered what i was just previously thinking about which led me to this: When we die, our physical body, brain and "self" dis-integrates from everything that it was, and then integrates into the universe. When we are born - or i should say when a very complicated and dynamic composition of elements comes together to build the form of a human - there is a possibility of life, and life with a mind is what becomes a part of the composition. This life comes from both absolutely nothing and absolutely everything. Every living human has recieved the same consiousness as every other, but the consciousness of each individual is different because it is recieved by the individual in a different location and point of view in the universe and with varying circumstances compared to any other life. So when this individual, with its dynamic "self", has both its physical body and its life ended and disintegrated, it then intigrates back into the infinity of everything and nothing.

I dont consider myself anything, but probably closest to being an agnostic and have been struggling with the ideas of life, God, etc for some time now. i still do not hold any of this to be true in any way, it is only my train of thought that i had ridden in my mind while on my way home and wanted to share it.

so usually i smoke the green often, but i had not in the past two weeks until i burned some tonight, and it has reignited my philosophical way of thinking which i love that honestly i cannot do the same unless i am stoned. i have never really recorded any of the things i have thought of in any detail at all so tonight i decided to try typing it down in length.

i thank you for reading. any kind of feedback, questions, opinions, thoughts, suggestions would be nice to hear from you all. maybe it can help me find my way or help me understand these ideas or your ideas better
__________________


:lol: Not bad for a stoner.

Got me thinking and I do believe that we're, all of us, right now part of a physical universe and when we die we move on or into a spritual universe, call it heaven, hell, or purgatory...but I do believe it is a spiritual place where the senses are no longer needed.

Thoughts?

[Bella]

I was raised Catholic but I have not gone to Sunday mass since I was 18. I don't believe they got it right. Too many holes in the story. I picked up a book on the Wiccan religion and I liked some of what they believe. But my Catholic background rears it's ugly head once in awhile. I had a fever recently, and laying in bed I saw the words "Fear Hell" written in the wood grain on my door. I try not to think about what happens after we die. If there is a place we go, mine isn't going to be good. I have not heeded the words on my door.

[koolmike]

I too grew up a Catholic and still am. I went to Catholic schools for 12 years -

Grammar and High School where I was spoon fed my daily doses of religion.

There are things I believe and things I don't. I believe that church is more in the mind than it is a building.

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

I believe that church is more in the mind than it is a building.

The Amish believe the same thing, that religion is more in the heart/mind than a building, which is why they hold their services in their own homes.

I too, am a Catholic myself; still am. Though, I like to keep a lot of my religious practices/views to myself, I'm wise enough to say that no religion is perfect; even my own. My father works for the family funeral home business and my mother is a nurse. So in some ways, a lot of my morals and views come from these different spectrums, which I'm exposed to on a daily basis.

Anyway, I believe in a heaven and a hell. Our world is a combination of both those aspects. If you live a good life and are willing to forgive and move on during troubling times, then life has its heavenly pleasures. If you live a troubled life full of misery and woe; live in vain with no forgiveness, then you will find your hell. The decision is ours when it comes to the afterlife as well; move on to a better afterlife or remain on this Earthly plane.

[bitchslicer]

wow that's really made me think!
i cant even imagine what will happen but if somebody offered me to know i don't think i would want to would you?

[Dr. Phibes]

We're Germans, so I was brought up as a Lutheran. Catholic-lite, if you like. I've always enjoyed the community of church, though I don't make much time for it these days. Special occasions only, really.

I don't have any beliefs regarding the "afterlife." You die, you rot. That's it. I've always felt that religion is and always has been a means of control. And a well-needed means of control, at that. I'm fond of religion because it keeps people in check, usually.

I agree with you, Mike: When we die, we just become part of the planet, and the greater universe. But not in any conscious way. We become part of it in the same way that an iron bar rusting into iron oxide has been reduced to part of the universe. As far as I see it, to think that any self-consciousness is retained is nothing but foolish, hopeful arrogance on the part of a sentient species that laments its finality.

[Get Some]

dont really think about it to be honest and i dont really care

[Sutter Kane]

Good post KM great topic! I noticed two things off the bat.

1. Smoking the reefer - Why does smoking weed always bring out the Philosopher, Physicist and Priest in all of us? We always wonder the most esoteric things when we are high and some of us become experts (myself included).

2. Having been raised Catholic like some of y'all posting in this thread I found myself questioning the unbending will of god at an early age. A lot of my lack of belief is listening to the gospel of inclusion but the practice of exclusion based on another persons religion or other trivial matters.

Personally I like to subscribe to the idea of reincarnation and in some ways I guess I think of an impersonal "God" that really doesn't care what happens to us the way we don't care about ants.

[Luris Blear]

so i was driving home tonight fairly stoned and i started to think about what happens to us after we die.

There was probably a very obvious reason for that chain of events. :dsp:

[WarBeast]

Being an agnostic, I don't know if there is or isn't an afterlife... I'd like to think there is, but I won't know one way or the other until I'm dead... if there is, that'll be nice... if there isn't, I guess I won't give a damn.

Personally, I don't want to bank on the existence of an afterlife, and fully support life-extension research. If I get to live several hundred years before I die, instead of a handful of decades, that's fine by me.

[FrighT MasteR]

:straightface2:

[Aurone]

I believe there's something beyond this universe and something beyond us just being meat. How can one explain us, creatures with life that can grow and change and reproduce and needs to devour liqueds and neutrients and gasses come out of Lifelessness? I think there's something beyond this life.

I do not think it's any form of Organized faith (Christian, Judiasm, Islam), I was a part of the Community of Christ, a large but releatlivly un-extreme form of church but I eventully left it. I prefer to call myself a Gnostic.

What do I think happens after death? The one that's made the most sense to me is Re-incarnation, we die and live again, a cycle. As to weather or not there's any form of a reward, I wouldn't doubt it, I just question weather it's forever like so many faiths portray them as. If I'm right about the cycle, then that means 6 Billion people on this planet have all lived and died before, not counting other forms of life. Surely not all of them must of been good.

[koolmike]

Good post KM great topic!

:coolbeer:

[koolmike]

If you live a troubled life full of misery and woe; live in vain with no forgiveness, then you will find your hell. The decision is ours when it comes to the afterlife as well; move on to a better afterlife or remain on this Earthly plane.


What if you'te inherently a good person and live a "troubled life" as a direct result of your environment. For example, a poverty stricken individual who steals from others because for one reason or another can't find work and is hungry. Does that person go to hell?

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

What if you'te inherently a good person and live a "troubled life" as a direct result of your environment. For example, a poverty stricken individual who steals from others because for one reason or another can't find work and is hungry. Does that person go to hell?

I believe inherently good people that try to better themselves through mind/spirit and are sorry for the bad things they've done in their lives, then they should find happiness in some form. I don't believe they go to hell, no.

I believe hell is reserved for those who inherently hate life in general; that have no concept of love or feeling. Those who's general purpose in life is to bring pain and suffering to all they encounter with no remorse for what they've done.

[Freddy316]

My thoughts on this are pretty much the same as WarBeast's. I lean more towards thinking that there is some form of continued existence after physical death, but no one will know the answer for sure until they die. What exactly the afterlife is if there is one is another question that no one living can answer.

[koolmike]

I believe hell is reserved for those who inherently hate life in general; that have no concept of love or feeling. Those who's general purpose in life is to bring pain and suffering to all they encounter with no remorse for what they've done.

I find it hard to believe that an all loving God who has made man imperfectly,flawed, prone to err, whatever...even with the gift of free will, could condemn his/her own creation to infinite damnation.

[satanocat]

i pretty much gave up on religion when i got kicked out of church when i was 19 and pregnant with my oldest daughter. as an unwed, teen mom i was setting a bad example. but i do know that for every question that i asked there was never an answer, just a couple of verses in the bible that i was referred to. (i started out as a catholic then my parents went evangelical then baptist). and each religion tells you that only a chosen few will be allowed to go to heaven, and if thats the case why bother. plus i think one of the verses that i was referred to (cant for the life of me remember what it was) said in a nutshell, if you are bored in church you will be bored in heaven.
personally i tend to believe more in karma than heaven/hell. live a good life and dont do intentional wrong to others.so far i have seen that come true more often than not.

[koolmike]

Religion to me is simple: Be the best you can be to yourself and others.

What comes around, goes around.

[Aurone]

I find it hard to believe that an all loving God who has made man imperfectly,flawed, prone to err, whatever...even with the gift of free will, could condemn his/her own creation to infinite damnation.


There's a book that offers a unique insite on sutch subjects called "The Shack". It's drawn some major controversy by Evangelicals for it's portrayel of God and the after life. My only beef with it is that I'm pro-Independence and it wasn't. Still give it a read.

[UzumakiW]

dont really think about it to be honest and i dont really care

Agreed. For all I care, I'll be rotting in the ground :nod:

[koolmike]

:shakes:

[JeNnYFuR]

Personally, I believe in God, but not the same as in the christian sense, like so many others here in the bible belt believe.

I believe that Jesus was a great man, who taught wonderful things, but he was not the "savior". No one is. We must have faith in ourselves as well as others. I do not believe in the "resurrection story".

I believe that the bible is a wonderful book of lessons and morals to help people treat each other as we should in order to live in harmony. It should not be taken literally.

I do not believe in a vengeful god. I believe that our bodies came equipped with a brain for a reason. All of the bad things that happen on earth are because of man and his lack of using the brain that was given to him.

I don't believe in hell. I believe that this life is hell, and that we chose to live it to gain something spiritually.

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed by means of man, therefore I believe that when we die, our energy is released in a spiritual form, and we then go to the other side, where we reunite with lost family and friends. I believe that when your relatives die, they watch over you and help guide you through this harsh life. I also believe that they come around us. I know that when my mom died, she was around me. I felt her presence. I know she was here with me. Same with my dad.

I also believe that once we're on the other side, when the time is right, we are reborn again, so we can gain something else spiritually.

[Horror_Maniac88]

i dont think there is a afterlife we get buried six feet under and thats i. we lay there and rot.

[koolmike]

I don't believe in hell. I believe that this life is hell, and that we chose to live it to gain something spiritually.

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed by means of man, therefore I believe that when we die, our energy is released in a spiritual form, and we then go to the other side, where we reunite with lost family and friends. I believe that when your relatives die, they watch over you and help guide you through this harsh life. I also believe that they come around us. I know that when my mom died, she was around me. I felt her presence. I know she was here with me. Same with my dad.

I also believe that once we're on the other side, when the time is right, we are reborn again, so we can gain something else spiritually.

Sweet sentiment.

[Rust In Peace]

I believe in the Giant Spaghetti Monster.

Haha not really, but when I die, it would be ideal to be a conciousness floating through space. But also be able to anywhere at anytime. Although I wish we had more than just a few decades to live. I'm with WarBeast on extending life, live as long as The Doctor from Doctor Who, few hundred years. Because I want to expeirence space travel to distant worlds, but that wont happen in my lifetime and it dissapoints me. I kinda flip flop back and forth though between wanting something after I die and nothing. Because the idea of going on forever in some shape or form would bother me.

[Devil-Josh]

I think of a quote from Al Capone I once read.

"Hell must be a pretty swell place to go to because all these years, the guys that created religeon sure have been trying to keep people from going there."

[JeNnYFuR]

I think of a quote from Al Capone I once read.

"Hell must be a pretty swell place to go to because all these years, the guys that created religeon sure have been trying to keep people from going there."

I like it. :bigthumbup:

[Cobretti]

The thought of an after-life is just wishful thinking on our part. Most of us do not want to die and it's just one way that we cope with our mortality.

Personally I think it's better to just enjoy and make the most out of the few insignificant years you do get on this planet.

[Joker]

I do believe in some sort of after-life,I happened to see something one night that has helped to strengthen my belief.

As for a god,I believe there is some sort of a creator,but I doubt he/she/it gives a shit about us.

[3/6]

Religion to me is simple: Be the best you can be to yourself and others.

What comes around, goes around.

:nod:

[ReD]

I agree with Warbeast as I did before when this came up in the past.

Research into life extension and being able to live for a long time is something I'd hope comes into fruition. Being youthful and being 100 or 200 years old may be a bit of a fairy tale and short sighted and coward ism but I enjoy the thought of longevity even if it looks bleak.

[grlxx]

Personally, I believe in God, but not the same as in the christian sense, like so many others here in the bible belt believe.

I believe that Jesus was a great man, who taught wonderful things, but he was not the "savior". No one is. We must have faith in ourselves as well as others. I do not believe in the "resurrection story".

I believe that the bible is a wonderful book of lessons and morals to help people treat each other as we should in order to live in harmony. It should not be taken literally.

I do not believe in a vengeful god. I believe that our bodies came equipped with a brain for a reason. All of the bad things that happen on earth are because of man and his lack of using the brain that was given to him.

I don't believe in hell. I believe that this life is hell, and that we chose to live it to gain something spiritually.

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed by means of man, therefore I believe that when we die, our energy is released in a spiritual form, and we then go to the other side, where we reunite with lost family and friends. I believe that when your relatives die, they watch over you and help guide you through this harsh life. I also believe that they come around us. I know that when my mom died, she was around me. I felt her presence. I know she was here with me. Same with my dad.

I also believe that once we're on the other side, when the time is right, we are reborn again, so we can gain something else spiritually.

That makes the most sense to me, compared to what 'fanatics' tried feeding into my head for years. I was born into a christian family, and i've heard/seen my share of Bullcrap from the church and churches itself..

[Sutter Kane]

Not even kidding I've always had the nagging feeling I shouldn't be an Organ Donor on the off chance that the Egyptians were right and I'm going to show up to The River Stix and Carron is going to ask me "Where the hell is your Pancreas, lungs and the rest of that shit?" And I will have to sheepishly reply "Some kid in Scottsdale, Arizona's got 'em." and then I will be stuck on a shitty river bed for the rest of eternity. So I never checked the organ donor box when I first got my license, anyone I told gave me the stink-eye and told me I'm a freak, but when I renewed I wasn't paying attention and the DMV automatically marked it for me much to my chagrin :mad: