Discussion Afterlife?

[Toenditall]

so as I am a week away from my date I just want to know what people beleave in as an
atheist I don't beleave in gods and devils but would like to beleave there is some kind of afterlife so I could see my entire reason for living this long my dad who was my best friend who died back in April as well but really not sure would love to know if anyone has any experainces from past attempts that they would like to share?

 

[Afterman]

I'm agnostic but often dwell on my beliefs. I like the idea of god but it's hard for me to wrap my head around that. I respect everyone's belief's as long as they respect other's but for me the only logical stance is unknowning. For someone with existential OCD the thought of an afterlife or reincarnation is terrifying. Literally anything could happen and no one has a clue. I don't think I'll ever come to terms with it so if I ctb I'll embrace the unknown and hope for the best.

 

[TiredHorse]

I'm also an atheist, and like you don't believe in gods or devils, heaven or hell. However, I have had a few very odd experiences I can't quite write off that make me unable to dismiss the idea of reincarnation out of hand. I have also had one very unsettling experience that makes me certain there is some sort of existence beyond the threshold --I'm just not certain how it will apply to me. I'll be interested to find out.

 

[Toenditall]

I'm agnostic but often dwell on my beliefs. I like the idea of god but it's hard for me to wrap my head around that. I respect everyone's belief's as long as they respect other's but for me the only logical stance is unknowning. For someone with existential OCD the thought of an afterlife or reincarnation is terrifying. Literally anything could happen and no one has a clue. I don't think I'll ever come to terms with it so if I ctb I'll embrace the unknown and hope for the best.

There's only going to be one way to find out but I really hope there is but I'm on the same level as yourself with the whole anything could happen it's could just be blackness for eternity or there could be a heaven and hell what ever happens anything will be better than this "life" that I'm in

 

[Afterman]

There's only going to be one way to find out but I really hope there is but I'm on the same level as yourself with the whole anything could happen it's could just be blackness for eternity or there could be a heaven and hell what ever happens anything will be better than this "life" that I'm in

Perhaps we can't fathom the possibilities because nothing actual happens after death. Then again we can't really experience "nothing". I hope death is like general anesthesia, where you're asleep one minute and awake the next, with no recollection of the in between. This would support the reincarnation theory. I've thought of so many possibilities it's insane. One depressing theory is that every time someone dies an "unatural" death, they're shifted into a parallel universe where they only suffered injuries and not death, but in the previous universe they did die. This could explain so many near death experiences but in the end it doesn't make much sense at all. It's very difficult to explain via text because I'm much better at talking than writing. For all we know death could be pure tranquility. Here's a quote from Mark Twain that may comfort you: "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it."

 

[Cody111]

Im a solid atheist and would like to say that all conciousness is is chemicals interactions and electrical pulses. Once these stop i believe that you simply are gone.
The scientfic side of me also tends to agree, yet also question this. As this is just my hypothesis with no evidence to back it up except that once the brain is completly dead neurons stop firing and chemicals are no longer produced and cell death and breakdown begins but then that does not explain soul or self awareness.

Id like to put it to you this way. Before you were born. What were you and were you/what state of being were you in and were you concious of it?
Before your neurons started to fire, before your receptors started binding to chemicals. Its like you didnt exist... this is what i think the afterlife is like.
Though again... this is just my opinion.

 

[Lavalamp]

I'm also an atheist, and like you don't believe in gods or devils, heaven or hell. However, I have had a few very odd experiences I can't quite write off that make me unable to dismiss the idea of reincarnation out of hand. I have also had one very unsettling experience that makes me certain there is some sort of existence beyond the threshold --I'm just not certain how it will apply to me. I'll be interested to find out.

^^^This.

I consider myself a Skeptic and I have looked for any possible scientific explanation for the "odd experiences" I had, but nothing fit except the possibilty of reincarnation.

So my personal belief is it is either reincarnation or nothingness and whichever it is is completely unknown, until we die and find out then.

 

[Trashcan]

I think it's eternal oblivion. And I sure as hell hope it is.

 

[Rocky M]

Personally I would like oblivion. However, I can't know that for sure, and I feel comfortable with not knowing, what matters is that my physical body will stop existing and I will have finally paid the price for what I've done. I don't mean paying prices in the sense that some God or otherworldly being wants repentance because I don't really do religion or whatnot, but in the sense that there are people who want me dead, and I'll have done as they've asked because they are still important to me.

One thing I used to believe in a while back (when I was around 15 or so) was that idea of having finished business and coming back as a ghost. I don't believe in it now, but I think it would be interesting. As Toenditall said, there's only way to find out what will actually happen

 

[Circles]

One life was enough. Let me die. Let's just get everything and end it. No more problems. Forever. Think about that. Utter peacefulness for all eternity. A sleep shared by all and nothing and everything between.

 

[balancingaqt]

I'm an atheist, but my family members are Buddhists. They believe that you'll pay for what you've done in the afterlife. Each time my mum brings it up I dismiss it as pure speculation. Yet sometimes it just gets to me. To me the thought of an afterlife is scarier than death. To be honest its the biggest worry I have about ctb. I just hope that it's like general anesthesia where you close your eyes and its just blackness and your brain doesn't work anymore.

 

[Finallyhere]

I believe that whatever you want to happen will happen. Finding out what's on the other side is partially why I want to ctb. It's fucked. It would suck if there's nothing in the afterlife tbh.

That makes this world all that much more shitty in my opinion.

 

[rabid_squirrel]

One life was enough. Let me die. Let's just get everything and end it. No more problems. Forever. Think about that. Utter peacefulness for all eternity. A sleep shared by all and nothing and everything between.

This is exactly how I feel.No god,no soul,no dreams,no afterlife,no any other craps,just oblivion,nothingness.An end to it all.Nothing is more desirable in the world than than an eternal slumber.

 

[111aaa]

I hope there will be no afterlife. I don't want to go from Hell to another Hell. It was just enough to exist here. Eternal pain and suffering after all I experienced on this planet, please God don't do that to me. One life was already more than I needed.

 

[worldexploder]

As an atheist, I personally believe that nothingless comes "after life". It would be just like it was before you were born.

 

[Jai]

so as I am a week away from my date I just want to know what people beleave in as an
atheist I don't beleave in gods and devils but would like to beleave there is some kind of afterlife so I could see my entire reason for living this long my dad who was my best friend who died back in April as well but really not sure would love to know if anyone has any experainces from past attempts that they would like to share?

Hope not this one was horrific enough but being raised religious some elements are at the back of my mind but I shrug it off as superstition

 

[balancingaqt]

I hope there will be no afterlife. I don't want to go from Hell to another Hell. It was just enough to exist here. Eternal pain and suffering after all I experienced on this planet, please God don't do that to me. One life was already more than I needed.

Let's hope this is already Hell.

 

[Rollo]

Im a solid atheist and would like to say that all conciousness is is chemicals interactions and electrical pulses.

But that which you call "chemical interactions" and "electrical pulses" aren't they also part of your conscious experience? Part of consciousness?

 

[hunter_lewis]

I believe that there is an afterlife. I think after your suicide your soul will be well off, and go join your dad near God in the light. Just read about NDEs, they will tell you everything you need to know about the afterlife.
Of course maybe there might not be an afterlife, but eternal nothingness. I prefer to believe in the NDEs. Time will truly tell us what will happen.

 

[BurningLights]

We will be welcomed with open arms by the ones that have known us for an eternity. Our souls will finally be free of the prison that is our human body.

 

[LiveSlowDieFast]

I think the whole idea of an afterlife or reincarnation is built around the belief that humans are somehow unique and that there is some process in the universe that specifically caters to humans, but I'm fully convinced that that's bs. There is no reason to believe that after death comes anything other than complete nothingness, but since it's inconceivable for a person to imagine this state and since many people would like to believe in some kind of cosmic justice (ie. a murderer being reborn as a worm) or in a life without pain (heaven) they began creating ideas of things that may come after death.

All kinds of religious experiences, NDEs, "sensing" deceased loved one's spirits etc. are influenced by one's cultural upbringing, which is why even atheists may have such experiences. All of these ultimately stem from our brains and since they die with us the most likely outcome is that it also means the end of our consciousness. There is no reason to believe otherwise, as there is no evidence for things like souls, and the various religions of the world, most of which claim to contain the one and only ultimate truth, are all contradictory to each other, which leads to believe that they must all be wrong.

That doesn't mean though that I look down on people who think there is something that comes after death. It's extremely comforting to believe that you'll be reunited with your loved ones if you wish that or be reborn as something awesome and I personally like to imagine what my perfect afterlife would be like as well.

I believe if there is some kind of "afterlife" or "god(s)" it would be nothing like what humans have imagined there to be. I still think there will be nothing after death though. The idea of nothingness is scary of course, but I try to remind myself that you won't be scared once you're dead.

 

[catwalk]

I'm an atheist and in my opinion when you die there's nothing, imagine you go deaf, you lose your ability to see, you lose your ability to feel anything and finally you can't think.

 

[Justanotherconsumer]

Having already had some encounters with "ghosts" it leaves the possibility of becoming one of them, their reasons seem to be there own, ie: to reassure us or themselves, to scare for their own amusement, there doesn't seem to be any great message to be conveyed nor do they appear to be in any obvious torment, having no conscience awareness before birth and going back to that lack of awareness makes sense in my human brain, but showing up here with this existence for no apparent rhyme or reason would be a difficult concept to grasp even if you could conceptualize the possibility in that state of non-being, If we're on a ride with no ending or input of where our consciousness is that is as unsettling as the end of consciousness itself though surprisingly doesn't bother me as much. There certainly could be a state of being that we can't know or conceptualize until we are there ,if there is ,I certainly hope it's much better and we have complete freedom, but as there is a hiarchy here as in slave and owner there could be there as well it's just impossible to know till your there.

 

[Mljonzy]

My guess is that it's like before being born just nothing which sounds like the best thing ever. I hope there is no reincarnation that is the only thing i believe could happen hopefully not.

 

[TiredHorse]

I think atheists --and I am one of them-- should remember that all "atheist" means is that we don't believe in a god or higher power. That says nothing about any afterlife, reincarnation, eternal oblivion, etc. God is no more a prerequisite for an afterlife than s/he is to a seed sprouting or to the Higgs boson particle existing.

I am a staunch atheist, but I haven't any clue what happens to us --our consciousness-- after we die. I'm very curious, though.

 

[Rollo]

I think the whole idea of an afterlife or reincarnation is built around the belief that humans are somehow unique and that there is some process in the universe that specifically caters to humans, but I'm fully convinced that that's bs. There is no reason to believe that after death comes anything other than complete nothingness, but since it's inconceivable for a person to imagine this state and since many people would like to believe in some kind of cosmic justice (ie. a murderer being reborn as a worm) or in a life without pain (heaven) they began creating ideas of things that may come after death.

All kinds of religious experiences, NDEs, "sensing" deceased loved one's spirits etc. are influenced by one's cultural upbringing, which is why even atheists may have such experiences. All of these ultimately stem from our brains and since they die with us the most likely outcome is that it also means the end of our consciousness. There is no reason to believe otherwise, as there is no evidence for things like souls, and the various religions of the world, most of which claim to contain the one and only ultimate truth, are all contradictory to each other, which leads to believe that they must all be wrong.

That doesn't mean though that I look down on people who think there is something that comes after death. It's extremely comforting to believe that you'll be reunited with your loved ones if you wish that or be reborn as something awesome and I personally like to imagine what my perfect afterlife would be like as well.

I believe if there is some kind of "afterlife" or "god(s)" it would be nothing like what humans have imagined there to be. I still think there will be nothing after death though. The idea of nothingness is scary of course, but I try to remind myself that you won't be scared once you're dead.

The way I see it it don't really matter if something comes after "death". If it does then it's not really death - it's an enviroment change. Like say after your skull is busted you ascend high above with a cloud-like body, and then there's whatever. But you still remember how your skull was busted and what exact life you lived before it happened. Your body dropped and you have new one, but you're still alive. So the big question is - will you exist forever, will you forever remember your earthly life and everything that came after or will there be a point of it all being erased - i.e. actual death. And it's this actual death that people are being scared of, regardless of whether it comes after earthly body is destroyed or at some future point.

Reincarnation on the other hand means that actual death took place but 'you' were reborn. But since 'you' were reborn with no memories and with new body - it's really no different than natural reincarnation that goes on an enourmous trillion-billion-fuckillion scale every given second.

 

[Virgo]

I think atheists --and I am one of them-- should remember that all "atheist" means is that we don't believe in a god or higher power. That says nothing about any afterlife, reincarnation, eternal oblivion, etc. God is no more a prerequisite for an afterlife than s/he is to a seed sprouting or to the Higgs boson particle existing.

I am a staunch atheist, but I haven't any clue what happens to us --our consciousness-- after we die. I'm very curious, though.

True, but typically people are atheists due to a mode of thought. That mode of thought excludes belief in things that can't be proven.

 

[sini]

I believe that there is an afterlife. I think after your suicide your soul will be well off, and go join your dad near God in the light. Just read about NDEs, they will tell you everything you need to know about the afterlife.
Of course maybe there might not be an afterlife, but eternal nothingness. I prefer to believe in the NDEs. Time will truly tell us what will happen.

I have had nde and it's just as great as people have descriped. It's impossible to me to even try to describe the peace, love and serenity and how your senses are better and you are so much more than in earthly life. You know and understand everything and can do anything. That experience was more real than life on earth. I didn't get to experience as much as others (talk to God) but I believe those who did and have told that this life is a learning experience and everything was predestined to happen and we chose this life.
I remembered right away I'm going home and that this is me and that I have many loved oness there. I looked down the peace of meat, my body and doctors around it and it was actually like nothing to me. I had instantly left my feelings and intrest for earthly life. I was free. I looked my worrying loved ones and had one wish " that they knew that I'm in heaven, my real home and more happy anyone can be in earth, this was meant to happen and wished they could be happy for me" (it was my only thought about earthly life and after it I happily forgot the earth and enjoyed enormous love and being home). I had no saddness or worry for loved ones since there is only love, peace and happiness. It was just loving thought.

 

[TiredHorse]

Wow. Yes, that would be something to look forward to.

 

[1234dave]

I have had nde and it's just as great as people have descriped. It's impossible to me to even try to describe the peace, love and serenity and how your senses are better and you are so much more than in earthly life. You know and understand everything and can do anything. That experience was more real than life on earth. I didn't get to experience as much as others (talk to God) but I believe those who did and have told that this life is a learning experience and everything was predestined to happen and we chose this life.
I remembered right away I'm going home and that this is me and that I have many loved oness there. I looked down the peace of meat, my body and doctors around it and it was actually like nothing to me. I had instantly left my feelings and intrest for earthly life. I was free. I looked my worrying loved ones and had one wish " that they knew that I'm in heaven, my real home and more happy anyone can be in earth, this was meant to happen and wished they could be happy for me" (it was my only thought about earthly life and after it I happily forgot the earth and enjoyed enormous love and being home). I had no saddness or worry for loved ones since there is only love, peace and happiness. It was just loving thought.

Sounds lovely.

Many, many accounts of people experiencing this.

Did it seem like a long time to you?

Could you see your body? Again many have said this