Discussion Do the near death experiences scare you? Heaven / Hell

[seph25]

Since I become suicidal thanks to my condition, those videos where people saw hell started popping of more often.

I think it's a little absurd, that you either have to suffer here or suffer far worse in hell.

Hell could be fiction, but what if it's true. I find it terrifying, but I guess I will have to find out.

 

[derpyderpins]

If hell is real, getting trapped in hell is for eternity, but all odds are I'm going to hell no matter what I do. No point in worrying about it.

If I maintain my consciousness, I'll still be able to bitch and moan in hell so should be fine.

 

[seph25]

That's what I think. It doesn't make a big difference to go there now or in a few years.

I was an atheist most of my life, but still coudn't explain why the ouija board worked.

When death seems near I can't but think about those things.

 

[Tired_birth_1967]

Life is already painful enough. I'm 58 years old and I've seen a lot. I've tried religions, I've tried to find God, etc. . In the end I reached the logical conclusion: There is no supernatural. Everything that has been tested, experimented, discovered and recorded by science leads to this conclusion. Our minds are capable of fantasizing about it, but that's it. We are only aware of our existence while the rest of living beings have not evolved to this state. But we have in common with all these living things some instincts. The biggest thing is to survive. Like a bacteria, virus or a dog... Anyway, don't worry about it. Living is already quite scary.

 

[_AllCatsAreGrey_]

I was religious in the past. Indeed a Hindu monk, even. One of my ctb attempts was while I was a monk. I saw various imagery of hell (from that tradition) and felt I had become a ghost. I now feel that was due to being immersed in that world and imagery.

I now see such experiences as basically the same as dreaming at night. Our brain does a lot and it finds patterns and meanings. Just a will-o-the-wisp imo (brief phantasms of perception).

 

[seph25]

I mean if it's not true, then Bill Wiese is wasting his time big time :D

 

[Morte]

No, because I'm sure they're nothing more than human inventions. Ceasing to exist seems scarier to me, because that's probably what will happen. Even though I know it's an irrational fear, it's still scary to think about it. Im aware for a second and suddenly i'll not experience anything, forever.

 

[seph25]

You have now put that fear in my head. But still better than hell tough.

 

[divinemistress36]

I believe Earth is Hell

 

[Artemisia]

Nope! I really am a die hard atheist, no matter what happens I'll never be convinced it's anything more than our brains playing tricks! I had a out of body experience when I was much younger, saw myself surrounded by bright light in a room I knew was in full darkness, was also floating above myself. It was interesting, it was also a bit scary as I felt my body very cold inside, which was most likely due to it shutting down. It was fun and scary and just a trick my exhausted brain was playing on itself.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

After Death is non-existence forever. It's like before you were born except there will be no rebirth no birth a human ceases to exist forever. A human is only the software simulation running on that individual's brain. There is no afterlife, hell, reincarnation. evolution is true. Hell for what? A human is just another animal, like a monkey , mouse , fly , same neurons as mouse and a fly , same cells .

Each individual neuron in the brain is exactly the same in a fly , mouse , human etc. . all cells in all animals are the same the eukaryotic cell except for very few exceptions like red blood cells .

Eukaryotic Cells

Plants, animals and other groups are made up of eukaryotic cells, which are larger than prokaryotic cells and generally have membrane-bound nuclei.

www.visiblebody.com

And the brains of all vertebrates have all the same parts. a human is just a very tiny bit different but not qualitatively different than other animals . They only have language which the culture / society uses to download culture and beliefs from 0 - 13.

And animals are really really dumb .

Here is a video most animals can't even tell that is them in a mirror :

 

[itwillpass]

Heaven/hell is human fantasy creation, same as Narnia, Hogwarts etc.

 

[doneforlife]

I don't believe in hell or heaven. But I do believe in our actions. Our actions have impacts. It can bring happiness or create sadness for others. And as you sow , so you reap. And you reap it here , in this very world ..not in some after life..

 

[Leiden]

I'm scared of everything, heaven and hell is no exception and I don't want either of them, if they are out there. I just want to not exist anymore, like before I was born.

 

[waterworks]

So, I was working today and felt fatigued; didn't have much sleep. I came home early and I felt a choking anxiety as I thought about how close in time my ctb attempt is. The thought of what comes after, if there is anything still somewhat terrifies,

I was christian years ago, and the thought of hell always weighed on me. Not only for me, but wondering about people I knew who died. When I moved out of Christianity and became agnostic atheist, I went on a journey through philosophy. I personally found that one of the oddly unifying things about the great thinkers of our race, was their willingness to trust in what they understood.

I don't know what's coming. I don't know a lot of things. What I do know is I've grown fond of the mystical style of thought that Alan Watts popularized, atheism in the name of god. The idea that I don't have to make claims about god, god's nature, heaven or hell; that I can look at all the aspects of it presented by our history, and accept how marvelous and terrifying our reality could be. I don't have to force anything, I can just be, and choose to see a reality that brings me comfort.

In a simple way this is what a remind myself when I'm afraid. Of course it doesn't stop the fear one bit, but something about the freedom of knowing nothing is 100% certain, gives me something else to focus on. It's all possible but it doesn't matter, doesn't change the life I've lived, and if I'm wrong there will hardly be any time for regrets.

 

[WardenOfTorYvresse]

I live in a religious society, enrolled in a religious school since my very first education and taught the concept of heaven as a reward and hell as punishment. And then I grew up and realize that it's all just man-made stuff to control people.

I don't believe them anymore, but it still left inside me in a way even though I'm already planning to CTB. Like what if it's real? So yeah these thoughts definitely still exist somewhere and will likely comeback. I would treat them as some kind of "trauma" if you know what i mean.

 

[KillingPain267]

I'm a Christian but actually think those near death experiences are just hallucinations. I believe the "soul" doesn't exist and is a misinterpretation based on an influence from philosophy (Platonism). I believe there will be a physical resurrection at the end of the world though, but until then a dead human is just an unconscious corpse returning to dust. Believers will rise again with an immortal painless, sorrowless, sinless body and unbelievers will rise but be judged for their sins and then cast into "hell" where they are annihilated by BURNING UP (NOT live forever there). So as a believer who is forgiven by faith, after dying (even by suicide) I don't fear becoming a floating ghost soul either in "heaven" or "hell". I will simply go unconscious for however many centuries there will be until the end, and then directly wake up in a new body on a new earth after Jesus returned. It will be like falling asleep and waking up 8 hours later without noticing how much time has passed.

 

[seph25]

I mean if there is hell then there must be heaven. People who commit ctb don't do it for fun.

If there is hell then there must be appropriate judgement.

 

[AWeepingWidower]

Since I become suicidal thanks to my condition, those videos where people saw hell started popping of more often.

I think it's a little absurd, that you either have to suffer here or suffer far worse in hell.

Hell could be fiction, but what if it's true. I find it terrifying, but I guess I will have to find out.

Hell was created almost a century after the crucifixion of Christ.


If that makes you feel better.

And in those regards, many new age Christians believe Jesus Christ to be a God of love and wouldn't condemn you for that. It's also covered like any of your sins for the whole crucifixion thing.

Open yourself up spiritually and feel things out. If your scared figure out why and run with it.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

No, I don't believe in heaven or hell and I don't think that NDE are proof that heaven or hell exists. There are a few problems with NDE but the main problem with it is that people who have a NDE all somehow manage to "coincidentally" have a NDE related to what they already believed in. After death is just permanent non existence, that's it

 

[Darkover]

considering you are made of tiny atoms but with vast quantities, all of the atoms interacting via sending signals communicating back and forth to create a complex computer or brain with electricity electrons it's highly unlikely anything of you will survive past death you just get turned into fragments and reused within the environment what we still don't know is how we come into existence from dna undoubtedly just a biological machines

 

[suffering_mo_7]

You

Since I become suicidal thanks to my condition, those videos where people saw hell started popping of more often.

I think it's a little absurd, that you either have to suffer here or suffer far worse in hell.

Hell could be fiction, but what if it's true. I find it terrifying, but I guess I will have to find out.

I'm a Christian and suffering immensely.... physically, mentally, neurologically, emotionally. I am afraid of hell and am told I will go there If I suicide. I'm very afraid....I had hope that God would have mercy because of how extreme my suffering is but I am told He would not. I don't feel like I can keep going in this state, which is hell on this earth. You brought up the ouija board and I saw it this morning and it scared me even more because I can also attest to this.....that ouija board DID move in my younger years on its own when a friend and I played it and I do believe that they are evil spirits.

 

[SoDone]

I don't know, there are also people who had NDE's and saw nothing. It could just be a hallucination.

 

[martinso67]

I have crooked teeth. I cannot chew properly. So I did get a food particle stuck in my throat. I did then have a near death experience, where my heart rate was so fast. Faster than when I am exercising. I also did have that anxiety when your life is ending and I forget everything around me.
It was like I was blind, but in a conscious way.

It's not that bad.

 

[suffering_mo_7]

I'm a Christian but actually think those near death experiences are just hallucinations. I believe the "soul" doesn't exist and is a misinterpretation based on an influence from philosophy (Platonism). I believe there will be a physical resurrection at the end of the world though, but until then a dead human is just an unconscious corpse returning to dust. Believers will rise again with an immortal painless, sorrowless, sinless body and unbelievers will rise but be judged for their sins and then cast into "hell" where they are annihilated by BURNING UP (NOT live forever there). So as a believer who is forgiven by faith, after dying (even by suicide) I don't fear becoming a floating ghost soul either in "heaven" or "hell". I will simply go unconscious for however many centuries there will be until the end, and then directly wake up in a new body on a new earth after Jesus returned. It will be like falling asleep and waking up 8 hours later without noticing how much time has passed.

Just wondering what denomination? I have never heard this before. I thought all Christians believed that we had eternal souls, which will either go to heaven, purgatory (Catholic) or hell. But then after the resurrection, our bodies will be reunited with our souls.

 

[AmberianDawn]

The experience you have is going to be a set of your beliefs, experiences and the wiring of your brain basically, there is no reason to fear them, unless you are afraid of your brain. That is why there are similarities between people's NDEs, those of religious people, those of atheists, etc. Certain areas of the brain that are responsible for "fighting the unknown" simply activate and then shut down and finally you have absolute peace.

 

[katara]

I was religious in the past. Indeed a Hindu monk, even. One of my ctb attempts was while I was a monk. I saw various imagery of hell (from that tradition) and felt I had become a ghost. I now feel that was due to being immersed in that world and imagery.

I now see such experiences as basically the same as dreaming at night. Our brain does a lot and it finds patterns and meanings. Just a will-o-the-wisp imo (brief phantasms of perception).

You are the only monk I've seen on here. I think you are right about how it's like dreaming. I haven't had a near death experience myself, so I have no idea what i'd see. I'd probably be one of the few who see nothing. I heard when you die you brain releases chemicals similar to the ones that release when we are dreaming. That explains why so many near death experiences people have are so vivid.

 

[leaftomb]

i read some articles about NDE just a few months ago, but personally many i've seen actually talked about a place that wasn't hell or heaven, which felt reassuring. i've also read a lot of people's NDE have helped them to stop fearing death. i've never had any experience like that myself tho, and i must admit the idea of hell being real does feel scary, but i try and tell myself if i must end up there, i will go anyway so i might as well try not to think about it.

 

[_AllCatsAreGrey_]

You are the only monk I've seen on here.

To be clear, I'm no longer a monk and haven't been one for 20 years. That said, the experience is a big part of who I am today. Just wanted to clarify that it's not an active part of my life now.

 

[KillingPain267]

Just wondering what denomination? I have never heard this before. I thought all Christians believed that we had eternal souls, which will either go to heaven, purgatory (Catholic) or hell. But then after the resurrection, our bodies will be reunited with our souls.

I am most close to baptists in other issues (such as faith alone salvation, eternal security of the believer, adult full immersion baptism, independent churches, pastors not priests, etc.) But I don't really belong anywhere as a member. I just study the Bible myself and have listened to many debates and sides and picked what I found most alined with the text of Scripture itself. The stuff about no "souls" is rare, yes. But there are a few Christians throughout history who believe it. It's called physicalism. I also first heard it a year ago, from a guy named Chris Date (you can search him on youtube). He is a reformed calvinist also, but I don't agree with that part. Also, it's theological scholars, including scholars of Judaism and the Old Testament, who have said more and more recently that the idea of immaterial eternal souls may be non-existant in the actual text of Scripture and is a mistranslation or interpretation (although very prevalent). Also, if you go back to the early Christian creeds and confessions, they mention nothing about souls going to heaven or "hell" (except Jesus Himself after being crucified), but they clearly mention humans being resurrected bodily. Very interesting stuff. So to learn, you can look up "Christian physicalism" and "conditional immortality" (they are not necessarily related doctrine with the last being a bit more common than the first).