How does one prepare for what comes after death?

[DreamEnd]

I agree with that. There are of course a lot of things that science hasn't been able to measure yet. As time goes by and science advances, we're able to measure more and more things, but there are things that will never be measured no matter how long humans are around for because it's simply impossible to (such as the concept of an afterlife).

Yes even with psychedelics you can only reach so far. I think Tibetan monks claimed that on lsd you can get close to the place where after you cross there is no going back. But obviously to cross it you have to actually die. White light or third bardo they called it I don't remember

 

[sserafim]

Yes even with psychedelics you can only reach so far. I think Tibetan monks claimed that on lsd you can get close to the place where after you cross there is no going back. But obviously to cross it you have to actually die. White light or third bardo they called it I don't remember

I heard that there were multiple white lights and that you should go to the brightest one

 

[DreamEnd]

I heard that there were multiple white lights and that you should go to the brightest one

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

This thread has a bunch of books. I only read one of them but if you are interested at all you can read those

 

[Darkover]

if there is a life after death there is no way of knowing where you would be born or what machine you would be born into it would be just down to random chance this universe isn't aware of anything, things like karma are just a man-made concept a fiction, the universe wouldn't even know you're dead because you are just made up of atoms, everything you are is within these atoms you're a machine I don't know if reincarnation is even real the probability of you existing is extremely small if some of these atoms can bring you back alive it could take millions of years before you existed again but to you it would be like no time at all because your not aware of anything until you're brought back alive

 

[sserafim]

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

This thread has a bunch of books. I only read one of them but if you are interested at all you can read those

Oh okay thanks. Btw I think my previous comment was wrong. This is what I based it off of.



"Upon death initially, one will encounter a bright white light. This is your mind itself. Recognizing it as such will mean liberation from reincarnation and Buddhahood. It is the pure Dharmakaya, or the natural state of reality itself.

If you fail to recognize this, you enter the next phase of death where you are greeted sequentially by lights of different colors, some dim, some very bright and overwhelming. The dim lights are the different realms of samsara, and one is supposed to stay away from them even though they will be very attractive and "touch you in your heart". The bright, possibly terrifying lights are the Pure Lands of various Buddhas. You would want to go towards those to be reborn in the presence of a Buddha where you can learn the Dharma from them. If you don't go to either, there's then afterwards several more chances for liberation, mostly recognizing the events as being simply your own mind casting hallucinations. If you fail to do all of this you are then reborn. Note that you'd really only get the chance to have these experiences if you practice the text under a guru. It's not something that can be practiced on one's own.

I highly suggest the book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche if you're interested in this topic and how it fits into everyday life and the Buddhist path. The author was very controversial, mostly involving claims of physically abusing his students. However the teachings in the book are authentic, with some speculating that he only played a minor part in the writing of the book. I don't think you'll be disappointed with it."


I saw on another Reddit post though that you should go into the darkness instead of the light. I'm so confused. Here's the other post:



"As per Hindu traditions, those who "go to the moon" are "sent back" and those who go to the Sun "do not return""

"Interesting take. From what i been lurking here people say to avoid false light / aka moon and stay in darkness. Unfortunately never heard sun as an option"

"I have mentioned the sun here several times. Unfortunately the information on the sun is a bit contradictory so it makes sense to not bring it up so much. We know enough about the moon and false light, so that's why they are mentioned a lot. Some say the sun is a good portal and a good option for escape. Others say it's a negative portal surrounded and used by negative beings' ships. If anyone here tries the sun option, make sure you set the intention to go to the real/positive/original sun portal that leads to the overlay-free worlds. "Staying in darkness" is given as a safety option/advice, especially at first, but it is not a must."

 

[DreamEnd]

Oh okay thanks. Btw I think my previous comment was wrong. I saw on another Reddit post though that you should go into the darkness instead of the light. I'm so confused…

"Upon death initially, one will encounter a bright white light. This is your mind itself. Recognizing it as such will mean liberation from reincarnation and Buddhahood. It is the pure Dharmakaya, or the natural state of reality itself.

If you fail to recognize this, you enter the next phase of death where you are greeted sequentially by lights of different colors, some dim, some very bright and overwhelming. The dim lights are the different realms of samsara, and one is supposed to stay away from them even though they will be very attractive and "touch you in your heart". The bright, possibly terrifying lights are the Pure Lands of various Buddhas. You would want to go towards those to be reborn in the presence of a Buddha where you can learn the Dharma from them. If you don't go to either, there's then afterwards several more chances for liberation, mostly recognizing the events as being simply your own mind casting hallucinations. If you fail to do all of this you are then reborn. Note that you'd really only get the chance to have these experiences if you practice the text under a guru. It's not something that can be practiced on one's own.

I highly suggest the book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche if you're interested in this topic and how it fits into everyday life and the Buddhist path. The author was very controversial, mostly involving claims of physically abusing his students. However the teachings in the book are authentic, with some speculating that he only played a minor part in the writing of the book. I don't think you'll be disappointed with it."

This is what I based it off of.

Here's the other post:



"As per Hindu traditions, those who "go to the moon" are "sent back" and those who go to the Sun "do not return""

How would they know any of this? No one who dies comes back to tell a story

if there is a life after death there is no way of knowing where you would be born or what machine you would be born into it would be just down to random chance this universe isn't aware of anything, things like karma are just a man-made concept a fiction, the universe wouldn't even know you're dead because you are just made up of atoms, everything you are is within these atoms you're a machine I don't know if reincarnation is even real the probability of you existing is extremely small if some of these atoms can bring you back alive it could take millions of years before you existed again but to you it would be like no time at all because your not aware of anything until you're brought back alive

It's possible we already lived 100 of times

 

[R_N]

One doesn't.

 

[sserafim]

One doesn't.

Why not? Personally, I think that you should prepare for what comes after something as crucial and important as death. I don't want to face it without a plan for what comes next…

How would they know any of this? No one who dies comes back to tell a story

It's possible we already lived 100 of times

I don't know, but I'd rather be prepared for what comes after death than go into it blind and unprepared. Maybe there *is* nothing after death (ideal case scenario).

 

[DreamEnd]

Why not? Personally, I think that you should prepare for what comes after something as crucial and important as death. I don't want to face it without a plan for what comes next…

I don't know, but I'd rather be prepared for what comes after death than go into it blind and unprepared. Maybe there *is* nothing after death (ideal case scenario).

Idk. I think there is a big difference between preparing for it and dying naturally and trying to prepare for it and then ctbing.

 

[ThymeToLeave]

I wouldn't brush them off as hallucinations. There are cases where a person was completely unconscious in the surgery room yet after they came back to consciousness they could explain in detail what was going on in that room while they were out

What about when doctors write things on top of their surgery lights or in other places in operating rooms where no patient or hospital staff would ever see, but the patient who had the NDE never sees what the doctor wrote? The patient says they remember looking down on their body but they never know what was written, or what playing card was placed on a shelf that they should have been able to see.

 

[R_N]

Why not? Personally, I think that you should prepare for what comes after something as crucial and important as death. I don't want to face it without a plan for what comes next…

I don't prepare for the unknown and I don't believe in things I consider a fantasy.

But we differ there, it is fine to believe in what you want to believe.

 

[DreamEnd]

What about when doctors write things on top of their surgery lights or in other places in operating rooms where no patient or hospital staff would ever see, but the patient who had the NDE never sees what the doctor wrote? The patient says they remember looking down on their body but they never know what was written, or what playing card was placed on a shelf that they should have been able to see.

This is oddly specific. I'm not claiming that all patients who claim to have an nde actually had an nde but there are definitely accounts of those who were unconscious reciting conversations and what the surgeon did after they got out of their unconscious state

 

[divinemistress36]

An afterlife or nothingness either one Is a hell of a lot better than here

 

[Kondensmilch]

What about when doctors write things on top of their surgery lights or in other places in operating rooms where no patient or hospital staff would ever see, but the patient who had the NDE never sees what the doctor wrote? The patient says they remember looking down on their body but they never know what was written, or what playing card was placed on a shelf that they should have been able to see.

Why would they pay attention to a card?

 

[ThymeToLeave]

This is oddly specific. I'm not claiming that all patients who claim to have an nde actually had an nde but there are definitely accounts of those who were unconscious reciting conversations and what the surgeon did after they got out of their unconscious state

Being unconscious isn't the same as being dead. Being unconscious or unresponsive doesn't necessarily mean that they were dead and couldn't perceive what was happening around them. The stuff I mentioned was part of a scientific attempt to prove that NDEs weren't hallucinations or imagination.

 

[Leavesfromthevine]

I just accept the risk. I have no idea what could or couldn't come with death so I've just accepted it. I don't stress about what comes after because I'm willing to take the chance.

 

[DreamEnd]

Being unconscious isn't the same as being dead. Being unconscious or unresponsive doesn't necessarily mean that they were dead and couldn't perceive what was happening around them. The stuff I mentioned was part of a scientific attempt to prove that NDEs weren't hallucinations or imagination.

well. They were in the state where you aren't supposed to perceive anything. And yet they were able to recall those conversations while the surgeon was working on them somehow.

 

[XINGBATAI]

I don't want to be reincarnated though…I've already suffered and endured enough in this life

I don't know what happens when we die, but if reincarnation is true, then CTB will do nothing but force us to have to suffer all over again. My understanding is that karma must be exhausted, so if we try to escape our suffering by CTB, we will just be reincarnated all over again and forced to face what we so desperately wanted to escape from. This possibility is the only thing keeping me from CTB. I definitely don't want to have to suffer this shit all over again in a different life. That would defeat the whole purpose of ending it.
Of course, I don't know if reincarnation and karma are real, but I won't take the chance. I hope I can find out the truth some day so that I can make an informed decision without any fear of further suffering. It really sucks not knowing.

 

[Guy Smiley]

well. They were in the state where you aren't supposed to perceive anything. And yet they were able to recall those conversations while the surgeon was working on them somehow.

Purportedly.

 

[DreamEnd]

I don't know what happens when we die, but if reincarnation is true, then CTB will do nothing but force us to have to suffer all over again. My understanding is that karma must be exhausted, so if we try to escape our suffering by CTB, we will just be reincarnated all over again and forced to face what we so desperately wanted to escape from. This possibility is the only thing keeping me from CTB. I definitely don't want to have to suffer this shit all over again in a different life. That would defeat the whole purpose of ending it.
Of course, I don't know if reincarnation and karma are real, but I won't take the chance. I hope I can find out the truth some day so that I can make an informed decision without any fear of further suffering. It really sucks not knowing.

That makes no sense so if you are paralyzed in bed can't move and you decide to ctb so it will just repeat until you live out your paralyzed life? That's worse than hell

Purportedly.

I mean if they were conscious wouldn't they feel pain from what the doctors were doing to them?

 

[XINGBATAI]

That makes no sense so if you are paralyzed in bed can't move and you decide to ctb so it will just repeat until you live out your paralyzed life? That's worse than hell

I mean if they were conscious wouldn't they feel pain from what the doctors were doing to them?

I don't know what happens. I said that in the first sentence. These aren't my beliefs, but I won't risk it

 

[sserafim]

I don't know what happens when we die, but if reincarnation is true, then CTB will do nothing but force us to have to suffer all over again. My understanding is that karma must be exhausted, so if we try to escape our suffering by CTB, we will just be reincarnated all over again and forced to face what we so desperately wanted to escape from. This possibility is the only thing keeping me from CTB. I definitely don't want to have to suffer this shit all over again in a different life. That would defeat the whole purpose of ending it.
Of course, I don't know if reincarnation and karma are real, but I won't take the chance. I hope I can find out the truth some day so that I can make an informed decision without any fear of further suffering. It really sucks not knowing.

Yeah same, I wish I knew what happened after death, but dead men tell no tales. There's no way to make an informed decision because I just don't know what happens. There's also no way to really prepare/prepare well either because you don't know what's going to happen…

You can't really prepare for something you don't know is going to happen and know nothing about. All you can really do is brace yourself for the unknown.

Still, if you feel like reincarnation is likely then- I guess- study Buddhism. Isn't that where those ideas originate? I imagine that religion will tell you how to live and die for the best outcome.

This is the problem, that I know nothing about what happens after death. I wish that I knew what happened after death so that I could prepare for it. It's impossible to make a plan because I don't know all of the details…I don't know anything. I don't feel comfortable bracing myself for the unknown or going in blind. They say that death is the next great adventure, but it's an adventure into the unknown. I wish that I could know more about the adventure rather than going in unprepared.

 

[MyChoiceAlone]

That makes no sense so if you are paralyzed in bed can't move and you decide to ctb so it will just repeat until you live out your paralyzed life?

how would a paralyzed person ctb?

 

[DreamEnd]

how would a paralyzed person ctb?

assisted

 

[XINGBATAI]

Yeah same, I wish I knew what happened after death, but sadly dead men tell no tales. There's no way to make an informed decision because I just don't know what happens. There's also no way to really prepare/prepare well either because you don't know what's going to happen…

Exactly. I think about this often. The way you worded it is exactly how I feel. We will all find out eventually, but that doesn't help us now.

 

[TAW122]

As an atheist, I don't really consider what happens after death. As far as I know and can comprehend, it would be just like before I existed (millions and billions of years before I became sentient or conceived), so it is very likely that after death, I would not be aware of even death itself. Just total non-sentience and nothingness, no ability or capacity to perceive the state of death itself. For the religious people or theists in particular, it would depend on their interpretation and view of religion.

 

[Ambivalent1]

Wdym? What if reincarnation's real though?

Then idk.

Why not? Personally, I think that you should prepare for what comes after something as crucial and important as death. I don't want to face it without a plan for what comes next…

I don't know, but I'd rather be prepared for what comes after death than go into it blind and unprepared. Maybe there *is* nothing after death (ideal case scenario).

How have you prepared so far? Do you meditate? I try lol. Is your family originally Buddhist?

 

[rozeske]

By accepting the fact that what comes next is beyond our control and realizing we can't really escape whatever comes next, be it tomorrow or in 70 years. It's all about deciding when you want to face the inevitable.

 

[strangelife]

I think there's nothing there. So there is no point in preparing for anything.

 

[Ulrich]

I'm assuming that a belief in reincarnation is implicit here.

Karma entails recursion, which entails determinism. If I am evil in this life, then I will be born into poverty in the next. If I am virtuous in that life, I shall be born into prosperity in the next. If I am evil in that life, the sequence repeats monotonically. But it goes either way. If I act viciously as someone born in poverty, then my next life will also reflect that. If I'm born with a disability, is it my fault if I become misanthropic as a result? Well, one would argue that it's a consequence of your past life, and hence you must act virtuously in this life in order to be given a better shot, or something like that. It's more complicated then that, but the causal difficulties essentially boil down to this.
I could only be born into prosperity by breaking the chain. If at any point in the sequence I am consistently good, I may be birthed as a Buddhist or Hindu (which hold priority over other religions, if reincarnation is true). And if I devote myself thereafter, I may transcend the cycle of rebirth. But if I do not, then I am at risk of sliding back into recursion.

This requires a metric to weigh good and evil. We don't have this, but maybe our souls have weight, or something. In any case, we're like bystanders in a hypothetical cycle of rebirth. We'd prefer if someone else took the initiative rather than ourselves. It's probably easier to assume that karma does not exist. The implications are easier to bear, yet the incentive to act virtuously is negated. If you want to prepare, then it's more rational to show kindness.

But then again, we are superrational beings. Who knows if our kindness is genuine?