What do you think happens after death?

[Samael96]

Out of the studies made by Ian Stevenson and the University over those insane numbers of children remembering past lives i gotta say that reincarnation is the most logical outcome after death. Everything in this world is cyclical, and we are taught that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it only changes forms, so that can give a nice hint on the idea. On top of that just thinking that in a temporal line that has no beginning and no end we just happened to be born and conscious, without a "before" and an "after" is waaaaay too surreal, just doesn't add to life itself.
Reincarnation is something that has been theorized since ancient times, even by Plato and Aristoteles.

To me having all those little kids remembering something before and having people actually check their words is strong enough evidence to lead me to believe our souls are cyclical and we reincarnate.
Of course nobody actually proved that scientifically and/or came back on this planet with full memory of what happens in the process, but just saying that there is nothingness and pitch black and that we simply stop existing is really hard to believe, even for scientists.

 

[hellispink]

Aside from the biological aspects of death and people getting rid of our bodies, no one knows if there is something else when you cross. The only way to know will be once that time comes.

 

[Sparr0w]

Out of the studies made by Ian Stevenson and the University over those insane numbers of children remembering past lives i gotta say that reincarnation is the most logical outcome after death. Everything in this world is cyclical, and we are taught that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it only changes forms, so that can give a nice hint on the idea.

ehhh, but how would the memories get transferred over from a non-functioning brain to a brand new brain? even if there is/was a soul/energy to transfer over, surely the memories wouldnt follow....

personally im in the nothing camp, but i dont mind the idea of an afterlife existing. existing in the first place is weird enough as-is, if it turns out supernatural shit (i.e reincarnation) existed all along i wouldnt be mad. i mean, i might be mad at the supernatural shit but i wouldnt be mad at its existence lmao.

 

[circuspeanut]

maybe im optimistic or dumb, but i like to believe in the egg theory, at least to comfort myself

 

[Flameboyant]

I believe the way everyone sees the world (consciousness) will transfer to a new being when they die, be it some small animal or human again. I don't see it as reincarnation even if it sounds like it, I don't belive you can remember past lives. This gives me Comfort in death and if I'm wrong or right, it wont matter as this life will be dead as I know it.

 

[DukeDestroyer]

My faith is the one and only thing that is keeping me from ctb. Nothing else is holding me back. You all heard of Pascal's Wager?

 

[Kurushii]

I believe in nothingness after death. No consciousness, just nothing. Like going to sleep and never waking up. I think consciousness is just something brought into existence by our brains and once the brain is dead, the conscious stops working. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Samael96]

ehhh, but how would the memories get transferred over from a non-functioning brain to a brand new brain? even if there is/was a soul/energy to transfer over, surely the memories wouldnt follow....

personally im in the nothing camp, but i dont mind the idea of an afterlife existing. existing in the first place is weird enough as-is, if it turns out supernatural shit (i.e reincarnation) existed all along i wouldnt be mad. i mean, i might be mad at the supernatural shit but i wouldnt be mad at its existence lmao.

I legit got no answers to those questions since i am basing my logic upon studies made by Ian Stevenson and other scientists, so many things exist that cannot be actually explained

 

[logicalmove]

Logically I know that my brain will just stop, and that'll be it.

But spiritually, I like to believe in reincarnation. I think reincarnation of our bodies at least, if not our minds, is real - all our atoms will eventually become a part of something else. That's really comforting for me. I wasn't good at being a person, but maybe some of me will be really good at being a worm, or a leaf, or a bacteria. And our loved ones who have ctb are always with us in that way - every butterfly or smudge of dirt or raindrop could contain a little bit of matter that was once a part of them. The natural world is what we'll all return to. So it isn't really goodbye.

 

[Ernest1964]

I have had surgery a couple of times in my life. The drugs that they gave me knocked me OUT into nothingness and when I awoke a bit later, I could not remember anything about what had happened when I was OUT. I think death might be like that... no feelings, no thoughts, no regrets, no awareness...

 

[wait-bus-stop]

Nothing - you just no longer exist - what remains is good for compost

 

[kwho]

I

nothing happens, thats why its called death.

Its just like before you were born.

Everything else is unfounded fairytales and speculations and wishful thinking.

I dont know why they so afraid of nothingness though, its literally being afraid of nothing.

i, for instance, am not afraid of nothingness.
I do, however, remember myself before being born. I was actually quite giddy with happy excitement and filled with enthusiasm about the imminent adventure and work to be done. Then, suddenly, i saw my life in front of me - what it will actually feel like and how it will break my soul. The terror i felt, i cannot even describe. I've certainly never felt anything even remotely like it in life. I kept screaming NOOOOO, i was desperate to turn back, but everything had turned black all around me by that point and i just kept falling down deeper and deeper into the darkness until i lost consciousness.

I don't expect you to believe a word of this, of course. I just wanted to point out that not everyone "believing fairytales", necessarily does so out of fear of nothingness. I completely i agree with you that fearing nothingness is actually quite illogical.

 

[Ambivalent1]

A lake of fire awaits us all. But our bodies won't be physical so no pain just boredom

I

i, for instance, am not afraid of nothingness.
I do, however, remember myself before being born. I was actually quite giddy with happy excitement and filled with enthusiasm about the imminent adventure and work to be done. Then, suddenly, i saw my life in front of me - what it will actually feel like and how it will break my soul. The terror i felt, i cannot even describe. I've certainly never felt anything even remotely like it in life. I kept screaming NOOOOO, i was desperate to turn back, but everything had turned black all around me by that point and i just kept falling down deeper and deeper into the darkness until i lost consciousness.

I don't expect you to believe a word of this, of course. I just wanted to point out that not everyone "believing fairytales", necessarily does so out of fear of nothingness. I completely i agree with you that fearing nothingness is actually quite illogical.

Sounds like a delusion or you had an intense dream as a child and decided it was a memory

 

[Source Energy]

I do, however, remember myself before being born. I was actually quite giddy with happy excitement and filled with enthusiasm about the imminent adventure and work to be done. Then, suddenly, i saw my life in front of me - what it will actually feel like and how it will break my soul. The terror i felt, i cannot even describe. I've certainly never felt anything even remotely like it in life. I kept screaming NOOOOO, i was desperate to turn back, but everything had turned black all around me by that point and i just kept falling down deeper and deeper into the darkness until i lost consciousness.

Please tell me more.
I too, kind of remembered pre-birth as a child my first years. I was in a vortex of colors, tunnels merging into one another, a black infinite background...and the feeling was akin to deep meditation...just existing and seeing those tunnels and forms. for years I wondered where that visions came from, and never told anyone

 

[Unwr!tten]

I think whatever we want to happen will happen. I'm Mormon, so I personally have specific beliefs, but honestly, I'm not even like concerned if they're true or not. I don't care, my beliefs make ME feel better and make ME happier, so why does it matter to me how others view beliefs that make me happy.

A lake of fire awaits us all. But our bodies won't be physical so no pain just boredom

Sounds like a delusion or you had an intense dream as a child and decided it was a memory

Or maybe let's let others believe what makes them happy. We should support others and not tear them down.

 

[kwho]

I think whatever we want to happen will happen. I'm Mormon, so I personally have specific beliefs, but honestly, I'm not even like concerned if they're true or not. I don't care, my beliefs make ME feel better and make ME happier, so why does it matter to me how others view beliefs that make me happy.

Or maybe let's let others believe what makes them happy. We should support others and not tear them down.

It's ok. I do not mind Ambivalents reaction at all.

 

[lostintheloop]

I believe we just simply cease to exist. When your brain is dead, you can't perceive anything. Not like sleep because you can't dream, you're not semi-conscious or unconscious. There will be nothing but it won't feel empty because you can't feel anything anymore. It kinda freaks me out that we go from life, consciousness to non existence. It's partly scary and partly comforting to me. But the fear I feel now about that is irrelevant when I die. I won't be scared of nothingness then because I won't be able to feel it. And at the end of the day death is inevitable. At least with ctb i have control of when/where and can prepare myself.

I get why people believe other things though. It can be bring them comfort to believe we go to a better place or start a new life. But to me starting another life or being eternally in afterlife sounds awful. I personally believe these are just tales that bring people comfort but i guess no one can ever say for certain.

 

[kwho]

Please tell me more.
I too, kind of remembered pre-birth as a child my first years. I was in a vortex of colors, tunnels merging into one another, a black infinite background...and the feeling was akin to deep meditation...just existing and seeing those tunnels and forms. for years I wondered where that visions came from, and never told anyone

Well. As far as this particular experience is concerned, i lost consciousness, as i said. Only i pretty much lost it for about 11-12 years. I have little fragments of memories from my childhood up to that age, but purely fragmented, mostly to do with nature and animals and even those feel like as if i was observing them from outside.

I think the shock and terror i experienced before birth pretty much knocked me out. I only came to at the age of 11-12. It happened all in one moment - i was washing my hands in the bathroom and looked up in the mirror and saw something i was not expecting. Not my face. But that experience cannot, and i think should not, be described in words at all.
But my consciousness and personality descended down into my body then. I observed things from the centre from then, not periphery anymore

It was the defining experience of my life. Got me through most of it. At least enough to be aware of things happening to me and being able to function. And even achieve some pretty remarkable things. I think i'd have pretty much been a vegetable if i had not seen and heard what i did that day "in the mirror".

The memory of experiences you describe, with vortex of colors and tunnels - do you also remember what it felt like to be YOU during that? The one who was experiencing/seeing all that?

 

[_Minsk]

I believe 50/50, either void/nothingness or the afterlife people with nde talk about, I prefer the last one but I dont know

 

[StolenLife]

I wish there was nothing, but unfortunately one small part of myself believes we are in a prison planet so I might reincarnate again into a bad existence.

 

[Koppite]

Nothing happens to your consciousness after death. It simply ceases to be.

Your consciousness - the you in you - is comprised of, and resides in, the 100 billion neurons (cells) in your brain. We know this beyond any doubt. Here's two examples: if there is physical damage to the brain, the consciousness is affected - usually (depending on the area affected) the more trauma, the more consciousness is affected. This is true with degenerative diseases like dementia too, where neurons die - and, as a consequence the brain (and the consciousness it creates) changes.

Anyone who's been successfully put under surgical anaesthetic will know that consciousnesses stops when 'under' and returns only when the anesthesiologist brings you back. There is no 'experience' to be had. There is 'falling asleep' (losing consciousness) before the procedure and then there is 'waking up' (regaining consciousness) afterwards. The time where your consciousness is paused has not, to you, existed.

Another analogy. You have a paper bag. You recycle it (because you're a good human being who cares about the environment). Some (but not all) of that bag will go towards making new paper bags. However, no one thinks that THAT particular paper bag still exists. Parts of it have become parts of something else, which in turn become parts of something else.

To recap:
1.We know that consciousness resides in the brain.
2. The brain is comprised of 100 billion neurons.
3. When neurons die, or are prevented from communicating (via anaesthesia) consciousness is compromised (in the former) or paused (in the latter).
4. When enough neurons die, the brain cannot produce the you in you anymore. Anyone who's had experience with people with advanced dementia can attest to this.

It is impossible for your consciousness (you) to survive if your brain (which 'makes' the consciousness) dies - in the same way it's impossible for the screen on which you're reading this sentence to be read if every component which enables the screen to work, and every particle of the screen itself is removed.

When cells die, their composite atoms become other things. For example, a piece of driftwood on a French beach may contain an atom which was once part of a cell which was once part of Julius Caesar. But no one would argue that the stick *is* Julius Caesar, reborn. At least I hope they wouldn't.

Regarding reincarnation: if you define it as part of you will become part of something else, then you are right. That's how matter works. There are no more atoms now than there were in the Big Bang - they're just arranged differently. All of us, for example, are literally made up of stardust. And when we die those same atoms which once comprised a star, will become part of a daisy, or a postage stamp or a paper bag.

However, if you define reincarnation as your consciousness magically bring able to remain intact despite every single one of the 100 billion cells that created it dying, and their composite atoms scattering in the solar winds, then you are deluding yourself.

Sorry if this upset anybody who finds a belief in the afterlife comforting. But OP *did* ask.
Personally I find the idea that part of everything eventually becomes something else to be quite comforting. Some of the atoms which comprised the cells which comprised Adolf Hitler are now part of a sea urchin or a foal or, you guessed it, a harmless paper bag.

 

[hurtingmom]

I like to think that the energy that is you, is still around, only not in a physical form.

That's what I like to think about my daughter.

That in a way she's still around, just in a different way, without her worries and pain.

At my daughter's funeral last August, my friend read a poem, and especially these lines mean a lot to me:

'Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.'

 

[Koppite]

I like to think that the energy that is you, is still around, only not in a physical form.

That's what I like to think about my daughter.

That in a way she's still around, just in a different way, without her worries and pain.

At my daughter's funeral last August, my friend read a poem, and especially these lines mean a lot to me:

'Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.'

I mean that is actually true - as well as being a comfort. Energy is never lost - it's just converted from one form to another.

EDIT: Also, so sorry for your loss. There is nothing worse than losing a child and my heart goes out to you.

 

[hurtingmom]

Thank you Koppite. I appreciate you saying that.