non religious afterlife speculation

jaymz

jaymz

Member
I think dying in peace and going blank is a nice thought. An afterlife that is forever sounds like hell. It only gets so good, even as good as it get will drive you crazy after 243,542,987,145,111,983,782.34 years.
Seeing how awesome the mother nature is, the animals, the plants the insects.. all amazing. If anything is heaven its here. The wildlife on this planet never ceases to amaze me. Humans just continually disappoint me.
The fact we are all preoccupied with silly stuff like paying phone bills and saving for retirement that I can see why some one would look forward to an afterlife.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
personally i'm just as happy to be worm food or be cremated, whatever is cheaper. my wife wants me buried so she can visit my carcass though.
and yes, my initial response was going to be if you're not religeous, if you're atheist, then saying you have a soul is hyprocritical. I'm glad you changed the wording later on.
i don't even think we have a conciousness. we're just a bunch of electrical currents blasting through our nervous system. same as any other animal, just a little more advanced.
so no. you won't have an afterlife. you won't have any knowledge about what is happening after you become just a slab of meat.
but, on the safe side, just live your life as honorably as possible, don't do harm to anyone, and maybe i'll see you in purgatory... :p
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Just the contrary...It is all in your control. What if you die and you were wrong, and there is a judgement for how you performed? Agreed that it is all about faith, whether you have faith that there is a God, whether you have faith that there is not, or whether you have faith that you will be reincarnated as a clown fish, it is about faith...believing in something that you cannot see. But I don't want to make it to the end, and be in the line titled..."Opps, you guessed wrong, let's see what we have for you today"...
But questioning this faith, or non-faith, is not a bad thing. We all do it at some point in our lives, usually early on. And it is a start to opening up the thinking cap to discovery, and what else is really out there.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by alix2.0
http:///forum/post/2589296
i really dont want to start a religion thing here. im am not religious, i never will be. if you are going to get all jesusy and try to convert me, save your damn breath.
i want to have one afterlife conversation that doesnt have to do with GOD.
im not afraid of death or dying, so i feel no reason to search for a heaven. ive accepted that we pretty much go blank and rot in the ground. your soul dies. everything goes black. but i was thinking today, ive been in the making since the very first human. cells split, and split, and split, and after thousands of years here i am. no brand new cells were created out of nothingness to make me. so now, its all over? all that time, all that evolution, and i have a heart attack or get hit by a bus and thats the end? i guess.
humans arent special, we arent any different than anyhting else. im sure a human soul dies just the same as a hippopotomus soul.
but its just the end? after all that? i mean, yeah, we die, fertilize the eath, become corn, go in a can, someone buys us, eats us, and a little ity bity bit of us becomes a part of them. but....
im not really sure what im asking for here? your thoughts?
PUHLEEZE do not make this a religious debate. sure, if thats what you believe, go ahead and share. but please dont make a big thing about it. you believe it, others may not. big deal. more room in heaven for you.
Seriously, how can ask those questions without a spiritual context? It is a spiritual question.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/2590203
Seriously, how can ask those questions without a spiritual context?
The antitheist says no. The theist says yes. to more than this. And what is the real point of it all if there isn't?

why does there have to be a point to all this?
 
t316

t316

Active Member
I don't think there has to be a point necessarily, but the human aspect of "curiosity" brought the thought up to begin with. So there has to be some sort of questioning, or what if.. going on. This is a good thing IMO
It doesn't mean she has to believe what I believe, but the process will help a person search, question their own beliefs, and become more secure in their stance.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2590210
I don't think there has to be a point necessarily, but the human aspect of "curiosity" brought the thought up to begin with. So there has to be some sort of questioning, or what if.. going on. This is a good thing IMO
It doesn't mean she has to believe what I believe, but the process will help a person search, question their own beliefs, and become more secure in their stance.

my dog is curious, but beyond finding the time to lick himself i don't think he worries too much about the future...
AFAIC, i'm going to live my life as "right" as i possibly can, if i step over to the "wrong" (white lies, etc) to achieve the "right" then so be it :) hopefully my non-evil life puts me in line for something afterwords, but i won't really care too much since i'm going to be nothing but worm food.
Now, if i kept awareness while the worms eat me... that would really tick me off.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Although I'm going to reference a "religion" (I personally call it a philosophy, but many say it's a religion), the take on death doesn't have the same religious connotation as "God-based" religions do... so I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong direction. I'm a Zen Buddhist, and although we believe in re-incarnation, we don't believe in a soul, per se. When you re-incarnate, it's not the whole "you", it's more your energy, therefore is carries over some of your being, but not any specific soul. And this isn't a focal point of the religion, like with the God-based ones, where the after-life is a central piece of their faith.
Now, as a scientist, I follow the same guidelines that although we may not have a soul, we do have energy. This energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed. Therefore, why would it be so hard to believe that this energy can't become a part of someone else after we've died? As for an afterlife, another belief in Buddhism is that we shouldn't worry ourselves with what may or may not become of us after we die, since we will all die at some point. All the speculation does is detract from being here and now.
 
armywife1314

armywife1314

Member
Originally Posted by m0nk
http:///forum/post/2590222
Although I'm going to reference a "religion" (I personally call it a philosophy, but many say it's a religion), the take on death doesn't have the same religious connotation as "God-based" religions do... so I hope this doesn't get taken the wrong direction. I'm a Zen Buddhist, and although we believe in re-incarnation, we don't believe in a soul, per se. When you re-incarnate, it's not the whole "you", it's more your energy, therefore is carries over some of your being, but not any specific soul. And this isn't a focal point of the religion, like with the God-based ones, where the after-life is a central piece of their faith.
Now, as a scientist, I follow the same guidelines that although we may not have a soul, we do have energy. This energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed. Therefore, why would it be so hard to believe that this energy can't become a part of someone else after we've died? As for an afterlife, another belief in Buddhism is that we shouldn't worry ourselves with what may or may not become of us after we die, since we will all die at some point. All the speculation does is detract from being here and now.

nice to see someone who feels the same way i do. thats hard to find.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2590204
why does there have to be a point to all this?
If there is no point then why do I get up in the morning? To go to work and make money so I can buy junk? It isn't worth it.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/2590242
If there is no point then why do I get up in the morning? To go to work and make money so I can buy junk? It isn't worth it.

well, if you want, you could give me your money...
i think it's worth it. better than being dead i guess...
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by armywife1314
http:///forum/post/2590247
thats almost like asking if an afican-american can be jewish or catholic.
except i was serious...
i know nothing about the Buddhist following other than it's mainly based in, what, India? i thought it was mainly an asian religeon (if you call it that).
 
armywife1314

armywife1314

Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2590251
except i was serious...
i know nothing about the Buddhist following other than it's mainly based in, what, India? i thought it was mainly an asian religeon (if you call it that).
i thought you were kidding.
it more a philosopy or way of living, its just not mainstream here in the states.
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
I believe in God...so I believe and have faith there is an afterlife involving heaven and hell according to the Bible
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2590251
except i was serious...
i know nothing about the Buddhist following other than it's mainly based in, what, India? i thought it was mainly an asian religeon (if you call it that).
Yes, white people can be Buddhist, I'm white, not that I care much about race, I consider myself human first.

It was started by a Hindu prince, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in Nepal. It is mainly central in Asia, though more and more people in the US are taking up the Zen philosophy these days to help with stress, which is actually a division of the main "religion".
At any rate, like armywife1314 mentioned, it is more a way of life/philosophy than anything. There are no God(s) to pray to, it's more about looking at oneself inwards than others and outwards.
 
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