Paradise (Where is it now?)

by dhw, Wednesday, January 06, 2010, 11:32 (5224 days ago) @ BBella

BBella: To my small mind, there is a 50/50 chance there is an afterlife. Since this is true, I only have two outcomes to ponder. With one outcome there is nothing really to ponder. But, on the other hand, if there is an afterlife, then more than likely I am an infinite being having a finite experience.[...] Whichever be true, what IS is what IS. We, as earthly, finite beings, have yet to figure out what we are. So again, my guess is as good as any! -This seems to me an excellent summary of our situation. As an agnostic, I go along with your 50/50, as I do with your observations that we have yet to figure out who we are, and that if there is no afterlife there is nothing to ponder. A peaceful, dreamless sleep is nothing to fear, and it's only life itself and the process of dying that threaten us. In that case, paradise and hell are here on Earth, and I would even go so far as to suggest that earthly transience is a vital element of both. I can't visualize any pleasure of any kind remaining pleasurable for ever, but the transience of all things is also a cause of pain. One's sympathies lie with those who have never experienced the paradisal elements and for whom there will be no consolation except the end of suffering and the peace of oblivion. -On the other hand, if there is an afterlife, there are all kinds of things to ponder ... not least, the nature of the intelligence that must have set up such a system. 1) Is it still around? 2) Is it benign? 3) Is it judgemental? 4) Will we even find out? And what is the nature of the system itself? There's a pleasing logic in your vision of rest periods, new lives maybe in different worlds, forgetfulness if necessary etc. ... all part of the quest to avoid boredom (which may well have been God's motive for creation in the first place). The search for truth could be a common point between earthly and unearthly paradises. We need it as a focal point, a purpose. It's one of the mysteries that keep us "entertained", so it might be continued in your other lives/worlds as well. Whether such a scenario is "fiction" or "science fantasy", to quote George, we may never know, or ... as you remark in your post to him ... we shan't know till our bodies are dead, but there are certainly enough unanswered questions to throw a 50% doubt on all the speculations, which of course include materialism. And so once again I can do no better than echo you: "to each his own, as long as it harms no one."