Afterlife (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 03:25 (4721 days ago) @ dhw

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If we die and that is it, as far as I’m concerned God loses all relevance, other than as as a source of comfort to those who believe in his loving nature. Unlike yourself, I have no difficulty accepting it.

Nor do I. I find that having a confined life has always provided me with a sense that I really need to do something with it. The traditional Christian focus on the afterlife is one that has always seemed to beg for inanity and weakness...

I have a huge problem with the term “spiritual perfection”. I really don’t know what it can mean. Does it entail my no longer being “me”? (I know you can’t answer – I’m just thinking aloud here.) Does it perhaps entail finding perfect peace, and being at one with BBella’s Gaia? If so, death as the end fits in on both counts. And how do I advance towards perfection if I can’t remember a damn thing about where I went wrong last time? I also recall BBella’s theory that “souls” might have the choice of returning to earthly life, though without their memories (I hope I’ve got that right). Attractive, though again if I’m no longer me, the new me might just as well be starting from scratch, so why bother in the first place with the waiting-room for souls? Unless the number of souls is rationed.

This sounds cynical, but we need also to consider the experiences of NDE-ers, who report that they were still themselves, consciously experienced feelings of overwhelming peace and happiness, and met up with dead people they knew. There are lots of other psychic phenomena involving contact with the dead (often with messages), and I’m not prepared to dismiss every single one as fraud, delusion, coincidence etc. The door remains open.

Of note, those who experience NDEs in the east, India, China, Vietnam and Japan, all report many more instances of meeting their deities/incarnations than they do former loved ones. I find this cultural split fascinating, as I think it highlights the incredibly arbitrary nature of these experiences...

Hindu experiences are discussed here.

I find the general commonality striking, in terms of all the different religions. But the differences are also telling.

This is a big subject, especially because it calls into question the relevance of God to life on Earth, not to mention the promise offered by many religions that earthly suffering will somehow be compensated for by a loving, caring God in a better world to come.

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The exchanges between yourself and BBella are extremely interesting, revealing, and stimulating. I’d like to join in, if I may, but time’s up for today!

I recall in one of these recent posts you declaring some level of trepidation in the Buddhist/Hindu view of reincarnation. Again, I practice a very austere form of Buddhism, but even if you are lucky enough to read a copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead you will realize quickly that even this most well-known version of Buddhism looks at all of these things as psychological states... I have yet to read a teaching of an actual "rebirth" or "afterlife" of any kind in Buddha's teachings. Everything is allegory for one's own transformation to Buddhahood.

The Book of the Dead is unique, in that it discusses the mental states of death.

In the Buddhist view, the fact that our bodies are made of stardust and will be reclaimed into the world around us is simply another allegory for what will happen to what we mistakenly call our "soul."

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"