Maybe both heaven and hell lie beyond the four lowest dimensions that are all we can perceive while we are physically incarnate.
BB
July 6, 2017 3:20 pm
Jesus Christ is either who he said he was or he was the biggest con man to ever walk the face of this earth.What made me believe Jesus Christ is the real deal is the Biblical concept of Sin.Sin is something you can ” know and see ” in yourself ,the world around you and throughout history.As King Solomon said ” truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of EVIL ; madness is in their hearts while they live ”We all need forgiveness . Salvation is God saving you from Himself.His wrath.
BB says:
July 6, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Jesus Christ is either who he said he was or he was the biggest con man to ever walk the face of this earth.
________________________________
I’ve heard this said since I was a kid, always by religious christians. It is bullshit. Without Constantine, Christianity would be just another obscure middle eastern religion and Jesus would be as familiar to you as Ahura Mazda and you would probably be worshipping Mithras.
Read the esoteric teachings of ALL the major religions and you will find that there have been holy, “enlightened” beings that were key players in ALL of them. Their teachings are all quite similar if you can get past the superficial stuff, and you will find that heaven is never described as a “place,” that sin translates to “missing the mark” (or in other words, being separate from the divine – not necessary an action, but rather a state of being), and that “hell” is as much the state of being that is not the divine as anything else. Jesus was no conman, but he never bother to write down his own words, relied upon imperfect men who were NOT as enlightened as he was, and what did exist as record of his teachings was bastardized extensively by POLITICAL actors who benefited extensively from THEIR translated version of his teaching. Jesus, the Buddha, the great enlightened teachers of Hindu, and countless others have ALL delivered the same message from the same enlightened state of being.
IndenturedServant
July 6, 2017 3:22 pm
“Is there an afterlife?”
I hope not!
rhs jr
July 6, 2017 3:25 pm
Definitely and it is best described in the Gospels although Satan and his realms got way to little coverage. While alive we can’t normally perceive Heaven or Hell, but they can manifest themselves to us in Visions. Normally God does not impose unless you ask. Also see all about it in Youtube testimonies.
peaknic
July 6, 2017 3:30 pm
“Reward” in the “afterlife” was created and promulgated to the masses by the elites to placate them so they will toil and suffer for their entire lives without complaint. It’s a very effective way to control the poor.
Anyone smart enough to see the inconsistencies or hypocrisies and question their religious dogma are told that “blind faith” is required to prove your worthiness in God’s sight. Otherwise, they have been killed/banished/punished for heresy by their own peers (keeping the elites’ hands clean).
It’s a brilliant strategy that has worked since the beginning of civilization.
“After” is designed to “ameliorate” the problematic current. Desperate buyers have affinity for cold sellers. Hot cellers for all “others.” Schadenfreude is one of the main perks for all the competing after’ers.
Annie
July 6, 2017 4:14 pm
Depends on what you mean by “afterlife”. I think there’s pretty conclusive evidence that there is something beyond and/or outside of this physical existence.
I believe you are correct. I tend to think that what we call the soul is interdimensional but mostly of another one.
ditchner
July 6, 2017 4:44 pm
Absolutely!
BB
July 6, 2017 6:30 pm
Mr Z it does you good to cling to your delusions.Now Google the definition of delusion.
Mad Dog Meathead , Frank Zapped was a nut if there ever was one.Could never ” get ” his music .
Chooseyourdestination.
July 6, 2017 6:52 pm
Let me share something with all y’all out there…
I have a brother who lives in an 1800’s mansion that has served multiple purposes throughout its history. At various times, it served as an orphanage, a clinic (abortions), and a nursing home. It is currently divided up into apartments. Many people who come to rent leave after the first night. The paranormal activity is so intense, that it can be seen, heard, and felt. When the wrong person goes in with the wrong attitude, they get nosebleeds or literally get body slammed across the room. It has to be a pretty trashy person to get that type of treatment, but it has happened. These spirits, or whatever they are, move things in front of your eyes, poke you, flick your ears, you hear their footsteps, they show up in pictures, etc, etc, etc.
If anyone out there actually believes that we are just flesh and bone and have no soul, you are gravely and sadly mistaken. I’m intelligent enough to extrapolate from what I know exists.
Don’t be stupid. Plan on an afterlife and conduct your life accordingly.
If what your brother says is true, he should be a very rich man. There are a number of people out there who will pay big bucks to anyone who can PROVE that kind of nonsense. Hell shoot some video of this “intense” activity and get rich when it goes viral.
Use your brain, if you owned a property like this you could advertise and and charge an endless number of rubes $10 a pop to experience it for themselves.
I don’t knock anyone for believing or not believing. If believing in sky spirits is what it takes to get you through your day without robbing, raping or murdering people, I’m all for it. Not everyone requires faith to lead moral lives and there’s nothing wrong with that either.
They do have it on video. It’s mind blowing stuff. He has binders of testimony. It’s not about the money. People come and do take tours and they make donations to the local food pantry. They come out thinking twice about their beliefs.
Most think that watching something like this on video is faked. You have to be there to experience it.
Francis Marion
July 6, 2017 7:35 pm
Random thoughts from the question…
Pascal’s wager always seemed to me to be something of a cop-out. You’re gonna believe just in case? Come on. So. Do I believe there is an afterlife? Yes. Do I know what exactly it is? Nope. That’s why it’s called faith and not fact. Although most days I’m not sure that facts are 100% what they are cracked up to be. Like the news for example. There’s this rumour floating around that some broadcasters make it up. That it’s fake. What we thought were facts are not. Disappointing, I know. It’s amazing what people will have faith in though isn’t it?
[img[/img]
MrLiberty
July 6, 2017 9:03 pm
We are ALL energy. Conservation of energy says that what we are MUST continue beyond the meat sack we give energetic life to while alive on this earth and in this incarnation. To presume that it ALL ends with one’s death is to imply that it ALL must end with one’s death, and since millions die during each of our lifetimes, clearly this cannot in any way be the case. Of course there is an afterlife, but what form it takes is about karma, of the tendencies we carry one with after death. It is all about levels of energy, states of mind, states of enlightenment, and the desire to reincarnate and experience the human experience again in another form. For sure the warped Judeo-Christian fantasy land version is about as far removed from the reality as one can get. Sad that the things that would please the body are always emphasized, when clearly the body is dead and would have NO uses for any of it in the first place. Buddhism, Taoism, Hiduism, and the other eastern religions have the best explanations for the process by which energy leaves the bodily incarnation and carries on beyond it. Christianity is sorely lacking in any common sense explanation.
Sorry, no. The principle of conservation of energy does NOT address reincarnation, afterlife or anything similar!
“In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant—it is said to be conserved over time. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from one form to another.” – Wikipedia
You can change electricity into heat, and with enough machinery, heat into electricity. You can change potential energy into kinetic energy, every time you throw (or drop) a baseball. You can covert many forms of energy (including nuclear decay) into electricity, and many forms of stored energy (wood, etc.) into heat.
But there can be – losses – like friction, heat dissipation, and so forth. See _entropy_.
But NONE of this has anything to do with religion, afterlife, reincarnation, etc.
It MAY all end at death – at least for (whatever) dies. Not enough evidence to say what happens.
You cannot PROVE your religious beliefs using science. You really shouldn’t try – it gives a bad name to science, and may betray weakness in your religious faith. Stand and live and die on your faith, but don’t delude yourself that faith, religion or afterlife is proven by science – it isn’t even ADDRESSED, not part of the DOMAIN of science. Otherwise, we would be able to PROVE how many angels can dance on a pin, how many devils occupy Hell and so forth.
What the above have in common is that lacking evidence one way or the other, none can be proven as fact. It comes down to experience. If you have never seen Bigfoot, Alien Spacecraft or Ghosts then it is perfectly natural that you would think anyone who claimed any of them exist are fucking fruitcakes.
On the other hand, if you have seen with your own fucking eyes Bigfoot, an Alien Spacecraft or a Ghost in a way that there is not other possible explanation for what you have seen then it becomes obvious. Of course (insert any of them into the discussion) exists. You’d have to be a fucking idiot to deny it…what the fuck is wrong with you people?!”
As for me:
1) Bigfoot. No, but some compelling videos on utube.
2) Alien Spacecraft. No. Wish I had.
3). Ghosts. Sorta. Heard but not seen. Not once but hundreds of times in a former residence. On occasion when drunk I yelled at it for being too much of a pussy to show itself to me. I totally believe that ghosts are real.
I can’t get onboard with ghosts (or bighoof or aliens) because I can’t figure out why the “spirit” of a dead person who suffered would hang around in the place where they suffered to “haunt” strangers from the future who had nothing to do with them in the first place. Besides, if “heaven” or the afterlife is as magnificent as is claimed, surely there would be something more enticing for a “spirit” to do.
Regarding aliens, why is it that I’ve never met or heard of any professional or amateur astronomers who, by their nature are always looking at the sky day or night but have ever seen aliens or alien spaceships? There are tens of thousands of astronomers out there imaging the night sky with high resolution equipment and never produce a single image of aliens or alien spacecraft. There are automated all-sky survey taking place in both hemispheres every clear night with the same result. I can’t conclude that these things don’t exist but the preponderance of evidence suggests they don’t.
Actually, if humans didn’t have these crazy practices of placing dead bodies inside sealed caskets which are in turn place in sealed concrete of plastic vaults the stored up energy in your decaying body would be used up by bacteria, plants, insects, animals etc to give them life the same way compost from your garden does.
What we call human life is basically a chemical reaction that enables electrical impulses to move muscles. The ending of that chemical reaction is death.
Whether spirits or souls exist is an entirely different matter. Given that it’s charlatans who tell you that playing with your wiener is bad or that you’ll go to hell if you don’t repent are the same ones who tell you spirits and souls are real, and in danger, I’m not buying it. I see the church as being just as contemptible and full of shit as the govt. Religion is just another control mechanism. The malleability of Catholic Doctrine alone should set off warning bells in anyone with half a brain. Every time I hear the Catholic church utter anything all I can think of is this:
[img?w=652&h=519[/img]
Maggie
July 7, 2017 12:19 am
there was more here, but as you can see below, EC insulted me and I deleted it. Blame him or thank him. six of one/half dozen of the other.
Edit: Disclaimer. IT is late and I should be asleep. I am not sure this makes any sense; therefore, I will agree with EC to a small degree. I normally avoid this sort of question, but thought I would mention mine and Nick’s younger memories of almost leaving this plane. Now, I have deleted the whole thing, save this final edit.
Maggie
July 7, 2017 12:20 am
I misplaced myself. I didn’t know who the hell that Maggie WAS!
OK, Mag-Gru, either you are confused or you confused me. Have you become untethered and floating away?
You generally can discern between a dream and waking life, between a hallucination and a vision. If you can’t, then you can doubt your sanity in all seriousness.
How is letting go of your convictions a change in who you are? What’ll the story be next, that your a man in a chick’s body, a tranny?
I reread it and while it isn’t well composed (it is late here and I am usually asleep by now), I think you misinterpreted some of what I wrote. I am talking about experiences that occurred decades ago. Memories do blur, especially when the spiritual and/or profound is involved. I don’t think I’m insane, but then… who does?
Ottomatik
July 7, 2017 11:24 am
For the hopeful.
DRUD
July 7, 2017 11:29 am
It is easy to say life is nothing but a series of chemical reactions that accidentally formed this thing called a brain and that it in turn produces this thing called consciousness. When the measurable electro-chemical activity in this lump of gray matter ceases, so too does said consciousness. All very rational and science-y. To me it begs the question, of course, what allows chemical to take place at all, or for matter to exist–oh, the Fundamental Forces. Great, real measurable things. So then, what causes like particles to repel and opposite charges to attract, what causes any two masses to be attracted to one another, what cases nuclei to form and hold said form?
The inevitable answer from cosmologists and quantum physicists alike “because” or my favorite “how is why.”
This is proof–or even evidence–of nothing, of course, except the infinite depths of our ignorance, or our hubris in thinking we have the slightest inkling of understanding existence. It does, however, give plenty of latitude to believe whatever we may without needing to suffer the haughty condescension from learned naturalists (a far better term than athiest, IMO) who are quite certain in their superior understanding (and yet must now go and Google the Fundamental Forces).
Personally, I was raised in a Christian household and find very few faults with Christian ideals and ethics. More and more, however, I find myself thinking more along Taoist lines. The Tau moves trough all things and returns, it does nothing and leaves nothing undone. I like that–and I see no conflicts with Christian morals or physics.
Also, lately, I find myself feeling that everything we label “reality” is a paper-thin facade. Or as quoted by Stephen King from somewhere: “The column of Truth has a hole in it.”
Westcoaster
July 7, 2017 7:27 pm
Yes, there is an afterlife, but think of it apart from religion. The Bible-thumpers have it all wrong. We’re here on Earth to learn, period. The judgment, fire and brimstone part of religion is there to keep the faithful in line and keep those tithes flowing.
We’re here on Earth to learn, and yes your life will be reviewed but only as a recap to move on and do better in the next life, if you decide to incarnate again. Accepting a lifetime on Earth is highly regarded on the other side, as Earth is much more challenging than other locations you can become incarnate.
How do I know all this? You can thank a bunch of Alabama redneck lifeguard kids who thought it would be great fun to throw me in the pool at a fundraiser to build a bigger/better pool, and who knew beforehand that I couldn’t swim because I told them.
So that day in 1978 when I decided to make an extra $75 to appear as a Radio celebrity at their town’s pool event, I had no idea I would wind up in the back of an ambulance barely breathing with chlorine-scarred lungs from drowning. Nor did I anticipate what it’s like to die and return to talk about it.
“Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.”
Aldous Huxley
Maybe this world is another planet’s heaven.
If it were another planet’s heaven – then there would be no Chicago / Baltimore / Philadelphia / Detroit / St Louis / etc.
Ya but there’s some damn beautiful places too. I guess it’s all perspective.
Or government.
Only if there were no humans on it.
There’s a taint about it now.
Maybe both heaven and hell lie beyond the four lowest dimensions that are all we can perceive while we are physically incarnate.
Jesus Christ is either who he said he was or he was the biggest con man to ever walk the face of this earth.What made me believe Jesus Christ is the real deal is the Biblical concept of Sin.Sin is something you can ” know and see ” in yourself ,the world around you and throughout history.As King Solomon said ” truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of EVIL ; madness is in their hearts while they live ”We all need forgiveness . Salvation is God saving you from Himself.His wrath.
BB says:
July 6, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Jesus Christ is either who he said he was or he was the biggest con man to ever walk the face of this earth.
________________________________
I’ve heard this said since I was a kid, always by religious christians. It is bullshit. Without Constantine, Christianity would be just another obscure middle eastern religion and Jesus would be as familiar to you as Ahura Mazda and you would probably be worshipping Mithras.
Read the esoteric teachings of ALL the major religions and you will find that there have been holy, “enlightened” beings that were key players in ALL of them. Their teachings are all quite similar if you can get past the superficial stuff, and you will find that heaven is never described as a “place,” that sin translates to “missing the mark” (or in other words, being separate from the divine – not necessary an action, but rather a state of being), and that “hell” is as much the state of being that is not the divine as anything else. Jesus was no conman, but he never bother to write down his own words, relied upon imperfect men who were NOT as enlightened as he was, and what did exist as record of his teachings was bastardized extensively by POLITICAL actors who benefited extensively from THEIR translated version of his teaching. Jesus, the Buddha, the great enlightened teachers of Hindu, and countless others have ALL delivered the same message from the same enlightened state of being.
“Is there an afterlife?”
I hope not!
Definitely and it is best described in the Gospels although Satan and his realms got way to little coverage. While alive we can’t normally perceive Heaven or Hell, but they can manifest themselves to us in Visions. Normally God does not impose unless you ask. Also see all about it in Youtube testimonies.
“Reward” in the “afterlife” was created and promulgated to the masses by the elites to placate them so they will toil and suffer for their entire lives without complaint. It’s a very effective way to control the poor.
Anyone smart enough to see the inconsistencies or hypocrisies and question their religious dogma are told that “blind faith” is required to prove your worthiness in God’s sight. Otherwise, they have been killed/banished/punished for heresy by their own peers (keeping the elites’ hands clean).
It’s a brilliant strategy that has worked since the beginning of civilization.
Right you are but don’t expect much enthusiasm for your viewpoint on TBP.
The majority here think – in the words of the late, great Frank Zappa – that they’re “gwine up to hebbin'”.
I agree – there is no after life. All made up bullshit by guys like the Pope and his army of butt fucking queers.
Damn right there is.
Never understood this importance of virgins in afterlife. I mean 72 would last the average guy under best case scenario, what a month or so…
Then what?
Spend the rest of eternity jumping clouds and jerking off to memories of the good ole days. Doesn’t sound like fun to me.
Why not Plan B!
Valhalla.
Where its liquor, whores and everyone can dispense with pretense.
Yours in Odin,
RiNS
Yes, there is.
Heaven for the Climate, and Hell for the Company ~ various
“After” is designed to “ameliorate” the problematic current. Desperate buyers have affinity for cold sellers. Hot cellers for all “others.” Schadenfreude is one of the main perks for all the competing after’ers.
Depends on what you mean by “afterlife”. I think there’s pretty conclusive evidence that there is something beyond and/or outside of this physical existence.
Whatever you want it to mean.
I believe you are correct. I tend to think that what we call the soul is interdimensional but mostly of another one.
Absolutely!
Mr Z it does you good to cling to your delusions.Now Google the definition of delusion.
Mad Dog Meathead , Frank Zapped was a nut if there ever was one.Could never ” get ” his music .
Let me share something with all y’all out there…
I have a brother who lives in an 1800’s mansion that has served multiple purposes throughout its history. At various times, it served as an orphanage, a clinic (abortions), and a nursing home. It is currently divided up into apartments. Many people who come to rent leave after the first night. The paranormal activity is so intense, that it can be seen, heard, and felt. When the wrong person goes in with the wrong attitude, they get nosebleeds or literally get body slammed across the room. It has to be a pretty trashy person to get that type of treatment, but it has happened. These spirits, or whatever they are, move things in front of your eyes, poke you, flick your ears, you hear their footsteps, they show up in pictures, etc, etc, etc.
If anyone out there actually believes that we are just flesh and bone and have no soul, you are gravely and sadly mistaken. I’m intelligent enough to extrapolate from what I know exists.
Don’t be stupid. Plan on an afterlife and conduct your life accordingly.
If what your brother says is true, he should be a very rich man. There are a number of people out there who will pay big bucks to anyone who can PROVE that kind of nonsense. Hell shoot some video of this “intense” activity and get rich when it goes viral.
Use your brain, if you owned a property like this you could advertise and and charge an endless number of rubes $10 a pop to experience it for themselves.
I don’t knock anyone for believing or not believing. If believing in sky spirits is what it takes to get you through your day without robbing, raping or murdering people, I’m all for it. Not everyone requires faith to lead moral lives and there’s nothing wrong with that either.
They do have it on video. It’s mind blowing stuff. He has binders of testimony. It’s not about the money. People come and do take tours and they make donations to the local food pantry. They come out thinking twice about their beliefs.
Most think that watching something like this on video is faked. You have to be there to experience it.
Random thoughts from the question…
Pascal’s wager always seemed to me to be something of a cop-out. You’re gonna believe just in case? Come on. So. Do I believe there is an afterlife? Yes. Do I know what exactly it is? Nope. That’s why it’s called faith and not fact. Although most days I’m not sure that facts are 100% what they are cracked up to be. Like the news for example. There’s this rumour floating around that some broadcasters make it up. That it’s fake. What we thought were facts are not. Disappointing, I know. It’s amazing what people will have faith in though isn’t it?
[img
[/img]
We are ALL energy. Conservation of energy says that what we are MUST continue beyond the meat sack we give energetic life to while alive on this earth and in this incarnation. To presume that it ALL ends with one’s death is to imply that it ALL must end with one’s death, and since millions die during each of our lifetimes, clearly this cannot in any way be the case. Of course there is an afterlife, but what form it takes is about karma, of the tendencies we carry one with after death. It is all about levels of energy, states of mind, states of enlightenment, and the desire to reincarnate and experience the human experience again in another form. For sure the warped Judeo-Christian fantasy land version is about as far removed from the reality as one can get. Sad that the things that would please the body are always emphasized, when clearly the body is dead and would have NO uses for any of it in the first place. Buddhism, Taoism, Hiduism, and the other eastern religions have the best explanations for the process by which energy leaves the bodily incarnation and carries on beyond it. Christianity is sorely lacking in any common sense explanation.
Sorry, no. The principle of conservation of energy does NOT address reincarnation, afterlife or anything similar!
“In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant—it is said to be conserved over time. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from one form to another.” – Wikipedia
You can change electricity into heat, and with enough machinery, heat into electricity. You can change potential energy into kinetic energy, every time you throw (or drop) a baseball. You can covert many forms of energy (including nuclear decay) into electricity, and many forms of stored energy (wood, etc.) into heat.
But there can be – losses – like friction, heat dissipation, and so forth. See _entropy_.
But NONE of this has anything to do with religion, afterlife, reincarnation, etc.
It MAY all end at death – at least for (whatever) dies. Not enough evidence to say what happens.
You cannot PROVE your religious beliefs using science. You really shouldn’t try – it gives a bad name to science, and may betray weakness in your religious faith. Stand and live and die on your faith, but don’t delude yourself that faith, religion or afterlife is proven by science – it isn’t even ADDRESSED, not part of the DOMAIN of science. Otherwise, we would be able to PROVE how many angels can dance on a pin, how many devils occupy Hell and so forth.
I am thinking of three things.
1) Bigfoot
2) Alien spacecraft
3) Ghosts
What the above have in common is that lacking evidence one way or the other, none can be proven as fact. It comes down to experience. If you have never seen Bigfoot, Alien Spacecraft or Ghosts then it is perfectly natural that you would think anyone who claimed any of them exist are fucking fruitcakes.
On the other hand, if you have seen with your own fucking eyes Bigfoot, an Alien Spacecraft or a Ghost in a way that there is not other possible explanation for what you have seen then it becomes obvious. Of course (insert any of them into the discussion) exists. You’d have to be a fucking idiot to deny it…what the fuck is wrong with you people?!”
As for me:
1) Bigfoot. No, but some compelling videos on utube.
2) Alien Spacecraft. No. Wish I had.
3). Ghosts. Sorta. Heard but not seen. Not once but hundreds of times in a former residence. On occasion when drunk I yelled at it for being too much of a pussy to show itself to me. I totally believe that ghosts are real.
I can’t get onboard with ghosts (or bighoof or aliens) because I can’t figure out why the “spirit” of a dead person who suffered would hang around in the place where they suffered to “haunt” strangers from the future who had nothing to do with them in the first place. Besides, if “heaven” or the afterlife is as magnificent as is claimed, surely there would be something more enticing for a “spirit” to do.
Regarding aliens, why is it that I’ve never met or heard of any professional or amateur astronomers who, by their nature are always looking at the sky day or night but have ever seen aliens or alien spaceships? There are tens of thousands of astronomers out there imaging the night sky with high resolution equipment and never produce a single image of aliens or alien spacecraft. There are automated all-sky survey taking place in both hemispheres every clear night with the same result. I can’t conclude that these things don’t exist but the preponderance of evidence suggests they don’t.
jtdw, exactly right.
Actually, if humans didn’t have these crazy practices of placing dead bodies inside sealed caskets which are in turn place in sealed concrete of plastic vaults the stored up energy in your decaying body would be used up by bacteria, plants, insects, animals etc to give them life the same way compost from your garden does.
What we call human life is basically a chemical reaction that enables electrical impulses to move muscles. The ending of that chemical reaction is death.
Whether spirits or souls exist is an entirely different matter. Given that it’s charlatans who tell you that playing with your wiener is bad or that you’ll go to hell if you don’t repent are the same ones who tell you spirits and souls are real, and in danger, I’m not buying it. I see the church as being just as contemptible and full of shit as the govt. Religion is just another control mechanism. The malleability of Catholic Doctrine alone should set off warning bells in anyone with half a brain. Every time I hear the Catholic church utter anything all I can think of is this:
[img
?w=652&h=519[/img]
there was more here, but as you can see below, EC insulted me and I deleted it. Blame him or thank him. six of one/half dozen of the other.
Edit: Disclaimer. IT is late and I should be asleep. I am not sure this makes any sense; therefore, I will agree with EC to a small degree. I normally avoid this sort of question, but thought I would mention mine and Nick’s younger memories of almost leaving this plane. Now, I have deleted the whole thing, save this final edit.
I misplaced myself. I didn’t know who the hell that Maggie WAS!
OK, Mag-Gru, either you are confused or you confused me. Have you become untethered and floating away?
You generally can discern between a dream and waking life, between a hallucination and a vision. If you can’t, then you can doubt your sanity in all seriousness.
How is letting go of your convictions a change in who you are? What’ll the story be next, that your a man in a chick’s body, a tranny?
I think you misinterpreted what I wrote. Or, perhaps, I mistyped. Edited to delete this too. That’s funny.
I reread it and while it isn’t well composed (it is late here and I am usually asleep by now), I think you misinterpreted some of what I wrote. I am talking about experiences that occurred decades ago. Memories do blur, especially when the spiritual and/or profound is involved. I don’t think I’m insane, but then… who does?
For the hopeful.
It is easy to say life is nothing but a series of chemical reactions that accidentally formed this thing called a brain and that it in turn produces this thing called consciousness. When the measurable electro-chemical activity in this lump of gray matter ceases, so too does said consciousness. All very rational and science-y. To me it begs the question, of course, what allows chemical to take place at all, or for matter to exist–oh, the Fundamental Forces. Great, real measurable things. So then, what causes like particles to repel and opposite charges to attract, what causes any two masses to be attracted to one another, what cases nuclei to form and hold said form?
The inevitable answer from cosmologists and quantum physicists alike “because” or my favorite “how is why.”
This is proof–or even evidence–of nothing, of course, except the infinite depths of our ignorance, or our hubris in thinking we have the slightest inkling of understanding existence. It does, however, give plenty of latitude to believe whatever we may without needing to suffer the haughty condescension from learned naturalists (a far better term than athiest, IMO) who are quite certain in their superior understanding (and yet must now go and Google the Fundamental Forces).
Personally, I was raised in a Christian household and find very few faults with Christian ideals and ethics. More and more, however, I find myself thinking more along Taoist lines. The Tau moves trough all things and returns, it does nothing and leaves nothing undone. I like that–and I see no conflicts with Christian morals or physics.
Also, lately, I find myself feeling that everything we label “reality” is a paper-thin facade. Or as quoted by Stephen King from somewhere: “The column of Truth has a hole in it.”
Yes, there is an afterlife, but think of it apart from religion. The Bible-thumpers have it all wrong. We’re here on Earth to learn, period. The judgment, fire and brimstone part of religion is there to keep the faithful in line and keep those tithes flowing.
We’re here on Earth to learn, and yes your life will be reviewed but only as a recap to move on and do better in the next life, if you decide to incarnate again. Accepting a lifetime on Earth is highly regarded on the other side, as Earth is much more challenging than other locations you can become incarnate.
How do I know all this? You can thank a bunch of Alabama redneck lifeguard kids who thought it would be great fun to throw me in the pool at a fundraiser to build a bigger/better pool, and who knew beforehand that I couldn’t swim because I told them.
So that day in 1978 when I decided to make an extra $75 to appear as a Radio celebrity at their town’s pool event, I had no idea I would wind up in the back of an ambulance barely breathing with chlorine-scarred lungs from drowning. Nor did I anticipate what it’s like to die and return to talk about it.