Afterlife

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nvalleyvee
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Afterlife

Post by nvalleyvee »

Do believe in heaven or hell or the interim phase of those who can't make a transition? I think we all die with our bodies. If there is any afterlife it comes from our brain's electrical activity. Energy is transformed.
The growth of knowledge depends entirely on disagreement..........Karl R. Popper
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BabyRider
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Post by BabyRider »

Then you don't believe in ghosts or spirits, correct?



I'm on the fence about this. I guess you could say I'm "agnostic" in this area. I don't know what I believe. I'd LIKE to believe there's something beyond this world, but haven't had it proven to me yet. I've seen glimpses at possibilities, but nothing concrete.

Lemme ponder a while longer, I'll have a better response for you, NV.
[FONT=Arial Black]I hope you cherish this sweet way of life, and I hope you know that it comes with a price.
~Darrel Worley~
[/FONT]










Bullet's trial was a farce. Can I get an AMEN?????


We won't be punished for our sins, but BY them.




gimli3
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Afterlife

Post by gimli3 »



When I die, if there is an afterlife, I hope to meet my heroes: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, David Hume, Schweitzer, Darwin. So I guess I won't be going to a Christian heaven (or hell?).

;)
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Accountable
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Post by Accountable »

nvalleyvee wrote: Do believe in heaven or hell or the interim phase of those who can't make a transition? I think we all die with our bodies. If there is any afterlife it comes from our brain's electrical activity. Energy is transformed.
I don't buy Limbo.

As for the energy comment, God made nature. Our thoughts come from the electrical energy of our brains. Is it impossible that the energy is transformed into what we define as "spirit," staying intact and being naturally drawn to similar groups of energy. It makes sense scientifically to this layman.
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Accountable
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Afterlife

Post by Accountable »

gimli3 wrote:



When I die, if there is an afterlife, I hope to meet my heroes: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, David Hume, Schweitzer, Darwin. So I guess I won't be going to a Christian heaven (or hell?).



;)
You reminded me of a novel I read years ago, I think it was Job: A Comedy of Justice. It was a wild and twisted trip, but the part pertinent to this thread was that heaven was compartmentalized, or there were many heavens, where everyone was segregated based on their earthly choice of worship. I'll have to find that book again if I can.
polycarp
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Afterlife

Post by polycarp »

nvalleyvee wrote: Do believe in heaven or hell or the interim phase of those who can't make a transition? I think we all die with our bodies. If there is any afterlife it comes from our brain's electrical activity. Energy is transformed.


I believe in an afterlife as recorded in the Bible. Sinners will go to hell and Children of God will live with Him forever in heaven.
A formula for tact: "Be brief politely, be aggressive smilingly, be emphatic pleasantly, be positive diplomatically, be right graciously".
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chonsigirl
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Afterlife

Post by chonsigirl »

I agree with Polycarp, I believe in a Biblical heaven. There is no limbo or purgatory recorded in the Bible. I think the life we choose to live here on Earth is enough testing for most of us.
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Lon
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Post by Lon »

I like the concept of heaven and hell, and even purgatory, but believe in none of these afterlife ideas. We die, it's the end, finito, no more, nada. Heaven, hell and purgatory exist in this lifetime.
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Accountable
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Afterlife

Post by Accountable »

Lon wrote: I like the concept of heaven and hell, and even purgatory, but believe in none of these afterlife ideas. We die, it's the end, finito, no more, nada. Heaven, hell and purgatory exist in this lifetime.
Then what's the point of self-discipline? or is there a point. I would think the temptation to at least steal if not kill would be very strong if there's nothing after this.
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Lon
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Post by Lon »

Accountable wrote: Then what's the point of self-discipline? or is there a point. I would think the temptation to at least steal if not kill would be very strong if there's nothing after this.


One does not have to believe in an afterlife to have self disipline, or to be moral, have compassion, empathy, understanding etc. etc. You are implying that the only thing that keeps one from stealing or killing is FEAR of the afterlife (in this case HELL).
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Accountable
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Post by Accountable »

Lon wrote: One does not have to believe in an afterlife to have self disipline, or to be moral, have compassion, empathy, understanding etc. etc. You are implying that the only thing that keeps one from stealing or killing is FEAR of the afterlife (in this case HELL).
That's what you infer, and you haven't answered my honest, non-judgmental question.
Jives
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Post by Jives »

Ahhh.....the subject of life after death. I posted this before, so the older members may remember it, but here's my after-death expereince:

For a year, I was getting sicker. The doctors couldn't figure it out. I felt like I was filed with wet cement, I was getting stiffer and stiffer, and the pain was incredible. (They tell me now that it compares to childbirth) By the time the year was up, I literally couldn't walk. I had to use a cane and I could barely shuffle, and if I sat down, I couldn't get up. I was even beginning to have trouble focusing my eyes. Since I couldn't eat due to the pain, I had lost over 70 lbs. and looked like a Holocaust survivor. My friends told me I looked like a living skeleton.

One night, about midnight, I woke with a terrible feeling. I was sick! Something was desperately wrong with me! Not just the pain I had been feeling, but something much, much worse! I tried to call out to my wife, but my voice wouldn't work. I fell out of the bed and managed to crawly upwards to a standing position using the dresser handles. As I stood there holding on to the dresser, suddenly....I was outside my body!

I was standing behind myself. I could see the back of my own head. And that's weird, because usually you don't get to see that angle. I was looking at the curls that I have back there and my first thought was, "Geez, I need a haircut."

Then, my body lost its hold on the dresser, fingernails scratching the top as the body collapsed heavily to the floor in a heap. It didn't even try to catch itself. I stood there shocked thinking, "Wow, that looked like it hurt!"

Then I realized it...I was outside my body. The recognition was instant and hit me like a wave. Suddenly, I was afraid to move. I felt like I might pop myself like a soap bubble. I turned my "head" slowly to the left...the room was quiet. My wife was still in the bed, sleeping softly. A feeling washed over me. It was a feeling of calm and peace. I was so relieved, the pain of my body was completely gone, I thought, "Oh, that feels so much better!" (I hadn't truly realized just how much pain I had been in until it was lifted.)

Then I saw them....

They looked a lot like candle flames, larger at the bottom and tapering to a smaller and rounded top, but not flickering at all, just softly glowing a warm, white light. They were a little bigger than a football and were hovering all around the room at various heights.

I kept scanning and noticed that they were also out on the lawn, and in the street. Through the trees, I could see that they were even on the next block. There were thousands of them! That's when I suddenly realized I was looking right through the wall! Now, you have to understand, this was not some hazy, out of focus vision. Everything was crystal clear. The details of the room were crisp, even more than normal, my sight seemed to have improved.

I realized that these were people, and that they were my people. I wonder, "Why do I have so many people?" The answer came to me as a thought, "down the generations" I got it right away, a family goes back in time thousands of years, these were all my people from all time.

For what seemed like an eternity, I stood there, feeling the cool night air and drinking in the sensation of being free of the pain. I don't remember breathing, though. I wasn't hungry, thirsty, or anything else in fact. Funny thing that.

The little candles flames did nothing however. They seemed to be waiting for something.

But i still felt the love coming from them.

I looked to my left slowly, to see my body huddled on the floor motionless. The next second there was a flash of light and BAM! I was back in my body. I was a little disoriented and it took a second for me to realized where I was, the angle was strange as i could see under the bed and the room was very dark again. I realized I was back in my body. My first thought was, "Damn! That DID hurt!" My body was aching in a hundred places from the fall and the pain had returned.

My wife heard my moans and woke up. I told her to take me to the hospital and with great effort we managed to drag my body to the car and drive to the hospital.

The doctors told me that I had had a "coronary incident" and that my heart had stopped beating for as much as two minutes. (I didn't suffer any brain damage, thought, since I'm an avid swimmer, and can hold my breath easily for that amount of time.) Since I had technically "died", they decided there might actually be something wrong with me.

They ran 300 blood tests, every one in the book. When they came back the answer was as clear as a bell...RA. Rheumatoid Arthritus, the worst kind. It's not just an inflammation of the joints, it's the exact opposite of AIDS and in the old days, every bit as lethal. My own white blood cells could no longer tell the difference between bad bacteria and my own tissues. They were literally eating me alive.

Once they got to the internal organs, I suffered the heart attack. it was no problem after that, a dose of steroids, an auto-immune suppressor and I was literally dancing a jig (on atrophied muscles) by the end of the day.

I'm back to normal now, a strapping, barrel-chested 240 lbs. i can swim, run a short distance, and I'm even hoping to ski again next year. But I'm changed in a big way. I really never took life for granted, I always knew that every day was precious, but now it's not an abstract concept to me. I smell the flowers. I ride my bike, I make sure to kiss my girl and tell her I love her every day. I made a tire swing for my grand-children and I swing in it myself every chance I get.

I was certainly never afraid of death, but it's different now. I find it of infinite comfort to know that you don't cease to exist when your body dies. I had faith before, but it's infinitely stronger now. God was very kind to me for some reason.

I guess I still have something to do here! :o
All the world's a stage and the men and women merely players...Shakespeare
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Lon
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Post by Lon »

Accountable wrote: That's what you infer, and you haven't answered my honest, non-judgmental question.


Sorry Accountable-----I re-read your post and don't see a question that I haven't answered, maybe you could re-phrase it?
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Accountable
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Post by Accountable »

Lon wrote: Sorry Accountable-----I re-read your post and don't see a question that I haven't answered, maybe you could re-phrase it?
Accountable wrote: Then what's the point of self-discipline? or is there a point?{Second question mark added because I'm a dope}
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Lon
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Post by Lon »

Accountable wrote: {Second question mark added because I'm a dope}


Why not self disipline? Without it, we could die, become obese, go to jail, get lung cancer, be ostracised by society etc., etc.
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theia
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Post by theia »

Accountable wrote: Then what's the point of self-discipline? or is there a point. I would think the temptation to at least steal if not kill would be very strong if there's nothing after this.


Surely we still have to try to live cohesively in society? And that involves disciplining ourselves to try and abide by the laws whether or not we believe in an afterlife.
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
polycarp
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Afterlife

Post by polycarp »

Jives wrote: Ahhh.....the subject of life after death. I posted this before, so the older members may remember it, but here's my after-death expereince:

For a year, I was getting sicker. The doctors couldn't figure it out. I felt like I was filed with wet cement, I was getting stiffer and stiffer, and the pain was incredible. (They tell me now that it compares to childbirth) By the time the year was up, I literally couldn't walk. I had to use a cane and I could barely shuffle, and if I sat down, I couldn't get up. I was even beginning to have trouble focusing my eyes. Since I couldn't eat due to the pain, I had lost over 70 lbs. and looked like a Holocaust survivor. My friends told me I looked like a living skeleton.

One night, about midnight, I woke with a terrible feeling. I was sick! Something was desperately wrong with me! Not just the pain I had been feeling, but something much, much worse! I tried to call out to my wife, but my voice wouldn't work. I fell out of the bed and managed to crawly upwards to a standing position using the dresser handles. As I stood there holding on to the dresser, suddenly....I was outside my body!

I was standing behind myself. I could see the back of my own head. And that's weird, because usually you don't get to see that angle. I was looking at the curls that I have back there and my first thought was, "Geez, I need a haircut."

Then, my body lost its hold on the dresser, fingernails scratching the top as the body collapsed heavily to the floor in a heap. It didn't even try to catch itself. I stood there shocked thinking, "Wow, that looked like it hurt!"

Then I realized it...I was outside my body. The recognition was instant and hit me like a wave. Suddenly, I was afraid to move. I felt like I might pop myself like a soap bubble. I turned my "head" slowly to the left...the room was quiet. My wife was still in the bed, sleeping softly. A feeling washed over me. It was a feeling of calm and peace. I was so relieved, the pain of my body was completely gone, I thought, "Oh, that feels so much better!" (I hadn't truly realized just how much pain I had been in until it was lifted.)

Then I saw them....

They looked a lot like candle flames, larger at the bottom and tapering to a smaller and rounded top, but not flickering at all, just softly glowing a warm, white light. They were a little bigger than a football and were hovering all around the room at various heights.

I kept scanning and noticed that they were also out on the lawn, and in the street. Through the trees, I could see that they were even on the next block. There were thousands of them! That's when I suddenly realized I was looking right through the wall! Now, you have to understand, this was not some hazy, out of focus vision. Everything was crystal clear. The details of the room were crisp, even more than normal, my sight seemed to have improved.

I realized that these were people, and that they were my people. I wonder, "Why do I have so many people?" The answer came to me as a thought, "down the generations" I got it right away, a family goes back in time thousands of years, these were all my people from all time.

For what seemed like an eternity, I stood there, feeling the cool night air and drinking in the sensation of being free of the pain. I don't remember breathing, though. I wasn't hungry, thirsty, or anything else in fact. Funny thing that.

The little candles flames did nothing however. They seemed to be waiting for something.

But i still felt the love coming from them.

I looked to my left slowly, to see my body huddled on the floor motionless. The next second there was a flash of light and BAM! I was back in my body. I was a little disoriented and it took a second for me to realized where I was, the angle was strange as i could see under the bed and the room was very dark again. I realized I was back in my body. My first thought was, "Damn! That DID hurt!" My body was aching in a hundred places from the fall and the pain had returned.

My wife heard my moans and woke up. I told her to take me to the hospital and with great effort we managed to drag my body to the car and drive to the hospital.

The doctors told me that I had had a "coronary incident" and that my heart had stopped beating for as much as two minutes. (I didn't suffer any brain damage, thought, since I'm an avid swimmer, and can hold my breath easily for that amount of time.) Since I had technically "died", they decided there might actually be something wrong with me.

They ran 300 blood tests, every one in the book. When they came back the answer was as clear as a bell...RA. Rheumatoid Arthritus, the worst kind. It's not just an inflammation of the joints, it's the exact opposite of AIDS and in the old days, every bit as lethal. My own white blood cells could no longer tell the difference between bad bacteria and my own tissues. They were literally eating me alive.

Once they got to the internal organs, I suffered the heart attack. it was no problem after that, a dose of steroids, an auto-immune suppressor and I was literally dancing a jig (on atrophied muscles) by the end of the day.

I'm back to normal now, a strapping, barrel-chested 240 lbs. i can swim, run a short distance, and I'm even hoping to ski again next year. But I'm changed in a big way. I really never took life for granted, I always knew that every day was precious, but now it's not an abstract concept to me. I smell the flowers. I ride my bike, I make sure to kiss my girl and tell her I love her every day. I made a tire swing for my grand-children and I swing in it myself every chance I get.

I was certainly never afraid of death, but it's different now. I find it of infinite comfort to know that you don't cease to exist when your body dies. I had faith before, but it's infinitely stronger now. God was very kind to me for some reason.

I guess I still have something to do here! :o


Wow that's so interesting!
A formula for tact: "Be brief politely, be aggressive smilingly, be emphatic pleasantly, be positive diplomatically, be right graciously".
gimli3
Posts: 40
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:17 am

Afterlife

Post by gimli3 »

An interesting, if weird, novel about Hell:

"The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien.

:-5
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vitaeb
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Post by vitaeb »

jives, your story is one of thousands I have read over the years.

This afterlife issue has been thoroughly explored by very competent researchers.

A fascinating account is to be found in two books written by Muchael Newton. "Journey of Souls" and "Destiny of Souls."

Newton is a trained pschotherapist with a PhD, who use hypno-therapy techniques with his patients. Initially, he regressed them to early childhood in order to uncover traumas that prevented his clients from living normal happy lives. Then, to delve deeper, he started regressing them to their womb and birth experiences because so much trauma occurs in that place of the existence.

When he put his patients into ever deeper trances, something unanticipated happend for which his scientific training had not prepared him. His clients began to report experiences from other lifetimes. And then experiences that happend in a state of being he realized was the spirit world, or the life one leads in trhe in-between physical lifetimes.

This information astounded him. He never thought before that reincarnation and life in the spirit world was a reality. But after hearing thousands of reports from his patients, and all of these reports corroborating the descriptions of life in the spirit world, he became convinced of this reality.

His books are a compilation of his files from these thousands of reports. Anyone who has doubted ought to expose themself to this information. And all those who 'know' will benefit from clearing up some points and misunderstandings.

Best wishes to this group,
Best wishes and Latcho Drom

Vitae Bergman

http://www.vitaebergman.com
EmersonBashier
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Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 2:58 pm

Afterlife

Post by EmersonBashier »

I never really paid much attention or given thought to the afterlife except those teachings in my church. I felt that if I followed the rules, regulations and dogma of the church doctrine, I would be "saved."

I might also add that I never paid much attention to the paranormal, angels, crop circles or any other phenomena relative to those subjects. I hate to admit it but I felt rather smug in my beliefs since I was active in the church functionings.

Lo and behold, I had an experience of my own that absolutely could not be explained. It stopped me in my tracks! Now please realize that I am a hard-core realist so I don't fall for any hook, line and sinker story of anything that conflicted with my church teachings. Let me tell you that that experience changed my thinking pretty quick. I couldn't blame it on drugs or drinking because I don't do either. There had to be another explanation other than the church hierarchy telling me only to believe and forget about the experience. That wasn't good enough any longer. I needed answers and set out to get those answers.

I researched and read and researched and read trying to unearth some real answers regarding Truth. I watched cable television on the paranormal and subjects along those lines seeking answers. I found in my research that many people have experienced a "near death experience." There are historic archives cataloging events that cannot be explained by "just believing." There are those who actually underwent the experience of death by floating above people they knew and some they didn't know after they were pronounced "dead." Then there are those individuals who actually went through the tunnel and describes that in great detail. Now all these people are not crazy! Even the astronauts described being swept into other dimensions. They claimed they became different personalities upon their return.

A friend of mine who is a book lover and reader like me, told me about a book I should read. He said it would knock my socks off. I bought the book and read it and the only comment I could make was "WOW."

It is a book about a woman who died in an emergency room from double pneumonia and was placed in the hospital morgue after repeated attempts to save her life. She describes floating above the persons in the hospital room, going through the tunnel and being greeted by a radiant celestial being welcoming her. She was told by this angelic-like being that she had to return and bring back information to be placed in a book for others to read.

There is a web site you can visit if you wish to read more about her journey into the afterlife. It is "ALifeAfterDeathExperienceBook.com" on AOL. The book is also in the book stores.

It isn't going to cost you anything so go take a look. Let me know what you think. Emerson Bashier, member
larrygn
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:24 pm

Afterlife

Post by larrygn »

nvalleyvee;91150 wrote: Do believe in heaven or hell or the interim phase of those who can't make a transition? I think we all die with our bodies. If there is any afterlife it comes from our brain's electrical activity. Energy is transformed.


Whether or not, or what or not we beleive, we have the documented statements that there are both, and that our physical bodies will experience this to some extent. What humans think is generally information that has been poured into their brains by the demons of satan who have been on the planet longer than man, and who infest the souls of those who have rejected the Eternal God.
larrygn
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:24 pm

Afterlife

Post by larrygn »

vitaeb;93282 wrote: jives, your story is one of thousands I have read over the years.

This afterlife issue has been thoroughly explored by very competent researchers.

A fascinating account is to be found in two books written by Muchael Newton. "Journey of Souls" and "Destiny of Souls."

Newton is a trained pschotherapist with a PhD, who use hypno-therapy techniques with his patients. Initially, he regressed them to early childhood in order to uncover traumas that prevented his clients from living normal happy lives. Then, to delve deeper, he started regressing them to their womb and birth experiences because so much trauma occurs in that place of the existence.

When he put his patients into ever deeper trances, something unanticipated happend for which his scientific training had not prepared him. His clients began to report experiences from other lifetimes. And then experiences that happend in a state of being he realized was the spirit world, or the life one leads in trhe in-between physical lifetimes.

This information astounded him. He never thought before that reincarnation and life in the spirit world was a reality. But after hearing thousands of reports from his patients, and all of these reports corroborating the descriptions of life in the spirit world, he became convinced of this reality.

His books are a compilation of his files from these thousands of reports. Anyone who has doubted ought to expose themself to this information. And all those who 'know' will benefit from clearing up some points and misunderstandings.

Best wishes to this group,


A more fascinating story might be found in a book called " The Holy Bible".
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