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What happens to us when we die?
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What happens to us when we die?
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flying through the universe filled with shining
stars and beautiful colors. I want everything to
be peaceful and quiet. I think the afterlife
should be a long rest. A long rest that we all look
forward to rather than dread. Death would not be so scary if we all knew there was a beautiful, quiet haven
to go to.
you smart, it's knowing what you don't know.
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- coffeeprincess
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Talk to the dead... touchy... I don't think you can always talk to whoever you want, but if astral travel is possible, if there are other planes of existence, if time and space are made up stuff, why couldn't you? Maybe for the dead it's like we're in a coma. They are there, talking to us, we're lying there on the gurney, the ghosts ask the doctor "Will she hear me?" The doctor says "Nobody really knows".
-Nick Cave "Deanna"
- Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
- The admin formerly known as Scott
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All evidence seems to show that when we die we are not simply moved to some other plane of existence, but instead we cease to exist.
Asking what happens when we die is like asking what happens to your computer after you have destroyed it. The machine has been destroyed. It no longer exists.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
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I would say that whatever person I think I may be, whatever personality or identity that seems to be 'me', this would no longer exist when I die. At the same time, however, I would say that all these imaginary constructions that I refer to as 'me' are not what they seem in the first place; they are simply ideas and beliefs to which I have become attached, and which heighten the apparent difference between myself and others. This difference, however, is not the highest reality of our being, which in fact is the pure undifferentiated awareness that each and every one of us were born into this world with. In that moment, this body was born, but not this 'self'. This self is merely a figment of my imagination, and so I was never born, and therefore I can never die.
Whether consciousness exists beyond death or not, either way it will not be 'me'.
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thats untrue people called mediums talk to the dead and if you think a medium ifs too metaphysical to be real you probably shouldn't be on this forum. Not saying that you do, but just in case.cynicallyinsane wrote:We can't know what happens when we die, because nobody dead can tell us. We can't talk to the dead!
- Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
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luciditee, that is a good difference to point out. We can define our "selves" in such a fundamental way that we see ourselves as something more universal than our individual body alone. Nonetheless, when most people ask, "what happens when we die," they just mean the same old individual version of 'self' that most people mean when they say it. Generally speaking, they are just referring to the personality and information stored in their brains.luciditee wrote:I would say that whatever person I think I may be, whatever personality or identity that seems to be 'me', this would no longer exist when I die. At the same time, however, I would say that all these imaginary constructions that I refer to as 'me' are not what they seem in the first place; they are simply ideas and beliefs to which I have become attached, and which heighten the apparent difference between myself and others. This difference, however, is not the highest reality of our being, which in fact is the pure undifferentiated awareness that each and every one of us were born into this world with. In that moment, this body was born, but not this 'self'. This self is merely a figment of my imagination, and so I was never born, and therefore I can never die.
Many people do have wiser views, exemplified by statements such as, "I will live on through my children," or "I will live on through my work," or so on.
Amen. And the "mediums" I've seen aren't even that convincing.pjkeeley wrote:No, people called mediums CLAIM to talk to the dead... big difference!thats untrue people called mediums talk to the dead
About that topic, did any of you ever see the South Park episode where they mock John Edwards. It's hilarious, and it does a great job at explaining how easily people are fooled by simple tricks by other people pretending to talk to the dead.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
- Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
- The admin formerly known as Scott
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bittercrank wrote:Oh, I though everybody knew...
They wrap you in a greasy sheet
and throw you down some 50 feet
the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
the worms play pinochle on your snout
and so forth.
By the way, why would I want to talk to the dead? I didn't like most of them when they were alive.
Note to literalists: Just joking.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
2023 Philosophy Books of the Month

Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023