Nature of Afterlife

I think that this is the kind of question that can't really be understood intellectually. I was very drawn to Tibetan Buddhism and still take a lot of comfort and inspiration from it, but American Buddhism tends to get talky and thinky and philosophical, and yes, at some point it will just drive you crazy. It's ironic because one of the main reasons for practice is to get you out of your head, but get a bunch of American Buddhists together and what do they do? Talk their practice to death.

That doesn't make Buddhism or Buddhists bad, it's just the flavor of that particular discipline.

Not this not that. Not personal, not impersonal.

[loopylucid]

Originally Posted by JR1981

Thank you, Loopy. :)

I'm probably better at identifying what I don't believe, but what I do believe is ever changing.

Deducation is a powerful tool, i hear ya on that one! To often taken as sceptisism, when actually its essence is more open mindness. In many ways, it can only leave, what we do hold as truth :) Hence why i prefer not to study in advance. But to relate after :)

Reminds me of a quote i always felt fitted my path so far... 'Ive never failed, just discovered tens of thousands of ways that dont work.' Hehehe!

Loopy :)

Originally Posted by loopylucid

Deducation is a powerful tool, i hear ya on that one! To often taken as sceptisism, when actually its essence is more open mindness. In many ways, it can only leave, what we do hold as truth :) Hence why i prefer not to study in advance. But to relate after :)

Reminds me of a quote i always felt fitted my path so far... 'Ive never failed, just discovered tens of thousands of ways that dont work.' Hehehe!

Loopy :)

That's a very good approach, I think. I've heard many people say (from rabbis to mystics) don't try to BELIEVE in God, come to know God through love and observation.

I am so hesitant to depict God in anyway, since it is all a guess. I'm not even sure I think there is a God. I DO however conceptualize an "afterlife," although like I've said, I don't favor an airy/formless consciousness.

While this is likely not an original thought, it is profound to me as it was not something I read but rather deduced. Here goes, 1. religious people believe in God because of faith, not proof 2. many scientists (though not all) believe there isn't a God because of a lack of proof. Okay, one thing I know to be true is that *I* exist, simply because I have a mind. Now, many materialists will reduce that to nothing more than material parts (molecules, energy, etc.). [i]Even if that is true, each of us possesses a specific formula.[i] And though our bodies will break down upon our death, there is every reason to believe that we could be reconstituted later on, such as with another Big Bang, or in a multiverse. Since that formula exists in nature and matter and energy do not get destroyed, we could "come back". I don't believe in reincarnation; rather I believe WE will always be a possibility throughout eternity. Therefore, our constituent molecules can be re-assimilated. I make no mention of spirits or consciousness. But a purely physical/materialist viewpoint can't really discredit this possibility.....Which, by the way, is the reason I do not want to be cremated. Not because the process will "annihilate" me, only because that reconstruction will already be partly there!

[loopylucid]

Originally Posted by JR1981

That's a very good approach, I think. I've heard many people say (from rabbis to mystics) don't try to BELIEVE in God, come to know God through love and observation.

I am so hesitant to depict God in anyway, since it is all a guess. I'm not even sure I think there is a God. I DO however conceptualize an "afterlife," although like I've said, I don't favor an airy/formless consciousness.

While this is likely not an original thought, it is profound to me as it was not something I read but rather deduced. Here goes, 1. religious people believe in God because of faith, not proof 2. many scientists (though not all) believe there isn't a God because of a lack of proof. Okay, one thing I know to be true is that *I* exist, simply because I have a mind. Now, many materialists will reduce that to nothing more than material parts (molecules, energy, etc.). [i]Even if that is true, each of us possesses a specific formula.[i] And though our bodies will break down upon our death, there is every reason to believe that we could be reconstituted later on, such as with another Big Bang, or in a multiverse. Since that formula exists in nature and matter and energy do not get destroyed, we could "come back". I don't believe in reincarnation; rather I believe WE will always be a possibility throughout eternity. Therefore, our constituent molecules can be re-assimilated. I make no mention of spirits or consciousness. But a purely physical/materialist viewpoint can't really discredit this possibility.....Which, by the way, is the reason I do not want to be cremated. Not because the process will "annihilate" me, only because that reconstruction will already be partly there!

Simply beautiful is that another way of explaining formlessness? in everything as potential? hehehe!

Enjoyed reading your thoughts :) Keep them coming:)

Loopy

Originally Posted by loopylucid

Simply beautiful is that another way of explaining formlessness? in everything as potential? hehehe!

Enjoyed reading your thoughts :) Keep them coming:)

Loopy

Well, sort of. It's the combinations of this and that that make individuals. And once it's been conceptualized, it kind of always exists after that, since annihilation is impossible (And any scientist will concur).

What I've posited here is for people who doubt both the existence of God as well as an immaterial, disembodied soul. Even if both of those are true.....(drumroll ), the material formula/concept for each of us remains and can be "rebuilt" throughout an eternity of "accidents" (if the Big Bang was just that - an accident). If it happened once, it can happen again. We are as unique as snowflakes, no two are alike. So while our sameness/oneness is that we're composed of the same *stuff*, we as individuals exist.

So while this concept may be lacking in spiritual essence as it's not consciousness-centered, it's still one of hope for more lives, kind of like the changing seasons. Blooming, then wilting, then blooming again (same plant, just a series of lives). And why should it eventually stop, either? As long as human beings can think, the questions and quests for answers will never cease.