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What do you want from the afterlife?


I'mConvinced

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I got to talking with a devout Christian friend of mine the other night about the afterlife.  He could reconcile that I would not believe in the Christian version of an afterlife but he couldn't understand why I didn't believe in some version of an afterlife.  So I asked him a simple question and it sparked a huge debate; What do you do in the afterlife? 

His answer was that the righteous would ascend to heaven where they would remain for eternity worshiping in the presence of God.  Once there you will feel nothing but bliss forever more.

Well I find that idea quite frankly terrifying - Once I die, according to him, I am essentially going to become a worship battery powering a God! For all eternity, in a single state of being, I would be more akin to a love sick puppy fawning over its master than a conscious human. Noooooo thanks.

This got me to thinking about what kind of afterlife would I construct for myself if I was given a choice? Is there anything I would want to do for eternity? Would reincarnation with the ultimate idea of ascending or transcending be any better? I don't know.  So the question for the thread is this:

What do you want from an afterlife and why? 

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It is about going home for me, and maybe coming back later if I am needed somewhere or it looks interesting to experience. I do not wholly see God as Other, except how I perceive Him here. I am a part of Him so going home and rejoicing to be whole for a while is a good thing, not a slave powering up an alien separate entity concept. 

I hope I can go and see distant stars and worlds and enjoy Creation on a scale we cannot here, and I am sure there is as much to do there as there is here. I will finally understand, at least while I am there, and no more questions.

I want to live forever and love forever and strive forever.

Yup. Pretty much that. 

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All my Earthly desires fulfilled! :)  That's a big problem with religion while we're still alive, all the crap still happens and God doesn't do anything about it. Plus, I never get what I really want. 

Then I die, hoping I go to Heaven, and if I get there it's probably not tailored to my individual needs, it's some sort of bathing in the beautificient light of God or something.

What's the point of it all? I just want what I want to happen. Is that too much to ask?

 

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“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven."

 

The question isn't "What do you want from the afterlife?"

The question is, what are you willing to give in the afterlife?

Are you willing to exchange your will for God's will?

Because that's what you'll need to give in order to be in heaven. Even so, here on earth.

 

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2 hours ago, I'mConvinced said:

What do you want from an afterlife and why? 

I think what we will find is infinitely better than anything we think we 'want' now with our rather limited understanding of reality. A child may want non-stop play and eating candy.

My beliefs are formed from my study of the paranormal and spirituality. I believe the richest understanding our minds can handle comes from Vedic philosophy of Advaita which literally means not-two (God and creation are not-two). In this philosophy, the universe is seen as a play/drama of the One; where He separates Himself from Himself and returns Himself to Himself. Why? To experience the joy of growth and ultimate realization/liberation of Oneness.

So in my view the afterlife is a continuation of the finite growing to become the infinite. This includes growth and experiencing on the higher spiritual planes and also reincarnation on the  lower planes for the spiritual lessons to be learned there. Eventually the finite realizes it has always been One with All. The joy of spiritual ascension is our purpose both now and in the afterlife.

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To return as a physical entity to an Earth as it would have been had no humans ever existed.  Or to travel endless throughout the universe visiting other planets.   Possibly, but necessarily, with the intention of insulting every living creature.  In alphabetical order.

Can't think of anything else that wouldn't be hell!

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A quality selection of music, and busty serving wenches...

Oh... and maybe a deep, enduring understanding of the meaning of life, love and the universe...

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Interesting question, being raised Christian anything was better than hell. Even though as a child I didnt like the idea of being an eternal worshipper.

Maybe the fear of reincarnation is what drove the Buddha's desire to stop the reincarnation process? Man, the lives we could be born to... I'd end up in a cow pasture eternally stepped on, eaten and crapped on just to keep on growing back.

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14 hours ago, I'mConvinced said:

I got to talking with a devout Christian friend of mine the other night about the afterlife.  He could reconcile that I would not believe in the Christian version of an afterlife but he couldn't understand why I didn't believe in some version of an afterlife.  So I asked him a simple question and it sparked a huge debate; What do you do in the afterlife? 

His answer was that the righteous would ascend to heaven where they would remain for eternity worshiping in the presence of God.  Once there you will feel nothing but bliss forever more.

Well I find that idea quite frankly terrifying - Once I die, according to him, I am essentially going to become a worship battery powering a God! For all eternity, in a single state of being, I would be more akin to a love sick puppy fawning over its master than a conscious human. Noooooo thanks.

This got me to thinking about what kind of afterlife would I construct for myself if I was given a choice? Is there anything I would want to do for eternity? Would reincarnation with the ultimate idea of ascending or transcending be any better? I don't know.  So the question for the thread is this:

What do you want from an afterlife and why? 

That's the rub isn't it. One's person's heaven is another's hell. It can't be a one size fits all solution. It's a personal ideal, not a universal one. 

If there was one, I just want to see God explain himself to a Christian, a Muslim and a Jewish person all in the same room at the same time. And I might have a few questions myself....... 

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I'm wondering what form of "you" enters the Afterlife? 

Do you keep your personality, memories, knowledge? Do you keep your personal conscious awareness, or do you meld with some universal conscious awareness? 

I wouldn't think we just get what we want here when we're alive, a sort of Heaven tailored to our own personal psychological desires. I mean, Whatever constructed the Afterlife could have designed our Earthly life to fit those parameters. So I think an Afterlife would be something unexpected. Maybe something different that what we can imagine it to be here in life.

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Anyone seen the show on Netflix 'The Good Place'? 

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7 hours ago, psyche101 said:

Anyone seen the show on Netflix 'The Good Place'? 

Nope, I'm guessing worth a look? 

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9 hours ago, I'mConvinced said:

Nope, I'm guessing worth a look? 

Yeah it's great and all about the afterlife I won't say too much 'spoilers' but a very amusing take on the afterlife I'd surely recommend it

 

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When I was a child about 8 years old, my older sister had a friend who was a Jehovah's Witness. Naturally that friend tried to convert our entire family. She gave me a children's bible (Jehovah's Witness edition) and frequently read it to me. Now being raised in a Catholic household I was used to descriptions of Hell, what I was not used to was the Witnesses' version of Heaven; what I remember it's basically you prance around a fruit bearing garden forever and ever while farming produce for the 144.000 that got to go to the heavenly Jerusalem (only that the farming isn't laboriously anymore and you are happy all the time)
That idea scared me more than any vision of hellfire could ever have. The idea to be trapped forever in a state of stasis, just milling about a pretty garden and gathering fruit...and there never ever being any end to it. That put my young psyche in quite a bit of shock. And to this day the idea of a static heaven or paradise or world to come or whatever scares me to some degree.

So what I hope for in the afterlife is continued growth and change. Maybe reincarnation, maybe a sort of spiritual evolution.

I do not claim to have an answer to what the afterlife is or whether it is there at all, but in my naive, human mind, built by the experiences I have been through, I expect it to be less nice than one would hope for and less horrible than one might fear.

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If I could pick, I'd pick the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. We cycle endlessly, getting more shots at life, until we achieve a form of enlightenment and remove ourselves from the cycle. That one seems very nice, very peaceful, to me. I don't think that's how it works, but I'd like it if it were.

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On 4/23/2018 at 9:41 PM, StarMountainKid said:

I'm wondering what form of "you" enters the Afterlife? 

Do you keep your personality, memories, knowledge? Do you keep your personal conscious awareness, or do you meld with some universal conscious awareness? 

I wouldn't think we just get what we want here when we're alive, a sort of Heaven tailored to our own personal psychological desires. I mean, Whatever constructed the Afterlife could have designed our Earthly life to fit those parameters. So I think an Afterlife would be something unexpected. Maybe something different that what we can imagine it to be here in life.

The Egyptians had an answer for that, curiously enough. They believed in multiple souls per person, some parts which died with the body, others entered the duat, and other still combined with the Ka-soul every night to create an entity that was sort of the same as you were in life.

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On 4/23/2018 at 7:05 AM, I'mConvinced said:

What do you want from an afterlife? 

The last time I died I wanted to be taken out of the Void or "outer darkness" (the Biblical kind). Since my current faith (not just belief) tells me I will be with my Lord (the divine being with the real power to rescue me from the "outer darkness" but not necessarily "Jesus" of the NT) after my sojourn in this world, my want will be of no consequence. This divine being will automatically know (or probably already knows) what is in my 'heart,' and His wisdom is infinite, no doubt -- my assumptions. On the other hand, the original question/title assumes that everyone will have an afterlife, and in turn, everyone was created by a known or revealed god.

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After this life God is building a new world with no negativity or strife with those people who have proven in this life that they will contribute to that positively.

 

This life is only a trial period a test and the reward for passing is a thousand year life with Jesus Christ, there is precedent for this in the Bible, before people degenerated to living by their basic instincts of lust, hate,and greed a thousand year life span was common there were many who lived hundreds of years and  the Bible addresses it as standard operating procedure.

 

Our reward for passing will be the opportunity to achieve everything that we didn't in this life and a thousand years will make that possible.

 

If you study this stuff and connect the dots it's pretty obvious.

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1 hour ago, TheHumanDude said:

After this life God is building a new world with no negativity or strife with those people who have proven in this life that they will contribute to that positively.

Building? ..so the believers are going to a building site! How long has this alleged new world been in progress and does it include homo erectus and  homo habilis etc etc etc

 To the bold: It may differ from those who do not believe in an afterlife, just because someone believes in a god and an afterlife does not mean they had a positive impact when alive. So, what are the 'rules ' and what is your idea of 'proven' ? 

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I've witnessed and recognized shadowy deceased relatives upon waking up in very low light. Didn't recall dreaming of them so doubted dream echo but couldn't fully rule that out. A 3rd time with son witness, going thru album pics of recently deceased close cousin, overhead light went off and on few times then stayed on as it was. No other electrics effected. No one else around. Bulb checked to be tight. Switch checked and tried slowly up and down didn't duplicate it. It had been in for about 2 yrs and not happened before or yr after. We decided the odds it happening at that time only so remote it was clear message confirming spirit existence which we acknowledged saying thanks for that. 

As to posted question... if some or even 1 of apparent communications with spirits by Mediums and others are correct, it seems some can stick around if they wish. Both good and not so good. But not all. Or there would likely be many more contacts, hauntings, sightings, etc. Maybe they get bored and go elsewhere or reincarnate. 

I'd stick around trying to not be scary, but show proof of that realm. As well as try to influence people's thinking in good ways. Seems they can put thoughts in people's heads. But the person decides whether to ignore or consider. May take lots of repeating lol. Or different reasons given to consider. After checking in on family here and there, maybe see the world a while. Checking back on Family from time to time. Dunno if that would work well as imagining seeing without eyes hard to fathom. Might be fuzzy, or like a color infrared camera view. Yet they seem to know what you're looking at and thinking. Maybe by tuning in to our brain's thinking and visual. Yet they can find us. Maybe from our thinking and/or talking about them. Which again hard to fathom as it suggests a far reaching communication they hear no matter where they are at time. 

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I myself have always hoped for reincarnation.

My husband is aware that if I had a choice I would be Lucy Lui in my next life.

This is what I choose to expect.

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I expect absolutely nothing.  As much awareness as I had before I was conceived/born.  But if I am wrong and an afterlife does exist, then I would like to be able to experience all the universe has to offer, find out the truth of the how and why of the existence of all things, and explore planets that have any form of life on them, and keep tabs on my descendants in particular and the way things go generally here on Earth.  Hopefully not too big an ask.

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On 23/04/2018 at 11:35 PM, I'mConvinced said:

I got to talking with a devout Christian friend of mine the other night about the afterlife.  He could reconcile that I would not believe in the Christian version of an afterlife but he couldn't understand why I didn't believe in some version of an afterlife.  So I asked him a simple question and it sparked a huge debate; What do you do in the afterlife? 

His answer was that the righteous would ascend to heaven where they would remain for eternity worshiping in the presence of God.  Once there you will feel nothing but bliss forever more.

Well I find that idea quite frankly terrifying - Once I die, according to him, I am essentially going to become a worship battery powering a God! For all eternity, in a single state of being, I would be more akin to a love sick puppy fawning over its master than a conscious human. Noooooo thanks.

This got me to thinking about what kind of afterlife would I construct for myself if I was given a choice? Is there anything I would want to do for eternity? Would reincarnation with the ultimate idea of ascending or transcending be any better? I don't know.  So the question for the thread is this:

What do you want from an afterlife and why? 

lol my reading of the christian after life is very different, and coincides with my own desires, if a long life was possible 

More time to learn, to grow, to evolve. Time to become all that i could become 

 More time to meet people, see things and learn new skills.

  Not suffering the pains disabilities and limitations old age naturally imposes on a human body

Being filled with power energy and vitality  

Humans ( in christian theology) wont live in heaven, they will live on a new, restored earth, which will be like eden (and indeed Eden forms the centre piece of ht holy city, which settles onto this earth after  the end of the biblical period   )

Humans will be able to travel the galaxy, meeting all sorts of other races under the governance of god, and especially telling them what it was like  to live as a species separated from god 

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13 hours ago, Kismit said:

I myself have always hoped for reincarnation.

My husband is aware that if I had a choice I would be Lucy Lui in my next life.

This is what I choose to expect.

And is he happy to be married to lucy in the next life? :) Who does he hope to be, and do you  believe these two yous would be compatible ?  :) 

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