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Afterlife

George-ananda

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Sgt. Pepper said:
Well said, in my opinion. I think that learning what others believe about the afterlife is interesting. I'd like to say that this thread and the other thread (this one) in which I'm participating in the paranormal activities forum have been illuminating. It helps me understand what others believe about the afterlife.
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As I understand you to be a sensitive and paranormal investigator you might disproportionately experience those in a more earthbound afterlife state. The majority I think move on more directly to the higher more beautiful and peaceful higher planes.
 
Sgt. Pepper

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
George-ananda said:
As I understand you to be a sensitive and paranormal investigator you might disproportionately experience those in a more earthbound afterlife state. The majority I think move on more directly to the higher more beautiful and peaceful higher planes.
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I would like to mention that in my years of experience, I've seen earthbound spirits (more human than non-human) everywhere I go, and some places more than others. It is especially true in historic cities like Boston and historic sites linked to the Civil War, as I described in this previous post. As I once told my husband, I think most people would go into shock if they knew about all the spirits around them that they couldn't see. However, there are those who have seen spirits and have shared their personal experience(s), which I think explains the statistics I shared in this post. My husband is one of these people, but despite his personal experiences, he would rather not experience anything paranormal. But that isn't an option for either of us in our house or wherever else we are together. So whenever he feels like that we aren't alone, he will ask me if we are, and I will respond, "Do you really want to know?" He will then reply with an emphatic "no!" I feel fortunate that he and our children take what happens around me in stride, and it doesn't really bother them.
 
George-ananda

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Sgt. Pepper said:
I would like to mention that in my years of experience, I've seen earthbound spirits (more human than non-human) everywhere I go, and some places more than others. It is especially true in historic cities like Boston and historic sites linked to the Civil War, as I described in this previous post. As I once told my husband, I think most people would go into shock if they knew about all the spirits around them that they couldn't see. However, there are those who have seen spirits and have shared their personal experience(s), which I think explains the statistics I shared in this post. My husband is one of these people, but despite his personal experiences, he would rather not experience anything paranormal. But that isn't an option for either of us in our house or wherever else we are together. So whenever he feels like that we aren't alone, he will ask me if we are, and I will respond, "Do you really want to know?" He will then reply with an emphatic "no!" I feel fortunate that he and our children take what happens around me in stride, and it doesn't really bother them.
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What type of experiences has your husband had that told him for sure something paranormal was definitely going on?

These are the kind of things the open-minded skeptics need to hear.
 
Sgt. Pepper

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
George-ananda said:
What type of experiences has your husband had that told him for sure something paranormal was definitely going on?

These are the kind of things the open-minded skeptics need to hear.
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I don't want to derail the thread, so I'll repost the link I provided in my other post about my husband's personal experiences with the paranormal.

Where are the Dead?

... sometimes that spirit can come back to this world and cause paranormal things to happen. ... Correction: some invisible beings claim to be the spirits of those dead. That is contrary to what the Bible teaches /Ecl.9:5,10; Psal. 146:4), so these invisible beings are something else...
www.religiousforums.com
 
Madsaac

Madsaac

Member
Pete in Panama said:
A few years ago I had that general anesthetic experience and for me that shows how I can leave this space time and return and take it back up. What we can see is that eventually we all leave this space time --also that eventually space/time itself will be used up. At the same time, if we assume that we have free will w/ the ability to decide things, then we find that we can step out of our space/time to pick one of many possible universes to live in.

It's the fact that our core existence can exist outside our shared space/time that makes me allow for some kind of existence outside/beyond. An "afterlife" as it were. It's nature is extremely difficult for me to comprehend as it would be w/o space and time --that means there's no place for anyone and no cause and effect. That's how our quantum world exists, yet it still interacts.

So much that IS and we can't understand. I can live w/ that, how about you?
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How did you leave this space? You were always here, just in a very deep sleep, and your brain stopped working, simple as that. The only difference when you die, is your brain stops working because you are dead.

It 'felt' as though time stopped because you were in a deep sleep.

I think this is right but the only place where we believe the Quantum World or General Relativity doesn't exist may be in a black hole? (Someone who knows more about this than me, may be able to clarify)

Here's hoping, that we will step out of space/time to pick up another universe, it could be through a black hole or similar but that's unlikely.
 
Madsaac

Madsaac

Member
George-ananda said:
I do have a good sense of the afterlife from what I have learned from Near Death Experiences, afterlife communications and those claiming psychic insight into the beyond the physical.

I will go to the astral life plane to reunite and enjoy the beauty and digest lessons of the past like in a scene more beautiful than can be rendered by the cruder physical. I expect that I will eventually reincarnate as a slightly older soul each time.
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I think it would be good to have these types of thoughts but I just can't, I feel strongly that it's just your brain brandishing these thoughts and experiences.

Have you ever been under a general anaesthetic, when you are truly under, your brain is totally switched off, unconscious, compared to a 'near death experience', so when your brain is totally switched off, nothing happens and no one ever experiences anything under a general.

So do you or anyone think, you would have to be predisposed to this type of thinking?
 
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SalixIncendium

SalixIncendium

अहं ब्रह्मास्मि
Staff member
Premium Member
Madsaac said:
Have you ever been under a general anaesthetic, when you are truly under, your brain is totally switched off, unconscious, compared to a 'near death experience', so when your brain is totally switched off, nothing happens and no one ever experiences anything under a general.
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What experiences have you had under a general anesthetic?
 
Sgt. Pepper

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
George-ananda said:
I do have a good sense of the afterlife from what I have learned from Near Death Experiences, afterlife communications and those claiming psychic insight into the beyond the physical.
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I thought that you would find these article interesting. FYI, the first one has a link to the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation.

Near-Death Experiences Research Has Doctor Convinced of Afterlife

Hospice nurse shares the one thing 'almost everyone' sees before they die

George-ananda said:
I will go to the astral life plane to reunite and enjoy the beauty and digest lessons of the past like in a scene more beautiful than can be rendered by the cruder physical. I expect that I will eventually reincarnate as a slightly older soul each time.
Click to expand...

Reiterating what I already said about reincarnation, I definitely believe it is possible.

For the record, this is what I believe about reincarnation:

God and Death

If god is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, can god die? food for thought? bon appétit bébé! Not every sentence ending in a question mark is a true question.
www.religiousforums.com
 
George-ananda

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Madsaac said:
I think it would be good to have these types of thoughts but I just can't, I feel strongly that it's just your brain brandishing these thoughts and experiences.

Have you ever been under a general anaesthetic, when you are truly under, your brain is totally switched off, unconscious, compared to a 'near death experience', so when your brain is totally switched off, nothing happens and no one ever experiences anything under a general.

So do you or anyone think, you would have to be predisposed to this type of thinking?
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First. I think the Near Death Experience is not happening in the brain at all particularly because people report seeing things from an outside the body perspective that they should not have been able to see. Plus, I believe there is a host of Afterlife Evidence from those that have been permanently dead even for years.

I have been under anesthetics and in deep sleep with no conscious memory of the experiences. From Vedic (Hindu) and Theosophical teachings this is consciousness in its reposed state above the level of the waking mind (hence no conscious mental activity or memory). Death is different as it entails a separation of the astral/soul body from the physical body and consciousness is then experienced through the astral/soul body.

I do not think I am predisposed to this type of thinking. I was an atheist-materialist once but became convinced that thinking was wrong upon serious consideration of the things I mentioned above.
 
Madsaac

Madsaac

Member
George-ananda said:
I have been under anesthetics and in deep sleep with no conscious memory of the experiences. From Vedic (Hindu) and Theosophical teachings this is consciousness in its reposed state above the level of the waking mind (hence no conscious mental activity or memory). Death is different as it entails a separation of the astral/soul body from the physical body and consciousness is then experienced through the astral/soul body.
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Thanks, I'll have a bit of a read of the 'Afterlife Sciences'

Yeah, but I think I will still have trouble believing we can have 'experiences' when our brains are dead, like when you are under a general.
 
George-ananda

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Madsaac said:
Thanks, I'll have a bit of a read of the 'Afterlife Sciences'

Yeah, but I think I will still have trouble believing we can have 'experiences' when our brains are dead, like when you are under a general.
Click to expand...
In the materialist view the brain creates consciousness. Hence no experience after death.

Another view that I now hold is that consciousness is non-material and incarnates the physical to make it 'alive'. Consciousness continues in the astral/soul body upon separation from the physical at death and in Near Death Experiences.

I have found so much NDE experiencing from an outside the body perspective, afterlife evidence and paranormal evidence just cannot be accounted for in the materialist view.
 
Sgt. Pepper

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
George-ananda said:
In the materialist view the brain creates consciousness. Hence no experience after death.

Another view that I now hold is that consciousness is non-material and incarnates the physical to make it 'alive'. Consciousness continues in the astral/soul body upon separation from the physical at death and in Near Death Experiences.

I have found so much NDE experiencing from an outside the body perspective, afterlife evidence and paranormal evidence just cannot be accounted for in the materialist view.
Click to expand...

I saw this article and thought I'd share it with you, George. I thought you might like it. This paranormal news website is one of my favorites.

It's Not True That Science Won't Ever Be Able To Explain The Existence Of Ghosts... If Indeed They Do

In addition to the regular paranormal news websites that I frequent, I'll search the internet for articles like this one.

My Patients Tell Me They've Had A Paranormal Experience. I Believe Them — I Had One Too.

I thought you might be interested in reading it too. It mentions the After Death Communication Research Foundation, which may pique your interest.
 
Pete in Panama

Pete in Panama

Active Member
Madsaac said:
How did you leave this space? You were always here, just in a very deep sleep, and your brain stopped working, simple as that. The only difference when you die, is your brain stops working because you are dead.

It 'felt' as though time stopped because you were in a deep sleep.

I think this is right but the only place where we believe the Quantum World or General Relativity doesn't exist may be in a black hole? (Someone who knows more about this than me, may be able to clarify)

Here's hoping, that we will step out of space/time to pick up another universe, it could be through a black hole or similar but that's unlikely.
Click to expand...
There are a number of things going on here.

One is that what I said about my experience was that I lost contact w/ space and time and then resumed it. Your argument is perfectly logical, that all those experiences are in my head w/ no connection other than in our current space time. Please understand that the same could be said about what's happening when you look at another person, that there is no other person just neurons in the eyeball flashing making you feel like there's another person. It's also call "solipsism" and there's no logical way to refute it. My thinking is that whether you exist or not is not relevant, that I just may as well ASSUME you exist because it's simpler.

I use the same approach to accept that we can see our choices and pick one to come into our shared universe.
 
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