What do your beliefs say about death?

[Stevicus]

Other thoughts about death that I recall from my days as a mortuary transport driver.

Death is messy. Death is smelly; there is a very unique, unmistakable odor. It attracts bugs. A lot of people are very squeamish about dead bodies.

I also became more familiar with different religious traditions about death. It's interesting how a lot of religions ostensibly believe, even in death, if all the proper rituals and protocols are not followed, it could mean a bad afterlife for the soul of the departed. For example, some religions prohibit cremation of the deceased, but I would sometimes wonder, what would happen if they were cremated? Does the person's soul go to Hell even though he would have no control over how his dead body was disposed of?

I guess it would still be better than being turned into Soylent Green.

 

[dianaiad]

Other thoughts about death that I recall from my days as a mortuary transport driver.

Death is messy. Death is smelly; there is a very unique, unmistakable odor. It attracts bugs. A lot of people are very squeamish about dead bodies.

I also became more familiar with different religious traditions about death. It's interesting how a lot of religions ostensibly believe, even in death, if all the proper rituals and protocols are not followed, it could mean a bad afterlife for the soul of the departed. For example, some religions prohibit cremation of the deceased, but I would sometimes wonder, what would happen if they were cremated? Does the person's soul go to Hell even though he would have no control over how his dead body was disposed of?

I guess it would still be better than being turned into Soylent Green.

Much.

Me? I'm getting cremated because there is NO way I want some nosy archeologist looking at my bones/mummy a thousand years from now and speculating about the titanium knee joints. It's my last, definite, bid for privacy and ultimate statement of curmudgeonhood.

 

[Stevicus]

Much.

Me? I'm getting cremated because there is NO way I want some nosy archeologist looking at my bones/mummy a thousand years from now and speculating about the titanium knee joints. It's my last, definite, bid for privacy and ultimate statement of curmudgeonhood.

I'm probably getting cremated too, mainly because I have this fear that I may be declared dead but not really dead.

I saw a horror movie where this guy was dead, yet still conscious and aware inside his own dead, rotting body. But he couldn't speak or move or do anything because his body was dead. I can't remember what the movie was called, but it kind of freaked me out. Wouldn't it be awful if that was our afterlife?

 

[Tiapan]

I figure death will be like falling asleep never to wake. As the brain oxygen levels drop my dreams will disappear forever and I will enter a silent infinite void and disappear from existence.
Happy I have left the world a better place and appreciated the brief privilege of sentience that I have be able to glimpse the majesty and beauty of the universe, and that sapphire jewel and piece of Heaven, in it. the Earth.

Cheers

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm probably getting cremated too, mainly because I have this fear that I may be declared dead but not really dead.

I saw a horror movie where this guy was dead, yet still conscious and aware inside his own dead, rotting body. But he couldn't speak or move or do anything because his body was dead. I can't remember what the movie was called, but it kind of freaked me out. Wouldn't it be awful if that was our afterlife?

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: You can hear me?

1/2 Woman Corpse: Yes.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Why do you eat people?

1/2 Woman Corpse: Not people. Brains.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Brains only?

1/2 Woman Corpse: Yes.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Why?

1/2 Woman Corpse: The PAIN!

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: What about the pain?

1/2 Woman Corpse: The pain of being DEAD!

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: [laughing in surprise to his friends] It hurts... to be dead.

1/2 Woman Corpse: I can feel myself rot.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Eating brains... How does that make you feel?

1/2 Woman Corpse: It makes the pain, go away!

 

[Deeje]

I'm probably getting cremated too, mainly because I have this fear that I may be declared dead but not really dead.

Before there were instruments to test for brain death, those who suffered from narcolepsy (sleeping sickness) were often thought to have died and were buried alive with no way to let anyone know that they were trapped underground in their coffins. After unearthing coffins with the scratch marks of a desperate dying human buried alive, they decided to tie a string onto the finger of the deceased so that if they woke up, they could ring the bell to let the grave attendants know that they should dig that person up out of there. These were known as "dead ringers". The people who sat up all night so as to hear the bell ring, were on the "graveyard shift".

The custom of a wake was to make sure that the deceased was really dead, so they laid the body out on the dining room table for a few days and held a vigil to make sure that they didn't "wake" from the dead.

So many things we didn't know the origins of.

Wouldn't it be awful if that was our afterlife?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to know that there is no afterlife to fear or to dread? When you see the words "Rest in Peace" on a gravestone....that is exactly what the dead do.
The Bible says that death is just a peaceful sleep from which all will awaken when God has cleansed the earth of its present wickedness. (John 5:28-29) There is nothing to fear in death.

 

[Stevicus]

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: You can hear me?

1/2 Woman Corpse: Yes.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Why do you eat people?

1/2 Woman Corpse: Not people. Brains.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Brains only?

1/2 Woman Corpse: Yes.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Why?

1/2 Woman Corpse: The PAIN!

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: What about the pain?

1/2 Woman Corpse: The pain of being DEAD!

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: [laughing in surprise to his friends] It hurts... to be dead.

1/2 Woman Corpse: I can feel myself rot.

Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Eating brains... How does that make you feel?

1/2 Woman Corpse: It makes the pain, go away!

Oh yes, I recognize this scene from Return of the Living Dead. Hilarious movie.

 

[godnotgod]

Zen says:

"Who is it that lives?"
"Who is it that dies?"

If you can answer clearly these two questions, you will attain Enlightenment.

Empty handed I entered the world.
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going-
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.

– Kozan
*****

Breathing in, breathing out,
Moving forward, moving back,
Living, dying, coming, going —
Like two arrows meeting in flight,
In the midst of nothingness
Is the road that goes directly
to my true home.

– Gesshu Soko
*****
The Magical Zen Death Poems
*****

"All this world is filled with coming and going*.
Show me the path where there is no coming and there is no going."
Unknown source

*birth and death

 

[godnotgod]

A Zen koan about death...

 

[sidiq moosa]

As we think and research, we change our vision about everything, it's unknown , no one came back to tell us how he felt and tasted or experienced, let's wait for it, as long as wish good for others and do good we done our part,

 

[capumetu]

As a Christian I believe God's word the Bible. It does speak about the condition of the dead, as well as their hope.

The Bible clearly states that the dead are not conscious. Ecc 9:5 In other words they are simply dead, just like before they were born, they do not exist. Jesus compared it to sleeping. John 11:11

However although we die once Heb 9:27, that is not the end of it. Jesus stated there would be a resurrection of the dead John 5:28,29

capumetu @yours.com No space after u

 

[godnotgod]

The Bible clearly states that the dead are not conscious. Ecc 9:5 In other words they are simply dead, just like before they were born, they do not exist.

If they don't exist, then who is it that is dead, may I ask?

...uh...just sayin'...

 

[URAVIP2ME]

If they don't exist, then who is it that is dead, may I ask?
...uh...just sayin'...

Interesting way of saying then that the dead do Not exist ( Not existing while still dead that is )
Since 1 Corinthians 15:26 says that death is our enemy, then we would want the absence of death as friend.
The Bible's resurrection hope is that 'enemy death' will be brought to nothing - 1 Corinthians 15:26; Isaiah 25:8
Since Acts of the Apostles 24:15 uses the ' future tense ' that there ' is going to be ' a resurrection......
Then, we have the hope for those who ' don't exist ' (the lifeless dead) coming back to existence ( life )
Not just imperfect life, but 'everlasting life' on a beautiful paradisical Earth as originally offered to mankind in Eden.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

As a Christian I believe God's word the Bible. It does speak about the condition of the dead, as well as their hope.
The Bible clearly states that the dead are not conscious. Ecc 9:5 In other words they are simply dead, just like before they were born, they do not exist. Jesus compared it to sleeping. John 11:11
However although we die once Heb 9:27, that is not the end of it. Jesus stated there would be a resurrection of the dead John 5:28,29
capumetu @yours.com No space after u

I also like the verse at Hebrews 9:28 B because it mentions about Jesus appearing the second time....unto salvation.
To me, that would be salvation ( being delivered/ rescued ) from enemy death. - 1 Corinthians 15:26; Isaiah 25:8
So, that would be ' everlasting salvation ' being delivered/ rescued from enemy death forever.
Since, to me, we are nearing the soon coming ' time of separation ' of Matthew 25:31-33,37, when people alive and living on Earth can be saved from death. They can continue to live alive on Earth right into the start of Jesus' coming 1,000-year governmental rulership over Earth begins when there will be salvation from enemy death forever for the living, followed by the resurrection for the sleeping dead - Psalms 115:17; Psalms 146:4; Acts of the Apostles 24:15

 

[Cateau]

I've been wondering how far our emotional responses to death are in fact conditioned by our beliefs. The way we see death often greatly shapes how we behave in our own lives and how we value it or what we value about it. So I wanted to see if people have very different or very similar views on it and how you feel about it.

This maybe a little gloomy- but it will be interesting if someone says they are looking forward to dying and can share the wisdom we can hope is behind that view. It would certianly be more pleasant to look on the bright side about how we will fertilize the soil and bring forth new life but I find that hard to do that with a striaght face. Its just weird to associate death with flowers growing out of your eventual compost.

I'm under the impression that western cultures have a very negative view of death whereas other cultures are more positive. The taboos surronding death are not universal which is interesting. So if you have an example of a belief or culture that takes a more positive or laid back view of death you're very welcome to share.

Any thoughts? Make Your move against the reaper...

My roommate/boss worships death. I think its Satan he worships but I don't think Satan is death, Biblically death is not a person although there is a messenger that fits that description of taking lives when it is due, any messenger wouldn't allow worship to itself if its not of the triune so I don't see how he thinks death is of a good enough nature to be worshiped when it comes to religion. The bible itself of death is not useful in knowing why death should even be worshiped.

 

[ajay0]

The Hindu-Jain beliefs talk about reincarnation of the soul.

Buddhists believe in rebirth.

The works of western psychiatrists like Dr. Brian Weiss, Dr. Michael Newton and Dr. Ian Stevenson shows that reincarnation may have its basis in reality as well.

Dr. Brian Weiss's book " Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives " was a bestseller which brought the message of reincarnation to many in the west.

After I learnt of the possibility of the reincarnating soul, I ceased to be a staunch materialist.

Paramahamsa Yogananda's book 'The autobiography of a yogi' similarly explains the astral worlds and so on, where the reincarnating soul may go after death for a span of time to experience the fruits of its karma.

It is the astral worlds, that probably stands for heaven and hell in the abrahamic religions.

However unlike the abrahamic religions, one only stays for a span of time in the astral worlds and departs it upon the extinction of karmas, good or bad.

There is no such thing as an eternal hell and stuff. But you do suffer for all bad karma or actions perpetrated.

 

[stevevw]

I've been wondering how far our emotional responses to death are in fact conditioned by our beliefs. The way we see death often greatly shapes how we behave in our own lives and how we value it or what we value about it. So I wanted to see if people have very different or very similar views on it and how you feel about it.

This maybe a little gloomy- but it will be interesting if someone says they are looking forward to dying and can share the wisdom we can hope is behind that view. It would certianly be more pleasant to look on the bright side about how we will fertilize the soil and bring forth new life but I find that hard to do that with a striaght face. Its just weird to associate death with flowers growing out of your eventual compost.

I'm under the impression that western cultures have a very negative view of death whereas other cultures are more positive. The taboos surronding death are not universal which is interesting. So if you have an example of a belief or culture that takes a more positive or laid back view of death you're very welcome to share.

Any thoughts? Make Your move against the reaper...

According to "Terror Management Theory", all humans create meanings to life and life after death to lessen the fear of death.

In social psychology, terror management theory (TMT) proposes a basic psychological conflict that results from having a desire to live but realising that death is inevitable. This conflict produces terror, and this terror is then managed by embracing cultural values, or symbolic systems that act to provide life with meaning and value.
Terror management theory - Wikipedia

Personally, my belief allows me to see that there is more to life than what we experience here on planet earth. I am getting older and my life has gone fast. But this life would be a drop in the ocean compared to eternal life. If all we had was this life then for many it would be a sad life as they have been dealt a poor hand. many are suffering poverty, disability and in pain. The bible says that those who are suffering now will find peace with God in the next life. I look forward to the time when I will pass onto the next life with God and belief in God actually makes my life better in the here and now as well.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Death is a transition of something complicated and intricate into something crude and unformed.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

In Catholicism, November is the traditional month for remembering the dead and visiting gravesites to pay respects. Saint's days are usually on the day of their death, for this is seen as a happy homecoming to Heaven where they will enjoy the Beatific Vision for all eternity. We pray for the dead and the dying, so that they may find joy in the hereafter. St. Michael the Archangel is traditionally viewed as the Angel of death, who comes to take the soul to their personal judgment.

Some Catholic prayers dealing with death:

ACCEPTANCE OF DEATH
We, too, O God, will descend into the grave whenever it shall please you, as it shall please you, and wheresoever it shall please you. Let your just decrees be fulfilled; let our sinful bodies return to their parent dust, but, in your great mercy, receive our immortal souls, and when our bodies have risen again, place them likewise in your kingdom, that we may love and bless you for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
or:
Dear God and Father of mine, Lord of life and death, with an immutable decree you have established that, as a just chastisement for our sins, all of us have to die. Look at me here bent low before you. From the bottom of my heart, I abhor my past faults, for which I have merited death a thousand times, a death that I now accept as atonement for my sins and as proof of my submission to your lovable will. O Lord, happily will I die at the moment, in the place, and in the way that you want. And until that day I will take advantage of the days of life that remain in order to fight against my defects and grow in your love, to break the bonds that tie my heart to creatures, and to prepare my soul to appear in your presence; and from this moment on I abandon myself without reserve into the arms of your fatherly providence.

Prayer for a Happy Death
O my Creator and Father, I beg of you the most important of all
your graces: that of final perseverance and a holy death. Despite the fact that I have greatly misused the life you have given me, grant me the grace to live it well from this moment on and to end it in your holy love.
Let me die as the holy patriarchs died, leaving this valley of tears without sadness, to go and enjoy eternal rest in my true homeland.
Let me die as did glorious St. Joseph, accompanied by Jesus and Mary, pronouncing those sweetest of names, which I hope to extol for all eternity.
Let me die as did the Immaculate Virgin, in the purest of love and with the desire of uniting myself to the only object of my love.
Let me die as did Jesus on the cross, fully identified with the will of the Father and made into a holocaust for the sake of love.
Jesus, having accepted death for me, grant me the grace of dying in an act of perfect love for you.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me now and at the hour of my death.
St. Joseph, my father and lord, win for me the favor of dying as one of the just.

Prayer for the Moment of Death
O Lord, my God, from this moment on I accept with a good will, as something coming from your hand, whatever kind of death you want to send me, with all its anguish, pain, and
sorrow.
V. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
R. I give you my heart and my soul.
V. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
R. Assist me in my last agony.
V. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
R. May I sleep and take my rest in peace with you.

PRAYER OF COMMENDATION
When the moment of death seems near, the following prayer may be said:

I commend you, my dear brother (sister),
to almighty God
and entrust you to your Creator.
May you return to him
who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints
come to meet you as you go forth from this life.
May Christ, who was crucified for you,
bring you freedom and peace.
May Christ, who died for you,
admit you into his garden of paradise.
May Christ, the true Shepherd,
acknowledge you as one of his flock.
May he forgive all your sins
and set you among those he has chosen.
May you see your Redeemer face to face
and enjoy the vision of God for ever.
R. Amen.



Saints of God, come to his (her) aid!
Come to meet him (her), angels of the Lord!
R. Receive his (her) soul and present him (her) to God, the Most High.
May Christ, who called you, take you to himself;
may angels lead you to Abraham’s side. R.
Give him (her) eternal rest, O Lord,
and may your light shine on him (her) for ever. R.
Let us pray.
All-powerful and merciful God,
we commend to you N., your servant.
In your mercy and love,
blot out the sins he (she) has committed
through human weakness.
In this world he (she) has died:
let him (her) live with you for ever.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

These verses may also be used:
V. Eternal rest grant unto him (her), O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon him (her).
V. May he (she) rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. May his (her) soul
and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
R. Amen.

We may also pray to see family members again. For example:

For a parent:
Let us pray.
Almighty God,
you command us to honor father and mother.
In your mercy forgive the sins of my (our) parents
and let me (us) one day see him (her) again
in the radiance of eternal joy.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

For a brother or sister:
Let us pray.
God, our Maker and Redeemer,
in your mercy hear my (our) prayer.
Grant forgiveness and peace
to my (our) brother (sister) N. and N.,
who longed for your mercy.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

Etc.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I'm still facing a potential risk of death since my recent heart attack.

It's like looking at a wavy river. We rise and fall, yet it's all water.

Nothing is really made or destroyed except the forms that arise and dissipate.

I find death to be that continuation which never really had a beginning or end to speak of in the first place.

It's referred to as Original face.