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This is the first Poll that I am doing here. I have decided to do the Poll on whether you believe in life after death or not. I do want to see the Poll results that I will get here with this important Question. I have now become more interested in reading about and studying Near-Death Experiences. I believe in life after death.

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No.

Hi Brackite... nice topic!

I voted, "I don't know," because I don't and I do not think anyone does.

I certainly do not think Homo Sapien bodies come back into the exact same form (or as a perfect 25 year old as some seem to believe), from material that has decomposed, or that we retain the form in which we find ourselves at this particular moment in the evolution of our species. I find this silliness actually.

First our bodies are constantly sharing particles with every other life form that has ever existed; where were the minerals that make up our bodies before our bodies came into being? Does the bacteria that find their home in our bodies get resurrected along with us? And what would possibly be the purpose for fingernails, eyelashes, and tonsils? Ya know?

I think our bodies evolved to survive in our environment, and truly just can't believe in the LDS version of eternity.

Unless.... there is some sort of energy (or something), that allows people to create the next experience as they wish; or the essence of existence has a way of allowing consciousness to continue to create (not necessarily in a physical way), a "reality" based on the beliefs that are hardwired into their brain. Or something along these lines.

As of now, (open to change), I do not think "life" as we know it continues but I am guessing, like everything else in the universe since the beginning of time, we transform into something new; our bodies will be utilized by other creatures and perhaps our consciousness will create something really amazing that does not yet exist in our universe?

Sort of like how, at the moment of the big bang, who would have thought 13.7 billion years later there would be symphonies and butterflies on the Earth? We are so new and really understand so very little about existence and this place in which we find ourselves; in my opinion any guess is just not even close.

So.. yeah, I don't know.

~td~

Brackite,

That's a great site. There is no doubt in my mind that our spirit or essence continues on after we shed mortality. I think (from the evidence I've studied) that most likely some, if not all, living beings reincarnate.

The last book I read on the subject was Life Before Life. It's an overview of detailed accounts gathered by Dr's. Ian Stephenson and Jim B. Tucker of the University of Virginia.

They've gathered quite compelling evidence over the past 30 years from all over the world that some children have not yet forgotten their past lives and give vivid recollections of where they lived, their families and how they even died. Not a few they've interviewed have birth marks/defects that coincide with previous life injuries that led to their deaths.

Kenneth Ring also published a book, Lessons from the Light detailing common experiences of NDE'Relief Society. Most are welcomed by deceased relatives or friends and have vivid and detailed life reviews (among other things) before returning to their bodies.

I find it all fascinating. One thing I have concluded thus far in my life is that our deceased relatives meddle with us. That is how I can account for Mormon accounts of whisperings of the spirit that convey messages as if they were true (like the truthfulness of the church or Book of Mormon, choosing eternal companions, priesthood/healing blessings etc).

truth dancer wrote:Sort of like how, at the moment of the big bang, who would have thought..
~td~

Hi TD,

..Probably nobody. :)

I voted no.

Now a few points of clarification. I don't actually know, as TD stated, but there is no evidence that is credible or rational reason to think I will exist after this life. I also don't know if there are or not a Tom Sawyer will judge my soul. Now I suppose my elements will be reused in a number of way, so in that way I will "live." I also wondered if intelligence was a substance that also could not be created or destroyed and I am actually in an unending series of rebirths, but I have no evidence of that either.

No.

I think we experience the exact same thing after death that we did before we were born: absolutely nothing.

Appreciate this life for what it is and forget about past/future lives. Worrying about that stuff is a waste of valuable time.

I don't know if there is life after death, but since you are asking what people believe, I vote "no".

Truth Dancer wrote:I voted, "I don't know," because I don't and I do not think anyone does.

Yeah, I know what I believe.

Inconceivable wrote:Brackite,

That's a great site. There is no doubt in my mind that our spirit or essence continues on after we shed mortality. I think (from the evidence I've studied) that most likely some, if not all, living beings reincarnate.

The last book I read on the subject was Life Before Life. It's an overview of detailed accounts gathered by Dr's. Ian Stephenson and Jim B. Tucker of the University of Virginia.

They've gathered quite compelling evidence over the past 30 years from all over the world that some children have not yet forgotten their past lives and give vivid recollections of where they lived, their families and how they even died. Not a few they've interviewed have birth marks/defects that coincide with previous life injuries that led to their deaths.

Kenneth Ring also published a book, Lessons from the Light detailing common experiences of NDE'Relief Society. Most are welcomed by deceased relatives or friends and have vivid and detailed life reviews (among other things) before returning to their bodies.

I find it all fascinating. One thing I have concluded thus far in my life is that our deceased relatives meddle with us. That is how I can account for Mormon accounts of whisperings of the spirit that convey messages as if they were true (like the truthfulness of the church or Book of Mormon, choosing eternal companions, priesthood/healing blessings etc).

truth dancer wrote:Sort of like how, at the moment of the big bang, who would have thought..
~td~

Hi TD,

..Probably nobody. :)

I always enjoy Inconceivable's posts. I admire his integrity. Thank God he got out because the Church doesn't deserve him.

I also find that he posts the way I would have, say....oh, ten years ago. While I lived in Japan, I still believed in spirits and I even thought ancestors were f....ing with me sometimes. It is fascinating to find others who were once like me.

(This is in no way meant to imply that I have 'progressed' and Inconceivable is still stuck.)

I am just in a different place, now. And I remember fondly those past times when I thought the same. I don't really know why I don't think like that anymore. Too much 'Pineapple Express' and hefeweissen, I guess.

gramps wrote:I always enjoy Inconceivable's posts. I admire his integrity. Thank God he got out because the Church doesn't deserve him.

I also find that he posts the way I would have, say....oh, ten years ago. While I lived in Japan, I still believed in spirits and I even thought ancestors were f....ing with me sometimes. It is fascinating to find others who were once like me.

(This is in no way meant to imply that I have 'progressed' and Inconceivable is still stuck.)

I am just in a different place, now. And I remember fondly those past times when I thought the same. I don't really know why I don't think like that anymore. Too much 'Pineapple Express' and hefeweissen, I guess.

Thankyou for the compliment, gramps.

Perhaps you have 'progressed" (or evolved). I see where I was even last year. I professed to have been born again. I still acknowledge that I had many seemingly good manefestations thru-out my life and even channelled them on many occasions, but I am so unwilling to be meddled with from beyond the veil anymore. In retrospect, the messages and their effects have only caused me a troubling life. Someday I suspect that my life within Mormonism will only be a dream - good and bad.

I just don't need that kind of confusion when I have a mind of my own. I also discovered that I have good intent. This puts me at peace with myself without approval from deity or whoever. I'd have good intentions regardless of what lies beyond.

I put "don't know". I honestly don't know and knowing that I don't know lends me a level of comfort beyond pretending to know and trying to hammer a stake in that idealism hoping it holds.

In the end, I find peace in thinking that if there's nothing after we die, then that's that. I won't care. If there is, then what a fun little surprise it'll be. I almost can't wait.