Does the "no afterlife" ever scare you?

[_Some Schmo]

Good to see the faith community weighing in on this.

Why would they?

[_sock puppet]

No afterlife is like a variation on Pascal's wager. If it's false then we will be forever grateful. If it is true then we will be none the wise.

The Penguin speaks truth. That is my thinking, except will I be grateful if I am in Dante's hell? Probably not, unless I get used to and make friends of the monsters. That's why fear of god sending us to hell compels many to pray, obey and pay all their lives.

In a way, JSJr eased that up for us. The idea that we could progress in the hereafter, even if just partially, sort of softens the possibility of eternity stuck in Dante's hell.

[_Buffalo]

When I sit down and get totally serious about where I stand on religion and whatnot, I realize deep down there is no spirit, no god, and no afterlife. You peel off the layers of my imaginations and hopes and all you get is biology, chemistry, and physics.

It's true there is much to bring me joy in this life without belief in the invisible. But sometimes I think about death in a way I never have before and to be completely honest with you, it kind of scares me. I think about what it would be like to vanish from thought into nothing. It's possible this is worse than darkness because in the dark you at least have scary monsters to get accustomed to. I would eventually make friends with them because after all, eternity is a long time.

Sometimes, the thought crosses my mind, "Just choose to believe in it and your fear will vanish." it seems like a good reason to believe! But then, I could do the same thing with the housing market. "I believe the economy will turn around in a year and we won't be like Japan." But this just won't do! I can't believe my way through life. Truth sucks!

Anyone else think this way?

It did at first, but it honestly doesn't anymore. When we die there's no more pain, no more suffering, no more worrying. No more of the good things either, but frankly, we won't know anything about it. It's difficult for us to imagine our own non-existence, but there will be no more "you" to worry about anything. I find the example of how you felt about life before you were born helpful. 100 years ago you didn't exist. Was that so bad?

[_ludwigm]

The idea that we could progress in the hereafter, even if just partially, sort of softens the possibility of eternity stuck in Dante's hell.

[_Tchild]

Anyone else think this way?

I do. Nothingness gives me the willies. Actually, it is terrifying to me.

I think I might even prefer an eternity of wearing big baggy white temple clothes and a baker's hat while reverently walking around stone faced and unsmiling around some Celestial room-esque version of LDS heaven, rather than fade into zero.

At least in LDS heaven I can still lust at the heavenly mammaries teasingly hiding beyond nothing but a thin layer of Celestial light-fabric...or whatever will clothe those perfect Celestial bods.

Personally, I like to believe that consciousness continues on. I don't think we don some resurrected ape suit (homo sapien) and run around heaven with Franklin Day Planners being "perfect", but on some level I sense that awareness continues on, and that is good enough for me for now.

[_sock puppet]

Anyone else think this way?

I do. Nothingness gives me the willies. Actually, it is terrifying to me.

I think I might even prefer an eternity of wearing big baggy white temple clothes and a baker's hat while reverently walking around stone faced and unsmiling around some Celestial room-esque version of LDS heaven, rather than fade into zero.

At least in LDS heaven I can still lust at the heavenly mammaries teasingly hiding beyond nothing but a thin layer of Celestial light-fabric...or whatever will clothe those perfect Celestial bods.

Personally, I like to believe that consciousness continues on. I don't think we don some resurrected ape suit (homo sapien) and run around heaven with Franklin Day Planners being "perfect", but on some level I sense that awareness continues on, and that is good enough for me for now.

Tchild, I am curious. It has been so long since I have believed in an afterlife, and I have become so settled or at peace with the notion that I will not continue as a conscious entity after the mortal coil fails, I would now need explanation of the appeal of continued thought after death. I am hoping you can expound on that.

[_Tchild]

Tchild, I am curious. It has been so long since I have believed in an afterlife, and I have become so settled or at peace with the notion that I will not continue as a conscious entity after the mortal coil fails, I would now need explanation of the appeal of continued thought after death. I am hoping you can expound on that.

Well, I am perfectly willing to allow that consciousness does not exist on. I only *hope* that it does. Now, hope isn't the best of determiners, but it is a start.

In seriousness, I do not think that our brain functions, our emotions, our personality, nor even our memories will exist the way they do now for us after physical death.

It is awareness, and even though I haven't experienced it, I can intuit it at some level. That "awareness" is something that is universal. Religions call it "god", others call it consciousness, supermind, oneness or whatever. It is that essence of which we are all part of and which guides and directs our life. The ego self (the mind) believes it is the author of life, of will and free agency and the like. It is not. The ego clouds reality and is the source of all suffering and pain. The true self is eternal, is never harmed and never anything but complete and total. That is why mystics say that the world is absolutely perfect as it is, right here, right now.

For me, this reality, something I have never experienced personally...yet, is something that is found in the language of every religion, mystic and person who has transitioned out of the ego mind and experienced this awareness for themself.

If this awareness that is eternal can be accessed or understood while alive, and this awareness is the true Self, or "I", then it stands to reason that it supercedes our physical death also and that death is nothing more than a change of perception and awareness.

Of course, I offer my thoughts to share and not to convince. If people remain unconvinced, or unsure, that is perfectly OK with me. I am not on a proselytizing mission for the universe.

[_sock puppet]

Tchild, I am curious. It has been so long since I have believed in an afterlife, and I have become so settled or at peace with the notion that I will not continue as a conscious entity after the mortal coil fails, I would now need explanation of the appeal of continued thought after death. I am hoping you can expound on that.

Well, I am perfectly willing to allow that consciousness does not exist on. I only *hope* that it does. Now, hope isn't the best of determiners, but it is a start.

In seriousness, I do not think that our brain functions, our emotions, our personality, nor even our memories will exist the way they do now for us after physical death.

It is awareness, and even though I haven't experienced it, I can intuit it at some level. That "awareness" is something that is universal. Religions call it "god", others call it consciousness, supermind, oneness or whatever. It is that essence of which we are all part of and which guides and directs our life. The ego self (the mind) believes it is the author of life, of will and free agency and the like. It is not. The ego clouds reality and is the source of all suffering and pain. The true self is eternal, is never harmed and never anything but complete and total. That is why mystics say that the world is absolutely perfect as it is, right here, right now.

For me, this reality, something I have never experienced personally...yet, is something that is found in the language of every religion, mystic and person who has transitioned out of the ego mind and experienced this awareness for themself.

If this awareness that is eternal can be accessed or understood while alive, and this awareness is the true Self, or "I", then it stands to reason that it supercedes our physical death also and that death is nothing more than a change of perception and awareness.

Of course, I offer my thoughts to share and not to convince. If people remain unconvinced, or unsure, that is perfectly OK with me. I am not on a proselytizing mission for the universe.

Let's call it awareness for simplicity and continuity. Of what are we aware now? We are aware that we are experiencing pain, pleasure, happiness, sadness; that is, we are aware of emotions. We are aware of ideas that we ourselves might formulate or stitch together from other notions. We are aware of the current situation and the past events we have experienced, but we are not aware of the future. We are aware of the existence of others. We are aware of the existence of ourselves and that we seem to perpetuate into the future.

If we stopped being aware, what would there be to be aware of? I don't think the absence of an afterlife means we'd be aware that we were in something like a sensory deprivation tank. It would mean there would be nothing to be aware of, because we'd be incapable of being aware of anything.

A continuation after this life that would entail a worse situation than here would be something to be currently afraid of. A continuation after this life that would entail better circumstances than here might be enjoyable, but then maybe only for so much time before it becomes mundane, boring, disappointing, and depressing. (For example, how long was the longest you could stand being in the Celestial Room at the temple before you wanted to leave, change into your street clothes, drive your car to a taco stand and have Mexican food? For me, 5 or 10 minutes max. Hate to think of it as a destination place.)

A continuation after this life that is the same might be depressing too. No hope for the better, just lather, rinse, repeat--endlessly.

So actually, I see the eventual turning off of the light switch as the natural conclusion to it all, and comfort in that. It's kind of a trade off, no joy of more sex, but no suffering of any pain or boredom. So it informs that with my remaining time, avoid pain, have more sex.

[_Nightlion]

(For example, how long was the longest you could stand being in the Celestial Room at the temple before you wanted to leave, change into your street clothes, drive your car to a taco stand and have Mexican food? For me, 5 or 10 minutes max. Hate to think of it as a destination place.)

Same for me because I knew that the Lord was NOT in any defiled temple. Sox, you forecast boredom because you are still alone with yourself and not hooked up with Christ in God. That is the preparation needed to LIVE in the next life. Damn, trudging into the next life all by yourself seems abysmal to me too.
You do not know the Joy of the Lord. How much fun would it be to stand there and watch Leonardo do a masterpiece. Cool huh? Or any creative genius sitting there with you while he is in the throws of something great. Those are only men and not God. Imagine then being with God as he contemplates a new creature and commands it to come forth? Or watch as he ends a galaxy to begin a new one. Or to be allowed to peek into his ability to pierce through and comprehend his glory in all things. Or to observe how he draws a wayward soul by the still small voice, planting a thought here and another there that is well received and see the lad awaken and shake himself and receive line upon line and precept upon precept and withstand the drama of adversity and manfully round up his measure of the kingdom of God put upon him against all odds? Good entertainment I say. What drama and conflict it be.

Here are a couple of a thousand thousand things that have not yet entered into the thoughts and hearts of men. The joy of the knowledge of God alone is enough. You just have no clue. If it were in anywise truly a bore how would all light and truth cleave unto God? It thrives. As you will thrive. Be there.

ETA: If we were smart enough to do the math we would realize that there is a proof to an afterlife. If all death was an extinction and an annihilation the math of its physics could not add up and remain in constant balance. Energy in and NOTHING out? Impossible.

[_quark]

...the Lord was NOT in any defiled temple.

Why is God so picky? Does he fly down from the stratosphere on his chariot, pulled by flaming cheribums, park in the driveway to the Provo temple, and give the place a tour? Does he go into the locker room, change into his whites, take a name slip, and head up the escalator to the waiting chapel? Does he look around at the other people in there (including all the nice BYU couples) and sneer in disgust at the defilement? Does he walk with the good brothers and sisters to the movie room then stop short at the doorway, with a wrinkled nose, having been offended by the putrid defilement waiting inside the room? Where did the defilement come from? Did they decorate the room incorrectly?

Sometimes I wonder what God thinks about all our attempts to describe his druthers.