What's your thoughts of the afterlife?

I'm curious to see what people think will happen to them after death. Will there be a place that we enter where will be rewarded or punished for our deeds in life? Or will we simply cease to exist?

Your thoughts please...

First, our most recent thread covering this was this one: http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/General-Discussions/73829-Contemplation-of-Death-Atheism-applied-to-non-atheism (in september)

We love new topics! BUT, I'd also like to think that past discussions can be equally enlightening for those seeking information that may already be hashed out somewhere else.

Other interesting topics from this site on the Afterlife:
http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/Jediism/30116-Only-One-Life-To-Live-Or-TwoOr-Three

A small one from 2009
http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/Jediism/24632-There-is-no-death-there-is-the-Force

I'm sure there are more. Just use the search button.

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NOW, for what I believe? I think we are an illusion, this humanity. I think that humanity is to suffer. And, suffering is not necessary. When we stop suffering, we will be enlightened and very, very dead. Though, I am fairly positive that we cannot know of an afterlife, since it is only in myths that we see the Afterlife interacting with the Presentlife.

You know what's funny, though, I do not distinguish between Prelife and Afterlife. Why would I? Seems that they are both and the same, and that our Earthly existence is merely a stage in that journey. I don't try to "mystify" it by giving this Earth existence OR the Afterlife any type of "glory". I just realize that I do not know what happened before I was born, and I will not know what comes after till I get there. BUT, I am fairly certain about my time here on Earth. So I will use it to my advantage.

In other words, you could say: "I don't know." hahaha.

I would hope there is something. Another plane, another dimension, reincarnation,...something. Of course if there isn't, well then who will be around to know? So I guess either way is fine.

We have two minds/spirits. Our yin spirit is basically just our unconscious mind. Our yang spirit is our conscious mind.

At death the yang spirit is scattered back into the environment, and the yin spirit remains until it is reborn when mated with a new yang spirit.

The yin spirit is not like a normal human consciousness, it is just the burnt out remains of a subconscious mind.

Yin spirits cannot create anything new, have no willpower, and no concept of emotion, and no ability to remember what emotion felt like, they are passive observers.

What awaits us is a zombie like existence.

“Your father is probably a white spirit now,” he said. “But you know, because he had no yang to take with him, his nature is much simpler than you think.”

“What do you mean, Sifu?” I asked.

“I mean that a typical spirit is basically like our unconscious mind. He cannot think deliberately, make decisions, or create. He is subject to whatever he has brought with him.”

John was silent for a time, then caught my eye and held me with his gaze. “For example,” he said, “your father can remember everything about you. He knows that you are his son. He remembers holding you in his arms when you were born. What he cannot remember is what it was like to love you.”

We were shocked, all of us.

“They have only yin,” he continued softly, “so what defines their continuation is simply their karma, good or bad. That is why it is so important to have yang to take with you when your time comes.” “Because that way you retain your humanity,” I whispered. John nodded approvingly.

Danaos, Kosta The Magus of Java

drewkski wrote: I'm curious to see what people think will happen to them after death. Will there be a place that we enter where will be rewarded or punished for our deeds in life? Or will we simply cease to exist?

One world at a time.

My belief of what happens to us after death...

Well, I do believe in reincarnation, so that accounts for some of it. But I also believe that this world is no more than a place for us to learn certain lessons, and that once we have learned all that life on this rock can teach, we move to other realms (dimensions, or planes of existence, or whatever you want to call it).

I believe that while the body, and indeed all things physical have a limited duration and finite existence (and can thus be called "illusion", not in that "non-existent" kind of way, but rather in a "no lasting or intrinsic worth or value" kind of way), we are beings of energy (soul) and as such are eternal (without beginning or end).

I believe that there is sufficient evidence and data to support the idea of "ghosts" and that some spirits linger on this world, devoid of physical form, after death. I cannot, however, even begin to speculate as to why that happens, or what it doesn't happen every time.

I do not believe in heaven or hell or god(s) or devil(s) or really even in "good" or "evil" as independent concepts or forces. But I do believe in "angels" and "demons"...if you had lead my life and seen the things I've seen, you'd believe in them, too. I know there are some nasty things out there, as well as some apparently beneficent entities. I cannot with any certainty say that these are different entities, however, that the "goodguys" are not the same beings as the "badguys"...I tend to think that what determines whether something is "good", "evil", or "neutral" is our point of view more than their motives or actions. But I could be very wrong about this...That is a risk I'm prepared to take for me, but I encourage everyone to conduct their own "research" or study. Live your own life. Seek your own "truth". The one thing we don't seem to be able to "get away from" is the idea that each person's death (and birth for that matter) is an experience which is deeply personal, so in the end, your truth will be all that matters for you. Please be sure you've done the best you can to find it.

drewkski wrote: I'm curious. Good. Or will we simply cease to exist?

Your thoughts please...

Sometimes I think I'm a fool to THINK of an afterlife and when I done I'm done....... but I don't FEEL that way.

Some days I wonder...

If I imagine a person in my head, somebody I make up in my mind, and thoughts run about this person, is that person then real, in my mind, because I imagined them? Did I give an independent life to that person? And what if the thought of that person eventually ends? Does that person die? Was I that person in my head while I thought about them?

Then I wonder...

Am I just the thought of something else? Just an idea? Is my ego simply an instance of the thought? When I die, will I just resort back to the original awareness of the source life that thought of me?

Proteus wrote: Some days I wonder...

If I imagine a person in my head, somebody I make up in my mind, and thoughts run about this person, is that person then real, in my mind, because I imagined them? Did I give an independent life to that person? And what if the thought of that person eventually ends? Does that person die? Was I that person in my head while I thought about them?

Then I wonder...

Am I just the thought of something else? Just an idea? Is my ego simply an instance of the thought? When I die, will I just resort back to the original awareness of the source life that thought of me?

Beautiful Proteus.

We are thoughts who think.

Yes but it's confusing isn't? Thought creates, what we create is only limited by our thoughts. Imagination amplifies our thoughts. There are no limits to our thoughts and what we can create. You have to believe that for it to be true.