AFTER DEATH

hola everyone. just wondering what your after death theories are.
do we go to heaven/hell?
do we simply cease to exist?
are we born again?
what do you think?

i have a few theories but i think that one could be that after we die we simply go back to the start and live the same life again
i guess that would be kind of unimaginative of our creator [if we have one] though.

I believe in re-incarnation, that you die and then your soul goes back into a new life. shouldnt this be in the religion section?

its a life philosophy though

well i spose its more a death philosophy
should there b a different section 4 this???

i believe in reincarnation, but not in the popular version of the concept. let me clarify--i do not believe that we die and come back as butterfly. i don't think it's as simple as that. i'm by no means an expert in science (in fact, it's one of my worst subjects in school, but let's not hold that aganst me now), but from what i understand, there are two types of things that exist: matter and energy. i don't know what you people mean by a "soul," but i believe that our mind is the most essential thing; it is what makes us, us. in fact, it is the ONLY thing that we can honestly call our own. i believe that our mind is made of energy. once our body dies, we decompose. detrivores break our flesh down and return the nutrients into the soil. we become food for plants(hence the phrase, "we are what we eat" ). our minds, i believe, are recycled. energy cannot be destroyed, only converted. i believe that, given enough time, it becomes everything from the energy that allows a thousand flowers to bloom to that which keeps a candle burning.

Well, you may be tried by it, but here is a lengthy $.02 worth.
When I was in college, I worked with a teacher, who was expanding into the hypo-thearapy. I had gone to him to improve memory and had previous experience with self-hypnotic techniques (smoking).
Later in life I became friends with a psyic, he too had gone to a hypnotist to quit smoking. He also raved about his experience with past life regression. I don't particularly believe in reincarnation but the use of hypnosis in this way, did stimulate my interest in the subject.
Being close friends he had allowed me to listen to his sessions & in his regressions had entered into several past lives. In discussions with family I had talked about his experiences and questioned the validity of his regression into another life. When I visited my sister, she had arranged with a local practictionor for my own regression session.
My experience was neither as deep nor conclusive rather added a perplexing aspect. During the session,he became agitated when he gave me the suggestion that I would look back upon my past lives. Percieving the time line with my past lives shining like light of candles for each life. Instead of a long line of lifes stretching into the past, I viewed a long line of time with relatively few lights. In fact, an area of flux representing the time between ages divided the lights into roughly equal portions.
While I tend not to belief in reincernation, I tend toward KrazyGamer view
but the relatively few 'past' lifes tends to contradict that point of view.

I'm guessing we cease to exist. You know, like sleep.
To really know though you'd have to do some research on the human mind to locate where *you* are.
For example in some cases of brain disease they slice your brain in 2. In many cases the patient survives but the person only has real control of half their body. We know which half of the body is controlled by which half of the brain, and so you determined that the persons soul (for lack of a better term ) is in that half of the brain.

Erm... Not sure if that was clear but with a little luck you'll understand what I mean

I think Crimson, what you are indicating might fall into the catagory of synapse. (nerve transmission) An area which particular brain function or memory might be stored?
While I think KrazyGamer may be discussing the bioelectrical energy itself?
As noted elsewhere by others, near-death and out of body experiences have verifiable perceptions of the world that could not have been percieved except during that state.
Similar to may be cutting yourself, you note the pain but don't realize it until you look down and see the blood.
So ther is some indication that these events transcend merely being within your own mind.
My rationale was that 'how do I know that this was (is) my past life and not just some life energy of some unknown soul?

"My rationale was that 'how do I know that this was (is) my past life and not just some life energy of some unknown soul?"
O.o
Hmmm.. I don't understand, must be too deep for me lol/

I was thinking about your post last night, and can see that I had been blind sided by my own disbelief. Past life regression is based upon this life regression, returning to memory held within the brain. Then does not past life regression represent the same thing? Perhaps the large area of the brain science claims we don't use could be redefined as that portion which we already used, a repository of past life experiences? Very interesting line of thouht that I had not taken, Thank You. Just as my friends life memories are his own so the past lifes' memories are his own . . .

Cturtle : "Perhaps the large area of the brain science claims we don't use could be redefined as that portion which we already used, a repository of past life experiences?"
Arg I hate this kind of reasoning
I mean, how could this be possible. The molecules who held our own brain are always broken apart and any information it held as memory is lost.

The useless part of the brain could easily be vestigial, ie useless. Just like a guy's nipples, your toes etc...

How about DNA? the genes of our parents give rise to our physical traits, what if the life form (force, erengy) is imprinted similarly when we enter into a new life?
(Remember, I am the one who doesn't particularly beleive in reincarntion. So please don't get to upset with an answer or lack there of.)

I believe in the Catholic Church teaching of a place we go that is not heaven or hell, from there, reincarnation, until we reach that place where we are able to give ourselves up to God. That would be the baptism by fire or the marriage feast. I don't believe that the baptism by fire or the marriage feast can be acomplished in just one life time.

Ya, that was my friend the psychic statement 'that GOD wouldn't give us one chance at living the Good Life before condemning us'. Which has been debated through out the history of juedo-christian religion.
that after we die we simply go back to the start and live the same life again, Hmm . . . kind of like a computer program that loops back or loops back until it corrects itself?

"How about DNA? the genes of our parents give rise to our physical traits, what if the life form (force, erengy) is imprinted similarly when we enter into a new life?"
Perhaps, certainly seems possible. Seems fairly unlikely but there's nothing which says that its impossible.

Immanuel Kant put it perfectly when he said, "The human heart refuses to believe in a universe without purpose." I think the idea of heaven, reincarnation and such are of great comfort to some people, however these theories rely solely on faith, and are more likely false than true. Similar beliefs were created during a time when there was no better explanation to questions about the life, medicine, or the body. Science has come a long way since then, and does not support the theory of heaven/hell or reincarnation. The reason we want to believe in this is because when one actually comprehends that they will no longer exist it is one of the most depressing feelings you can have. Does the fact that we are self aware make us more privelaged than any other being on earth to the point where we continue on after our deaths while they do not? What happens to dogs, cats, monkeys, etc? This may seem pessimistic, however after pondering the same question for hours upon end, it's the only conclusion i could reach. In short, we cease to exist, returning to what we were before our births, nothing. Besides, if I am wrong, i'll be pleasantly suprised.