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Post Mortem Life: A Soulful Departure

Nonsensical

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What do you believe in?

Do we just stop? Like words at the end of a page?

Or is there something else there?

Think about this:

If you were walking in a forest, wouldn't it be blasphemous to say that there is no end? Ridiculous to say that the forest stretches on forever?

But don't all forests come out somewhere?

That may be a backwards metaphor, but it still makes sense.


Symbolically speaking, one could say our trip here in this body is a lot like a walk through a forest. A walk where we don't just terminate when we reach the edge. A walk where holes, logs, animals, and the dark are our enemies, and sunlight, moss, downhill slopes, and fellow hikers are our friends.

But dare to see it that way.

I just don't find any sense in saying there ISN'T anything at the end of the forest.
 

Moiety

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What do you believe in?

Do we just stop? Like words at the end of a page?

Or is there something else there?

Think about this:

If you were walking in a forest, wouldn't it be blasphemous to say that there is no end? Ridiculous to say that the forest stretches on forever?

But don't all forests come out somewhere?

That may be a backwards metaphor, but it still makes sense.


Symbolically speaking, one could say our trip here in this body is a lot like a walk through a forest. A walk where we don't just terminate when we reach the edge. A walk where holes, logs, animals, and the dark are our enemies, and sunlight, moss, downhill slopes, and fellow hikers are our friends.

But dare to see it that way.

I just don't find any sense in saying there ISN'T anything at the end of the forest.

You don't ever "enter" said forest though. You just pop up inside. You never get to see the boarders and when you die, you simply pop out of that forest.


I don't understand why people focus so much on explaining what comes afterwards when we don't even know what came before.
 

Quinlan

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Yes I imagine being dead is a lot like being not born yet.
 

Nonsensical

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You don't ever "enter" said forest though. You just pop up inside. You never get to see the boarders and when you die, you simply pop out of that forest.


I don't understand why people focus so much on explaining what comes afterwards when we don't even know what came before.

But we do enter the forest.

That's a good point, and I must admit I focus more on what happens after than before. But I think such an analogy can work for pre birth experiences too.
 

Lady_X

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But we do enter the forest.

That's a good point, and I must admit I focus more on what happens after than before. But I think such an analogy can work for pre birth experiences too.

me too ows...just because you don't remember it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
 

Athenian200

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I believe in the simple explanation. Our souls are simply collected in a large energy pool, and recycled back into new bodies. Sort of like what happens to rain after it evaporates, comes back down, is evaporated again, etc... It's possible that the soul gains "experience" this way, though it may just be a meaningless endless loop that we actually invented to kill the time and boredom since our souls are immortal.
 

Polaris

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After giving things careful thought, I'm positive that death is exactly as described in certain strains of Buddhism (my ego, arrogant thing that it is, wants to mention that I realized this before learning about Buddhism). Long story short, we reincarnate just like we constantly do anyway. You're not the same person you were five minutes ago; that person is dead and only has a loose connection to your present self. This is the same kind of connection as the one between yourself before and after the moment of bodily death. All of the particles that make you up will sort of fall apart and get integrated into other consciousnesses, taking with them the faintest traces of who you once were. That same process is one you're already involved with on various levels. As a living thing, you take in other souls through various means and, through interacting with them, put some of your own soul into others'. It's really kind of like Nietzsche's will to power.
 

Moiety

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But we do enter the forest.


Entering a forest would mean you were somewhere else before yes, but why do you think we enter the forest in the first place? What are you basing yourself on?



I have a trouble when people try to discuss deep matters at a superficial level. This soul topic is connected to other notions that in my opinion cloud perception in many cases. Just because we use abstracts terms like "society" (as an example) doesn't mean it's a palpable thing that has a beginning or an end. If you have a person stranded on a deserted island...you can't talk in terms of society. But if there is one on the other side of the island and they come together at some point and meet...then a notion of society suddenly appears "out of the blue". It's a matter of perception. Just because the air is invisible, it doesn't mean it's not there. But it also does not mean there has to be a mystical explanation for its existence. We are clouded by our perception of things.

Just as society is an abstract concept...so is life. What is life to you? What is your definition of end of life? Are plants alive? Do they have a soul? Are rocks alive? Why aren't they alive? At a fundamental level we are all atoms aren't we?

Can you grasp the possibility of an AI machine coming to existence at some point? I know I can. Would it be alive? Why is metal any less alive than flesh? Is a severed arm lying on the floor considered alive or dead? A severed head?

No...they aren't, only the whole is considered alive...because alive is a concept that only applies to a group of things. An atom doesn't behave the same way a zillion of atoms in the form of a huma being do. So we never ask "is this atom alive?" because the concept is abstract and simply doesn't apply to it.

me too ows...just because you don't remember it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Just because you don't remember it, doesn't mean you didn't eat a whole piñata last night. :tongue: Perception.
 
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