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Eternal Life or Eternal Afterlife? A Curse or Blessing?

Eric B

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Do you believe in the dualist philosophy of the mind?
This definition, yes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism_(philosophy_of_mind)
In philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter, which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical.

Though I often wonder where exactly the divide is. What part of our consciousness is the brain, and what part is the soul or spirit?
It seems the receptors of all data from the physical world are from the brain, but certain interpretive capabilities are non-physical. Like the ability to receive light of different wavelengths and process them as somehow different is from the brain. But the reason why w see these differences as what we call "color", and why they "look" the way they do seems like something beyond the brain. That would seem, to be the soul.
Existing for eternity is not a difficult idea for me to grasp. It is much more difficult for me to comprehend NOT existing, in any way, shape, or form.. consciously.
Me too!
Especially making the actual move across. One second you're here, possibly seeing it coming, and then, nothing. Our minds usually repeat events that just happened as they sink in (after images, mental reverberation, etc). But now it can't even do that.
When I first heard the notion of annihilation (from the sabbatarian groups), it initially sounded even worse than the traditional Hell!
 

Octarine

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I doubt it, the curse of eternity idea which people have described in this thread IS hell, while the eternity as a blessing idea IS heaven, it will be either as a consequence of what you do in life.

It could be. Or Heaven and Hell could be the same thing, the difference being based on your state of mind.
And to me, that state of mind is not merely dependent on the formal acceptance of a God. Too many people who claim to be religious are obviously still searching for some kind of restful state of mind.
 
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Mole

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There is the literal interpretation of eternity and the mytho-poetic interpretation -

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.


Which do you prefer?
 

skylights

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Time is not eternal, life can only exist inside time, therefor, life is not eternal.

this.

i wonder if after death we're not constricted to the timespace we are currently.

there are just so many possibilities. it strikes me as funny that we tend to think either linear afterlife or just a full stop are the options. there are so many other options.

Existing for eternity is not a difficult idea for me to grasp. It is much more difficult for me to comprehend NOT existing, in any way, shape, or form.. consciously.

same here.

i'm down with existing for eternity. i can't picture it ever getting boring if there are no boundaries. the reason humans get bored is because we run into restrictions. our energy is restricted, thoughts are limited, space travel is limited, etc... if everything were to suddenly open up... hello bliss.
 
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Ginkgo

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There is the literal interpretation of eternity and the mytho-poetic interpretation -

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.


Which do you prefer?

I like this one. :)
 

Lark

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It could be. Or Heaven and Hell could be the same thing, the difference bieng based on your state of mind.
And to me, that state of mind is not merely dependent on the formal acceptance of a God. Too many people who claim to be religious are obviously still searching for some kind of restful state of mind.

I agree with you on both counts, I did not mean by what you do in life in terms of deeds or merit but how prepared you are for eternity, there's a lot in things such as the Tibetan Book Of The Dead, in so far as they orient people to that restful state of mind.
 

xisnotx

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In my ideal world...you could go between life and death at will.

Imagine experiencing death without having to worry about if you will like it or not..because if you don't you can always just be alive. I'd do it for fun..lol
I have no idea what science is doing...but this to me should be not only a priority but the only priority. I have no idea why people just accept death. Who wants to die?

If humans didn't have to die...I'd definitely find a way to get a spaceship and just go see the universe. There must be a limit...an edge...or something. Damn..just thinking about this makes me sad...who the hell is working on that whole death thing?

I'd spend my time travelling the universe. I'd throw things in black holes. I'd look for life. I'd look for interesting new substances. I'd do everything I could think of..if I couldn't die.

I really hope someone solves the whole death thing before I die. If I ever get rich enough I'm donating all my money biogerontology/cryogenics/cyborgism.

This is one of the reasons I don't like religion. Religion has people looking forward to an afterlife that may or may not exist....yet we know (or at least we perceive ourselves to know) that this reality does exist. Why not try to make this an eternal heaven?

arghh...humans frustrate me...
 
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Anew Leaf

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I am only afraid of what happens to me right before I die. Which I have read means that I am afraid of life, and not death. And this is very true for me.

After I die I want to explore the universe. It would take an eternity to learn about everything, to see every sun, every world, every creature.

Death is a certainty and I can handle that. Life is all uncertainty and I don't like that very much.
 

Octarine

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One of the things I have always wondered about is how our perspective on life would change if accidents, murder or suicide was the only possible way to die.
I still think that our fears are linked to uncertainty. But we fear both the idea of eternal life as well as death due to uncertainty.
 

Synapse

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Experiencing perceptual reality from the mind replaces perceptual realities of the heart. Much of reality is constructed around the premise consciousness is of the mind rather than of the heart.
 

KDude

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I think the concept of Eternal Life goes hand in hand with the concept of...umm.. having a soul or spirit that is touched in a way that can even concieve or find joy in it. Maybe even someone who already has tapped into their Eternal self, so to speak. So there wouldn't be all this discontentment about it when they get there. They already are there. Be it a Buddhist paradigm or a Christian one.. or if you're Conan and found the riddle of steel, and Crom is pleased. I mean, you can't reach Nirvana unless you already did in your mortal life. And you can't appreciate hanging out with Jesus or saints unless you already strove for their friendship in the first place.

Whether any of it is true or not is anyone's guess, but that's not my point. I'm just saying you're approaching it from the perspective of someone who doesn't care about the philosophies, worldviews, and all the trappings contained within these various concepts of eternity. Of course, you wouldn't like it.

For others, it'd be different. There's a quote in the NT from Christ (Luke 17:21), that sort of illustrates what I'm saying. Jesus was asked about the Kingdom of God, and he responds: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." The point being, he was trying to get people to look within first, changing their hearts.. to see if they have even the capacity for it, making them ask themselves if they're capable of embodying it first. The same would apply to Buddhism, albeit with some differences.
 

Octarine

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I think the concept of Eternal Life goes hand in hand with the concept of...umm.. having a soul or spirit that is touched in a way that can even conceive or find joy in it. Maybe even someone who already has tapped into their Eternal self, so to speak. So there wouldn't be all this discontentment about it when they get there. They already are there. Be it a Buddhist paradigm or a Christian one.. or if you're Conan and found the riddle of steel, and Crom is pleased. I mean, you can't reach Nirvana unless you already did in your mortal life. And you can't appreciate hanging out with Jesus or saints unless you already strove for their friendship in the first place.

This is an excellent point. :)
 
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Ginkgo

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I wouldn't want to occupy an afterlife if I was still ruled by my self-awareness there.
 

Synapse

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Experiencing perceptual reality from the mind replaces perceptual realities of the heart. Much of reality is constructed around the premise consciousness is of the mind rather than of the heart.

Now let me bring more emphasis on this idea in relation to eternal consciousness or life as people wish to view it.

What does eternal life, an afterlife even mean, I feel the entire premise of perception in many ways is blurred.

Article

Recently, Neurophysicists have been astonished to discover that the Heart is more an organ of intelligence, than (merely) the bodies' main pumping station. More than half of the Heart is actually composed of neurons of the very same nature as those that make up the cerebral system. Joseph Chilton-Pearce, author of The Biology of Transcendence, calls it "the major biological apparatus within us and the seat of our greatest intelligence."

The Heart is also the source of the body's strongest electromagnetic field. Each heart cell is unique in that it not only pulsates in synchrony with all the other heart cells, but also produces an electromagnetic signal that radiates out beyond the cell. An EEG that measures brain waves shows that the electromagnetic signals from the heart are so much stronger than brain waves, that a reading of the heart's frequency spectrum can be taken from three feet away from the body...without placing electrodes on it!

The Heart's electromagnetic frequency arcs out from the Heart and back in the form of a torus field. The axis of this Heart torus extends from the pelvic floor to the top of the skull, and the whole field is holographic, meaning that information about it can be read from each and every point in the torus.

The Hearts' torus electromagnetic field is not the only source that emits this type of electromagnetic field. Every atom emits the same torus field. The Earth is also at the center of a torus, so is the solar system and even our galaxy...and all are holographic. Scientists believe there is a good possibility that there is only one universal torus encompassing an infinite number of interacting, holographic tori within its spectrum. Because electromagnetic torus fields are holographic, it is more than likely that the sum total of our Universe is present within the frequency spectrum of a single torus.

This means that each one of us is connected to the entire Universe and as such, can access all the information within it at any given moment. When we get quiet and access what we hold in our Hearts, we are literally connecting to the limitless supply and Wisdom of the Universe, thereby enabling what we perceive as "miracles" to enter into our lives.

When we disconnect and shut down the Heart's innate wisdom of Love-based thinking, the ego-based intellect takes over and operates independently of the Heart, and we revert to a survival mentality based on fear, greed, power, and control. In this way, we come to believe that we are separate, our perception of life shifts into one of limitation and scarcity, and one in which we must fight in order to survive. This amazing organ, that we often time ignore, neglect and build walls around, is where we can find our strength, our faith, our courage and our compassion, enabling our higher emotional intelligence that can, if we allow it, guide us through our lives.

We must now switch the gears out of the fear-based mental state that we have been taught to believe in, and move into Heart Centered living. For this transformation to take place, one must learn to meditate, "go into your Heart" and access the inner wisdom of the Universe. It is the only way, it is THE WAY. As each one of us begins this quiet revolution of living from the Heart, we will begin to see it reflected in our lives and in our World. This is how each one of us will create change in the world, create Peace, create Harmony and Balance, and in this way, will we all create the New World Paradigm of Heaven on Earth.

Which is interesting you mention eternity, would time feel limited in the mind and timeless in the heart?
 
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