The thought of death bothers me. It always has. It is so final. It is something to have a thinking person, especially a loved one and or friend, lose the spark of light that guides their thoughts.
Perhaps death bothers me because I don’t believe in an afterlife. Perhaps it bothers me because of the ruminants it leaves with the people that cared for and desired presence of the deceased. Perhaps it is a selfish feeling.
The only thing I know for sure is that there is no coming back. And that scares me.
Death is perceived by me to be similar to couscous blackness. To imagine no stimuli. Nothing.
I know there is something to the concept of a soul. Call it what you will, a power that drives life. An energy. A feeling that we know as consciousness. An awareness.
Unfortunately my beliefs are cold and hard. And so it bothers me more when someone dies. It makes me recognize the need to appreciate the here and now. To understand that tomorrow may never come.
But it never takes away the fear and pain that I associate with death.
I don't believe in the poetic afterlife either.
We do persist in our friends memories, but that's it. There are no 70 virgins, no pearly gates.
Death is not as frightening after you've come close, and learned to appreciate how precious life is. And to know that no matter how bad it may suck at one point, it still does not suck that bad.
(Spelling: Red5, I think "ruminants" should be "remnants" perhaps. And what does couscous has to do with death?)
Well, being an Orthodox Christian, I do believe in the an afterlife, but Death is still scary. I guess I try to imagine it as a peaceful sleep. You should live for today as if tomorrow might not ever come. Its been a year since I faced death when I had a Pulmonary Embolism. I think of it more than I used to, but I also cherish every minute of the day now. I truly believe I was given a second chance and I am thankful.
Well, being an Orthodox Christian, I do believe in the an afterlife, but Death is still scary. I guess I try to imagine it as a peaceful sleep. You should live for today as if tomorrow might not ever come. Its been a year since I faced death when I had a Pulmonary Embolism. I think of it more than I used to, but I also cherish every minute of the day now. I truly believe I was given a second chance and I am thankful.
Im suprised you survived. Most people pass from those. I came close to death as well. I fell 2 stories through a glass roof. I cut the major artery in my leg and almost bleed to death. I believe in an afterlife as well. Thats one thing that comforts me. Although, thinking of death is VERY scary. I try to not think about it though.
Mrs Venom, glad to know that you OK and here to be with us. :thumb:
(Spelling: Red5, I think "ruminants" should be "remnants" perhaps. And what does couscous has to do with death?)
That's what I get for using spell check. I usually don't. You may want to substitute the word have with has. (if you want to be picky)
Consciousness is all that we know. Even when we pass out/go to sleep we still dream and have synaptic reflexes. Since the day you were conceived your brain has been in motion. That motion builds itself to awareness of ones self. It only goes away with death. It is greatly reduced with brain death but only the cold sensation of death will bring about total loss of consciousness.
No matter our endevours in life wether they be large or small, noble or tainted,heroic or cowardly the result is allways the same at the end of our walks in this life .
with out geting in a religious discution, you have to beleive in ultimate justice. that universal sense of fair play that all peoples seem to harbour deep within their souls. we are never really able to put our finger on it and many have mechanisms that help. If all life comes from a single increadable point wether you see it as God or evolution that makes us uniquely binded as one living soul. This is why in every deep recess of our most inner selfs ultimatly burns the same questions, fears, loves, and instincts.
I Will tell you a little story about the circle of life as seen from one point of veiw. It is just that, a story but it addresses the point of universal justice and our lack of perspective to see the larger picture based on a particular vantage point.
(this is a Jewish story It comes from an ancient text know as the TALMUD BAVLI or roughly the BOOK OF BABALON.)I am of course giving you the readers digest version.
A very holy Rabbi who had lived a long a blameless life passed away and stood before the throne of the almighty. The almighty Called on within the heavenly realm to bring tetamony against this man if they could. Only one voice was raised. It was that of duck.
This duck gave an accounting of how he had been wronged by this man in life.
The almighty agreed that in all the Rabbis life this was his his only sin. It was decreed that he must return to earth and commit one good deed to pay for his one sin. The Rabbi asked the almighty why he must return to earth and live as a man again instead of entering into the glory of heaven for only one infraction when many had entered heaven with many more sins than he on their heads. The almighty explained to him that a soul must be refined to obtain a higher level and a white sheet with many stains does not change greatly with additional stains but a sheet with but one stain is a beacon to its imperfection.
The Rabbi humbly accepted the devine decree and was again born into this world.
(cliff note a jew is not responsible for his/her actions intil the age of 13(Bar Mitzva) so your "Karma clock" for lack of a better term does not start running untill then.)
In a small village 13 years later on the day of the town butchers sons Bar Mitzva All the towns people were gatherd for the celebration. At the dinner that night the son of the butcher found a mans ring on the ground. The young man was now face with his first opportunity in his life to choose the path of good or evil and have it as a mark on his soul. He returned the ring to its owner and with little fanfare recieved a thanks and the dinner continued. The young man began to violently choke on a chicken bone and all the townspeople could do nothing to save him and to the horror of everyone the boy died on this the most joyus of days.
The townfolk searched their souls and console each other while mourning for many weeks after the tradjic events. They found a little comfort in faith, religion and friendship. But each person knew deep within himself that although awfull as it was, there had to be a reason. Something on a larger scale that could put order to the terrable event.
In the host of Heaven the soul of a holy man having been purified by a good deed was elevetaed to bliss.
.
.
.
. Again this is the short version but I have allways found this story to help in times of loss. It gives you the understanding that perspective is always limited, and that justice is the ultimate goal of the cosmos.
This duck gave an accounting of how he had been wronged by this man in life.
And so he had to return to make good for doing the duck wrong.
Well, He had a chicken killed for his barmistfa.
Or did he commit unspeakable acts to the duck?
Their is nothing wrong with killing and eating the chickin. Without getting into a long drown out conversation as to the intricasies of "sechita"(jewish laws of ritual slaugter)eating meet is just fine.
As for the duck, He had seen it suffering on the side of the road and did not help it.
This story is really 5 times as long but I hit the points.
Also red, he did not nessesarily have to make it up to the duck, It is more about the ultimate balance in the universe. He just had to do a good deed to make up for a sin he had commited.
All living creatures have a natural instinct for to perpetuate survival. To that extent, we all have a "fear" of death to some degree. However I dont think everyone fears the "concept" of death. If you know youve made a difference in this world to someone, or to a group of people. If you know youve made the world a better place to even some small degree, I believe you have accomplished something. It doenst matter what you believe happens after death since that is the "unknown" it just matters what you do while you are here. Everything else is just speculation and fear of the unknown. Its best just to do your best do make yourself and those you care about happy while you are here. Nothing else matters.
1) One of my co-worker's wife died and was brought back to life. She said that there was most definitely an afterlife.
2) Liz's dad used to live with us. He cooked most of the meals, and spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Last year, he passed away from lung cancer. I remember looking at the clock in the hospital when it was clear he had taken his last breath. The clock said 10:40. No one cooked that day, obviously. But the next night we were in the kitchen and noticed the clock in the kitchen had stopped working. You guessed it: the clock was stuck at 10:40. And this was a quartz movement, electric clock. The second would jump forward a second, then jump back a second, and the minute and hour hands stood transfixed. There was no binding of the hands, nor were the batteries dead.
Since I already believe in a God, and an afterlife, I don't have to go to extraordinary lengths to explain away such occurences.
I am in support of religion and various religious beliefs. There MUST be something to it. All of time (documented) clearly reflects a belief in some sort of greater being. There has to be something. I just don't know what it is. And cannot explain it. When I close my eyes I can feel it. I just can't grasp it and or label it. But there is something there.
A feeling of the existence of a greater power (and no, I am not talking about the damned v10 vs. the ls1).
I have tried to become a believer in what most call God. But I am too weak and I let reason interfere. And so I continue to fear death.
IA ORA TE NATURA
E MEA AROFA TEIE AO NEI
IA ORA TE NATURA
E MEA AROFA TEIE AO NEI
Nature lives (life to nature)
Have pity for the Earth (Love the Earth)
We are all made of experiences, feelings and relations. I don't know if there is an after life, but I hope. There are people I would like to see again; some to laugh with, others to cry with. There are men of stature I wish to learn from, and music I want to hear again. Will I miss this world? Yes, but were do we go? I don't know.
Yeah there is some strange stuff out there. In the end the our question will be answered. Lets look at the odds, there is an afterlife we ahve everything to gain. However if it is lights out like turning off a TV and we simply cease to exist then what have we lost? Our mind is a powerful and smart machine but it is mechanical in a sense. our emotions serve a different purpose than our mind withinour mind (if that makes sense) Emotions are not rational they are jsut the
