Life after death

My View on Life after Death,


Since I’ve finished reading, eternal life: A new vision by John Shelby Spong. The thought of life after death has been on my mind a bit. So I thought I would post a few of my current thoughts about it.

Since reading the book my thoughts about life after death haven’t really changed all that much. I still don’t know and most probably never will until the day I die. I was however delighted to read that John Shelby Spong does. He was as I’ve mentioned in my review, a little unclear on WHY and WHAT he believes there is, but I’m happy he does and I know that will give a lot of people hope.

I really do understand the reasons and the hope that believing in life after death brings. I know because I used to believe it! I used to believe as a christian, that as long as I accepted Jesus as my lord and saviour, and lived according to his words I would be ‘saved’ and granted eternal life in heaven. MANY people still believe this, and I have no desire to take away anyone’s hopes because I know how much that belief meant to me at the time. When you completely give yourself over to the idea that you will live on after death and really believe it, (regardless of how you arrive at that belief). There is a sense of calm that is bestowed upon you. However I think the reason we cling so closely to the idea that we will live on through death, is because of our fear of death and the pain of losing loved ones. Let’s face it; death is a pretty scary thought! Does it hurt? What does it feel like? What happens? There are so many questions.

Another reason so many fear death, is because of the religiously programmed idea of hell and punishment. Our natural fear or death coupled with religious ideas of hell and punishment can have devastating effects on people:

(http://www.thebeautifulheresy.com/2006/04/my-story.html)


To me the notion of heaven and hell, reward and punishment is just too conveniently manufactured too suit those with authority and power. "Work for us, behave, do what we say and you’ll go to heaven, if you don’t do what we say, you’ll be tortured in hell forever" Fear is one of the best tools for controlling the masses and no one does it better than organised religion.

But death only becomes scary when we look at it through a lens of fear. I’ve discovered that you don’t need to put all your faith and hope into a religious idea to free yourself from the fear of death. When you take a deep breath, accept that one day you will die, that death is a part of the great cycle which is life and that no one knows what awaits us after we die. I think we put ourselves in a far better position to face death.

In some ways I still hope there is life after death. I hope if there is that I’m going there! Because that means ill get another chance to be with my family and friends and if God is there I can only imagine the conversations we will have. But am I going to build my life around this fantasy? No, because I understand there is absolutely no evidence for it. I accept this as my hope and my hope alone. I tend to keep this hope at the back of my mind because to me what is more important than what could or could not be in the next life, is the life I know I have right now! I would much rather spend my time enjoying this life and thinking of ways to make this life even more enjoyable for others and our future generations. I actually think an absolute belief in the afterlife takes away a lot of the meaning this life has. If our sole purpose for this life is to make it to the next one, well than what the heck is the point of this one!

Another issue I have about the afterlife is the eternal aspect. I mean the initial thought is nice, but when you really think about it. Do we really want to live forever? I mean... forever!!! Not like 10 billion years, or even:

999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999 years.

But FOREVER!

Once you had experienced all there was to experience what would you do? What would happen to creativity or the excitement of experiencing something NEW? What would you do after you had every conversation there was to have, seen all the sights there were to see, answered all the questions to be asked and felt all the emotions to be felt an infinite amount of times over. Wouldn’t this get horrifically tedious? Another issue I have is the concept of no sin, pain or suffering in the afterlife. Either we exist in the afterlife as robots unable to do wrong, or we are given free will mixed with eternity. Do the math!

Humans + free will + eternity = CATASTROPHE!

Is no life after death really something to be afraid of? I don’t think so. In the infinite amount of time before any of us were born, before our bodies and our brains were formed in our mother’s womb, we did not exist. We were officially “experiencing” no life before life. Is it safe to assume this state of non existence continues after our brains have stopped functioning and our bodies have decomposed? I think it’s very possible. Does anyone remember any sense of pain or suffering? Does anyone remember being in distress or any uncomfortable state what’s so ever? I don’t. This isn’t to say this is definitely what happens after we die. I honestly don’t know! But I personally give this outcome the highest score of plausibility. And I’m ok with that : )

People might say “well if there is just nothingness, what’s the point?” Maybe the point to life isn’t about a selfish struggle to try and gain eternal life, maybe the point to life is to live in the NOW and experience all that we can with the time we have, maybe the point to life is to pass on all that we have learned to our children so that they can do the same and continue the beautiful cycle that is life!

So for the time being I’m quite happy to just sit back and enjoy the ride and make the most of this life. If there is an afterlife I’m very curious and look forward to it, if there isn’t, well than I’m thankful for the time I’ve had. : )

Either way I guess we all have to wait to find out right?

Leaked footage of the "war" in Iraq

"If we do not end war - war will end us. Everybody says that, millions of people believe it, and nobody does anything." ~H.G. Wells



"Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace." ~Charles Sumner

Quote: Sam Harris

"I'm asking you to imagine a world in which children are taught to investigate reality for themselves, not in conformity to the religious dogmatism of their parents, but by the lights of truly honest, fearless inquiry.

Imagine a discourse about ethics and mystical experience that is as contingency-free as the discourse of science already is.

Science really does transcend the vagaries of culture: there is no such thing as "Japanese" as opposed to "French" science; we don't speak of "Hindu biology" and "Jewish chemistry."

Imagine a world that has transcended its tribalism—racism and nationalism, yes, but religious tribalism especially—in which we could have a truly open-ended conversation about our place in the universe and about the possibilities of deepening our experience of love and compassion for one another." – Sam Harris

(In an online debate with Andrew Sullivan: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/536)

2 Glasses of red wine

TWO GLASSES OF RED WINE.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 glasses of red wine.........

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, without speaking he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full of golf balls?

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two glasses of red wine from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

Now, said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things; your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions; things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else; the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.'

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children.

Take time to get medical checkups.

Take your partner out to dinner.

Play another 18.

Do one more run down the ski slope.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first; the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the wine represented.

The professor smiled.

'I'm glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of glasses of red wine with a friend.'

Share this with a friend, I just did.

Life

My current view of Life,

The question of the meaning of life is on such a grand scale I dare not have the naivety to assume I am even close to grasping it. Especially in my very short, inexperienced, 22 years of life. But I have tried. I have wrestled with concepts and arguments from lots of different religions and philosophies. I have thought long and hard about why I’m here on this earth and why all life exists. We’ve all had those moments when were lying in bed late at night and we suddenly get this thought... “WHAT THE HECK IS LIFE!” and we begin to closely observe our hands thinking... “WHAT THE HECK ARE HANDS!” (At least I hope we’ve all had those moments!) Life is, and probably will forever be, a mystery to me.

The conclusions that I have drawn are ever changing, ever growing. Which some might argue is a weakness, because they believe in the absolute. But I actually find change quite liberating. In fact I think it’s essential in searching for truth. The idea that you can go through this life without having to change your mind on any issues is to me a sign of close mindedness and ignorance. Although hard to do, I try to admit when I’m wrong and change my mind when good reason and evidence is presented. I try to align my beliefs with what is good for one and for all. I have arrived at my beliefs through observation of the world around me, through reasoning, through deep study, through life experience (which I admit is very limited) and through some good old fashion gut feelings! So this is where I currently stand on my views about life:

I believe that all life is connected somehow in some way, both physically and spiritually. Am I a spiritual person? Yes, I think I am. I’m spiritual in the sense that I think spiritual experience is something to be explored. All around the world people confess to having what most would call a “spiritual experience” from all different backgrounds and faiths. I accept the very likely possibility that perhaps these “experiences” are nothing more than chemicals being released by the brain in certain situations, which our mind then interprets a certain way depending on our worldview, ie. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu ect. But perhaps there is something more to be explored here, perhaps there is something about spirituality that stretches beyond what we can comprehend? Perhaps there is something more, something deeper to this life than our finite minds can understand? I like this quote from Einstein:

“A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.” - Albert Einstein

Where I perhaps differ from those with concrete ideas of spiritualism is I don’t think we can currently define exactly what the word “spiritual” even means. What is a spirit? Is it a force inside all of us? What does it do exactly? What is it made from? Many people have different views on what being spiritual means. This is because we cannot define what a spirit is and unless you can define affirmatively what something is, you can never really understand it. No one has different opinions on what oxygen is. This is because we can, and have, defined Oxygen. Spirituality to me is a very big mystery and one that I am looking forward to exploring further, but I think it’s imperative that when we begin to explore subjects like consciousness and metaphysics we need to admit our ignorance and walk forward in humility. Humility in the face of ignorance is a virtue; it’s OK to say "I don’t know".

In a physical sense we are all made up of the same substance, mainly atoms and molecules. Since the big bang everything that was brought into being is what still makes up everything today. All life is made up of the same simple elements. The differences that we see in life are the result of how these elements have formed together. But the fact still remains that all life is made of the same simple elements. Everything that forms my body is also the same substance that forms yours, natures, my cats and the stars! I don’t mean this in some hippie lets all hold hands kind of way. I generally mean there is something to be taken from the fact that everything in life shares the same biochemical connection.

I believe in the power of the human spirit, that inside all of us we have incredible potential. The potential to accomplish anything we set our minds too, both as individuals and as a collective community. If you pointed to the moon 500 years ago, and told someone that one day we will walk on it, they would have thought you were crazy! I do however believe that as good as it is to be optimistic of the future; we also have to be realistic. We must first acknowledge the facts before we can progress. I would love to see this world turned into a beautiful thriving place in which every human can enjoy their lives to the fullest. But I also have to acknowledge that we also have the potential to make this world a horrible place. But I believe the choice will always be ours.

Lastly I believe in love. I believe that love can and will overcome any obstacle we face. I believe in a love that transcends religion, politics, race, and nationality. I believe in a love that demolishes the ideologies and boundaries of our society and connects us all in ways we cannot even comprehend. We are all in this thing called life together. Without love we cannot sustain a future, without love we are lost.

Science

My current view of Science,

“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” - Carl Sagan

While I am far from one to say science can explain everything, I think the scientific method is the best tool we have for discovering truth, at least in this natural world. If philosophy and religion are about exploring truth beyond the natural world, Science is about exploring truth within it. The history of modern science is fascinating, filled with colourful characters and wonderful minds. Time and time again throughout history truth in science has persevered. It has trumped those who have ferociously apposed it and is still doing the same today.

Most of the luxuries we have in our daily lives we owe to the discoveries through science from cars, to house hold appliances, running tap water, food preservation, computers and electricity. Our understanding of the natural world is ever growing and the gap of the unknown is getting smaller and smaller. Science to me isn’t necessarily a whole bunch of facts we know about the world, but like Carl Sagan explains is “a way of thinking”. Science asks us not to be quick to draw conclusions, but to take our time and test things out through what is known as the “scientific method”.

The scientific method as I understand it, is about first collecting as much data possible on a certain scientific question or observation, formulating a reasonable theory due to the evidence and then if possible, either through observation or experimentation, test the theory again and again to see if it stands up as true. Once a scientific theory is established, it is put through what is known as ‘peer review’ where it’s passed along those within the scientific community who carefully analyse the theory and further establish its validity or its fallacies. This is to try and help keep science a bias free domain.

I do however think we should always be careful when it comes to scientific discoveries. We should always accept where the evidence points us, but never hold to strongly to a scientific idea or theory, because you never know what we will discover in the future. That is the beauty of science, its willingness to change direction depending on the evidence. That to me is a sign that science truly is a wonderful method that honestly cares about finding truth.

Philosophy

My current view of Philosophy,

“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.” – Socrates

I know its a little cliché to start a philosophy post with a quote from Socrates, but I just couldn’t resist this one. One of the things I love about philosophy is the simple fact than anyone can become a philosopher. You don’t need to spend years at university and bucket loads of cash, you just have to think! If you’ve ever thought about the meaning of life, morality, logic, God, truth, or where that one sock goes in the washing machine, I would like to informally congratulate you on your entry into philosophy!

Philosophy is one of our oldest forms of searching for truth and stretches back far through the ages of our history, long before we had the tools, technology and methods of modern science, to a time when literally all we had were our thoughts. While no one ‘invented’ philosophy, the term is believed to have been coined by the famous Greek philosopher, Pythagoras. The word ‘philosophy’ literally means ‘love of wisdom’. It is no surprise then that we find most of our earliest recorded and most famous philosophers from ancient Greece.

In my pursuit of knowledge I have found philosophy to be very helpful, engaging, wonderful, and at times humbling.

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates (I know I know, again with Socrates.)

I’m still learning a lot about philosophy, in fact in a lot of ways I’ve really only just begun. But the more I look and search into it the more I’m fascinated with it. There is always something new to learn about the world and about ­ourselves.

Never stop thinking!