Are you afraid to die?

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Indeed, afterlife is less central in Buddhism. That is why Buddhism is often more considered like a philosophy rather than a religion. However I think Buddhism comprises the belief in reincarnation which is a kind of afterlife, isn't it?

Reincarnation isn't an afterlife in the sense the OP means. In reincarnation, you are no longer you.

...but you are not really dead
So according to Buddhism your death is not really The End, is it?

Life is short and "you" are insignificant. If you don't like this, you need religions. If you don't mind, why would you need religions?

Last edited by LaetiBlabla on 11 Sep 2018, 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't care much for brick-and-mortar churches, but I respect most religions. The idea of near-death events like terminal lucidity, is one I can confirm fully.

In January, my mother had been nonverbal, unresponsive and sleeping 24 hours a day for weeks until one night when, after the CNAs, RNs and MDs left the house, I would talk to her despite her seeming lifeless except for breathing. I rearranged her pillows to avoid skin tears and tell her about which of her favorite TV programs were playing.

Suddenly, she turned to face me, and stared at me for a few minutes without blinking. Her expression appeared concerned and apologetic. Feeling really out of place, I asked her why she was staring at me. Of course, she simply maintained her silent gaze. I told her that I loved her and to have a "good night." Then, just as silently as she had before, she turned to face the other direction.

The next day, I was talking with her brother, my uncle, in California. I described the story to him, and he replied, "Oh, I know what that is about. She told me about it years ago. She always felt guilty that you helped her so much and that your siblings did little to help you and ridiculed you. She wished you had some help."

The strange thing about all this is that she hadn't done this in the silent weeks before that night, and certainly not the two days after. One of her RNs described the incident as "terminal lucidity," and said it is very rare.

Over the weeks after, I suddenly got the autism housing option I had hoped for (when it had been a long shot), and other expected failures were suddenly turning into accomplishments. In every instance, I saw my mother's involvement. I starting telling others that "she must be pulling some seriously important strings," as I had never had that kind of winning streak in my life.

Last edited by AspieUtah on 11 Sep 2018, 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, define dead.

In Doctor Who, when a Time Lord regenerates, its a bit like reincarnation. The regenerated Time Lord retains the memories of his or her previous lives, but has an entirely new body and personality. That's why the David Tennant incarnation dreaded regeneration, and said it was like someone else was taking over his life. Regeneration in the Eastern religion sense is usually like this, only a bit less so--the reincarnated person has only dim or ghostly memories of previous lives.

That's not an afterlife in the Christian sense. In that sense, your soul survives your death and is fully YOU for 100%.

Sorry, but none of that proves the existence of an afterlife.

Thank you!

Test pilots have experienced NDE like events while being spun around in training at 9 gees. Its just the brain responding to oxygen starvation.

Thanks, again!

The concepts that come forward in NDE's are really difficult for us to swallow I think for some of the questions they raise like:

1) How is there such a mismatch between a supernal zone of governance such as described and the sorts of trapping cause and effect that we see here?
2) Why is there seemingly no satisfying theodicy (ie. theory of evil/suffering) offered?

It's really intuitively difficult to grasp because it seems to flow against everything we see, experience, and come to expect about the world we live in. Some of the challenges from reading/watching NDE accounts for me has been the idea on offer that not only is there a higher intelligence that one could call God (to my best guess - not all powerful and more like the subjective sum-total of the universe or at least in what we meet maybe our solar system), it has us exactly where we're at for a reason and if we don't like where we're at and try to force our way out of it by sheer will and ambition we're unlikely to break out of whatever path we're in if it's part of such an intelligence's plan for us. Even there - it's impossible to even know if that last part is the case for yourself without having an NDE yourself and getting to the bottom of the why's in your life.

None of it's easy. I think the most challenging part is having some knowledge of that, having had encounters that have made reductive materialism impossible for me, and yet knowing that I'll be very much under the dog-eats-dog laws of the world until I die. I may have many questions about what my being here in this state did or didn't do for my integrity, as to what purpose it served, or why the psyche of humanity seems to be so firmly bashed in by evolution that we only want to know truth when it edifies what we already believe or our 'team's ideology unto irreversible damage and beyond. IMHO it's actually way more logically consistent to be a reductive materialist if you're just approaching the whole thing philosophically, and the very circumstance of all of this not making sense in any humanly accessible way makes evidence to the contrary all the more maddening for a lot of people.

You're best bet maybe on approaching life - death isn't the thing to fear (regardless of the outcome it's inevitable for all) as much as a life that you didn't give your all to or a life where, as you go into old age, you're stuck with regrets that you can't forgive yourself for. Outside of that palliative zone the universe seems to zip right along from past to future and we're left to grapple with it to the best of our ability for exactly what it is.

Also, I've said this in some other places, I think there's a big space for what could be thought of as spiritual existentialism. It's not even so much about getting stuck on questions of 'whether God cares', exists, etc. but seeing life for what it is, what it can and can't be, what supernal aid and support is or isn't (mostly isn't), and from there trying to adapt as best possible to the contradictory grab-bag of facts that we're stuck with. Past that we are living in a mystery and it may be one that we're not even structured to unravel.

I don't understand why it's weird for atheists to not be afraid of death but it's not for people who believe in heaven.

Believers - believe that after you die your pain and suffering ends. Then your soul goes to a place where you live for all eternity in a perfect paradise with no suffering, illness or death. Therefore they shouldn't be afraid to die. It will be like a reward or payment for living their original life to begin with.

Non-believers - believe that when you die, your pain and suffering ends. And that's it. It was like you had never been born. In fact it's just like before you were born (being in the womb doesn't count). It's like, what's the point of living in the first place? That's depressing and scary.

I read that some people, even little kids, have attempted or committed suicide because they wanted to go to heaven. Of course, they must not have been told, like I had been, that killing yourself is a horrible sin and you'll burn in hell and never get to be with your other deceased family members.

please tell me what you think of the Pam Reynolds case.

It's particularly dramatic for the particular procedure she was having done and the state the doctors had her in for her surgery but it's nothing that whatabout-ism can't crowd right out because it's her reciting things she saw and there wasn't a lot that she saw that wasn't relatively standard operating room equipment or conversation that I remember.

I really think it's the sheer volume, quantity, and character that forces people who really pay attention to this sort of thing to grapple with it. Anyone else the less they know the easier it is to project their worldview onto it. Bruce Greyson has a knack for pulling the most persuasive ancedote and I think they did pretty well at hitting the topics round-robin in this panel discussion. I can't remember if this was the one where he commented about a guy trying to overdose to commit suicide, his senses being in complete chaos, separating from his body (with full psychological lucidity) to see himself in third person staggering (that's not my experience but I've had similarly powerful things happen) - it's stuff like that which breaks paradigms.

I'm not afraid of death. In fact, I'm looking forward to it a little.

The truth behind a lot of NDE's has been explained with simple neurology...well, I say simple. The point being, the mind reacts in strange ways just prior to the point of death. I suppose it's kind of like being on a bad trip, or in a bizarre dream.

I don't personally think I'd fear death until the point comes when I realise I have regrets. Ultimately, life is to be lived to the full. If you do that, and die at a decent age (around 70, no younger for me) then you should be OK. Living life and leaving behind a legacy is the ultimate goal.

The truth behind a lot of NDE's has been explained with simple neurology...well, I say simple. The point being, the mind reacts in strange ways just prior to the point of death. I suppose it's kind of like being on a bad trip, or in a bizarre dream.

I don't personally think I'd fear death until the point comes when I realise I have regrets. Ultimately, life is to be lived to the full. If you do that, and die at a decent age (around 70, no younger for me) then you should be OK. Living life and leaving behind a legacy is the ultimate goal.