Do you believe in the afterlife?

[Rose07]

Lately as I'm waking up in the morning I've been feeling like my deceased mother sits on my bed and hugs me and it feels very real.
I have been reading many testimonies from people who have lost loved ones who share similar experiences.
Is it a real communication or are they just hypnagogic hallucinations, what should I believe?
I don't expect or believe in these kind of experiences so this can't be just sugestion, I think

 

[Sorena]

Interestingly, I wanted to start a thread with a similar theme, but I hesitated because I thought it might be too personal for the audience to share. However, I would like to share my opinion ...
When I think of the life road, I see it as a road with a door at the end, not a dead-end ... I believe that is the only way that everything in this world makes sense ... and above all, human beings as the most wonderful creature in the world ... there must be a reason why we are here with all these capabilities and meaningful limitations ... and I do believe in soal as our original nature

 

[Roses In The Vineyard]

This has been one of my obsession topics since 2018 and will say that such goes a very long ways to forming people into what they are in this present life. To cut it short physical life is very short and life there can vary greatly yet it always leads back into living another life and so on.

 

[aeon]

I do not believe in an afterlife, nor do I disbelieve in an afterlife.

I do not have the sense I could know, so it exists only as an idea. As such, it isn’t something I concern myself with.

Be here now. This life. The ever-present moment.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Cornerstone]

I believe that there is more going on but find it unlikely that if there is an afterlife that it is essentially this life forever but nothing bad happens ever again. I reckon it is so totally alien that I can't even really say what I think it might be like only what I don't think it is like.

That being said, The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis is one of my favourite books and that's a fairly down-to-earth depiction of an afterlife but can really apply to our current lives just as much and explicitly states that it is not intended to be a prediction of what the afterlife is really like.

There's something about whatever everything is is what we return to and I think it is the stuff that consciousness mirrors. I suppose I've always gravitated toward monistic idealism and have never been able to shake those ideas despite finding them quite unlikely rationally. Does that mean that I go to an afterlife or rather that the thing that is living as me for a bit is eternal? That rings true for me which I suppose is somewhere near some Hindu ideas but I also suspect that maybe Jesus was the nearest that thing ever came to manifesting its true form into this reality. It seems plausible that in all the configurations it would happen once but now I'm just rambling.

 

[HeavyNeuralPayload]

I land somewhere between 'Yes' and 'I don't know'. I selected 'Yes' on the poll.

I tend to think that the spirits of ancestors and friends no longer with us still guide us along in subtle ways after their time here is done, which would imply some form of existence beyond death. There have been times I've felt this more keenly than others, but it's a difficult thing to experience and reject the notion of.

 

[Wyote]

My personal journey in meme form

 

[John K]

@Rose07 There are several different questions really - Whether there is a life for us beyond this world? If there is can anyone who has died come back to us in some form? What do each of us believe?

If there is an afterlife, it will be there whatever we believe, just as if there isn't one then belief won't make it so.

I'm a Christian, and it's fundamental to that faith that we are passing through this world on our way to somewhere else. I'd say for myself that this is something I know rather than believe - and have done since I was a small child. It's not a thinking but a feeling thing for me - feeling in the sense of deep intuitive awareness.

It's quite a separate issue whether that means anyone can come back and visit us from beyond death. That I don't know in the same way. There seem to be many accounts of people over the long ages who have had contact with the dead - and there are You Tube videos of people who have had near death experiences which included meeting people very dear to them in those experiences. In the main these things appear to be as intangible and elusive as encounters with UFOs.

It seems to me quite possible that your mother is coming to you and giving you comfort. There are other very possible explanations too. Our unconscious minds are rich and deep and have a will of their own - we can see this in our dreams, which weave stories that we didn't choose consciously, but which may sometimes bring things that matter to us that we aren't aware of and need to be. This can happen in our waking lives too in the form of feelings and awarenesses that appear to come from outside us - if they catch us on the borders of sleep, you may even get an impression of someone or something actually there, or hear a voice calling you.

An experience may well involve both a real encounter blended with one that comes from our unconscious - and in truth this is no different with our living loved ones.

But how wonderful to receive those hugs - maybe they matter far more than any rationalisation or explanation for them?

 

[Matty]

I believe in an afterlife, in the Christian sense. It's probably better termed 'entering God's eternal life.'

While some sort of sense of deceased people's presence may be possible in some supernatural way, my assumption is that it's virtually always a subjective experience, unless proven otherwise. That is to say, people will experience dreams, vivid memories, sensory associations (eg. a familiar place or smell may trigger a familiar feeling associated with the deceased person), etc. I don't think these experiences arise from the actual presence of the deceased, but rather arise from the person having the "experience."

 

[Wyote]

An experience may well involve both a real encounter blended with one that comes from our unconscious - and in truth this is no different with our living loved ones.

Very much what they were trying to illustrate in this Harry Potter scene imo

Spoiler

 

[John K]

Very much what they were trying to illustrate in this Harry Potter scene imo

Spoiler

That's spot on. I thought that it was very well conceived within the tale and wonderfully ambivalent.

 

[Rose07]

Interestingly, I wanted to start a thread with a similar theme, but I hesitated because I thought it might be too personal for the audience to share. However, I would like to share my opinion ...
When I think of the life road, I see it as a road with a door at the end, not a dead-end ... I believe that is the only way that everything in this world makes sense ... and above all, human beings as the most wonderful creature in the world ... there must be a reason why we are here with all these capabilities and meaningful limitations ... and I do believe in soal as our original nature

I thought this was too personal too, but later I thought I could share this on this forum because I know here are people interested on these things as well.
So I thought it appropriate to share it.

 

[Rose07]

@Rose07 There are several different questions really - Whether there is a life for us beyond this world? If there is can anyone who has died come back to us in some form? What do each of us believe?

If there is an afterlife, it will be there whatever we believe, just as if there isn't one then belief won't make it so.

I'm a Christian, and it's fundamental to that faith that we are passing through this world on our way to somewhere else. I'd say for myself that this is something I know rather than believe - and have done since I was a small child. It's not a thinking but a feeling thing for me - feeling in the sense of deep intuitive awareness.

It's quite a separate issue whether that means anyone can come back and visit us from beyond death. That I don't know in the same way. There seem to be many accounts of people over the long ages who have had contact with the dead - and there are You Tube videos of people who have had near death experiences which included meeting people very dear to them in those experiences. In the main these things appear to be as intangible and elusive as encounters with UFOs.

It seems to me quite possible that your mother is coming to you and giving you comfort. There are other very possible explanations too. Our unconscious minds are rich and deep and have a will of their own - we can see this in our dreams, which weave stories that we didn't choose consciously, but which may sometimes bring things that matter to us that we aren't aware of and need to be. This can happen in our waking lives too in the form of feelings and awarenesses that appear to come from outside us - if they catch us on the borders of sleep, you may even get an impression of someone or something actually there, or hear a voice calling you.

An experience may well involve both a real encounter blended with one that comes from our unconscious - and in truth this is no different with our living loved ones.

But how wonderful to receive those hugs - maybe they matter far more than any rationalisation or explanation for them?

Some time before we took mom to the hospital, she was at home unconscious in bed, however I also saw her coming out of the bathroom but she was semi transparent and as soon as she went to the bedroom I ran there, and there was no sign of her would have gotten up, she was unconscious the entire time. So I'm sure that what I saw was her astral body... this was 2 months before dying, because when she arrived at the hospital the doctor said she would die at that moment but she lasted 2 months. And I saw literally the astral body traveling around the house.
.
So I am not very sure but this body could live after death and to be at home or visit us but I am very skeptic too and I don't expect those kind of things to happen as I am not a believer however this still happens to me and I am beginning to understand where the religious beliefs start.

 

[SlowUpTake]

@Rose07 wow!

 

[tinbike98]

I land somewhere between 'Yes' and 'I don't know'. I selected 'Yes' on the poll.

I tend to think that the spirits of ancestors and friends no longer with us still guide us along in subtle ways after their time here is done, which would imply some form of existence beyond death. There have been times I've felt this more keenly than others, but it's a difficult thing to experience and reject the notion of.

To anyone, because I don't know how to reply.
I knew nothing, and at 11 years old I stepped into the light, from darkness.
For 60+ years I have found the light to be true - full of love. Have times been hard? Have I questioned? Of course I have. However, I chose to be educated - to "search for truth". Finding truth means great gain and no loss.

 

[Wyote]

To anyone, because I don't know how to reply.

You're doing great.
It takes a bit to get oriented around here but replying on threads is pretty straight forward. Social dynamics can be a bit more nuanced and different depending on many things.

 

[TomasM]

I was raised a Christian, then lost my faith starting in my twenties. Most of that time was spent in a state that I would describe as curiously agnostic. Came back around to Christianity in my late 30's and have felt solid about an afterlife every since. I've enjoyed watching many of the NDE video's online but there are times when I feel like some of them are clickbait and I find that irritating - I wish there was a good online database catalogue of NDE information with corresponding media. Then there's the astral projections and other scientific research that suggest there is a state of us that exists both separate and attached to our body - so that gives me a little peace.

I would encourage anyone to continue their search for understanding. The more definitive proof that is found the more comfort we can provide to others who struggle or are conflicted with a finality or non-existence. That said, the most comfort I have found is not definitive and comes from within even while the information I have acquired has provided a soothing comfort.

 

[Wyote]

That said, the most comfort I have found is not definitive and comes from within even while the information I have acquired has provided a soothing comfort.

 

[Roses In The Vineyard]

I was raised a Christian, then lost my faith starting in my twenties. Most of that time was spent in a state that I would describe as curiously agnostic. Came back around to Christianity in my late 30's and have felt solid about an afterlife every since. I've enjoyed watching many of the NDE video's online but there are times when I feel like some of them are clickbait and I find that irritating - I wish there was a good online database catalogue of NDE information with corresponding media. Then there's the astral projections and other scientific research that suggest there is a state of us that exists both separate and attached to our body - so that gives me a little peace.

I would encourage anyone to continue their search for understanding. The more definitive proof that is found the more comfort we can provide to others who struggle or are conflicted with a finality or non-existence. That said, the most comfort I have found is not definitive and comes from within even while the information I have acquired has provided a soothing comfort.

Here is two databases for NDE accounts.

NDERF Home Page

Near Death Experience Research Foundation the largest collection of Near Death Experiences (NDE) in over 23 Languages. With thousands of full-text near death experiences posted. Share your near death experience, research, spiritually transforming events, consciousness studies, extensive...

www.nderf.org

IANDS - the most reliable source of information on NDEs

IANDS, International Association for Near Death Studies

iands.org