Afterlife: Weakness or Strength?

baum

I would respond to that if it was another thread

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It's not off-topic. The question of epistemology is not "Who knows?" but "How do I know?" If you want to philosophically evaluate the afterlife, you need to take this latter path; otherwise it isn't philosophy.

 

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Baum

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i do now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

i was going to write rebirth instead of reincarnation but i thought reincarnation sounded better for that particular sentence!!!!!11

 

Some of you seem to embrace an eternity as you are right now, and make the conclusion that you wouldn't spend an eternity feeling that way.

But when you were very happy, you would like to stay forever.

Don't assume that what you feel like right now, is what you will allways feel like.

That's why it's so important to lay out your life so that it will bring peace in the end, don't give up.

 

You can't eternally be in one "state of mind" (like happiness) unless you are non-existent (which would be eternal)

Even nirvana is not eternal.

 

Perplexity

Then it seems that you are attributing consciousness to some universal homogenous entity - and given its job description it could easily be mistaken for god in a patheistic perspective

There are similar mentions in the vedas - they are material heavens and hells
So the idea is that reincarnation happens not only in the earthly sphere but also through out the other 14 planetary systems of the universe - its kind of like if you do a hell of lot of sin the earthly planetary system can not deal out your required allotments of suffering in big enough denominations so one is required to go to a planetary system more equipped for the job - similarly if you do a lot of piety you get upgraded to a higher sphere that operates on a higher rate of cash conversion - of course all these heavens and hells are tempoary and there is 8 400 000 species of equally temporary forms of life to become intimately familiar with them - the platform of liberation is completely outiside of this framework

 

KennyJC:

"You can only fear it if it exists, or if you believe it exists. I don't fear the bogey man except of course when I was a child and believed it existed."

Yet even the idea of eternal life apparently inspired enough fear of the idea for you to declare it an Eternal Hell. Therefore, when considered as a possibility, you imply a weakness in yourself.

"It is blindingly obvious. Once my brain melts back into the universal ecosystem, nothing resembling me will live on."

There are many arguments for existences of life after death. Moreover, even if not, the possibility is present even in the remote sense.

That is to say, it is not at all obvious. Science might be showing it as more and more unlikely as time goes by, though.

"Reincarnation is irrelevant. If I don't remember past lives or will become aware of future lives, then that is a different life altogether belonging to someone else."

Theoretically, you can unveil past lives it is said. But even without that, if it is a life which is causally linked to another, then in at least some way, one's existence does persist. Not a meaningful one, though, yes.

 

Westerns seek the eternal, Chinese seek immortality. However, greek were kinda pro-mortality, as were the Romans.

People seek a personality that does not have to adapt, a knowledge that does not need changing. That which does not change, but stays so eternally. And what cannot be achieved in life ("It's impossible to live forever"), should then be achieved in after-life! So in this it's strength.

Or you could see that these people just go "oh i cant do it boo hoo" and just trust in something vague. Then again, some people just pay lip service and think this will suffice. Others view that even if immortality is achieved in afterlife, it must be earned in deeds and thoughts in life. So belief in the after-life isn't really the problem...

 

Its all your interpretation...your opinion

The Ancient Egyptians believed that being non-existent was the worst thing that could ever happen to you

Hindus believe that being on with "Brahman" and free from material existence is the greatest thing ever, similarly with Buddhists

 

On the contrary brahman is not the final last word on the absolute, what to speak of the happiness derived from it

"If brahmānanda, the transcendental bliss derived from understanding impersonal Brahman, were multiplied a million times, such a quantity of brahmānanda could not compare with even an atomic portion of the pleasure relished in pure devotional service."
-Bhakti-rasamrta sindhu

SB 1.2.11
Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.

This topic is dealt with specifically in the bhagavad gita

Arjuna inquired: Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?

BG 12.2: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect.

BG 12.3-4: But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, fixed and immovable — the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth — by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me.

BG 12.5: For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

BG 12.6-7: But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Pṛthā — for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.

BG 12.8: Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.

 

I don't really understand how anything you stated contradicted what I said....I said Krishna states that freedom from material existence is better than existing in the material world...The Buddha says being reborn is suffering and we should try to escape from rebirth

Krishna also states that he is equal to the impersonal brahman, the absolute truth, the ulimate happiness

 

The cup of coffee I'm currently drinking didn't exist until I made it.

Ah, the eternal liberation of death. I'll stick with the bondage of life. Free free to embrace "liberation" yourself.

That's always been my problem with the whole reincarnation idea. What's the difference between there being no reincarnation and having reincarnation but not being able to remember it?