Monday, March 1, 2010

Do you believe in afterlife?



Bonnie at Original Art Studio has a great conversation going on right now on whether or not you believe in an afterlife. Hop on over if you have an opinion, or just want to read what others are saying.

By the way, what do you think? Is there an afterlife?

34 comments:

GYPSYWOMAN said...

well, nancy, i believe in a "before" life AND an "after" life - too much stuff of my own and of others to allow me to think any differently -

DJan said...

Yes. I believe. I remember long ago reading an interview with Carl Jung about whether he believed in the existence of life after death. He said, "I don't believe. I KNOW."

Shrinky said...

I don't believe in heaven, nor do I believe in ghosts, I do believe in energy lasting eternally.

Mike said...

At this moment, I say no, but no one can say anything with 100% certainty!

ellen abbott said...

Oh yes, absolutely but not in heaven or hell, just the place we came from that we return to, the being and the body of the All That Is. I finally got the time to make my response to Bonnie and have just posted in her comments. Then I went back and read the other responses.

There was something on TV I think that perhaps I wasn't paying attention to. that astronomists/astro-physicists are seeing so far back in 'time' to the beginning, what we call the Big Bang, but they are not really finding evidence of a big bang, a sudden expansion of a very tight and powerful center of energy, yes, but no explosion from nothing. I've heard it described as the energy of the all that is dreaming until the dreams became so powerful they expanded into the corporeal universe. the word made flesh, so to speak.

Meeko Fabulous said...

Yup. Sure is. I definitely believe in the afterlife.

Nancy said...

Gypsy - I tend to agree.

DJan - He was a very interesting man, wasn't he?

Shrinky - Yes, energy never goes away, just changes form.

Otin - You're right about that.

Ellen - Wow! That's new info. Do you remember where you heard it on television?

Nancy said...

Meeko - I wish we could take a universal poll...

Brian Miller said...

most definitely an interesting conversation...i do...

Leah J. Utas said...

Yes, and I am going to enjoy it.

Joanne said...

Maybe, but not in any way that we know of now.

Anonymous said...

YES DEFINITELY. I only say yes, because I know I have a spirit, I have SEEN it. There is no faith going on here, though faith is a great thing, I am going on personal knowledge. Since I was very young I have been able to go out of body and I have been out of this body and I know this is not all there is. I know it sounds weird, I dont tell many people about this because they just think I'm crazy. But yes there is an afterlife and a before life and many future lives after this one.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

Yes, unequivocally, and I don't think it's at all as most religions teach it. To think that we have just one life to get it right - how absurd is that? It's like saying that only earth has life.

Rosaria Williams said...

Only a transformation of life, an exchange of energy. In a sense there is a collective unconscious that carries on with the ideas that bubble up in society. Only collectively, we have an afterlife.

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Hi, Nancy!! So great to "see" you!!! I've truly missed you!!! And as ALWAYS, you are right in the midst of the BEST conversations!!! You're terrific!! Love you!!! Janine XO

Melissa said...

I never thought much about the After life until a few things happened to me over the years. the first was when my great grandmother died, I was 23 she was 90. I was sad that I didn't get to say my good byes, she was sick for many years. One night she came to me in my dream, told me she was okay and I felt better. My sister had the same dream..

It wasn't until I was 29 when I met my best friend Conny when I really started to learn about the after life. She was special. Have you ever met someone you knew was special? Like Angel, Spirit special? Someone put on this earth to teach you? that's how she was. She taught me about spirits, buddhism, past life, after life, present life, reincarnation, spirit guides. Then she died from cancer at 31, I knew her for 5 years. She has come to me in numerous dreams to visit me.
She had such a strong faith. I believed.

Then 4 months ago, my uncle died, he was scared, lonely and suffered so much. He made me challenge my beliefs of the after life. He seemed so scared and lost, it makes me believe he saw nothing in his passing. Makes me believe it all ended with his last breath.

Some days I just don't know. I wish I knew more. If my friend were still alive, she would tell me to "Believe"

Sorry for the long post

I do know there is strong energy among us and I know having a faith.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

I do. I can't say why, but I just do.

Marguerite said...

Interesting post and comments! I definitely do believe in afterlife. It's what keeps me sane in an insane world!

Marlene said...

yes..from personal experience also..It may be a surprise hwat it is like to me once zI get there.but that it is waiting there is a certainty..Astro projection.!1Nancy..I know someone who can do this and actually go places in his dream state..

~JarieLyn~ said...

I absolutely believe. I agree with Rob and Trish that there are many lives to be lived.

Friko said...

I think I was about the first to answer Bonnie's question, so you may have seen my reply.
If not, I believe that some form of spirit, energy, cosmic being exists that is composed of everything that has ever lived.
thank you for your comments on serious illness. It is so good to know that suffering in some form or other is universal and that nobody really gets a completely easy ride. That doesn't mean that I want anyone else to suffer but that the knowledge takes away the feeling of being alone, helpless, lost.

Best wishes for the future.

Anonymous said...

Afterlife, perhaps, but only in the sense that our energy returns to its source: cosmic energy. Other than that, without scientific explanation, then no, no afterlife.

R. J. said...

Great imponderable. I am intrigued with the comments--so fascinating. I am willing to say I don't know, therefore, I can't believe.

Reya Mellicker said...

I'm curious to see what it's like, after death. The sense in a room immediately following death is always that of relief. It seems nice, but who knows?

Land of shimp said...

Oh the big concepts, eh? The things around which belief systems rose, as we search for explanations. Or perhaps belief systems were sent to us, as a way of offering aid, and answers. I truly don't know.

But an afterlife? Well, yes, I do believe there is something beyond this. Not a typical "I have a vision of heaven, with harps, and angels!" I think that goes to the above mentioned search for answers. I think it was an attempt to articulate something for our current understanding, concepts we could envision, and understand.

It makes some scientific sense that death of a physical body is not the end of a life, or a consciousness. Electrical impulses, energy...clearly that's all stuff you already know, Nancy. Recent studies have really underlined the fact that we don't even understand from a scientific standpoint what death actually is. Why it occurs, and what specifically occurs.

So there's kind of this hazy quality around death, from every angle of understanding, that suggests there is simply more to it than we currently understand.

I think something continues. I've known too many people who had experiences with ghosts, seeing loved ones, things that they actually felt were interactions. I can't discount that, and I don't put it down to imagination on the part of the people examining that. Furthermore, I really think that those who do, are limiting their understanding willfully. Hemming in possibilities under the guidelines of what is currently proven...when we know, by the admission of actual science, that we do not understand many, many things about the structure of ourselves, and our reality.

Well that was dry as could be. Sorry. All I'm trying to say is that I think there is something. I've no clue what, and I'm all right with not understanding. I think that to continue to learn, we have to be comfortable with the admission of what we do not know, as a starting point.

So someone who says, "I have firmly determined that there is nothing." or "I have firmly determined there is this _____" has sealed off an avenue that science has encourage us to keep open, through the admission that, "Yeah, we're still trying to figure out the mechanisms of life and death...nothing concrete here."

Jo said...

In a word "no". We have invented an afterlife because the human ego cannot bear the thought of oblivion. That's why we should all learn to make the best of the life we have now. It is a gift.

Nancy said...

Thank you all for your thoughtful and considered responses. There is no such thing as a too-long comment! You are all very intelligent and thoughtful people, and what you have to say is very important and appreciated.

ellen abbott said...

Nancy - re my comment...It might have been on the history channel in the last week. It's often on in the background. The last bit about 'god' dreaming was my own attempt to describe what 'the beginning' was like based on something I read once.

The Good Cook said...

I believe!

Linda Pendleton said...

Yes. And a before. I do believe in past lives.

And as you know, Nancy, I have written a lot about it in my nonfiction books and ecourses.

Linda Pendleton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gayle said...

Yes I do!!

JeannetteLS said...

I don't know what I believe comes next... just that something does, just as something came before. Matter is neither created nor destroyed. Energy is all around and through us. I guess I believe that the energy/soul that is me was here before and will continue elsewhere when this body's had it. I just do not have a CLUE what that means. I remember my sister, as she left me, was so full of peace and seemed so convinced that she was looking into where she was headed. We join something beyond us. Not in any rush to know, however!

Anonymous said...

I want to believe there is more than what I am living now. I want to believe that my energy will never retire, only be returned to the one true source.

but I really don't know... I hope there is more to my existence than all of this chaos around me.