Last year I lost the one person I’d loved the most in my entire life to diabetes. It always felt like destiny had brought us together somehow. An odd synchrony some call fate - a feeling of already knowing this would be the person you would spend your life with. My soul mate, someone who in spite of all my flaws loved me for who I was.
I immersed myself in the study of NDEs/Afterlife, and to my surprise, I found out quite a bit, some of the material out there is quite accessible. For one, I learned that Plato believed in the concept of a Soul and Afterlife.
Because of my spouse’s cremation, I immersed myself in Eastern theology; I read some scientific papers, you know, peer reviewed journals, most from the DOPS at UVA about young children who remembered ‘past lives’. Blogs from Obscure to mainstream, everything from deist to atheist.
I want to believe. I want to believe, that I will see my spouse again, but it could very well have been the end of it all right there and then. Why do some people die young? My spouse would have been thirty three tomorrow.
The hardest thing is coming to the realization that there might not be a reunion after all; letting go of hope, a feeling that we will meet again. While Sometimes I do feel a paranormal connection: a thought, a song, model and color of car. I often wonder if it is all in my head.
What do you guys think? Is there an afterlife? Do spirits live among us, and if so, can they communicate with us? Do you believe in psychics? And finally, do you believe in reincarnation?
Jon_Snow
I only believe in Scottish spirits, Sing Le Malt
Lira
quote:
Originally posted by cevb
Why do some people die young? My spouse would have been thirty three tomorrow.
I'm really sorry to hear that :(
(Having said this, I wish I could say something comforting right now, but I'm a hard-nosed sceptic who's never had to deal with a similar hardship in life, so I can't even say I've thought long and hard about it)
AnotherWay83
Sorry for your loss, OP.
I used to believe in all that stuff in my younger days, but the older I get, the more skeptical I become that there's anything after death. If there were, surely by now, after so many thousands of years, at lease some entity from the other side would've figured out a way to make real contact :-/
I see all of human civilization really as just a colossal immortality project, and each of us is tied up in such a project of our own as well. Having kids, producing works of art + culture, etc... all I see as attempts at somehow transcending the inevitable.
And I've come to view much of this new age stuff in the same light. They're ultimately trying to peddle a perspective that'll soothe the deep underlying fear of the unknown that so many of us have. It's seductive to believe that you'll somehow go on, rather than cease to be for all of eternity upon your demise...
ziptnf
Definitely sorry to hear about your loss, OP.
Especially after having children and having your world turned upside down, it gave me a fresh perspective on life and how lucky I am to be healthy with a family that I love and who loves me. Life is an incredible achievement, and you can see that by... I dunno, walking outside? Everything, from the birds, to the incredibly complex human beings that dominate the planet, to the grasses and oceans all teeming with life, trying to get their next meal, yearning for what's next. And it is such a small slice of time that we exist in, we get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to stop and appreciate the fact that we are here at all.
So add to that the concept of death, and preparing for it. For the entirety of human history, we have been trying to explain what happens after people die. The long and short of it is: nothing. We cease to exist. Do you remember anything before you were born? If all people go to another plane of existence, then what about people's beloved pets? Or the rest of the creatures on the planet that die? It's comforting to people to envision a fantastic paradise filled with all the wonderful things in the world and all the people they have ever loved or known that have passed away to be there with them. People have invented entire frameworks for life to structure their brain around a feeling that they will hug Jesus or Mohammed and hang out in heaven for the rest of eternity, watching down below to see things happening on earth.
So since time is so fleeting, things move so quickly, and life is never guaranteed (I think of the poor people driving in their cars who happened to be under the bridge in FIU when it collapsed) you have to make every moment count, and enjoy every breath you take, every delicious meal, every warm hug or kiss from your loved one, every memory, because you are going to need it when you are old and on your way out, if you make it there at all.
Originally posted by cevb
Last year I lost the one person I’d loved the most in my entire life to diabetes. It always felt like destiny had brought us together somehow. An odd synchrony some call fate - a feeling of already knowing this would be the person you would spend your life with. My soul mate, someone who in spite of all my flaws loved me for who I was.
I immersed myself in the study of NDEs/Afterlife, and to my surprise, I found out quite a bit, some of the material out there is quite accessible. For one, I learned that Plato believed in the concept of a Soul and Afterlife.
Because of my spouse’s cremation, I immersed myself in Eastern theology; I read some scientific papers, you know, peer reviewed journals, most from the DOPS at UVA about young children who remembered ‘past lives’. Blogs from Obscure to mainstream, everything from deist to atheist.
I want to believe. I want to believe, that I will see my spouse again, but it could very well have been the end of it all right there and then. Why do some people die young? My spouse would have been thirty three tomorrow.
The hardest thing is coming to the realization that there might not be a reunion after all; letting go of hope, a feeling that we will meet again. While Sometimes I do feel a paranormal connection: a thought, a song, model and color of car. I often wonder if it is all in my head.
What do you guys think? Is there an afterlife? Do spirits live among us, and if so, can they communicate with us? Do you believe in psychics? And finally, do you believe in reincarnation?
Silky Johnson
quote:
Originally posted by cevb
I want to believe.
Silky Johnson
Silky Johnson
I once was bliiiiiind, but now I see!
ziptnf
Can't forget this classic:
Silky Johnson
:stongue:
SYSTEM-J
There may well be profound aspects to this reality that we will never understand, but I've never found the traditional concept of "the afterlife" to be anything more than deeply wishful thinking from a fearful animal just intelligent enough to rationalise its own death.
