Is death the end of man’s existence?

[blazeofglory]

Many of us fear death, and do not like to imagine that man’s existence evaporates or man ceases to exist physically and spiritually after death. Death to many is a very painful imagination, something man does not want to think about, the experience man has to undergo but the very thought is anguishing in point of fact.

That is why we have invented Gods, heavens, hells, other worlds, afterlives, morality, souls, religions, creeds and the like that give us kind of relief, ray of comfort in life.

The thought that we vanish into thin air is very tormenting; something very hard to imagine in essence. That is why we spin dreams, dreams of going to heaven and join in the garden of heaven with God and angels.

But today going thru scientific researches or reading scientific treatises we kind of cannot believe in such mythical ideas.

All these scientific reasoning or mythical beliefs notwithstanding I still hold the belief in the universal soul. All I believe is upon death I will be at one with the Universal Soul. I cannot tell you what this state will be, but I believe it very strongly and deeply and this belief cannot be shaken by any syllogism or scientific reasoning at all.

I do not care whether there is another world or an afterlife. All I feel is my death is not the end of me, and what I am is a momentary split or disintegration of the cosmos and at death I will be reintegrated into my original soul. Or My Mother will embrace me when the game is over.

This is what I believe in, and I would like to share the feelings with the rest of you and will be so happy if I get your views on this and reading your views on this will definitely broaden my horizon of thinking.

[Mr Endon]

All I feel is my death is not the end of me, and what I am is a momentary split or disintegration of the cosmos and at death I will be reintegrated into my original soul.

That's a lovely thought, I wish I could believe it.

As for me, I'm pretty sure I'll be as dead as a rock.

[Tyth]

Though I think death is the end of our consciousness as human beings. You won't feel like human, remember anything of your life (there are Buddhists, who say we can recollect old memories, but this is improbable in science view). It's good or bad, but "I" will die anyway.

[amarna]

Yepp, lights off, final curtain, R.I.P. Just remember that the last laugh is on you. :)

[Helga]

I don't think there is a Heaven or any other place like that were we will be happy forever. I just don't know, I think most religions don't have anything I can base a faith on, I lean towards Buddhism but I don't know. I kinda like the idea to do better in the next life, but I'm not so sure if I would like to live again..

[Mr Endon]

Yepp, lights off, final curtain, R.I.P. Just remember that the last laugh is on you. :)

That almost makes it sound attractive! Much nicer than the rock simile.

[Dark Lady]

That almost makes it sound attractive! Much nicer than the rock simile.

I quite liked the rock simile. It made me laugh.

I can't see any reason to believe there is anything other than our physical selves. In which case once my body packs up I don't think there is anything left of 'me'. No afterlife or anything. And I don't find that too awful a prospect because a lot of the afterlifes (or would the plural be 'afterlives'?) proposed by religions do not sound attractive to me!

[amarna]

I quite liked the rock simile.

Pah. But mine is swiped from Monty Python. :p :)

[JBI]

No, when you die, you rot, reenter the soil, and then add nitrogen back to the cycle, and are broken down, and reborn in new shapes, such as flowers or something.

[Dark Lady]

Pah. But mine is swiped from Monty Python. :p :)

True! I have that song on my itunes. Always look on the bright side of death!

[Mr Endon]

Thanks for the support, Dark Lady!

'Always look on the bright side of life': the song I live by, almost for. Well, that and the lumberjack song.

:D

(Sorry about the hijacking, blazeofglory!)

[The Atheist]

That's a lovely thought, I wish I could believe it.

As for me, I'm pretty sure I'll be as dead as a rock.

Couldn't agree more.


No, when you die, you rot, reenter the soil, and then add nitrogen back to the cycle, and are broken down, and reborn in new shapes, such as flowers or something.

Except that's not true any more - we die, we're squirted full of really harmful chemicals which leach out into and poison the soil for years. Worms wouldn't touch us. We ought to get back to more organic-style burials to let those elements re-enter the chain.

I want to be used as a medical skeleton when I die.

[JBI]

Heh depends where - in Israel they don't even use coffins - just a Talit and a whole.

[PoeticPassions]

Our energy is released and reabsorbed by the world. That's it. As the latin saying goes, "post mortem nihil est." (there is nothing after death)

I prefer it that way, I think.

[NikolaiI]

Our energy is released and reabsorbed by the world. That's it. As the latin saying goes, "post mortem nihil est." (there is nothing after death)

I prefer it that way, I think.

I agree, but it doesn't answer the question, it just rephrases it. Then the question becomes, what happens when we are reabsorbed? It's still a mystery.

[PoeticPassions]

I agree, but it doesn't answer the question, it just rephrases it. Then the question becomes, what happens when we are reabsorbed? It's still a mystery.

Isn't that the beauty of life, mystery? I wonder why we need answers to everything. There are so many questions that we actually can find answers to and should find answers to (how to solve certain issues of poverty or clean water access, for example) that to think about these unanswerable questions can sometimes distract.... I guess we will just see when we get to the finish line. :)

'til then many of us will have different dreams of the end...

[AlaskaDan]

I feel better about cremation than being embalmed and eventually being attacked by hungry critters. Today the way most cemeteries bury people, first in a coffin and then in a concrete box, it would be a few thousand years before your body completely went away, if ever. Burying people is a waste of land and resources. Many coffins cost thousands of dollars and are a complete waste of money. The whole mortuary business just plays on peoples grief and love for for loved ones lost.
Burn em and Urn em.

[DanielBenoit]

That's a lovely thought, I wish I could believe it.

As for me, I'm pretty sure I'll be as dead as a rock.

And that's probably the very definition of our existence on this earth. It also is probably the most difficult truth to accept. What is the point of action if we are all just going to be a dead piece of meat for the maggots to chew on in the end anyway?

[Eryk]

We weren't aware of our birth, and we won't know our death. Our subjectivity has no beginning or end. Brief and endless.