What is immortaility?

[blazeofglory]

Immortality is not a rebirth, not an afterlife, or nothing to do with heaven or to be at one with God or be an angel.

Immortality is always there, and no need to attain it. We are immortals. Ageing, getting sick and dying does not imply that we are mortals. These are phases of transformations, evolutions, metamorphoses.

How do you say a man dies once he departs from your presence.

Going away from you does not mean he is going away from this cosmos. In fact man at death is transformed from one stage to another. His body will disintegrate into different parts upon death. Some of his physical entities will be merged into soil, some into air, some into water.

Then how will you say he died. Only change takes place, not destruction at all.

We hardly can understand or at least try to understand this subtlety. I am not a die-hard atheist or theist. I am a little bit of both entities. Yet I beleive in the universal soul if not in the personal at all.

I do not think I am different from this earth at all. I feel I am the earth, the soil of it and the water that flows in and over it.

And at death I think I will be submerged into these things. This is what I call immortality.

[Chris Marie]

Immortality is the state of being eternal.Something to do with consciousness.


Immortality is the state of being eternal.Something to do with consciousness.

"Choose well,your choice is brief and yet endless"-Goethe.

"Eternity was in their eyes and ears."-Aldous Huxley "Brave New World"-1932.

[billyjack]

Immortality is not a rebirth, not an afterlife, or nothing to do with heaven or to be at one with God or be an angel.

Immortality is always there, and no need to attain it. We are immortals. Ageing, getting sick and dying does not imply that we are mortals. These are phases of transformations, evolutions, metamorphoses.

How do you say a man dies once he departs from your presence.

Going away from you does not mean he is going away from this cosmos. In fact man at death is transformed from one stage to another. His body will disintegrate into different parts upon death. Some of his physical entities will be merged into soil, some into air, some into water.

Then how will you say he died. Only change takes place, not destruction at all.

We hardly can understand or at least try to understand this subtlety. I am not a die-hard atheist or theist. I am a little bit of both entities. Yet I beleive in the universal soul if not in the personal at all.

I do not think I am different from this earth at all. I feel I am the earth, the soil of it and the water that flows in and over it.

And at death I think I will be submerged into these things. This is what I call immortality.

a good view. stinks of taoism. i like that smell

[NikolaiI]

I do not think I am different from this earth at all. I feel I am the earth, the soil of it and the water that flows in and over it.

It is a good view, it's a very good view. There's something I felt when reading this, which as just a little beyond intellect, just a little deeper. Good writing, Blaze, it certainly evoked a similar feeling in me.

[PoeticPassions]

I think that immortality, along with some of the things you noted Blaze, is really a sort of everlasting imagination. Authors, artists, etc. are immortal, for they have left traces of themselves behind... they have imprinted their imagination onto us, and will imprint it onto future generations.

(the idea of immortality is looked at in Milan Kundera's Immortality and our desire for it, yet our fear of it, for we cannot choose how we shall be remembered, and thus our immortality or our identity can be distorted and warped)

Imaginative faculties can go beyond this life, beyond death... into some kind of eternity. Into dreams (for are dreams not eternal, yet transient? oh the paradox!); into the poetic memory...

and I also want to say that acts of kindness and compassion and generosity (though not charity... let us not confuse the two) make one immortal...

[Judas130]

Immortality physically exists. (i've used this theory before, but it might be interesting for those that haven't seen it yet)

The atoms that have existed since the birth of time have made and been in innumerable amounts of things. What made you was in a star, a table, a tree, an ocean, a leg of ham that someone ate.
When I die I will become part of the Earth, as decomposers feed and give out carbon dioxide, and then also die. Works the same way as having your body turned to ashes, what made you, takes part in reactions that help the process, fire, fumes, ash, soil or fumes, cloud, rain, soil, plant. The atom never changes.
When our bodies die, we pass on these atoms and so through this process, we continue to exist - but not in mind or body, but in what makes us what we are.
Yet, what does make us what we are, physically? You could argue what makes us what we are is our form. What is a form, according to Plato? Immortal, as is the soul.
I believe, perhaps, that the soul is a network of things - perhaps atoms, which together give us life. The soul is our acquaintance with what has and will always be. Yet for me the soul is a concept, as i attach a degree of non-physical spirituality to it also. As the soul is a sustainer of a network of atoms, so too is the soul connected within a network of souls, the wider sea of physicality - a network of what we all share: existence
Everything within the virgin womb of the Universe that exists is connected to one another through its existence. I justify immortality empirically with the length of the life of an atom, which lasts longer than the calculated length of the universe's lifespan. Say the universe is 10 10, then an atom is 10 25.
Because of the way in which we have existed (particle wise, yet you could argue spirit wise also) and always shall, shows life as a full circle, with death only there to spin the wheel, to reap the crop - so that it may grow again in another field. In this way we forever reincarnate, we are forever immortal in mother nature's great crop rotation.


peace.

[blazeofglory]

Immortality physically exists. (i've used this theory before, but it might be interesting for those that haven't seen it yet)

The atoms that have existed since the birth of time have made and been in innumerable amounts of things. What made you was in a star, a table, a tree, an ocean, a leg of ham that someone ate.
When I die I will become part of the Earth, as decomposers feed and give out carbon dioxide, and then also die. Works the same way as having your body turned to ashes, what made you, takes part in reactions that help the process, fire, fumes, ash, soil or fumes, cloud, rain, soil, plant. The atom never changes.
When our bodies die, we pass on these atoms and so through this process, we continue to exist - but not in mind or body, but in what makes us what we are.
Yet, what does make us what we are, physically? You could argue what makes us what we are is our form. What is a form, according to Plato? Immortal, as is the soul.
I believe, perhaps, that the soul is a network of things - perhaps atoms, which together give us life. The soul is our acquaintance with what has and will always be. Yet for me the soul is a concept, as i attach a degree of non-physical spirituality to it also. As the soul is a sustainer of a network of atoms, so too is the soul connected within a network of souls, the wider sea of physicality - a network of what we all share: existence
Everything within the virgin womb of the Universe that exists is connected to one another through its existence. I justify immortality empirically with the length of the life of an atom, which lasts longer than the calculated length of the universe's lifespan. Say the universe is 10 10, then an atom is 10 25.
Because of the way in which we have existed (particle wise, yet you could argue spirit wise also) and always shall, shows life as a full circle, with death only there to spin the wheel, to reap the crop - so that it may grow again in another field. In this way we forever reincarnate, we are forever immortal in mother nature's great crop rotation.


peace.

What actually I had on mind got expressed through these words. In fact I have this idea and feeling but running scarce of words I could not express better. Of course I wanted while posting this thread I have anticipated something like this, someone to add much more to it and this particular thread did that job of communicating what I always wanted to communicate, of giving it an philosophical or logical air and a based- on-reason argument.

I feel I am immortal and I am incising this feeling to the extent I must feel a pain when some is injured. I do not know whether or not I will feel like this. But I already feel a bit like this, in smaller degrees. If we feel we are immortal beings, something universal, integrated and rooted to the same planet we will not engage in terrorizing, threatening, owning assets and resources limitlessly, coveting, envying and the like.

This idea here goes much beyond what I perceived and that gives me the feeling and hope that we can turn this planet a more beautiful place to live in.

[Judas130]

What actually I had on mind got expressed through these words. In fact I have this idea and feeling but running scarce of words I could not express better. Of course I wanted while posting this thread I have anticipated something like this, someone to add much more to it and this particular thread did that job of communicating what I always wanted to communicate, of giving it an philosophical or logical air and a based- on-reason argument.

I feel I am immortal and I am incising this feeling to the extent I must feel a pain when some is injured. I do not know whether or not I will feel like this. But I already feel a bit like this, in smaller degrees. If we feel we are immortal beings, something universal, integrated and rooted to the same planet we will not engage in terrorizing, threatening, owning assets and resources limitlessly, coveting, envying and the like.

This idea here goes much beyond what I perceived and that gives me the feeling and hope that we can turn this planet a more beautiful place to live in.

Your welcome, and I am glad we share something here. I would love more than anything for mankind to truly realise the 'universal brotherhood'. :) however, don't be putting yourself down now, your arguments are very insightful and expressive, and do more than I could hope to do using words. You are right of course, that these engagements would cease if all mankind fully realized it's place as a cell to the larger organism.

The Milky Way, a complete and self-contained universe, is, aggregatively, but one cosmic cell in the body of some supercosmic entity, which in turn is but one of an infinitude of others like itself. The great contains the small; the greater contains the great. Everything lives for and unto everything else. This is the reason why separateness has been called the "great heresy." It is the great illusion, for separateness is nonexistent. Nothing can live unto itself alone. Every entity lives for all, and the all is incomplete without the one entity, and therefore lives for it. (G. de Purucker)

The above is taken from a lovely essay you will find here:
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/brother/br-gdep.htm

It'd wonderfully written :D It seems to agree with what has been written in this thread and expresses it well.

I'm currently studying Theosophy and the concept of Universal brotherhood. The good thing about Theosophy is that it is also a world faith, encompassing all and everyone's faith system as a personal journey towards divinity, working as a whole for the one goal.
However, before focusing universally, mankind must first focus globally (i'm not trying to preach here, just offering some ideas):

Jawad Khaki, a 2003 recipient of the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award: Almighty God, give us the inspiration and strength to build bridges of understanding between humanity, moving us from tolerance to respect, from mere acceptance to love and compassion for all that reside on this planet. Our dignity is in working towards dignity for all in this global society. It is through open hearts and minds that we can effectively communicate and reach understanding, strengthening our bonds and achieving unity as we focus on common causes.

Sarah Belle Dougherty: We easily forget our common humanity when we become caught up in what we think is right and true. Moving toward brotherhood involves not changing or enlightening people, but accepting them simply because they are fellow human beings, and for that reason alone treating them with kindness, consideration, and understanding. Accepting others as they now are acknowledges their spiritual autonomy and independence. This allows us to share and exchange ideas, listen and learn, instead of seeking to do most of the giving on the grounds that what we have to offer is superior or closer to reality. We can sincerely encourage others to continue to grow through their own search or their own brand of orthodoxy, without needing to convert or transform them before brotherhood can come about.

I hope this may be of some use to you in your understanding :)

peace.

[an7hrax]

What are we?
We are merly a summary of our experiences, memories, emotional reponses to certian stimulie
When we look in into outselfs we see our past our memories there is nothing else
Therefore the human "soul" is mearly a persons memories and experiences moulded together into a central being
What lives on after we die?
The soul?
Our memories, the memories we shared with the people we where close to, the memories we shared with our children and their children

We are immortal through our memories

[blazeofglory]

What are we?
We are merly a summary of our experiences, memories, emotional reponses to certian stimulie
When we look in into outselfs we see our past our memories there is nothing else
Therefore the human "soul" is mearly a persons memories and experiences moulded together into a central being
What lives on after we die?
The soul?
Our memories, the memories we shared with the people we where close to, the memories we shared with our children and their children

We are immortal through our memories

This idea is agreeable from one lens. This indeed adds to immprtailty.

[NikolaiI]

I wonder, if there is intelligent life on other worlds, if it prays for us. :)

[Neo_Sephiroth]

Immortality is not being able to die again.

[an7hrax]

Immortality is not being able to die again.

that is a very narrow way of looking at "immortality"


I wonder, if there is intelligent life on other worlds, if it prays for us. :)

why would other life pray for us? by my judgement another race might have been around since the time time of the dinosaurs or earlier and they have probably found the meaning of life and the truth behind the idea of an omniscient being or evolved to the point where they know just about everything there is to know.
even our own race could be mighty bounds closer to the next level of technology if we had not had the religious zealots telling people for hundreds of years science was blasphemy and we also had 800 years of "dark ages"

[billyjack]

We are immortal through our memories

i dont think so, not at all. bc memories of our "selves" either fade away or eventually fail to accurately represent what we really were-- making the memory of "you" not really "you" at all. of course there is the case of great writers or whatnot, but clearly they fall into the exception that proves the rule

if we're immortal, its got nothing to do with memory.

[an7hrax]

The fact that memories of us fade mean we where not immortal but those who are remembered forever ( ledgends, stories, heroes, kings, etc) are immortal.
But all we are is our memories therefore if our memories live on through stories or legends then we live on hence immortal

[billyjack]

the premise of this thread is that we are not just the common sense idea of ourselves--memories, skin encapsulated egos, yada, yada, yada. we're the earth, the moon, the sky, the universe as well. which i agree with since i wouldnt be here without them. considering the enormity of the universe, i'd say our memories are about .00000000000000000001% to the 10th power of what we are. so no, all we are is not just memory, in fact what we are statistically speaking doesnt really deserve a mentioning of memory. immortality is found not in our typical idea of self, unless you buy into souls or reincarnation or other wishful thinking