I have no recollection of ever living before this life and nothing here on Earth would make me believe I have any chance of living again after I die. If you accept that an afterlife is probable, what made you come to that conclusion and is your reason for thinking one exists, that it makes you feel better to believe, or is there a more valid reason to believe it?
i believe nothing. it is possible that there is a transference of life energy into the next existence, & so on, but i have no evidence of energy surviving physical death (except for two separate experiences were this seemed to be the case). i live this moment, which more than suffices.
I agree it's something that until we can investigate we are best admitting it's an unknown and then existing as if we only get this one life. If it turns out after we die we live again we get a bonus and if not, at least we didn't waste our lives living for a life that never came.
@paul1967, beautiful! that cleanly describes my stance to the whole topic. but then, you'd know by now that i am a relentless non-believer.
Having memories of a past life? I do. But what is important is that this is my life. Now. It is insanity to look backwards and expect to be illuminated on some damn foolish spiritual quest.
The more you think about it the more irrational the whole idea becomes. Do you go straight to a 'better place' or does you 'soul' 'sleep' in the grave until the 'resurrection' ? Perhaps you are reborn as another person ? The whole idea is ridiculous the more you try and reason it out. It seems that our 'egos' desire to go on to some better place somewhere. But the reality is that death is exactly what it looks like. Once your dead , you don't even know your dead as there's no one there anymore or anywhere to know anything. Kind of puts a real 'zest' into life and living doesn't it.
You touched on reincarnation which is of particular interest to me. If I'm remade into another being, but I don't retain any knowledge of my past self, how is that previous life any more meaningful than being dead without having been reincarnated?
As far as I can figure out this whole idea of reincarnation is just another example of human imaginings driven by the ever present ego.
@paul1967, brilliant question! i have no answer
I don't beleive in any of that after life stuff.... well not anymore. That's why you should go out and have some fun... don't wait to do it in an after life...