I’m confused about my beliefs on afterlife. One moment I believe in a heaven, the other moment I lean towards not believing in an afterlife. What do I do?
I do know this, I don’t believe in a hell as an eternal punishment. The only hell I believe in is the one you deal with here on earth. I do believe in a heaven filled with angels, loved ones and a mansion in the sky, but that belief is slowly slipping away after learning about heaven being a fairy tale to being filled with self-righteous religious fanatics. I’m almost leaning towards this view of not believing in an afterlife, but I haven’t fully believed it yet. It would be like this, imagine going to sleep and never waking up. Basically, you cease to exist and don’t feel anything.
Before you were conceived, you did not exist.
Once you die, you no longer exist.
There is no "waiting room" for those who haven't been born.
There is no "after hours lounge" for those who have died.
Know NO fear.
Any thought given to your death is wasting the life you have right now.
Sung to the tune of "May the Circle Be Unbroken":
Yes, the circle will be broken
By and by, yes, by and by.
There is no life after this life.
When we die we simply die.
If anybody tries to tell you
That you'll live after you die,
You can tell him confidently,
That's a lie, that's just a lie.
Treating this life as the only one you get will build diligence, and provide you with much more meaning and a whole lot more to live for HERE AND NOW.
Actually, I do think about sleeping and never waking up. It is a zen technique to deal with insomnia. "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished" well perhaps not but if used properly it can help you sleep.
The afterlife seems like a very nice idea but think about this. Would anyone have flown into the twin towers on 9/11 if the concept had never existed?
Nietzche had a good idea about life and after. Imagine that when you die, something makes you have to repeat your life again. No take-backs, all exactly the same. Would that entity be an angel or a demon?
Or it could all just be the big rock candy mountain that the crow promises in "Animal farm". Like winning the lottery, its a fantasy designed to keep you docile
" I do believe in a heaven filled with angels, loved ones and a mansion in the sky,"
This is nonsense. It's the wishful thinking of Xians unable to cope with the finality of death so they create a happy fairytale of eternal existence in a magical realm of comforting thoughts and ideas that relieves them of all the things they can't handle.
"Basically, you cease to exist and don’t feel anything."
Now you're thinking realistically. You didn;t exist for billions of years before you were born. Death is just a return to that same non-existence. We start at non-existence, we're born, live, die, and return to non-existence. It's a perfect natural circle that makes perfect sense and there's no silly gods, or magical kingdoms, or supernatural crapola to confuse things.
This is almost certainly reality. It might not be the most appealing worldview, but it is impossible for me to not accept it if I value any level of intellectual honesty.
@palex that is exactly the position an intelligent and critical thinking person would take.
Eternal life is a product of human arrogance, those who can't bear the fact that is so evident, when you die you will cease to exist and your body will eventually be maggot fodder or ashes if you choose cremation. Arrogance that makes you believe I deserve to live forever. Sorry, dude, we all die.
Here is the truth about the afterlife. There isn't one. When you die, you are dead. Your "energy" just becomes heat energy that cools and adds to the entropy of the universe while your physical remains chemically decompose. There is no heaven, there is no hell, nor is there purgatory, limbo, sheol, nirvana, asgaard, stovokor, the halls of Mandos or any of the other made up places that the dead go to. There is only oblivion.
And, maybe that's not so bad.
Instead of looking at it from a theological/spiritual viewpoint do some anatomical research and you will find that there is no such thing as a "soul" and when the brain dies and decays that's it , there is nothing left for an afterlife.How do you think all the memories,feelings and personality are transferred from the deceased ?. On some sort of celestial memory stick, or in the latest computer jargon.Transferred to "the cloud"
Years ago when I was doing some research into this sort of thing I read a book by Steven Pinker called "How the mind works". Worth a look and it may help you on the path to reality.
Every version of an afterlife is Hell. Eventually.
Sure, Heaven could be fun for a few thousand years. A few million years into it, the more serious mental issues will probably be irrepressible. Around the first trillion years you will probably be screaming nonstop at the top of your lungs.
Eternity has barely even started.....
You'll find out when you get there , or not . We all die , eventually , but very few , "come back ." I did have a neighbor who was pronounced dead , while in hospital , but was recessitated . He saw the light and said he does not fear death . For many , dealing with incurable diseases , and constant pain , death is a promise of relief . These bodies have a kind of expiration date . The longer we live , the more the bodies wear out .
No one knows
What odds would you give it that heaven is real?