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I also tend to agree that what happens after death is as individual to us as our lives and our nightly dreams with some cultural things thrown into the mix as well. Feel we are creatures of Imagination and to Imagination we return. Afterlife is living out of form in the imagination.
Last edited by coffeemoments; 08-06-2019 at 06:29 AM..
We don't really control our beliefs but they ARE the most important factor affecting our lives. You are correct that the depth and strength of our beliefs are controlling. I wish I could control mine but on the other hand, that kind of power in my fallible human hands might be too dangerous.
That was surprising to me for you to say, Mystic.
I am in total control of my beliefs...and making them stronger and deeper and unshakeable!
I can give examples to anyone that is in doubt that we are able to and might want pointers.
#1 recognize what beliefs you have...esp the ones you'd like to change, get rid of once and for all.
That was a free teaser, the first example. The rest will cost ya.
What happens after someone dies is based solely on their beliefs they held when they were alive. If they believed in reincarnation , they'd be reincarnated.
I'm not sure you understand reincarnation. There are people who believe in reincarnation who won't be reincarnated because they know the law of cause and effect. If you have not worked off your karma and run out of time in this life, you have to fix it in the next.
What do you NOT believe that you can choose to believe? What about that do you not understand? Beliefs are not choices.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
of course they are.
for much of your life you did not not believe in God. you chose that belief.
now you do believe in God. you chose that belief. you changed your mind. you set down your earlier belief and picked up a different belief.
that's what choice is.
choosing something.
people have reasons for making the choices they do. but it's still a choice they make.
I chose nothing. I didn't believe until I did. Choice had nothing to do with it. Stop ducking the question. What do you currently NOT believe that you can choose to believe?
It all comes down to their beliefs. If the husband believes they'll always be together after death , they will. Likewise , if the wife believes they'll both cease to exist , they will.
You create your own reality both in the real world and in death. If he CHOOSES to believe they'll always be together, they will be. The same could be said for the wife.
You haven't been in here long enough to know Mike. He's a hardcore fundamentalist--as hard as they come. For him it's either heaven if you accept Jesus or eternity in burning hell if you don't. Simple as that.
I tend to go with what you suggest based on my extensive research on the afterlife. Read something like "Beyond the Veil" by Reverend George Vale Owens, yes that's right--I said "reverend". He started getting messages from spirits in the afterlife and used psychography to write down what the spirits were dictating to him. He had no problem with doing it despite his affiliation with the Church of England. It makes for some very interesting reading on what spirits say the afterlife is like. You're right. You make your own eternity based on your life and your wishes and beliefs--none of this cackenbull nonsense about heaven and hell that the fundamentalists peddle to inflict guilt. They never stop to think that God sending someone to either place is a total violation of a person's free will, but they are so quick to trumpet free will when it comes to choosing to reject or accept Jesus. Just another case case of them cherry picking based on their personal beliefs of what a person should suffer for rejecting Jesus--who never lived, by the way.
Just because someone gets a message from a spirit doesn't mean it's divine. Most religions do not exist to get you closer to God. You don't know who the church elders are actually praying to. There are many spirits wandering around waiting for willing hosts.
I've never talked to a dead person. As far as I know "All are from dust and turn to dust again." If you get the chance, look in a casket after 6 months. Not a pretty sight.
I chose nothing. I didn't believe until I did. Choice had nothing to do with it. Stop ducking the question. What do you currently NOT believe that you can choose to believe?
no one is forcing you (or me or anyone else) to believe anything.
it is a choice.
that's why the question you are asking does not make any coherent sense to me.
for instance i have free choice to choose the line of work I go into, and what to wear to work each day. i choose not to be a fire fighter, and i choose not to wear a bikini to work at the hospital where i am employed. Not because i lack free choice. but because i choose based on reasons that matter to me. so your asking the question in bold above is like asking me "what do you currently not wear to work (bikini) that you can choose to wear to work."
when you say you "didn't believe until you did" you changed your beliefs. people have reasons for their beliefs. people have reasons for changing their beliefs during their lifetime. but its still a choice.
the reason it behooves us to consciously choose our beliefs (examine them, unearth them, become aware of them, change them, discard them, pick up new ones, edit existing ones) is because they are so powerful and they have such a profound effect on our lives.
but your beliefs belong to you which means you own them and you choose them. either consciously through examination and awareness, or "passively" by default through never examining or questioning or what you were given or told or taught.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 08-06-2019 at 12:21 PM..
If it helps, the problem is in that-sure you have to believe a belief - you can't fake a belief to yourself. But what you Can do is choose to be persuaded or choose not not to.
That is you can choose to look and listen to the evidence or choose not not to (or just look at the 'evidence' that confirms bias, which is pretty much the same thing).
That's the choice that one makes, and the belief that one has is the result of that. Of course the deep down that keeps saying "What if you're wrong?" can't be silenced, not even by belief. It just depends how strong is the denial that Belief can muster.
I chose nothing. I didn't believe until I did. Choice had nothing to do with it. Stop ducking the question. What do you currently NOT believe that you can choose to believe?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
no one is forcing you (or me or anyone else) to believe anything.
it is a choice.
that's why the question you are asking does not make any coherent sense to me.
for instance i have free choice to choose the line of work I go into, and what to wear to work each day. i choose not to be a fire fighter, and i choose not to wear a bikini to work at the hospital where i am employed. Not because i lack free choice. but because i choose based on reasons that matter to me. so your asking the question in bold above is like asking me "what do you currently not wear to work (bikini) that you can choose to wear to work."
when you say you "didn't believe until you did" you changed your beliefs. people have reasons for their beliefs. people have reasons for changing their beliefs during their lifetime. but its still a choice.
the reason it behooves us to consciously choose our beliefs (examine them, unearth them, become aware of them, change them, discard them, pick up new ones, edit existing ones) is because they are so powerful and they have such a profound effect on our lives.
but your beliefs belong to you which means you own them and you choose them. either consciously through examination and awareness, or "passively" by default through never examining or questioning or what you were given or told or taught.
Stop dodging. Prove it is a choice by choosing to believe something you do NOT currently believe. If you cannot then it is NOT a choice.
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