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And that is exactly why living for another life than the only one you are certain to have, cheapens that one precious life.
How do you live for this life, the only one you know, any other way than to just live? Do we have a choice really? What is so precious about life over which we had no control over, to have or not?
And that is exactly why living for another life than the only one you are certain to have, cheapens that one precious life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
How do you live for this life, the only one you know, any other way than to just live? Do we have a choice really? What is so precious about life over which we had no control over, to have or not?
This is a bizarre response.. You live life to the fullest, duh. Yes, there are many choices and some are not choices because of the random hand that we are dealt in this life. Nothing goes as planned, you have to enjoy the good moments and spin the bad ones into lessons learned.
Were you guaranteed anything before you were born? Do you remember anything before you were born? No to both. What IS guaranteed is the life we are currently living at this moment and it appears to me that you live to argue and be miserable. Until you die of course. When we die, that's it game over. Prove that there is an afterlife and maybe someone will take you serious. Hey, be miserable if you want but don't bring it here. Some of us are nice and prefer conversations that are valid. Your god claims are not valid.
One thing everyone from the greatest to the least of us agree on, this life we see today is temporary. It will pass away from us, and everything we have done and those who come after us, like those who have lived before us, all will pass.
However for those who trust there is more to existence than this current life, it is what comes after this life that will remain forever. If that is the case, then the next life is in essence more important than this one. And the life we live today, we should live to prepare for the next one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
And that is exactly why living for another life than the only one you are certain to have, cheapens that one precious life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
How do you live for this life, the only one you know, any other way than to just live? Do we have a choice really? What is so precious about life over which we had no control over, to have or not?
if your assumption is that this is the only life you have, and nothing comes after, you appreciate your place here, understanding and appreciating the value of your limited existence.
There's a heightened desire to do the most you can with the time you have.
My greatest fear is that were I to go to heaven and live for eternity...
It would turn out that the heavenly harp players only knew how to play "More Than A Feeling", "Hotel California" and "Don't Stop Believin'".
Let us not forget Led Zepplin's Stairway To Heaven played by 1001 Strings Orchestra. As Dante wrote, there are different levels of Hell. Ear plugs are strongly advised.
if your assumption is that this is the only life you have, and nothing comes after, you appreciate your place here, understanding and appreciating the value of your limited existence.
There's a heightened desire to do the most you can with the time you have.
Who wants to live for eternity anyway?
Well that's the thing... Lets say we will exist after we die. I seriously doubt we will exist in the same way that we exist now. So we need to define how we will exist. It's a very hard question to answer and we will never know until we die. Somewhere in the vast universe, there might be an alien or some foreign species that exists and thinks "how do those human beings exist?? it's illogical." as human beings, we would reverse the question "how do those foreign things exist? it's so weird." the way we currently exist is the only way we know how to exist. any other form of existence sounds weird and unthinkable.....until it happens. We might go into a whole new life with zero memory of our previous life. it's like someone hit the reset button.
Do we exist as spirits once we die? If so, how will we exist and what will we do? We probably won't know until we die.
A bad argument atheists make is making that statement "it makes absolutely no logical sense that we will continue to exist after we die" because they fail to define what they mean by existence.
Really, there are plenty of people who have experienced a reality outside their body. It could be an out-of-body experience (I have had 2) or it could be a near-death experience. Many people can do the out-of-body thing on demand too. (Monroe Institute)
There must be millions of people who have had these experiences across history, so if anyone needs to believe there is some other existence after we die, they only have to look to these reports. However, they are generally not enough to convince folk who have not been involved personally irrespective of how similar the reports are across cultures and religions.
The OP could visit a Spiritualist church and find out whether a service experience provided enough 'proof' of existence after death. I was a Spiritualist for 15 years and it certainly makes you think and decide what you believe, The mediums who take the service try to give 'proof' by giving messages from loved ones who have moved on to other realities. The mediums themselves believe they are 'talking' in their heads to loved ones but if you believe all they are doing is giving cold readings and picking up on clues then it wont help much in arriving at a belief of the afterlife. Talking to these people as I often have, they are sincere in their beliefs that they are communicating with spirits and the spirits appear to be intelligent.
However, there are also paranormal events too which suggest that there are some intelligent energies out there. What of them? Do they suggest an afterlife possibility? if not, then where do the entities come from?
I think we have to look at the non-religious circumstancial evidence which is more than many orthodox religions will acknowledge, or if they do, they frame it in the context of their own beliefs.
if your assumption is that this is the only life you have, and nothing comes after, you appreciate your place here, understanding and appreciating the value of your limited existence.
There's a heightened desire to do the most you can with the time you have.
Who wants to live for eternity anyway?
Want or not, appreciate or not, this body-mind existence gets old, decays, and comes to an end. Like everything else we see. No matter how much desire we have to do the most, there is 0 certainty that we will achieve it all. Only death is certain.
It is not eternal life on earth that we seek, what we all seek is happiness. Every living thing seeks happiness. Seeking that happiness from the world, which itself is changing all the time, is futile. The happiness we seek is within.
Let's hear the wisdom of a man who lived life to the fullest.....
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”.......
The teacher here got everything his heart desired for in this life, and he concluded the purpose of man is to fear God, and keep His commandments. Jesus, the ultimate Teacher, came and said this.......
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.......
Of course I speak according to the wisdom Jesus gave us. We all agree this life is temporary. It doesn't make sense to say something like "Don't waste this life" if this life is all we have. At the end of the day if this life is the only one, then all works, whether good or bad, will all have the same lasting results. Its all in vain. Yet if we live for something that will last for eternity, then this life is not a waste. The works we do, will last forever.
I believe we go on in some form.after physical death and lean toward the possibility of rebirth/reincarnation. Like Cruithne, I have had some incidents that can't be explained. As most people here know, I lost my S.O. a little over a year ago. I've had two very specific "messages" through others, one of which I relayed here, that no one else but me--and him, if he's truly floating around out on another plane and can see this one--could know. They were two weird to dismiss, but I can't claim "I know" what happens after death, either.
Really, there are plenty of people who have experienced a reality outside their body. It could be an out-of-body experience (I have had 2) or it could be a near-death experience. Many people can do the out-of-body thing on demand too. (Monroe Institute)
There must be millions of people who have had these experiences across history, so if anyone needs to believe there is some other existence after we die, they only have to look to these reports. However, they are generally not enough to convince folk who have not been involved personally irrespective of how similar the reports are across cultures and religions.
The OP could visit a Spiritualist church and find out whether a service experience provided enough 'proof' of existence after death. I was a Spiritualist for 15 years and it certainly makes you think and decide what you believe, The mediums who take the service try to give 'proof' by giving messages from loved ones who have moved on to other realities. The mediums themselves believe they are 'talking' in their heads to loved ones but if you believe all they are doing is giving cold readings and picking up on clues then it wont help much in arriving at a belief of the afterlife. Talking to these people as I often have, they are sincere in their beliefs that they are communicating with spirits and the spirits appear to be intelligent.
However, there are also paranormal events too which suggest that there are some intelligent energies out there. What of them? Do they suggest an afterlife possibility? if not, then where do the entities come from?
I think we have to look at the non-religious circumstancial evidence which is more than many orthodox religions will acknowledge, or if they do, they frame it in the context of their own beliefs.
The medium/clairvoyant thing is indeed interesting. I've seen a few who have been exposed but there are some very good ones. They start drawing on their notepad and start "focusing" and then start saying stuff that they would never know. No guessing or looking at the other person to look for clues. It's as if they are picking up a signal and saying with very strong confidence what they are "receiving". But as you said, we have no idea where this information comes from.
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