What happens when we die?

[JemBob]

I mean I dont know I have mixed feeling....
Do we just die and end off nothing happens

Go to heaven or hell?

Do we wander this planet as other life forms?

I dont know whats going to happen but it freaks me out sometimes just thinking about it!

I mean what happens? Death scares me abit cause its just like you stop excisting thats it....

Do we meet up with all our family once they pass away???

Would love to hear what you guys think!

[Fran]

I really think it comes down to what we believe in. No one knows for sure what happens after we leave this world. I take comfort in thinking that I will meet up with my loved ones again both animal and human in the 'next' and better life :-)

[JemBob]

thats a good point fran :) just scares me thats all one minute your here the next your not so strange!

[borderdawn]

About 10yrs ago, I had a scare. I had open heart surgery as a baby of 21mths, and scar tissue around the patches caused an "electric disturbance" I was on the field with the dogs, they were running the electric lure at the time, my chest went tight, no pain though and my heart started racing. After about an hour, I called an ambulance (hoped it would pass) the meds to kick it back into rhythm didnt work, so they had to shock the heart to stop it, then do the same to restart it in a normal rhythm. It stopped ok but wouldnt start for over 70 seconds and 4 attempts. In that time I can distinctly remember black, dark, no sound, but peaceful, calm feeling, the next thing I remember was a doctor saying "welcome back, you had us worried for a while" I answered "Glad to be back, its too quiet up there" I have no idea why I said that, but the doctors said many people who's heart stops beating for some time, recollect the same, spooky eh!!:-D
Dawn.

[logoes]

I must admit I've never really believed in an afterlife, although we did live in a house that seemed to be "Haunted", It was the spare bedroom . the dog didn't like going in there and both my Mum and my OHs sister and her hubby asked if it was haunted, of course I said No !! I once went in at night and 'froze' I've never been so cold in my life and my hair seemed to stand on end, and sometimes at night I would hear footfalls along the passage - I got so fed up I used to call out "Go away" and the steps went away again.

On a more practical note the atoms of which each one of us is composed do not disappear, just get recycled into something else, so I suppose, in theory, you could come back as a bit of a cat. Logoes

[Moggz]

I work in a nursing home, so basically I help people to die comfortably and with dignity. Through this I have seen far too much death but I have also seen far too much Afterlife.

I do believe there is something there after death. Physics says so. Physics tells us that energy cannot be lost - only transferred. So when we die, all the electricity in our boddies, that makes up nerve impluses and our memory cannot just dissapear - it has to go somewhere, and I feel that that energy becomes "the spirit".

To quote a good line " I see dead people" but not just people. I see past pets. My cat that died 2 weeks ago has been hanging around the house, so has the cat that died in november. My other cats seem to feel their presence too, and so do the dogs. Unexplained gaps around food bowls, on window sills etc.

But I have a resident. A little girl. I know her name began with an E, but other than that I know nothing about her. She has blond curly hair, and wears a knee length dress, and she happens to be my jack russels best friend.
She appeared about 2 days after we moved in, sat on the stairs. She plays ball with Leo and will sit on the stairs with him. I find her very comfortable to have around even if she does get up to tricks like moving things and switching things on and off. But at least she responds when I tell her off.

[Donna]

When we dead we dead as far as I am concerned. Dont believe in all that afterlife, come back as another form, ghosts, etc etc.

All a load of rubbish made up by and to comfort those who are scared of death.

[Jac]

I dont agree. At one point I possibly would but not now. My Dad died, he was a non beleiver. When you were dead you were dead acording to him.
Well I have had advise from him through a spiritualist. He did say he was surprised as he thought once you died that was it. She told me lots of things from him that there was no way anyone and I mean anyone could have known.
When we left the house to go to his funeral a really weird thing happened. The minister was standing at the door and before my eyes he transformed and took my dads shape and face. Only for a few seconds. I never told anyone about it. My dad told me that was his way of letting me know he would always be with me.
Loads of other stuff has happened to me, Yes I do beleive there is "something" after we die.
Someone said. This life is hell, it's a lead up to a better life. Dont know if it's true but worth a thought I think.

[Nicola]

I believe that we go on. I don't know where but that's what I believe. I love the poem Autumns Rain. Very comforting.

[Luke]

I deffo think there is "More than this" i've been brought up surrounding a lot of 'spiritulists' and medians in the family-so have seen more than my fair share of stuff to concern me....had an experience myself once, on the operating table...i could see everything going on below me, including my body, and i felt this 'drawing' feeling of warmth-just spreading over me, and i could feel myself moving-then next thing i remember was waking up back on the ward with the tea trolley lady passing my bed. Had a few similar things along the way-so i believe there is merely something more than we can ever understand-and IMO those non-believers don't believe as it isn't in the nature of most of mankind to believe in more than what we see!:)

[JemBob]

hmmmm very intresting points I can understand both sides but am still like stuck of the fence I just cant make my mind up

But i guess I will find out when I die!

[Hreow]

Perhaps because you're trying to make your *mind* up? I think it's more related to faith - so what do you feel?

[Nicola]

I am not religious but I do believe in an afterlife. I used to go to the spiritualist church and they came out with things that amazed me.

[JemBob]

thats theres nothing there

[Nicola]

I suppose we will all find out (or not if indeed there is nothing there) but for a lot of people, especially those who have lost someone close, it is a great comfort to believe that there is an afterlife. We talk about Rainbow Bridge when we lose one of our beloved cats. I think it is a great comfort to have these beliefs and I like to think I have loved ones there to greet me when my time comes.

[Kim]

[quote=Donna All a load of rubbish made up by and to comfort those who are scared of death.[/quote]

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but I certainly don't believe it is all a load of rubbish made up and you cannot know this with any certainty either! :-D

As a Christian I definitely believe we have eternal life. I see a lot of death as a cancer nurse and have seen and heard some amazing things too.

[Hreow]

I take great comfort in "knowing" that there is nothing after. So if you see a lost Aby at rainbow bridge, please help him across... : /

[Luke]

I take great comfort in "knowing" that there is nothing after. So if you see a lost Aby at rainbow bridge, please help him across... : / But how do you know there is nothing more?
When aunty avril was not long of this world earlier this year she frequentlly told me of seeing things...doors, stairs, windows, an archway, a 'veil' and hearing the voices of those who she once knew...and as she was actually taking her last breath she was having an in-depth conversation with her husband..and in the place where he was supposedlly sitting was this strange 'cold' feeling.
An uncle i lost in '04...the night before he died the nurses told us of hearing his door SLAM shut in the middle of the night-totally unexplained...he had an explanation, he said his mom had come to visit him (long dead) and when he declined to going with her she went off in a "huff"..the night he died, one of his sisters and her family went off in the hospital after having an argument with my aunt (his wife) and as they reached the car park.."Brenda" felt something distinctlly grab hold of her hand and pull her back...those who were with her said they saw her arm be yanked backwards by nothing-with their own eyes.
At the precise moment this uncle died, only his wife and two of his sisters were with him...the rest of us were in the waiting area..and he died precisley at twenty to elleven at night..and as the clock hand struck a HUGE gust of wind rattled through the corridor...into the waiting area and through a door to the staircases (door opened and closed)..and on its way broke a chair which i happened to be sitting on..this was precisley the moment he died and apparentlly a few minutes before he passed away he was saying to his eldest sister "im going to make on hell of an exit".
There have been MANY personal experience of the afterlife...my own and those of relatives dieing/coming close to dieing and spirtual things in general, however these few stick out in my mind distinctivley

[Hreow]

Because I'm utterly convinced that there isn't. That's why I'm comparing it to faith. You can't explain, there isn't a logic, it's just a deep conviction.
(And I'm not saying that it's true for everyone, thus the quotes around "knowing".)

[MrsH]

There's great comfort in believing that you will be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife. One's belief in this can be impossible to explain to others, holding on to this belief in the absence of any direct proof is the measure of faith. I believe that my loved ones who have passed on before me, will be there to meet me when my time comes.

[CJK]

I have posted this on another thread, but I SWEAR the night my hubby died I saw hims tnading in my bedroom doorway watching me, as if to make sure I would be ok.

For a while after, and soemtiems now when i am down, I feel he is here with me. But that could be a deep unconsciouss need for comfort.

when I went to view Huby in the funeral home a weird thing happened. I was standing next to his casket, looking in at him, thinking how peacefull he loked, and I DID NOT take a single step, but felt like 2-3 times I was tugged towards the casket ( i as actually afraid at the time to get too close to it, for fear of breaking down inf ront of other people there). It was like you see in a film, where somebody is stnading there looking into a cofin and the camera zooms in a few times in stages. (if you get what i mean, it's hard to describe)

Have no idea what it was or what it meant.


Also when I was in labour with ryan i was VERY ill, and I remember this one time I was laying there and I could only see white, no tunnel or anything. And I remember thinking " good I'm dead the pains stopped" Then slowly the room came back into focus, but with no sound, and people were rushing about. I was in my body but feeling like I was watching through somebody else's eyes.
After a few mintues sound came into focus.
I dont say it was a near death experience, but I know some people would.
Maybe it was a mix of 6 bottles of gas and air over the previous 3 days! And pethidine, and various other drugs!!!

I think It's a question you'll never get a defininte answer to. Even if people here can gives account of what they strongly feel is proof of an afterlife, you COULD still sit there and think " what a lot of rubbish dont believe them".

I think it's one of those things that unless the proof happens to you, youu dont always believe it.

It seems difficult to think we're here slogging our lives away and then poof, gone, waht for? but it seems equally difficult, in my mind, to belive we go on to another world / dimension / reality.

I didnt belive in ghosts or anything until my hubby died, now i bleive there is "something" of that person welsot that stays with us. Maybe just a subconciousmemory of them, like why do I sometiems smell my late husbands aftershave when I am on my own?

It all deends what you belive, and what life experiences you have had

[MzTrouble]

I defo think this is down to faith. I'd love to think that there is something more out there, something we all move onto... but I just don't. I think when we die, thats it, thats the end. Sad, but final. But a part of that belief comes from having a number of people close to me die, and seeing them and their reactions to their end approaching. I admire some peoples absoloute faith in there being 'something else' and think it must be comforting feeling that towards the end... and I do wonder if I will change my mind as I get older... but I cant seeing happening *shrug*

[Rosie]

I have posted this on another thread, but I SWEAR the night my hubby died I saw hims tnading in my bedroom doorway watching me, as if to make sure I would be ok.

My father had this exact same experience when my mother died. I also had a premonition of my mother's death and I also had, what I can only believe was a dream that my mum came back to me the night after she died and told me that she had only suffered a very brief "blinding flash" and then nothing (she suffered a brain haemorrhage). She told me that "he" had let her come to see me and that she was glad because "it was boring up there". A friend of a friend had exactly the same dream when her mother died.

[Nicola]

My mum had a brain haemmorage and I have always hoped that she did not suffer. Believe it or not, your post has helped me a bit.

[Rosie]

Hi Nicola so glad that it helped - it definitely helped me at the time and I always wonder whether our brains bring these images to us to help in very stressful situations. I do know that my mother died instantly as I was with her at the time - she was only 51.

[Hreow]

How absolutely awful for you at the time! Even though it means you don't have to wonder now.

[Kim]

Hi Nicola so glad that it helped - it definitely helped me at the time and I always wonder whether our brains bring these images to us to help in very stressful situations. I do know that my mother died instantly as I was with her at the time - she was only 51.

How incredibly sad for you. :( My dad had a heart attack and he died almost instantly, that brings me some comfort. He had a brain haemorrhage too, 10 years previously and suffered incredibly. It always amazes me how complex our brains are, even the most brilliant neuro surgeons dont know everything about them!

[Canis-Equus]

I have seen things/felt things that make me question the idea that death is 'it'.... i think that part of us that some would call a soul, is an energy that like all energy cannot be lost just transferred, and i think it is that which makes up what some would call ghosts or spirits.
I dont know though if those ghosts are 'real' as in they can do things, think, feel etc, or are they just a sort of energy memory - the countless stories of ghosts that appaer to replay something time and time again suggest that the latter is more likely.... i dont know.

That said, i do not particularly believe in 'life after death', im not in the slightest bit religious im afraid that whilst i recognise the humans need to believe in a greater being, for many people they would be better learning to believe in themselves. That need to believe in a greater power, in the 'hereafter' I think has lead to us offering ourselves up to abuse.... its happened all through history, and its happening now with religious terrorists, and i daresay it will continue to happen so as nice as i think it is to be able to believe there is something better, we were put here by a higher being.... i just think its all a fabrication bourne of our own deep human need to have some kind of faith in something.....

The things i have seen i saw mostly as a child.... nothing that leads me to think 'ghosts' are a kind of weird replay....

When i was very small we lived in a large (five beds, scullery in the cellar, staff quarters in the attic, etc etc) victorian semi..... this had two very large main bedrooms and a third smaller one on the first floor.... one of these large rooms was mine and i had odd 'dreams' in that room.... almost nightmares, im not sure i remember the feelings correctly now as this was 22 years ago. There was definately a feeling of fear, and in my dreams i saw a young girl, a few years older than myself at the time. It was always summer in the dreams, yet she was in bed, with a ton of blankets and a fire going in the fireplace. Claerly she was not well and i think i was feeling something similar to how she must have felt.

I was four at the time and when i finally managed to get my mother to listen to me (not the greatest of people for listening to a child), she was decidedly freaked otu that i described things about the victorian period that i could NEVER have known.... evenutally she looked up the people who had built the house and found the original people had a daughter who had died one summer of a fever (dont knwo what).

Ive felt one of my old cats who died in that house as well.... but not sufficently to be 100% sure..... just a cat brushing past my legs going up the stairs, a cat winding round my legs in certani rooms.... but no cat there when i look (and following that particular cats death we didnt get any more for 4 years).

Enough ramble from me!

Em

[Luke]

All i say is we can never be sure, so lets not bank on there being more than this-and just enjoy the bloody ride whilst we can!:lol:

[Kim]

That said, i do not particularly believe in 'life after death', im not in the slightest bit religious im afraid that whilst i recognise the humans need to believe in a greater being, for many people they would be better learning to believe in themselves. That need to believe in a greater power, in the 'hereafter' I think has lead to us offering ourselves up to abuse.... its happened all through history, and its happening now with religious terrorists, and i daresay it will continue to happen so as nice as i think it is to be able to believe there is something better, we were put here by a higher being.... i just think its all a fabrication bourne of our own deep human need to have some kind of faith in something.....
Em

Whilst know

[Kim]

That said, i do not particularly believe in 'life after death', im not in the slightest bit religious im afraid that whilst i recognise the humans need to believe in a greater being, for many people they would be better learning to believe in themselves. That need to believe in a greater power, in the 'hereafter' I think has lead to us offering ourselves up to abuse.... its happened all through history, and its happening now with religious terrorists, and i daresay it will continue to happen so as nice as i think it is to be able to believe there is something better, we were put here by a higher being.... i just think its all a fabrication bourne of our own deep human need to have some kind of faith in something.....
Em

Whilst I know that we are entitled to our own views, as a committed Christian whose faith is very important to me I found your post quite offensive. I agree that some religious 'cults' can be quite dangerous, however my 'faith' is what keeps me going when times get bad. My Christian friends are non-judgmental, accepting, giving and loving. My church is the most welcoming, happy and friendly place I go to. I certainly do not agree with you that 'faith is a fabrication bourne of our own deep human need to have some kind of faith in something' What a load of rubbish! As you are not a Christian how could you possibly think you know why people have faith and make such a statement. :? :mad: It is not a need - it is a strong belief. I have seem many, many people come to faith, often when they are at a desperate point in their lives. The transformation in them is amazing. I don't expect you to understand or agree with the Christian faith, but please don't be offensive and make sweeping statments that you can't possibly know are true.

[Az]

Hi Kim, sorry you were offended by Canis-Equus' post - but it's her personal opinion. The great thing about discussion boards is to hear other peoples views, and what's even greater is that sometimes it makes us even if just for a second think, "well, what if..?" (Of course that works both ways always).

It's by discussing things with people we expand our own knowledge and push our own boundaries.

My point is we shouldn't take offense just because someone believes is something we don't, or believes what we believe is wrong. So long as the posts are not abusive or trollish or purposely argumentative.

[Snoof]

I am an atheist (although I'm aware that I might be wrong, I am absolutely not bothered about that possibility). I do believe that people build some beliefs out of a need to be the owners of the One Sole Truth. I do not believe in One Sole Truth.

Some of those beliefs would be, "You will go to hell if you're homosexual" or "You will go to hell if you don't burn this particular candle at this particular time" or "You will go to hell if you don't believe specifically what I believe." I think these beliefs are destructive to the self and to others in far too many cases to be bona fide beliefs inspired by a loving god.

If there is a god and he is not loving, then even if undeniable proof came to be that he exists, I would rather go to hell than call myself his follower. I'm a stickler for bad parenting. I know I put that bluntly, but I mean no offense. A need for tolerance has been hammered into me pretty harshly especially when it comes to sexuality and religion, and my beliefs are, as a consequence, quite blunt in nature. Again, I mean no offense.

That said, I have found that type of offensiveness in all walks of life - including various stripes of Paganism, Christianity, Islam (although Islam is not by any stretch the religion that is being touted as a valid reason for murder in recent history - much like Christianity is not by any stretch the religion that was being touted as a valid reason to set people on fire), and yes, atheism. It drives me to distraction that people must judge others on what they believe in in terms of a deity, rather than what they believe in morally. I have superficially studied a fair few religions in search of a solidified personal faith (which I found quite a while ago) and I am always stricken by the inherent similarities so many religions bear to one another.

I lost two of my loved ones - my mother and my only sibling, my brother who was 4 years older than me - in the span of a year (this was, however, many years ago now). And I came to realise that the only thing that matters to me and affects me, at this point in time while I am alive, is that they live on through me. They live on through the people I touch in ways they taught me to touch people (my brother was, for all intents and purposes, my second parent as my father was a workaholic who turned alcoholic after my mother died and became worse when my brother died). They live on through the things I do.

Is that them in their fullness? No. Is it enough? Not always. But is it enough for the world to continue to profit from the people they were while alive.

I don't believe I will go anywhere when I die. I believe I will stay where I am - die in my body and remain in my son, my beloved, my friends, my family. But ultimately, I will see what happens, and worry about what happens, when I get there. In the meantime, I'm busy living life, enjoying life, and making the most of what I have.

And if I'm wrong, and if my being wrong causes me to be cast in some form of hell or whatever you wish to call it... Then I will know that I was true to myself and true to my loved-ones.

[ceiron]

im an aethist although at times im drawn towards agnostic beleifs.lol

i beleive when we die we will jsut go and thats it, nothingness.

i beleive religionand that was created solely to control people and to priovide a some form of afterlife theory as most people cant cope with the prospect fo just dying imo.

[Canis-Equus]

I am sorry if you are offended, I certainly did not set out to offend anyone.

I was once a Christian, or I thought I was.... even if I wasnt, I am a human being and on those grounds alone, I think i am entitled to my opinions about human beings and their needs.

Interestingly you say that some people turn to Christianity (as im sure they do to many faiths) in a time of crisis. Does this not bear out what I said about people needing to believe in something higher, stronger, more powerful than themselves? I think it does, and I can safely say that in my case, I did and ditto in the cases of other people i know well.

I think you do need your faith, your post clearly confirms that and i cant see anything wrong in that either... my point was that because people need faith and often need or want or choose to put it in some 'higher' being, they are open to abuse.... some more than others. This has been shown in history and current events over and over again.

Please do not presume to know me.... I have been through things in my life that i wouldnt wish upon my worst enemy, lesser things have broken many other people who i know. Do not presume that because my faith does not have a label, that i have no faith.

I do have my faith, i dont recall saying i was entirely faithless.... my faith is in knowing who i am, why i am, what i am all about.
Its a faith i question many times and it is all the stronger for that, i need to have that faith in myself, without it i doubt id be here after some of the events of my earlier life.

When i am in a time of crisis, i turn to myself i look and see how and why something has happened and how i can either solve it, or grow from it.

Perhaps i am to scared to put my faith into something else, perhaps when i die ill find i was wrong, but like snoof has said, i have made my decision on where i place my faith for good reasons, as i am sure you have, and i will have been true to myself.

Em

[Nicola]

I believe in something. I just don't know what. I certainly believe we go on and am not afraid of dying. I just don't want to go for a long time yet.
My mum was 43 when she died and I can sense her being around quite a lot. Maybe it's wishful thinking but it is comforting.

[Kim]

Hi Em, well I have obviously offended you too. Like you, not my intention at all. Of course you are entitled to your opinion, I know many non-Christians and aethists and I do not have a problem with them at all. I also did not presume to know you either - not sure how you came to that conclusion :? I too have had many awful things happen in my life, most of whichI would never discuss here. The sentence that particulalry offended me was 'faith is a fabrication bourne of our own deep human need to have some kind of faith in something' - perhaps I took this the wrong way, but I felt in some way you were belittling people's faith. I did not come to faith out of a crisis but it has certainly helped me during my life. The trouble with the written text is that is can often be taken the wrong way. As I said to Az, I think religion is a highly emotive subject and perhaps best avoided. ;)

PS to Az: I can assure you that I DO NOT take offence just because someone believes something I do not. I would never have lasted long on any forum if I did and if you read back over any of my posts you will see that this is not the case.

[Canis-Equus]

Ahh.... see what you mean.

No no, i was thinking about this earlier... and i think we all do need faith, and id never rubbish anyones.... the people i have met who now have no faith in anything at all are most certainly not in a place Id like to be!
I just think that because we need it and we will seek to find it, there are those who will always abuse that need.

And yes..... religion is always a sticky one!

Em

[Kim]

Thanks Em. I understand now what you were saying and I agree with you!!! I don't think I always explain myself properly when I am upset!! ;)

[Kazz]

I have no opinion honestly I have no opinion either way. However I will tell you one thing
I hope we meet up with those we have loved and those who have loved us.

But I am not sure if there is an afterlife. I am open to all options

[Naomi]

I believe that when we die we just die, we don't go anywhere we just 'cease to exist'

[binza]

i myself had a strange going on 1st it was when my brother inlaw died of cancer 4yrs ago on the night he was suffering towards the end i had a raging toothe ache , the pain was unbelievable and i couldnt settle. on that night apparently he was really suffering . i lay awake most of the night and i must of dropped off to sleeep i woke up with a start at 5.05 in the morning with no pain at all the phone rang at 5.10 am to say he had died exactly 5,05 that morning is or was it coincedence that i was suffering his pain. also my grandad died on the same year 4 months later. i went to bed on my own as i hadnt slept well the night before i had been a sleep on woke up hearing my name being called 3 times and the door of my bedroom started moving there was know one else there, my uncle phoned me in the morning to say he had died. all this is totally true it all happened. i feel i believe there is life after death after this experience.
tracy

[CathyW]

many years ago i had *an experience* i had food poisioning, and i went into the bathroom to be ill, and all i remeber sitting on the side of the bath and resting my head on the sink, and it went dark and very peacefull, i didnt feel ill or nothing, but apaerntly at that time i had some ones hand down my throat where he was clearing a blockage, i had stopped breathing, and had gone limp. i came to and immediatly i felt so ill again. also had a huge bruise on my back where he slammed me up against the bath. i remember saying why didnt u leave me be, it was lovely n floaty, with little lights like stars.
i think i had died and i was on route some where.