Your beliefs/ideas about afterlife

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[Collinsky]

I was wondering about the different paths and concepts of the Afterlife, and what you believe happens to people NOT on that path. (This is primarily about beliefs other than reincarnation, not that I mind hearing about that either.  )

Do you think that there are several different afterlife realms - that Christians go to the Christian Heaven or Hell, that Heathens will go to Valhalla, Niflheim, etc? Do you believe that there is one afterlife for everyone -- for instance, that Christians and others will go to the Heathen realms (sorted according to how they lived and died) *OR* that there's only one afterlife and each paths simply describe/envision it as best they can through their lens?

Or other concept that I haven't touched on?

[Juni]

I think there is one afterlife realm, so to speak, but it's different in different places, like our planet. And I think some of our paths' perceptions are simply looking at the same thing through a different lens, but not all of it, if that makes sense.

As for whether we go to specific places because of our paths- yes and no. I think it makes sense for the gods to bring the people that were theirs in life near them in death, but at the same time I think that we can be with our ancestors, f'ex, who might not have had the same path. I guess I see it a lot like earth- instead of being primarily in one location out of convenience, habit, job, whatever, we're primarily in one place with our path-kin and our gods; but we go other places and interact with others outside of our 'home'.

[Ellen M.]

I don't particularly believe in an afterlife - it's honestly not important enough for me to have any strong opinions about (well, besides the "no hell" rule). Partly this is because I just don't believe in a soul or any sort of eternal and metaphysical aspect of myself. Partly because my concept of any sort of divine force is very much limited to this planet.

I do like the idea of the Summerlands, which in my head is just a very foresty heaven, where Pan and Co. hang out, and people who want to go back to earth can.

If I had to pick? I'd want to be a ghost and haunt the crap out of my friends.

[Lykos]

I was wondering about the different paths and concepts of the Afterlife, and what you believe happens to people NOT on that path. (This is primarily about beliefs other than reincarnation, not that I mind hearing about that either.  )

Do you think that there are several different afterlife realms - that Christians go to the Christian Heaven or Hell, that Heathens will go to Valhalla, Niflheim, etc? Do you believe that there is one afterlife for everyone -- for instance, that Christians and others will go to the Heathen realms (sorted according to how they lived and died) *OR* that there's only one afterlife and each paths simply describe/envision it as best they can through their lens?

Or other concept that I haven't touched on?

I actually liked the description of the Underworld in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: it looks different to everyone. We, as humans, are very good at deluding ourselves into seeing things just as we want to see them. No, I did not get this idea from that book, it just solidified it for me. 

In other words, there is one Underworld that we all visit temporarily between incarnations. The way the Underworld looks exactly will differ for each of us. In any case, there is no Heaven in my belief.

[EverFool]

Or other concept that I haven't touched on?

No afterlife at all.

[yewberry]

No afterlife at all.

And the semi-related:  Don't know and don't care.

Brina

[Cliona]

I think whatever happens, happens to all of us, and we're just looking through different lenses. Many paths to the same Truth, same End. It doesn't really matter what happens at the end.

I don't believe our actions here have consequences after death.

I view rebirth as death feeding life, not as a soul being born again. The whole embalming-and-burying-in-a-coffin thing is counter to this belief and I'm not comfortable with it, nor am I comfortable with cremation. I'd rather just have my body thrown into the ground to decompose.

All that said, I find comfort in a song about Manannan: "When your time on earth has ended, 'tis I will bring you home at last." What I like about this is the abstract "home," be it a afterlife of which I will be conscious and aware, or simple nothingness. Home is a good place to go.

[Collinsky]

No afterlife at all.

Ah, well... I see that I should have specified "Assuming that there IS an afterlife..." -- otherwise my question doesn't work.

[sparrow125]

I view rebirth as death feeding life, not as a soul being born again. The whole embalming-and-burying-in-a-coffin thing is counter to this belief and I'm not comfortable with it, nor am I comfortable with cremation. I'd rather just have my body thrown into the ground to decompose.

I totally agree with this. Actually, I want to be buried under a tree, so my death can perpetuate new life. Most people consider that to be so morbid, and I just don't get why. Forever taking up space, being stuffed with chemicals, and wearing makup in your grave sounds a little morbid to me.

As far as the original question, I definately don't believe in hell. I mean, hell is supposed to be eternal, right? So the few mistakes you make in this tiny piece of time will earn you eternal suffering? We have to suffer the consequences now, why pay all over again?

As far as the christian (or other religions) outlook of "If you don't believe in my god you're going to hell anyway" (not picking on the christians here, I just grew up that way so it's easy for me to make an example using that) I could never believe that. I asked my old pastor once, "so, a serial killer who ate babies and danced on dead puppies could go to heaven if he repented on his death bed, but a Buddhist monk who created a shelter for orphans and gave his possessions to those who needed them his entire life would go to hell?" Noone I've spoken to has had an answer to that that I liked.

As far as heaven, I don't care one way or another. I don't really want to go to a wealthy gated community in the sky anyway, so I hope that if there is an afterlife I just get sent back here. But I doubt it.

[Collinsky]

I think whatever happens, happens to all of us, and we're just looking through different lenses. Many paths to the same Truth, same End. It doesn't really matter what happens at the end.

This is what I believe as well, in a nutshell... it's interesting to me to speculate about what may be after death, but it's not crucial to my belief system since it's something no one can really know.

I don't believe our actions here have consequences after death.

I'm not sure what I think on this topic... I think they may have an impact, but not *consequences* in the material world sense of the word. I don't think the afterlife, if any, punishes or rewards.

I view rebirth as death feeding life, not as a soul being born again. The whole embalming-and-burying-in-a-coffin thing is counter to this belief and I'm not comfortable with it, nor am I comfortable with cremation. I'd rather just have my body thrown into the ground to decompose.

All that said, I find comfort in a song about Manannan: "When your time on earth has ended, 'tis I will bring you home at last." What I like about this is the abstract "home," be it a afterlife of which I will be conscious and aware, or simple nothingness. Home is a good place to go.

I've made my burial wishes known - I definitely want a "green burial" - no embalming, wrapped in easily biodegradable fabric, under a tree. Regardless of what my spirit does after death, my physical body is made to become part of the earth and be a part of that life/death cycle. I have no interest in conventional Western burial practices, which divorce us from connection to that.

[Collinsky]

I actually liked the description of the Underworld in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: it looks different to everyone. We, as humans, are very good at deluding ourselves into seeing things just as we want to see them. No, I did not get this idea from that book, it just solidified it for me. 

In other words, there is one Underworld that we all visit temporarily between incarnations. The way the Underworld looks exactly will differ for each of us. In any case, there is no Heaven in my belief.

I haven't read that, but that's sort of my envisioning of it as well.

[Collinsky]

As far as the christian (or other religions) outlook of "If you don't believe in my god you're going to hell anyway" (not picking on the christians here, I just grew up that way so it's easy for me to make an example using that) I could never believe that. I asked my old pastor once, "so, a serial killer who ate babies and danced on dead puppies could go to heaven if he repented on his death bed, but a Buddhist monk who created a shelter for orphans and gave his possessions to those who needed them his entire life would go to hell?" Noone I've spoken to has had an answer to that that I liked.

Even as a Christian, our church interpreted the Biblical verses that evolved into the doctrine of Hell a bit differently (which is one of the reasons it was often called "a cult" in the perjorative sense of the word. You can't disagree with certain things and retain legitimacy. LOL) Definitely no eternal burning pit of torment as punishment for being ignorant or selfish, and to this day, I can't make the Bible verses that they claim prove that bend in that direction. The words translated as "Hell" (and accepted as the Dante's Inferno version of it) can be as innocuous in the original language as "grave" which presents a different kind of picture for that verse.

[Derek]

Do you believe that there is one afterlife for everyone... Or other concept that I haven't touched on?

My conception of what happens after death is somewhere between those two options.  Who we are, our thoughts and feelings and everything, I view as being chemical reactions.  It's all physical.  There is no "us" that exists separately from our bodies.  And when that body dies, "we" cease to exist.

There is, however, an "Observer" that is connected to our bodies.  It is essentially a recorder of our lives and experiences.  When we die, that Observer merges back into the overarching existance of everything, [everything in this case carrying panentheistic tones] bringing with it our experiences.  New life, when it is created, get's an Observer of it's own that's been broken off the Everything.

Think of it like a spray of water at the ocean.  A water drop separates from the ocean, exists seperately and then returns to the water.  The next drop may contain some of the molecules from that first drop, or maybe none at all.  But it's not the same drop.

[Pythuna]

I was wondering about the different paths and concepts of the Afterlife, and what you believe happens to people NOT on that path. (This is primarily about beliefs other than reincarnation, not that I mind hearing about that either.  )

Do you think that there are several different afterlife realms - that Christians go to the Christian Heaven or Hell, that Heathens will go to Valhalla, Niflheim, etc? Do you believe that there is one afterlife for everyone -- for instance, that Christians and others will go to the Heathen realms (sorted according to how they lived and died) *OR* that there's only one afterlife and each paths simply describe/envision it as best they can through their lens?

I believe that when I die it'll be like pulling a hand out of a glove--the glove will lay there empty while the hand is still a hand, but gloveless!  I believe that my "hand" may go back into another glove or it may stay bare.  I'm still not that in tune with my "hand" but it's something I'm doing a lot of meditation work on.

As far as others go....  just because we all look human, or wear a human form, doesn't mean that we all share the same human soul.  I believe that there are the chosen people of certain gods--created by them and go back to them at the end.  Even though our physical forms look the same, that "spirit" which animates our physical forms may not be the same.

Just because something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, really doesn't have to mean that it's a duck.  If you look at nature, there's a lot of mimicry.  I believe it's the same with the physical incarnations of souls.  You may look like me, but behind this, there could be huge worlds of difference.

Me ka pono~
Pythuna

[tinapo85]

Do you think that there are several different afterlife realms - that Christians go to the Christian Heaven or Hell, that Heathens will go to Valhalla, Niflheim, etc? Do you believe that there is one afterlife for everyone -- for instance, that Christians and others will go to the Heathen realms (sorted according to how they lived and died) *OR* that there's only one afterlife and each paths simply describe/envision it as best they can through their lens?

I personally think that we are reincarnated, but in between we go to "heaven" like a vacation from living. How long we are on vacation is up to us, we go back to living we are ready. at some point we die and decide we don't want to go back. There my beliefs are very much influenced by Hinduism. At that point we are like a drop of water falling into the ocean. The divine part of us, or our soul, merges with the "divine out there."

This made sense to me after my uncle died, i don't think he went "out there" but I am positive there are plenty of people who have had to deal with the suicide of a loved one when they themselves were suffering depression. The out there manifested itself in my world that day. It was just a feeling on the wind, like a hug saying it will be okay. That is how I came to believe that there was some great "out there."

As to other beliefs of a heaven like place, I think it is the same place for everyone. My mom is Catholic, she believes in heaven and hell. She was really not comfortable with me being pagan for the first several years because she didn't want me to be in hell. I asked her if her god would punish me for all eternity for being a good person who called him by many different names ( I believe that there is one big energy - the out there - That shows itself to us however we can relate to it). Once my mom got where I was coming from she decided the god she worships would not punish me forever. So I think even other religions can even kind of say we can all go to the same place. i think its up to the person. My mom may just "go on vacation" and decide to stay there forever, I however will probably decide to come back for another life.

I view rebirth as death feeding life, not as a soul being born again. The whole embalming-and-burying-in-a-coffin thing is counter to this belief and I'm not comfortable with it, nor am I comfortable with cremation. I'd rather just have my body thrown into the ground to decompose.

I agree! Though it isn't legal in most places (including where I live) But I would like to be cremated if they can't just toss me in the ground. I just can't see taking up real estate with my body, I'm not going to be using it. I know with cremation you aren't supposed to be ashes, but I told my family if I die and have to be cremated to toss me somewhere, maybe my garden, ash is good for soil. My other wishes were not to have a viewing or to temporarily place me in a coffin from walmart (yes walmart sells coffins).

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