I've been thinking about this for a while because I can't seem to get a solid answer.

Death, the destiny of all men and women, only a matter of time for everyone. What happens when you die? From what I've herd, you either go to heaven or hell. But that's just something you can decide to believe in. But I legit have always wondered what its like when you die and what happens after that, scientificaly. Do you see blackness? Do you take control of a bacteria? Are you reborn as another human with no evedince of your past life?

What do guys think will happen or choose to beleive in what will happen?

remember how it was before you were conceived/born? it's kind of like that i assume

It depends on what you believe in. I'm not sure about what people other believe, but I think that your spirit enters the Spirit World. Then after everyone on earth has finally died and everyone is in the Spirit World you will face judgment from God, and you will go to the Celestial, the Terrestrial, or the Telestial kingdom depending on how you do on earth. And if see God and deny what you saw you'll go Outer Darkness...

Quote from Zive

Do you see blackness?

No. Peering into an infinite abyss would require some sort of conscious, subjective awareness of it. Wondering what "you" would experience after death makes absolutely no sense.

Quote from Zive

Do you take control of a bacteria? Are you reborn as another human with no evedince of your past life?

Actually, I do believe in reincarnation. Not in any religious sense.. but every single atom in my body was created within a star via stellar nucleosynthesis. We're all comprised of matter that existed at the beginning of time. Somehow, these atoms carry out physical processes which create the subjective narrative we call our lives. Once it ends, all of that matter continues to reside in the universe, and ultimately my physical being returns to the state it was in before I was born.. the same state that allowed my life to begin in the first place.

Even though I'll be gone, I have a hard time coming up with any reason why we won't experience this universe again after we die, as some other life form. We've already once gone from non-existence to existence, why can't that happen again after we go from existence to non-existence? What would possibly prevent that?


I'm drunk, so if this doesn't make any sense, let's blame it on that.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/dying-process.htm

Interesting read.

Your ability to think and perceive relates to the functioning of the brain. In death, the activity of the brain ceases leading to a complete absence of consciousness. If you have ever been knocked unconscious, I would assume that you would not remember what occurs during the time your brain is in an altered state of consciousness. Therefore it is very hard to comprehend.
You will not "see" black, as the ability to perceive and interpret stimulus requires at least some awareness. I believe that some associate seeing black with death as we close our eyes when we sleep which is understandable but quite silly.
There's really no point in talking about being reborn "spiritually" because there is little evidence for it and I assume it stems from religious beliefs.

As Exilement said, I like to think that upon death, although my conscious is gone, my physical matter is still there, which can be used in other life forms, such as maggots or fertilizer for plants.

But in a first person view, I just think that when you die, it's over. That's it. Your perception of time began the second your were born, so it should be expected for it to end in the same manner. After that, there's no time or blackness. You're just gone.

Quote from Exilement

Actually, I do believe in reincarnation. Not in any religious sense.. but every single atom in my body was created within a star via stellar nucleosynthesis. We're all comprised of matter that existed at the beginning of time. Somehow, these atoms carry out physical processes which create the subjective narrative we call our lives. Once it ends, all of that matter continues to reside in the universe, and ultimately my physical being returns to the state it was in before I was born.. the same state that allowed my life to begin in the first place.

Even though I'll be gone, I have a hard time coming up with any reason why we won't experience this universe again after we die, as some other life form. We've already once gone from non-existence to existence, why can't that happen again after we go from existence to non-existence? What would possibly prevent that?

exactly! i'm pretty sure this idea is the basis of enlightenment. becoming enlightened is the realization that you are actually one with the universe, and that your consciousness has just become caught up in the existence of one human being. or something. you'll remember all your past lives, become hella chilled, etc. it is said that once you have had this realization, you cannot die, because you are no longer bound to a human body.

however, without this realization, death is the end for quite some time. that is where you become totally unconscious, for years at a time, until you eventually awaken in a new body with no memories... or something along those lines (i don't fully understand this myself because i haven't died)

having said this i am very curious as to what exactly the consciousness is. perhaps we are fourth dimensional beings, capable of moving through time, but we are all stuck watching the equivalent of a three dimensional linear series of events?

dude


[edit]
oh, yeah, the realization/experience i mentioned is also known as "meeting 'god'". is that important? i think that's important.

For me death is just like when you fall asleep.

Because when you sleep time passes and you feel nothing.

For the rest it's a story of religion

technically, yeah, our bodies will degrade and rot away. you can't destroy matter (or create it), you can only convert it to something else. all we are is our own personality, our consciousness, controlling a body. when we die, we stop breathing, which makes co2 waste to build up in our blood, and since we can't release it and replace it with dat refreshin oxygen that our brains crave, it starts to die off in about 10 minutes as your brain starts to shut down your organs, one by one. your brain and brain stem are the last organs to stop functioning. after that, generally you're either burned into ashes, buried to rot under the ground and possibly be eaten by bugs or have bacteria break you down, which transfers your energy into them. if something doesn't consume you, like youre somewhere air tight, or an airtight coffin, there is no oxygen that can enter, so bacteria can't attack cell our cell walls to break em down, nor insects, then i think youre like preserved or somethin, i dunno


does our consciousness somehow travel to another place in space and time to an all powerful or evil being's dwelling? I don't think so, they're just archaic and simple ways of man explaining how and why we are here, the question anything with a conscious asks themselves.

Quote from Exilement

Actually, I do believe in reincarnation.... We've already once gone from non-existence to existence, why can't that happen again after we go from existence to non-existence? What would possibly prevent that?

Exactly. So if reincarnation is a possibility, at some point in time we were part of another or multiple human beings if not, will be? (Aside from being grown in the mother) So say we just rot and feed bacteria, which could later live in soil, which is used to grow a plant, which is then eaten by another human, which makes us part of them...?

Quote from Captain Cook

I just think that when you die, it's over. That's it. Your perception of time began the second your were born, so it should be expected for it to end in the same manner. After that, there's no time or blackness. You're just gone.

Good point. If you have no conscious or awareness of time, space, or reality, you wouldn't have the ability to see blackness or experience anything else.

What bothers me, and probably other people too, is that I can't wrap my mind around the logic of just being, doing or seeing nothing when you die. I can't comprehend that time will just stop... at least for me at the time I die.

So I guess theoretically, nothing matters what we do in our life because the worst consequence can only be death, but won't matter because you won't remember anything or have awareness that your dead? (Too far fetched?)

Quote from 2-D

technically, yeah, our bodies will degrade and rot away. you can't destroy matter (or create it), you can only convert it to something else. all we are is our own personality, our consciousness, controlling a body....

does our consciousness somehow travel to another place in space and time to an all powerful or evil being's dwelling? I don't think so, they're just archaic and simple ways of man explaining how and why we are here, the question anything with a conscious asks themselves.

I think the human being can only ask so many questions with out any answers or answers that are not comprehend-able until they go crazy.

Could our conscious travel to somewhere else in time and space?... Who knows? Anything's possible. I guess that's something one can choose to believe in if it allows them to be satisfied and make more sense. (NOT that we should get into religious things like Jombo said)

Quote from Zive]What bothers me, and probably other people too, is that I can't wrap my mind around the logic of just being, doing or seeing nothing when you die. I can't comprehend that time will just stop... at least for me at the time I die.[/quote]

Think about sleep. Dreaming aside, your conscious mind stops for 6-8 hours every single day.

You can't comprehend non-existence because it's completely incompatible with the human mind. All it ever knows is existence, and you're trying to apply "me" to "non-existence". It's not going to work. You need to stop thinking "what's it like being nothing?", because you're trying to attach some sort of subjective experience to it.

Quote from Zive

So I guess theoretically, nothing matters what we do in our life because the worst consequence can only be death, but won't matter because you won't remember anything or have awareness that your dead? (Too far fetched?)

it depends on what you think "matters". To me, the fact that we get to experience life at all is reason enough to make the best of it. But yes, ultimately, there's no real goal we're working toward. That should be a freeing realization, though, not a pessimistic one.


[QUOTE=Scarecrow

becoming enlightened is the realization that you are actually one with the universe, and that your consciousness has just become caught up in the existence of one human being.

This is what helped me overcome a fear of death. I see life as a happy accident, one worth experiencing, but it has to end eventually. It's not scary. I'm not looking forward to it, but there's a sense of wonder knowing I'll return to the same inanimate state that I was born from.

To fear death is to fear life, you can't have one without the other.

Quote from Exilement

Think about sleep. Dreaming aside, your conscious mind stops for 6-8 hours every single day.

...holy shit, he's right... damn... I guess that comes to show how we take take a lot of things for granted.

Quote from Exilement

it depends on what you think "matters". To me, the fact that we get to experience life at all is reason enough to make the best of it. But yes, ultimately, there's no real goal we're working toward. That should be a freeing realization, though, not a pessimistic one.

Excellent point. Living is already a luxury. Well, depending on your conditions. I guess I should be extremely thankful of how lucky I am to have good conditions.

Quote from Exilement

This is what helped me overcome a fear of death. I see life as a happy accident, one worth experiencing, but it has to end eventually. It's not scary. I'm not looking forward to it, but there's a sense of wonder knowing I'll return to the same inanimate state that I was born from.

Me too. Dying in vain (suffering) is what I fear and probably others too, but you won't remember you died in vain if you did, so I guess that gives me a reason to believe that its not something to be afraid of either. But humans have the natural fear of death, most living things do. I wish I wasn't so afraid of death. I've always been a wuss, even though the logic/theory makes sense that I shouldn't be... right?

Quote from Exilement

To fear death is to fear life, you can't have one without the other.

That's a great quote. Did you make that on the spot?

It's similar to a quote by Mark Twain.

there's a similar one in zen, also

Quote from Fusion

It's similar to a quote by Mark Twain.

the first result in Google is a quote by Mark Twain, but I don't think he's saying the same thing I was.

I came up with it on my own, but I seriously doubt no one else has said it before.