I very much Believe in The Afterlife our Bodies go back to the ground from which they came but our Souls go to Heaven to be with Jesus,God and The Holy Angels and our loved ones who have passed before us just my personal opinion and belief. But we only go to Heaven if we Believe in Jesus and that he rose on the third day ye shall be Saved.
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Twilight
Blueanchor
ameliorate
Frederick33
8 posters
The Afterlife
ameliorate- Member
Number of posts : 3603
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Job/hobbies : Full-time person! Cooking, creating things
Registration date : 2012-02-15
So you are a Christian then? The unsaid implication here being that non believers will go to hell....really? Despite leadingGuest wrote:I very much Believe in The Afterlife our Bodies go back to the ground from which they came but our Souls go to Heaven to be with Jesus,God and The Holy Angels and our loved ones who have passed before us just my personal opinion and belief. But we only go to Heaven if we Believe in Jesus and that he rose on the third day ye shall be Saved.
a good, humanistic life?
Are you familiar with karma? I expect you do not believe in it. Yet there is such a thing as causality, i.e. cause and effect,
Even the bible mentions that we reap what we sow.
If someone believes in Jesus and that he rose on the 3rd day but conducts a sadistic life, creating misery for those around him and/or is a murderer, would such a person be saved? (You must be aware that there are differences between those who call themselves Christians and those who are actually practising Christians).
Blueanchor- Member
- Number of posts : 1189
Registration date : 2015-08-26
I believe that life continues, but not in a way that we just remain the same person (like our self without the body) in a place for people after they have died.
I rather believe that we are already there, already everywhere, and what we experience after death will be different for different people. When I have experienced contact in different states or with different energies, it seems to me that they appear quite differently and I have no reason to doubt that any one is more or less real than any other - just lots of different realities.
I rather believe that we are already there, already everywhere, and what we experience after death will be different for different people. When I have experienced contact in different states or with different energies, it seems to me that they appear quite differently and I have no reason to doubt that any one is more or less real than any other - just lots of different realities.
Twilight- Just joined
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Age : 67
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Registration date : 2016-06-04
To believe that only those of us who match up to certain criteria will have an afterlife, or a good afterlife, seems odd to me. If there was such an exclusive heaven, I'm concerned, as is Ameliorate, for what happens to those excluded, in particular because I should be among their number.
It seems to me that such ideas have developed in order to recruit and hold onto adherents of particular faiths, along the lines of "If you believe our god/follow our rules, you'll be OK, but otherwise you've had it."
As a Spiritualist, I believe that all living things live on in spirit after the death of the body. If we've done bad things in earthly life, we may have to address those issues in the afterlife, but it will not be denied us. All will have the opportunity to develop and progress in the spirit world, even the Christians. ;-)
It seems to me that such ideas have developed in order to recruit and hold onto adherents of particular faiths, along the lines of "If you believe our god/follow our rules, you'll be OK, but otherwise you've had it."
As a Spiritualist, I believe that all living things live on in spirit after the death of the body. If we've done bad things in earthly life, we may have to address those issues in the afterlife, but it will not be denied us. All will have the opportunity to develop and progress in the spirit world, even the Christians. ;-)
Native spirit- Member
Number of posts : 887
Registration date : 2011-02-04
We are all Born of spirit we all go back to spirit,
Namaste
Namaste
mac- Member
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Age : 77
Location : Heart of England
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Registration date : 2010-04-23
I'm a Spiritualist too with over 30 years under my belt.Twilight wrote:To believe that only those of us who match up to certain criteria will have an afterlife, or a good afterlife, seems odd to me. If there was such an exclusive heaven, I'm concerned, as is Ameliorate, for what happens to those excluded, in particular because I should be among their number.
It seems to me that such ideas have developed in order to recruit and hold onto adherents of particular faiths, along the lines of "If you believe our god/follow our rules, you'll be OK, but otherwise you've had it."
As a Spiritualist, I believe that all living things live on in spirit after the death of the body. If we've done bad things in earthly life, we may have to address those issues in the afterlife, but it will not be denied us. All will have the opportunity to develop and progress in the spirit world, even the Christians. ;-)
So many who don't share our understanding have convoluted and confused ideas. There's not a lot to do for them, though, except perhaps to offer an alternative perspective if the occasion arises - set the table and let them take what they want from it.
Blueanchor- Member
- Number of posts : 1189
Registration date : 2015-08-26
Perhaps there is value in other perspectives.
What I find interesting is the similarity in all of the beliefs, that we will all go to whichever place. It is doubtful that anybody likes being told by someone of a different belief, that they are going to such and such place after death.
Near death experiences seem to suggest that we may experience life after death differently. So perhaps our afterlife or onward life is open to interpretation. But equally, NDE's are also given varying interpretations.
Perhaps another way to look at it is this - if the earth were an afterlife (and who can say that it isn't), then one person may experience the earth from the view of a mole, another as a whale, another as a person in the amazon jungle, another as a person in Hong Kong. If each were to describe their experience through a medium in another world, each would describe something so different that it would surely be hard to imagine that they all exist in the same world or even in the same dimension, let alone of the same animal kingdom. Yet they all share life in the dimensions that we do.
So why can't an afterlife be different? Is it implausible that some have a dualistic experience of a good against evil presence, whilst others experience a thin veil between their after state and their previous (aka spiritualism), whilst others experience a return to spirit etc etc?
What if every perspective is correct? Maybe we see the path that we walk and the afterlife of that path. If this were so, then perhaps it is right for a Christian to see the path of right and wrong and heaven and hell as a consequence of that. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt that draws spiritualists into their path, and yet another to seek path in search of union with spirit again.
Why must any of them be right or wrong? What if they were all equal?
What I find interesting is the similarity in all of the beliefs, that we will all go to whichever place. It is doubtful that anybody likes being told by someone of a different belief, that they are going to such and such place after death.
Near death experiences seem to suggest that we may experience life after death differently. So perhaps our afterlife or onward life is open to interpretation. But equally, NDE's are also given varying interpretations.
Perhaps another way to look at it is this - if the earth were an afterlife (and who can say that it isn't), then one person may experience the earth from the view of a mole, another as a whale, another as a person in the amazon jungle, another as a person in Hong Kong. If each were to describe their experience through a medium in another world, each would describe something so different that it would surely be hard to imagine that they all exist in the same world or even in the same dimension, let alone of the same animal kingdom. Yet they all share life in the dimensions that we do.
So why can't an afterlife be different? Is it implausible that some have a dualistic experience of a good against evil presence, whilst others experience a thin veil between their after state and their previous (aka spiritualism), whilst others experience a return to spirit etc etc?
What if every perspective is correct? Maybe we see the path that we walk and the afterlife of that path. If this were so, then perhaps it is right for a Christian to see the path of right and wrong and heaven and hell as a consequence of that. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt that draws spiritualists into their path, and yet another to seek path in search of union with spirit again.
Why must any of them be right or wrong? What if they were all equal?
mac- Member
Number of posts : 4147
Age : 77
Location : Heart of England
Job/hobbies : retired
Registration date : 2010-04-23
Blueanchor wrote:Perhaps there is value in other perspectives. My view is that there is the potential for value but it's not automatic....
What I find interesting is the similarity in all of the beliefs, that we will all go to whichever place. It is doubtful that anybody likes being told by someone of a different belief, that they are going to such and such place after death. Prescriptiveness is often a turn-off and it's true there are similarities between beliefs.
Near death experiences seem to suggest that we may experience life after death differently. So perhaps our afterlife or onward life is open to interpretation. But equally, NDE's are also given varying interpretations. Near-death experience is, in my view, best seen as an experience that leads one to believe one was near death But there's no certainty that what's experienced is indicative of what will be experienced after corporeal death. NDE may be a very helpful way to begin one's investigation into the totality of what happens after we pass over and concerning that it has great value.
Perhaps another way to look at it is this - if the earth were an afterlife (and who can say that it isn't), then one person may experience the earth from the view of a mole, another as a whale, another as a person in the amazon jungle, another as a person in Hong Kong. If each were to describe their experience through a medium in another world, each would describe something so different that it would surely be hard to imagine that they all exist in the same world or even in the same dimension, let alone of the same animal kingdom. Yet they all share life in the dimensions that we do. I guess it comes down to which sources of information appeal to one individually. The sources I use have never suggested that our physical earth is a location for afterlife experiences and that take appeals to me.
So why can't an afterlife be different? Is it implausible that some have a dualistic experience of a good against evil presence, whilst others experience a thin veil between their after state and their previous (aka spiritualism), whilst others experience a return to spirit etc etc? An individual's experience of existence after corporeal death is - as taught by those who influence me - may well be very different from another individual's experience. Not so very different from what's experienced in this physical dimension. It's also been taught that the nature of the dimension which follows this one results in it being malleable to thought. If one is expecting " .....dualistic experience of a good against evil presence" it may well be that's what they'll create for themselves and maybe for others of a similar persuasion. It's a transient state anyway just as life is in this world.
What if every perspective is correct? Maybe we see the path that we walk and the afterlife of that path. If this were so, then perhaps it is right for a Christian to see the path of right and wrong and heaven and hell as a consequence of that. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt that draws spiritualists into their path, and yet another to seek path in search of union with spirit again.
Why must any of them be right or wrong? What if they were all equal? I've discarded the notion of "lessons to be learned". I prefer to think in terms of simply learning, progressing, from experiences undertaken or encountered. Not a situation of one being right and another wrong or even being equal to one another. Just different.
jimrich- Member
- Number of posts : 50
Registration date : 2017-05-20
Ok, you believe (trust) such and such but do you KNOW? What if your beliefs are all WRONG? Can you prove, even to your self, that there is a "Jesus" somewhere? I am not saying our "beliefs" are right or wrong but wouldn't it feel better to actually know these things. Well, if just believing stuff makes you feel good, go for it. I used to believe there was a Boogieman, a Tooth fairy and a Santa Claus but since I gave up believing in them, life is so much better for me. By the way, we do not "have" Souls, we are Souls or the Soul (there's only on Soul). There is an Afterlife but it is also a Dream - just like this earth life is.Guest wrote:I very much Believe in The Afterlife our Bodies go back to the ground from which they came but our Souls go to Heaven to be with Jesus,God and The Holy Angels and our loved ones who have passed before us just my personal opinion and belief. But we only go to Heaven if we Believe in Jesus and that he rose on the third day ye shall be Saved.
jimrich- Member
- Number of posts : 50
Registration date : 2017-05-20
wouldn't it make more sense to start with facts? What do you actually know about spiritual/esoteric matters? What are your own actual experiences? I am not speaking about proof, just one's own actual experience.Blueanchor wrote:Perhaps there is value in other perspectives. What I find interesting is the similarity in all of the beliefs,
I don't' mind being "told" so long as the person telling me stuff seems to KNOW what they are talking about. Some do and some don't!It is doubtful that anybody likes being told by someone of a different belief, that they are going to such and such place after death.
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