Endless fascination with the possibility of the "afterlife" ;

So perhaps we should spend less time navel-gazing and just get on with it...?

Re artists and scientists getting inspiration from the next world - Thomas Edison said in 1903 that "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."

And from Best advice on how to do art - a review of "Art & Fear:Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking David Bayles & Ted Orland 2001"
"The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot -albeit a perfect one - to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."

I used to believe in reincarnation, in that our souls experience one life then after a period of reflection and understanding somewhere out there in the ether they choose to come back again and again until they get as good as they can be...

I'm not as convinced about that now. I think that perhaps life and life experiences wear one down and it's not always a happy prospect that return is inevitable (even though of course we wouldn't remember our previous lives!).

Some people think that the inspiration of artists and scientists comes from the next world (- like when you have a flash of inspiration.)

I think there are lots of possibilities, but we won't know until we get there. One belief I have read about says that if we knew how glorious life is in the next world we would all rush to get there! For now we have to fulfill our purpose in this world.

Sounds exciting * starbird* hope it will be a bit like that.

How will it participate, though?

If there is life after death, it cannot be a place, and we would not have a body. According to quantum theory everything comes down to a wave or a particle, in other words, energy. What is a thought? Is it so impossible that what we call soul or spirit survives as a collection of our thoughts, memory, knowledge? If you spend your life immersed in material things and pleasures of the body, what thoughts will be left when you die and there is no world and no body? There would be no life after death for such a person. But imagine an enquiringly mind, that thinks about 'higher' things, that, while enjoying the world, also practices love, service, compassion etc. and is open to always learning and discovering new things. If that mind survives the body there is no reason why it should not continue to live, and, released from a body that dictates when and where it has to be, will have endless new vistas to explore and opportunities to participitate in.

My mother in law never believed in Life after death, but after her husband died unexpectedly he appeared at the end of her bed one day and just stood there looking at her. This convinced her.

To answer you S2B 'yes'

I'm not a believer in the 'after life' but when you lose someone you love very much, it's so final that a little bit of 'could it be?' or 'perhaps there may be after all...' can just add a bit of hope to a hopeless situation

Do people find these things comforting? I think I would, but I havent experienced it, so I wouldnt know for sure.

My GS's favourite toy was a sort of jig-saw of musical instruments. It had cut out pieces which when placed in the correct slot played the sound of that instrument. He especially like the sound of the trumpet. After he died this toy would suddenly start playing from the depth of the toy box, usually the sound of the trumpet, whether or not the pieces were in place.

I think electrical activity happens a lot after a bereavement. I've posted before about the TV suddenly coming on a few hours my mum passed away.

When my dad died the electrics went haywire, and once the whole flat
was plunged into darkness.

Just before my Dh passed away a tree crashed to the ground in the back garden. A chap who did some gardening for us said later that it was a sign.

After my dad passed away, I had a very strong feeling that my sister who
died before I was born was walking by my side.

Heaven knows what it all means.

I do believe in an afterlife but I can't explain what I think it would be like.

I cant say I'm very religious, however I wanted to share the following with you as we have never forgotten the experience. My husband died suddenly after having heart attack at age 54. Three nights after he died my daughters and I were woken up at two in the morning by music played very loudly. We went downstairs and discovered radio, television, blasting out full volume, plus all the kitchen appliances were turned on, oven, toaster etc.
My husband was an Electrical Power Engineer (not an electrician) with the local electricity board. My son-in-law said there just wasn't an explanation for what happened that night. I like to think that it was my husband saying goodbye. Although its many years ago my youngest daughter just wont let us talk about the incident- she was terrified. Something strange happened that night. It never happened again. I like to think when I die that my husband will be waiting to greet me. Though I'm hoping it will be a few years yet!!

Long but interesting article by Michael Pollen in the New Yorker called The Trip Treatment. It's centred around a terminally ill journalist and the latest research into using psychedelics for anxiety depression etc. The journalist was greatly helped and believed that his dead sister was with him during his treatment. The article is very easy to google.

Believe that is!

I do!! I'm hoping to see my lovely family again, and for mine to join me later.

I don't want to come back though.

I don't have religious beliefs. I like to think that at the moment of death we will "meet up with" all those people with whom we came into contact during our lives. It may well be the result of the brain shutting down, rather than proof of an "afterlife", but it would be a nice note to end on.

The idea of not existing is, I'm sure a lot of people would agree, a difficult one to get your head round. But I try to remind myself that before I was born I was not aware of my non-existence, and, along with everybody else, I will merely be returning to that state.

The only way to work for the end of the world is pray, thy kingdom come as far as I know.

The world does not really belong to us.

So you don't believe you're alive now, Luckygirl?

Not me!

Who believes in Life before death, is what I want to know ???

Indeed - if you think you are heading off to a feast of virgins, why wait? And who cares who you take with you?

I am always intrigued as to how a corpse might "get it up" in order to take advantage of said virgins.

Trouble is, Nelliemoser, those people sometimes waste their real lives in preparation for the notional after-life - and that is a real shame. At its worst this means there are fundamentalist types actively hoping for (even working for?) the 'End of the World'... our world.

If people find the idea of life after death comforting and helpful at difficult times, who are we to take that comfort from them? It may not be logical but it may save people a lot of distress and help them heal. Mind over matter sometimes.
B*****R our "logic". This is where I so dislike Richard Dawkins approach to atheism.

My son was bathing his 8 year-old Downs Syndrome daughter, when she turned and stared hard towards the door. " What are you looking at Rosie?" he asked. "Mrs Bailey." was her reply. Now Mrs Bailey was my son's disabled grandmother, who had died many years before Rosie's birth. Her surname was never used, she was just known as "Granny", and was a very kind thoughtful woman, whose sympathies would have been abundant for Rosie ( not her actual name). This incident is hard to explain, but it is comforting to think our deceased relatives are looking out for us.