After death

I am not religious at all although I like to think I live by Christian values. I do however believe in ghosts because they have been seen for thousands of years by every culture. They may not be dead though. I have always wondered if it's about time and we occasionally break into the past or future somehow.
My Dad died the day before our son was married. I felt certain Dad was present at that wedding and we had a great day for him as well as the youngsters. Wishful thinking perhaps.
Interesting post eglantine21.

Bill Bryson touches on the subject of matter in his excellent and eminently understandable book, A Short History Of Nearly Everything.
It won many awards and accolades for bringing science to a level where everyone can understand it.
Being non-religious, I believe that death is the end of our conscious knowing but our 'atoms' are forever absorbed into earth air or water.

What do others think of regression from previous life’s ? Has anyone undergone this ? I have read some very thought provoking articles on this.

I became interested in humanism after attending a couple of very meaningful funerals taken by one of their celebrants. I believe that they chime more with my way of thinking, and will certainly opt for that type of ceremony when I shuffle off. I am participating in a very basic course on neuroscience and believe many of the spiritual phenomena that we experience, although seemingly very real, can be explained by neuroscience, and especially as they discover more about the brain for example with functional MRI scanning.

I believe that we go to the most beautiful place we can imagine and are reunited with our loved ones as well as those with whom we need to sort out issues we couldn't handle this time. We can spend our time between lives studying, working on lessons we need to learn before the next time round, enjoying music, reading, doing whatever we wish until we feel ready to choose our next life. Between lives we can remember everything we have ever experienced.

I believe in reincarnation...

Skweek1
The tablets aren't doing you any good.

This is too 'heavy' a subject for me today

My late mum did used to say that some of my older kids had "lived before"- often i see parts of her personality in them,even the 2 who were born after she died,and in my grandchildren-strange really!

BRedhead59. Re the subject of ghosts. I have always had a very open mind about theses things. In fact, I'm really just indecisive. I blame my birthsign - I'm a Libran. But recently had a discussion with friends about whether ghosts exist. And I raised the fact that there are no modern ghost sightings, apart from those that individuals believe to have seen of loved ones. We all see the flowers at sides of roads where individuals have sadly died. No one ever seems to report seeing ghosts at the sites. And we have had tragedies where multiple people have died and yet there are no reports of ghosts being seen at the site of the tragedy. Food for thought.

Nannan2
Not strange at all. They have genes passed down from your mother to you and from you to them.
My oldest son has my late mum's kindness which is often hidden by a brusque exterior and his hazel eyes are hers, gentle and loving.
Your mum is with you in your children.

I remember reading that when a person dies their body is immediately several grams lighter, can't remember how many. It is thought to be your soul or spirit leaving your body. Hope it's true!

I would be a happy atheist and believe that there is nothing after death if it weren't for one disconcerting experience when I was driving with my two year old son strapped in the back of the car. I was thinking about the Holocaust and agreeing with a survivor who said that he didn't believe in God anymore. At that precise moment, my son said "Mummy, the rainbow, the rainbow!" There wasn't any rainbow anywhere, so I asked him where it was. And he said "Mummy, the cars are all sitting in a rainbow." Blimey. Rainbows and little children. It looked like a straight up miracle, and I have never been able to come up with any explanation as to what happened.

I don't believe in God, or 'Religion' - but I do believe in Spirit. I truly believe, and had experiences that prove it to me at least, that our spirit, soul, energy or whatever you want to call it, carries on after death. I also believe that we sometimes choose to reincarnate.

Ì am an interpretational Christian (which also would be called a mystic Christian) There is far more to Christianity than just the main stream idea in the box.

I don't believe one faith has the monopoly on spiritual matters. Ì dont do religion. Religion is man made control. Faith is about a personal relationship not someone else's ideas.

Spirituality and real Christianity is about the core message of Christ and inner truths. Jesus did not die to leave me religion and man made rules. The name of Christ sums up what a Christian is.

I have recently started exploring non duality (you tube have loads on and if your interested in exploring start with Eckhart Tolle as he is the main speaker on it)

It has deep end my faith and makes more sense of Christianity and The Bible too.

Indeed Eckhart talks of The Bible being about deeper truths not the literal.

Father Richard Rohr is also a Christian who incorporates non duality into his talks on non duality.

You will find the deeper the Christian is in their faith which isn't main stream there more willing they are to explore other ways.

Yes I believe however how it is, I don't know. It's my concept. Yes I so believe we continue on. Heaven/hell are just words the same as God is a word. Call them any name you want. What's in a name?

Get a thesaurus out. You will find all names have different names have the same but other words too

The word God brings up predujice I know of old fashioned visuals given to children to help give them pictures. I don't believe in the God of my childhood.

My idea of God has a child was the fear of my late father whom I had transferred all my fears from onto God.

I am also a long term member of a 12 step program which has helped me develop my faith which is personal to me

Should say above deepened not deep end

I like the idea that when I die I will have taken the next step in my journey to return to the stars from whence we all came. We are all but a spark between two eternities. ⭐️✨?

I loved your post Eglantine. I don't really know what I believe. But unfortunately I have seen dead bodies of loved ones and clearly the person they were is no longer there. It is as if the essence of them has gone. I found it hard to believe that the vibrancy and life that makes someone who they are has suddenly disappeared, so I like to think they do still exist somewhere. I do also sometimes feel their presence. Of course this could just be my way of coping with grief.

I like to think there would be a 'Rainbow Bridge' for me to meet with all those I loved and lost.

Some very interesting theories which seem logical in every sense I am drawn towards reincarnation but not in the life as we know it I base this on the fact that on two separate occasions and bearing in mind I had no prior knowledge once in koblenz and again in Seville I had strong feelings I had lived in these places in a previous life part of me is sceptical but then again????

I've been worried about this for a wee while. Then I read something which made sense to me (on here actually) that it may be like before we are born...ie just nothing. This has been a comfort to me as I've been told I'm on my way a bit sooner than I expected.

I'm sorry to hear that Everhopeful I think the closer we are to death the more pragmatic we become. Thinking of you
I like the rainbow bridge idea sarahellenwhitney that's comforting.

I believe that when we die our spirit returns to God's memory (i see it like a big fileing cabinet ) and our bodies go to the ground. The Bible tells us we are "conscious of nothing " so it's like having a sleep. Then, one day in the future, God will put the world to rights and get rid of all the evil and it will be like heaven on earth (as it says in the lords prayer) and he will ressurect the dead and we will all live on earth (a paradise) ? xxx

I'm not a religious believer, but I do believe that the soul, or "essence" of a person lives on and is awakened whenever somebody thinks of them, remembers them, speaks of them. I've been doing a lot of genealogy of late and really feel that all these dead ancestors have somehow come alive as I have dug ever deeper into their past.

I lost a very dear friend three years ago and she often comes to me in dreams. Recently she was there with her beloved husband ( who I never knew)and she said " We 'll be waiting here when you come". It was so comforting.

I was both shocked and upset when, after my mother died at the age of 48, my father wrote to say he was considering going to a series of seances ' to break down the barrier'
He had lived as Christian a life as possible, did indeed give much of his limited income for charity, but found no consolation in orthodox bodies
It seemed to me that he was opening himself up to all the possibilities of being cheated in some way.
I advised him not to and believe he desisted.
Upon his death, I found 40 preaddressed envelopes to various begging charities. He had planned to send off one each month enclosing a huge proportion of his extremely limited pension. I felt sick. He had tried to live on next to nothing as he felt it was his Christian duty to support whichever of these sharks as written.
As executrix I was well aware of all this but it was far too late. It resonated with the reports of the elderly charity givers who were reported in the press as having been hounded by such bodies