to believe in 'life' after death?

[lollypoplady]

Ok so not life as we know it, but I'd like to get some opions on this, religious and otherwise.... I've recently read a book written by a doctor who works in resusitation unit at Southampton General Hospital about near death experiences. It was a really fascinating & mind opening read and I have since read a few more 'sciencey' based books on the subject written by doctors & academics. What are your views & have you ever had an experience to change your view?

i believe that when i die my loved ones will be there by my side whether its a product of my brain shutting down or not i dont care as long as i get to see them one more time i am happy , i also think our spirits are reborn into different bodies and we get to live again . when my nana died i was in the kitchen a few weeks later doing dishes thinking about nothing much and it was like she was standing right next to me the presence was so strong , i burst into tears and called my then bf to this day i believe she came to see me .
it brings great comfort to know that loved ones ares still with us spiritually esp at milestone events such as births and weddings etc when the pain of not having them there physically is too much to bear

I don't know. Nobody does.

But, I do believe that there is something after this. I couldn't rationally debate it with anyone though, because the truth is that I believe because I need to. I need to believe that that reunited-with-loved-ones and everyone-at-peace place exists.

I figure that if I'm wrong, and it doesn't exist, at least it gave me a bit of comfort and hope to get through this life.

If there's nothing, then it will be a never ending dreamless sleep, which sounds lovely really. And I'll get to be buried here, in my beloved Minnesota, in the peaceful, rural cemetary on the edge of town. And eventually I'll be a part of the snow and wind and trees and lakes I loved so much in this life, and hopefully I'll have lived in such a way that those I loved will love me still, even though I'm gone. How beautiful!

And if, as I believe, there's something, then I'll be reunited in some form with those I loved who've gone before, and I'll be with the God, the First Cause, I believe so firmly in. Whatever cliche you like-the veil lifting, going across the river, slipping off a pair of shoes that never fit very well-I'll do it. How beautiful!

So, win/win, I'd say. :)

Cheerful you've put it so eloquently, that is beautiful. :)

Isn't it curious that people's experiences of near death always ties in with their particular belief? What a coincidence, no...?

I believe in reincarnation, for no logical reasons whatsoever. To me, the idea just seems utterly natural and right. I am not scared of dying, only of dying before I have brought up my girls.

I'm with Diziet - I want Death from the Discworld to be how it is at the end of it all! (We've actually got an ornament of him on the shelf in the lounge - except his scythe keeps falling off). I quite like the idea of a bumbling, slightly incompetent numpty making it up as he goes along being the end of it all to be honest (sorry just laughing at the mental image of the robin on the Christmas card again now).

I don't know what I believe - just some odd coincidences that kind of make me wonder sometimes.

My mum used my grandad's wallet when he died as her purse fell apart and we were utterly skint. One day she had absolutely no money at all, week before payday, and happened to look in the wallet and suddenly there was a tenner in there - she's convinced it was her dad looking after her.

In a similar vein, my grandmother, who people still say I'm incredibly similar to (my mum usually does it as a semi-insult, but bollocks, she was a bloody strong woman who brought up five kids with a waste of space husband and didn't let life give her shit so I'm taking it as a compliment) died and the family vultures descended to see what stuff they could get from her house when we were clearing out. Made a massive show about how "we've been there for her all along" etc etc (ie total bullshit) when I'd been going to the hospital between college lectures and the like, and had been the only grandkid to actually give a shit. Anyway - my grandad gave me nan's old watch, and I had it on the day of the cremation service - and it stopped, bang on the second the coffin went behind the curtain. It's never stopped on me since then, and it was a manual wind watch so it definitely wasn't a dead battery.

I am not religious, but was brought up a catholic, which has informed my stance.

In the light of the number of deaths we've had to endure in the last 4 years, I do imagine a life after death. In fact, what I visualise is my younger brother, mum and dad having Sunday lunch with a lot of other friends who have died. They are having a wonderful time, with lots of intelligent conversation and laughter, just as we did in RL. My bro is going to have to leave quite soon in order to jam with Hendrix and Lennon.

Rubbish I know, but it makes me happy

Heracles actually they don't, that is the interesting thing about NDE's. They follow an almost identical pattern across every culture/religion. Although people will tend to attribute their experiences to whichever religion they belong to it is by no means a different experience depending on your beliefs

Pretty much what Hecate said - almost in its entirety!

DH believes it all stops and there is nothing after. He doesn't sneer at me though.

I'm a spiritualist and also have "mediumistic" (lovely word!) tendencies, so I definitely believe in life after death.

I see our bodies as a vessel for our souls, and that we do go on to a better place. I've seen and heard enough for me to believe this without a doubt.

My dh on the other hand..... well he thinks we're all aliens !!

I'm very much a believer in the after life, whatever form it make take, I personally feel sure it DOES exist, & we don't just "end" with death.

Some will have faith & believe without proof, some wont believe at all & though I can totally understand that stance, seeing is believing etc, I feel very sad for them & don't envy them & that belief at all :(

I've been lucky, or on occasion not so lucky as it scared the cr@p out of me to have experienced more than my fair share of "proof", every thing from OOBE to seeing my Nana "spirit" visit my maternal Granda in hospital & I knew she had come for him, & told my Dad this on the way home as by explanation as to why I was so upset, when we had all just been told Granda wasn't seriously ill, was on the mend & would be home soon...he died that night.

I've lost count of the number of "ghosts" I've seen, & the number of times I know things from "spirit voices" that later prove to be true, I even clearly remember an Angel visit & the immense sense of peace it brought with it, when I was very sick as a child.

My DD when tiny often spoke of her "other Mummy & Daddy" & her sisters & Brothers & even had a few bouts of hysterics over not "wanting to die again" she clearly remembered how sad everyone was & how her Mummy & Daddy hadn't meant to hurt her , it used to send shivers down my spine & trying to comfort her was to put it mildly traumatic :( she is an only child, & as she's gotten older, she doesn't remember any of it, nor her extremely old fashioned ideas, such as "Ladies don't drive, Ladies don't drink beer

even her Nursery teacher asked me about it, something at first I was unsure about, as very aware I could look like barking mad woman, but said teacher went on to tell me more stories & how she often sees this phenomena with very early talkers as DD was

hmm i should probebly name change but here goes..

i was trying to go to sleep one night years ago and i was having really bad heart palpatations with violent dreams, it was very hard to wake up from. Everytime i tried to get out of bed or grab my mobile that was on the table next to my bed i went back into myself and just layed there having seizures.

It was getting worse and worse and then suddenly this peaceful feeling started flowing over me, part of me thought just stop fighting and trying to wake up and follow the peace instead.

Suddenly it was morning and the sun wash shineing through the window, i was standing by the window watching myself asleep in bed. My mum was calling my name and i (myself in the bed) didnt reply, she called again and knocked and then opened the door and tried to wake me. I was dead. She started screaming hysterically and then i was back in my body again still struggeling to wake up.

I KNEW right then that if i didnt struggle and i followed that peaceful feeling i would die.

I fought so hard managed to fall on to the floor and shake myself out of it. I phoned my friend, drank loads of water and didnt go back to sleep that night.

The worst thing was that when i was watching over myself, no angels came. no god was next to me, but i do feel like the sun shineing through the window meant something, but there was noone there to take me to heaven ect..that scares me. I know that you continue after death but it seems i might be destined to be eternally alone when i die.

I completly believe in life after death and near death experiences, and there is almost nothing else in my life i can know to be as true as what happened to me.

"I even clearly remember an Angel visit & the immense sense of peace it brought with it, when I was very sick as a child."

I should add, I had no idea until MANY years later that this experience was a "classic" Angel visit, as a child it certainly wasn't what you would imagine an Angel to be, not even as an adult really

?

YANBU to beleive it. But I don't.

Someone on here, near the start said that there has to be something good to get to after this shitty life. Now I've been through some shit but one look at my DS and I know this life ain't shitty, it's BEAUTIFUL! And it's enough for me.

TBH the thought of going on after this life is more scary than it just ending for me. Sometimes I feel tired of it and quite like the idea of a 'finishing line' IYKWIM.

My favourite quote ever is by Douglas Adams, he said "Isn't it enough to see that the garden is beautiful, without needing to beleive that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

Nordic - that sounds like sleep paralysis to me. I used to get it a lot, especially if I was over-tired and still get it occasionally. Basically, you become half-conscious while your body is paralysed during a dream cycle. It's absolutely terrifying to go through - I was convinced I'd met the devil on a couple of occasions. It helps a bit once you know what it is, but hopefully it'll have been a one-off experience for you.

I get sleep paralysis too and when I read that post that's immediately what I thought of... I've had it so badly that my body shakes which feels like the seizures you describe. I did a lot of research into it which has helped me to understand it from different perspectives. Some people (especially shamans) actually try to get into the state of sleep paralysis where their body starts to shake as it preludes an out of body experience, it's all very interesting stuff!

Yes I believe in life after death. I believe in Heaven. And think it's going to be awesome.

I'm another sleep paralysis/false awakening sufferer and it does sound a lot like what you experienced, Nordic Princess. This is not to belittle your experience at all, but try not to read too much into the aspect of 'nobody coming for you'.

I am also a very firm believer in life after death. My mum came to me about ten days after she had died, and to my dad on the same night, and it was so real that it's left me with absolutely no doubts and no fear of death. I believe in life before birth as well, and ever since he could talk, my son has spoken very clearly and assuredly about his 'other house' and his 'other mother'. I've tried very hard to listen and accept without influencing what he says, and he's been remarkably consistent every time he's mentioned it, although he talks about it less and less now (at 3 1/2) than he used to. This is a fascinating book on research into reincarnation and past-life memories, if anyone's interested.

this sort of stuff fascinates me.

i am not religious as such but i believe there is "something" after death.

i have had one or two things happen to me that are unexplainable, i mentioned them on a thread on here ages ago about strange things that have happened to you. and on the subject of what happens when you die, my mum once told me that years ago, my aunt (mums sister) had a best friend who was terminally ill in hospital, my aunt was at home miles away from her and out of the blue she heard her friend shout "christ, there is a god!!" ...and she later got the call to say her friend had sadly died :( ... and it was at the exact moment that my friend heard her voice. i will never forget my mum telling me that, it both scared me to death but was a comforting story at the same time.