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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Life after death?

187 replies

ChooChooBeanz · 07/10/2018 13:14

I was raised Catholic but have atheist beliefs, to me there is no proof of life after death ....but I desperately wish there was.

I wish I could believe that I will see all my relatives again, I miss them all so much & it’s so hard to think and once you die that’s it 😢

So AIBU to ask you all if you have seen anything that makes u believe in a life after death?

OP posts:
CoughLaughFart · 09/10/2018 21:14

That’s making the (pretty massive) assumption that souls exist.

Warpdrive · 09/10/2018 21:23

Yes I have experienced the afterlife and seen someone very dear to me there. It's pointless saying any more because those who refuse to believe WILL NOT be persuaded. It's a personal thing- why not pray about It?

Gottagetmoving · 09/10/2018 21:26

If you believe in souls, a soul wouldn't be your personality would it?
So the 'you' that is your personality and that wonders about life after death would cease to exist once your soul was released on death.
'You' will die and cease to be.
Makes sense to me anyway Grin

Chuggachuggatoottoot · 09/10/2018 21:43

Warpdrive I believe you and would love to hear about it.

Peachsnowpop · 09/10/2018 21:48

What if your beliefs govern what happens when you die ... you if you believe in the afterlife then there is one for you, bit if you dont then there is nothing else for you, ever.

73kittycat73 · 09/10/2018 23:52

Warpdrive I believe you and would love to hear about it.

Seconded. I'd love to hear what happened. (I'm a believer BTW.) Hopefully you don't mind sharing with us? I understand if you don't though.

ParanoidGynodroid · 10/10/2018 07:41

you if you believe in the afterlife then there is one for you

No there isn't.

Anyway, what do those believers think about the 'spirit' or 'soul' - the consciousness, thoughts and feelings - of those whose brains have been somehow comprised or damaged?
My MIL has quite severe Alzheimer's. Her brain is deteriorating. Her 'intangible' qualities have been depleted and compromised, even in life.
Will she be stuck in this awful state of dementia when she dies, or will she be magically 'repaired' in the afterlife?Hmm

It's easily observable: as a brain deteriorates, the 'person' gradually disappears; when the brain died they are gone.

ParanoidGynodroid · 10/10/2018 07:42

*dies

headinhands · 10/10/2018 07:55

It's easily observable: as a brain deteriorates, the 'person' gradually disappears; when the brain died they are gone

It's the same with people who've suffered brain injuries. We are our our brain.

My Nan developed dementia in the last 2 years of her life. Although very upset when she died it did feel like I'd grieved losing her some months before when she didn't know who I was anymore.

In the last few months of her life I had a recurring dream that she was being put in a coffin while she was still alive. I think my head was getting round how she, how her personality had already effectively died and what was left was the hardware.

Awful but it's not like my Nan was all in there still and just trapped, the brain had deteriorated.

easyandy101 · 10/10/2018 08:02

It's not about knowing, it's about believing

It's called a faith for a reason

I don't believe fwiw

minniebow · 10/10/2018 08:08

My mum always told me that we reincarnate and we can never remember the other lives so we’re just different people/animals. Like the human soul is recycled. I wonder if there are infinite souls or not. I don’t believe in reincarnation myself as once the brain is dead we don’t have anything. We can’t feel, see, hear, imagine anything so I think it just goes dark. I have always wondered what happens to us though and it’ll always be one of those things we never know. Unless someone dies and is brought back to life after a long period of time

DustyMaiden · 10/10/2018 08:14

My DMIL died of Alzheimer’s. Moments before her death she was completely coherent. She said she loved me and would visit again. She looked up and took an invisible hand and called out to her deceased Dsis.

A few months later I was sleeping in that room when I was awoken by a ball of light floating around the room.

ParanoidGynodroid · 10/10/2018 08:27

Oh the magic repair happens minutes before death, then? Well that's useful Hmm.
My MIL can spontaneously speak coherent sentences too here and there, but still has Alzheimer's.

I wonder if those of us who haven't seen balls of light were not loved by our late relatives.

DustyMaiden · 10/10/2018 08:33

Paranoid, why have you taken offence. I merely wrote what I experienced. It is fact and as a non believer I found it fascinating.

noego · 10/10/2018 09:06

Consciousness has nothing to do with the brain. It's immutable.

The brain can deteriorate, loss of memory, but consciousness is still there.

ParanoidGynodroid · 10/10/2018 09:18

Sorry Dusty if I seemed snippy. I wasn't offended at all! Just being my usual nit-picky self Blush

Consciousness has nothing to do with the brain
Of course it chuffing does! You wouldn't have consciousness without a brain.!

noego · 10/10/2018 09:27

@Paranoid

We are going to have to disagree.

From where I am consciousness is immutable. The brain and all its experiences can be observed.

ParanoidGynodroid · 10/10/2018 09:31

So where does consciousness originate, noego?

Robin2323 · 10/10/2018 09:52

After dad died I had moments when I 'felt ' him around me.

Only for mere seconds.

Can't explain it.

I'd had some serious personal problems a year before dad died.

I felt he was checking I was ok.

After a month - it stopped.

I guess he knew I was ok.

When mum died - nothing.

Go figure

noego · 10/10/2018 09:54

@Paranoid

There is no answer to that question. Just a knowingness

SongsWithoutWords · 10/10/2018 10:16

I think you have had to have had a glimpse of consciousness to have any understanding that anything beyond the mind, the ego and the personality exists. If you never have that glimpse then it is almost impossible to fathom - you are limited by the mind, the ego, the personality.

ParanoidGynodroid · 10/10/2018 10:22

And have you had such a glimpse Songs?

SongsWithoutWords · 10/10/2018 10:23

noego I would be interested in any recommended reading. I am currently reading Gangaji, The Diamond in Your Pocket.

Its so strange all our lives we are searching, searching for truth, searching for proof, searching for evidence, searching for ways to get what we want and ways to avoid what we fear. Yet all along the answer is to stop the search. Quieten the mind. The truth is here all along.

SongsWithoutWords · 10/10/2018 10:27

ParanoidGynodroid Honestly I think so, I am far from enlightened but I have felt enough to know that my 'mind' and my 'thoughts' are not who I am. Your mind and your thoughts are not who you are. At our core, I truly believe we are all consciousness. Most of us just don't realise this in life - which is the reason for all of the pain and suffering we endure personally and collectively.

Pretamum · 10/10/2018 10:42

I don't believe in an afterlife, I'm evidence and science led in that respect. However, I have had some strange experiences with psychics that really confused me and that I couldn't explain. Yes, I know, psychics are charlatans, fakes, exploitative etc - but some members of my family are very 'woo' and into the paranormal, so I've gone to psychics out of curiosity rather than out of some deep need to 'connect with spirits'. One psychic was dreadful and said nothing particularly interesting - but 2 others who I have seen knew an incredible amount about me. I don't believe that they are speaking to spirits, but I'm baffled as to how they knew such detailed, accurate things. If it's cold reading, I'm almost in awe at how precise they were. They knew the colour of my step mums wedding dress (it wasn't white/ivory), that i'd lost a deceased relatives ring, private details about my ex step mum, specific details of my husbands job, past advice i'd been given by another psychic on the other side of the country, the profession of both myself and my mother. This was all before Facebook's time and I only gave my first name when talking to them. I have no idea how they knew all of that, and again - it wasn't them grasping about with sentences like 'i see a relative with the initial D....' or the classic 'i see a grandparent wanting to speak' (quite likely someone in their 30's has lost a grandparent). It was very direct and to the point, which surprised me. But I don't believe in the afterlife, and am just stumped as to how they knew those things. If anyone has any answers as to how this trick is done, I'd love to know!

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