To want to believe in life after death

[Jezebell]

Part of me really wants to believe in this. Part of me is cynical. I’m still grieving but comforted a little by hearing anecdotes where people’s lost loved ones visit somehow, in any form… Can anyone give any personal stories where they feel this might have happened?

Why would it be thrown across the room? Presumably it had been put back carelessly and kept falling off.

Continuing from my last post,

1. Heard mentality, the power of suggestion or mass hysteria.

10. Direct spiritual attack

@gnilliwdog That's a lovely thought and I agree that's definitely true of our mortal bodies and all the atoms they're made up of - everything is recycled - but the soul is not accounted for. As someone else said, energy cannot be destroyed, it can only change form.

@RedHelenB Hanging about here on Earth, a silent observer who can only watch on as the fates of those left behind unfold doesn't appeal either.

That should have said herd mentality.

11. Simple misremembering or false memories (known as the Mandela Effect).

@Vincitveritas yes, I don't know what I think about individual souls, but I suppose I imagine a state where separation from source, the divine, whatever you want to call it, no longer exists. Also I think our experience of individuality and separateness is an illusion and that all is connected. There is one soul, of which we are part, to which we return. I don't know what happens to individuals who have done heinous things on earth, maybe they have cultivated an energy that will only resonate with unpleasant things. Maybe they live on in things like toxic waste and dog poo?

@gnilliwdog
I think the elements composing our bodies return to the universe and we will live on in the stars, the trees, the wind, the sea, earth etc. I think the universe has one consciousness which we are part of, but will only be fully aware of when we die. Then we will be free of time and space and be able to be everywhere, all at once, to be in everything.

This is a really interesting theory. Now before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have never done drugs in my life (other than the big pharma ones for illness) but in my very close circle is someone who is working with Imperial College London on their research and evaluation on psychedelics as treatment for various mental illnesses and also for use in end of life care. Needless to say because of this I have taken an interest / watched documentaries etc.

Psychedelics were demonised throughout the 1970s and 80s because of their use as recreational drugs. Unfortunately this also stopped really crucial research into their use as medical treatments in controlled conditions. It is finally opening up again and I think it could have some bearing on how we view life after death.

So far studies suggest that psychedelic treatment with different medications from LSD to Psilocybin (Found in magic mushrooms) take the receiver on what they describe as a spiritual journey. The main findings so far from studies seem to have shown great results in taking away fear of death in the terminally ill. But also people describe a sort of realisation that they are a part of something whole - a part of the universe and that they feel much closer and entangled with that universe during the experience. In much the way @gnilliwdog describes.

We have access to such a small part of our brain function capability. Psychedelics are knows as 'mind expanding' drugs and it may be that there is some truth there - that though them the patient is able to access some of these parts we are otherwise unable to reach.

I think it's fascinating

After the death of my son I have to believe in life after death or I think I’d lose my mind .
2 years after my son died I put my rainbow baby to bed in her crib and at 2am I was being shaken awake , there was a young man by my bed and instinctively knew it was my son Oakley . I tried to talk but he just turnt he’s head to the crib and this fear went through my whole body. The blanket was covering my babies face . The pain of rushing to my girls crib but the need in me to look at every part of him and take him in .

That is very interesting. I think the use of psychedelics is fairly common in some cultures as a way to access wisdom. There does seem to be an emphasis on fasting, ritual and meditation also, so I think there are many ways to access these states. I read an interesting book years ago, called 'flow', I think. A similar state of oneness and timelessness can be induced by creative work, such as music or art, or maths. Obviously, for people as ill as those in the research you mention, there isn't time to pursue other avenues. Still interesting, I hope.

@Spursgirl1986 😔 I wish I knew how to send you the flowers. Heartbreaking.

@Vincitveritas Isn't Savernake Forest a 'hollow way'? I've always found them fascinating. Imagine , the whole landscape grows for centuries yet the road remains rooted in the past. Great place for a haunting.

That is so sad and yet beautiful and inspiring @Spursgirl1986 💐

I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t even begin to imagine your emotions that night xx

I went to see a medium a few years ago and she was absolutely spot on - names, locations, events that had happened - everything! She also predicted future things that have now happened in my life. It was all recorded on tape and I play it back every couple of years and her predictions keep coming true!

Did she mention anything useful, like lottery numbers?

Ha ha no unfortunately!

@Chasingclouds100 Thank you for your reply 😊

@Spursgirl1986 I'm so sorry for your loss, that's heartbreaking.

@Abhannmor I'm not sure about Savernake specifically but forests were certainly very special places for our ancient Celtic ancestors. Reverence for trees and other aspects of the natural world and human sacrifices by the Druids for example, would go along way to blur the lines between this life and the next.

@Pebble21uk Psychedelic drugs would definitely have that effect but I would argue are not always the catalyst for such experiences and many people encounter them without the use of any drugs at all (including alcohol).

Some other possibilities for perceived paranormal phenomenon:

12. The work of your bona fide guardian angel (even less common)

13. Vulnerable or naive people taken advantage of by someone claiming to have psychic abilities (I do agree some are genuine though). A surprising amount of information can be collected from official documents, various types of social media, word of mouth, cold reading, asking leading questions and so on.

For a couple of years it had been in exactly the same spot on the sideboard. Never moved not even a inch (why would it?). It was not near the edge so could not fall off.

Even if it did fall off no way would it have ended up as far from the sideboard as it did. When me and DH were sitting in the room, nowhere near the sideboard, it seemed as though it was thrown as it ended up so far away from the side.board and to the side of it. Not sure how something could fall forward and sideways and such a distance

I had this strange thing after a very dear friend died quite suddenly. I had this robin fly into the kitchen several days on the trot, very persistent. Thought it was odd, went on Google and discovered the saying when robins are near, loved ones are here. It all made perfect sense then. I think it was my friend coming to tell me he was ok. Certainly I felt relief and much calmer after I found that out. Same thing happened after both my parents died...

So many things happened that I can't explain after my dad passed. Even my previously sceptical husband can't explain them either. Also with my grandad.

I know they were giving me signs they are still about and I won't be told anything different. I definitely feel a sense of peace that although I can't see them, they are there.

@mydogisthebest I for one don't doubt what you saw.

(Last one I promise) Not directed atmydogisthebest but, as someone mentioned up thread, some experiences could be the result of number 14. An outright hoax, trick, prank or practical joke.

Any Christians out there reading? What do you make of it all? 🤔

Poet and spiritually inspired painter Akiane Kramarik wrote:

Only in this world past is deaf, present is blind and future is mute.

In eternity every intention and mystery is exposed. In time and outside of time, the ultimate equalizer is free will.

An illusion can never go faster than the speed limit of reality. The future has no room for a faulty victory. The end always serves the beginning.

Formidable forces weave the fabric of the cosmos, but no matter how long the trials last and no matter how devastating and iniquitous they become, in the end, only the side of truth and benevolence wins.

Extraordinary powers that influence countless beings through eons of time may appear invincible to most observers, as colossal revelations take place within the time and space continuum, only those who protect integrity and love triumph.

Something I read about the other day which seems to support the idea of a soul seperate from the body.

In a hospital in Seattle a woman went into cardiac arrest, flatlining. After she was resuscitated she insisted that she had risen out of her body and floated up around the hospital, where she saw a blue trainer on a third floor window ledge. To calm down her agitated patient, the social worker looking after her (a Clinical Assistant Professor) went to look. Finally, on the third floor of the building, she saw a blue trainer on a window ledge and took it back to the patient. During her out of body experience the woman also witnessed the resus team working on her
(who she later identified) and remembered the paper flowing out from an EKG machine onto the floor.

I note you haven't answered it.

Alas, I fear the finer points are too large to be contained within Mumsnet.

Meaning you can't find some pseudo-philosophical quote to copy and paste?

Now, now crwnhgow, there's no need to get personal.