When I die, as we all must, I hope for peace: maybe even a dreamless sleep as the Buddhist's yearn for. No heaven, no hell, nothing is good enough - except what is nothing? I am sure I have not been too precise in my thoughts for which I apologize.
I think life is the encounter of matter and energy. Both are eternal and both scatter away when we die. And our conciousness leaves for a one-way trip into oblivion.
I am always amazed that this is not how some people experience normal sleep. I go to bed and next thing I know, my alarm is going off and (seasonally adjusted) it is bright outside. Not hard to imagine as that is what I call sleeping, just like an off switch. So strange that this is not the norm for everybody.
I think there may be an afterlife, but why worry about it now?
Fear of hell?
As we have 'proven' over and over again, there's no such thing.
Fear of loss of self?
Not a 'thing' in my book.
The moment of death only hurts for a second.
How do you know it hurts at all? And, I mean the moment of death, not what might lead up to it.
@Joanne Good point; I was talking about bodily breakdown and terminal illness, not the moment of death itself.
It must be very hard watching your once vibrant, youthful body grow ever more frail and helpless, finally to fall apart completely and go through such misery.
Especially living through the realization your life is...YOU are...finished!
Personally, I do not fear death, I do fear dying.
@dalefvictor It's the what might lead up to it that bothers me if I allow myself to think about it.
I think that our current selves are nothing but imaginary roles being played by universal consciousness. A role might end but the play continues.
What do you base that on? Seems much like a "God" thing.
“Lest the idea of a unitary, group, or universal mind be dismissed as new-age woo-woo, we should note that some of the most distinguished scientists of the 20th century have endorsed this perspective. The renowned physicist David Bohm said, "Each person enfolds something of the spirit of the other in his consciousness. Deep down the consciousness of mankind is one. This is a virtual certainty... and if we don't see this it's because we are blinding ourselves to it." Anthropologist and psychologist Gregory Bateson: "The individual mind is immanent but not only in the body. It is immanent also in the pathways and messages outside the body; and there is a larger Mind of which the individual mind is only a sub-system..." Physicist Henry Margenau: "There is a physical reality that is in essence the same for all... [This] oneness of the all implies the universality of mind... If my conclusions are correct, each individual is part of God or part of the Universal Mind." Nobel physicist Erwin Schrodinger also believed that minds are united and one. He said, "To divide or multiply consciousness is something meaningless. There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousness... [I]n truth there is only one mind." [huffpost.com]
The latter employs the fallacy known as Argument by authority. Prestigeous authorities don't necessarily have anything substantive to add, however floridly they might do so.
@racocn8 Except that I am not arguing. I never argue about such things because one person can never prove anything to another person. In regards to your own convictions the burden of proof is on you. Sitting idly by and demanding evidence or proof from others will never get you anywhere.
I did not present the above quote as an argument but as a source of information in case you are interested in the topic. If you are not interested just don’t read it—no big deal.
imo you are onto something, nothing is a really hard thing to get comfortable with, as meditating while fasting in a cave or i guess even a sensory deprivation experience would clarify. Most ppl can take about 15 minutes of "nothing" before they run screaming? Fwiw it usually takes 2-3 days to meet your "monster." Best of luck
I think an eternal "dreamless sleep" is an excellent way to describe nothingness! Yes, I know that when we sleep but are not dreaming, our minds are still active. But we are not conscious or even subconscious of it. Even time becomes irrelevant. Who hasn't slept for hours only to have it seem like a only a few moments upon wakening? What you were before you were born, you become again when you cease to be.
My thoughts on death have been colored by my experiences with LSD. Whether what my rational mind tells me or my experience tells me is true will be determined when I die, and it won't matter.
I went bowling with god on acid one time, the apostals were the pins. Funnest religious experiance I ever had.
don't let any of these people deter you from your search. you'll find your path to realization. you might consider taking in the Hsin Hsin Ming. it helps as a compass. here's a pdf.