Do good little soldiers go to heaven?

a reply to: eisegesis


Ummm...Odin welcomes into Valhalla any soldier of Midgard that dies a glorious death in battle...the more berserk the better...

In Christendom...There is a false doctrine used by the majority of churches and sects...that states one only has to seek forgiveness through faith and baptism and ones ticket has been punched...A get out of jail free card...Catholicism is it's own special breed of cult that even supplants the forgiveness through authority from Christ the intercessor...to the priest at confession...

However this flies in the face of everything Christ actually taught...He stated that there would be very few that actually found the way to heaven...Not the billions that claim the name....................few...
Christ asked that you leave family and material...possession...practice loving kindness and maintain faith...to go thy way and sin no more...


It's the Same in Buddhism...there are very few that devote the entirety of their days in loving kindness...removed from the grasp of the material...very few in fact that become Bodhisattva...let alone Buddha...


It's been a long time since I read the Koran...so I really can't speak to Islam in that regard...


Of the four examples I've illustrated...Only the first would qualify as per your question...which certainly doesn't abrogate the possibility of such a soldier to find and travel that narrow windy path...it's just a measure of how much devotion one places on journeying there...Such a one would also have to lay aside all the tools and mindset of war and practice them no more...along with forgiveness of self and unrelenting daily...hourly...and minutely...devotion to loving kindness /meditation/prayer...




YouSir

a reply to: namelesss


Ummm...your post aligns with my perceptions...I have studied in depth/practiced both Christianity...Or rather Christs teaching and Buddhism and found that the results are the same and that the message is the same...There are obvious cultural differences/traditions...However...when one focuses/practices the core teachings...the paths are not only convergent but cohesive...

The...way...to either of these spiritual traditions is found in the very method that true science uses...Set aside preconception/prejudice...set aside belief/perspective...set aside ego/doubt...

Proceed with practice...focus...concentration...question attainment always...

Such a simplistic concept..."you cannot fill an already filled thing"...That's why so many use the analogy of a cup...
That's why I use the analogy of a blank slate or page...become Tabula Rasa...
I always ask people that tell me they can't get their mind to quiet...Whose mind is it...that cannot be quieted...?

It's merely a question used to inform that ones mind belongs to the self...what I like to label..."the animating factor"...I then complete the thought exercise with another question...Who is in charge of the self that thinks...?

We merely wrap ourselves in a blanket of ego and hand it the reigns...firmly but gently take back the reigns and tell the ego to sit down and be quiet...


Enjoyed your perspective...




YouSir

a reply to: argentus

People that carry the wounds of their deeds might just make it.

Is that disguised as some form of regret?

The core of what I believe is that a person's heart is the measure of their hell.

Those with a heavy heart can be weighed down by not letting go of things, granting them access to the darkest depths of human emotion. A personal hell for the living, existing to remind us that the only place left to go is "up."

An idle soldier defending their life from a threat, unprovoked by them, should not be judged unfairly. But that's not what people sign up for, is it? On the surface, they are doing what they believe is necessary for themselves, never dismissing the fact that they may one day take somebody's life in vein. Orders do not have to be followed, lives do not have to be taken, but they are. There is solidarity in killing before being killed.

Thank you for replying.

a reply to: Indigent

Things are always gray, sometimes your bad deeds benefit good people, people that could do better good that you ever could.

This is where faith comes in I guess. To believe that what you may not have intently done, will have some positive effect beyond what you can observe. And of course, that's what the one giving the orders is going to try to convince you of.

a reply to: eisegesis

I wouldn't say "regret" but perhaps its cousin, remorse, and of course, "acceptance". Acceptance of the consequence of a person's deeds.

Those with a heavy heart can be weighed down by not letting go of things, granting them access to the darkest depths of human emotion. A personal hell for the living, existing to remind us that the only place left to go is "up."

Very well said. That's it exactly, and as it dovetails with the acceptance, can make a person continually learn and relearn the lesson. I don't think soldiers or other warriors in the course of their duties should forever have to carry those feelings. I expect few have a choice.

a reply to: argentus

Cousin eh?

I find acceptance an interesting mindset to keep on an issue. Sometimes its real and it works, sometimes it doesn't. It has the potential to benefit your outlook, but also at the cost of being hollow, having to repeatedly convince oneself to accept, that which can also be maintained with tolerance. I may never fully accept the wrongs that I have committed, but can tolerate knowing that I have become better and kinder. Can one truly accept something that at the time, knowingly felt was wrong to do?

Some tolerate the hate, some accept it, but never should it be carried out for the sake of another. Many servicemen are convinced they are contributing to the greater good. The atrocities are justified and their identities are lost. If they are not themselves, how can they be judged accurately? Is there a lesson in letting yourself forget that you are agreeing with the intent of the one who gave you the order to kill for a purpose they convinced you to be real? (ramble, lol)

I'm sorry if that sounds convoluted. I may be enjoying my weekend a little too much.

But, I can accept that while everyone else has to tolerate it!

LOL

a reply to: eisegesis

No one knows.

But if there is an afterlife, then I'm sure I'll be in good company, regardless where I end up.

a reply to: ElectricFeel

God has recorded your whole life, literally your whole life. Every single thought you have had in your life is recorded. Every decision you made, God knew what your true intention was. We humans can fool ourselves but you can't fool God.

Ah! I see that your parents also used the "God is watching you" ploy when they wanted to go out and didn't have a proper babysitter.

The only one paying attention to you or recording your life is you and your own memories.

a reply to: eisegesis

Doesn't sound convoluted to me at all. You seem to capture very easily what I was struggling to convey. At some point a person has to accept what they have done in order to have a chance of living with it. To attempt to forget it might be far more damaging. For me acceptance equals owning it. Nobody else did it, I did. Nobody forced me to do it (whatever the hypothetical or real "it" is). I may have been socialized into doing it, but I made the choice.

But, I can accept that while everyone else has to tolerate it!

I see what you did there. Good one.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: eisegesis

No one knows.

Ummm...some do know actually...remember that the death of the body is merely a process...an organized process....that once "The Animating Factor"...is removed it's really just akin to throwing circuit breakers off...
That is when organs within the organism begin cellular breakdown...or decay...

It's possible to cause such things to occur simply by willing it...by focused meditation one can gain conscious access to the autonomic and limbic nervous systems...controlled respiration...pulse...etc...hibernative states...and much more...
Remember...these are only processes that have initiator's for maintenance and initiators for an organism to transition from a life state into body wide cellular death...

It's also possible to project the self or consciousness during such meditation into that beyond physical death place...it's purely amazing where the consciousness finds itself...all while retaining thought and awareness...
What I'm stating is that consciousness..."the self"...the "I"..."The Animating Factor"...can continue beyond corporeal existence...

Disclaimer:...I would not recommend anyone attempt such meditation...once you fully cross that threshold...it's almost impossible to return...without the proper safeguarding...


Now...whether you choose to believe anything I've stated here is irrelevant...I would never ask you to...
As I stated in my above posts...belief needs to be set aside...along with preconception...doubt...and prejudice...
There is science to what I just spoke to...
A natural scientific process that can be attained by choice and not trauma...the same process that happens when one dies from an excess of melancholy...or a broken heart...


Further detail...




YouSir

a reply to: eisegesis

Don't we need to all have the same set of morals before we can judge or answer the question at hand. Otherwise you are going to have a CF.

a reply to: Indigent

can't repent if you die a quick death..

a reply to: chrismarco

Not on this plane of existence. But there'll be plenty of time for repentance later.