“There are no atheists in hospice nursing.”

originally posted by: Rosinitiate

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: Annee

I am agnostic, and certainly not religious in the organized religion sense, but I am totally open to the idea that consciousness exists beyond the physical.

Thank you.

I've had too many "experiences" since first memory to discount that there isn't more going on.

There are many Spiritual Atheists. Atheists that believe consciousness continues after physical death.

Not understanding what atheist actually means, is the problem with those who think these experiences mean belief in a God.

I will pray for you. To be a spiritual atheist and believe in spirituality without God is tragic.

To recognize spirituality and be flippant to it's source is dangerous to ones soul but it is certainly easier.

You can keep your issues.

I'm just fine.

originally posted by: Justoneman

originally posted by: Annee
I am atheist.

Atheist simply means "Lack of believe in a God".

It does not mean anything else. Like not believing there is more going on then we can see.

I believe consciousness is energy. That the energy consciousness continues after physical death.

If I saw a past relative/friend at my death time - - I would still be atheist.

What about if your relative said and this is Jesus, would you still be an atheist?

What about if your relative said - - there is no Jesus.

Would you still believe?

This "after life" topic has been debated by billions of people for thousands of years. Most of those who debated it, now know the truth, because they're experiencing whatever that "truth" is.

a reply to: VegHead

Sigh... Deathbed visions are a byproduct of the brain''s response to certain conditions, and are able to be repeatedly induced/recreated under these conditions.
For instance, there was an old Air Force doctor who noticed that the majority of pilots who trained on that centrifuge-style thing that spins them around at ridiculously high speeds to simulate zero-G or whatever had these same visions/experiences. He started investigating the phenomenon, including putting himself through it literally hundreds of times, and was able to show that these conditions caused the same experiences as supposed NDE visions the vast majority of the time. They are caused by the brain under specific, extremely high stress conditions. I'm sure you can find plenty of information about those experiments online, if you a tally bother to research it.
There is nothing even remotely spiritual or supernatural about them.

originally posted by: Rosinitiate

originally posted by: Annee

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: Annee

I am agnostic, and certainly not religious in the organized religion sense, but I am totally open to the idea that consciousness exists beyond the physical.

Thank you.

I've had too many "experiences" since first memory to discount that there isn't more going on.

There are many Spiritual Atheists. Atheists that believe consciousness continues after physical death.

Not understanding what atheist actually means, is the problem with those who think these experiences mean belief in a God.

I will pray for you. To be a spiritual atheist and believe in spirituality without God is tragic.

To recognize spirituality and be flippant to it's source is dangerous to ones soul but it is certainly easier.

This is an incrediy stupid comment. Incredibly, absurdly stupid. Legitimately one of the sum best comments I have ever read on here.

originally posted by: Annee
I am atheist.

Atheist simply means "Lack of believe in a God".

It does not mean anything else. Like not believing there is more going on then we can see.

Wrong, you are a denial laden theist. If you believe that conciousness creates, youre a theist. You just hate Christians because of the Churchian personification of God as a human being figure. Which there's no evidence of that in their scriptures, despite their or your efforts to twist the concept of a God into a mandaddy sitting in the clouds. Thats a Greco-Roman ideology, not a Christian one.

Stop hating God just because youre surroundings are idiot humans. God's not just a giant idiot human. He's not a person. But you can have a personal relationship with 'him'. Unless youre caucasian then it's a little more complicated. You'll need an intermediate, or an escort in the situation of death.

If anything I've noticed, the dying tend to see and have conversations with loved ones who have passed on and experience a place in their life where they are literally about to know one way or another the answer to what they have always wondered. Funny, I've never heard them say a thing about god.

I worked for years looking after the elderly with dementia and ones that couldn't talk was suddenly up and about chatting days before death had a few say they saw dead relatives . there is an odd feeling in the air before they pass on and ive seen shadows heard banging only to find everyone still asleep. call me crazy if you will! I don't think its god per say I think spent energy must go somewhere maybe to another dimension hard to say really.

God is real, and Jesus is real. So is heaven. If you look at near death experiences, you find that there are cases in which a blind from birth person had the experience, and they can see during them. The can see what is happening here on earth during and after the situation causing their NDE. And they can explain if perfectly to those who also witnessed the events.

why are the religious types so desperate to cling onto the illusion of an afterlife?
using the internet is enough to send you to hell so are you that desperate to surf the waves of fire?

originally posted by: VegHead
Seeing dead loved ones at the point of death isn't really in line with Christian beliefs...

Technically it is though... Christianity developed naturally out of paganism and incorporated many earlier notions (but that would be too long to go in to). Long story short, when I was growing up we were taught you would see your family in heaven, Christ's resurrection of the dead, right hand of God, etc, alongside the imagery of everyone happily floating on clouds lol.

In my mind that imagery is universal. The sky has always been sacred as the "out there" impossibility we all strive to achieve, looking jealously at birds. Plus the beautiful sun (which was worshipped by all cultures) resides there. And all cultures naturally worshipped/deified their ancestors to some degree. Even we in the modern day go to graveyards to pray to our grandparents. So there is a longform tradition of this sort of archetypal imagery.

This serves no biological advantage that would allow natural selection to act upon it... right?

It may not be a function itself but rather a side effect. Perhaps whenever dee em tee was first produced by our brains, it naturally had a lot of byproducts - complex dreams, visions, empathy, maybe even esoteric things?

And from personal experience i'll state there's a huge advantage in peaceful death! The people who go happy tend to leave their family less somber!

originally posted by: craterman
God is real, and Jesus is real. So is heaven. If you look at near death experiences, you find that there are cases in which a blind from birth person had the experience, and they can see during them. The can see what is happening here on earth during and after the situation causing their NDE. And they can explain if perfectly to those who also witnessed the events.

That s not proof. The claim you made requires proof and you know this full well by now.

a reply to: VegHead

you must really be an angel to work in hospice.

I love your story.

to me they are getting ready to go to the other side (die of course) and their loved ones are coming to take them. It doesnt have anything to do with Christianity or any religion. Its more of a science really (not to be confused with scientology).

When people die, they see what they truly believed on earth, that is why some see Jesus, some see Allah, etc.

I think it would be a great experience to work in hospice and talk to/comfort the dying.

Just to share my personal experience with my grand father. Its actually very chilling and ill remember it to this day. my grandfather was very sick towards the end. He could barely function. Two days before he passed away he said he saw my cousin who had also passed away due to a car accident a few years before. He told him that in two day he will come and get him and to prepare and that there is nothing to be afraid of. He said his goodbyes to everyone and made up with those he had quarrels with and apologized. Truly two days later he passed. I could not go to the funeral since it was in greece, but when i did go i felt uneasy about being in the house. I could not sleep. Both my sister and i heard his voice and the lights started to flicker. Needles to say we crapped our pants and slept outside. The next day we visited his grave. The uneasiness was gone and i never heard his voice again.

originally posted by: growler
why are the religious types so desperate to cling onto the illusion of an afterlife?
using the internet is enough to send you to hell so are you that desperate to surf the waves of fire?

you dont have to be religious to believe in the afterlife. i have studied it both scientifically and religiously and have come to the conclusion that all points in time and space are connected. Call that force God or whatever, but we are beings of energy. As electrons fire through our brains they affect space and time. The universe needs life to exist in order to validate its existence. One can not exist without the other. Matter needs energy to exist. you are never truly aware until you are in danger. I believe before death your brain prepares itself to release the energy that is your consciousness. You are living in the middle of the ethereal and reality and are suddenly aware of the existence of both.

a reply to: VegHead

Even more interesting are the claims of contact from deceased loved ones who 'appear' wether in dreams or waking life sometime after death.

Other than grief and or longing for those passed on, its more difficult to explain these encounters away due to drug induced or diseased, end of life conditions.

Or maybe it is easer to dismiss them because people aren't dying. Either way people frequently report these kind of 'After Death Experiences' (ADE) , too (raises hand from back of room).

My mother during her last breaths, opened her eyes slightly and claimed to see her parents. My sister told her it was ok to just go to them. A few seconds later she closed her eyes. She got a huge smile, and she was gone.

When I was a child I had a NDE after having tonsilitus my fever shot up to 105 and my heart stopped. I remember everything that happened in the ER from a 3rd person prospective. Not saying I believe one way or the other on the subject, but it has made me think about it over the years.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: VegHeadAs for underreported incidents; consider this: Death Bed Communications can also be with living breathing people. The person gains peace by talking to the caregiver or visitor shortly before death. And the rare occasion when the caregiver is greeted with a full smile and "Oh! You're here!", and she sighs her last breath with the smile still on her face.

I wrote a poem Charon On Break

I was wondering about this, did anyone read the full article? The abstract doesn't say what they mean with DBC, I'm assuming it can't be just any communication taking place on the death bed, but it's unclear how they define it. Some of the references clearly mention paranormal stuff though.

originally posted by: Rosinitiate
I will pray for you. To be a spiritual atheist and believe in spirituality without God is tragic.

To recognize spirituality and be flippant to it's source is dangerous to ones soul but it is certainly easier.

I feel like people worry too much about whether there is a God or not. It doesn't really have to matter, the could be an afterlife without God, or there could be a God but no afterlife.

I guess I consider myself spiritual, but that might be stretching it because I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a soul, in the traditional sense. We can't know much about what happens after death anyway, because our experience is very limited and we are only aware of a small slice of the world, what happens to be relevant to us.

originally posted by: noonebutme
a reply to: VegHead
But you raise some very cool thinking points. I'd love for there to be something else. But the older I get, and the more I see just how unfair, unkind, cold and inhospitable most of the universe is -- it really doesn't seem like there's anything else after this. It just doesn't make any sense, given what we can currently see and observe of the universe around us.

I'm pretty sure thought that there is life after death. You can't actually be dead, as in non-existent; to be something you still have to exist, right? It's a paradox. I think consciousness is everywhere in the universe, but it needs something like a brain to become actualized. I think your memories die with you when you die. The only thing that's left (that we know of) is pure consciousness, of which we don't know what it actually is. It seems to exist separate from the physical world.

EDIT: About the memories dying; people say you can't bring your wealth or material possessions into the afterlife, and that's a wise thing to say. But they don't realize that this applies to their psyche too. Memories, love, hate, skills and knowledge, they're all just material things you carry with you, but you can't take them to the other side.

But then again the universe might be a simulation with a secret, maybe divine, purpose. It's just hard to know these things for sure.

originally posted by: growler
why are the religious types so desperate to cling onto the illusion of an afterlife?
using the internet is enough to send you to hell so are you that desperate to surf the waves of fire?

not necessarily "clinging on" at this point but trying to make sense of it...bc it obviously real.

The nay-sayers are like dinosaurs now.

a reply to: Kentuckymama

Something about what you said just touched me deeply, and I thank you for that. Maybe your word choosing I found pleasingly content. I myself have been around death for quite sometime. Big family nevertheless, but I too hope I get to see, feel or whatever it could be when my time comes to greet the ones I have seen passed.

I have heard stuff, whispers I would say, but they sound so 'normal' most of the time that I stopped worrying about what it could be and just acknowledge it that is there.
This too all fascinates me, good reads