RIP?

a reply to: bluesjr

In terms of reincarnation, there is a widely held belief that when the soul leaves a dead physical body, it goes into a place of calm and rest for a time. Any trauma to the spirit is healed and restored as it rests. Then, the soul can reincarnate if it chooses.


Interesting about the atheism remark though...I know more than a few atheists, and they've each got their own unique way of explaining how things fit into their belief that there is no higher power...it's really fascinating. But they all share one commonality, even though they don't know each other or even live near each other: they all believe that when a person expires, they go to sleep. Forever.

No dreams, no altered consciousness. Just an endless, meaningless, featureless sleep. One person described it as a powering down, the lights all turning off as the computer enters hibernation...only no one ever comes back to wake it up. Damned depressing thought, if you ask me...that this might be all we ever are.

a reply to: tigertatzen

You know, personally I view death as a transition from the physical to the ethereal. I believe we continue. However, when someone asks me, "Do you fear death?" I quantifiably tell them, "No. There's one of two possibilities in regards to death. One we continue on in some form, which is my personal belief, or there's no consciousness of ever having existed at all. Either way, it's not something to fear."

I mean, that's really the bottom line isn't it? Either we continue, or we have no knowledge of ever being?

originally posted by: tigertatzen
a reply to: bluesjr

In terms of reincarnation, there is a widely held belief that when the soul leaves a dead physical body, it goes into a place of calm and rest for a time. Any trauma to the spirit is healed and restored as it rests. Then, the soul can reincarnate if it chooses.

Thanks. That is another very interesting take on it. Another form of interim resting.

Interesting about the atheism remark though...I know more than a few atheists, and they've each got their own unique way of explaining how things fit into their belief that there is no higher power...it's really fascinating. But they all share one commonality, even though they don't know each other or even live near each other: they all believe that when a person expires, they go to sleep. Forever.

No dreams, no altered consciousness. Just an endless, meaningless, featureless sleep. One person described it as a powering down, the lights all turning off as the computer enters hibernation...only no one ever comes back to wake it up. Damned depressing thought, if you ask me...that this might be all we ever are.

For a long time I thought that atheists believed we just became "dust in the wind", no resting just no existing. But some of the threads I've read here with posts from atheists have shown me that is not always the case or perhaps not even the majority. Some claim it is simply no belief, opened minded about what might happen but no strong belief about it.

originally posted by: SpeakerofTruth
a reply to: tigertatzen

You know, personally I view death as a transition from the physical to the ethereal. I believe we continue. However, when someone asks me, "Do you fear death?" I quantifiably tell them, "No. There's one of two possibilities in regards to death. One we continue on in some form, which is my personal belief, or there's no consciousness of ever having existed at all. Either way, it's not something to fear."

I mean, that's really the bottom line isn't it? Either we continue, or we have no knowledge of ever being?

I think this way too. Sometimes it even moves past no fear and approaches a desire to get there sooner. But I'm patient enough to see how this life ends naturally. But absolutely no fear of death, just the temporary pain that may come with it

I always thought using RIP was just a way for people to save money on a headstone. A lengthy epitaph certainly costs significantly more than just 3 capitol letters? Apparently I was wrong about this (again). Engraving a headstone/monument with 3 characters costs exactly the same as 20 characters, at least from the place I checked:

How much will engraving my existing monument cost? Price depends upon the amount of lettering and the cemetery charges for the permit. Prices start @ $395.00 for up to 20 letters (and or numbers) extra engraving cost $9.00 per character. Hand carved lettering or hand drawn lettering will have additional charges this is priced specific to the job, if any additional charges will apply we will let you know. Cemetery Charges are not included in the pricing we give you. You will be responsible to pay the cemetery charges with a personal check or money order.

SOURCE

I still prefer the brief statement like this one:

a reply to: bluesjr


Well, people here at ATS tend to want to interlink atheism with agnosticism for some reason. They're quite different ideologies, but as youngsters say, "whatever."

originally posted by: jokei
a reply to: bluesjr

Typing it into a search engine would be helpful.

en.wikipedia.org...

www.quora.com...

So would quoting what it says...