Death: Afterlife, Permanent, Or Illusion

[Will Bigger]

So, in a nutshell I'm wondering what you think about the physical body death. What do you think of the three theories I mentioned? Could there be an immortal soul, and an afterlife for the ego part of us, is death the end of your ego or self-consciousness ( basically- is your body your ego?). Or, is it a complete illusion?

As for me, I'm leaning toward physical death being an illusion in itself ( on top of the even greater illusion that *you* are your body). Think about it, it's not like the past just stops existing once you've been through it. So, when your body dies, it's only "dead" from an abitrary point in time. 

[SkyPanther]

My position is agnostic, I don't know; (though I have some opinions) but I really resonate and agree with the Buddhas position on these questions:

 

This samyutta is organized around questions that the Buddha left unanswered. Most of the discourses here focus on questions in a standard list of ten that were apparently the hot issues for philosophers in the Buddha’s day: Is the cosmos eternal? Is it not eternal? Is it finite? Is it infinite? Is the body the same as the soul? Is the body one thing and the soul another? Does the Tathagata exist after death? Does he not exist after death? Both? Neither?

MN 72 lists the reasons why the Buddha does not take a position on any of these questions. In each case he says that such a position “is a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. It is accompanied by suffering, distress, despair, & fever, and it does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation; to calm, direct knowledge, full awakening, Unbinding.”

 

Source: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn44/sn44.intro.than.html

Edited April 27, 2016 by SkyPanther

[30secs]

that's why I wondered before, Enlightened people do not take any position on this matter, because they know when they speak, at the back on their mind, "ooh gizzz..I making story again, and  it's illusion"

[Khin]

You are dying even before your body is put under ground. It just that you don't notice. But just because you don't know doesn't mean you are living or things stop happening. Just like Leo said in last video, you are determining death or alive in your version. Not as in reality. 

[Mulky]

I think here's what people really care about.  They want to know if they are there at all, as able to experience anything, forever.  People want to continue to exist forever, it's not important as what, just so long as being alive is there, which is, the ability to be aware of anything at all.  No matter what you leave behind, it's not the way of staying alive people want, having kids won't keep you alive as something that continues to live after the body dies, you won't be there.  The body breaking down and going into nature  and all the matter that made you up still existing won't do you any good, you won't be there to experience any of that, your conciousness won't be inside of a plant that came from your dead body, you won't be there seeing it.  Becoming famous, leaving a legacy behind, being part of human history, even if people talk about you after you die, the instant you die none of that will exist for you anymore, it won't matter if people loved you or hated you, or didn't care at all.  

Sitting here knowing you are gonna die one day and nothing will ever exist for you after that, and nothing in your entire life matters at all, puts you as the "agent" of your life in a difficult spot, because now what do you do.  If you didn't know any of that, you would live your life appropriately, things would seem to matter, and while you were alive everything would feel right and important, and you would be motivated to do things.  Feeling your life doesn't really matter, it's impossible to care about or do anything(at least for me right now).  Knowing your going to die makes it hard to take interest in  yourself, and yet here you are, with 50 or so years left to hang out, not being excited about anything you do.  This is how I feel right now, and I'm not sure how to get out of it.  I have been on this path for about 5 years and this is one of the darkest times I've had.  I have heard and want to believe I as awareness lives on after death, with like a clean slate, I've even felt like that before, but right now I feel sad about how the body has to slowly lose it's beauty and youth, and then we have to hang out for 50 more years.   I really see the emptiness of everything we do, and I just don't feel like doing anything ever again, I also don't feel like being anyone, at least not anyone anybody else can see.  I feel like nobody has ever been able to see the real me, why bother continueing to have these pointless painful interactions with people that make me not feel like myself.I felt this way before, and it was happier, but this time it feels worse, I'm not sure where I went wrong here.

 

Edited April 30, 2016 by Mulky

[Nathalie]

@Will Bigger We can interpret a lot.. but nobody knows. A lot of religions and beliefs have been offered to make you go the way they want to.. But what if we decide that it doesn't really matter at the moment and enjoy the life the way it is? What if life is just an opportunity to experiment a wonderful dream? I think being aware of the death is important in order to live fully, but aren't we missing the point by philosophize about it?

@Mulky Is it possible that you ask yourself this kind of questions so loud that you don't hear the little inner voice which would tell you, how to love the present moment.. Just the present moment without purpose, just love, just live, just appreciate every day as if it was the last?

 

Edited April 30, 2016 by MartineF

[Galyna]

@Mulky I understand exactly how you feel. I feel the same sometimes. I feel so empty. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[Blind Observer]

I'd like to reply with a quote becouse It makes absolute sense to me  "Death is a life to life phenomenon, a life to life sleep. Every day you are tired. You fall into sleep and you regain your vitality, your aliveness in the morning; you are reborn. After a life of seventy or eighty years you are tired completely. Now such short duration of death won't do; you need a great death. After that great death or great sleep, you are reborn with a totally new body. "

Osho - The Book of secrets

[Franz_]

@Blind Observer  so you believe in reincarnation? i find non existence more applausing for me tbh,more comforting

[Someone here]

On 05/08/2025 at 1:35 AM, Franz_ said:

@Blind Observer  so you believe in reincarnation? i find non existence more applausing for me tbh,more comforting

None existence triggers two opposite feelings in me..both eternal peace and absolute brute nihilism. 

Thats why peeps in the West( ya know america and Europe) they say "rest in peace" to a dead person .in the middle East they say" may Allah overtakes him/her with mercy ".. Which reflects belief of None existence vs belief of eternal afterlife. 

If you think about non existence..its not absolutely good nor absolutely bad. It is relative . If you are suicidal or depressed you wish to die forever. If you just got married from the most beautiful princess ever you will wish to live and exist forever. See?

[Oppositionless]

Seeing my old account is crazy . I was like 16.

[Oppositionless]

Oh Will

You've been through so much .

time to move to a monastery for 3 months and be free.

ADHD is a bitch. Living in a bedroom that looks like a prison cell, getting addicted to pot . I've had some profound realizations but my life is so boring. And sometimes I have psychotic thoughts , the relationship between the two is unclear.

Edited August 23 by Oppositionless

[Salariatu]

We are body and spirit. Those who die their spirit remain. The spirit is one wich the Creators. Infact, the spirits of the dead are all around us in society, they can be omnipresent, but society forgot this, only a few know. True consciousness is tapping into the spirit realm, what we call society's construct of the personal ego. So tapping in the spirit reaml, the true astral realm, is where real awakening starts, just thinking you will do it yourself it's almost impossible, because society and it's bias consciousness will send delusion your way 24/7 that you are already enlightened. 

Edited August 27 by Salariatu