u/Honest-Atmosphere-54

If we are under the impression that the afterlife is real and absent from all the pain, suffering and the grind of physical life here on earth, what’s the point of being here? I’ve heard so many different theories like we’re here to learn, or we’re here to make bonds or we’re here to just experience or even that we’re here to grow our spirituality. I know that no one really knows why we’re here but what I have such trouble understanding is why go through a life of pain and turmoil and continue to just try to grind through it when what’s waiting on the other side is so much better?

I’m not suggesting anyone just give up here but some days it’s so hard to stay motivated when you know there are so many tough days ahead. Is it simply out of fear of the unknown? I’m spoken to many people who claim not to have that fear but I have no idea how that’s possible with so many theories and so little to go off of in terms of evidence. Many claim to know but a lot of the times you’ll have a bunch of people with conflicting theories who all claim they just know. How do you not question your own knowledge? How do you deal with physical and emotional pain? How do you accept the many stages of life that seem to continuously come with more and more suffering as each stage comes?

Sorry for the rant I’m just feeling a bit confused about how strange this human experience is. It just doesn’t seem to have any point

Why do you think there are just so many theories when it comes to the afterlife? It’s like the next phase of existence as a whole is broken up into so many different subsections it’s so hard which direction to believe. Which of course in turn is such a big reason for doubt. In a way it’s like religion. Everyone swears there way is the right way but for those of us that are just open-minded but also really want some kind of answers it just makes everything so much more confusing

I feel like how you live your life has a direct correlation on your belief of an afterlife along with your fear of death. For those with seemingly no doubt about an afterlife also almost always have no fear of death and in turn seem to really enjoy everyday of life. While those with extreme doubt of the afterlife usually also have extreme fear of death and enjoyment about everyday life becomes so difficult. It’s the fear of non-existence, the fear of missing out as well as the fear of “finality” that causes the most pain.

So for those that fall in the no fear category or even those somewhere in the middle who seem to have figured out grounding any fear and just enjoying life what would your advice be to those in the extreme fear category?

I will note that for those in the extreme fear category things like “well there is nothing you can do about it” does not help in any way. I think positive transformative stories as well as methods of controlling your thoughts are probably the best responses. How do you control overthinking? Hypochondria? Non-existence? FOMO?

Do you think that when it is our time to transition to the next stage of existence we will be exactly how we are here? Or will certain “animalistic instincts” die with our body? I’m talking mostly about the survival instinct which I believe brings so much fear and doubt into our ability to truly believe in an afterlife. I also think certain other negative instincts like envy, pride and selfishness which we may not necessarily act on, seem to be the first thought we have when something doesn’t go our way. Personally I like to believe that these negative feelings will no longer be a weight on our souls once we leave the human body but I’ve also heard many people who seem to want to keep them. Thoughts?

If you are a deep thinker like myself (which most of you likely are if you’re in this group) then there is a good chance you currently or at some point suffered from anxiety, uncertainty, fear and possibly some other mental ailments.

What I have come to realize is that the reason why you suffer in this way is because you are questioning something your human brain has already tried to program in you and convince you to be fact, which is that survival is the only thing that matters. It’s the greatest fear and the top instinctive priority within us.

That’s because your brain has convinced you that this material world is all that matters. It’s continues to try to convince you and cast doubt upon you that after your experience in this realm is over, that’s it lights out. Which through so much evidence and phenomena we at least know is the less likely of the 2 possible outcomes after physical death. Yet even with all the evidence we question, we worry and we wonder. Why? It’s because our mind doesn’t want us to believe in a life after this one, if we do that then survival no longer becomes a top priority for us spiritually which goes against the operating system which is our brain.

I guess acknowledging this is a good first step in trying to win this war but for most of us it will be a never ending battle. Just gotta do what you can I guess

I’ve been seeing a lot of comments lately discussing how we can still be “ourselves” in the afterlife if we don’t bring with us the range of emotions/feelings that we deem to be part of who we are.

Personally I don’t believe these feelings represent who we truly are. For example, if like me you’ve once suffered or still suffer from things like fear, paranoia, envy, frustration, trauma etc then you wonder how you will feel like yourself if these things are no longer with you. I understand feelings the negative with the positive is a big part of the human experience but you’ve gotta remember that when you die the “human” experience is over. Which in a way is a good thing.

The way I like to envision it is kind of like this, think about a time you’ve had recently when you’ve been able to turn off your brain so to speak. When you could have a joyful conversation with someone you love that you could just be there in that moment. Free within that moment of all the outside noise. You are still you just within that one moment you don’t feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. It could be while watching tv, playing a game/sport, reading a book. These moments don’t come often for most of us but when they do they are bliss. But you still feel like yourself, in fact I’d say you feel like more of yourself than you do in the moments of worry. It’s in these moments where you feel almost childlike, free to be present in that moment. Now imagine if you were able to feel that way consistently, you’re still you, just without all the negative programming this matter world has filled your brain with.

This is how I imagine the “feelings” in the afterlife to be.

Edit; for anyone who has experience with the afterlife does this resonate with you or am I off here?

In your opinion what is the best evidence we have to suggest the existence of a life after death? Between things like NDE’s, veridical OBE’s, mediumship, ADC’s etc, there are so many ways we experience the afterlife or at least glimpses of it. If you could only use one to best make a case for the afterlife which one would it be and why?

I’m curious about people’s experiences with mediums here. I had one personal experience and to be honest it was pretty disappointing. I was slightly skeptical yet open minded going in but I found the whole thing to be quite generic and didn’t really have me leaving with the feeling as if I had been connected with my passed loved one. I do believe in mediums and psychics to an extent but I’ve also really never had a big “wow” moment myself. How about you guys?

I’m trying to understand if anyone has any idea how this works. Someone with severe special needs (non-verbal) who needs 24/7 care, I can say first hand that people who fall under this category definitely have their own unique personalities but at the same time I’m not really sure how it would work in the afterlife. Especially with things like developmental delays, how is this person in spirit form?

Obviously it’s difficult to comprehend because my human brain tries to imagine what it could be like and yet I really struggle to do that. Trying my best to think outside the box but I’m not even sure how to get there. Any thoughts?

I feel like I see this question answered a lot by people when they’re explaining there thoughts or views on what we truly are but I also feel like what’s getting lost in the translation is that these are 2 VERY different distinctions. So for clarification, this is what I feel like each means;

We are all connected - for me I feel as though this tells me while we all come from the same place, we are still all unique in our own way and therefore have our own specific individuality. Similar to a snowfall, we all come from the same place in the sky and end up at the same place on the ground but no 2 of us are the same. So while I feel like after we leave our meat suits and strip away the materialistic aspects of our humanity, we can still be unique while also understanding that the true essence of what we are as an “energetic species” (just made that up) is made from love. So we may communicate telepathically and refrain from judgement upon anyone outside of ourselves, we are still different while also being the same.

We are all one - see with this phrase I feel like it’s saying a much different thing. This feels like there is no individuality at all. This feels as though as some would say we “merge” if you will back to the “source.” For me that is basically saying when we die that’s it, it’s lights out. If we are all part of the same source and just fragments of that source experiencing the differences of the universe through humanities eyes just to return to “ourselves” as 1 being afterwards that would mean none of us truly exist. We don’t have “souls” because we are just 1 weird being who I guess is bored?

Personally I feel like I resonate more with us all being connected, from the same source but still with our own individuality. I feel like if it was the latter of the 2 I’m not sure why we would have our own separate consciousnesses. Why you could take 2 different people, with the same parents (twins even) and give them an identical upbringing with identical opportunities and they would more than likely grow up to become 2 completely different individuals with different hobbies, ideas, even senses of morality. This is not the way things are in the animal kingdom. In the wild the lions all act the same, as do the zebras, elephants etc.

What do you think?

Where do you all believe intuition falls within the afterlife? Like what is the connection? When you hear a voice telling you to do something or not to do something, or even something that pops up into your mind out of nowhere and then all of a sudden something relating to that thought comes to light.

I personally have had so many experiences with intuition and some that have been so mind blowing to me that “just a coincidence” doesn’t even come into the picture for me

If life is the journey and death/afterlife is the destination why are so many of us so afraid to get there?

In so many aspects of life, as fun as the journey can be, nothing feels better than the destination. Whether it’s attending any school and graduating, playing on a sports team and winning a championship or even meeting a partner and getting married or starting a family, the destination is always the best part.

Now I understand the questions and unknowns that comes with dying but isn’t all the evidence we have out there on all kinds of spiritual phenomena enough to tell us what it will be like?

With most journeys, the destination comes with some uncertainty, fear and sentimentality about the journey itself but it also comes with excitement, opportunity and a sense of achievement.

I feel like with the right mentality in life, the destination could end up being the best part. If you spread joy and love, have a willingness to learn and teach as well as try to do as much as you can to improve the world just a little bit each day you can be proud of your journey.

Am I onto something here? Why don’t more people feel this way? Better yet, how do more of us change our mindset to allow ourselves to really enjoy/cherish our journey and in a way look forward to the destination?

One of the biggest prevailing themes I have seen in most spiritual phenomena is that we are not who we think we are. I’ve always wondered exactly how that works and what that means. I have my own theories, but I wanted to hear some of yours.

I’ve heard a lot of when we die we “wake up” so to speak and realize that our time on earth was basically just some sort of dream/simulation/learning center or something like that.

So my biggest question would be in respect to who am I here on this earth, who am I after my time on earth ends? Does my spirit have the same personality? Maybe I am myself but without that nagging negative voice that is always trying to bring me down? Or am I someone else entirely? Does my spirit have no connection with the “avatar” I played here on earth? It’s all so fascinating and quite honestly frightening to think about but I’m curious to get some other opinions/thoughts on the matter

One of the biggest prevailing themes I have seen in most spiritual phenomena is that we are not who we think we are. I’ve always wondered exactly how that works and what that means. I have my own theories, but I wanted to hear some of yours.

I’ve heard a lot of when we die we “wake up” so to speak and realize that our time on earth was basically just some sort of dream/simulation/learning center or something like that.

So my biggest question would be in respect to who am I here on this earth, who am I after my time on earth ends? Does my spirit have the same personality? Maybe I am myself but without that nagging negative voice that is always trying to bring me down? Or am I someone else entirely? Does my spirit have no connection with the “avatar” I played here on earth? It’s all so fascinating and quite honestly frightening to think about but I’m curious to get some other opinions/thoughts on the matter