Do you believe in something after death? Do all Nihilists take the position that after death, there is simply

Question

Oblivion?

What about Atheists?

Is there any way to prove or disprove such a thing? Or is Empiricism true,in the sense that we cannot prove what we cannot perceive with our senses?

Answer 1

I am not a nihilist, don't know what that is. I am an athiest. I don't believe in god, satan, heaven, h**l, life after death, reincarnation, multiple dimensions, ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, sasquatch, giants, elves, drawfs, etc...

I do not believe in these things because I've never seen any real evidence to prove their existences. That's not to say that I hope I'm right but until I see evidence to the contrary, I will not be changing my mind. However, I do believe that all of these things have some basis in realities. Giants: 7 foot tall people, drawves/elves: midgets. Werewolves I believe has to do with lycanthropy, (a modern medical disability). Vampires were people who were crazy enough to believe that drinking others blood or eating their organs, gives them that persons strengths. You can see this in multiple cultures through out history. Aliens, who wouldn't love the idea of a society who has evolved enough to be a scientific community or who has abilities beyond those of what we have. Ghosts: fear of repricussions by those who were wronged prior to death. Also: the unknown of what happens after death. The bible I believe was a story to either 1) encourage people to believe in ways that would make their society better as a whole or 2) a tool to be used to manipulate others for non-righteous reasons by people who wished to use peoples gullibilites to control their lives. Could be both.

Gods: If you look at various cultures throughout history, you will see that each one has it's own gods/goddesses. In all the years that god has been believed to exist (in all it's forms), it has never been proven to have existed. In all cultures, can you name any of them with any true proof, other than their belief in god, that would prove that he/she/it exists? I know I cannot. I think that people like to have someone to blame for the worlds problems, as well as their own problems. I also think that most people like to use god as a means to explain the unexplainable. That is why God is such a world spread theory throughout time.

I do like the idea of heaven (a utopian society that is based on peace, love, and understanding). A world without hate, intolerance, anger and pain. I believe that most people would like to see this happen and, if, we all chose to make it happen I believe that, on earth, it could happen. But there is no way to proof that it (heaven) exists in any form of reality. If we get to earth from heaven and to heaven or h**l from earth, we should be able to find proof of some sort of portal system. Yet, over the span of mankind, we have never found such portals.  h**l, I do not like because I do not believe that any crime is worth that kind of price/punishment. I believe that this world we reside in helps to create these terrible people because of the pains they deal with in their lives and if the world was different than these people would never have become what they have become.

I do not believe these things because I am an athiest. I am an athiest because I believe in these things.

Answer 2

Think of God as being a Universal Life Force, or Energy which is present everywhere. In this way it is more understandable when referred to instead of thinking of IT as a human figure.

Yes, there is plenty going on in the universe before and after so-called death. Nope, no oblivion, perhaps rest for a soul awhile but Life is continually moving forward and you are part of it! Your body is temporary but your soul is eternal. Paul Brunton's books deal with this phase of learning very well. Ex.: You are the observer, then try to think of yourself as 'dead'. You'll see your body laid out and lifeless, yet "who" is doing the observing? That is your centre of awareness, your "consciousness", it is "soul." Check out the two books listed below as they are very enlightening.

We have not yet begun to understand the human body, and I'll quote my fave author/healer, MacDonald-Bayne, as he explains to students about the different levels.

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(to begin, describing healing):

"Your ordinary daily personal consciousness sinks into oblivion and a sort of Cosmic state comes upon you. It is the feeling 'I merge into the Cosmic', and in this state I can express great healing power. (demonstrates) ... When in this Cosmic state the Divine White Light pours through you and enters the patient, tending to unite the patient with the Cosmic and conditions disappear. ... When I say to you that this is all very simple you are amazed. But I tell you it is simple; it is difficult for you because you do not comprehend it completely. Immediately you comprehend this tremendous Truth, that it is a natural law, then there is no difficulty, for it comes forth of its own free will. ...

Pure Spirit Power is millions of times more powerful than electricity generated from the most powerful generating station in the world. Just think what 50 or 60 million volts would do to your body, when 250 volts will electrocute you, and then think what pure Spirit would do to the physical body if it touched it. ...

But the extraordinary thing is that this Spirit is within you, though it does not touch the physical until it is transformed through the inner bodies. The transformers are the ethereal bodies which interpenetrate your physical body. Your real Spiritual self is above your head. Then comes the Spiritual body that surrounds the spiritual self. Then comes the thousand-petalled lotus, the centre at the dome of the head, which links it with the higher ethereal body which is the first transformer.

The next transformer is the body which is connected with the centre in your forehead, the next with the back of your head, etc., right to the bottom of the spine which connects with the physical; and you notice that these centres vibrate to the colours of the spectrum, from white and purple down to red. The pure white Light does not touch your body at all. It breaks up into different colours and passes through the various centres, as stated in our first lesson.

The emotional body is attached to the heart centre, between the shoulders; the magnetic body carries the load, and its centre is situated in the solar plexus and has a direct contact through the motor and sensory nerves to the cerebellum and higher tissues. The mental body is situated in the forehead and interpenetrates the emotional and the physical bodies. The Spiritual body, which is always perfect in itself and never is ill, is above the head. It is the mortal mind and body that is ill, not the spiritual body.

The Spirit itself, wherein is the Divine Consciousness, never touches the body, and it is like a ray coming into the body, interpenetrating the various densities of the ether, all interpenetrating each other; these are your transformers.

Answer 3

As an atheist, I don't believe that anything happens after death, I would simply cease to exist. My reasoning is that I believe that consciousness is a chemical reaction.  If my body ceases to function, that chemical reaction will no longer occur, and thus I would no longer exist. Although, this is ultimately just a guess, and carries no more validity than any other belief on what occurs after death. Ceasing to exist after dying is not an exclusive belief among atheists. Atheists can accept any philosophy on the afterlife, they just don't believe in the existence of god.  I've known quite a few atheists that believe in reincarnation and accept a buddhist philosophy on what occurs after death.  It is impossible to provide any evidence to support one's belief on what happens after death.

"Atheists do not believe in anything" - The Fortune Cookie

Either this wasn't what you were trying to say and you typed it in haste, or you are making a common misconception.  Most atheists are not nihilists.

Answer 4

There has to be a way to explain visiting a foreign country and knowing everything about it on  your first experience , meeting someone for the first time and thinking you have known them for a lifetime .This is were the suggestion of Multiple lifetimes comes from . We have a basic human need to explain discover and understand. So we look for ways threw religion , threw science , threw any known means and develop theory's .Truth of the matter is ......You can think and believe whatever you want to based on the evidence that you have been provided.  

Answer 5

Atheists do not believe in anything.

Heaven is just something to look forward to when you die, so people won't be afraid of dying.

I sometimes believe in reincarnation... that's how we have dreams... but I also believe life itself does not exist.

I DON'T BELIEVE IN DEATH. YOUR SOUL DOES NOT EVEN EXIST...

=)

Love, the Fortune Cookie ♥

Answer 6

I do believe in life after death.  I am a Christian and believe most of what the bible says.  People all the time are saying that the Bible isn't based on facts.  It actually is though.  Many of the events in the Bible can actually be proven.  As for the end times, it is only reasonable to believe that there is a heaven and a h**l.  I mean, how could the world just "happen" if there wasn't a God?  Regardless of your beliefs, it is important to respect others views as well.  I can't imagine how a person could have no faith whatsoever.  But then again, those same people can't understand religious people's views either.

Cheers.

Answer 7

I think we must first understand death. What is death ? Death can only occur to that which was born. So what is born ? The body. The body dies. But are we only this body ? Are we really this body to begin with ? What gives life to this body ? After all, the body is only bits and pieces of earth. Surely bits and pieces of earth, assembled in any which way, cannot bring forth life !! Therefore, something must enter that body to give it life. At the point of death, that 'thing' leaves the body (is separated from the body) and then the body (which had all along been 'dead') is actually 'dead'. Now the question is, what happens to that 'thing'. It cannot die, for the simple reason that it was never born. So I believe there will be 'something' after death. You may call it the journey of the 'soul' for want of a better word. Look at it this way. You are now thinking. Do you know which part of your body is thinking ? Is it your head ? How do you know ? Can you feel (or sense) your head thinking ? I certainly cannot. Maybe your toes are thinking ? You can feel your toes paining if someone steps on them. So why can't you feel your head thinking, if indeed your head is thinking !! Maybe I'm not making sense here. What I'm trying to say here is that the part of you that thinks is NOT part of this physical body that you see. Therefore, you cannot associate thinking with any particular part of your body. Since it's not part of the body, it cannot die when the body dies. It has to move on. It now has no body but it continues thinking. It's existence continues long after the body has 'died'. Therefore, I believe in 'something' after death, though exactly what it is, I really don't know. Sorry.

Answer 8

truth is... that is how we know it is the truth.

death is what life feels like before you were born, nothing,

death is a state of non-existence, like before you were born, death is a return to that state, this is not rocket science.....

Answer 9

Everything the fortune cookie said goes for me as well.

Answer 10

What if I told you that there was no god, but an one-eyed alien with 3 hands and 45 legs looking at us from a different dimension and having fun watching.

please PROVE that this is a lie. you can't. I can as well say, that the cockroaches are divine and are just pretending to be usual bugs. Can you possibly prove this wrong? So why the h**l bother with questions that you can't possibly answer

Answer 11

I am an atheist, and no gods includes no after life. Science is not about beliefs. It is about evidence, and there is no evidence that any gods or after life exists. The tales about such stuff is so infantile that these silly tales alone prove gods and an after life do not exist. I am not an empiricist but a logician. I say we cannot prove anything that is illogical. There are many things that exist but ordinary senses cannot perceive them. It is an immature opinion to say that only what we perceive with our senses exists. We have made instruments that greatly enhance out senses.

Answer 12

Everyone has their own truth. Life throws up many obstacles and our beliefs can help us work through them. Given a choice of wether i would promote religious beliefs or destroy them even if i had the "facts". I would probably do neither.

Your answer is in their somewhere.

Answer 13

I am not a nihilist, yet I firmly believe that there is nothing after death.  How would you go about proving the existence of another reality, when you can't prove the existence of this one?

Some have believed that all reality exists simultaneously, that there is no here and there, simply this, extending across all boundaries of space and time, so that only this single moment in which we are present to perceive with our senses exists for us, yet every moment exists beside of this moment, and we simply do not perceive it. If this is so, then afterlife is a falsity, as it is already in existence, and you just can't grasp it. Is this proof of its existence? No, not as far as I can see. I have enough problems trying to prove the reality of the world I see/hear/feel/smell/think around me, never mind trying to tackle one that's speculation only.

There is a great deal of difference between philosophical, religious and scientific "knowledge"...and, so far, I have found that they do not come to the same conclusions. With afterlife, it is essential that you simply put aside any proof, and believe.

Atheists, who reject the notion of a supreme being, deity, whatever you want to call it, don't believe in an afterlife, as I understand it. The reason? Religious/theological ideologies are responsible for the notion of afterlife.