A lady in my home ward (late 60s to early 70s) occasionally told her story about nearly dying and what it was like. She said that she was in a very peaceful state and would have stayed there except a voice told her that, unless she returned, someone else would marry her husband and raise her children.

As a youth, I always accepted her story and I felt my beliefs in an afterlife were validated when Raymond Moody's "Life After Life" was published in the mid 70s.

These days, I only know what I can perceive with my five senses in the here and now. I would certainly like to believe in a survival of consciousness, as a part of me finds the illusion comforting, but I have no direct, empirical construct to support it.

When I resigned from TSCC, my youngest said that she couldn't live without believing in God. In my mind, it's not a question of doubt or denial but more of an affirmation that I just don't know and "not knowing" is good enough for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2014 11:36AM by Keith Vaught.

Same here. You have to look at all different perspectives and explanations as to why NDE's happen.

I find, while being my most objective, honest self, the evidence for their being life after death is not compelling. At this point, the best we can do is to say "We'll find out when our times comes."

...Or not find out, as the case may be, because there might not be anything left after we die.

I don't know what happens when we die, I have never had an NDE. I too read the Moody book years ago and was fascinated.
There is some scientific explanation of what is going on when we are near death and come back.Some recount their experience, apparently, most do not have anything to recall.

Right when I think I have things figured out, about what is possible and what is not, (and blab about it!), something happens in my home that defies what I know about physics. I won't recount any of it, but suffice it to say, I am convinced now, especially since my husband died last year and my brother died this year, that there is some kind of energy that survives death. I've shared some of it with family and friends and there are similar experiences with another person. I grew up with those ideas as the family was into Spiritualism. But discarded it all as trickery, or imagination, even TV accounts as explainable. Well. Not anymore!

Sometimes I think, what if human life is like playing a video game? A 4-d RPG with incredible graphics.

When you start playing the game you remember that you're the player, but after a while the game is so utterly enthralling that you forget you're playing a game at all and you merge with the character.

You become one with the character and the game world and can't really remember that it's only a game, but there's something slightly off about everything, like an itch that can never be scratched.

It would be nearly impossible to find clues in the game that would remind you that you're not really the character, but there are some: glitches, incongruities, etc.

Eventually your character, after years of playing the game, dies. A big "GAME OVER" suddenly displays itself, and while the character is decidedly dead, you somehow are still there.

Then it hits you: that was just a game.

I sometimes think about that. I'm not saying that's how it is, mind you. I'm just saying I think about it... a lot.

kolobian Wrote:

>
> Eventually your character, after years of playing
> the game, dies. A big "GAME OVER" suddenly
> displays itself, and while the character is
> decidedly dead, you somehow are still there.
>
>

Interesting analogy. I like it!

On a cosmic scale, the stars come and go. Birth, life, and death are the natural phenomena in the observable universe. If our self-awareness ends as our biological machinery ceases to function, the cycle of life goes on somewhere. In this tiny moment of human existence, I count myself lucky to have lived, loved, and been loved in the here and now.

If that was somehow the case, I'd find the gamedev and punch him for including mental health debuffs. Not cool. I think life could use a patch.

Edit: Meant to respond to Kolobian, sorry! Talk about glitches, stupid iPod.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2014 12:31PM by Knight in Waiting.

She and I were in a massive car-truck accident when I was nearly five. Since then she's told the story of dying and coming back to life in testimony meetings, talks, and in living rooms.

Who knows the reality? Not me.

What I do know is that the tale and conclusions changed dramatically over the years. Much like Joe's retelling of the angel stories.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2014 12:46PM by Cheryl.

JS's angel stories changed a lot over time. Who came, when, and what was said morphed into the grandiose "first vision" tale I had to memorize in Spanish thirty-nine years ago.

I wish someone had given me "No Man Knows My History" while I was a teenager.