Before starting to read, its reccomended to hit play on this one: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyVTdEE8lBM]Carbon Based Lifeforms - Frog - YouTube[/ame] Are you simply a random collection of molecules that happened to come together when a certain sperm met a certain egg? If circumstances had been different, you would not be here. You would be someone else. Is life all that random? Or might there be a purpose behind you? Might you be more than a random throw of the dice? Might there be a creation behind you just like there is a creation behind this web page? These are the questions people ask when they consider whether or not there might be a power higher than themselves, an intelligence beyond them. Might they actually be the product of intellect rather than chance? And, if they are, is that intellect benevolent, indifferent, or malicious? Perhaps all three at different times? No matter how bad your life is, there has been good in it. No matter how good your life is, there has been bad in it. Are all of these happenings random? Or was something more happening in your life that you did not see? Was there an interplay between the good and the bad so that what seemed to be good sometimes turned out to be bad and what seemed to be bad sometimes turned out to be good? What does life mean? Does your life matter? Consider this. Have you recently: Helped anyone? Made someone laugh? Loved someone? Would those things have been done if you were not here? You might ask if your life is worth anything just because you helped someone or made someone laugh. We often underestimate our value. Think of someone who helped you. What value can you assign to that person's life? Might each person be of much greater value than we realize? Think of your computer. What is the value of each screw, circuit, wire? Remove one here or there at random and what will happen to your computer? The most insignificant item removed from the right place can shut down an entire system. So it is with you. Imagine your life without you in it. What would not be done? Who would miss you? What would be different? We tend to think that life just goes on when someone leaves, and it does go on, but it goes on differently than it would have gone on if that someone were present. Maybe you don't think you have made much difference. Maybe you think that what you do is not worth much. Are you courageous enough to try something better? Do you want to do more good? If so, you know your life matters. It can matter even more than it does. Write down your dreams and then write down what it would take to fulfill them. Go out and make a difference in your world. Only you can do it. The future begins now. source: Do I matter? Does Anyone Care? You are asking this question because you feel alone. Maybe no one seems to know you are alive. Or, if they do, they act as if they do not care. Does anybody care about you? Oh, yes. Even if your parents, your classmates, your co-workers, your neighbors, and no one else seems to care about you, Someone cares. That Someone is a lot more powerful than all those people who do not care about you. And a lot more loving. That Someone created you precisely because that Someone cared about you. You are not a random collection of molecules and cells. You are a person who matters very much to the Someone Who made you to be you. Who is that Someone? He goes by many names. By the way, He is not an accurate term because it refers to gender. The Great Creator created gender. He is beyond gender. But we will use the term "He" because it is an accepted term in discussing the Great Creator. "He" also refers to a most important relationship with the Great Creator. The Great Creator wants us to call Him "Father." Father defines a relationship. A father not only fathers us by giving us physical life. A father is also supposed to protect, nurture, teach, provide for, and love his children. Your own father may not have done those things so it may be difficult for you to call the Great Creator "Father." If so, then call Him "Abba." It means the same thing but the term may not bring with it bad feelings like the word father may bring for you. We said that the Great Creator, the Someone Who cares, goes by many names. Religion is the study of the Great Creator. Many different religions exist in the world. They all have different names for the Great Creator. Is it possible to know which religion is the right one? That is another heavy question! But right now we are not asking that question. We are asking if anyone cares about you. And we said that the Great Creator, the Someone Who made you, Abba, does care. He cared enough to make you. He cares enough to work in your life. He cares enough to bring good out of whatever is happening to you now. You are loved because Abba cares about you, nurtures you, teaches you, provides for you. He brought you to these pages so you could learn about Him. Even if no one else seems to care, He does. Abba has a purpose for your life. What is it? That is another heavy question! source: http://www.heavyquestions.com/does_anyone_care.htm
No, as a species we are meant to reproduce much like complicated bacteria. We need oxygen to survive, sunlight to stay regulated and healthy, and have multiple precious metals in our bodies to keep us stable. While I could go into more depth I'll wait until if someone has something to argue. Your life is pointless as anybody's. Is that sad? Not necessarily, life is 80% suffering 20% pleasure. You work hard (suffering) to obtain a goal(pleasure). I'm paraphrasing obviously. Ideally, no existence at all (which we can't comprehend but imagine it much like before birth) is better than constant suffering to seek pleasure, because there is no suffering in nothingness(that we know of). Don't let it bring you down. The fact that your time is limited is beautiful, and this is coming from a guy who used to work at a funeral home.
I am not worried about death since I have had an OBE before and one great Astral travel experience.... there is nothing to worry about, we are already saved I also like to read tons of near death experiences and they are all far from bad. The idea is that our bodies die, but we as spiritual beings live on forever We will just forget this life once we die and we either stay into astral worlds for awhile or move on to our next life - fresh start.
I believe your OBE and astral experiences are just synapses of the brain. Your "spirit" as you say is just your way of justifying a higher purpose. There is no "soul" or "spirit" in my opinion. Your consciousness began when your brain was able to properly adapt and respond to stimuli. Yes, many animals can do this as well, thankfully a human's brain is complex enough to be self aware and give ourselves identities. I believe this is what most of people refer to as the ego. Also, you won't have eyes, ears, nose etc to perceive if you decompose. If there truly is an afterlife, we won't be able to perceive anything the same way we do here, because we won't be bringing our brain and nervous system. Also, we barely have any idea on what happens during death. The common rumor is that the pineal gland takes over and pumps out DMT and a psychedelic experience happens. There is no empirical evidence to support this claim. While I do greatly hope there is another plane of existence whether metaphysical or something of the like, the only way to find out would be in the future when we can fully understand quantum categories of science. I compare the faith in a soul or spirit to the likes of Christian or Islamic faith. Rather than empirical evidence people would much rather discard the fear of death by saying there is an "afterlife" so as long as you're good you get to live again. People like to hear what makes them feel good, and the thought of nothingness gets people nervous very quickly. I mean no disrespect with this post, I'm only trying to inform. If you have a response that would affect my views I would love to learn from you as well. Please, however, refrain from being sure of your claims of an afterlife. The Christians do this commonly and their reputation for being ignorant is skyrocketing.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lfpxaGMNUs]The Day I Died! My Near Death Experience! - YouTube[/ame] Proof of Heaven: A Doctor Scientists offer quantum theory of soul's existence | News.com.au (so that no one wouldnt ask where is scientific proof) lol. but I dont know man, there is shit tons of information on the Internet, look it up.
You only matter if you try to. Set a goal, live your dream, become a role model to people who wonder if they matter on the internet.
Why care if you mattered? Do whatever you gotta do to keep yourself happy as that is an urge beyond our control.
I credited quantum sciences in my previous post so I'll skip that part. The other two are nothing but word of mouth, so empirical evidence is out the window. Without experience, there is nothing. Do you think these people would have these detailed description of a Christian heaven if they were never told about it? Or what if they were aborigines and couldn't even speak an organized and complex language. According to many Christians, these primal aborigines would be damned to eternal hell just because they were unaware of the scripture. Again, you won't have a perceptive brain to take with you to the afterlife so anything that is after this existence we can't comprehend it in this life, not saying there isn't anything. If you were locked up your whole life, would you be able to dream about precious golden gates and a kingdom in the clouds? Immanuel Kant, David Hume, and many other idealist philosophers say no, because there is no experience. I'm not trying to insult you, but word of mouth is the most unreliable way to legitimatize anything. disclaimer: I'm not saying all philosophers are right, I'm just using them as a credit that there are multiple science journals about experience and nothing comes before experience.
Insightful! I encourage you to show me where I did! Perhaps you should join in the conversation instead of attacking someone who's actually participating.