"Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We punish until We sent a messenger." \n\nI believe that a Supreme power, regardless of a specific religion's claim, has revealed or, "manifested Himself", to many different cultures in (extrinsically) various ways, i.e., by means of various messengers, scribes, philosophers, avatars, revelations, etc., throughout the course of history, in order to diffuse the message of "metaphysical [spiritual] karma" (an idea ORIGINALLY traceable to the Vedas, i.e., a revealed text), i.e., a law which transcends materiality. \nSome call it (i.e., mere nominal stipulations, but same idea) 'your day of judgement', while others, 'the weighing of the heart', etc., etc.,; it's of no matter, for to understand God and, "providence's plan", is to understand the divine simplicity, and unity, which characterizes the Eternal mind's essence. \nGod does not change, rather, it as if we are the earth and Him the sun... that is to say, the former changes in relation to the latter, while the latter remains a fixed point around which the former revolves - and thus, the dialectic of finitude and infinitude, temporality and eternity, darkeness and light, mundanity and divinity, etc.,. \n"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows for those who don't" - Blaise Pascal
My uncle, a strict and devout Roman Catholic, had a brain aneurism and was clinically dead for 17 minutes. He is now an atheist lol. He said all he experienced was an extremely blissful nothingness and he wasn't anybody, just nothing. That was the best way he could describe it. Anyway, how else could you describe non-existence and nothingness. I've read other similar stories of people seeing Jesus and shit etc. The point is, nobody alive right now could possibly know. There is no logical connection between good deeds and a good afterlife because the definitions of good and evil change over time and are purely subjective. Don't let an institution dictate your beliefs. True spirituality always comes from within.
Strange; because your grandfather's admonishment, obviously, states that committing to certain kinds of paths, and lifestyles, can, and will, lead you to 'places' that are not visible to a mortal's eye..... while I'm here thinking that you're convinced of the reality of such 'places' (unalike the commonplace atheist without any such belief).
He said all he experienced was an extremely blissful nothingness and he wasn't anybody, just nothing Lol, so how the hell did he experience it, then? And why do you believe him? You're obviously saying it was an experience that he actually had... right? How can a non-existent person experience anything, let alone nothing? Well, what if I told you that I experienced a flying unicorn, but also, I added that I was clinically dead, non-existent, and insensible, when it happened? Would you believe me?
I never said I believed him. You missed the entire point of my post. I assume you are religious and are just butthurt.
I believe "good" and "bad" are relative. Except for the obvious rape, murder, stealing etc. If I'm holding the open for a person am I doing it to make myself feel better? Is that not a selfish act? If I'm late for work and in a real hurry and helping another person doesn't bring me any pleasure but I still hold the door open for another person then I would be a good person... but how many would do that under the stated circumstances? If you believe you're going to heaven because you're doing good things will these "points" be counted if you do good things because you want to go to heaven?