To get back to the question that began this thread, we only experience life. There is no point worrying about death. I rather like the current Dalai Lama’s attitude on this subject, and that of many Buddhists, though I do not share their belief in reincarnation.

Live in the here and now, eternity’s sunrise. It’s the only place and the only time we can ever live.

Here is my own take on my death. I find it oddly wonderful that when I’m done and gone all that’s left are the memories others have of me. That’s what drives me to be a good person knowing that fact. I have one shot to get it right and make a positive impression on the world around me. I also maybe weirdly like the fact that when I’m gone it’s like I’ve made way for someone else to have a turn at life. The idea that I will no longer exists doesn’t really frighten me, it’s more of the how that does. Like Woody Allen once said “I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

Tahu - 31 January 2013 01:28 PM

Here is my own take on my death. I find it oddly wonderful that when I’m done and gone all that’s left are the memories others have of me. That’s what drives me to be a good person knowing that fact. I have one shot to get it right and make a positive impression on the world around me. I also maybe weirdly like the fact that when I’m gone it’s like I’ve made way for someone else to have a turn at life. The idea that I will no longer exists doesn’t really frighten me, it’s more of the how that does. Like Woody Allen once said “I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

That is the reality of the situation, we only live on in the memories of others.  Make the world around you a better place to the best of your abilities.

Honestly, I don’t quite see the dilemma here. When you take a look at what’s on offer with a lot of the afterlives that religions claim to believe in, they look a lot like screaming boredom at best and eternal slavery at worst.

Whether there are gods or a hereafter, I don’t know and I don’t pretend to know, but I think I’ll take a pass on what’s being proposed. It really doesn’t look that hot.