What is death?

[mee]

What is death?

Inevitable.

but then again maybe its not .

 

[17th Angel]

but then again maybe its not .

Mee... Trying to be smart makes you look stupid You telling me... No one has ever died? Are you going to die? Even your boy jesus died.... What is the purpose and cycle of life? [HINT: D _ _ _ _ ] What does every story have to do? [HINT: E _ _ ] process of racing you start then.... {HINT: F _ _ _ _ _ ] Seeing a pattern?

 

[mee]

Mee... You telling me... No one has ever died? Are you going to die?quote]
Jehovahs day is getting nearer , and if we are part of the great crowd spoken of in revelation 7 ;9-10 and if we are a sheep spoken of in matthew 25; 31 then maybe we will never have to die at all . that was the point i was making .so death is not certain if we are on the right side when Jehovahs day comes . but untill that time we could still die ,

 

[17th Angel]

Oh I seeeeeee. The great crowd in revelations eh? Fair enough...

 

[zeras]

Asalaamulikum,

what is death, hmm. Well, as a Muslim we belive that humans have spritual body (soul), which goes though many stages during death. It's kind of sad something, when people ask me if Islam belives in heaven and hell.
It is very complex, there are many steps after steps, to what happens to the soul. Everything from, the grave, how your soul is questioned and to who who and what it is like. Here is couple of good links
I wish I could get into very good details, but there is soo much to cover.
If you read and go to other websites, you can keep reading about which angels and other beings are guarding what areas.

Barzakh (cold sleep)
Barzakh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yawm al-Qiyamah (Day of the Resurrection)
Qiyamah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jannah (Heaven/Paradise/The Garden)
Jannah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jahannam (Hell)
Jahannam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I hope this helps,
Salaamulikum

 

[mee]

Oh I seeeeeee. The great crowd in revelations eh? Fair enough...

are you waving your symbolic palm branch yet revelation 7;9-10?
(Acts 4:12) Furthermore, there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved."

 

[DrFree]

Hi, Brian,

Death is simply change - it is simply the movement from one experience of reality to another, in a never ending chain of experiences in a never ending depth of different realities.

I think to the contrary that death is a terminus. A person's death is the end of that person as a choosing individual, and choice is an absolutely essential aspect of a person. This seems to be a natural consequence of my position on consciousness and choice [see thread http://www.comparative-religion.com/forum/solving-consciousness-7635.html]. According this position my consciousness, my self, is the complex behavior of the person that I am. It is not the behavior of some separate object that persists beyond my death.

Moreover, since I have plans, hopes, wishes, intentions, purposes, all of which would be canceled by my death, I view the prospect of death with a loathing in equal measure the to pleasure I take in my plans, hopes, etc. Thus it is quite natural for us to fear death, though I'm inclined to think that the word "fear" here has a somewhat different meaning than in such contexts as "I fear muggers". That is, fear of pain and fear of death might be different kinds of fears.

This is in no way to denigrate the power of your near death experience. The abundance of anecdotes about such experiences mandates that we take them seriously. One thing we can certainly infer is that there is a shut-down procedure that is common to human death. However I don't believe in the purported semantics of the experience, namely that it is an experience of a world beyond death.

I hope that we can dialog on this question.

Namiste.

 

[mee]

Death was not part of Gods original purpose for mankind

 

[suanni]

Something I heard somewhere that this thread reminded me of: The ones who fear death really haven't lived life.

I know it's rather simplistic, but that's what I think of concerning this thread.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

I heard of another, just as simplistic; those who fear death, fear life itself.

Is not death merely the birthing to another form of existence?

 

[DrFree]

Hi, Mee,

Death was not part of Gods original purpose for mankind

That's a provocative claim. But in view of the fact that every living thing dies, I would think it incumbent on you to provide some reasoning for your claim.

Namiste.

 

[greymare]

I have always wanted to believe that we get more than one chance at life. I wanted to believe. I have no proof, and neither do I believe. It would be comforting. I recently had a major operation and before I went into hospital, Ilocked myself in my room and wrote letters to my family, in case I didnt wake up. I wanted to be sure that they would know certain things etc. Thankfully, there is no need for them to have those letters. and yet, I havent thrown them out. I have kept them, safe and I do not know why. I found comfort knowing I had things sorted. strange, I suppose. you know when you have an operation and the doctors etc get you to count back from 100 as you are "going under", well, Im sure I got to 99 and then woke up. I wonder if when you die it is like that. Its a sleep that you feel like never happened until you wake(birth)? What do you all think.? just my two bobs worth. Love theGrey

 

[mee]

Hi, Mee,



That's a provocative claim. But in view of the fact that every living thing dies, I would think it incumbent on you to provide some reasoning for your claim.

Namiste.

That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned ROMANS 5;12
(1 Corinthians 15:21) For since death is through a man,(adam) resurrection of the dead is also through a man.(Jesus)

 

[mee]

I have always wanted to believe that we get more than one chance at life. I wanted to believe. I have no proof, and neither do I believe. It would be comforting. I recently had a major operation and before I went into hospital, Ilocked myself in my room and wrote letters to my family, in case I didnt wake up. I wanted to be sure that they would know certain things etc. Thankfully, there is no need for them to have those letters. and yet, I havent thrown them out. I have kept them, safe and I do not know why. I found comfort knowing I had things sorted. strange, I suppose. you know when you have an operation and the doctors etc get you to count back from 100 as you are "going under", well, Im sure I got to 99 and then woke up. I wonder if when you die it is like that. Its a sleep that you feel like never happened until you wake(birth)? What do you all think.? just my two bobs worth. Love theGrey

Jesus likened death to sleep.
The Bible explains death in familiar rather than mysterious terms. For example, it repeatedly likens dying to ‘falling asleep,’ and it describes dead people as “sleeping in death.” (Psalm 13:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13; John 11:11-14) Death is also identified as an “enemy.” (1 Corinthians 15:26) More important, the Bible enables us to understand why death is like a sleep, why death afflicts mankind, and how this enemy will finally be defeated.

 

[suanni]

That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned ROMANS 5;12
(1 Corinthians 15:21) For since death is through a man,(adam) resurrection of the dead is also through a man.(Jesus)

It would be a very very full world if Adam hadn't sinned and mankind didn't die.
Isn't this kinda like blame on someone for something mankind dreads? Its kinda like wanting to blame someone/something when a loved one dies. Anger is one of the first emotions to strike in bereavement and we want to lash out at someone/something because we hurt so much.

Death is not death regardless of how we look at it. Its the nature of the universe that everything recycles. Every element is reused constantly. The compounds are broken down into their elements and the elements taken up to be remodelled into another chemical compound. Even if we didn't have a soul the elements that make up the human body would be recycled and reused, so the elements that are within us are eternal. I see the soul having the same kind of journey. Cleansed and reused into another organism. Maybe the heaven that most religions speak of is the resting place/hospital/holiday camp until the next job of work is to be done. But that is merely my thoughts.
Death is the one journey we have no concept of and one we find difficult to accept because it is the great unknown.

 

[mee]

It would be a very very full world if Adam hadn't sinned and mankind didn't die.

Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”GENESIS 1;28 notice that God said fill the earth. he didnt say over fill it . Just as a person filling a glass of water would not keep the tap on it when it was full . Adam did not remain obedient to his creator to find out what the next instructions would have been . who knows what it would have been ? there are certainly plenty of planets out there that the true God could have in mind . but as soon as Adam and eve sinned God put something in operation to remedy the problem on the earth ,and Gods original purpose for the earth will be fullfilled

 

[mee]

Death is the one journey we have no concept of and one we find difficult to accept because it is the great unknown.

Yes it is difficult to accept because the true God did not originally create us to die ,it was not part of the true Gods purpose .

Scientists have long known about the human body’s power to renew itself. By wonderful means the body cells are either replaced or repaired, as the need may be. And it seems that this process of self-renewal should go on forever. But it does not, and this is something that scientists cannot explain. They still do not fully understand why people grow old. They say that, under right conditions, humans should be able to live forever.—Psalm 139:14.

 

[Neemai]

The conclusion:

However - and here's the point of this long post - if death is never seen as a finality, but merely a change of state in an ever continuing process, then death in itself fails to be so terrible.
...

But is it really a cold perception, or does that stance make sense to anyone?

According to Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita death is simply a change - as you mention above. Specifically He says it is a change of body. Death is the termination of bodily function only - our true self being eternal:

"As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death." (BG 2.13)

"For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." (BG 2.20)

It all comes down to what you believe we are. The body, a soul, or whatever - your opinion on that score obviously reflects massively on this question.


... Neemai

 

[arthra]

An interesting theme and glad it has been revived somewhat.. death that is...

Death is from the Baha'i view not something to be feared or rejected...

Awhile ago I was talking to a man who told me had experienced clinical death twice.. The first time he said it was for six minutes and the second time was for nine minutes... He said he experienced a "light" and now has complete assurance and is no longer afraid of death. This brought to mind the following quote from The Hidden Words makes this clear:

O SON OF THE SUPREME!

I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendor. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?


And this prayer for the deceased revealed by Abdul-Baha :

O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins, bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions!
Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world.
O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount.

~ Abdul-Baha

 

[China Cat Sunflower]

Platitudes. Bloody platitudes. Death is the end. The more death one is exposed to the less one fears it up to a point I guess. Death is a part of life I suppose. "Once I wasn't, then I was, now I ain't anymore." Good epitaph.

Chris