Okay Richard, thanks. That helps. I'd say still, it's something I need to understand better.
Definitely a new concept for me. Thanks again. ---In [email protected], <richard@...> wrote : According to what I've read, in Buddhism, particularly in Mahayana, rebirth has to do with consciousness which evolves from a stream of consciousness, thus avoiding the pitfall of dualism. At death there is a dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas). The new person is not a soul-monad arising from the previous individual, but the new person's consciousness is simply a causal continuum from the universal stream. It's all about an evolving consciousness conditioned by the actions in a previous life (karma). The whole point of attaining enlightenment in Buddhism is the elimination of rebirth which for all humans involves repeated birth, suffering and death. ---In [email protected], <steve.sundur@...> wrote : I, like most people who think about spiritual stuff, now and again, think often about death. And I think, like many, I have the attitude that a new chapter is about to begin. But, just the fact that you use the phrase, "look forward to what will happen", (or something to that effect), would to me indicate, that there is an expectation, that something is going to happen, and that it is not "lights out". And then, of course, if something happens, anything at all, other than "lights out", well, you've got a problem, if you are on the "no higher power" bus. On the other hand, I don't understand Buddhism, well enough to know how you can believe in rebirth, and not buy into an individual soul, if this is what some are saying here. Maybe someone, can help me understand this better. ---In [email protected], <anartaxius@...> wrote : While I have no memories of past lives that I would consider valid, death does seem like it would be an interesting experience to face, experiencing what comes up as it approaches, if it does not come unexpectedly, in which case anticipation or curiosity would be rendered moot. I am finding as time goes on, I do not look back much any more, and also I do not look forward much any more either, the sense of anticipation is extremely low at this point. I do have to make make financial decisions, which requires I do think about such things, but I do not get excited about new stuff any more except rarely. If a new movie comes out, I don't care any more, and if I die before it comes out on DVD or Blu-ray, it is not going to be a loss. There are more things to see than I would every be able to see. So except for logistical planning, life more and more centres on the current moment. And if the current moment involves death, well, no one really has much to say about that at that moment, do they? From: "TurquoiseBee turquoiseb@... [FairfieldLife]" <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 6:29 AM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Last rites I feel the way I do about the notion of reincarnation because of personal experience 'remembering' previous lives and even 'remembering' the transit through the Bardo between death and rebirth. At the same time, I know that these 'memories' may be false, so I don't know fersure what will happen at the moment of death. I've said this many times -- if it turns out that death is like the switching off of a light switch and there is only blackness, then there will be no "me" to be disappointed, or to even register the disappointment. So for now I'm going to go with "looking forward" to what comes next, because that strikes me as the best way to live one's life at ANY moment, not just one's last. But as for trying to link the notion of God to reincarnation, that's your hangup, not mine. Millions of Buddhists believe in reincarnation without having to believe that there is a God. The two concepts are not related in any way. From: "s3raphita@... [FairfieldLife]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 4:01 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Last rites Re "it's the end of the day here in sunny CA": Ah! The sun! It's been a while since I saw that here in London. I'm not irritated, never mind over-irritated. I do find it odd though that Barry believes he's got an immortal soul and yet scoffs at the idea of "God". How anyone could suppose that a materialist-naturalistic account of life could justify belief in a post-death existence is beyond me. ---In [email protected], <jamesalan735@...> wrote : Goodness, don't you think you're getting a tad over-irritated? I know my response is the trigger, not the cause of your over-the-top reaction, but still...relax. Yep, I could have been clearer. So, here's my corrected response to anartaxius' comment: You have not defined what it means for 'looking forward' to work. Looking forward to what comes next does not require that there is a 'next' for looking forward to work. I'm not sure why I'm going to this trouble because I don't think you will be able to understand the logic and/or the underlying assumptions in my response. But, heh, it's the end of the day here in sunny CA... ---In [email protected], <s3raphita@...> wrote : Re "Looking forward to what comes next does not require that a next to exist for looking forward to work. ": WTF?! Is English not your first language? Barry presumably believes that his good self will carry on existing in some future state. If that strikes one as unlikely then looking back on one's past and only life seems a reasonable way to spend one's last moments no? Barry is also caricaturing Robert Anton Wilson's sense. RAW clearly wasn't thinking of people he may have wound up on a Yahoo groups site (few of those will be shedding tears tonight) but of former friends he'd perhaps let down or loved ones he'd fallen out with. He wanted to get reconciled with those he'd personally and intimately interacted with and so felt were a significant part of his identity. ---In [email protected], <jamesalan735@...> wrote : You have not defined what looking forward to work means. Looking forward to what comes next does not require that a next to exist for looking forward to work. ---In [email protected], <anartaxius@...> wrote : This would not work if there is no next. ---In [email protected], <turquoiseb@...> wrote : The notion of spending my last moments concerned what others thought of me and hoping for them to forgive me doesn't appeal to me. What I hope for at the moment of death is a sense of expectation and looking forward to what comes next. Looking forward strikes me as a more worthy way to "sum up a life" than looking backwards does.
