To the OP: Where is consciousness during life?
Answer: We don't know. No one knows.

If we don't know where consciousness resides during life, then good luck figuring out where it is after it.

Most people believe/assume that consciousness is in the brain. Seems obvious enough. However, there is nothing in brain science that can locate it in the brain. It is everywhere and nowhere.

So what's my guess? ---> The brain is an antenna that receives and transmits signals (I'm not talking about radio) of consciousness to some other dimension.

This would explain why we can't locate consciousness in the brain, and why in near-death experiences consciousness continues on.

I believe that this means that the source of the signal would be what many refer to "Global Consciousness".

I think we do, maybe, there are enough credible anomolies out there that I don't think any critically thinking person can completely dismiss it. But, in the end, you just never know.

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As a matter a fact, Our conscious does continue to live for decades after our hearts stop beating. Its called Electron Consciousness and it takes years for these electrons to wear out. I wouldnt go as far as to say that we continue to "live" unconsciously in our minds until these electrons wear themselves out, But it is an interesting fact to know that our bodies do continue to operate.

As for what I believe happens after we die. We continue to exist, Just in another form or matter. We've only mapped 10% of the human mind, Whats to say that there is nothing in there to project us to another form after our bodies of flesh and blood have ceased.

It's not a matter of belief. It's a fact.

Anyone can see this for themselves if they can bring the mind to stillness.

Wow, OP. Great thread, and one near and dear to my heart right now. S&F!

I've been struggling with the concept of death myself for some time. I was raised Christian and all that implies, but I've been questioning a lot lately.

Within the past 2 years, I've lost 5 beloved family members to various causes. Which is actually interesting, because before my grandmother died in March (she practically raised me and was more like a mother to me) I was absolutely terrified of Death and what comes after. When Granny died, it suddenly stopped being so scary. I'm not sure why, I certainly didn't have any revelations. The fear just.....went away.

I've tried to think of Death in a logical pattern (which, if you know me, is something I rarely do, lol). Here's what I've decided:

There are two possibilities of what happens after we die.

1. That's it. Game over. Consciousness does not survive. In which case we really have nothing to fear, because if consciousness dies, we will never know it.

2. Something survives after death and 'moves on'....heaven, purgatory, nirvana, what have you.
* or comes back, like reincarnation

Thoughts?

Keep smiling

From what I've read in Church literature there are 3 conditions that define a soul (i.e. there are 3 characteristics of a soul).

1) A soul must possess awareness (i.e. it knows what’s going on)

2) A soul must possess memory – it must remember things from the past (even if it’s only the immediate past)

3) A soul must possess ‘will’ (i.e. it must have willpower)

I'm not sure if I like the definition though because what if an infant dies? When is the soul instilled in a person? Is some of the mother's soul immediately passed onto the child at conception? I certainly would hope so.

Some time ago I did some thinking about that and came to the conclusion that the whole reincarnation idea is a difficult thing. You often hear people say that it is all about learning and growing as person.

You are as good as a person as the brain you have. Someone said that the brain can be seen as a cd-player which operates the cd...the soul. If the cd-player is damaged the soul is not able to perform as it should.

If a reincarnated old and wise soul will be born in a body with a damaged brain it might as well end up being a psychopath. Will this be another lesson for the evolution of his soul? What can one learn if being responsible for sadistic serial killings? Or can you asume that this soul in his previous gained wisdom will be able to deal with his compulsive behaviour.

Or should we asume that this situation will never occur because God will prevent this soul to be born in such a damaged body or will not have a accident that will take out his moral and ethical reasoning? I don't know....do you?

If one was to look at the role of the telomere, it would have been easier and more beneficial for it to evolve "without" erasing the information. In other words, we were this close to being immortals(which is basically the ability to "renew" cells over and over.)

Our cells are pretty smart. They keep all information that are beneficial, and I don't know what could be more beneficial than living forever, unless they care that much about resources. One can only conclude then that someone must have altered them, or this was some sort of "agreement."

energy can not be destroyed only transformed so i suppose the same can be for information in my personal opinion death is death there is nothing more other than your body's material returning to the earth and eventually universe.

I see no logical or scientific reason to assume that just because the physical vehicle no longer appears inhabited by consciousness that the consciousness itself was somehow destroyed.

The mind is inherently separate from the physical world.

The way that i have come to believe that there is something else after this is that i believe life is a gift, and this im sure that you've heard before, but its not just because we are alive, it is a gift because it is our chance to experiance one thing we will not get to feel again. Physical Pain. Once we die and our body is dead. There is no more nervous system for us to feel burned, cut, pierced...

In all of eternity this is the short 70 or so years where you have a physical body, the one chance to feel it, and experiance it. thats why our bodies are so durable and can heal, so we get as much of it as possible. And we bond with our friends and family becasue they are the once who help the mental and emotional healing. This is just the begining.

Whats after this, IDK. But i do know its gonna be alot of fun.

The one abstract idea that has always made me believe that their is more to everything than the physical universe is the idea of destiny.

I've always wondered, why am I in this body, experiencing this life, instead of any other body, experiencing any other life? I can't help but feel that is irrational to think that my whole experience in this life is some freak of nature that will end just as quickly as it began.

I've always felt that I'm here for a reason, being mainly to experience life, to grow and learn, and to partake in human society by influencing it and creating.

The other idea that motivates me is that there seems to be another drive for existence other than instinct in this life. I always picture humanity, 5 million years from now, having unlocked all the secrets and answered all the questions about physicality. I think that there is a definite metaphoric "next step" that will happen eventually at some point, where our focus as a species drifts from the physical world to something else. What would be the point living in a universe where you've figured everything out? There must be more.

Silly question. With a few well-placed cuts of a scalpel I can render you or anyone else a human vegetable, alive but completely unconscious. Consciousness requires a structure, a neural network of extreme sophistication in order to manifest itself. In what network does your conscious mind reside after your physical being is deceased? Where is there a chance for another supporting structure to exist? I'm sorry to be the Skeptic here, but let's be honest. The thing that we all suppose will exist forever is our own sense of identity, our own sense if "Isness", which began to develop in us shortly after we were born. As children we think we are immortal! We are fearless. We place our physical beings into jeopardy on the force of a whim because we don't yet believe that we can honestly be hurt. Most of us never reach the level of maturity required to admit that we are but a moment in time-space, and nothing more. We are like billions and trillions of others that have come before and exist right now, and yet we are also unique, like a single flower that blooms and, for a time radiates a timeless and striking brilliance that must ultimately fade and pass. Like Sagan said, "We are star-stuff", we are the product of an immensely complicated cosmic machine that is forever bringing forth and burning up.

My wife likes artificial flowers that are rendered with enough detail to casually fool the eye. They never lose their luster or their brilliance, but they are not real. She believes in life after death very firmly. I prefer a living flower arrangement because it is not permanent and, therefore, you must make some time and space in your life to appreciate their beauty because it will soon depart from you. I think people are like that too. They're only here for a short while and you can never be sure when happenstance might take them away, so you should make some time in your life to tell the ones that you really find special, really feel are radiant in your life, exactly how you feel about them. The hidden blessing of incarnation is the possibility of connection with another. We should seek such connections out with our whole and open heart. To do so is the base of all human spirituality, in my book. You should all hug someone you love right now! You should all tell that special friend of yours exactly how important they are in your life and how much you appreciate them for being a friend. Above all, we should strive to love one another unconditionally, like your dog does, because that kind of love is the love that makes existing for a brief and shining moment worthwhile.

You do not exist forever. You are but a passing flash in the calderon of being. But you are a brilliant flash in that churning brew. You have the potential to make a huge difference in the life of another flash-in-the-pan. Please don't waste that. In my fifty plus years on this globe I have been privilaged to make a difference in a few people's lives, and I honor that privilage every day of my waning life. Instead of concentrating on immortality, perhaps we can make this world a nicer place to inhabit by simply focusing on the most effective and productive way to live out our brief span.