Thursday, November 5, 2009

Hitler and Ghandi Together in the Afterlife

In a previous blog, I wrote about the moment I KNEW to my complete satisfaction, that there was no physical or spiritual existence after death. With no omnipotent absolute moral authority dispensing rewards or punishments, all of us share the same after death fate. Hitler and Gandhi have been reduced to the exact same state of nothingness. There is no "Hall of Fame" or "Hall of Shame" after death, no eternal reward for good deeds, no penalty for cruel ones. Does that mean we can steal, maim and murder without Cosmic retribution or Karmic justice? You bet it does. Fortunately, the laws of Man prevent most of us from engaging in these activities. Empathy exists in most of us, independent of a belief in a higher power, and helps keep us from violating the rights of others. Am I happy that there is no chance of a pleasant state of being after I die? A few years after my revelation, I experienced what I later identified as a panic attack, a powerful surge of anxiety and feeling of doom at a time when I was contemplating death. I wasn't thinking in the abstract or superficially. I faced the terrifying, overwhelming realization of my inevitable non-existence head on and my nervous sysytem went haywire. My heart raced for hours, my thoughts controlled by the ultimate fear. My father took me to the hospital emergency room where they hooked me up to the machines. It was not a heart attack I was told and the staff didn't identify it as a panic attack but my own research later left no doubt. Even now, as I write this, I know that if I think too deeply about my own personal death, it could happen again. I WISH heaven was a real place, a place we could go after our physical death for a stress-free existence, retaining our self-identity, and mingling with family and friends. But pretending it exists won't work for me no matter how much pain the truth inflicts...

6 comments:

  1. So, you've now come to terms with the reality of a heavenless death, or are you still struggling with that? Sorry if I'm getting ahead of the story.

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  2. I have contemplated much the same thing on occasion, though I have not completely ruled out the existence of heaven and hell. I have now stopped; I realized that, if there is a heaven I will probably go there (of course, there's purgatory too, and maybe...nm), and if there is non-existence after death, I won't care one whit about my anything after I die. ...This is an interesting topic: if I write about it later on my blog may I link back to yours? I hope you can reach the point where it's no longer scary as well!

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  3. Yes, I'll be happy to be part of the discussion.

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  4. No Bruce, I haven't come to terms with it and doubt that I will...all I can do is avoid thinking of it deeply and try to live as long as possible!! What do YOU think happens to us after death and have you reconciled with it? Thanks for your input...
    James

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  5. Thanks for writing Stephen....I believe Purgatory has now been discredited even by the Church...not certain tho...there was talk that it was the invention of early Catholic officials who would get rich saying they would do what they could to get folks from Purgatory to Heaven...you're input is always welcome and link whatever you want!

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  6. I know this feeling well. Though my intense fear of my inevitable nonexistence comes and goes in fleeting moments of palor, shocked expression, and frozen muscles (not nearly anything close to hours), I still feel it just the same. If, however, I was too stay in this state for hours, I would surely need to be hospitalized for shock. This feeling is most definitely traumatic, to say the least.

    Kim

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