Instead of believing in Heaven and Hell like a good Catholic should, I believe in karma and reincarnation as they do in Buddhism. Instead of believing in the Bible, I’ve more faith in science and historical evidences/facts. But I do believe in God… whichever form God may be in. And I believe that all religions have some truths in what they teach. I chose Catholicism because of that; they don’t belittle other religions. Besides, Catholicism and Buddhism are similar in many ways — especially in that they respect all religions.
With that said, I believe there’s a dimension that we go to when we leave our physical bodies. The “bright light” that people see when they face death, I believe, is the doorway to that dimension which is similar to what they call purgatory. Rather than a place between Heaven and Hell, that’s where we wait to be reborn, and we can also be reunited with our beloved ones there if we want since time is relative — meaning that a century in our dimension could be only a second there. As for reincarnation, I believe it’s based on our karmic scores; i.e., if you have only 5 out of, say, 100, your choices are limited to insects. Your score gets reset is your next life. However, if you take your own life before you repay all your debts, you have to relive your life exactly up to that point where you ended it prematurely.
Science shows that our brains operate using electricity, so I think it would be safe to say that we transform into pure energy which is what people see as “bright light” and as such, we would be able to form ourselves into anything while we are in that state. This would be why ghosts appear differently in every culture; basically, they “shapeshift” into what they are accustomed to when they were alive.
If we believe there’s nothing after this life, our lives would be meaningless and our society would be chaotic with no moralities.
What do you think about afterlife?
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Ivy » Then what’s your reason for living righteously?
I’m agnostic theist. I believe in God but not any specific one.
As for the afterlife, let’s just say that it doesn’t exist in my dictionary.
Katy » You mean souls age with time?
This is an interesting post. I’m Agnostic and currently not into any specific religion (nor want to) but I believe in reincarnation and I agree with what you wrote about it. I believe that there are “old souls” and “new souls” in the world where the older souls have a deeper knowledge in general and sense of themselves.