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Considering that time in dreams does not run in conjunction with time in reality (one can fall asleep for half an hour and dream, whilst in the dream days, even weeks, can pass).
Do you reckon that when one dies, one enters a state of perpetual dreaming? Our brains outlive our bodies after all (albeit by a matter of minutes in 'real-time').
If so does this mean that the Lucid Dreamer has the power to create his/her own afterlife?
I don't think so. I think that within a few hours of having died, my neurons are going to completely stop firing, my body is going to start decomposing, and that's gonna be that. It's almost comforting to me to think of it that way, but if you find it scary, well... by expecting the worst you're prepared (for nothingness, which requires no preparation), and if something better happens at least you get to be pleasantly surprised :)
The thought came to my mind when I was thinking on the strong psychedelic DMT... Seems as if you're almost dying for a brief moment or your body thinks so and then you're in an extremly extremely X10000 times lucid dream where all the impossibilities of the universe become possible and you live in a completely different hyperdimensional matrix. It seems like it must exist and some of the aliens, beings, and impossibilities you experience are beyond explanation without experiencing them first hand. The thing is... in reality your brain is still alive even in these cases and even in NDE (near death experiences), conception, dreams, etc. when it is likely released in large amounts.
Your mind is still "alive" even though you can feel like your heart is stopping on DMT to a viewer it's still beating. That's why I'm thinking the "dream world" is really nothing and really is just 100% a creation of your imagination; and I'm pretty open-minded. The thing is it's just too easy to control all of it and in reality you are the one creating it. When you actually die and your brain which is creating this DMT and/or dream world dies I'm thinking there wouldn't be a vessel or mechanism to connect you back to it/create it so it probably just wouldn't exist :(.
You'd probably just have a vivid NDE and think there was something extra but in reality it would all just end. But nobody really knows for sure and there are limitless possibilities to the ultimate understanding of the universe. Even if we explain our universe it MAY even be a small speck in the big picture (ie. multiverses, etc.).
edit: basically what Shift said in more words haha
I am a true believer of afterlife, not in the sense of heaven and hell. I don't believe in religion either. But I think our consciousness will remain after we die. We will be able to create our own reality after that. At least thats what I believe. I mean it makes sense. So, to me the answer to your question is yes.
Ya, without treading on anyone's beliefs too much I agree that if there is any possibility for an afterlife it lies outside of organized religion. There are just too many that state that only they are the true ones and too many people 100% sure theirs are right; not to mention the geographical distributions, history, and numerous other reasons that just make it more and more unlikely. If there is something beyond it I think it exists outside of the explanations of any specific religion and not to do with man-made concepts of heaven or hell. I don't want to argue on this though, I'm not trying to offend anyone just stating my opinion.
But if you want to believe that you should also consider the possibility that consciousness itself is just a rare occurence in the universe and although we think of it as something amazing in the big picture it is really nothing big (restricted to like 0.000000...00000000000000000000000000...0000001% of space (I'm sure there are other similar processes, molecules, substances, etc. unique to small areas of the universe or distributed sparsely throughout) and could just end abruptly. I basically consider both a possibility rather than giving in to the common belief that what I believe is 100% truth when in reality it clearly is not.
Safest and the most logical thought :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Lusense
Those few hours before your neurons stop firing in dream-time could represent days or even centuries.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shift
It was just a thought I had, not in anyway stemming from concrete beliefs of my own, of which I fear I have very few.
Thanks for your opinions guys... and gal ;)
Yea, but I doubt that enough of them are going to be firing in the correct corresponding structures of the brain to really give you a full on lucid dream that seems to last for eternity before I die. And even so... once those few hours are up, I think I'll most likely be dead and done with. I'm certainly very open to other ideas, but from everything I've learned about what makes an individual and consciousness, without that firing you're not gonna be around for very long :( Plus as I said, best to play it safe and assume the time I've got on Earth is all I've got ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by The Scrybe
Agreed, it is best to assume that this is our only time :)