Sanctuary 
More on afterlife and suicide
Shelly asked: "But will you want to end your stationary existence? Will you actually act to end it? Or will your reluctance to cease existing allow for future nudges to prod you into moving once again?"
Might be stationary... but it is not completely boring and nasty.
Acting upon the will to cease existing requires too much effort and reason to change the way things are. Things are still alright. Being crippled does not mean that one does not feel or feels only pain. Being unable to feel does not mean one does not live in hope that one may feel again.
If life is not completely nasty, it does not need to be terminated. I mean, if your computer bores you, it is not like you actually try to wreck it. Leave it in screensaver mode or something and take a trip elsewhere.
As for stationary part. If one has not reached there, try not to reach there. From Boston Legal, a fictional lawyer by the name of Danny Crane said something to this effect: "Do not ask yourself 'why'. Never ask yourself 'why'. It will kill ya." Without lofty ideals that requires a great deal of blind faith to believe in, like religion, everything will fall apart in the light of infinite regression. Ok... not all things fall apart, but whatever you conclude will not be pretty. So if you have not begun, do not ever ask yourself 'why'.
Sidetracking: I believe that Danny Crane is an extremely wise character. Nothing that exits his mouth is not like completely profound or something. =D Clarity in mad cow. Truths in apparent insanity.
I have not written about my thoughts on afterlife on this blog so here goes... (Thoughts triggered by http://meyanze.blogspot.com/2006/09/journey-from-life-to-death-and-suicide.html)
On suicide
In Neil Gaimen's 'Portraits of Despair' in one of his many 'Sandman comics', there is a picture of a woman's ghost sitting alone by the roadside after she committed suicide. The tagline was "Funny... she did not feel any happier..." as she sat beside her carwreck in expectation that things will be better. I believe that the author is try to say that if one does not feel happy in this life, one could not realistically expect to be happy in the next.
On afterlife in general...
I believe that most people like to believe that the soul is eternal and afterlife is eternal too. That too is problematic in many ways.
In western cultures, if I am not wrong, the soul is ethereal and eternal and does not require material sustenance. Is that not a big problem? If one does not need material sustenance, one cannot enjoy material comforts either. Perhaps it is just me, but ask yourselves this: "What are we if we are not driven by the hope of material comforts? Can you imagine a life that does not require material sustenance and is not driven by material comforts? How is life's experiences going to be even vaguely relevant to the afterlife?" That is the way I pictured afterlife in this context: an eternity of waiting for the warmth that will never come and the food that you will never taste. And since there is no indication that one will grow any wiser all the emotional bullshit will just carry over, though you will probably not physically feel it too so everything is just imagined? An eternity of makeups with no sex and breakups with no ice cream? For religions largely influenced by Judaism (I might be wrong to make this generalisation), you start it with a trial where there is no Danny Crane can save you. And you spend the rest of the VERY LONG segment of your afterlife preparing for the court of appeals at the end of time? Now why would I wish this upon myself and others. Reincarnation is not possible, if you REALLY hate yourself, that is what you will be stuck with for a VERY LONG time and good luck trying to kill yourself again. There is a way out fortunately. If you are good boy/girl, you will probably end up with a lifetime supply of an overdose of afterlife-functional prozac and sing/gibber about your favorite idol for eternity. IMO, in this setting, 'heaven' or 'hell' or 'purgatory' all seems to suck. I do not wish to be in a situation where I have to choose between these 3 hells.
In Chinese cultures of Taoism and Buddhism, it seems much more interesting. When I remarked that there is more than enough time to rest when we are dead, HP happily chirped: "错了！ 做鬼也很忙！ 要忙着收钱。。。 收房子。。。 收汽车。。。 下面 inflation rate 很高的！还有很多 corruption！" Sounds like the rat-race on crack. HAHA. Still sounds preferable to western views, because if I am unhappy I can go smell a lot of incense. The court of appeals system is also more flexible so as long as you 集一点德 to offset 你所造的聂... you will not be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. And the best part is! You get to drink the 'Water of forgetfulness' and start over again! Maybe as a cockroach if you 造 too much 聂. For people who want to commit suicide, I believe this is what they are looking for. Start over! It is fun! =D
Personally...
Unfortunately, I do not subscribe to any known organised structures that has anything to say about afterlife. If there happens to be an afterlife, I am not sure how I will react to it. I will react to it really badly I suppose. I am not made to live forever and I do not wish for it. I certainly hope either that I fade into oblivion or be reincarnated. If I could live forever that will truly be hell. If I wake again to find myself in an eternal place where no reincarnation is possible, I will be majorly pissed. Ok... I might be relieved for a while, but I will definitely end up being majorly pissed.
I will like to to die while I still want to live. And not have my life drag out so long that I find myself wanting to die.
Disclaimer
I find it very silly but I will just write this anyway. This post reflects my thoughts and not anyone else's.
Please refrain from framing, 'crusading', 'jihading', 'lynching', I can be reasoned with unlike some people. Just post intelligently back in a coherent manner.
If you think my replies will offend you please do not post back.
Unlike many others, I do not believe I have a court case in my afterlife. Therefore, I am less constrained by rules in comparison to others. My actions will be clear and direct for there is less need for accountability or hypocricy.
Might be stationary... but it is not completely boring and nasty.
Acting upon the will to cease existing requires too much effort and reason to change the way things are. Things are still alright. Being crippled does not mean that one does not feel or feels only pain. Being unable to feel does not mean one does not live in hope that one may feel again.
If life is not completely nasty, it does not need to be terminated. I mean, if your computer bores you, it is not like you actually try to wreck it. Leave it in screensaver mode or something and take a trip elsewhere.
As for stationary part. If one has not reached there, try not to reach there. From Boston Legal, a fictional lawyer by the name of Danny Crane said something to this effect: "Do not ask yourself 'why'. Never ask yourself 'why'. It will kill ya." Without lofty ideals that requires a great deal of blind faith to believe in, like religion, everything will fall apart in the light of infinite regression. Ok... not all things fall apart, but whatever you conclude will not be pretty. So if you have not begun, do not ever ask yourself 'why'.
Sidetracking: I believe that Danny Crane is an extremely wise character. Nothing that exits his mouth is not like completely profound or something. =D Clarity in mad cow. Truths in apparent insanity.
I have not written about my thoughts on afterlife on this blog so here goes... (Thoughts triggered by http://meyanze.blogspot.com/2006/09/journey-from-life-to-death-and-suicide.html)
On suicide
In Neil Gaimen's 'Portraits of Despair' in one of his many 'Sandman comics', there is a picture of a woman's ghost sitting alone by the roadside after she committed suicide. The tagline was "Funny... she did not feel any happier..." as she sat beside her carwreck in expectation that things will be better. I believe that the author is try to say that if one does not feel happy in this life, one could not realistically expect to be happy in the next.
On afterlife in general...
I believe that most people like to believe that the soul is eternal and afterlife is eternal too. That too is problematic in many ways.
In western cultures, if I am not wrong, the soul is ethereal and eternal and does not require material sustenance. Is that not a big problem? If one does not need material sustenance, one cannot enjoy material comforts either. Perhaps it is just me, but ask yourselves this: "What are we if we are not driven by the hope of material comforts? Can you imagine a life that does not require material sustenance and is not driven by material comforts? How is life's experiences going to be even vaguely relevant to the afterlife?" That is the way I pictured afterlife in this context: an eternity of waiting for the warmth that will never come and the food that you will never taste. And since there is no indication that one will grow any wiser all the emotional bullshit will just carry over, though you will probably not physically feel it too so everything is just imagined? An eternity of makeups with no sex and breakups with no ice cream? For religions largely influenced by Judaism (I might be wrong to make this generalisation), you start it with a trial where there is no Danny Crane can save you. And you spend the rest of the VERY LONG segment of your afterlife preparing for the court of appeals at the end of time? Now why would I wish this upon myself and others. Reincarnation is not possible, if you REALLY hate yourself, that is what you will be stuck with for a VERY LONG time and good luck trying to kill yourself again. There is a way out fortunately. If you are good boy/girl, you will probably end up with a lifetime supply of an overdose of afterlife-functional prozac and sing/gibber about your favorite idol for eternity. IMO, in this setting, 'heaven' or 'hell' or 'purgatory' all seems to suck. I do not wish to be in a situation where I have to choose between these 3 hells.
In Chinese cultures of Taoism and Buddhism, it seems much more interesting. When I remarked that there is more than enough time to rest when we are dead, HP happily chirped: "错了！ 做鬼也很忙！ 要忙着收钱。。。 收房子。。。 收汽车。。。 下面 inflation rate 很高的！还有很多 corruption！" Sounds like the rat-race on crack. HAHA. Still sounds preferable to western views, because if I am unhappy I can go smell a lot of incense. The court of appeals system is also more flexible so as long as you 集一点德 to offset 你所造的聂... you will not be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. And the best part is! You get to drink the 'Water of forgetfulness' and start over again! Maybe as a cockroach if you 造 too much 聂. For people who want to commit suicide, I believe this is what they are looking for. Start over! It is fun! =D
Personally...
Unfortunately, I do not subscribe to any known organised structures that has anything to say about afterlife. If there happens to be an afterlife, I am not sure how I will react to it. I will react to it really badly I suppose. I am not made to live forever and I do not wish for it. I certainly hope either that I fade into oblivion or be reincarnated. If I could live forever that will truly be hell. If I wake again to find myself in an eternal place where no reincarnation is possible, I will be majorly pissed. Ok... I might be relieved for a while, but I will definitely end up being majorly pissed.
I will like to to die while I still want to live. And not have my life drag out so long that I find myself wanting to die.
Disclaimer
I find it very silly but I will just write this anyway. This post reflects my thoughts and not anyone else's.
Please refrain from framing, 'crusading', 'jihading', 'lynching', I can be reasoned with unlike some people. Just post intelligently back in a coherent manner.
If you think my replies will offend you please do not post back.
Unlike many others, I do not believe I have a court case in my afterlife. Therefore, I am less constrained by rules in comparison to others. My actions will be clear and direct for there is less need for accountability or hypocricy.
posted by malc at 5:06 PM
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