If your consciousness (or soul, if you like) survives bodily death.....?

Question

.....is it the selfsame consciousness after death as before? Do you have the same memories, beliefs, desires, patterns of thinking, sense of self?

If not, then what is it that survives?

Answer 1

From a Buddhist cosmology perspective, nothing of the original person survives after death. To Buddhists, there is a continuous stream of energy which is the source of Life called the Conciousness Stream. The consciousness stream to Buddhists is a never ending stream of cosmic energy which is undefineable in the normal sense. the Pali word is Bhavanga-Sota, which translates as Unconcious Life Stream.

Traditionally, Buddhists see this Bhavanga-Sota as a continous stream of energy which transmigrates to another body on the advent of or very soon after the onset of the event of death. It has no memory, is not aware, has no "self" nor gender yet without it we are just meat on bones so to speak. As such it simply continues to exist as it always has rather than surviving beyond death. Because of this, Buddhists do not see death as an end, rather we see Life as a continuing journey and death as the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

To Buddhists, this Consciousness Stream is affected by all our present and past Life experiences and is also affected by Karmic Energy...in Pali Karma Vega. To Buddhists it is the goal to escape the process of Karma and Rebirth and go beyond the Cycle of Life involving these energies.

For Buddhists, there are 3 factors which determine a Rebirth, a father's sperm, a mother's egg and Negative Karma Vega within the Bhavanga-Sota, this is often called "Ignorance" as a term not an attitude.

To conclude then, Buddhists see nothing surviving death, and it is the goal to rid our Consciousness Stream of "Ignorance" and so negate the effects of Karma Vega thereby escaping the endless Cycle of Life. Put in simpler terms, by following the Eightfold Noble Path we rid ourselves of the arising of "self" in our consciousness, becoming more selfless in our Actions, providing positive Karma as a result of our positive Actions as well as providing happiness for others actively encouraging the same Actions in others for their benefit.

Peace from a Buddhist....

Answer 2

The buddhist have spent millenia researching what happens to us on and after death. They have come to the conclusion we are reincarnated. There are many thousands of recorded, documented cases, with no other reasonable conclusion. The OBE's are astral travel, where your body has died but you are still consciously aware. Some report floating above the room and watching and listening to what is going on around them. Others report going to a scary or nice place. There are a few cases were patients have been wire up during heart transplant operations and they have been clinically dead for some time. And the patient has decanted conversations between the theater crew in great detail. Word for word. The patient was brain dead according to the equipment. There must be something in all that. But I can guarantee you it won't be anything like the Christian, Islamic, Jewish version of events. :) Practicing Shaman... quantum physics rocks.

Answer 3

the soul is pure energy and resides in your stomach area. it is connected at the bottom of the vertabrae. it can move to another world in a flash of a second. it is held in place by magic in your body otherwise you would walk and it would not follow. it can also be moved into other types of bodies such as animals or aliens. think of the body as a suit. think of before and after life as the ship on star trek always leaving and returning at the push of a button and being reincarnated til judgement day. the mind and the body are seperate entities. so your thought patterns, speech patterns, self awareness levels, beliefs, can all be altered. you may be chinese in one life and gay in another. even male one time and female the next. energy has no limit, though your inner personality is very much the same. think of it as the difference between a childs level of conscience and an adults. it can be altered and even more focused. all this thanks to god. without him we are just energy floating around in the sky. when you die you are who you are when your in spirit like the show ghost. only your memories stay with you. which is why reading and learning are a good idea. your next life will denote what u did in the past life, you will be remade in your own image and then you continue your evolving with a new seed or body suit. death is only temporary. unless you murder or sin really bad like hitler did then its lights out for a very long time.

Answer 4

The soul survives, but the consciousness does not. For all intense purposes, you could say that consciousness survives. But techincally speaking, to be conscious of something is to have a conscious being (us) and a thing (the object of consciousness). So when someone dies, they are no longer conscious of objects, so they no longer have a consciousness. The only thing you are conscious of, is yourself. So do memories remain? I think so, but not in their normal form. I see it more as the Love itself remains, or the knowledge of Self, rather than the memories of the physical world.

Answer 5

It seems God makes you forget everything. At least that's what I've always been told when I ask how Heaven can be a pleasant place, knowing some loved ones will be in Hell.

So, what survives then? I honestly have no clue. No body, no brain, no memory. That doesn't leave much, does it?

Answer 6

I personally believe the minds travels to a whole other realm or dimension and whatever we learned, lived, experienced here shall be forgotten or but a faint memory. Call me strange but that's what I believe. I look forward to experiencing this next life. I believe I shall find other wandering spirits like mine for I know I am not the only one.

Answer 7

Just your energy, I think it goes back to be joined with a larger force. Like raindrops falling into an ocean (where our individuality is represented by the raindrop for a brief moment) and it gets recycled over and over.

Answer 8

I don't think my spirit has anything to do with my consciousness. I can't say for sure but my spirit is where I have connection to God and it doesn't always agree with what is in my mind so I can't honestly say. It is just there.

Answer 9

Yes you remain yourself just without your physical body. You relive your life upon death, but slightly different than as you lived it, when you relive it, you get to feel exactly how others felt, if you caused someone pain or suffering you get to feel it just the same as the person whom you hurt felt it.

Answer 10

I don't know, I don't know anyone who died then came back...However I read some stuff on NDE's and every story I read suggested that the people did remember everything and every one as a soul.