I looked through maybe a half dozen books to try to get an idea of what the after-life has in store for those who commit suicide using the documented stories of near-death experiences.
There are really not a whole lot of reasonably impartial documented cases of near death experiences as a whole (as I have been able to determine anyway), maybe only numbering in the hundreds, if that. And of those stories only a handful from people who had attempted suicide…
… at least stories that get to the heart of what everybody really wants to know: Do we go to hell? Or what other negative outcomes can we reasonably infer happens to a person after they have killed themselves.
Some of these attempted suicide cases reflected experiences very similar to the non-suicidal cases that we have all read about before, such as the clichéd: ‘I was drawn to a warm, inviting, glowing light that surrounded me in an ephemeral cloud of love’. And that’s nice to hear, sure, but it doesn’t address the big question.
As I recall I think there were only a couple of documented stories that addressed the issue in regards to the circumstances of your life (and attempted suicide) and the person(s) claim that they were confronted with an accounting for ALL the pain they had cause, and to EVERYONE they hurt.
I think in one of the case the recovered person said they were being made to account minute for minute the pain they had cause, both in the wake of their suicide or attempted suicide, but then also in the intentional and unintentional suffering that they had caused throughout their life to others.
I’m sorry if I made you do a lot of reading to get very little, but this was all I got when looking for a nearly scientific evidence of whether or not we go to hell when we die.
And to the religious people out there that feel they know the answer, well that’s all very fine and good, but you’re biased, and your belief isn’t what I’ve been looking for. I’m not dismissing your religious viewpoint, it’s just that you are all ABSOLUTELY convinced by reading your bible, which was in many cases written in Aramaic, ancient Hebrew, modern Hebrew, ancient Arabic, modern Arabic, ancient Greek, modern Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, medieval English, (etc. etc.) and then translated from any one of these languages into many of the other languages and back again in the most convoluted game of linguistic telephone imaginable.
This is undeniable, the journey your bible took from God’s lips to the drawer in your motel room. So have your belief, but we want to look at a more scientific approach: what are the most believable stories from people who have died and come back again – what have they said about their experiences?
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I personally know 2 people who are quite sane and rational, and both told me the same type of encounters…. and it was their concisousness that experienced it, not a dream, as they said they were both fully aware they were in a “different state”,, in spirit, and that both were told they had more to do, and thats why they came back.
Thats not religion, thats not hypothesis, both of these people tell the same encounter of meeting rational beings/ visiting a different realm.
For me, I don’t know if I was dead, more than 1.5 hours unaccounted for when I attempted to end it last year. Theoretically I should be dead as I combined both drugs and drowning and do know I went face down in dark water with no real explanation of how I got through that.
I can recall no experience, I recall nothing.
But some force, be it God, or something, didn’t want me to end it that night. That much is absolutely sure.
That was a very interesting read, thank you for posting it.
In my opinion, I don’t think there is a hell. I’m not a very religious person but I did grow up going to a nondenominational church so I’ve had time to expose myself to different ideas of god, heaven, hell, and the afterlife. The concept I’ve always graduated towards most strongly is reincarnation. I would like to think that when we die our souls are recycled into a new life that may teach us the lessons our previous life couldn’t learn (or maybe even to bring us certain joys we didn’t experience in a previous life). The idea also coincides with the scientific principle of energy and how it can neither be created or destroyed and I like that.
As for all of Catholicism and religion in general, I think it’s mostly something that was invented to keep people from asking questions. It’s easier to control or comfort people if you tell them you have all the answers. That’s why I don’t subscribe to any Ideology. But that’s also just my opinion.
Both people I know told me there is no reincarnation,,,,, the spirit goes on to another existence separate from this world…. no one comes back unless they are given that chance, as they were.
I don’t know the answer to your question. I used to be terrified to kill myself only to spend an eternity in Hell or wait in Purgatory until I am forgiven. I am not super religious but I do believe in God and Heaven. I have found personal comfort knowing that at least in my faith, suicide is a sin BUT it is a forgivable sin. I am still a bit afraid of the after-life but I believe I will go to Heaven and I really can’t wait to get there.
I never tried doing anything to myself (coward) so I don’t know, and don’t know anyone who shared an experience.
Here’s my view on the afterlife and the divine. Human no nothing about this topic.
Who’s to say any experience people have is fake or real? it could just be their subconscious because they expected someone to tell them to keep on living, and their minds gave them just that.
With all the books and the stories and the lessons people gave little is known about life and nothing about the afterlife. Since nothing people say is completely certain.
How many theories on reality are there? and how many of those can be disproved?
who is to say that we aren’t just in someone’s dream? maybe I don’t exist and neither do you. of course that still is far fetched.
Still..maybe when someone dies they just vanish, maybe their soul joins with nature and it would be like an eternal sleep. maybe there actually is a divine but nothing we expected.
I have no answer for you. Only that we know nothing, and should expect anything.
What comes after life? This is a question, I too want the answer for.What, people die every day, what are they experiencing right now? Is somebody we love patiently waiting for us right now? Life is crazy.
The way I see it, if I am punished or scorned in the ‘after-life’, then the universe truly is not fair. My choice to end my life is my own. And completely justifiable in my own mind. Yes some people will be hurt by my actions, but why should I have to continue to suffer – both mentally and health wise. Why do I need to carry all those bricks. If the afterlife truly exists – and I am in fact punished for my actions, then I would like to sit down and have a word with the big man himself, and explain to him that his logic is flawed.
If you ever encounter someone who had that experience,,, (and one of them I know had it twice), the “second” one was a “continuation” of the first. Hard to explain.
They made it clear that this was no dream, as they said they were fully aware of everything.,, just as we are now, here, alive, just in a different realm not part of this world. It is another dimension, one the living cannot enter, one the dead can’t come back from.
They were shown what is on that other side,,, specifically shown.
Neither went to hell,,,, but I believe it exists, as the beings they encountered made it clear that there is a place for those who are evil.
I was absolutely hoping someone would have something to share like this. It’s comforting.
It is different when you know someone who has had these encounters….. different from reading a book or watching it on TV, etc. I had the chance to ask a lot of questions, they told me a lot, and so I know what is there on that side (via them).
And trust me, I am a scientist by tare, not someone who just takes what another claims very easily without proof.
For me, talking to both of them offered that to me.
Yes there is an afterlife, it is not here on this earth, and once you/I die, we move on, never to return to here.
That’s some powerful stuff. At this point I can only take your word for it and pray that you are right. And that I will find the peace I seek there.
Im just saying it as it is, the people I know… both extremely reliable… and rational…. it was as real to them and they remember each detail of the experience,,,, try remembering a hallucination or a dream in detail…. can anyone? I know I cant.
I should be dead right now, dead since Aug. 30th of last year.
So I have been here nearly an additional year…..
In that time…. since that night….
I learned my wife wasn’t someone I knew, that I should be glad I am rid of her.
I learned that if I would have died, she would have inherited it all (after my mom dies).
I learned that I am here to fight this through (in court).
I learned that I would have devastated my mom.
I learned that I had the chance to touch other peoples’ lives.
I learned that I am supposed to be here (for now).
I learned that when it comes down to it, I am comfortable about dying.
I learned this world isn’t where I belong.
And I learned that one day I will leave it when I am confident my efforts have all been accomplished to the maximum of my ability.
What really scares me (besides maybe going to hell) is something I read about reincarnation…that if you kill yourself in this life you will be made to come back and repeat this life again to make better decisions because you didn’t learn all the lessons you were supposed to learn in this life. That scares the crap out of me!! I couldn’t endure living this life again!! So far it has been a horrible life!! Will I really have to repeat it? That is the fear that keeps me from taking my life! Living through the abuse and heartache all over again! I have already survived that….. Anyone ever heard that? What is your take on that?
Squid, that’s very moving and I relate to much of what you say. Very interesting about your two friends.
To the OP, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic with us. The afterlife is a very strong concern for many of us who find ourselves in a place like this site.
My beliefs? There is no eternal Hell. No one burns there for eternity. That’s BS. Everything is always in flux, moving, changing, a process … it’s the law of the Universe.
Secondly, I have experienced Hell many times, for long periods and shorter ones, right here on Earth. It’s called severe depression/manic depression.
As for Purgatory, well, I live there pretty much! Waiting for my release to Heaven and I don’t think I’ll ever find that on this Earth somehow, do you lol?
There will be debts to pay for me and for everyone else when they pass…unless they were a sinless saint on earth which would basically make them Jesus or something.
As a suicide, I will have a debt to pay for causing my loved ones pain. This particular debt gives me pause when I think of ending it. I literally could not bear to see my mother or my son’s face when they find out the news. And I’m afraid that in the afterlife I will be forced to, as it is a reckoning of sorts.
As for reincarnation, well bugger that, I’ve had enough of this goddamn place and definitely don’t want to return under any circumstances! I would like to say, as Squid does, that we don’t reincarnate here but in my case that might just be wishful thinking. One of my biggest fears is that I might be forced to come back here! Aaargh! That would be Hell, for me.
As I say, a really interesting topic. I hope more people will be moved to comment with their ideas/beliefs, though I’m not keen on hearing Christian or any other religious dogma personally.
It’s interesting that I very specifically asked if we can stick to what’s knowable, and the first half dozen post digress into “well, I think…”
Everything else is just ‘opinions are like a$$holes, everybody’s got one’.
The bible doesn’t really deal directly with the subject of hell, I understand, I am certainly no biblical scholar, but a lot of what people think about hell is from Dante Alighieri’s Devine Comedy, which is fiction, great fiction, but fiction. One might as well imagine Clarence in it’s a Wonderful Life, or Jack Benny in The Horn Blows at Midnight.
The dogma of hell, from the early Catholic church has bled over (now there’s a phrase…) it has leached into contemporary evangelical Protestantism, which ironically believe that the Catholics were all child molesting abortionists (see the ‘left behind’ series.)
My real concern about having to possibly endure recounting all our transgressions in the after-life is — will I have to stand through the whole thing, or can you do it reclining in an easy chair? Are there any breaks? Do you get to explain stuff? fill in some back story (“…well, St. Peter, you are unaware that this guy had beaten me up every day for three years (excluding weekends and holidays) before I finally hit him with that indian club”)
*whom ironically believe…
Peel and eat shrimps posts were what we all want to hear – where do we go? what happens?
I just can’t help thinking that it’s just one more opportunity for me to do the wrong thing and get yelled at by one more over-seer.
One more question:
Will I have to walk around with a Hollywood make-up department looking hole in my head with the blood dripping down on my shirt from where the 32 cal. bullet entered my cranium? Because I have always been real particular about my appearance, and that would really bug me.