Hard to say what happens after death. All we know is that the physical body remains and eventually decays. People fear death because they are in delusion of a self. The delusion that "they" die.

Death. A few days ago, this thought came to me. Everything in the universe is, as far as we can tell, 13.7 billion years old, more or less. What new being is created when a child is born? What ceases to exist when a body ceases to function?

As far as science has got at the moment we think that energy cannot be destroyed,so nothing dies,nothing is born.
Only the sense of separation, (ignorance) of the universe(s) create the sense of separateness,that in turn leads to fear of death.The really interesting question is why do we fear death?
To keep themselves in an imaginary positions of power our leaders,(church,secular) lie.
I would suggest the only way out of this mess is to see the world for ourselves, to see pass the self-serving trash.
Oppps sorry for that.

This isn't what science says, precisely, but it doesn't matter so much as that things do die, things are born - not only does science agree that things come into and pass out of existence, forms of energy notwithstanding, I also recall here the 11th and 12th steps of paticcasamuppada.

This should probably have resulted in editing your post of the animosity before hitting 'post', rather than simply typing this just to mention you were aware you should edit, but would rather say it anyway.

Let's all try to keep this sort of aversion curtailed, here and elsewhere. The Buddha says compassion ends hatred, nothing else.

I would suggest that in an absolute manner nothing dies,it may change it's appearance but the energy that is life continues in another form.

I think this is where Buddhist philosophy takes the middle path between ninilism and eternalism. Most types of thinking are either/or; they exclude the possibility of a middle ground in which answers can be both-yes-and-no, neither-yes-nor-no at the same time. That which comes into existence with the birth of an organism is a new chain of related phenomena, not exactly a 'true' being in and of itself as beings are commonly conceived of. The 'being' that comes into existence is a mere conventional being, not a fundamental entity with an identity that survives over time. So, yes, 'something' comes into existence at birth, but no, it's not a true entity, only a conventional one, a convenient fiction.

Or I may be wrong about that. http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...ies/zonked.gif

Consciousness http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...ilies/cool.gif

I can agree with this. Things manifest and cease to manifest due to cause and conditions. Energy known as "prana" is always there and the manifestation is rulled by the law of cyclic manifestation. All in the universe is subject to this periodic patterns; some are small, others big.

One of the big diferences between eatern and western understandings is about this. Western view of life has the tendency toward "linearity" so there is a psychological need to set orign and end; eastern view tends to be cyclical so there is no so much worrie about endings and beginings.

http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...lies/hands.gif

Is 'consciousness' anything more than an abstract label used to refer to an impersonal flow of phenomena? Conventionally, entities have consciousness. That is, consciousness is said to be an aspect of an entity. Without an entity, what is consciousness?

The consciousness answer also falls prey to Heraclitis' observation that you can't step into the same river twice. Neither the person nor the river is the same entity from moment to moment. Then there's the Ship of Theseus argument, which is closely related. I don't see how consciousness can be a thing.

I'm trying to remember where I read a sutta quote that I can right now only paraphrase. In it, the Buddha says something like, 'I see action and volition, but no being/entity that passes on from moment to moment.'

Death is natural law.
Unavoidable and kind of attachment to live, that's why people fear it.
Death never ends, it's samsara and a circle to be born and die and reborn, again and again without ends, except for the enlightened one.

Personally l think it's a mistake to think in terms of circles when discussing events,if we think about it then we can see that the form is spiral.
As Fbm (#30) has said we can't step in the same river twice. Failure to appreciate this means we are bound to think in a linear manner.

Death is possible only if you believe in the fundamental reality of entities, which is something that Buddhist philosophy has shown to be fallacious. As far as I can tell, nothing ever stops, ends, dies, disappears in an ultimate sense, and this is closely related to the observation that the conventional concept of existent things (entities) is deeply flawed.

As always, I could be wrong about this. http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...es/mrgreen.gif

Can you explain further, please Allis. What do you mean when you speak of our minds coming to a standstill ? A blank ? http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...ilies/grin.gif

Its true that a peaceful, settled mind is free from discursive thoughts.... but that's just a preliminary state on the path of practice.

Also I don't think that the mind of an enlightened being comes to a total standstill, otherwise how would he/she calculate and pay for an electricity bill or function in day to day living in general ? http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...ilies/grin.gif

If you mention anything that someone said - whoever it happens to be - could you give a ]http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries.com/img/smilies/hands.gif[/img]

PS

If you'd like to introduce yourself to the group, you're very welcome to do so on the introductions and welcome thread for new members here: URL