Is There A Life After Death

That's one of the reasons why prayer helps many people recover from serious illness and/or injury. The mind is important for our body to recover.

I realize this has already been hashed out on here, but, I'm not reading that many threads to catch up. I'll put in one more before I go: People watch someone devour a pear or a chicken with no thought given to an afterlife; suddenly it's a human getting eaten and the afterlife gets great credence. Haw.

truth
If we identify with our family, lineage or all of humanity, or (as the Buddhist do) the universe, "our" life continues after our death. At the same time, since we are continuously creating our world second by second, when we die and stop constructing our world, we, IN A SENSE, take it all with us. As I've said before, my "house" will go with me, but my wife's house (which in a sense is the same house) will remain for her. Then she will take "it" with her when she dies. This crazy, but true, talk is consistent with Schopenhauer's thesis in the opening sentence of his classic, The World as Will and Idea: "The world is my idea." It's also consistent with the perspective of zen buddhism.

The zen I am familiar with refuses to contemplate the possibility, saying it will resolve itself, given time. Also, the Buddha and the Tibetan book of the Dead give instructions to break the chain of rebirth.

Yes, unless I pray amiss.

You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may
consume it upon your lusts. James 4:3

Your prayer has still been answered if you trust your Heavenly
Father to give you what is best for you. He always wants what is best for you "lacking nothing". Not give you something that you may want that would bring harm to you. A smart person prays for His will to be done in what you pray. It's called trusting God for His very best for you. You may not know that what you want is not in His will for you or what you may be asking forsomeone else may not be in His will for them. If you know His Word(Testament) you will usually always know what His will is for His followers. If not, pray and He will show you what you need. We always
want to "be in position" to receive. That's where we all miss it the most.
To be in position is to be close to Him in the spirit. We need to be more concerned aboutwhat our heavenly Father wants than what we want,
knowing that he wants the very best for us always.

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a for bread, will he give him
a stone? or if he ask for a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luke 11:11

Attend and focus on This Moment, it is all that exists ... and it is already gone forever. Death is in a future that can never be captured. When you get to the penultimate moment, be ready to fully experience it. Death can be difficult, or it can be easy. Easer is better than difficult, so learn detachment from the temptations of the senses. Cut loose the dreams of past and future. Pay attention.

truth
I forget to mention that the way of being: zen is not like most of the Religion: Buddhism. Zen rarely talks about death, afterlife, the wheel of karma, rebirth, etc., and when it does, it's usually with a smile--which I interpret as tongue in cheek.

Yeah, jl. Sometimes a zen practitioner will call the Buddha a hill of dung.

truth
Yes, they do not value categories as things to be revered or feared. There is even the famous dictum: "If you meet the Buddha kill him", meaning--among other possible interpretations--do not even attach to insights or elightenment.

jl
One of my favorite books is "The Buddha's Law Among the Birds." I have not perused it since the late 60s, but this thread has inspired me to seek a copy.

truth
Edgar, I'll look it up.

JL, As you probably know, my wife is a Buddhist, and I'm an atheist. We are going on a 12 day pilgramage to Japan in late March to visit 33 Buddhist Temples with a Buddhist Priest. I'm really looking forward to this trip - to observe and learn. c.i.

truth
C.I., zen buddhism and atheism are not mutually nconsistent, unless the atheist attaches himself to an atheist belief system, if (metaphorically) he believes in a no-god and worships him. I call myself both an atheist and a lay zennist.

I have long had a love affair with Buddhism, but I am at core a rock solid atheist.

Edgar, in Buddhism there is no God, so you're in good company.

Part of the attraction, asherman. Incidentally, it's good to see you again.

Gee, I wish I had known. That rice paper it was printed on made
such nice kindling for my fireplace too. Half of it was hung on the
outhouse wall. Sorry, but I was out of Sears and Roebuck and had
a bad case of Optima Rectumus.

One man's garbage is another man's treasure, they say.

truth
Are you the Roman leader, Gluteus Maximus?

Could someone please explain to me what an atheist is?

zgreat, WELCOME to A2K. I like your kind of philosophy. It goes to show we all have our "belief" system.