Nope...the boy was real, he existed. Many have tried and failed to debunk.
Have seen documentaries and a movie, The Case for Christ, (I think) that gave all the documenting evidence and comments and references by rulers of different city states, Rome and Egypt etc.

The sincere inquiry into what happens after death is what led to most, if not all, religions. The problem with religion is not the inquiry; it is the unproven conclusion, not to mention the attempts by some to use your lack of knowledge as an opportunity for them to exploit.

It's not the bodies that are mysterious, it's consciousness. What is it? where does it go upon death? I think that somehow the answer is all tangled up with the mystery of the planet Earth, how it teems with life and has evolved into the specialized place that is rich with the unlikely substance that we call oxygen.

This is what seems most logical to me. I have no idea though whether it's actually true. Can't really say I think much of the judgment day theory or any of that other bunk.

That could easily be a ditto.

So if you don't mind a question: are you still absolutely certain that "you" would exist somewhere in some way, had you not been born? I have never had the 'benefit,' such as it may be, of any sort of psychedelic, so it's possible I'd have a different outlook if I had.

I have always thought of Jesus as a fictional character. Even the name "Jesus" is phony. No one else in all of the Middle East had that name except possibly a Greek.

Well, of course, just my take on it, but for me: until I know something different, I'll take what I have :-) That could change, depending on how much I like "what I have." For now, though, I am satisfied. Quite satisfied, actually.

And to give my take on your question: if it is a better place, it'll wait. I'll agree - it's pretty much ALL a mystery.

Thanks.
But, what if congratulations are not due?. What if it's really a "better place?" Consciousness without the burden of a body to maintain. How would it manage without senses? Humans are very mysterious creatures indeed. Wait. It just occurred to me. if death is like a dream state, that means you are creating your own universe nanosecond to nanosecond Now I wonder, whose dream am I a part of? Mine? Adams? Pardon me while I go lie down.

One way to look at it is that, although Rand had considered consciousness as separate from existence by needing something like 'consciousness is conscious', meaning that consciousness needs no explanation in terms of objects as its cause, consciousness presupposes existence and emerges in some complex brains in living bodies. There is no evidence, whatsoever that there is anything outside of existence to have caused existence of objects, so no reason to believe otherwise.
I just turned 79 and living on due to evidence based medicine with stents and drugs. I do not waste time trying to understand death other than the loss of complex organizations in my body and that that 'my', self, no longer exists with the death of my body, even just the death of my brain.
My main concern with death is to find good homes for all my books and stuff. I, for selfish reasons, do not it all to go to a landfill. Also my wishes for the discarding of my corpse, only a matter that a self could worry about, just cremate it and discard the ashes with no celebration or mumble jumble prayers, not any remembrance.
As for the death of the consciousness, it is not even like going to sleep, it just no longer exists. There is nothing to be afraid of from the none existent.
Just hang in there as long as you still can enjoy life, even though at a lesser enjoyment if that is all one has.
I hope that rant was somewhat understandable.
Since I do not see any sense in prayer, I will just hope you can live more years of a comfortable conscious life.

I can recall when I was about nine years old laying upside down on some concrete stairs to an old building of some sort, and looking at the world upside down. It for me was a very mystical experience which cannot be described in words.
Later on, a month of so later, I began to wonder, as best I can express in words, where would I be had I not been born. I was absolutely certain "I" would exist somewhere in some way, even though I would not have had a body. It was a very real and life changing experience for a 9 or 10 year old.
Later, in my twenties, I explored alternate realms of consciousness (yes, psychedelics were one way to access that sort of thing, but not the only way), and came away with the certain knowledge that our ordinary consciousness is but a small part of "reality", however that may be defined.
As I approach my 76th birthday, these questions have deeper meanings to me. And I still don't "know" but I definitely "wonder" more.

For years I have take comfort in the fact that a belief, by definition, is neither fact nor truth (yes, they CAN be but.......) and a strong grip on Nietzsche's "necessary fictions" which are beliefs that cannot be proven to be true and sometimes can be proven false, but are, nonetheless, necessary to sustain life.  They are convictions that satisfy the need for stability. Nietzsche contends that all belief systems are ‘necessary fictions.’  They are fictions because they cannot be proven. They are necessary because without them we would be rudderless in a world of chaos. I'll be 76 in a couple of months and am tired of trying to figure it all out and, so, will be content with my personal necessary fictions. I'm glad you made it Herb!!!

I dont think much of religion, so I would have to say I am atheist too. I mean there are so many GODS out there, which one is the right one if there is one at all?

Personally I think that our brains are similar too computers. Pull the plug and it turns off. Leave our brain cells without oxyen for enough time and the non volatile ram in our brains is gone also. Once dead, thats IT forever.
Consciousness if interesting. Given anesthesia, I dont remember a thing about what happened. Going to sleep is a similar experience. I think when you die, the lights just go out and thats that.

It would be nice if we all just went to another utopian place after we die, but I just dont think thats what happens. No one ever comes back, and if you are catholic you might be sent to a really BAD place after you die. I conclude that there is no place we go to when dead. We are just like a computer thats had its plug pulled out...

Quantum theory does postulate that, in our little universe, we are all connected because we all come from the same point of creation. What this means concerning consciousness of or in that creation is the trillion dollar question.

I believe most people have a hard time conceiving an end to ourselves.

....and beyond imagination...

The human brain does not have the capacity to understand much beyond the limit of our 3 dimensional existence. As for the 4th dimension, can anyone define what Time even is? Mathematics seems to point to many more dimensions in our universe. Physics hypothesizes many more universes. My guess is that any scenario that can be imagined can also happen.....

I look at it more as "what was it like before I existed?" Seems to me (with of course every possibility of being wrong) that it's likely going to be just like that. It's a great thought topic for right-before-sleep. At least it is for me, as unsettling as it is for me, for now.

Glad you didn't find out this time, Herb!

To should be too ,just saying and no.LOL

Ditto Dob...#me to.
Don't worry about the Birds your given...they are just showing you that their "Bow Fingers" are still working.
I guess they thought you were trying to prevent them from defending themselves with that question.

Well...let us look at this differently...This is just a thought, a theory based on what was passed on to us...doesn't make it definitive...none of us knows for sure either way.
The 500 or so that witnessed the return of Jesus relay to us that he stated; (paraphrased) that his experience was a good one, he felt no pain, the unhappiness was gone. They also relayed to us that his wounds were still visible, where he was nailed, where he was whipped and where the Romans stabbed him to make sure he was dead.
If we had to come up with a scenario of how this could be, I would offer that his return would have been Holographic in nature, a hologram with solidity and for that to be, there would have to be something left or recorded as his physical self.
Maybe a quantum representation, one that holds that which is the you we know and love.

There was the account of the bright beam of light that bust open the heavy cave door and illuminated the inside of the cave and when it stopped, the only thing left was the Shroud; which has shown us a 3D image of the person whom was wrapped within it.
So a holographic image would certainly explain what they saw, what he felt or didn't feel and also that there would have to be something of his physical self still around...even if it was his DNA which some claim is holographic in nature.

For an image, a holographic reflection is only a electrical/magnetic or digital reflection of the "Real Thing"...

Apparently, the ol' consciousness continues to buzz right alongand since with sleep you can awaken since you're still alive and can relae your experience since you have a body with voice and the like, but who knows if there is no body available. Seems like the battery is worn out. Why dos consciousness choose to relate to itself often in code? Or we just can't understand what is the "real" communication without the barrier that senses imposes. I think I'd better quit now, the vehicle needs fuel.

That pretty much sums it up in very few words.

Thanks for that. I'm so much more use to people giving me the bird that I don't quite know how to deal with compatriots.

I'd say that when it happens to me, I'll let you know. But Houdini said he'd try but no record exists that shows any success on his part. If Houdini couldn't do it, who devoted much of his life to it, I doubt if Ill be able to do it.There must be a very strong prohibition if indeed,, there is any possibility of remnants of consciousness.

"It seems that the more we learn about the universe, the more we don't know."

Socrates came to the same conclusion 2,500 years ago by stating "The more I know the less I know."

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing"

It is not mysticism: it is simply that we have no knowledge beyond death.

However, there is vast literature about our connection to the universe and the universal. That may be a worthy subject for exploration.