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[TD1]

It does make one wonder what would happen if the God of Abraham was altered only in that he gave promises of oblivion instead of everlasting life. How many folks would "love" their "Father" and worship at His feet? And how many would turn away from the One True Religion in favour of a more optimistic, Christian message of eschatological gain.

[Hanslanda]

Oblivion can't be too bad. Remember when you weren't around/there/were asleep without dreaming? Like that. Not so bad.

[hops]

Buddhism never said everything will end, it's that everything will change.

Transcendence doesn't annihilate you, just your sense of self.

Don't ask me whether that's a good thing.

[Yoink]

I love oblivion

[Dunamisdeos]

@Rolan

Ye man, I also find the idea of inevitable judgement to be terrifying in a sense. Or rather, not terrifying. I think it's like all other inevitable things. Death is coming for me eventually, but it's a fact of life. I don't find this scary, but it is.... big. It's a big concept. I feel like as children we get this concept that when we reach adulthood we are somehow inscrutable. Noone can judge us, we are all equals, and where I am concerned I'm a little more equal than others. That's not really the case by any means, and it can be jarring to reach this conclusion.

I do however find a measure of objectivity in judgment of morality by mass consensus, as there is a sense of order involved removed from one's personal feelings. Of course it relies on other people's ability to remain objective, and packs of people are easily swayed by emotional appeal. I suppose I just get fussy anytime I see that smug, pompous argument of "Right and wrong is subjective and fluid, you have no right to me tell I'm wrong about what I believe. Also, you are wrong and I am right.".

To touch on the suffering vs happiness thing, I have found in my life that any sense of happiness is meaningless without some degree of suffering. It's cliche and somewhat trite, but you have to have one to define the other. To me, suffering is an absence of happiness to varying degrees.

[Rolan7]

Judgement by an alien force is certainly terrifying.  Practically by definition, one can't know the standards by which one will be judged.

But technically, I was speaking of judgement by our peers, which is almost as frightening for other reasons.  And also, something we have to deal with in the day-to-day.

Whenever I dream of dying, I don't go on to dream of a judgement that finds me "good" or "evil".  I dream of ceasing.  When I dream of unending torment, it's a frustrating maze of my own feverish mind.  And when I dream of sick torture, the victim is usually someone else.  And that terrifies me.

Edit:  Sometimes the victim is me, but that's... honestly less horrifying than the unending fever-maze.  Flay my flesh a little and let me wake up.  Just don't make me wander for a month, or talk to [capricorn].  Just stab me, please.

[Maximum Spin]

"Right and wrong is subjective and fluid, you have no right to me tell I'm wrong about what I believe. Also, you are wrong and I am right."

I don't think anybody actually thinks that, though. In my case, at least, it's more like "Right and wrong are subjective and fluid; you have every right to tell me I'm wrong about what I believe, but this cannot actually be correct because there's no correct answer in this situation, and also I don't have to care."

[KittyTac]

Even if human brains are wired in such a way that makes, say, murder or rape or whatever look bad, morality is still subjective. What if alien brains are wired in a different way? Hell, dolphins, who show some traces of sentience, are casual rapists.

I'm still a xenophile.

[Loud Whispers]

Buddhism never said everything will end, it's that everything will change.

Transcendence doesn't annihilate you, just your sense of self.

Don't ask me whether that's a good thing.

Eh wot now lad
Mutability is a protestant thing, while every branch of Buddhism all agree on anicca (impermanence) as a core doctrine. Everything will end. Transcendence is perhaps the wrong word to use in this context, enlightenment or nirvana being more appropriate, and it goes beyond losing modern psychological conceptions of self. It is annihilation, the permanent escape from samsara, the end of the cycle of life, death & suffering.

[hops]

It's the end of you as an individual, but it doesn't end you as in the process of the eternal universe. You're still there, but without a soul or identity.

[Maximum Spin]

Buddhism doesn't believe that the soul/identity ("atman") exists. So, you are already without a soul or identity; you only think you have one because of maya.

[Rowanas]

It's the end of you as an individual, but it doesn't end you as in the process of the eternal universe. You're still there, but without a soul or identity.

You're not dead, just everything that makes you you is dead.  I'd call that oblivion, because I similarly don't consider the energy contained in my body heat to be an essential part of me. Further, my body is not me, only my consciousness is.

[KittyTac]

Also, I don't believe in free will. The universe is deterministic at the neuron level. To think otherwise is illogical.

[Rowanas]

Also, I don't believe in free will. The universe is deterministic at the neuron level. To think otherwise is illogical.

Verily.

[hops]

Determinism doesn't matter if you can't determine it without being outside the universe.

To us, the universe is essentially random, because our knowledge of the future would alter the future.