Phenomena "Ghost" and Atheism Big Question

title changed to reflect content and follow forum guidelines :moogle:

The Question:
If a ghost exists, why nobody return to say “hey I’m back”?

The Answer:
I receive this inspiration during in those so called “Power naps”. :om: The answer is more simple than one can think about it.
When we die, for some reason we lose our everyday memory and they are replaced with false memory. So if we don’t have our memories anymore, there will be no urge to return home. The evidence is in our dreams, when we fall asleep, we lose our everyday memory as well and have false memory instead, that is why we can’t recognize a dream as a dream. Some scientist even say that the closest thing to dying is falling asleep.

As for “Ghost phenomena” to occur, some of us have part of their memory left intact(to know they are dead - they become lucid ^^), but ghosts reside in the astral plane, which is here but on a higher level. So our plane and astral plane are in contact with each other, so that is why we can’t see them clearly. And one need to have stronger energy to access our plane and disturb the folks.

I’ve always wondered this. It’s kinda my goal to master astral projection throughout my life and try various experiments based around this. I’ve always held the belief that when you die, your soul goes to the astral plane until it is ready to be recycled/reincarnated, if at all. So if you master astral projection and you know your time here on Earth in your physical body is coming to an end, then you know what to do in the astral plane. You’ll know how to leave your body properly, and maybe even visit those still alive on Earth if you want/need to for whatever reason.
I’ve yet to meet anyone else that has thought of astral projection this way, so this is an interesting topic to me.

the_shadow, that’s a very interesting take on this matter. Many Eastern religions are based on the idea that our Souls live many lives, and the memory of past lives is usually not easily accessible. They share the idea that somehow our memories are wiped clean after the big event.

I heard many reports of paranormal activity and I don’t feel like dismissing them all as mumbo jumbo. But not having had any direct experience, I have a neutral view on this topic, and like to consider other possible explanations.

Do you think that it might be, for example, that some kind of psychic “traces” can be left behind after a Soul moves on, and these residues of consciousness can trigger sensory perceptions that we identify as Ghost phenomena? I don’t think one necessarily needs to assume that Ghosts phenomena originate from a self-aware entity.

But if this was the case, well, the big question is… Where are memories stored? There’s a very thought-provoking essay which argues that the idea that memories are stored as traces in the brain has little scientific evidence, and suggests some possible alternatives (see paragraph “The Mystery of the Mind”). But why would a Ghost lose them after passing, and where would its false memories come from?

In fact, there is a similar view in a book called “Of all and everything - Beelzebub’s tales to his grandson”. It’s a very thick book and purposefully written such a way that it is quite hard to read. But it’s a great book, and if you’re willing to makes the effort of sifting through it, you might find it of interest. The idea is that human beings are not born with an astral body, as is usually thought, but need to develop one during their existence on the physical plane in order to exist as independent, self-aware entities after their death.

As one of the few resident Christians here, I might as well explain my understanding of this seemingly paradoxical phenomenon.

When a person dies, their soul is transported somewhere else (where exactly is theologically complex, but suffice it to say that it’s nowhere on this Earth) and not allowed to leave (e.g. Dives and Lazarus). However, very occasionally, someone will be briefly “let back out” to go into the world as a ghost (cf. the Old Testament story of the witch of Endor summoning Samuel, though that is a special case). Much more often, beings purporting to be ghosts are in reality unclean spirits/fallen angels – the two phrases mean the same thing – who have disguised themselves as people who have died. (This is what we’re told the witch of Endor had been expecting to get; she screamed in fright when she saw that what she had called up was the real Samuel.) There are a variety of reasons why an unclean spirit would want to do this, not the least of which is encouraging people to become curious about the supernatural and begin seeking them out directly.