The Concept of Afterlife - Essay Example

Number] Afterlives There are a number of religions practicing around the world and with the diversity in practices and ideas; there is also diversity in their beliefs about the concept of afterlife. However, a majority of the religions believe that human beings are physical being that has to go through death but their spirits are immortal as they have come from a divine world and will return there. Religions, since their earliest forms, have ensured spiritual wellbeing and expression. There is a concept of death and the life after death in heaven or hell but there are also some religions that believe in reincarnation that is rebirth of the human body. The two religions’ afterlife concepts that will be discussed in this paper are Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity has different orthodox beliefs which include that of Catholics, Baptists, Protestants, and others but the core belief about afterlife is the concept that our conduct or our behaviour on earth will be judged and it will determine how our afterlife will be. Christianity believes that there is an afterlife which is the result of all our deeds on the earth and those deeds will decide where we will end up. There is a hell in the afterlife which is for the ones who have done bad deeds. The Catholic Church teaches that hellfire will be for eternity and the wicked ones will rot in it forever (Coward 2). There is also a heaven in the afterlife which will be for the ones who have behaved well on earth. The Catholic Church claims that there is another state in the afterlife which lies between hell and heaven and that is called ‘purgatory’ (Hale 21). The Christianity teaching says that the spirit is kept in purgation for a certain time and after that it progresses towards heaven. Some Christian schools of thought do not agree with purgatory. There is also another concept by the Catholic Church that sinners can confess their guilt for their sins in front of the Catholic priests and then their sins will be forgiven. The sins might be serious or grave including genocide, but they can be forgiven if the sinner has truly repented. Buddhists have adopted many concepts from Hindus. Their basic concept about afterlife is the doctrine of karma and reincarnation. Buddhists believe that the ultimate goal of the life on earth is to escape the death and rebirth. Buddha’s teachings tended to assert that the thing that would keep us away from the cycle of death and rebirth is the desire and craving to be in the world. They believe that there is a desire in every human being for something in this world that keeps them free and living. In order to get away from the process of reincarnation, a human being must free himself from all the desires. Nirvana is the term used for liberation in Buddhism which means extinction from all the desires and cravings and become liberated (Prasad 55). The area where Buddha departed from Hinduism was the doctrine of ‘anatta’ which was the notion that the souls are not eternal. They believed that individuals do not have eternal souls and in fact they have several habits, sensations, memories, desires, etc which deludes them to think they have a stable and lasting self. This self is temporary in nature and is false which hangs as a unit and reincarnates the body after body. Buddhists believe that life in a earthly body is negative and is the source for all pain and suffering of humans. Their ultimate goal is to achieve release and freedom. When a person abandons all the false feelings of self and disintegrates the memories and desires, there is nothing left to reincarnate and thus nothing that would experience suffering (Coward 4). In the modern world’s perspective, where is world is affirmed by the Western society, the traditional vision of Buddhists is rather complicated. Their life is portrayed as unpleasant and the notion of nirvana also seems to be less desirable. Tibetan Buddhism believes that after death, the spirit goes through a forty-nine days lasting process which is in three stages named ‘bardos’. When the last and final stage is completed, the person is either returned to the earth for rebirth or he may enter nirvana (Prasad 54). It is significant that the individual who is dying is fully aware of his thoughts and desires for as long as possible. These thoughts that are passing over the individual influence the nature of the experience after-death and also the nature of the reincarnation state if the individual fails to achieve nirvana (Prasad 54). The first stage of the Bardo is called the ‘Chikai’ Bardo which is the dying stage. It begins with the death of the individual and lasts till four days. In this period, the dying individual has to realise that their physical body has been dropped. There is a feeling of consciousness in the individual which leads to an ecstatic experience of a ‘Clear White Light’ exactly at the moment of the death (Prasad 54). Everyone experiences a glimpse of the white light. The ones who tend to be more spiritually developed are said to see the light for a longer period and they are also able to pass through it and reach a higher level of reality. An average individual tends to drop to a state of secondary clear white light (Prasad 52). The second stage is the ‘Chonyid’ Bardo which is the bardo of Luminous Mind. In this stage, the departed individual goes through the hallucinations which are resulted from karma showing everything that the individual has done during his life. The ones who do not have a highly developed spirit tend to feel as if they are still alive. The individual then faces several peaceful deities which are the representations of the human feelings. In order to achieve nirvana successfully, the individual must face them unflinchingly. Only the individuals who are most evolved can skip these stages of bardos and go into the paradise directly. The third and the final stage are called ‘Sidpa’ Bardo and it is the bardo of rebirth and the process of reincarnation (Prasad 53). The Christian concept of the afterlife is rather simpler than that of Buddhists. The Christians believe that death in inevitable and it has to happen where the life will end and the afterlife will start. They believe that the humans tend to disappear from this world and reach into another world and exist in another form. The ultimate goal of the afterlife is that every individual will either end up in heaven or hell. Our bodies are just physical structures which are left on this earth to decay while our souls immediately leave our bodies as soon as we die and go to heaven or hell (D’Souza 15). Hale (2010) writes that Christians also believe that the final judgement day will be held at a specific time which is unknown to everyone. That will be the day when all souls will get up for their judgments. Until that day, the souls will be sleeping for a long time. There are a number of steps that the individuals would go through before reaching their final destination. For infants, the Christian belief says that they enter a place called Limbo where they would take the form of infants forever. In Christianity, the holy book, Bible, tends to stay quiet on various issues and concepts about the life after death but there have been scenarios, religious writers, and faith groups that have established these concepts since thousands of years (Hale 91). The main elements of the Christian afterlife are heaven and hell for which the people are alive and for which they struggle all their lives. The concept of heaven and hell is straight forward in the Christian belief as what is right and wrong. Those who are right will go to heaven and those who are wrong will go to hell. However, the notion of right and wrong is directed by the Bible and the priests. Those humans who tend to do good with others, pray to God, give charity, and fulfil the orders of God are the good ones who will enter heaven while the nasty ones who have done wrong and who have no belief in God will enter hell. The hell for Christians is a place full of fire, a place for eternal punishment. And the heaven is a place where everyone is rejoicing and singing before God, and all their pain, sufferings, and tears are disappeared forever (D’Souza 15). Thus, the concept of afterlife in Christianity and Buddhism supports different features and concepts. In Buddhism, reincarnation and rebirth holds a greater value all dependent on the desires and craving for the world. However, in Christianity death is inevitable and despite the desires, in individual has no turning back. It is the end of the life where the humans enter another state and live their life for eternity in heaven or hell. Both the concepts are based on the religious teachings and beliefs that have existed since years. The concept of afterlife is something in which every person believes no matter what his religion is. Work Cited Coward, Harold. Life After Death in World Religions (Faith meets Faith). NY: Orbis Books, 1997 D’Souza, Dinesh. Life After Death: The Evidence. USA: Regnery Publishing, 2009 Hale, Rosemary. Christianity. NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2010 Prasad, Ramanuj. The Life After Death. India: Pustak Mahal, 2005 Read More