The Concept Of The Afterlife Religion Essay

Throughout the history of adult male one of the biggest inquiries that haunt human being is the inquiry of the Afterlife. Is at that place a “ God ” ? Is at that place a Eden or a snake pit? Do we hold souls? And what happens to it once it leaves this Earth and the physical organic structure? The chance of the terra incognita has brought approximately many different thoughts and theories ; each faith, civilization and epoch has developed their ain impressions and put truths in order to explicate what will go on one time we die. In order to derive some apprehension on this topic this paper will exam the four biggest faiths ; Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism and how they explain the unknown and the Godhead plane beyond ours.

Christian religion

In the Christian faith they believe in the construct that after physical decease the psyche maintains consciousness and there is an mediate province between decease and the Resurrection of the organic structure. Another construct is that until the Resurrection, which will go on during the Second Coming or the return of Jesus Christ besides known as Judgment twenty-four hours, the spirit slumber. These two thoughts are divided into three chief religious orders ; The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and Protestantism. Although all three of these groups are similar in that they believe that upon decease the psyche will confront judgement for his or her actions while on Earth, they each have their different perceptual experience of when and how it will go on.

These mediate provinces mentioned above are classified into two planes, Heaven and Hell, within the New Testament. Even though Hades appears in both the New Testament and in the Revelation, to show the construct of snake pit, the thought of snake pit does non deduce from the topographic point in Greek mythology that is the underworld the topographic point of the dead. This is due to the fact that it is a topographic point that consists of the undead both good and bad. Therefore to better understand snake pit one talk ‘s about Tartarus a topographic point in the underworld even lower than Plutos were the wicked spell. Hell is described to be a topographic point or province, were psyches who have non repented for their wickednesss and/or have rejected Jesus Christ as their Jesus, suffer ageless damnation. In scriptural instructions it is said that the psyche passes into snake pit after God has judged them irreclaimable for their actions while on Earth. Hades besides consist of Elysium, a utopia were those who have lived worthy lives go. This is known as the land of God or Kingdom of Eden, discussed largely in Revelations in the New Testament. It is considered a topographic point or province that is inherited by the righteous a topographic point of Eden and infinity with God. Although the literalness of Eden is problematic, it is said while on Earth, Jesus frequently preached about the heven as a wages, a concluding finish, for those who have been virtuous and followed the word of his male parent. Christians believe that in the terminal of clip Jesus Christ will lift once more and all who have died will be resurrected for the Last Judgment. This is when the land of God will be to the full established ; in Revelation 21 it states that an ground forces of angels will come down from heaven to contend those who oppose God and reestablish Gods ageless reign over all of his creative activities. It is the concluding twenty-four hours consume the wicked will be punished and the righteous rewarded. Therefore those who want to be saved must atone for their wickednesss and follow the instructions of Jesus Christ so that they can be with him after Judgment twenty-four hours.

The Catholic Church believes that upon decease those psyches who have been saved do non travel directly to heaven but travel through a procedure of purification in purgatory in order to be cleansed before they can be in God ‘s presence. Souls who have non been saved nevertheless travel directly to hell to be damned for all infinity. They besides believe that those who have non been baptized can non travel to heaven for they commit original wickedness, but dwell in Limbo, if they have died without moral wickedness. Waiting for the Day of Judgment when Jesus will come back to Earth to convey those psyches to heaven. The Orthodox Church believes that both heaven and snake pit are in the same dimension, and one does non see either separated from God, hell merely like Eden is merely being with God although snake pit still means life in ageless damnation and agony. Harmonizing to the Orthodox tradition God loves all human being including the evildoers, hence he does non cut anyone off from himself but alternatively those who go to snake pit are those who self-exclude themselves from everybody else.The Protestants believe that snake pit was created by God in order to penalize the Satan, and his fallen angels. It is believed that after judgment twenty-four hours those psyches who did non seek rescue from God while on Earth would be sent to hell to be punished for their wickednesss, which are most people. However unlike Martin Luther who believed that the psyche stayed unconscious and slept after decease, John Calvin, believed that souls maintain consciousness after physical decease and went directly to hell upon deceasing. He based this off of the fact that Protestants believed that because Jesus Christ had already paid for our wickednesss on the cross, there should be nil halting 1s psyche from traveling directly into Eden or snake pit.

Muslimism

The description for life after decease in the Islamic religion comes from the Qur’an, which states two chief constructs for the hereafter or Akhirah, the unity of God and the ineluctable twenty-four hours of Resurrection, the Islamic Day of Judgment. Due to this In Islam human existences experience are broken down into four phases, the first two are adult male ‘s experience on Earth ( 1. the phase of the uterus and 2. The phase of the mortal universe ) . It is in these two phases that adult male is tested to find his topographic point in the hereafter. Muslims believe that God holds every human being whether they are Muslim or non accountable for their actions and deed while they live on Earth. Therefore it is taught within Islam that the merely intent to life is the readying for the hereafter and achieving a topographic point in Eden. In order to make this the Qur’an Teachs that adult male ‘s has to pattern unity and generousness to others and to give one ‘s ego to Allah, the one and merely God. Salvation merely comes with the pattern of moral and ethical duty while on Earth. The last two phases are adult male ‘s experience one time the spirit leaves its earthly organic structure. The phase of the grave, known as Barzakh, is broken down into three events ; the first is when the psyche leaves the organic structure, the 2nd is the contemplation of 1s actions and enterprises while alive, and the 3rd is a province of cold slumber where adult male awaits Judgment twenty-four hours. The concluding phase, the afterlife or remainder of infinity comes after the Day of Judgment, when all human existences have been resurrected and judged in the eyes of God to either pass their ageless lives in Jannah ( Eden or Eden ) if they were virtuous or Jahannam ( snake pit or religious province of enduring ) if they were unrighteous or in denial of the truth of Allah. There are two different types of psyche that are excluded from these phases and do non hold to wait till Judgment twenty-four hours ; the first are those who die contending in God ‘s name, they are honored by instantly being allowed to lift to paradise by Gods side ; and the 2nd are those who are the enemy of Islam, they are punished by traveling directly to the religious plane of agony. However, those who are sent to hell bashs hold the ability to go up to the religious province of Eden once they have been purified by Jahannam unless they are non-muslim or Kafir, so they are punished for infinity. Both Jannah and Jahannam have different degrees within their ain religious plane, each reserved, depending on how one was step during their clip on Earth.

Buddhism

Due to the fact that Buddhism was born out of Hinduism it contains some of the same basic rules for the hereafter, such as metempsychosis after decease ( single passing from one signifier to another ) and karma ( accumulated amounts of one ‘s good or bad workss ) , along with the same terminal end to get away the ne’er stoping rhythm of reincarnation because life is enduring. This flight is merely gettable if one lets travel of all their desires they hold on the Earth utilizing the Buddhist signifier of release or Nirvana. Nirvana is non a topographic point or a province, but the terminal of metempsychosis, straight translated it means extinction, mentioning to the riddance of all 1s desires, leting one to go free from all crude fond regards. Buddhism diverts from Hindu beliefs on the topic of ageless psyches, harmonizing to Buddha human existences do non obtain a psyche. His philosophy of anatta explains that because persons experience memories, urges, traditions, desires and so on, they are deceived into believing that they have psyches because these fond regards can be perceived as embracing an self-importance. However this is non the instance, worlds are merely a container of emotions and wonts that are reused over and over once more as the organic structure is reincarnated life after life. Therefore in order to get away from the changeless agony that is existence worlds need to purge themselves of their false ego, go forthing nil to transmigrate hence being free of the rhythm ( 8 ) . The type of rebirth one may hold depends on the how moral 1s actions were in his or her old life. For illustration if one projected negativeness such as hatred or greed, perpetrating physical or emotional injury to those around him or her, that individual would be reborn into a lower kingdom ( a.k.a animate being, shade, demon etc. ) . If one were to advance positive and constructive actions based on love, metta ( kindness ) and peace they would be reincarnated into a happy kingdom, going a individual or originating into a celestial kingdom in their following life.

In decease one demand to remain cognizant of the deceasing procedure for every bit long as possible, because as one passes the ideas that are experienced impacts either the province they are in after decease, or if nirvana is non achieved, their following reincarnation experience. Harmonizing to Tibetan Buddhism after decease, the spirit goes through bardos ( a oblivion like plane were the single delaies till metempsychosis ) , this is made up of three different phases spread over 49 yearss. The first phase is called “ Chikai ” Bardo or the bardo of deceasing which can take from a half a twenty-four hours to four, after decease, giving the asleep clip to recognize they have passed. In that minute of realisation the spirit experiences a euphoric consciousness of a “ clear white visible radiation ” . For those who are more spiritually intuitive this consciousness last longer and will take to a higher plane of truth. However for the mean individual this will non go on and their spirit will fall into a secondary province or “ clear visible radiation ” . In the 2nd phase, “ Chonyid ” Bardo or bardo of Aglow head. The person will see the recoil of the karma they had created during their life, confronting vision of both calm and wroth representations of human feelings. In order to accomplish nirvana the spirit has to face and voyage itself through these personifications free of injury. The 3rd phase is the procedure of rebirth/reincarnation and it is called “ Sidpa ” Bardo or the bardo of metempsychosis. It is merely the truly enlightened liquors that have shed all their earthly desires through enlightenments that can jump the procedure of the three bardos and go up straight to the dimension of Eden.

Hindooism

Like Buddhism Hinduism believes in reincarnation, nevertheless Hinduism sees the psyche ( atman ) as immortal and ageless while the organic structure is the 1 that undergoes changeless birth and decease. A psyche goes through the procedure of reincarnation over and over once more until it has to the full developed and becomes perfect. Perfection nevertheless is non an easy effort, a psyche has to come in many organic structures live many different lives and have many different experiences. Merely after this can a psyche eventually become portion of the Godhead. For those colloidal suspensions that are ne’er able to do the transmutation to flawlessness, they will merely be able to be one with God once more through the procedure of great devastation. Destruction is needed in order to stop the rhythm of creative activity, which for Hindus merely occurs one time the single spirit offprints from the beginning. After the procedure of creative activity has occurred and the psyche and true ego has separated from the One, it conceals itself and becomes portion of an barbarian signifier that has both a jiva besides known as a false ego, and an self-importance. Because of the self-importance the signifier is cursed with earthly fond regards such as desires and impulses. The Jiva and self-importance besides suffer from psychotic beliefs and ignorance, the psyche holding lost all of its cognition of truth upon dividing from God. For this ground they behave in a egoistic mode exposing features that are both selfish and inconsiderate. It is because of this infantile behaviour, as though they are the lone 1s in the existence and are wholly different from other existences that the psyche suffers as it does.

Upon decease the jiva and psyche survive this clip period is seen as both a period of convalescence and acquisition. Before being reincarnated into another physical organic structure the psyche has to travel through judgement based on its past life ‘s Karma. Depending on the morality of their past workss along with how many other past births they have experienced, the jiva either goes to heaven or hell until they have been rewarded or punished plenty for its past life actions. Then taking the cognition that it has gained from this experience and ready to seek once more the jiva is prepared to be born once more. It is through Karma that the true ego easy awakes within the jiva, because it teaches the jiva that good actions bring about positive consequences and bad actions pain hence by doing errors and larning from them the jiva will get the better of its ignorance. This nevertheless takes clip, hence throughout the rhythm of life the single jiva experiences a illimitable figure of births and deceases besides known as Samsara. The intent for this is that each clip a jiva is reborn it brings a small spot more cognition from its clip in between physical organic structures assisting it to bit by bit recognize its integrity with God and self. Each physical organic structure it is born into, like in Buddhism, depends on its workss in its old life ; therefore the jiva may be reincarnated into a lesser life or a higher life. It is non until the jiva has gone through a infinite figure of metempsychosiss and lifetimes that it can get down to derive some consciousness to the truths around it and seek higher signifiers of felicity. It is this self-awareness that will convey wholly detached or want of earthly pleasances and desires that the jiva is in hunt for, because merely so can it be wholly liberated ( moksha ) from the changeless rhythm of decease and birth.

The hereafter allows for so many possibilities because no one genuinely knows what will go of them or their “ psyche ” one time they have passed on. Each of these faiths explores different theories and doctrines and has come to their ain thoughts on the topic, nevertheless despite their differences one similar renter does run through them. They all agree that in the hereafter one will be punished or rewarded based on their actions while on Earth. Whether it is by a supreme being such as “ God ” while bing in another universe ( heaven or snake pit ) such as the Christians and Muslims believe or through the rectification mechanism like Karma that comes through being reincarnated in which the Buddhist and Hindu ‘s believe.