Afterlife. Many people are curious but afraid, they want to know what happens, but don't want to experience it themselves. Each person has their own belief about it, whether it be that we are reincarnated, that our spirit stays here on earth, that there are a heaven or hell, or simply that we die and that’s it there’s nothing to it. No matter what it is, we believe in something, and religions are shaped in a variety of ways to fit their own idea about the afterlife. Science has gotten really close and basically proved that there is an afterlife for the non believers and Religions have each explained what the afterlife is thought to be like for them specifically. According to Brian Harley and Glenn Firebaugh from the Journal for the Scientific
As Farnaz explained, in Hinduism we are said to live a continuos cycle of rebirths into different things, could be a plant, an animal, or human again, but the purpose of our lives is to end this cycle. The only way to end it, is to live a life with no imperfections or sins and since that is basically impossible to do, everybody will live this endless cycle. The Samsara doctrine states that our current life is a representation of our past and even earlier actions from our current lives (Farnaz). It is believed in “karma” and if we were evil in a past or even our present life we will live a miserable current life. Since Hinduism is a complicated and as Farnaz describes it complex religion, many Hindus have a variety of theories on how to end the cycle of living. Apparently in one of the most popular Hindu scriptures,The Bhagavad Gita, there are three paths to freedom from this cycle (Farnaz 10). The first path being “The Path of Knowledge” involves the process of meditation and yoga to learn about your true self (Farnaz). The second path is “The Path of Disinterested Action,” which states that we must engage in religious and non sinful actions without looking for something in return (Farnaz 11).This path claims that the reason people have to go through the cycle is because we only engage in righteous
Like Hinduism, they believe in karma and that everyone is responsible for their own life and “pointing the finger of blame at external forces such as deity, demons, or fate is not acceptable” (Farnaz 44). Or so to say, our life is a consequence or reward (depending on your living status) of any actions we have taken, so blaming it on anything other than ourselves would be wrong. Although their beliefs are quite similar, they do have their differences for example, Buddhism doesn’t seem to directly mention a soul while Hinduism does. The belief is that people are made up of; a physical body, feelings, the senses, volition and consciousness (Farnaz 44). The mind is what they believe to continue onto another life along with the karma. Buddhism has a path to end the cycle, known as the “Noble Eightfold Path” which leads to Nirvana (literally to be blown out or to achieve enlightenment) (Farnaz 48). This includes to have the right view, the right intentions (free thoughts of cruel to others and lust), the right speech (to not lie or speak badly of others), the right actions (to not steal or kill), the right livelihood (to have a job that doesn't cause harm to anybody or anything), the right effort (to stay away from bad thoughts), the right mindfulness (pay attention to every state of the body, mind and feelings) and finally the right
Buddhism, founded by Buddha, was a religion based on staying on the right path and doing what is right to achieve nirvana. In Buddhism, there were two paths that people should not follow and there was a middle path discovered by the Perfect One that people should follow in life (Doc 4). Hinduism, which branched off of Buddhism, an intricate religion with one idea on what to do to achieve happiness. It also has the concept of Karma, which is the sum of a person’s good and bad deeds in life (Doc 1).
Buddhism was originated in India in the fifth century B.C.E by Siddhartha Gautama. In today estimation there are about three hundred and seventy six million followers, which is the sixth most practiced religion in the world. The founder of this religion was born a Kshatriya, which was the military or ruling class in the caste system. The caste system is a Hindu tradition. Buddhist does not believe in this system. Instead Buddhist believes in the four noble truths. The four noble truths teaches that everyone suffers, selfish desires causes suffering, suffering can be overcome by destroying selfish desires, and if man follows the Eightfold Path, he will destroy selfish desires and end all suffering. Buddhist also believes in Nirvana which is a release from selfishness and pain. Karma is also part of the Buddhist belief. Karma is interpreted in many ways around the world. But in the Buddhist religion Karma refers to the good and bad actions a person does in his or her life. The good actions will bring about good things in the future. Unlike the good actions, if...
Buddhism at its creation was enormously influenced by Hinduism. Using similar terminology and symbols, examples dharma and the use of the swastika. They both believe in detachment from worldly things. Both religions also encourage the use of yoga as key part of worship and clearing one’s mind. Buddhism is its own
Samsara is the cycle of being reborn after death. The Hindus see Samsara as something to be overcome because it prevents them from being absorbed into Brahman. We’re stuck in Samsara because we’ve fallen for Maya, the illusion. Our karma is a direct resultant of our actions in life and it determines what our next life will be like.
One of the greatest and oldest human mysteries on Earth is death, and the fate that lies beyond it. The curious minds of human beings constantly wonder about the events that occur after death. No person truly knows what happens after a person ceases to live in the world, except for the people themselves who have passed away. As a result, over the course of history, people of various backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions have speculated and believed in numerous different possibilities for the destiny that awaits them beyond the world of the living. The great ambiguity of the afterlife is extremely ancient that many different beliefs about it have been dated back to several centuries ago. These beliefs go as far back to the beliefs of Ancient Egyptians, which outline the journey that the dead travels to the land of Osiris; and the belief of Ancient Greeks that all souls eventually find themselves in Hades’ realm, the Underworld. Throughout history, views and beliefs from emerging religions continue to develop as the human conscience persists in finding answers to this ancient, unresolved mystery. Prime examples of the various and separate beliefs regarding death and the afterlife are found in the diverse faiths of Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Buddhism.
Unlike Hindus, Buddhist follow Buddha’s four noble truths. The four noble truths provide a pathway to enlightenment; they teach what causes suffering in life and how to stop it. The noble truths are very simple and easy to understand. The first truth is that all existence will suffer no matter what, the second truth is the understanding of craving, the third truth is the cessation of suffering, and the final truth is following the noble eightfold path. Practicing Buddhism isn’t complex or difficult, unlike Hinduism. As long as one gives love and acceptance to everyone and everything, is mindful, practices Ahimsa, and detaches themselves from materialistic items one can be a successful Buddhist. Unlike the simplicity of Buddhism, Hinduism is very strict and complex. It is male oriented and difficult to follow through. To practice Hinduism one must follow the four stages of life. The first stage is being a student and study the Vedas. The second stage is being a house holder; support a student and have a family. The third stage is being a Hermit; withdraw from family for many months and prepare to become an ascetic. Finally, the last stage of life is becoming an ascetic. These stages are only allowed to be done by men and an extremely small percent of
In both Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, they follow and focus on similar yet different concepts of liberating themselves from ‘Samsara’ and the suffering that comes with it. Samsara in both Hindu and Buddhist philosophies is the endless cycle of death and rebirth. So, the end goal is to work towards the enlightenment from this cycle. Though the two concepts are similar in that the goal is the same, the two have distinctive and important differences on how they view this “release” from the rebirth-death cycle; they both follow different paths to reach that end goal which, in basic terms, is to live a happy life.
Reincarnation is an answer that fills many with the question "what happens after we die?" The Hindus believe that the soul leaves one body and enters another. It is a very rare and fortunate thing when a soul is born as a human. It can take any form of life however, when born as a human being; this gives the soul a chance "to advance toward its ultimate goal of liberation from rebirth and merging with the Absolute Reality." (pg 86)
"In Hinduism, salvation is achieved through a spiritual oneness of the soul, atman, with the ultimate reality of the universe, Brahman. To achieve this goal, the soul must obtain moksha, or liberation from the samsara, the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As a result of these basic teachings, Hindus believe in reincarnation, which is influenced by karma (material actions resulting from the consequences of previous actions), and dharma (fulfilling one's duty in life)"(Teachings and Beliefs, 2004, par. 1).
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
Many religions and philosophies attempt to answer the question, what happens after a person dies? Some religions such as Christianity and Islam believe there is an afterlife. They believe that good and moral people enter Heaven or paradise and that bad and immoral people go to Hell. Other religions and cultures believe that death is final, and that nothing happens after a person dies. Buddhism and Hinduism have a different idea about death. Both of these religions originated in India. Buddhists and Hindus believe that death is not final. They believe that a person comes back after he or she dies. This process is known as reincarnation, and it provides opportunities for people to enter the world multiple times in different forms. Buddhists and Hindus want to reenter the world as humans, and they want to improve their status through reincarnation. In ancient India, many members of lower casts wanted to come back as members of higher casts. While this is an important goal of reincarnation, the main goal is to reach either moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). In other words, the goal is to reach a point of spiritual enlightenment that removes the person from the reincarnation process. Geoff Childs, an anthropologist examines the views of the Buddhist religion by studying the lives of the people in Tibetan villages. He looks at issues that adversely affect these people such as infant mortality. He carefully looks at the lives of people who have been left behind by deceased loved ones, and he pays careful attention to customs and traditions surrounding death. Tibetan Buddhists view death as a means of reaching spiritual perfection, and they seek to reach this level of spiritual perfection through living spiritually meaningful lives....
As with most other Pauline attributed documents, 1 Corinthians is believed to be a single document that addresses salient topics and rationalizes Paul’s view of faithfulness to Christ with Corinth citizens. The newly founded church of Corinth was in correspondence with Paul requesting his answers to questions they posed on topics ranging from marriage to the resurrection of the dead; the latter being one of the most highlighted in 1 Corinthians. Paul’s assurance of resurrection illustrates a concern for Corinth as he admonishes their disbelief in resurrection of the dead with a series of explanations as to why such doubt would render the faith of Christ “in vain”. Given the context of the time, Paul’s correspondence with Corinth clearly had an original intent of educating and admonishing Corinth on their views on resurrection. However, modern Christianity in its many forms has established an interpretation that slightly strays from its original inscription. Regardless, Paul’s letters not only shaped the ideals of Corinthians believers but influenced the Christian ideals of post mortem resurrection or eternal life as well.
Both these religions have basic beliefs that are relatively different from each other. Buddhists on one hand believe in karma, rebirth, dharma and moksa. Karma is "cause, effect and the law which equilibrates the two" . It is the consequences of every action, whether good or bad. This action-reaction may take effect anytime, may be in the current life or not. Rebirth is inter-connected with karma. If one did more good things than bad in his life, his karma will lead him to a life of better condition than the previous one. Dharma is the basic concept of the religion; that is the Buddhist teaching, also meaning the nature of existence. Lastly, moksa refers to the renunciation of the world, which is parallel to the Hindu belief in the importance of asceticism and meditation .
Some people believe that karma means action and reaction, this is not strictly true, karma actually means " `act', `action' or `activity' "(Fowler. 1997. p11). It can be said, however, that for every action there must be a reaction. Karma is not confined to physical actions, mental actions also count. So Hindus believe that everything a person does or thinks is an action and depending on whether the action is good or bad that person receives good or bad karma as a reaction. "So, if some are happy then they must have done good in the past; if others are suffering they must have done something bad." "This is not fatalism; the law of karma says that we alone - not God or the Devil - are responsible for our fate" (Prinja. 1998. p36). Karma returns to us through everything we do. If a person does something good, with the sole intention of bettering him or herself, they will receive bad karma. Good karma is only received when a person commits a good action without thinking of himself or herself. Most Hindus will spend their entire lives attempting to accrue more good than bad karma. In the case of someone who has accrued sufficiently high levels of bad karma, the said person's spirit may not return after reincarnation as a human. It is possible for a spirit to return as an animal " in order to reap the results of bad karma until it is used up sufficiently to allow reincarnation as a human being once more." (Fowler. 1999. p208). This karma builds up inside a person in the form of the jivatman or personality.
What is going to happen to us when we will die? Some people never considered what it could happen to them after life. For many people, death is a redoubtable event because they do not know what to expect after their death. However, other persons, such as religious people are conscious of what to expect after their death because of their beliefs. Each religion has different ideas and different ways of looking life. Death, therefore, is viewed by different religions in many ways. Although, different religions have a distinct conception of death, they all have something in common: they all give hope to people. Among all different religions in the world, four of the most common ones - Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu- view death in different ways.