The Influence Of The Afterlife In Buddhism

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Recommended: Beliefs about human nature and the afterlife

The belief in the afterlife: The afterlife is the belief that an essential part of an individual's identity or the stream of consciousness continues to manifest after the death of the physical body. According to various ideas about the afterlife, the essential aspect of the individual that lives on after death may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit.

Buddhist: There are variations among the Buddhist views of what occurs after death. However, the unifying feature of each is that the cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation) is avoided by achieving nirvana. Nirvana, which means “extinction” or “blowing out”, also often translated as “bliss”, is the letting go of individual identity and desires (Ashton and Whyte, p 46). Thus, in the state of nirvana (the state toward which enlightenment drives one), there is no longer an ‘individual’ and there is no survival of subjective experience. “However, this is desirable from the Buddhist perspective …show more content…

Buddha rejected both the indeterministic and deterministic theories of his day. Our lives are deeply conditioned by cause and effect, or karma, refuting indeterminism. And we are personally responsible for our lives and actions, refuting determinism. How should I live? The Buddha's life and His Teachings inspire individuals who practice Buddhism to develop self-reliance, moral responsibility, tolerance, compassion, wisdom and many other qualities that can enrich happiness and make life more meaningful (Buddanet, 1996-2018). What happens to me when I die? Buddhism says that when we die the mind that has been developed and conditioned for this life re-establishes itself in a new being. The new individual will then grow a new personality that is conditioned by those life circumstances. This process of dying and re-establishing itself continues until one reaches Nirvana – a state of enlightenment that does not desire or crave but simply lives in peace and with love (Ideapod,

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