LIFE AFTER DEATH - CHRISTIANITY
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INTRODUCTION
Death
is the one thing in life we can be sure about and that is why religions
have beliefs about what it means! Everything else 'might' happen to us:
we might get married, be rich, be happy, have children, open our own
business or travel the world, but the only real certainty is that we
will die. The major western religion Christianity has borrowed heavily
from the Egyptian model of what happens after death. The idea of final
judgment, physical resurrection and heaven being a garden with a river
running through it, are all ideas borrowed from the Egyptians. We must
also remember that man's life is in God's Hands. Only He determines the
moment of death and the destiny of every soul on separation from the
flesh. For this reason, attempts to produce experiments in this field
are in conflict with the Will of God and bring the experimenter into
contact with the fallen spirits of that world. Christians believe
fervently that there is a life after death on earth. While the actual
nature of this life is not known, Christians believe that many spiritual
experiences in this life help to give them some idea of what "eternal
life" will be like.
Christianity
has historically taught that everyone has only a single life on earth.
After death, an eternal life awaits everyone either in Heaven or Hell.
There is no suffering in Heaven; only joy. Torture is eternal without
any hope of cessation for the inhabitants of Hell. The overwhelming
majority of mainstream Christian denominations rejects the notion of
reincarnation and considers the theory to challenge basic tenets of
their beliefs. In standard Christian theology, the soul is an individual
entity which is totally separate from other souls and (can become)
totally separate from God. There is thus one God (or maybe three
depending on how you interpret the Trinity) and a plurality of souls.
Every person has exactly one soul. In the Genesis version, as believed
by 'young earth' creationist theologians, humans were created on the
Saturday of the first week, after God had created land, sea, stars,
planets, birds, beasts fishes etc during the previous Monday to Friday.
Since only humans have souls, all these features existed quite
concretely in the absence of observers. In contrast, theologians who
believe in evolution subscribe to the 'soul-injection theory', which
states that "There came a moment in the evolution of hominids when God
intervened and injected a human soul into a previously animal lineage.
All the features of the world existed in the absence of souls, in this
case for many hundreds of millions of years rather than one working
week. So, to the Christian, reality is totally objective and souls have
no part in determining the existence of the real world. If Jesus is the
only way to God, it is because the salvation of the person, body and
spirit, is a hope profoundly different from all other religious hope. It
gives a new dimension to salvation not found anywhere else. Spiritual
life is walking after the spirit by the Spirit, focused on the spirit,
exercising and strengthening our spirit, substantiating things unseen.
Such is the life, in Christ Jesus, the only help that could ever work,
authentically, for us helpless sinners in achieving victorious life:
with Christ, Christ in me, and for Christ.
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Resurrection
means to return back in the same physical body with the same face.
Hence the practice of burial, preserving the body and burying it to be
resurrected at the end of times. Rebirth is when a soul which resides in
a
human body returns back to another human body after the previous body's
death. Now to begin with no one knows what happens to the soul after it
leaves the body, so for argument's sake, for a soul to return, it
requires a body which can sustain it, which evidently is not a rotten
corpse which is nothing but decayed bones, whereas a newborn or a foetus
is much more apt for a soul to make it its dwelling. So from a rational
point of view isn't it more appropriate for a soul to take rebirth
rather than claim the old rotten body it once used to reside in. Belief
in the resurrection of the dead, and Jesus Christ's role as judge of the
dead, is codified in the Apostles' Creed, which is the fundamental
creed of Christian baptismal faith. The Book of Revelation also makes
many references about the Day of Judgment when the dead will be raised
up. However, there are also many Christians who do not believe that
individual consciousness continues after death, and a higher number who
do not believe in a place or condition of
eternal punishment for sins.
Christians
believe there is an afterlife. Christian views of the afterlife
generally involve heaven and (somewhat less frequently) hell, with
Catholicism adding an intermediate realm of purgatory. Except for
purgatory (whose denizens will ultimately enter heaven, after
"purification"), these realms are usually assumed to be eternal.
Although the body dies and is buried or cremated, they believe that
their unique soul lives on and is raised to new life by God. Christians
believe that God is just and fair, and so cannot let evil go unpunished.
Most believe in the idea of judgement after death, and that God will
treat people in the afterlife according to how they lived their life on
earth. Historically, Christianity has taught "Heaven" as a place of
eternal life, in that it is a shared plane to be attained by all the
elect. Roman Catholics believe that entering Purgatory after death
cleanses one of sin period of suffering until one's nature is perfected,
which makes one acceptable to enter heaven. This is valid for venial
sin only, as mortal sins can be forgiven only through the act of
reconciliation and repentance while on earth. In Protestant Christian
sects, eternal life depends upon the sinner receiving God's grace
through faith in Jesus' death for their sins, see atonement, his
resurrection as the Christ, and accepting his Lordship authority and
guidance over their lives. If the soul could satisfy the gods, "the soul
was straightway gathered into the fold of Osiris. But if it could not,
if it was found wanting when weighed in the heavenly balances, then it
was cast into a hell, to be rent to shreds of the 'Devouress.' For only
the righteous souls, only the guiltless, were thought to be deserving of
life everlasting. The concept of heaven and hell in traditional
Christianity heavily depends on the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul. The Bible is even less specific about hell, and Christians have
very different ideas about this too. Some Christians believe that hell
is a place of suffering, and of separation from God. Others (perhaps
most) believe that hell is a spiritual state of being separated from God
for eternity.
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The word Salvation signifies deliverance from actual trouble or
threatening danger. Salvation is the gift of God given by a covenant
with man where God acts by grace to save man from the slavery and evil
effects of sin. Only in Christianity is this path of Salvation made
clear by God's covenant with man through Jesus Christ who is the
sacrifice of God for the sins of the whole world. Christians believe
that salvation was made possible by the sacrificial death of Christ by
crucifixion 2,000 years ago. The word atonement, one of the few
theological words of English origin, is used to describe this concept.
The verb "atone" derives from the adverb "at one," and therefore means
"to reconcile." The notion of deification (Theosis in Greek) is based on
the perspective that when Christ was incarnate in the man Jesus, he did
take on just one human nature, but all of human nature. He thus made it
possible for the reverse to occur - for humans to participate in the
divine nature. "The Son of God, as the one through whom the process of
creation was fulfilled, came down from heaven into the world and became
fully man.
LIFE AFTER DEATH-ISLAM
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INTRODUCTION
Life
after death has been a major theme with all the religions and the
passage from this life into the other has been dealt with in a variety
of ways, depending on the particular belief system. Allah is the
ultimate source of power. He is the only creator therefore; he creates
both good and evil. Death is a natural phenomenon. It is a physical
change, which overtakes the human body. The body had its origin in the
union of parental life-cells. For a number of years it continues to
develop through the processes of maturation and exercise. After reaching
its peak, it begins to decline and decay. The process of disintegration
culminates in death. The crucial question is whether there is anything
in human, which survives the dissolution of the body. The answer is that
the self, the personality, the I-am-ness, the ego in the terminology of
Allama Iqbal, which grew and developed in the matrix of the body, may
survive it and may, on the break-up of the body, launch out on a fresh
career. This is true of all selves, all personalities.
The
belief in life after death not only guarantees success in the Hereafter
but also makes this world full of peace and happiness by making
individuals most responsible and dutiful in their activities. In Islam
there is no rebirth for the soul. The soul gets human birth only once.
After this human birth the soul will either go to the Lord or will go to
the hell permanently. Only one Lord created this entire universe. The
human body is a mini world containing the same components. Therefore the
death of this human body can be treated as the end of this world from
the point of the soul. One of the salient features of his vision of the
hereafter concerns the soul giving birth to another rarer entity, which
would occupy the same position in relation to the soul as the soul
occupies in relation to our carnal existence here on earth. This birth
of a soul from within the soul will be related to the sort of life that
we have lived here on earth. If our lives here are spent in submission
to the will of God and in accordance with His commands, our tastes
gradually become cultured and attuned to enjoying spiritual pleasures as
against carnal pleasures. Within the soul a sort of embryonic soul
begins to take shape. New faculties are born and new tastes are
acquired, in which those accustomed to carnal pleasures find no
enjoyment.
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Just
as the life of an individual has an end, and the life of a nation has
an end, so does the life of this entire physical world have an end. That
is the 'Day of Judgment', which will bring the spiritual world into
full manifestation, in place of the present physical one. As said above,
immediately upon death a person begins to feel an awakening to the
higher life, made from his deeds in the present life. But this is only a
partial realization. It is on the Day of Judgment that everyone is
fully awakened and raised to the higher, spiritual life. It is called
the Day of Judgment because each person shall then become fully
conscious of the effects of his deeds in this life, and have a 'body'
(so to speak) made out of his or her own deeds. Until the Day of
Judgment, deceased souls remain in their graves awaiting the
resurrection. However, they begin to feel immediately a taste of their
destiny to come. Those bound for hell will suffer in their graves, while
those bound for heaven will be in peace until that time. The
resurrection that will take place on the Last Day is physical, and is
explained by suggesting that God will re-create the decayed body. On the
Last Day, resurrected humans and jinn will be judged by Allah according
to their deeds. One's eternal destination depends on balance of good to
bad deeds in life. They are either granted admission to Paradise, where
they will enjoy spiritual and physical pleasures forever, or condemned
to Hell to suffer spiritual and physical torment for eternity. The Day
of Judgment is described as passing over Hell on a narrow bridge in
order to enter Paradise. Those who fall, weighted by their bad deeds,
will remain in Hell forever.
The
theory of reincarnation teaches that if a person is born in poor or
miserable circumstances, or is suffering from some disability or
disadvantage, this is a punishment for him for bad deeds done in his
former life; and if anyone is prosperous, healthy, and of a 'high'
family, that is his reward for good deeds done in his former life. If
one believes this, it would mean that we should treat the poor, the
destitute, and the suffering as if they deserve their misfortunes, and
have no sympathy for them because they are only getting their just
punishment; and we should have high regard for the rich and the
comfortable because they are receiving their reward for past good deeds.
Such an attitude would be inhuman and against the basic teachings of
Islam. Islam teaches that each person is born with a pure soul, without
any burden to bear from a past life, and that both those people who seem
to be facing hardship in this world and those who appear to be enjoying
comforts are in a state of 'trial' to see how they behave under those
circumstances. These are not punishments or rewards. In God's eyes the
best person is he or she who acquits himself best in the conditions they
meet.
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In
Islam itself there are different views held by different sects or
Muslim scholars. The general understanding tends to perceive the
otherworldly form as very similar to the carnal one here on earth. The
concept of heaven and hell consequently present a material image rather
than a spiritual image of things to be. Heaven is presented, according
to their concept, as an immeasurably large garden literally abounding in
beautiful trees casting eternal shadows under which rivers will flow.
The rivers would be of milk and honey. The garden will be fruit bearing
and all man may desire of fruits would be his at his command. The meat
would be that of birds of all sorts; it is only for one to wish which
meat he particularly craves. Female companions of exceeding beauty and
refinement would be provided to the pious men, with no limit imposed on
the number, which will be decided according to their capacity. All that a
healthy spiritual man was craving was nearness to God and His
attributes and to imitate divine virtues. In heaven, such a healthy soul
would begin to see and conceive and feel the nearness of the attributes
of God like never before. They, according to the Promised Messiah,
would not remain merely spiritual values, but would acquire ethereal
forms and shapes, which the newly born heavenly spirit would enjoy with
the help of the erstwhile soul, which would function as the body. That
again would be a matter of relativity. The converse will be true of
hell, in the sense that an unhealthy soul would create an unhealthy body
for the new soul of the hereafter. And the same factors which provide
pleasure to the healthy soul would provide torture and deep suffering
for this unhealthy entity.
LIFE AFTER DEATH - HINDUISM
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INTRODUCTION
There
is one thing that is certain in this lifetime: eventually we all must
die. A belief in the cyclical reincarnation of the soul is one of the
foundations of the Hindu religion. Death is viewed as a natural aspect
of life, and there are numerous epic tales, sacred scriptures, and vedic
guidance that describe the reason for death's existence, the rituals
that should be performed surrounding it and the many possible
destinations of the soul after departure from its earthly existence.
While the ultimate goal is to transcend the need to return to life on
earth, all Hindus believe they will be reborn into a future that is
based primarily on their past thoughts and actions. Most of the Hindus
believe in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, which is called
'Samsara'.'Samsara' or the doctrine of rebirth is also known as the
theory of reincarnation or of transmigration of the soul. This doctrine
is considered to be a basic tenet of Hinduism. According to doctrine of
rebirth, differences between individuals, even at the time of their
birth are due to their past karma i.e. actions done in the past birth.
For example if one child is born healthy while another is handicapped or
blind, the differences are attributed to their deeds in their previous
lives. Those who believe in this theory reason that since all actions
may not bear fruit in this life, there has to be another life for facing
or reaping the consequences of one's actions.
Death,
according to Hinduism, is a series of changes through which an
individual passes. Hinduism speaks of the four courses that men follow
after death. The first, called devayana, way of the gods, is followed by
spiritually advanced souls who lead an extremely pure life, devoting
themselves to wholehearted meditation on Brahman, but who have not
succeeded in attaining complete Self-knowledge before death. They repair
to Brahmaloka, the highest heaven, and from there in due course attain
liberation. The second course, known as pitriyana, way of the fathers,
is followed by ritualists and philanthropists who have cherished a
desire for the results of their charity, austerity, vows, and worship.
Following this path, they repair to Chandraloka, the lunar sphere, and
after enjoying immense happiness there as a reward for their good
actions, they return again to earth since they still have earthly
desires. The third course, which leads to hell, is followed by those who
led an impure life, performing actions forbidden by the scriptures.
They are born in sub-human species. After expiating their evil actions,
they are again reborn on earth in human bodies. The fourth course is for
those who are extremely vile in their thoughts and actions. They are
reborn again and again as insignificant creatures such as mosquitoes and
fleas. Eventually, after the expiation of their evil actions, they too
return to human bodies on earth. When a soul assumes a human body, it
takes up the thread of spiritual evolution of its previous human birth
and continues to evolve toward Self-knowledge. According to Hinduism,
all souls will ultimately attain Self-knowledge.
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The
concept of karma or "law of karma" is the broader principle that all of
life is governed by a system of cause and effect, action and reaction,
in which one's deeds have corresponding effects on the future. Karma is
thus a way of explaining evil and misfortune in the world, even for
those who do not appear to deserve it - their misfortune must be due to
wrong actions in their previous life. Karma is regarded as a fundamental
law of nature that is automatic and mechanical. It is not something
that is imposed by God or a god as a system of punishment or reward, nor
something that the gods can interfere with. The word karma refers
primarily to "bad karma" - that which is accumulated as a result of
wrong actions. Bad karma binds a person's soul (atman) to the cycle of
rebirth (samsara) and leads to misfortune in this life and poor
conditions in the next. The moral energy of a particular moral act bears
fruit automatically in the next life, manifested in one's class,
disposition, and character. Hindu texts also prescribe a number of
activities, such as pilgrimages to holy places and acts of devotion that
can wipe out the effects of bad karma. Such positive actions are
sometimes referred to as "good karma." Some versions of the theory of
karma also say that morally good acts have positive consequences.
According to Hinduism, the traditions and the elders used to say that a
person with perfect humanity and divinity will not have more than one
birth. The people who have not been in perfection towards his life
habits usually have another birth. This was said to happen 7 times. The
person's life was fixed by god as per his behaviour in his previous
birth. The philosophy according to Hinduism about rebirth was the
mistakes you have done in previous birth can be covered in rebirth and
get a perfect human life.
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Moksha
means "liberation." In certain forms of Hinduism, the idea is to live a
good life so that your next life will be a better one. Ultimately,
though, the goal of life in Hinduism is to get off the "wheel of karma,"
meaning the wheel of activity of life, which is full of pleasure and
pain, gain and loss, and constant change, and return to the source of
being in a fully evolved and realized way. The analogy is that life is
like a dream that one must eventually awaken from.Moksha as the ultimate
goal of all life inherently and spiritually our Soul Atman is bound to
pursue this one and only goal in the life of every Soul Atman in the
Cosmos. If gaining liberation from cycle of birth and death is the only
goal of every soul our atman within... and knowing the fact that our
body is but clothing for our Soul Atman, plays the governing role!
Whatever be our present goal in life, the ultimate goal of our cosmic
life remains the same, gaining Moksha.Attaining the state of Moksha
Salvation is reaching the Mount Everest of physical manifested life.
There is nothing beyond Moksha that is required to be achieved in this
life. Moksha is that stage in the life of a human being when one cuts
across all the shackles of senses and the mind. Unless we gain absolute
control over the five senses and the mind... we cannot achieve Moksha in
this life. Gaining absolute control over the senses and the mind is a
complex process. One has to diligently take control of all the senses
one by one and the moment we establish absolute control over all the
five senses... controlling mind is easy to achieve! Our five senses help
us live the physical manifest form of us. They have got nothing to do
with our true inner self... our soul atman within us.
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The
Common word used for the doctrine of rebirth is 'Punarjanam'. In
Sanskrit 'Punar' or 'Puna', means, 'next time'or 'again' and 'Janam'
means 'life'. Therefore 'Punarjanam' means 'next life' or 'the life
hereafter'. It does not mean coming to life on earth again and again as a
living creature. If one reads many of the references to Punarjanam in
Hindu Scriptures besides the Vedas, keeping the life in the hereafter in
mind, one gets the concept of the next life but not of rebirths or of
life again and again. This is true for several quotations of the Bhagvad
Gita and Upanishad which speak of Punarjanam.This concept of repeated
births or of cycle of rebirth was developed after the Vedic period. This
doctrine was included by humans in subsequent Hindu scriptures
including the Upanishad, Bhagvad Gita and the Puranas in a conscious
attempt to rationalize and explain the differences between different
individuals at birth and the different circumstances in which people
find themselves in, with the concept that Almighty God is not unjust. So
to say that since God is not unjust the inequalities and differences
between people are due to their deeds in their past lives.
LIFE AFTER DEATH - JAINISM
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INTRODUCTION
Jainism
believes that all people are caught in an endless cycle of birth, death
and rebirth. Jainism stresses detachment from the world and austerity.
It abhors violence of any kind against both humans and animals and
emphasizes Ahimsa - non-violence. Re-incarnation and the doctrine of
karma are important precepts in the religion. The Jains venerate, but
do not worship, the Tirthankaras, the 24 religious leaders who are
believed have attained Moksha - release from the cycle of death and
rebirth. In Jainism death leads ultimately to the liberation of the soul
into an individual state of total knowledge and bliss, although this
process may take several cycles of death and rebirth. The only way to
break this vicious cycle is to accumulate good karma or credit for good
deeds. Hence, great emphasis is placed on charity, on-violence and
benevolence.
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Jainism
is based on a single idea, that the transmigration of souls is caused
by the union of the living with the non-living which then sets up
energies, or tapas, which then drive the cycle of birth and rebirth, or
samsara. This endless process can be stopped if the energies are used up
in a life of discipline. At the end of the process, the soul, freed
from the cycle of birth and rebirth, then exists in a state of infinite
bliss, knowledge, power, and perception-the soul which has achieved this
state is siddha-paramesthin. There is a slightly lower stage of the
soul, called the arhat-paramesthin, and the arhat is the one who teaches
the rest of humanity. This teacher is called the tirthankara, or "ford
crosser," and serves as a vehicle of revelation for the rest of
humanity. Like the Islamic rasul , each tirthankara is more or less a
founder of a new religion. There are four categories of souls: gods,
humans, demons, and animals; each soul in the infinite cycle of birth
and rebirth can enter any of these categories. Moksha occurs only when
the soul becomes freed from the cycle of birth and rebirth. The
departure of the soul at death is part of a Jain worldview in which the
concept of a living soul is thought to exist in all human beings,
animals, insects, and vegetation, and even in the earth, stone, fire,
water, and air. The distinctive Jain respect for life and refusal to
kill animals, insects, and plants for food arises from this worldview.
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Like
all Indian religions, Jainism upholds the universal law of Karma.
According to this law, every action - thought, word or deed - produces
an effect, which in turn serves as the cause of another action, and so
on. This chain of cause and effect is known as `Karmic Bondage' or
simply, Karma. And because Jainism, as we have seen, subscribes also to
the doctrine of transmigration and rebirth, it follows that the state
of the soul at any given time is due to the Karma accumulated over
countless ages. However, the Jain doctrine of Karma is distinctive.
Selfish, careless and cruel actions lead to the accumulation of heavy
Karma which weighs the soul down. But the Karma accruing from good
deeds is dissipated almost immediately and has no serious effects.
Moreover, suffering willingly under taken has the effect of dispersing
the Karma already accumulated, so helping to lighten the soul. To
achieve salvation (Moksha) man must therefore free his soul from matter.
Thus freed, its natural lightness will float it to the top of the
universe to dwell there for ever in all-knowing bliss. The souls of
heroes like Mahavira virtually achieve salvation in this life. It is
only residual Karma which binds them to the earth, but when that is
exhausted through fasting and penance, they rise immediately above the
highest heavens of the gods to the eternal rest of nirvana.
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From
the basic principles of Jainism it is evident that the inherent powers
of the soul are crippled by its association with Karmic matter and that
is why we find every person in an imperfect state. The real and
everlasting happiness will be obtained by a person only when the Karmas
are completely removed from the soul and Jainism firmly believes that
even though man is imperfect at present, it is quite possible for him to
rid himself of the Karmas by his own personal efforts without any help
from an outside agency. The highest happiness is to escape from the
Cycle of Births and Deaths and be a liberated soul, that is, to obtain
Moksha. Self-control (vratae) is vital for attaining Keval Gyan and
eventually moksha or realization of the soul's true nature.Jains
believes all souls are equal because they all possess the potential of
being liberated and attaining Moksha.Moksa and Nirvana are not the same.
Nirvana is when the soul is passed from one body to another. When a
soul (atman) achieves Moksa, it is released from the cycle of births and
deaths, and achieves its pure self. It then becomes a Siddha literally
means one who has accomplished his ultimate objective. Attaining Moksa
requires annihilation of all karmas, good and bad; because if karma is
left, it must bear fruit. The world's scriptures describe Heaven as a
place of rest, or as an exalted spiritual state, full of divine splendor
and communion with the Absolute. There are also descriptions using more
graphic and materialistic imagery: gardens of delights, with riches and
pleasures abounding. Jainism describes heaven as the World to come
there is neither eating nor drinking, nor procreation of children or
business transactions, no envy or hatred or rivalry; but the righteous
sit enthroned, their crowns on their heads, and enjoy the luster of the
Divine Splendor (Shechinah).
LIFE AFTER DEATH - BUDDHISM
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INTRODUCTION
Buddha
accepted the basic Hindu doctrines of reincarnation and karma, as well
as the notion, common to most south Asian religions, that the ultimate
goal of the religious life was to escape the cycle of death and rebirth
(samsara). Buddha asserted that what kept us bound to the death/rebirth
process was desire, in the generic sense of wanting or craving anything
in the world of samsara. Hence the goal of getting off the ferris wheel
of reincarnation necessarily involves freeing oneself from desire.
Nibbana-- or, in later Buddhism, nirvana--is the Buddhist equivalent of
moksha.None of us can avoid death and if we are not free from the
vicious cycle of death and rebirth, we are doomed to the endless cycles
of life and death and its paradoxical nature of suffering, of happiness
and sadness, youth and ageing, healthiness and sickness, pain and death,
all because we are so attached to the existence in the first place.
Buddhists
understand life as samsara, meaning perpetual wandering, and describe
the transition like a billiard ball hitting another billiard ball. While
nothing physical transfers, the speed and direction of the second ball
relate directly to the first. So the term most often used is rebirth,
rather than reincarnation. Reincarnation implies the transfer of an
essence, or a soul, while rebirth follows the law of causality, or
dependant origination, where this arises because of circumstances which
happened before. Denying the existing of rebirth does not obstruct
others, it only limits our own life. Without rebirth, there is no past
and there is no future. A life without future, existence is so short and
vain. The future is so hopeless. When we face a great obstacle, we can
encourage ourselves, 'It is okay, another ten years then it will be my
turn.' Even when criminal steps on the execution chair, they can still
say, 'Another twenty years, there will be another tough man'. With
rebirth, human existence has maneuvering rooms. With rebirth, pledge
and wish can eventually be fulfilled. With rebirth, life has the next
train available.
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Life
is suffering. You can never really achieve peace. Happiness is just the
flip side of sadness and no material or emotional pleasure will sustain
the longing in your soul to understand itself. Reincarnation" normally
is understood to be the transmigration of a soul to another body after
death. Based on his no-soul (annatto) doctrine, the Buddha described
reincarnation or the taking on of a new body in the next life, in a
different way than the traditional Indian understanding. He compared it
to lighting successive candles using the flame of the preceding candle.
Although each flame is causally connected to the one that came before
it, is it not the same flame. Thus, in Buddhism, reincarnation is
usually referred to as "transmigration."
Nirvana
Buddhists
believe people are continually reborn into this world, unless they have
achieved liberation (freedom) from samsara (the continual process of
birth, death and rebirth). The Buddha experienced samsara when he saw
the effects of old age and sickness, leading to death. Freedom from
samsara occurs when a person has reached nirvana (or nibbana).Nirvana
literally means extinguishing or unbinding. The implication is that it
is freedom from what ever binds you, from the burning passion of desire,
jealousy, and ignorance. Once these are totally overcome, a state of
bliss is achieved, and there is no longer the need the cycle of birth
and death. All karmic debts are settled. The Buddhist religion lays
emphasis on individual effort as means to achieve Moksha. The main point
of focus in the Buddhism philosophy is Moksha. It says that the main
cause of human sufferings is nothing else but the human beings
themselves. It attributes the increasing and never ending human desire
as the main factor that leads to pain and miseries. Thus, Buddhist
philosophy preaches its people to detach themselves from the worldly
pleasures and seek Nirvana that will ultimately pave way for salvation.
Karma
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According
to Buddhism, our lives and all that occurs in our lives is a result of
Karma. Every action creates a new karma, this karma or action is
created with our body, our speech or our mind and this action leaves a
subtle imprint on our mind which has the potential to ripen as future
happiness or future suffering, depending on whether the action was
positive or negative. If we bring happiness to people, we will be happy.
If we create suffering, we will experience suffering either in this
life or in a future one. This is called the Law of Karma, or the Law of
Cause and Effect. Karmic law will lead the spirit of the dead to be
reborn, in realms which are suitable appropriate to their karmic
accumulations. The way we pass reflects the way we lived our lives, a
good death putting a good stamp on a good life. As Leonardo Da Vinci
once wrote in his notebook; Just as a well spent day brings happy sleep,
so a life well spent brings a happy death. If we have lived a life of
emotional turmoil, of conflict selfish desire unconcerned for others,
our dying will be full of regrets, troubles and pain. It is far better
to care for the lives for all around us rather than spending a fortune
in prolonging life or seeking ways to extend it for those who can afford
it, at the expense of relieving suffering in more practical ways.
Improving the moral and spiritual quality of life improves its quality
for us all rather than the selfish individualism that benefits the elite
few who draw most resources.
Heaven and Hell
According
to Buddhism if a human does not obtain nirvana or enlightenment, as it
is known, the person cannot escape the cycle of death and rebirth. In
Buddhist literature, it is stated that persons who have reached the
Devalokas would develop an aloofness from wordly attachments. However,
liberated souls living in the higher heavens could come down to earth
and communicate with spiritually advanced people. The plane immediately
below the human is that of animals and below it is other planes Niraya,
Asura and Peta which are described as unhappy states of existence.
Beings are born Petas as a result of greed and attachment to their
worldly belongings and are drawn to the place of attachment. Buddhism
tells of many hells, of which Avîci is the most terrible. They are of
course all temporary and therefore purgatories rather than places of
eternal punishment and the beings that inhabit them have the power of
struggling upwards and acquiring merit, but the task is difficult and
one may be born repeatedly in hell. The phraseology of Buddhism calls
existences in heavens and hells new births. In Buddhism there are 37
different levels of heaven where beings experience peace and long
lasting happiness without suffering in the heavenly environment.
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