The Afterlife
Considering my thoughts on the afterlife is something I have done several times in my life. My views and beliefs have changed over the years regarding this subject. My Catholic upbringing was probably where my first views came from. They were the traditional heaven and hell beliefs and also of purgatory. Today my thoughts are not so black and white.
I am not sure what lies beyond this life. I do believe that we just don’t disappear but that we change forms. I personally struggled with this subject because I have researched several different religions. I saw each had unique beliefs about the afterlife but all believed in one. For me I believe that we are reunited
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What is in my heart and what drives my actions is what I believe my Creator looks at. Questions like: Am I trying to be a better person? Am I living in harmony with Gods will for me? In other words are my values and actions aligned with Gods will. And I am motivated to live by these values because they bring me peace of mind and a sense of right living. I don’t follow it because of how it will affect me at the time of my death but because of how it affects me today. I believe most people will at the moment of death have an awakening to how they have lived there life and this can bring either fear or peace. So I guess that there is more of a personal judgement than anything else. I want to be able to say that I did my best to live to good purpose and contributed to life instead of just taking from it.
I was raised as a Christian and believe in the tenets of the faith. I also know that many other religions also share the same tenets, while differing in there views of the afterlife. So I try to personally refrain from judging others ( and it is not easy). I do believe that what goes around comes around and if I want to be forgiven I must forgive. And when it comes to the afterlife that will hold true there too. So in conclusion the afterlife is a place of forgiveness and acceptance. A place of peace and love and glory. I read a statement from Joseph Cambell that I agree
“Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Death of Ivan Ilych” both portray a character who is dealing with a serious terminal illness and advance knowledge of their deaths. One story is based on the realistic life of an American professor with the story’s characteristics tone from the 1990’s while the other is set during nineteenth century Russia. Even though Morrie Schwartz and Ivan Ilych both suffered from the illness, their dissimilar lifestyles and beliefs led to different perspective on facing death. One views the knowledge as a blessing and an opportunity to share his life experiences before making his final good-byes, the other agonizes in pain and begs for an
One misconception about the afterlife is that God will send or horribly cast people into hell, but that is not the case. God actually does not send people to hell, but instead, gives them the option during their lifetime. It might seem hard to believe, but Pastor Willie George says, “hell is filled with people who want to be there” (George). This statement is
However, I believe that a life in Hell is one that consists of loneliness and unhappiness rather than living with selfish, unnecessary wealth. I also believe that having a relationship with God allows people to live a more selfless life because Christianity allows us to live for something bigger than just ourselves. The Afterlife is a topic that has been debated throughout history. In “The Great Divorce,” Heaven is shown as a place of selfless bliss and strong love for God--and Hell as a place of selfish desires and love restricted only to ourselves and belongings.
These ideals are very different from modern-day beliefs about death. Christian views about the afterlife include the two options for our souls after death: heaven- the happy, safe, and comfortable place where the good people go, and hell-the fiery, and dangerous place some go to if they made bad choices on Earth. Others believe in reincarnation, where a person’s soul lives on and takes the form of something else. Many people, no matter their religious stance, want to believe that there is something else after death, because it makes it easier when the time comes. It certainly eases some of the grief and anxiety that people face over death, and is far more comforting than the beliefs that ancient Mesopotamians held about death.
Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because
Intellectually, we know that everyone dies; emotionally, we are rarely inclined to accept that reality for ourselves. The result may be belief in an afterlife, heaven and hell. These ideas have a strong grip inn the mid of Americans. Whereas the GSS for the United States indicates that 79% of its respondent believe in an afterlife. It should be noted that belief in an afterlife does not necessarily entail acceptance of heaven or hell. In particular people are less inclined to believe in hell that in heaven. Given the religious criteria for being consigned to either realm, self-examination might prompt aversion on the part of most people to the potential of an afterlife in hell.
Your worldview on life after death goes to the heart of what you believe. Revelation 21:1-10 shows us that these are literal places, and we chose by the way we live our lives. As a Christian heaven is our ultimate destiny and Romans 3:28 lets us know what is required to live eternally in the kingdom of God. By not choosing to live by the word of God the ramification is hell Revelation 20:11-15. God gave mankind a free will so the choice is ours.
I don't know what to answer when faced with the question of whether or not I believe in the afterlife. To be quite frank, I don't have a definite answer to give, as I find myself constantly turning those same type of questions over and over in my mind. What would it be like to die? Which way would I choose to go? What happens after? Day after day I hear the murmur of the questions in the back of my mind; pushing back the answers I might face, too scared to deal with what my mind might come up with. Honestly, I hope there is no afterlife. Add all of that to the fact that I have never been a very open person to begin with, when anyone would touch on the subject of religion and afterlife I would normally just end up saying something the other
I don't know what to answer when faced with the question of whether or not I believe in the afterlife. To be quite frank, I don't have a definite answer to give, as I find myself constantly turning those same type of questions over and over in my mind. What would it be like to die? Which way would I choose to go? What happens after? Day after day I hear the murmur of the questions in the back of my mind; pushing back the answers I might face, too scared to deal with what my mind might come up with. Honestly, I hope there is no afterlife. Add all of that to the fact that I have never been a very open person to begin with, when anyone would touch on the subject I would normally just end up saying something the other person would want to hear, particularly when it came to family.
“What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?”(Loy)
My vivid imagination has run rampant ever since I was a child. At age 7 I found myself pondering the concept of the afterlife. After listening to a sermon discussing how piety earns us a spot in heaven, I wondered, “What does heaven actually looks like.” I decided I could answer my own question with my imagination. I picked up a crayon and drew what heaven was to me, endless strawberry fields in North California, and the flashy LA skyline. Neither my parents, nor my peers could tell me whether my interpretation was correct, and so I questioned, “How can I learn more about heaven without having anybody to actually confirm my vision.” This curiosity and need to make the invisible into something tangible has grown over time. Years later, I still
In addition, most religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam carry the concept of places for the deceased such as Heaven and Hell, and the afterlife. Roughly seven-in-ten Americans alone believe in Heaven and Hell according to a study done by Caryle Murphy with the the Pew Research Center. Usually when people carry these beliefs it’s from pure cajolery. Majority feel that religion just gives them reason. Except how can you direct your life in such a illogical path.
Death is an inescapable reality for every living creature in this universe and is known in all age groups and regions of the planet. Once we reach death, I believe that we get reincarnated into a different form depending on our actions along with personality as a person, but also go to heaven/hell during the period in which we wait for our reincarnation to occur. Heaven and Hell’s portrayals in my mindset are that of what is typically depicted in art with Heaven appearing as a peaceful, gated community in the clouds while Hell appearing as a ominous eerie place filled with the fears of those occupying it. To be able to get admitted into Heaven one must commit acts of kindness towards humanity; in contrast, Hell’s requirements to be admitted are committing only sins and horrible acts towards humanity. As a child, when my mother was expecting my siblings, I thought that they were angels sent from heaven into my mother’s womb because they are in the beginning of their lives and have not committed actions yet to classify them into either the evil or good category. My point of view onto what comes after death conflicts with both Lao Tzu and Nietzsche because they appear to not believe in such concepts. Lao Tzu stated that when someone is, “Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you, and when death comes, you are ready ” (Lao Tzu, 1988). With only following the way in which the
In this method twelve factors were identified about beliefs about afterlife. Three of the major factors were that 12.1 percent believe in Heave and Hell. 7.9 percent believe in reincarnation and 6.6 percent believed that there ate material objects and sexual desire in the after life. The gender differences that were found are that men are not less likely to believe in afterlife but they were less likely to believe in Heaven, reuniting with loved ones, communication with the living and request for forgiveness before death. Men were more likely the women to believe that there are material objects, that spirits have human form, that there is pain, hunger, thirst and that rituals carried out after death are important. The religious differences they found were that Protestant students were less likely to believe in life-after-death then Roman Catholic students. On the other hand, Protestant students were more likely to believe that there is Hell and that forgiveness needs to be requested to get into Heaven.
People have a hard time with what they should do in regards to hell. In fact, many people try to justify why they either do not want to do anything with the topic or simply choose not to believe it. In his book Hell is Real (But I Hate to Admit it), Brian Jones gives six reason as to why people (including himself) do not want like this subject. The