Where Do We Go After Death

Judaism

The issue of life after death, and what happens to the soul after death, in Judaism, has not been explored. What exists is a set of beliefs that try to simulate and say what happens after one dies. According to Jewish teachers, souls and bodies will be resurrected after God decides its time. According to Jewish mystical tradition, when one dies, one travels to a deep cave of the patriarchs where one meets Adam as a being of light. Someone will review his life there and spend one year in purgatory, and then eleven months when the relatives will be reciting the Kaddish. After this, the person moves to the higher level of the paradise of gets back to earth to complete more myzvot. Some Jewish think that after death, people get to listen to Moses while teaching Torah and that this is heaven for the righteous and hell is awaiting the wicked (Spitz, 2014).

Islam

Islam considers death as an inevitable part of life. When one begins to die, the Angel of the Death comes and removes the soul out of the physical body. The angel then puts the soul in a place termed as Barzakh. This is as written in the Quran saying, "Say: 'The Angel of Death, put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls. Then shall you be brought back to your Lord." (32:11) "Wherever you are, Death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high!” (4:78) (Clark, 2013). Those who die in sin will have their souls facing difficulty at times of removal from the body. Those who died serving Allah will inherit heaven and those who did not die in while serving Allah will be cats away to the bad spirit, as they will not enter heaven. The bodies of the two remain in the graves.

Hinduism

Hinduism considers any attempt to find joy and happiness in this world as an illusion. Hindus believe that a person’s soul is permanent and cannot change at any time. The physical body is not permanent and can change anytime, as it can die. The spirit can be reborn many times. They read that "As a man casts off his worn-out clothes and takes on other new ones, so does the embodied soul cast off his worn-out bodies and enters other new." Bhagavad Gita 2:22. They see death as a natural occurrence. The spirit moves nearer the ultimate release from rebirth because of death. They read, “for sure is the death of all that comes to birth, sure is the birth of all that dies. So in a matter that no one can prevent thou hast no cause to grieve.” Bhagavad Gita 2:27. When the spirit reaches the rebirth, it rests. They read that “Coming right nigh to me, these great of soul, are never born again. For rebirth is full of suffering, knows nothing that abides: free from it now they attain the all-highest prize.” Bhagavad Gita 8:15 (Goswami, 2013).

Buddhism

Buddhists believe that life is about death and rebirth, a process called samsara . This system is to be avoided. When people die, their energy is passed into another form. Buddhists believe in intentional action. Good deeds result in good rebirth and bad deeds initiate the opposite effect. Good deeds are characterized by right concentration, right speech, and right livelihood. Rebirth can be in the form of a human, as for good deeds, or ghosts, animals, demo gods, among others. Being born a human is an opportunity to work towards enlightenment. When enlightenment is achieved, people die and never get reborn (Newton, 2010).

References

Clark, M. (2013). Islam for dummies . Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.

Goswami, A. (2013). Physics of the soul: The quantum book of the living, dying, reincarnation, and immortality . Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc

Newton, M. (2010). The journey of souls: Case studies of life between lives . St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn.

Spitz, E. K. (2014). Does the soul survive? A Jewish journey to belief in an afterlife, past lives & living with purpose . Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing