Judgment Day !!!

Judgment Day!!! 

     The religions of the Book hold a common belief in Judgment Day, or the Last Judgment. Followers of Hinduism,Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity,Judaism and Islam's adopt a theology where each and every individual and nation must stand before God and be judged according to their merit. 

     This sounds terribly frightening, but when God is viewed as a supremely loving, merciful Being, it’s possible to see how Judgment Day is merely a way of correcting the balance between good and evil. At the very least, it holds people to their values. If you’re tempted to go outside the realm of what is possible, respectable or decent, the prospect of God calling you on your actions is sometimes enough to deter sinfulness.

But Judgment Day – also known as the Day of the Lord and Final Judgment – is not just about people passing a test to get into Heaven. It’s about God correcting the wrongs perpetrated on earth since the beginning of time, and setting them right.

     In Hinduism Conclusion of Earth reality from Hindu Textbooks (Finish of world in 2012 by Lord Shiva which suggests Kali yuga will conclude in 2012)Might be Hindu Lord Shiva is coming back in 2012 to end the world Kali yuga and give the globe a different dimension referred to as Satya Yug. He could can be found in any sort, Comets, Sunlight like Fire ball, Earth Quakes, Tsunami, World X as well as Entire world War III. Why??? We broke god's regulations and we have been not human beings any longer. We are like animals.You can find stories in aged texts about why Lord Shiva is shown as being a Shiva Lingam. A Shiva Lingam may be extremely tiny or incredibly significant in size. It could be manufactured of stone, metal or whichever. But effectively it symbolizes the glory of Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva is Para Brahma. He is the Jagadguru. He's the sole real truth and he produces the cosmos like a match then destroys it.Lord Shiva makes every last living staying.
Lord Shiva makes Heaven and Hell.

He generates us within the earth. The whole earth is created by him and he guidelines the cosmos together with his individual regulations. Only he is aware of the legislation of Karma absolutely. No physique else is aware the law of karma.

The trees, precious stones, wild animals, bacteria, fish, and every last other residing being is produced by Lord Shiva.
He makes almost everything that is definitely viewed as dead.
He produces the atoms and molecules. He creates gases, liquids and solids.

     In Buddhism There are two major points of Buddhist eschatology, the appearance of Maitreya and the Sermon of the Seven Suns.

Buddha described his teachings disappearing five thousand years from when he preached them, corresponding approximately to the year 2300. At this time, knowledge of dharma will be lost as well. The last of his relics will be gathered in Bodh Gaya and cremated.There will be a new era in which the next Buddha Maitreya will appear, but it will be preceded by the degeneration of human society. This will be a period of greed, lust, poverty, ill will, violence, murder, impiety, physical weakness, sexual depravity and societal collapse, and even the Buddha himself will be forgotten.

This will be followed by the coming of Maitreya when the teachings of dharma are forgotten. Maitreya was the first Bodhisattva around whom a cult developed, in approximately the 3rd century

The earliest mention of Maitreya is in the Cakavatti (Sihanada) Sutta in Digha Nikaya 26 of the Pali Canon. In it, Gautama Buddha predicted that his teachings of dharma would be forgotten after 5,000 years.

“At that period, brethren, there will arise in the world an Exalted One named Maitreya, Fully Awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a Buddha, even as I am now. He, by himself, will thoroughly know and see, as it were face to face, this universe, with Its worlds of the spirits, Its Brahmas and Its Maras, and Its world of recluses and Brahmins, of princes and peoples, even as I now, by myself, thoroughly know and see them”

     In Sikhism Guru Granth Sahib, the holy Sikh scriptures, there is no definite prediction of the end of the world. But it does also not say that it won't end.

The thing to remember here, in regards to Sikhism, is god. God is infinite, meaning god has no beginning, nor any end. Such is said about the universe. It is an infinite loop. It is only life that ends. Life of humans for example. But, our souls never end, because they are energies that will merge back with the main stream of energy-- referred by many as god.

The only thing that is unclear, from my gatherings is this. Guru Granth Sahib does have writings in it about Eras. These eras, in any Indian religion, are called Yugs/Jugs. Kalyug is the current Yug so the current era, and there is nothing written about an era beyond it, stating it is the 4th era of 4 eras. Which means one can determine with his or her own mind, that this could be the last era. But that is how you see it, it is not mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib.

     In Christianity, the first trial determining whether or not a person goes to Heaven, Hell or limbo is called the particular judgment. When the world is at its end and the Second Coming of Christ has happened, the Final Judgment re-organizes the world into a place where pure souls will live for eternity, while evil souls stay in Hell.

     In Judaism, the existence of an actual Last Judgment is always under debate. This is because followers of the tradition observe Rosh Hashanah every year, which is a day of judgment and atonement for every individual. It is sometimes argued that an annual practice ritually atoning for wrongs committed removes the need for a Day of Judgment. However, some rabbis state that individuals still experience the particular judgment upon their deaths. Other scholars believe only nations will be judged at the end and not people themselves.

     In Islamic theology holds Judgment Day as a central tenet. God assesses all of humanity, dead or alive. People who have already departed will wake up from their long, silent limbo to find out whether or not they will get into Paradise. A final reconciliation takes place where all people who have kept the purity of their hearts, minds and bodies. Those who have continually turned away from knowing God will be cast into Hell.

     Judgment Day provides the basis for notions of the Apocalypse. Most astro-physicists will tell you that the end of the world is likely to occur some three billion years from now, when our sun evolves into a giant overheated furnace that gradually consumes everything in its path – including Earth. But for literal adherents to Christianity, Islam and sometimes Judaism, the world will end with the coming of God to reign on Earth. Humanity will actually see God for the first time in His glory, coming to make right everything that people have tarnished and sinfully ruined.

     That justice will prevail in the end is a comforting thought to many. Even after they pass on and face their own particular judgment, there will still be an end time when the whole world will be put to rights. In this way, God’s plan for humanity and the world will be revealed. The evolution of time and space will come to its pinnacle, as those who have held true to their faith are honored and blessed by God.

How to Get Over Your Fear of Death

               How to Get Over Your Fear of Death

                  Death is a normal, necessary fact of life.  But that doesn't make it any less scary.  Generally, being human is to enjoy being alive, even with the pain and suffering that brings.  The one guarantee is that we will all die.  And for many people, there’s a deep fear associated with mortality.

This fear begins in early childhood when the child first faces the notion of himself – and usually, his parents – not existing.  Everyone knows that fear often feels worse than its object.  Feeling nervous about death can ruin a whole lifetime, while death itself might take only a moment.

It’s important to face mortality so that living becomes more enjoyable and less plagued by worry, regret and fear.  Getting over your fear of death is as simple as accepting that it will happen and guiding yourself to adopt ways that embrace life as it is.

Find Meaning

The fact is, death will happen to you.  So the task is to find meaning in your everyday life.  Some people find it very reassuring to believe in an afterlife, where they will meet their departed family members and loved ones again.  Also, adopting a faith can affect the motivations behind your actions.  You might start to consider that you exist for the whole of humanity, not only for yourself.  When you think of all the good you can do during a lifetime, death loses a bit of its sting.

Find Solace in Others

You are part of a whole world of people who, like you, will die someday.  Everyone is moving over to make room for others that are waiting to be born.  Some people find it helpful to picture it as giving other people their turn to live.  If nobody died, there wouldn’t be any room left on earth!  As well, imagine all the people who have gone before you, bravely facing illness, accident, sudden death, or death from old age.  If they can do it – so can you.

Spend Time with the Dying

Many people who volunteer in a hospice or palliative care setting possess a kind of tranquility when it comes to the notion of death.  They are used to seeing people through the passage of death, holding someone’s hand or feeding them that last bit of food. Once you have encountered death in all its phases, it becomes less mysterious, challenging and frightening.  Rather, it becomes just another part of life.  Many dying people crave compassion, comfort and help.  There are plenty of ways to become trained and to volunteer in a setting where death is commonplace.  It takes the sting out of what is quite a natural process.

Live Fully

Many people who feel desperately afraid of dying are somehow failing to live life to its fullest.  Maybe there is some potential that needs to be met, or some old dreams that could be attended to.  Breathe fresh air into your life; go about in a spirit of wonder, enjoying what you have.  When you accept that your physical existence is temporary, you’ll realize it makes a lot of sense to live a good life doing the things you want to do and serving the people you love.

Is There Life After Death?

Is There Life After Death?


     Whether life after death exists is a critical question for many people. The thought of death scares us because it seems like a black void of nothingness and unknowing. But since time immemorial, religions and spiritual faiths have asserted that, in fact, death is just a rite of passage that leads to another, higher reality.
The trouble is, no one can actually prove whether there is life after death because once we get there – wherever it is – we can’t come back to tell the story. Researchers and documenters of near-death experiences are convinced believers in an afterlife common to all humanity. But clinical scientists say whatever we experience in near-death situations is all a product of chemicals in the brain and nothing else.


There is even division among religions as to what life after death comprises. Many Christians, Jews, Muslims and other similar faiths hold a fairly dichotomous view of the afterlife. A person either ascends to Heaven or descends to Hell, depending on how their behavior is judged by God.


For other faiths, a more cyclical approach is favored. Hindus, Buddhists and other religions of reincarnation hold that a person’s attitudes and behaviors during their life affect the kind of life they’ll live once they are re-birthed. The re-birthing process can happen many times over. Someone who has done well and caused little suffering may come back to be an even more enlightened human being, while an individual who has done base deeds might be reincarnated as an animal or tree spirit, unable to cause further harm.


The majority of faiths believe there is an opportunity for a soul to make restitution, either just before or after they die – or even during a phase of the afterlife. Muslims, Catholic Christians, Wiccans, Pagans and Hindus observe a sort of incubation period before the soul goes to Heaven or Hell; this offers a chance for repentance and atonement.


The thought of life after death gives many people a deep reason to live a life of goodness and honesty. It feels good to know your right actions and decisions will pay off in the end. The afterlife also offers a great degree of comfort to many people who believe they will see their departed loved ones in the world to come. Death does not look so final if it is viewed as more of a passageway to another realm of spirit. Some people even look forward to life after death because it is rumored to be better than what we have on earth.


It is really up to each and every individual to decide whether they believe in an afterlife. A lot of questions can be put to rest, once that initial decision has been made. Whether you believe in life after death affects the decisions you make while you’re alive. So it’s good to ponder it, feel it out for yourself. It helps to read a lot of literature about the afterlife from the viewpoints of different religions to get a sense of where your beliefs lie. When you can answer the question, “Is there life after death?” from your own perspective, you’ll know much more about how to face the inevitability of death.

Death Rituals to Prepare for the Afterlife

 Death Rituals to Prepare for the Afterlife

 

                       
          The world’s most popularly practiced religions all have pronounced and different ways of marking the passing of a person into the afterlife.  The emphasis is on spending time with the body and watching over as well as honoring the remains.  A funeral, like a wedding or a birth, is a time for the family and community to come together, remember, mourn and celebrate the person who was lost.  Because the major religions all hold a belief in a continuing soul, there is the understanding that the deceased person is journeying to a new life, whether through Heaven, Hell, purgatory, soul-sleep, or reincarnation.

Hindu funerals

           Hindus also cremate their dead, except for infants and small children, who are buried.  It is believed that through fire the subtle body of the soul is better able to progress on its journey through the many Heaves and Hell's in the Hindu afterlife.  Everyone in the family participates in cleansing and purifying rituals before, during and after the ceremony.  The closest male relative of the deceased lights the funeral pyre.  After the body has been reduced to ashes and shards of bone, these are collected and dispersed in a holy river.  The family then undergoes many days of uncleanliness; after this period, they hold a celebratory feast and the community gives alms to the poor.

Buddhist funerals

           Cremation is the most common funerary practice among Buddhists.  Death is seen as a major religious event in the course of a soul’s journey in the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth.  There are ways for a person to prepare for death, such as deepening their meditation and decreasing their attachment to the earthly world.  After the death, it’s the custom for fellow Buddhists to hold ceremonies on the 6^th or 7^th day and again throughout the next 49 days.  This helps the soul ripen into its next incarnation.  Some traditions also include offering cloth to the presiding Buddhist monk, a special talk from a monk to the family members, and giving alms regularly afterward.

Christian funerals

             In the event of a loved one’s death, Christians hold a funeral ceremony to remember and celebrate the person’s life.  Customarily, there is a wake for one or up to several days in advance of the funeral.  Visitors are invited to come and pay their respects to the deceased.  The ceremony involves praying and eulogizing.  Family members and close friends stand up to offer their recollections of the person’s life and characteristics.  Now, it’s common to show a slideshow of pictures or videos commemorating the individual.  At a traditional Christian service, special hymns are sung and prayers or poems offered – sometimes these are planned or requested earlier by the deceased.

Burial was the usual practice in Christianity up until modern times; now cremation has become just as common.  There are few religious standards as to where, how and in what Christians can be buried.  The body is usually embalmed, dressed in its finest, and laid out in a decorated coffin.  At the grave or interment site, prayers and verses are said.  Often the burial is followed by a reception and feast among family and community members.

Jewish funerals

               Jewish practice is to bury the deceased as quickly as possible, abiding by the Jewish law of honoring the dead.  The body is not allowed to be embalmed or cremated.  Also mandated is a simple pine box for a coffin.  The process will be slowed only if overseas members of the family are delayed in attendance or some other anomaly occurs.  Corpses are not left alone from the time of death until after burial, so family members and fellow synagogue members hold vigil over the deceased.  In most Jewish communities, there is a sacred burial society where preparation of bodies takes place.  Men prepare male bodies and women prepare female bodies.  The body is washed with warm water from head to toe, never turned completely face down.  Then it is wrapped in a simple white shroud and with a prayer shawl.  Jewish funeral services are simple, with the rabbi and family chanting and praying.  Following that, the custom is to mourn by sitting shiva for anywhere from one to seven days.  Mirrors are covered and mourners must sit on special benches.  This is not always the practice, especially for moderate or non-observant Jews.

Islamic funerals

                    Muslims believe the body should be washed, shrouded in white linen, and buried as quickly as possible following death.  Members of the same gender wash the body, which has its private parts hidden by a cloth during the process.  Wrapped in several pieces of linen (up to three for men and up to five for women) and sometimes perfumed, the body is laid for visitation and mourning prior to burial.  The Janazah prayer is typically recited by the community that gathers to witness the funeral.  Mounds of rock are placed under the body’s head, chin and shoulder, and the body is placed on its right side, head pointed toward Mecca.

THE EVIDENCE OF SOUL

The Evidence Of Soul !

                 Science tells us there is no physical evidence for the soul.  Its shape and size cannot as yet be observed or recorded, so according to the scientific method, the soul does not exist.  Science only calls real that which is measurable, observable, replicable and quantifiable.  Anything immaterial is unreal.

But is that really true?

With the advent of the Enlightenment and rational thought, western society has come to the point where only seeing is believing.  Scientists generally hold the position that there isn't a physical location in the brain for the seat of the self, or the soul.

But countless individuals and communities across the globe are convinced of a higher reality that is, as yet, invisible.  They assert that although it’s impossible to “prove” it, the soul exists.  All beings live within a superstructure we are unable to point to, but upon which we are all completely dependent.  So, given that alternative logic, what is the evidence for the soul?

Because science relies on material results from experiments that can be re-created, its parameters for analyzing the soul are very much limited.  The only way it is possible for science to observe the soul is to note the very qualities of life that are subjective, nuanced and experiential.  In other words, scientists know that a mind can see, hear, know and feel.  But they can’t explain the ways – and the many differences in the ways – that we do those things.

Why is one person’s experience so different from another’s?  Why do certain thoughts affect certain people a certain way, and have remarkably different consequences for others?  These curiosities and complexities point the way for scientific analysis of so-called immaterial things like the soul.

One way of looking at it is to examine the self.  What is it that makes you really you?  Gregory Koukl points out that even though our cells rejuvenate every seven years, changing our body completely, our quality of self remains.

Going further, what is the real spark of life, anyway?  Science can attempt to replicate life, cultivate it, clone it, make it grow fungi – but it cannot create life.  It relies on the invisible superstructure of reality to provide it with the basic thing itself – the energy, so to speak.

This begs the even deeper question of what is truth?  Is truth only what we can observe and measure? Sometimes people say mythology holds even more truth than non-fiction.  That’s because it speaks to the underlying reality of human existence, rather than telling the story exactly how it is.  Another example is parental love. Is it realized only in the clothes and food parents give their children, or is it evidenced more in an invisible quality of caring?

So, looking at the evidence for the soul, the truth lies more in a quality of experiencing and understanding life that cannot be replicated or explained by science.  The biggest proof for the soul is that science itself is so limited in explaining what really goes on in human consciousness.  Sometimes the deeper power of belief lies in a vast absence of explanation, rather than in a set of tools that quantify “reality”.

Paranormal

    We all should be reasonably open-minded skeptics and for psychic phenomena indicative of life after death, only accept the theory that there is survival of consciousness after physical death when theories along normal lines and/or ESP (psi) fail to account for all of the evidence.
∙ There is no doubt that in a relatively short period of time, science has made great strides in understanding the physical world.  Because of this, many people believe that if  presently there is not a scientific explanation for something, it is not a question of if it will be explained by science but a matter of when.  Applying this to the various paranormal phenomena, these people believe science will either have a complete explanation in the future or it is just a deception of some sort.  Generally speaking, there is strong evidence for some of the psychic phenomena but not to the point where it can be accepted as fact.
The extreme skeptics of the paranormal have a tendency to refute the least credible of paranormal examples; they seldom try to take on the best evidence and if they do they do not give very credible alternative explanations.  To do the former, is easy, the latter, generally quite difficult.  They also unfairly (and unscientifically I might add) tend to group all of the paranormal together and reject it all.  Its not all or nothing and the same applies to the various evidence types for life after death.  For instance, mediums communicating with the dead could be true but this has no relation with astrology being true or not - the two are independent of one another but this gets lost on some of the extreme skeptics in their overall outlook.
In fact, with the paranormal as it relates to life after death, there clearly are many cases of both deliberate deception (as we would expect due to the nature of the subject) and where there are alternative explanations.  But these are not the cases we need to be scrutinizing to determine if they constitute evidence for life after death - although this is unfortunately what some skeptics do to present their conclusions against the paranormal.  The cases that have no other plausible conventional explanation are the ones that need to be held to the test.
We also have to be careful with paranormal phenomena in that, even if the particular phenomena or, more commonly the case, elements of it can be induced, it does not necessarily mean or follow that this is the cause of the paranormal phenomena and the explanation for it.  A non-paranormal analogy being, for example, certain drugs can induce euphoria in a person but when one normally is experiencing euphoria, it is real and occurs naturally without the effect of any drugs.  Therefore, drug intake is not the explanation for euphoria normally experienced even though drugs can induce it.
It should be noted that the various aspects to the best paranormal phenomena cases have thus far been very difficult to account for collectively using natural scientific models

Death And The Beyond

  BIRTH AND DEATH 

Birth and death are the beginning and the end of earthly life, and 

no human being who has within him even a faint longing for the Truth can 

disregard the two important questions how does life enter the physical 

body, and what becomes of it after death?    

Most human beings are so fixed in their low views, which are focused 

only on earthly things, that they can no longer free themselves from them. 

Through the one-sided cultivation of the earthbound and therefore transient 

intellect, they have in their investigation into the enigmas of life lost a very 

important key: namely, the ability to draw conclusions from that which has 

its origin “above” down to that which manifests “below” as the effect. In 

spite of this, many a higher recognition may yet be gained simply by studying 

the effects “below,” if it is born in mind that the same Laws operate in the 

visible world as well as in the physically invisible world.   

These Laws of Creation form not only what is on earth but also what is 

in the “beyond,” and furthermore it is through the effects of their working 

that nothing in the great Creation is lost. Hence also the life that has left the 

physical body at the time of death must have some form, and this form must 

have gone somewhere. And so it is indeed. The “formed life” that leaves the 

dead body is the soul, which after death passes over in human form into the 

so-called “beyond” a collective term for a number of different regions.    

The Law of Gravitation determines the place in the beyond to which the 

soul comes after death. Depending on how light or how heavy it has made 

itself on earth through its thoughts and deeds, the soul, after leaving the 

body, either rises or sinks to the region that has the same gravity as itself, 

where it is then attracted by its homogeneous species.   

Man holds far too narrow and one-sided conceptions about the living 

activity in Creation, thus also about the continued existence of the soul after 

death, supposing he really believes in it. He is often of the opinion that after 

death the soul goes to rest. Just the opposite is the case: if the soul wishes to 

remain alive after death, then it must not rest but has to move! For only 

movement is life! Phrases like: “He has gone to eternal rest” and “Rest in 

peace!” therefore give an entirely false conception of what takes place in the 

beyond.    

6The most lively activity prevails in the beyond, and experiencing there 

is much stronger and richer than here on earth. Man finds again in the beyond all that he thought and intuitively perceived on earth. These are his 

“works,” which follow after or await him, the good as well as the evil. These 

alone would be sufficient to prevent him from coming to rest. Thus there is 

no question of a personal resting or repose of the dead up to the Last Judgment!    

The “awakening for the Last Judgment” has a quite different meaning 

from what men imagine: not all the dead, but all that is dead shall be awakened! By this is to be understood also all the evil qualities slumbering in the 

human souls as if they were dead, which will be roused through the Divine 

Power that is increased at the time of the Judgment; that is to say, they will 

be forced into the strongest movement, so that they may thereby pass judgment on themselves. He who as a result of his self-incurred failure does not 

stand the test of this great World Judgment sinks into the “other death” 

which is the “eternal one.” With this he loses his laboriously acquired selfconsciousness.    

Therefore man should never forget the actual goal of his existence 

Paradise! The road there leads through the beyond; earthly death is but a 

gateway on this road, which continues beyond the earthly sphere and offers 

to the upward-striving world wanderer a surprising vista into another physically invisible world, which is much vaster and more beautiful still than the 

earth.    

Unfortunately, earthman has almost completely closed himself to this 

world, which actually does exist. He can no longer understand it because he 

has voluntarily narrowed down his perceptions, and confronts the happenings in the beyond with disbelief and doubt. Yet at any moment he can establish the connection with the beyond in the simplest way; he need be 

gifted neither with mediumistic nor clairvoyant qualities for this.    

We all know of the “conscience,” but without ever having rightly discovered its true meaning: it is closely connected with the working of those 

deceased human beings, who seriously strive with their greater experience 

to help their fellow men still sojourning on earth, to guide them safely and 

to protect them  provided that through genuine longing or heartfelt prayer 

earthmen prepare the way for it. The quiet working of these helpers in the 

beyond is a part of our conscience, the other part being the voice of the 

spirit, thus our intuitive perception.

Birth cycle

                                                      human life cycle.....
even though we can see that from dead peaple goes in to a new life but the answer for the phrase 
where do we go after the death is inanswerable....

After death

The afterlife (also referred to as life after death, the Hereafter, the Next World, or the Other Side) is the belief that a part of, or essence of, an individual which carries with it and confers personal identity survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means. In some popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual realm, and in other popular views, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.

The dead are usually believed to go to a specific plane of existence after death (other than eternal oblivion), typically believed to be determined by agod or divine judge, based on their actions or beliefs during physical life. In contrast, the term afterlife refers to another life in which only the "essence" of the being is preserved, and "reincarnation" is another life on Earth or possibly within the same universe.

Life After Death in religious view

Even though Life After Death is undefined but,different religious had their own opinion about this general issue.

                                                 
                                         
 HINDUISM

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.

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.

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.

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.

CHRISTIANITY

                                          

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.

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.

BUDDHISM

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

MUSLIMS

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.

It is here that the Quran emphatically asserts that death is not the final end but a gateway to a different kind of life: We mete out death among you that We may transfigure you and make you what you know not. And verily you know the first creation. Why then do you not reflect 

The real self, the human personality, not being a part of the body, is not subject to physical laws. It is dependent on the body for functioning in the physical world, but it may continue to exist after the destruction of the body, which operates as its instrument:

And they say, what! When we have become bones and dust shall we indeed be raised up a new creation. Say thou: Be ye stones or iron or a substance still more improbable in your hearts (to be restored to life). But they will say; Who shall bring us back? Say thou: He who brought you into being for the first  time  

We interpret this verse as meaning that the self, the human personality, is not the product of physical forces, the physical laws, and is not subject to natural laws. It owes its existence to and is directed by the Divine Amr, the Divine Laws formulated in the Unseen World, and are beyond the scope of human reason. In the Hereafter, as in this life, this self, this human personality is sustained and guided by Amr, as it guides the evolutionary process. It may, therefore, be fit or unfit to exist and function on the plane to which it has been carried by evolution.

In its evolution two things play the real role: Will and Action . These two, Will and Action, are of paramount importance for the development of the self, the human personality and therefore, for its survival too. Will and Action are really the two aspects of the same process. Action is " will actualized " and Will is " latent action " as says Allama G.A. Parwez. It has been truly said " no will, no action ," but the reverse is also true " no action, no will ." Only a free self, a free human personality possesses " will " in this sense and only such a self, human personality can perform actions , which have relevance to survival.

In the context of self, human personality, an action is that entity which has been deliberately chosen by a free self, a free human personality and has been voluntarily performed by it. The free self/personality expresses itself in action and holds itself responsible for it. Without freedom and responsibility , action, in this restricted sense, is not possible. These facts about " Will and Action " have a direct bearing on the question of survival. The human is the product of a long evolutionary process. This process does not stop at any point, but continues indefinitely. At a certain stage, the human becomes an active participant in it and through his/her free will and purposeful activity determines, within certain limits, both the speed and the direction of evolutionary process. This process which has been at work in the world for untold aeons is now transformed into some thing far rational and meaningful. It also becomes more dependent on its material, i. e. is human body, through which it is working. The primitive organisms were moulded and shaped by natural forces, so as to be fit for the next stage in evolution. It was a long and painful process in which the unfit were ruthlessly weeded out and the fit were permitted to flourish. The human cannot now depend on natural forces to mould him/her and make him/her fit for the next stage. He/she must do the moulding himself/herself. He/she alone can make himself/herself fit for the higher stage on which he/she is to enter. His/her self, personality is not changed by natural forces, nor even by random activity.

Heaven (Jannah) stands for fruition coupled with glowing hope for the future. Hell (Jahannam) is the experience of frustration tinged with remorse and regret. The person, who permits his/her self, personality, to weaken, stagnates and becomes perverted. He/she languishes in a state between life and death. He/she does not live because life consists of upward movement of which he/she is incapable: he/she cannot die because remorse and frustrated desire prevent him/her from relinquishing his/her hold on life. Both the pleasure of existence and the insensibility of non-existence are denied him/her. The Quran says about him/her,

They have successfully stood the test of death and they know that they will not be subjected to the same test again. Their eyes dwell on new vistas of self-development and the path, which leads to them is illumined by the Divine light:

But the Quran tells us in clear words that we can rise much higher above the plane of earth-rootedness and "pass out of the confines of the heavens and earth" (55: 33), provided we develop the powers that are latent in us. These 

That is why it is said for Mu’min that death for him/her is not the end of life but the threshold of a far more glorious life. This is the recognition of Mu’min. The poet Iqbal says: Let me tell you by what sign you may recognize the true Mu’min. When the grim spectre of Death approaches, he/she greets it with a smile.

Now the question is what about the nature of its immortality! The Quranic view is that immortality cannot be taken for granted. It is the prize, which the self, the human personality can win by right conduct and by its efforts to realize its potentialities. The self, the personality may win the prize or it may lose it. The issue depends on the quality and intensity of its effort and on no other factor. For the self, the human personality, which has lived the right kind of life, death has no terror.The self, the human personality, wins immortality by the proper orientation of will and the performance of right action. In this way, the self, the human personality which, through the acquisition of absolute values, the permanent values enshrined in the Quran, has vitally related to the meaning and purpose of the universe, will find Death a transition to a higher place.

SIKHISM

death one merges back into the universal nature, just as a drop of rain merges back into the ocean. Individuality is lost. Sikhs do not believe in heaven or hell. Heaven can be experienced by being in tune with God while still alive. Conversely, the suffering and pain caused by ego is seen as hell on earth. Sikhism views spiritual pursuits as positive experiences in and of themselves that transcend death, not as sacrifices made in order to collect a reward that is waiting until after death. At birth the soul emerges into earth consciousness, veiled of all memory of past lives and the inner worlds. The cycle of reincarnation ends when karma has been resolved and the Self God (Parasiva) has been realized. This condition of release is called moksha. Then the soul continues to evolve and mature, but without the need to return to physical existence. Sikhism teaches that the soul reincarnates when the body dies. Sikhs believe that good, or bad actions, determine the life form into which a soul takes rebirth. At the time of death, demonic, ego centered souls may be destined to suffer great agonies, and pain, in the dark underworld of Narak.A soul, fortunate enough to achieve grace, overcomes ego by meditating on God. Such a soul may attain liberation from the cycle of reincarnation. The soul then experiences salvation in Sachkhand, the realm of truth, where it exists eternally, as an entity of radiant light.

Sikhism believes in the immortality of the soul. The devotee has no fear of the pangs of death. In fact he welcomes death, because it gives him a chance for the merger into Divinity. The evil person, however, dreads death. For him, it will lead to the unending cycle of birth and death. After death, man comes to the next birth according to what he deserves. If he has been wicked and evil, he takes birth in the lower species. If he has done good deeds, he takes birth in a good family. The cycle of birth and death keeps the soul away from Divinity. It can merge with God, only if the individual, by spiritual effort, has amassed the capital of the Name (the Holy Spirit as understood by Christians) and thus lives with the Holy Spirit. The Sikh religion teaches that salvation consists in knowing God, or in obtaining God, or being absorbed into God. The general method of salvation is fairly consistent with the supremacy of an inscrutable God, and with the accompanying doctrines of the worthlessness of the world and the helplessness of man... This method of obtaining salvation by a pantheistic merging of the individual self with the mystical world soul is identical with the method of salvation.

Karma belief says that actions and the consequences of these actions decide whether a soul can be set loose from the cycle. Freedom from the cycle of rebirth is called mukti.Sikhs believe in reincarnation. This means that a person’s soul may be reborn many times as a human or an animal. Sikhs believe that upon death one merges back into the universal nature, just as a drop of rain merges back into the ocean. Individuality is lost. Sikhs do not believe in heaven or hell. Heaven can be experienced by being in tune with God while still alive. Conversely, the suffering and pain caused by ego is seen as hell on earth. Sikhism views spiritual pursuits as positive experiences in and of themselves that transcend death, not as sacrifices made in order to collect a reward that is waiting until after death. 

The Sikhs believe that the Soul has to transmigrate from one body to another as part of an evolution process of the Soul. This evolution of the Soul will eventually results in a union with God upon the proper purification of the spirit. If one does not perform righteous deeds, ones soul will continue to cycle in reincarnation forever. A being who has performed good deeds and actions in their lives is transmigrated to a better and higher life form in the next life until the soul of the being becomes Godlike.

The Sikh concept of mukti is essentially that of jivan mukti, the one attainable in one’s lifetime itself. Further, Sikhism rejects the idea of considering renunciation as the vesture of a jivan mukta. Contrast with it, for example, the Jain view according to which the liberated persons have to lead a mendicant’s life, for; otherwise, they cannot keep themselves free from karma. Sikhs do not believe in heaven or hell. Heaven can be experienced by being in tune with God still alive. Conversely, the suffering and pain caused by ego is seen as hell on earth. Sikhism views spiritual pursuits as positive experiences in and of themselves that transcend death, not as sacrifices made in order to collect a reward that is waiting until after death. Similarly there is no actual place called heaven. Sikhism does not regard the winning of a place in heaven as a worthy object. 

The old Indian concept of heaven is of a beautiful place providing all sorts of comforts and luxuries. The concept of hell and heaven is just a rough illustration for clarifying the doctrine of Karma. Hell and heaven refer to evil or good stages of life respectively and they can be lived here and now in our earthly existence. According to Guru Arjan, "Wherever the praises of God are sung, there verily is heaven. The devotee is neither afraid of hell nor anxious to go to heaven. In a way, hell and heaven are conditions of mind. So the soul of man wanders and suffers on earth." The worldly man eats, enjoys and sleeps, unmindful of the higher things of life.