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.