Hatzidais,+Katherine

= Beyond Our Breath: Religion & the Afterlife =

Research Question: What principles must people of a certain religion believe or follow in order to pass onto a good state of the afterlife?

Introduction: Most religions believe in life after death. The followers of most religions believe that when we die, we don’t just rot in the ground or perish to ashes. It is believed that we travel onto a new world or life. Not all religions believe in the passing of life, mind and soul though. We as a general society question the realism of the ideal heaven and hell for all religions. We wonder, is their existence beyond earth? Something that isn't tangible? The beliefs of the afterlife are endless but we will explore the afterlife beliefs of Hindus, Spiritualists, and Pagans. Through research, it is safe to conclude that these three religions have similar views on th e afterlife.

Interpretation and Analysis: Spiritualism:



"There is no death, there are no dead." Firstly, Spiritualists believe in mediumship and the spirit world. They believe that the spirit world and our world are intertwined. Spiritualists are very connected with nature. Nature's law is important to a spiritualists way of life because in their opinion, God is expressed through nature. Healing through multiple different methods is a critical aspect of this religion. But something I wish to get more in depth to is their convictions of life after life. Death is not the end of a person's life, but the end of the physical stage of life. Spiritualists consider the body to be a holder of a persons true self or soul. What a Spiritualist may do in this life, follows them to the next. Being a prosperous, positive, and kind person makes the next state of life more enjoyable. Consciousness  is the state of thinking and being alive. It deals with thoughts and feelings and the knowledge you obtain while being in a human state. The next stage of life for a Spiritualist is the spirit plane. It is said that the earth plane and the spirit plane are similar except for the "vibrations and luminosity." The vibrations are stronger therefore it is easier to connect with mediums in the physical world. Once a soul is passed to the spiritual  realm it does not mean that they know all of that realm considering that this is a new beginning for that character. As in our life, they grow and learn in the spiritual  world. In Spiritualism it is also believe that once a spiritualist dies, all the stresses and struggles of human life does not follow them into the spiritual world. Since in the Spiritualists way of thinking God is forever, their souls travel through infinity into the light of the Divine and God. Spiritualism is similar to Paganism in this way because pagans believe in the Divine as well. (The Divine are gods who are connected to nature and control one part of nature.) So this is the end of this brief explanation but not the end of infinity.

Paganism:

People are normally afraid of death. They look at death as being a bad thing but for Pagans don't fear death. Pagans are very excepting of death. They understand that death is just a part of life. Salvation does not exist in the Pagan religion because sin does not exist. After death Pagans believe their souls travel to another realm and that their body is recycled into the earth. Much of Paganism has been determined upon many different myths from older civilizations. Of course they do grieve in the loss of loved ones but as followers of paganism they grow from that grief and turn death into a positive aspect of life. Summerland is to Pagans as Heaven is to Christians. It is the Pagan Heaven except every soul goes there and experiences something different. In Summerland, souls recuperate from thier life on earth, review their knowledge, and prepare for their next life. While in Summerland, souls are able to determine what they will be in their next life. They determine when they are ready to be reincarnated. It is said that souls choose their next form of life depending on what type os lessons they want to learn. Pagans do not believe in Hell or in eternal punishment. A handful of Pagans do believe that there are some consequences due to doing wrong. Multiple followers of Paganism believe that the point of reincarnation is to perfect their souls and final rest in peace. It is also believed by some followers that once your soul has reached a perfect state, they become angels and help guide other souls along the journey of life. In the end, the ultimate goal of the pagan religion is to rid the follower's soul of all flaws and create a better one to their full potential. Hinduism:

Lastly, lets explore our jiva. A jiva is our being. Jiva's can travel through life and afterlife in an ongoing circle. As the saying goes "nothing lasts forever." The jiva travels to the afterlife to convalesce from their pervious life. Hindus don't know exactly what goes on in the afterlife but through scripture they are able to understand some components that deal with the afterlife. The Bhagavad-Gita is a scared text that Hindus learn lessons and the principals of Hinduism. Like Pagans, Hindus believe in reincarnation. In the Bhagavad-Gita, it states that there are two paths of the after life. The path of the Sun and the path of the Moon. The path of the Sun is a positive, light path while the path of the Moon is a dark, negative path. If a soul or jiva follows the path of the Sun than it will not reincarnate. Is a jiva travels the path of the Moon then they will reincarnate again. Hinduism has some similarities with Catholicism and Christianity because there is a place for the good people and also a place for the people who are full of hatred and sin. On the other hand they are very different because Hindu's believe in more than one god. It is believed in the Hindu religion that each god has their own "world." An element that can decide where a soul may go after death is the thoughts of that person before they die. If their thoughts are positive then they reincarnate into a life that pertains to those thoughts. If a follower is thinking ill thoughts, they will travel along the moon path and suffer. If God is on a Hindu's mind before they die then they will travel along the sun path to paradise where the gods live. “One who remembers me at the moment of death, relinquishing the body ascends and achieves my nature. There is certainly no doubt about this.” Svar (sun/heaven) and Yamalok (moon/hell) are only short-term resting places for souls. Eventually souls will return to earth or they will be liberated to travel to another world. Once a soul is liberated it becomes apart of Brahman, Siva, or Vishnu. Another component of the Hindu religion is Karma. "What goes around comes around." Hindu's believe that if you do ill then others will do ill to you. Having a rotten attitude does not enhance a followers life or even after-life. People who are positive and remember what they are on Earth for, succeed i maiking their soul godly. As we travel from around the worldm Hindu's are traveling from world to world.

Compare/Contrast: -Pagans and Buddhists/Hindus believe that the goal of life is to prefect your soul until it has reached the perfect state -Each of these religions believe in ghosts and spirits -Each religion believes in meditation -Nature is more apart of Pagan and the Spiritualist religion but nature is important to Hindus too -Many Hindus and Pagans are vegetarians -Out of these three religions of Hinduism has a sacred text -Numerous elements of these religions relate to Christianity or Catholicism -While Pagans do not believe in an exact "hell" or eternal suffering, Hindus do believe in a "hell" and the eternal suffering until a karma is exhausted is appropriate

Final Thoughts: Someway, some how what we do now will affect us later. We travel through our lives with no direction sometimes when really we are all on earth for a purpose. Not everyone determines what that purpose is but for those who do succeed in surviving a mortal life. Each of us try to create a prosperous and well-worth-while life. In the end, every religion has their own beliefs and their own afterlife. Although we don't not what goes on beyond our mortal mind, we know that our loved ones are always with us. One way or another.

 Bibliography:  "Spiritualist Churches ." //BBC//. N.p., 2009. Web. 3 Dec 2010. < [|__http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/spiritualism/worship/worship_1.shtml__] >

 //National Spiritualist Association of Churches//. International Spiritualist Federation World Parliament of Religions, 2010. Web. 2 Dec 2010. < [|__http://www.nsac.org/Default.aspx?id=1.0__] >.

 Crowley, Vivianne. "Basic Pagan Belief." //The Pagan Alliance of Kokomo//. The Pagan Alliance of Kokomo, 2/7/09. Web. 2 Dec 2010. < [|__http://www.angelfire.com/in4/the_pak/bpb.html__] >

 "Hinduism ." //Religion Facts//. Dreamweaver, 2010. Web. 2 Dec 2010. < [|__http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/index.htm__] >.