Lovett-PerkinsSam

Sam Lovett-Perkins 12-5-10 History Religion Project Final



OLD DRAFT!!! (bibliography at the bottom) = Uniting The Afterlife =

Research Question: Are there reoccurring similarities linking the concept of death and the afterlife between many different religions?

Introduction: Through out all of time what has plagued mankind is the concept of death and the afterlife. To answer this many religions have come up with their own answers to the question “what happens after you die”? The ideas very from each religions, the Christian idea of heaven and hell, the reincarnation found in the beliefs of Buddhism, and the Ancient Greek’s Underworld, one needs to look at all three to find any similarities. What corresponding concepts can unite those three very different religions? In the main body of this text the death and after-death beliefs of those three religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Ancient Greek) will be explains and then compared and contrasted against each other. Exploring and exploring some of the connection between the three can help bring to light the building blocks in the origin of life and death beliefs. At the end there will be a reflection and conclusion paragraph.

Christianity: Christianity is the largest religion in the world and it fallows its holy book, the bible. The main Christian belief in life one’s soul lives in one’s body, and during death the soul escapes from the body. The soul is than judged by Jesus (the son of god) upon which they are aloud into heaven or are sent to hell. Heaven for Christians is a place where good souls can live in eternal peace and happiness. Hell for Christians is a place for bad souls such as murderers and whoremongers as well as nonbelievers. Eternal happiness is what awaits a soul who has lived a righteous life. Christians pray to Jesus for guidance and so that he saves them from the devil and hell.

Buddhism: Buddhists believe in the repetitive life system of reincarnation. Buddhists pray to Buddha as he was the maker of the religion and the most enlightened. To Buddhists the body is more like a cage for ones spirit, feelings and memories, and the goal is to free ones self of them, and free themselves of the pain of having to live caged on earth. When ones spirit is freed it is called achieving Nirvana. When a Buddha dies they go through a forty-nine day process of either rebirth or freedom, this process is has three stages called Bardos and the whole thing is called a Bardo. In stage one (4-6 days) the spirit realizes they have died. In stage two the dead feels the reverberation of their actions in life in basically the idea of karma. The third stage is waiting to see how long they stay conscious to move on to nirvana or stay back on earth. “The consciousness of the departed has an ecstatic experience of the primary "clear light" at the death moment. Everyone gets at least a fleeting glimpse of the light. The more spiritually developed see it longer, and are able to go beyond it.” (1) The most spiritually developed can skip the bardos stage and can go straight to achieving Nirvana. Once there they will remain in everlasting peace

Ancient Greek: The Ancient Greek belief system of death is placed in their underworld ruled by the god Hades. The Underworld was made of three sections the beautiful and joyful Elysian Fields, the dull and plain ever going plains of asphodel and, the burning hell of Tartarus. When one died their soul would go to the river styx (the barrier between life and death) where the ferryman would take them across into the underworld. Once there they would be judged by three judges who would decide whether which of the three places they would be placed. The exuberant Elysian Fields were a place reserved for heroes and the gods to forever live in bliss. The mundane plains of Asphodel were a place for the general public where they would wander forever. Chaotic Tarturs was reserved for the eternal torture of criminals, villains, or those who went against the gods.

Compare and Contrast: In the comparison of Christianity and Buddhism one can see many similarities. First off there is both one person they are praying to for guidance. Christians pray to Jesus their savior who will save them form the devil and to forgive them for their sins. Buddhists pray to Buddha for guidance to further free themselves from this earth. And so by doing so when they die they can achieve infinite spiritual happiness. However one major difference is that in Christianity once someone is dead they are forever gone and placed into either a hellish place or a heavenly place. In Buddhism if one doesn’t reach the goal (Nirvana) then they simply continue to try.

When comparing Christianity to Ancient Greek one can see differences and Similarities. The two are different because Christians only believe in two places after death, while the Greeks believed in three. But there are still similarities; both of them have a place where the good can go on forever happy while the bad are condemned for eternity to feel the consequences of their actions. It is also that where you land after death relates to what one does in life.

The Ancient Greeks and Buddhists were two religions that probably never met up but among many differences one can find a few connections. The main differences are that the Greeks have three places to go after death while Buddhists only have one. Also Buddhists live a life oh simplicity trying to free themselves from the earth while the Greeks believed one needed to achieve glory to have glory in the afterlife. A similarity is that they both work on a karma system, doing bad things will have one either landing in Tartarus or having to suffer on earth.

In conclusion there are many major parts reoccurring concepts, that help build up the though process of life after death for these three religions. The concept of karma, where if you do well on earth you receive well in the afterlife. Praising of the spiritual leader so that one can live peacefully in the afterlife is another one. Finally the major one is the goal and the comfort of being able to leave forever in happiness. These are three links uniting three very different religions.

Bibliography:

Atsma, Aaron J. "HADES, LAND OF THE DEAD 1 : Greek Mythology." //THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Theoi Project Citation, 2008. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. 

Bogom, Durrell. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2010.

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Murray, A T. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1919.

http://www.popumc.org/

http://history.cultural-china.com/en/164History3796.html

Kings James Version Inc., Bible.com Ministries © 1995-2005 Online []

Williams, Kevin. "Buddhist Afterlife Beliefs." //Purify Our Mind//. Near Death Experiences & the Afterlife, 3 Mar. 2009. Web. 01 Dec. 2010. .

