Life After Death | Harison Xavier
Is there a life after death?
A short blog on my thoughts on life after death. Let me give you the conclusion right away. "There is no ultimate or one final answer for this question."
Maybe the oldest ever question in the history of humans. "Is there a life after death? "
I am writing this to make my mind clear on what exactly is my belief.
I am writing this to make my mind clear on what exactly is my belief.
Once a friend asked me if I believe in life after death. It was just a small talk and he was only expecting yes or no answer, I normally don't like small talks, I want deep conversations.
Anyways questions like these makes me think for a very long time. I wanted to explain him a lot, but when it comes to philosophy or small talk questions like this, there is no complete answer to it and nobody cares about your thoughts. I just said; Yes. I do believe in life after death. This was because I won't get him bored with my long answer.
This question stayed with me, as a religious person I am taught from a very young age that after death our soul will be brought to judgement before God and our good and bad deeds done in our life time will be brought to us and measured using a weight scale. If I have done more good deeds than the bad, then I will be send to heaven else I will be send to hell.
This question stayed with me, as a religious person I am taught from a very young age that after death our soul will be brought to judgement before God and our good and bad deeds done in our life time will be brought to us and measured using a weight scale. If I have done more good deeds than the bad, then I will be send to heaven else I will be send to hell.
Another theory is only saints and people pure in heart and never committed a sin will enter heaven, else the others will be in purgatory, this is the place for people who have not committed any serious sins. Rest who have committed serious offense like murder or suicide are send to hell.
As I understand, "all who die in God's grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified" undergo the process of purification which the Church calls purgatory, "so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven". It bases its teaching also on the practice of praying for the dead, in use within the Church ever since the Church began, and mentioned in the deuterocanonical book 2 Macc 12:46.
As I understand, "all who die in God's grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified" undergo the process of purification which the Church calls purgatory, "so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven". It bases its teaching also on the practice of praying for the dead, in use within the Church ever since the Church began, and mentioned in the deuterocanonical book 2 Macc 12:46.
Interesting and scary concept, even if I am dead, I am not free from suffering. I still have to suffer another eternity only then I will enter heaven. Is this even fair? Thinking deep about it. Now I think, What is fair in life? We can ourselves humans and put ourselves above everything else in the world and lie to ourselves we are not animals yet show all animal behaviors, even be the most cunning and cruel of all living things.
Why do we deserve to have after life? We are animals too. Are there any one human being that is not an animal?
A Visitor To Heaven
I once talked with a man who said he visited heaven once (through his vision). The story goes like this.
It was a fine early morning, it was raining cold outside, as usual he was reading Bible and asked for his long time wish to see heaven, he pray this to God everyday, Suddenly everything around him changed, he was lifted from his seat to an unknown place filled with cloud. He looked around he was in the middle of a beautiful garden, beautiful plants and trees, they were all created with colors we have not seen before, something like gold or even beautiful, the fruits and flowers are more beautiful than any flowers in this world.
It was a fine early morning, it was raining cold outside, as usual he was reading Bible and asked for his long time wish to see heaven, he pray this to God everyday, Suddenly everything around him changed, he was lifted from his seat to an unknown place filled with cloud. He looked around he was in the middle of a beautiful garden, beautiful plants and trees, they were all created with colors we have not seen before, something like gold or even beautiful, the fruits and flowers are more beautiful than any flowers in this world.
He walked forward and saw a gate that is so beautiful that he gazed at it for a few minutes. It was made up of materials more valuable than gold and diamonds. From the gate he could hear angels sings praises to the God, their voice and music was something beyond ultimate joy. He was able to witness this for a while and then he was brought back.
He is a very simple man, all he have is love and devotion to God. True or untrue you can decide.
I asked him I too wanted to see what he saw, what should I do?
He said heaven will be reviled only to the people God wish to reveal. if not they can't. So there goes my hope outside the window.
I asked him I too wanted to see what he saw, what should I do?
He said heaven will be reviled only to the people God wish to reveal. if not they can't. So there goes my hope outside the window.
I too wanted to see heaven, but is it even real? Does it exist? Do we really have a soul? Is death our final? These are the questions that pops into my mind.
More Questions
The oldest burials that attest to a belief in life after death can be placed in the period between about 50,000 and 30,000 BC. The earliest evidence of human activity in any form, on the other hand, goes back more than 1,000,000 years.
So what happened to people before any religion ? Where are their souls now? Questions back to back keeps coming up in my mind.
Another interesting observation is the difference of after life in between religions. Every religions have their own version of after life.
For the Hindus the belief that, after death, the soul of a person passes into a new body and life. This new life depends on how the person lived their previous life. Hindus believe in karma, which is the sum of the good and bad actions taken. Good karma helps with a better rebirth.
Another interesting observation is the difference of after life in between religions. Every religions have their own version of after life.
For the Hindus the belief that, after death, the soul of a person passes into a new body and life. This new life depends on how the person lived their previous life. Hindus believe in karma, which is the sum of the good and bad actions taken. Good karma helps with a better rebirth.
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.
In Islam death is seen not as the termination of life, rather the continuation of life in another form. In Islamic belief, God has made this worldly life as a test and a preparation ground for the afterlife; and with death, this worldly life comes to an end. Thus, every person has only one chance to prepare themselves for the life to come where God will resurrect and judge every individual and will entitle them to rewards or punishment, based on their good or bad deeds.
For Greeks the afterlife was known as Hades and was a grey world ruled by the Lord of the Dead, also known as Hades. Within this misty realm, however, were different planes of existence the dead could inhabit. If they had lived a good life and were remembered by the living they could enjoy the sunny pleasures of Elysium; if they were wicked then they fell into the darker pits of Tartarus while, if they were forgotten, they wandered eternally in the bleakness of the land of Hades. The Ferryman or Charon took the souls to the gates of the underworld, that's the reason there was a practice of keeping coins on top of the eyes or under the tongue of the dead.
There are still many more religions I wish to add here, but this short blog have become very large already. So I will not be including them here.
Present Time
I was fortunate to stumble up on two international whats app groups with very large number of people from different countries. One group was a group of people who are interested in psychology and psychology professors. They discussed about any topics with a psychology perspective.
So when I asked they the question about their belief of after death without taking religion into consideration, they don't have an answer, they say death is final, there is nothing beyond death. There were a lot of religious psychologists too, they explained with religion there is a life after death. But they are all different according to different religion. There is no one true way to explain what exactly is life after death.
An interesting topic came up to me recently about preserving the dead body for bringing back to life when we advanced our technology in the future.
Bringing life back to a dead human being? Are you even serious ?
So when I asked they the question about their belief of after death without taking religion into consideration, they don't have an answer, they say death is final, there is nothing beyond death. There were a lot of religious psychologists too, they explained with religion there is a life after death. But they are all different according to different religion. There is no one true way to explain what exactly is life after death.
An interesting topic came up to me recently about preserving the dead body for bringing back to life when we advanced our technology in the future.
Bringing life back to a dead human being? Are you even serious ?
The company that have made studies in this field is Alcor Life Extension Foundation.
You can visit them at alcor.org
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| Image Courtesy https://qz.com/ |
As they quote, Alcor advocates for, researches, and performs cryonics, the freezing of human corpses and brains in liquid nitrogen after legal death, with hopes of resurrecting and restoring them to full health in the event some new technology can be developed in the future.
I always feel like we are at the doorsteps of the future. A great technology revolution is right around the corner.
They are an American research and development biotech company founded by Bill Maris and backed by Google with the goal of combating aging and associated diseases. In Google's 2013 Founders' Letter, Larry Page described Calico as a company focused on "health, well-being, and longevity". The company's name is an acronym for "California Life Company".
I having an intellectual orgasm, all this information and research this is something beyond my ability to process.
The above two companies are just two examples. When I talk to people about these studies they laugh, I don't blame them, it is not for everyone to understand you or trust you. These studies are very early than their times. They are both still under research and experiment.
Is it possible to bring people back to life using cryonics , as mentioned by Alcor?
Is it possible to have a longer and healthier life as said by Calico ?
I having an intellectual orgasm, all this information and research this is something beyond my ability to process.
The above two companies are just two examples. When I talk to people about these studies they laugh, I don't blame them, it is not for everyone to understand you or trust you. These studies are very early than their times. They are both still under research and experiment.
Is it possible to bring people back to life using cryonics , as mentioned by Alcor?
Is it possible to have a longer and healthier life as said by Calico ?
Final Thoughts
Someday, there will be an answer to all these questions.
Flying was just a dream for people just 120 years ago.
People laughed when wright brothers tried making the first aircraft. Just imagine the insult and shame they had to go through when they shared this idea to the people.
Probably the most notable was Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, who commented in 1911 that "Aero planes are interesting toys but of no military value."
Flying was just a dream for people just 120 years ago.
People laughed when wright brothers tried making the first aircraft. Just imagine the insult and shame they had to go through when they shared this idea to the people.
Probably the most notable was Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, who commented in 1911 that "Aero planes are interesting toys but of no military value."
Just like this maybe someday we will find answers to the questions we have about "after life".
My belief? I like to be positive. I love living. I don't want an end to my life, let me live forever. Even if there is a death, let me go to heaven and enjoy the ultimate peace and happiness"
My belief? I like to be positive. I love living. I don't want an end to my life, let me live forever. Even if there is a death, let me go to heaven and enjoy the ultimate peace and happiness"
The End.
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