Life After Death | Everything you need to know

Life – from the second we are born and come into existence all our actions and decisions lead up to one thing – Death!

It doesn’t matter what you do. If you are good or bad. Death is inevitable. Mankind has tried for centuries to find the key to immortality but they soon learned that you cannot cheat death. 

So after mankind accepted death cannot be avoided, they wondered, is death really the end of all things? What happens to dead people?

When we die, our spirit and body will be disconnected. Our spirit is the essence of who we are, not our body dies. The spirit goes to the spirit world where the waiting period may vary for each soul until we reunite with new bodies either another human or animal or insect. If our spirit completes the task whatever given to us properly it will take over to another level.

Is there life after death? The answer to this question varies from person to person, religion to religion, and culture to culture. The Hindus are pretty popular for their unique view of life, death, and life after death. Their understanding of death and life is guided by several principles. 

Life after death - Everything you need to know

So we shall discuss the principles guiding the Hindus’ view of life and death. As well as life after death in Hinduism.

Principles guiding the view of life in Hinduism 

According to the Hindus the meaning of life is subject to four principles: 

  • Dharma
  • Artha
  • Kama
  • Moksha

Dharma

Dharma is the power that maintains society, it makes people act morally upright, virtuously, and righteously. Now each person has their own Dharma, which simply means what is right and virtuous for one person to do might not be for the other. 

Dharma can also be seen as a service to humans and God. 

Artha 

The Artha involves enjoying the material things of the world and meeting your needs without being greedy. Artha prompts you to ask yourself the question; what do I see as valuation? 

Contrary to popular belief, spirituality doesn’t require you to be poor. This is what Artha is all about. It wants you to live a fulfilling life and by enjoying everything in your environment. The Upanishads say, “There is no joy in smallness, joy is in the infinite.”

Although, Artha advocates for enjoying life and pursuing wealth, you must stay within the confines of Dharma while doing that. Work and enjoy your wealth but do not do so by doing anything unrighteous, wicked, and greedy. 

Kama 

The Kama is the desire to seek pleasure in life. Kama involves seeking pleasure from things like love, music, beauty, art, intimacy, food, and friendship. 

Along with Artha, Kama wants you to enjoy life to the full but still within the confines of Dharma. 

Moksha 

This is who you really are. This involves being enlightened, liberated, self-conscious, and self-aware. 

Moksha is achieved from a life lived with inner purity, wisdom, purpose, intelligence, and acknowledgment of God. 

All these principles of life play a major role in what will happen to you when you die.

Now that you’ve understood what guides the life of the Hindus. So what do the Hindus believe in when it comes to death and life after death. 

Hinduism and life after death 

Life after death in Hinduism revolves around three things; karma, atman, and samsara. 

Many Hindus believe that when you die, your deeds or karma determine if your soul or atman is reborn into another human form or animal/insect form. This cycle between life and death is called Samsara

Now, some Hindus believe that rebirth begins immediately after death, while others beg to differ. They believe your atman goes to other realms when you die and before you are reborn.  

There are two types of realms the Atman can go to; the upper realms and lower realms. 

The upper realms are Bhuh, Bhavah, Swah, Mahah, Janah, Tapah, and Satyam. The lower realms are Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Rasatala, Talatala, Mahatala, and Patala. 

Now if you lived your life within the principles of Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha- that is if you live a life filled with good deeds and righteousness you are reborn into a much higher and better form. 

The purpose of rebirth or reincarnation is for one to become one with Brahman. Brahman is “the supreme spirit”. To become one with Brahman, your soul has to have achieved a level of contentment and is not consumed with the love of pleasure and desires of the flesh. Once you have achieved this, death to you is a sad occurrence but a joyful one. 

If you haven’t become one with Brahman, Samsara continues. You continue to be reborn into another form every time you die. This process serves as a learning experience. So you can keep living, learning, and making changes so you can finally achieve Brahman. 

The different realms in Hinduism | Life after death

As previously mentioned there are two different realms; the upper and the lower.

Swah is an upper realm where good people who are to be reborn go before their rebirth. In Swah, you reap the fruits of your good deeds on earth. 

The other upper realms like Jana, Tapah, and Satyam all form Brahmaloka. Brahmaloka is said to be the highest heaven. It is where the Atman goes to become one with Brahman. This put an end to the Samsara– the Atman shall no longer be reborn. 

This is where souls go to become one with Brahman and end the life and death cycle.

Patala is where people who were evil in their life go to suffer. Their Atman is punished there for some time until they have been punished adequately for their sins. Then the Atman is reborn again but into an animal or insect. 

The Hindus believe that all Atman’s come from Brahman, a supreme being. So they spend their existence trying to get back or to achieve the Brahman once more. That is what Samsara is about. 

Although, many different cultures and religions have different ideas about life after death. A lot of them have so much in common. The understanding of Life after death in Hinduism is a very enlightening one as it pushes individuals to live a good life. 

Death may be inevitable but if you follow the principles of dharma and try to be one with Brahman, you will never be afraid of death.