It seems that every World Culture has some concept of Eternal Life. Where does this concept come from? Is this strictly a grief coping skill learned down through the ages? Is it the soul that is eternal? Perhaps it is the spirit that is eternal. What we believe, or what we think regarding our own personal eternal existence was most likely learned from within our cultural background. Regardless of our thinking there is much misunderstanding concerning eternal life.
I have attended many funeral services over the years. I have heard many of the Speakers pronounce the deceased as being in heaven. I have yet to hear a funeral Speaker say, “this dearly departed one is now eternally dead.” A rather tranquil scene is usually painted where the deceased is enjoying the very things they seemed to have too little time to enjoy while physically alive. I have also been to the funeral services of some real reprobates not worthy of living any longer in a civilized population. Even at those services the person, regardless of the pain and hurt they may have caused others, is still commuted to an eternal resting place. I can not recall any funeral speaker ever saying anything remotely close, or that could be construed or understood as some form of eternal punishment for the departed. Eternal life is always blissful.
Time Books produced a series of books about the body and its workings. They are written in easily understood terms and worth adding to your personal library. One of the books in the series called Your Brain has a very well written section about how the brain responds to spiritual therapy. Even though Time’s effort and our effort in this Blog is different there are some similarities, more on those in a later post. For now in this blog post we just want to concentrate on the subject of eternal life. Below is a brief summary of various religious views of eternal life. I do apologize in advance if in my effort toward brevity I misrepresent any fundamental belief.
Atheists – Since there is no higher power then themselves to consult an Atheist can believe whatever they want concerning the possibility of an afterlife as they are their own god.
Buddhism – In general Buddhists cling to the teaching of reincarnation, that ends in the final liberation as Nirvana.
Christianity – The majority of Christians believe in a concept of heaven as an eternal reward. A considerable number of Christians also believe in eternal punishment for the unholy in hell.
Hinduism – Much like Buddhists, Hindus believe in reincarnation and karma, with your status in your next life dependent on your conduct in this life.
Islam – Believes in eternal paradise, but they also believe in eternal damnation for those judged unworthy of paradise.
Judaism – Current Jewish texts reveal little relating to life after death. The greater concentration is on how virtuous one lives in this life.
In my next post I will consider the effects of beliefs on the brain which in turn have a direct effect on the body. Post any comments below this post by clicking on “comments”.
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