What is the Afterlife?

A lot of people don’t know what lies in the Great Beyond, or what secrets are to be found after death. The unknown causes them to fear death and dying.

Have you ever asked yourself what is the afterlife, or wondered what it’s like? Arriving at the answer to such questions is not easy. In fact, there are people who joke that you can only find out what the afterlife is all about when you are already dead.

That’s not true.

However, death and dying are topics that many people find difficult to discuss because they bring fear and anxiety. The reasons behind such feelings lie in the fact that people are typically afraid of the unknown.

A lot of people don’t know what lies in the Great Beyond, or what secrets are to be found after death.  And so, they are afraid.

Believing in the Afterlife

There’s a specific word that means the fear of death: Thanataphobia. Mental health experts—psychologists and psychiatrists alike—describe this fear as a complicated form of fear, or phobia.

Still, even as the ideas of death and dying bring fear or dread to people, it is interesting to know that many still believe in the Afterlife.

In 2011, the independent global marketing research company Ipsos Global, together with the news agency Reuters, conducted a worldwide survey on people’s belief about God, evolution, and the Afterlife.

51% of the people who participated in the survey stated that they believe in the Afterlife.

Several years forward, in an independent survey conducted by Today Newslast April 10, 2015, it was found out that 55% of the world’s population still believes in the Afterlife.

Clearly, belief in the Afterlife has not waned through the years. Instead, such a belief has even grown.

The AfterLife in Mythology

There’s no exact time and date when people started to believe in the Afterlife.

However, it is safe to conclude that the belief in the Afterlife is as old as  human civilization itself.

Historically, there is ample evidence that the Afterlife has been the subject in various mythologies, as well as in the teachings of world religions.

The Ancient Greeks believed that once a person died, his soul would go to the Underworld. The Underworld was where the dead resided.

For example, the Ancient Greeks believed that once a person died, his soul would go to the Underworld which is ruled by the god Hades (more popularly known as Pluto).

But Hades is not the god of death himself. The god of death in  Greek mythology is Thanatos, which is where the term Thanataphobia,  or the fear of death, came from.

Meanwhile, the people of Ancient Egypt believed in the judgment of souls, in immortality, and in the resurrection of the dead. The Egyptians during those times believed that when a person died, his spirit would immediately enter the Hall of Judgment.

Ancient Egyptians believed that at the time of the Great Judgment, the god Osiris —the presiding god of the underworld— would examine the heart of the deceased to know whether he was worthy to enter the underworld, or be punished for an indefinite period of time.

At the time of the Great Judgment, the god Osiris — the presiding god of the underworld — would examine the heart of the deceased to know whether he was worthy to enter the underworld, or be punished for an indefinite period of time.

In the book titled “Egyptian Religion”  the late Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, a curator at the British Museum, described the punishment chamber as a place of monsters and blazing fire.

The Afterlife in the Teachings of World Religions

From the perspective of some mainstream religions, hell is where the souls of wicked people will be sent for eternal punishment.

The majority of mainstream religious beliefs include belief in the Afterlife. Egyptian mythology’s concept of the Afterlife has similarities to the way hell is depicted in both Islam and Christianity. From their perspective, hell is where the souls of wicked people will be sent for eternal punishment.

Meanwhile, Taoists and the ancient Chinese people believe in Diyu, or  purgatory.

According to traditional belief, Diyu is a place where souls are tormented or punished as part of their cleansing process.

After the soul has been cleansed and purified, it becomes ready for rebirth or reincarnation.

Based on Roman Catholic teachings, the souls of people who committed venial sins, or sins that are not grave enough to bring them to hell, are purified and cleansed in purgatory before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Purgatory is called such, because it is where they will be purged or cleansed of their sins.

Again, such a belief regarding belief of the purgatory shares similarities with those held by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Based on Roman Catholic teachings, the souls of the people who committed venial sins, or sins that are not grave enough to bring them to hell, are purified and cleansed in purgatory before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is not exactly the same case with Buddhism. Buddhists see the Afterlife as having heaven and hell,  temporal places for the souls to go to, at the time of death.

Based on  Buddhist teachings,  after the soul had lived in hell or in heaven for a definite period of time, they will return here to earth, or to another place, to be reincarnated.

Reincarnation happens for souls to consume their Karma.

This belief in the temporary nature of hell is shared by Hinduism, Taoism, and even the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism).

The majority of the Hindu scriptures (the Vedas and the Puranas) state that the soul’s stay in Naraka (hell) is temporary.

Belief in eternal hell is denied in the Kabbalistic teachings, for it contradicts the principle that God is a loving and compassionate God.

Then, after its punishment, the soul will be ready for reincarnation either on earth, or on other heavenly planets, depending on the spiritual achievements of the soul.

The teachings of Kabbalah, on the other hand, deny the unchangeable belief about eternal punishment in burning hell.

Kabbalists argue that if God is indeed a loving God, would there be a need to make people suffer for eternity?

Do You Need to Fear Death and Dying?

The 19^th century poet and philosopher, Kahlil Gibran, wrote in his bestselling book, The Prophet, the following thought-provoking lines:

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.”

This brings me to another important point: people fear death and dying not just because they have no idea about what to expect in the Great Beyond. They also fear fear death and dying because they keep on forgetting that they are not only physical bodies that decay and turn to dust, but rather, that they are immortal souls that become temporarily encased in a body.

In the 5,000 year-old Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, it is stated that even if the body ceased to exist, the real Self never ceased to exist.

This is so because as the soul leaves the body, it will only assume another body, as set by the Law of Reincarnation.

Reincarnation is needed to purify the effects of negative Karma, or the negative thoughts, feelings, and actions you have accumulated during your past life.

When you are purified from all the negative Karma that you carry, your Soul will be freed from the cycle of birth, sickness, old age, and death.

A Psychic Reading Can Help You Understand Death and Dying From a Spiritual Viewpoint

Once you understand the wisdom of death, you will be freed of the fear of death and the fear of dying.

A major quality that highlights the importance of psychic reading is the fact that a reading, when given by a competent psychic medium can clearly explain many beautiful spiritual principles, including those about death and dying.

If you were  to ask your Spirit Guides about death and dying, they would tell you that there’s nothing to be afraid of. Death is just the liberation of the soul from the material body.

During a phone psychic reading, with the help of my Spirit Guides, I can explain to you,as a psychic medium, why and how death is simply a process of liberating the soul from the material body; and that death and dying are not terrible things.

You may find this hard to accept right now.

But by experiencing psychic readings, you will learn about the spiritual principle of non-attachment, or of overcoming material desires and thoughts. Thus, this will free you from the fear of death and dying.

Finding the answers about death and dying is especially useful if you have a loved one on The Other Side, whom you’d love to communicate with again.

Get the answers that you want. Schedule a psychic reading now.

Are you afraid of death and dying? What are your opinions about it? Let me know in the comments below!

If You Enjoyed This Article, Here are Some Other Suggested Articles for You to Read:

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The Spiritual Realms: The Invisible Worlds Around You

Are Spirits In The Spirit World Immortal?