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Hinduism
What does Hinduism teach about life after death?
Most Hindus
believe that humans are in a cycle of death and rebirth called samsara. When a
person dies, their atman is reborn in a different body.
Some believe
rebirth happens directly at death, others believe that an atman may exist in
other realms. Hindus believe that an atman may enter swarg or narak for a
period before rebirth.
Hindus believe
in karma or 'intentional action'. Many believe good or bad actions in life
leading to positive or negative merit, determines the atman's rebirth.
Some Hindus
believe that humans may be reborn in animal form, and that rebirth from human
to animal form only occurs if an atman has repeatedly failed to learn lessons
in human form.
Living life according to teachings in the scriptures will eventually lead to moksha. Some Hindu scriptures describe moksha as the atman becoming absorbed with Brahman, from where each atman is believed to originate. Other Hindu scriptures describe moksha as living in the realm of a personal God.
The
Maitri Upanishad states:
Even as water becomes one with water, fire with fire, and air with air, so the
atman becomes one with the Infinite Atman (Brahman) and thus attains final
freedom.
Maitri Upanishad 6.24
Most Hindus believe that humans are in a cycle of death and rebirth called 'samsara'. Hinduism teaches that through enlightened knowledge the cycle can be broken.
Why do Hindus believe in life after death?
Ancient Hindu scriptures
refer to the atman being reborn many times. The Bhagavad Gita states:
As a person
casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so does the atman cast off
worn out bodies and enter new ones. Bhagavad Gita 2:22 (Smriti text)
The Bhagavad
Gita also explains that death is something that we can neither stop nor grieve
about:
For certain is the death of all that comes to birth, certain is the birth of
all that dies. So in a matter that no one can prevent do not grieve. Bhagavad
Gita 2:27
What does this mean in practice?
Most Hindus believe that good merit is achieved by following your dharma. The Bhagavad Gita details four different ways that moksha can be achieved:
- Karma
Yoga
- Bhakti
Yoga
- Jnana
Yoga
- Meditation
What happens after Moksha?
There are two
main beliefs about what happens after Moksha:
- Some Hindus believe that the atman is absorbed into
Brahman. This is because the atman and Brahman are the same.
- Other Hindus believe that the atman and Brahman are
different and that after moksha they remain separate. They believe that
the atman will be in the presence of Brahman, as a personal God, but will
remain unique and individual.