Afterlife. Ancient Egyptian papyrus depicting the journey into the afterlife.
Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru discovered at the Mogao Caves. [edit] In metaphysical models, theists generally believe some sort of afterlife awaits people when they die. Members of some generally non-theistic religions such as Buddhism, tend to believe in an afterlife, but without reference to a God. The Sadducees were an ancient Jewish sect that generally believed that there was a God but no afterlife.
Many religions, whether they believe in the soul's existence in another world like Christianity, Islam and many pagan belief systems, or in reincarnation like many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism, believe that one's status in the afterlife is a reward or punishment for their conduct during life. Reincarnation[edit] Rebirth (Buddhism) Within one life and across multiple lives, the empirical, changing self not only objectively affects its surrounding external world, but also generates (consciously and unconsciously) its own subjective image of this world, which it then lives in as 'reality'.
It lives in a world of its own making in various ways. It "tunes in" to a particular level of consciousness (by meditation or the rebirth it attains through its karma) which has a particular range of objects - a world - available to it. It furthermore selectively notices from among such objects, and then processes what has been sensed to form a distorted interpretive model of reality: a model in which the 'I am' conceit is a crucial reference point. Near-death experience. Characteristics[edit] Researchers have identified the common elements that define near-death experiences.[24] Bruce Greyson argues that the general features of the experience include impressions of being outside one's physical body, visions of deceased relatives and religious figures, and transcendence of egotic and spatiotemporal boundaries.[25] Many different elements have been reported, though the exact elements tend to correspond with the cultural, philosophical, or religious beliefs of the person experiencing it: The traits of a classic NDE are as follows: The notice of unpleasant sound or noise (claimed by R.
Moody).[10]A sense/awareness of being dead.[24][26]A sense of peace, well-being and painlessness. Positive emotions. Reincarnation. Reincarnation is the religious or philosophical concept that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions.
This doctrine is a central tenet of the Indian religions.[1] It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar and is found in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Siberia, West Africa, North America, and Australia.[2] In recent decades, many Europeans and North Americans have developed an interest in reincarnation.[6] Contemporary films, books, and popular songs frequently mention reincarnation. In the last decades, academic researchers have begun to explore reincarnation and published reports of children's memories of earlier lives in peer-reviewed journals and books. Conceptual definitions[edit]
Bride of Christ. An 1880 Baxter process illustration of Revelation 22:17 by Joseph Martin Kronheim.
The Bride of Christ or bride, the Lamb's wife is a term used in reference to a group of related verses in the Bible—in the Gospels, Revelation, the Epistles and related verses in the Old Testament. Sometimes the Bride is implied through calling Jesus a Bridegroom. For over fifteen hundred years the Church was identified as the bride betrothed to Christ.
However, there are instances where the interpretation of the usage of bride varies from Church to Church. The majority believe it always refers to the Church. Christ is a bridegroom[edit] Judgement (afterlife) The central panel portrays the Hindu god Yama judges the dead.
Other panels depict various realms/hells of Naraka. A central theme of many religions is what happens to people upon death. The Astral Pulse - Index. Jerry Gross - The Out-of-Body Experience. By Kevin Williams Jerry Gross is a leader in the field of out-of-body explorations.
As a well known out-of-body teacher and practitioner, he holds workshops on astral projection in the United States and abroad. Jerry began having spontaneous out-of-body experiences in early childhood. As he grew older, he developed ways to court these experiences, to invite them with greater frequency. So powerful was their impact on his life that he founded Search and Prove [www.searchandprove.org], an organization dedicated to bringing the out-of-body experience to mass consciousness. Robert Monroe - near-death experiences from out-of-body travel. The traveler can also move directly into a visualized space that is very much like a dream environment maintaining continuous awareness of the transition into this space. Though the experience talks about being in a light sleep when the transition took place, I have had a very similar experience where I was awake when the image I was perceiving turned into a three-dimensional space which I then entered via spiritual travel.
Sometimes the traveler's transition to formed environments will involve dynamic movement, and the traveler will enter the environment soaring above fields and cities, taking in vast panoramas. Music - near. "I heard what seemed like millions of little golden bells ringing, tinkling; they rang and rang.
Many times since, I've heard those bells in the middle of the night. Homecoming - near. Matthew Dovel. In Matthew Dovel's book entitled My Last Breath, he describes both of his NDEs.
Although his book was classified as "fiction" by his publisher, Matthew's NDE testimony is true from start to finish. It is thought that the publisher classified it as "fiction" because of the rather unusual subject matter. But indeed, according to Matthew Dovel, it is all factual. Matthew states, "I am compelled to share the story of what happened to me, the profound changes that took place afterwards, and the message I brought back with me from the other side. When I tell people of my experiences, they are completely captivated and are left wanting to know more. Dovel drowned at the age of twelve and temporarily died. I met Jesus Christ when I was twelve during my first near-death experience. Returning to Earth after feeling the love and peace that pervades heaven caused him to spend his teenage years filled with angst and disgust over the ugliness in the world.
Dovel was born in Seattle, Washington. Realms - near. "The journey to the earthbound realm is so subtle that many souls who travel there are not even aware they have died.
Several cases in point is Dr. George Ritchie and Dr. Dianne Morrissey. Both of them didn't realize they were dead until they saw their dead body. Experiences of the Hollywood Rich and Famous. Peter Sellers was the comic genius of a generation of actors. He brought brilliant characterizations to numerous films, including "The Mouse That Roared" (1959), "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), "The Pink Panther" (1964), and "Being There" (1979). He was known for his enthusiastic way of totally absorbing himself in his characters, even carrying roles offstage. He also suffered from sad moods between films. While he knew his characters thoroughly, he said that he really did not know who he was. Heaven - near. By Kevin Williams Where is heaven? Is it up in the sky somewhere? From the beginning of recorded history, humans have expressed in various ways their desire to attain heaven - as a paradise on Earth and after death.
Temple - near. Dr. George Ritchie's Temple Experience: "I began to perceive a whole new realm! Experiences with Pets and Animals. Noteworthy Quotes About Death, Near-Death Experiences, Heaven, Love, Life, Religion and Science. Told not ready - near-death experience. By Kevin Williams At some point in every near-death experience, the person returns to life. Otherwise, the person's body would die and their soul would remain on the Other Side. In such a case, instead of a NDE, the person would experience death. But some people are given a choice as to whether or not to return. For example, they might be asked, "Are you ready? " Sometimes the experiencer returns to life instantaneously.
The experiencer may be given a reason why the must return.