3. Briefly trace the notion of death and any afterlife through Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese Religion
(including Daoism and Confucianism) and Islam.
In Hinduism, the basic teaching of life after death involves a concept known as reincarnation, which is called samsara. This literally means "wanderings" and it promotes the idea that we will have to wander through many lifetimes to perfect ourselves, work off our karma, and to eventually reach a point of breaking this cycle known as "moksha". In the Hindu mindset, this idea of reincarnation is a negative one and an extremely depressing concept. For one to live is to experience suffering. Therefore, to experience a large number of cycles of life, death and rebirth means that one must endure many lives of recurring suffering. In addition, it is possible that one may also reincarnate from a high level of human life to an extremely low level life form (i.e. cockroach, worm or plant) if the law of karma determines such a fate. At such a point, it might take seemingly endless number of reincarnations in order to again reach a high level life form and a position where one can eventually escape from this wheel of samsara. This idea of karma is a mechanistic law of cause and effect and it determines a soul's next level of incarnation. It guarantees that a person will receive exactly what they deserve in the next life based on their actions in this present life. The final goal in Hinduism is to break or to be liberated from this cycle of reincarnation. This break or release is called moksha. Once a person has attained moksha then they are absorbed back into Brahman (God). A metaphor describing this is like a drop of water being absorbed back into the ocean. It's the absorption of consciousness into the pantheistic all. Brahman is the ultimate form of reality: which is not personal but is impersonal, it is inexpressible and unknowable, infinite and beyond all human understanding. Brahman is the impersonal, all pervasive being that is the only one true reality. The ultimate truth for the Hindu is to "realize" that he himself is Brahman, that he and the universe are one and the same Being. Brahman is all and all is Brahman.
Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism brought over into his teachings the belief in the doctrines of samsara (reincarnation) and karma, which are found in Hinduism. While Buddha's teachings did uphold these two Hindu concepts, he simultaneously rejected the Hindu teachings of the caste system and as well as the authority of the Vedas. In Buddhism, the ultimate goal to achieve by breaking the wheel of samsara is to enter the state of nirvana, which means "blown out". This literal "blowing-out" would be synonymous to extinguishing a candle or to realizing one's self-extinctedness. Buddha taught the life that we experience is maya or an illusion. This life simply consists of deceptive vibrations, which keep us from realizing this nothingness, (sunyata). To Siddhartha Gautama, life was like being trapped in a burning automobile in that you need to commit suicide, so to speak, in order to escape the pain. You need to escape it on a level of consciousness as well as a physical level. Otherwise, your consciousness would simply reincarnate into another burning car. The goal is to reach this state where you lose all sense of consciousness. The reality behind the illusion is nonexistence. Consequently, a person will continue to go through the wheel of samsara until he comes to grasp this reality. The "four noble truths" are the very essence of Buddha's teaching of how to break the wheel. First, to live is to suffer. Second, suffering is caused by desire. Third, one can eliminate suffering by eliminating desire. Fourth, a person can eliminate desire by the method of the eightfold path. Gautama believed that a person could reach this state of the elimination of desire while still alive. A person would then be in a state of blissful serenity until he died for the last time. A couple hundred years after Gautama's death, a division took place and two main branches of Buddhism were formed which are now called Thervada and Mahayana. Thervada was the more historically orthodox which means "tradition of the elders". This form centered on the monks where only a few could benefit and achieve Nirvana. . Lay people could affect their karma by dedicating their lives to the monks or being a short-term monk. This would give them the hope of becoming a monk in the next life. Sometimes you could earn some time in heaven between incarnations (though temporary). This heaven is very blissful and pleasurable. However, you cannot enjoy it too much or you could lose ground in the next incarnation. Mahayana Buddhism, known as the "big raft" was conceived to give people additional ways to attain salvation other than being a monk. One of the significant developments that Mahayana brought about was the change of ideas regarding sunyata. The idea of entering into a state of self-extinction or of a void was replaced with the idea of entering into a state of compassion, blissfulness and pleasure. The end of suffering is replaced with an environment of pleasure. The fourth innovation of Mahayana brought about the development of many schools and subschools of Buddhist thought. Throughout the various schools of Buddhism, you have such diverse notions as the ultimate destiny being a state of total extinction to the ultimate destiny being a place of bliss or a type of heaven. The road to achieving this enlightenment ranges all the way from the lifestyle of self-denial and strict regulations to the indulgence of carnal desire.
The notion of death and the afterlife in Chinese popular religion is very ambiguous since over time there has been a convergence of four main areas of thought. These areas are Traditional Chinese religion, Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. The religion as a whole is eclectic as it attempts to select doctrines from these various systems of thought.
The earliest reliable reports came during the Shang dynasty around 1500 B.C. at which time it is clear that the religion had various basic traits of traditional religion. They believed in a God called Shang-di who lived in the sky, who was the moral lawgiver, and who was related to by animal sacrifices. The following Zhou dynasty also worshiped this monotheistic god but began to view Shang-di as being identical with Tian, the heaven in which this god lived. In this earliest pure form of ancient Chinese religion it appears, though it is unclear, that there is the idea of a heaven as well as a hell that people would go to after death. Two other distinct traits in Traditional Chinese religion is (1.) the close relationship between the state and religion and (2.) the practice of divination. This close state/religion relationship later birthed new religious ideas in order to help rectify political upheavals. At the core of Chinese divination practice is the concept of a balance of nature. There are two opposite forces in the world, which are known as the yin and the yang. The yin is dark, passive, earth-related, cold, moist, mysterious, dark and feminine. The yang is active, sky-related, hot, dry, clear, light and masculine. These forces are opposite yet there is a unity to these interacting principles. It is fundamental to understand that neither the yin nor the yang is good or evil in itself. Rather, good is the proper balance between these two forces and evil is an imbalance in either direction. This proper balance is referred to as the Dao (Tao) which means "the way". In Daoism, the idea of good and evil is a completely different concept from what Christianity teaches. In Christianity good and evil are moral concepts but in the Chinese Dao it is almost utilitarian based on practical implications. All Chinese schools of thought believe in this idea of the Dao although they differ as to how this balance is discovered. In the sixth century B.C., political and societal instability birthed a number of religious and political ideas as an attempt to remedy these problems. Two of these ideas were Daoism and Confucianism. The philosophy of Daoism is based on the legend of a supposed wise old sage named Lao-zi who was born at the age of seventy-two, although many scholars believe that he never existed at all. His writings of wisdom are compiled in a book known as the Dao-de-jing, which is the "book of the way and its power". Part of the focus of Daoism is learning how to ride along with the flow of the Dao. Rather than trying to manipulate or aggressively pursue it, the solution lies in resigning yourself to the flow of the Dao and doing as little as possible. There are four primary principles that the Dao-de-jing teaches. 1. The true reality of the Dao cannot be captured by either words or reason. 2. The concept of the wu-wei, known as the "actionless action". This is the type of passivity where you resign yourself to being swept up in the flow of the Dao. 3. The idea that human judgements are relative. There is no objective category or standard of truth since ultimate reality is beyond categories. The idea of all ultimate dualities is dissolved. 4. The idea of government by inaction. The same principle that applies to the personal level also applies to the governmental level. In other words, to govern least is to govern best. The greater the attempt the government makes to make things right, the worse off the situation will become. In conclusion, the Dao will manifest for both individuals and for society when people no longer attempt to manipulate or force the Dao, but rather when they resign themselves into this "actionless action". Various revisions of Daoism later began to take place as the philosophy was organized into a religion of the people. However, these revisions compromised the pure philosophy of Daoism. An important development was the use of alchemy and magic in the search for immortality. By harnessing the right energy, it was believed that they could increase their own life force or qi (ch'i) which would increase their life span. This group is known as fang-shi, (masters of recipe) and they used various techniques in order to achieve immortality. It became legend that a number of people achieved this immortality, which are commonly referred to as the "Eight Immortals". Another development in Daoism is that the fang-shi began to worship a variety of deities as part of the religion. Eventually, the religion of Daoism developed its own pantheon of personal gods in order to compete with the influence of Buddhism, which became popular in China. In addition, the belief in a heaven and a hell was eventually brought into this progressive religious system as well as the deification of Lao-tzu.
Confucianism was founded on the teachings of an actual historical figure whose real name was Kong-fu-zi. Unlike the mystical, enigmatic beliefs of Daoism, the teachings of Confucius were humanistic and dealt with trying to rebirth the ideal state or government that supposedly existed in a golden era under the original ideal emperors. Confucius did not concern himself with teaching on religious issues such as the afterlife, the worship of any gods, or divine revelations. He purposely avoided making speculations regarding the nature of the spirit world and life after death. Confucius explicitly rejected the notion of the passivity or "actionless action" of Daoism. Rather, he believed that there are actions based on an ideal model which one must do in order to make things work. A starting point for this restoration of the ideal state was the "rectification of names". The language needed to be clarified so that people would know exactly what their duties were and would then be able to fulfill them. Confucius believed that people's actions should correspond with the title that they have in life. For example, a warrior should act like a warrior and a prince should behave like a prince. It should be noted that there is no relationship to a god of sorts, which demands a moral obligation in how one should act. Rather, the obligation is based on a duty to other human beings in the society.
A foundational teaching of this duty is a principle called ren, which is translated as "the attitude of seeking the welfare of other people". This principle is not one of altruistic love in the fullest sense because it does not involve denying one's own goals and desires for the sake of others. It has often facetiously been referred to as the "silver rule" which may be phrased as "Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you". It is not proactive as in the "golden rule" showing you what to do to love others. Rather it is passively telling you what not to do based on what you do not want others to do unto you. The second concept of Confucius's teaching is known as li and is the principle of doing the right thing at the right time. It deals with propriety or the proper conduct in social situations. This would include many specifics such as the proper facial expressions, dress, body posture etc. The combination of the ren and li provides the ideal model in order to make society work. He also lists five basic human relationships along with the proper attitude of each person in the relationship, which should be exhibited in order for society to be healed. A later development in Chinese thought is the veneration that Confucius received bringing him to the level of deity. It is ironic given the fact that he was one of the least religious figures in Chinese history with no concern regarding deity and life after death.
The ultimate goal of Islam deals with the salvation of people for the world to come. This life is viewed as a time of preparation, which will ultimately determine whether a person will be judged to an eternal heaven or hell. The Qur'an describes heaven as a place of physical pleasure and hell as an abode of torment. One of the original doctrines of Muhammad's teaching was the idea of impending judgement. The idea of a judgement is that the trumpet will sound and afterward there will be a general resurrection. The living and the dead will then appear before God at which point each person will be confronted with both the good and evil deeds which were done in life. The doctrine of salvation in Islam is one of works. Like a scale, a person's good works will be weighed against the bad. God will take into consideration a person's sincerity in submitting to his will and the efforts made to keep his commands. All persons found worthy according to their deeds will be given heaven as a reward while all others will be receive hell as a punishment. There are five essential duties or obligations in Islam, which are a means of meriting favor and gaining ultimate reward in heaven. While there are many other requirements, these duties known as the five pillars of Islam, are the most prominent. The first pillar is the confession (shahada), which states, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the apostle of God". If a person repeats this confession and means it then he is considered a Muslim. This does not guarantee one's salvation but it is a beginning point from which to work from. The second pillar is (salat) which is the required ritual prayer to Allah five times daily. The third pillar is fasting (sawn) which is done in commemoration of the first revelations that Mohammad received during the month of Ramadan. Fourth, is almsgiving (zakat) which is the regular practice of acts of charity. Lastly, a Muslim is expected to make a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once during his lifetime. If a person meets all these requirements during his lifetime there is still no assurance of salvation in Islam. For a Muslim to claim that he knows for certain that he is going to heaven is considered to be presumptuous. This attitude seems to dictate to God or obligate Him as to what He must do. A Muslim can only be hopeful as to entrance into heaven since he relies on his works in light of an unattainable standard of perfection. The Qur'an depicts heaven within the context of a desert culture. It is a place of eternal bliss and sensual indulgence where people receive whatever their hearts desire. The faithful will enjoy refreshing drinks surrounded by fruit trees and enjoy the companionship of young and beautiful women. On the other hand, hell is a constricted place where the damned drink boiling fetid water. It should be pointed out that Muslim scholars claim that many of these descriptions of heaven and hell are meant to be symbolic. All Muslims believe that the duration of time that a person spends in heaven is eternal. However, Muslim scholars are not unanimous in agreement as to the duration of the lost in hell. While the Qur'an describes the fire and hell as eternal, some believe that there is a possibility that the punishment itself will not last forever.
