Is there life after death?

"Is there any life after death?" this question has been debated for centuries and still we don't have any conclusive answer. There are many speculations from different groups who believe in after-death, they also speculate about what might happen to a person after their death. Some of the descriptions sound very interesting, but at the same time, they sound more like fiction stories than reality. I never bothered about this question because it really never caught my attention. But recently I heard a few wonderful lectures by Professor Kagan from Yale University where the topic of death was discussed in somewhat detail and while listening to some of those lectures this issue came to my mind. I thought blog readers might be interested in this topic as it's closely related to most religions. Many religions talk very interesting things about life after death. I also see many people are worried about this, sometimes they worry about this more than their life before death. The curiosity of people in this subject prompted me to do some more reading in this area. Personally, I am not that much interested in this subject but as this subject is very closely related to organized religion I think it's worth discussing it here.

It will be interesting to see how we define death? Normally end of life is considered death. Whenever anything stops working completely (for whatever reason) and can not be revived under any circumstances we pronounce it as dead. Basically, death is considered the end of life, so how there can be life after the end of life? The question itself doesn't make much sense, it sounds very contradictory. According to Professor Kagan, this is like asking if is there any food on my plate after I finish my food or if is there any movie after the end of the movie or something like that? Either you have not finished your food (so it means it is still there) or you finished it (it's not there). Similarly,  either you are alive or you are dead. These two events are separate from each other, they are two ends of one linear thread. But many people still believe that there can be a life after the end of life, they don't see any contradiction in this belief. This means either definition of death as the end of life is wrong or no one really dies (as according to them life continues after death). For many people and religions, it is not a full stop (end) but a comma (intermission). Some religions (like Hinduism) believe in many cycles of life and death but in this case also there is no very clear definition of life and death. For many other religions, death is the end of life on this planet and there are no life-death cycles. According to them after death, there is an evaluation of our personal performance (about what you did in your life on this planet).  Based on your report card you get a reward or a punishment. So there are quite a few different theories about life, death, and what happens after death. They all try to tell us what happens after a person's death. Many of them also believe that there is something called soul, which continues to exist even after our death.

It will be also interesting to know how we understand the presence of life? On what basis do we say that particular person or thing is alive? We normally use certain parameters (like pulse rate and heartbeats), check for certain signs, and then based on them we can say whether that person is alive or not. Can we use similar tests to check the presence of life after death? The answer is "No."

According to most religions that believe in after-death events all these post-death events happen with our soul (because our physical body is destroyed after death). There is no scientific (direct or indirect) evidence about any of these theories no matter from which religion or scripture they come. These theories exist because people believe them blindly. There are some news reports and even published books that talk about the near-death experiences of some people. Based on these accounts authors of these books try to claim that their scriptures give accurate descriptions about heaven or hell. These books or interviews are often cited as proof of that religion's claim about the existence of after-death life or some extra-terrestrial world where the Gods live. But the truth is that there is no scientific evidence for any of these theories and claims. Even though some of these books are written by professional medical doctors, they lack unbiased verifiable scientific data about their claims. These types of books don't serve any real purpose other than making people believe in concepts like heaven and hell. So far, I haven't found any reliable evidence that confirms the presence of heaven, hell, or life after death. I think this is more of a philosophical debate rather than a scientific one. The concept of life after death offers people some solace in the event of death of loved ones. It also helps them to overcome the fear of their own death. This gives them a ray of hope that not everything is lost after the death of their dear ones, they are somewhere safe and sound, and one day they will reunite with them. This thought of after-death life is a very beautiful and comforting concept for many, and that's why people want to believe in it. This thinking or belief helps to take away some pain and suffering from tragic events like death, that's why I think it's very popular.

The purpose of this post is not to hurt anyone's feelings but just to have some discussion about this age-old question. I personally feel that whatever good or bad exists, it exists here on our planet. We live our entire life on this planet, our life begins here and ends here. We all, as an individual or as a group, create all good or bad things around us. Most of us face the consequences of our own actions. Our actions produce favorable or unfavorable results for us. I think that if people want to find they can find their own heaven (things that make them happy) or hell (things that make them terribly sad) on this planet itself, no need to look somewhere else. I feel we need to worry more about our lives before death than about any life after death.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]