1) A view of Life, the Universe and Everything.
2) A method for going through everyday life. After all, its tough \m/
3) Some history as to the faith's origins.
For this post, lets consider what the biggest religions have to say about the first of these.
(Borrowed extensively from thinkquest.org)
Christianity
The body dies, but the soul lives forever. The big question is where each person will spend eternity. Heaven is a glorious location where there is an absence of pain, disease, sex, depression, etc. and where people live in new, spiritual bodies, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Hell is a location where its inmates will be punished without any hope of relief, for eternity.Muslim
The Islamic holy book, the Koran, says that salvation depends on a man's actions and attitudes. However, repentance can turn an evil man toward the virtue that will save him. The final day of reckoning is described in awesome terms. On that last day every man will account for what he has done, and his eternal existence will be determined on that basis.
Muslims recognize that different individuals have been given different abilities and various degrees of insight into the truth. Each man will be judged according to his situation, and every man who lives according to the truth to the best of his abilities will achieve heaven. However, infidels who are presented with the truth of Islam and reject It will be given no mercy. God judges all men, and the infidels will fall off the bridge al-Aaraf into hell while the good men continue on to heaven.
The Koran has vivid descriptions of both heaven and hell. Heaven is depicted in terms of worldly delights, and the torments of hell are shown in lurid detail. Muslims disagree as to whether those descriptions are to be taken literally or not.Hinduism
The final goal of salvation in Hinduism is escape from the endless round of birth, death, and rebirth.
Four ways of reaching such salvation, are described. Jnana yoga, the way of knowledge, employs philosophy and the mind to comprehend the unreal nature of the universe. Bhakti yoga, the way of devotion or love, reaches salvation through ecstatic worship of a divine being. Karma yoga, the way of action, strives toward salvation by performing works without regard for personal gain and Raja yoga, "the royal road," makes use of meditative yoga techniques.
Buddhism
1) Personal Identity: Do we keep our memories or leave them with the body? If we indeed leave them, its like a total refresh, everyone is the same blank slate. Does surviving this way have any point at all?
2) Why is the afterlife so similar to this physical world? Do the genders exist?
3) There are hypothesis about the future, death and the afterlife(which might last for eternity), but what about birth? Are new people being created or like in Hinduism/Buddhism, just being recycled?
I don't believe in religions anyway, so why am I analyzing them? Well, firstly to see how having stood for over thousands of years, these are still not without basic logical shortcomings. Secondly, just to see what different perspectives are possible. And thirdly, to make a brand new adaptation of mine, even though it might not be palatable to many.
A new approach
Lets consider dying = a bad thing. After all we are all sad/afraid of it.
So unlike conventional schools, lets conclude Earth is Heaven and Afterlife is Hell (for lack of better terminology).
This makes our natural state as Souls in Hell, from where we are allowed breaks when we visit Earth.
Now this reminds me of prison more than anything else, so extending this mind-trip further, maybe we are all prison inmates in some uber-world, and are allowed parole on Earth from time to time.
Perfect. Now we have a perfect reason for associating sadness with death, for this is when we are going back to our hell prison.
On the upside, this gives a concrete objective for mankind as a whole. To achieve immortality, here in the physical world, so that we need not go back. Hence the constant race for technological progress.
Extra: Existential
Also you might like to check this out, its the most awesome post I have read in some time. Thanks Kinari for sharing.
You die, you reincarnate. The type of rebirth(whether as a mosquito, a pig or a human etc) will be conditioned by the moral tone of the person's actions. The Buddhism sees ignorance rather than sin as the roadblock to salvation. That is, the belief that the world and self truly exist, keeps the illusory wheel of existence rolling - only destruction of that belief will stop the mad course of the world. The Buddha described NirvÄna as the perfect peace of the state of mind that is free from craving, anger and other afflicting states. It is also the "end of the world"; there is no identity left, and no boundaries for the mind.Some glaring problems with issues of afterlife.
1) Personal Identity: Do we keep our memories or leave them with the body? If we indeed leave them, its like a total refresh, everyone is the same blank slate. Does surviving this way have any point at all?
2) Why is the afterlife so similar to this physical world? Do the genders exist?
3) There are hypothesis about the future, death and the afterlife(which might last for eternity), but what about birth? Are new people being created or like in Hinduism/Buddhism, just being recycled?
I don't believe in religions anyway, so why am I analyzing them? Well, firstly to see how having stood for over thousands of years, these are still not without basic logical shortcomings. Secondly, just to see what different perspectives are possible. And thirdly, to make a brand new adaptation of mine, even though it might not be palatable to many.
A new approach
Lets consider dying = a bad thing. After all we are all sad/afraid of it.
So unlike conventional schools, lets conclude Earth is Heaven and Afterlife is Hell (for lack of better terminology).
This makes our natural state as Souls in Hell, from where we are allowed breaks when we visit Earth.
Now this reminds me of prison more than anything else, so extending this mind-trip further, maybe we are all prison inmates in some uber-world, and are allowed parole on Earth from time to time.
Perfect. Now we have a perfect reason for associating sadness with death, for this is when we are going back to our hell prison.
On the upside, this gives a concrete objective for mankind as a whole. To achieve immortality, here in the physical world, so that we need not go back. Hence the constant race for technological progress.
Extra: Existential
The Existential system of beliefs is very simple - nothing comes after death. We simply cease to be.
Also you might like to check this out, its the most awesome post I have read in some time. Thanks Kinari for sharing.
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