Death and Religion

Death and Religion

The only certainty in this uncertain world is death. If there is something inevitable in our life or for that matter in anybody’s life it is death. Each one of us has to die sooner or later, some day or other. But in spite of its inevitability and should I say also because of its inevitability death scares us. The fear of death increases with our age not necessarily because we feel that we are getting closer to death but also because of the fact that the realisation of gravity of death and its consequences starts dawning on us as we move from the youth to the middle age. Normally it is from the middle age that we start seeing death from close quarter when we start loosing our old relatives and loved ones.

Apart from the inevitability there are many other factors of death which scare us, the uncertainty of the time of its visit being one such major factor. It is ironical that though death is a certainty in the life, a person never knows when it will strike him. Death is also often associated with the experience of extreme physical pain though there have many instances when a person dies without feeling any pain like a person dying in deep sleep. The thought of possible death of our loved ones, our near and dear ones especially as they approach old age constantly worries us as we never want them to depart from us.

Various religious beliefs strangely enough heighten our fear of death. Most of the religions do not accept that death is the end of everything of the dead person. It is the most common belief that after death, the dead goes to heaven or hell depending upon his good and bad works in his mortal life. This concept though may act as a deterrent form doing consciously any sinful act also is a cause of constant worry to us as we are never sure whether we are doing the right type of good work which will qualify us for a place in the heaven after the end of our life on earth. Many religions believe in rebirth after death and this instead of giving any mental relief to us only adds to our worry as we are never sure what type of life we will be able to enjoy in our next birth. Here again the weight of our good or bad work will determine the type of life to which we will be entitled in our next birth. The very idea of re-experiencing in another life after death all the trials and tribulations that we are undergoing in the present life not only makes us uncomfortable but indeed makes us scared. Further there is even no guarantee that that our next birth will be in the form of a human being, it can be in the form of some animals or even some other lower species in case the volume of our bad works so justifies as the law of death and the concept of reward and punishment for good and bad works are supposed to apply uniformly to all living beings on this earth.

Hinduism believes in the concept of each of us having within our body a soul which is indestructible and therefore remains untouched even when a person dies. The soul which is supposed to be a part of the infinite power that pervades the universe moves from one body to another after the end of each life cycle till it gets merged with the infinite. This is called the stage of Moksha when one becomes free from rebirths again and again. It is believed that one can attain salvation in one birth while others may have to undergo hundreds of births with all the pains and sufferings of each birth before he can achieve Moksha.  This is no doubt a profound idea which is probably based on the concept that every object of the universe is a part of the infinite soul.

It appears that while science does not attempt to venture beyond death religions always give great importance to what is likely to happen after death to instil a fear of reward and punishment after death in our mind so that we do not deviate from the path of righteousness, to make us realised that the path of righteousness will lead us to heaven or better life in the next birth and ultimately to Moksha when one gets submerged in the infinite and enjoys eternal bliss and peace. Thus it appears that it is necessary to have the fear of death in us as it helps us to remain in the right path of truth and justice. A person without any fear of death and what happens after death may not hesitate to do whatever he feels like for his material benefit, his temporal gains even at the cost of others and the society in which he lives. This however does not apply to the great enlightened ones who in their life have realised the presence of the infinite  and therefore are free from all fears including the fear of death.