Its all in the belief

“To the well organised mind, death is nothing but the next great adventure” – Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.” – Oscar Wilde
“I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts.” – Albert Einstein
The moment we talk of death, quite a few of us think about life after death. Does it exist? If it does, then what would it be like? From scientists to your next door neighbour, everyone has an opinion on it. While scientists seem bent on finding rational evidence for it, the common people try to justify and clarify their opinions however they can.
“I believe that everybody has a good life after death where they are happy. This is the only way I can justify the pain and suffering in the world. Something good has to await them otherwise what is the purpose of living,” says Mohammed Shareef reasoning his belief in heaven and hell. Belief in what comes after death is also mostly conditioned by the religion to which a person belongs. Deborah Williams says, “I believe in heaven, hell and purgatory and that people go to them after death based on their deeds on earth.” Both Muslims and Christians believe in a final Judgement Day.
Life after death is also taken by many to be another life altogether, that is, a reincarnation or a rebirth. Itishree Samal believes that based on a person’s good or bad deeds in one life, he/she is born in better or worse conditions in the next. The theory of reincarnations also believes in an ultimate nirvana when the soul merges with God.
Nihilistic believes are that death is the ultimate end and that nothing follows it. Those who believe this feel that people have only one life and it is up to them to put it to best possible use. They believe that believing in life after death and using it as a crutch at times is just a way to dismiss the fear of death.
Fear of death or a wishful fantasy – believes about life after death takes many forms. “I don’t believe in a life after death but I believe that there is something which I can’t explain. I believe that I might be able to watch over this life and people from wherever I am,” says Jayanti Chethri trying to give a coherent expression to her feelings. Some even believe in a parallel universe of the dead which is backed up with arguments about astral telepathy and the like.
Whether it is a fear of death or religion or a belief in God’s justice that drives people’s belief in afterlife is a question in itself. Whether there is such a life after death has been asked by many people, scientists have done research on it and religions have lived by it but it still eludes a definitive answer. At the end, it is all a question of belief.