Death from a Buddhist and Christian Point of View “You will be with me today in paradise,” Jesus Christ told this to the thief on the cross while they were dying. However, can people believe that there is truly life after death? In many different religions there are different perceptions of life after death. For example in the Buddhist religion, the Buddhist people believe that life is practice for death. Professor Brown, of California State University of Northridge stated, “The Buddhist people cultivate positive, happy virtuous states of mind and abandoning non-virtuous, harmful, suffering states of mind.” This teaching is mirrored by Christianity teachings as well. Professor Brown also stated, “Death is an opportunity for great spiritual achievement if one is prepared and remembers one’s spiritual practices and beliefs and understandings during the death process.” From its inception, Buddhism has stressed the importance of death, since awareness of death is what prompted the Buddha to perceive the ultimate futility of worldly concerns and pleasures.
Realizing that death is inevitable for a person who is caught up in worldly pleasures and attitudes, he resolved to renounce the world and devote himself to finding a solution to this most basic of existential dilemmas. Buddhism does not look at death as a continuation of the soul but as an awakening. Dying and being reborn has been compared by some Buddhist as a candle flame. When the flame of one lit candle is touched to the wick of an unlighted candle, the light passes from one Valino 2 candle to another. The actual flame of the first candle does not pass over but is responsible for lighting the second candle. When preparing for death Buddhist generally agree a person’s state of mind while dying is of great importance.
While dying the person can be surrounded by friends, family and monks who recite Buddhists scriptures and mantras to help the person achieve a peaceful state of mind. Buddhism asserts that all being live beyond the various fluctuations of this life. Death is merely a passage to rebirth in another realm such as the human world, a pure land or the flowering of the ultimate nature of the mind. So in all actuality, Buddhist believe that every day on earth, people should live with good positive feelings, positive thinking, positive attitude. As Buddhist people suggested, life is practice. One can not be happy in the after life unless one takes the advantage of their life on earth.
This belief system is also mirrored bye the Christianity point of view on life, death, and the after life. Of course, there are differences, but also vast similarities. Going back to what Jesus stated on the cross, “You will be with me today in paradise.” This is a quote that many Christians take to heart. In the Christian point of view, Jesus Christ is believed to be the Son of God, the Holy Spirit, as well as God.
Jesus was sent on earth by God to fulfill God’s will. Jesus, while spreading the teachings and practicing the teachings of God, is to die for everyone’s sins. While on earth, Jesus was able to help people and perform many miracles. For example, he has raised the dead. Three times this feet was achieved. Once he rose Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5.
22-24, 35-43; He also rose the son of the widow of Valino 3 Nain (Luke 7. 11-16); and Lazarus (John I 1). Christianity also has a set of teachings that people must follow and go bye while living. Most commonly known are the Ten Commandments. Some of those Commandments include, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not covet a neighbors belongings, honor thy father and mother and so on. These teachings help people of the Christian fate to live everyday.
These teachings give Christians a standard to live bye. It is a code that Christians live bye. Why do Christians live bye this code? Many if not most of Christians live by this code in order to achieve their ultimate goal. Their ultimate goal of being able to be with God after one dies. For Christians whose lives are guided by the Bible, the reality of death is acknowledged as part of the current human condition, affected by sin (Genesis 2: 17; Romans 5; Hebrews 9: 27). There is ‘a time to be born, and a time to die’ (Ecclesiastes 3: 2).
Although eternal life is a gift that is granted to all who accept salvation through Jesus Christ, faithful Christians await the second coming of Jesus for complete realization of their immortality (John 3: 36; Romans 6: 23; 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54). While waiting for Jesus to come again, Christians may be called upon to care for the dying and to face personally their own death. However, living by these codes and commandments does NOT guarantee living with God after death. There is something called judgment which the soul has to go through before it can join God in Paradise. The thought of standing for judgment can be delightful or frightful, depending on the place toward which a person seems to be heading, because of the permanence associated with Valino 4 the outcome. What evidence supports this teaching, and can it stand up to objective investigation? Jesus said that he came from heaven and would return to heaven.
He said that those who believe in him and follow him would spend eternity in heaven, while those who don’t will be tormented forever in hell. So in all actuality, living by Christian point of view, if one lives their life on earth by the teachings of Jesus Christ, and live each day as Jesus did, one can expect to be judged fairly and in a good way. What have people learned from both the Buddhist point of view of life and death, and the Christian point of view of life after death? Living life a certain way can lead to a positive or negative after life. Depending on how one lives their life, Buddhist believe that positive living, the spirit enters a pure land, or the flowering of the nature of mind, or is reincarnated in order to redo the wrong one has done.
And according to the Christian point of view, if living positively on Earth, one can expect to go to Heaven and live happily with God. However, if one lives negatively, one can expect to endure the eternal fires of Hell. People should ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” or, “What would Buddha do?” Asking these questions, maybe people will be able to live positively.