Relevance Of Life After Death

Messiah Paranthaman Kaliyaperumal 1 Messiah P K

Relevance of Life after Death Buddhism is one of the oldest religions of India. The Buddha, in his philosophy, disregarding the notion of continuing existence after death, emphasized the importance of attaining enlightenment in one’s lifetime. Contrary to Buddha’s notion of life after death, I firmly believe in the continuing existence of life after death and the impact of this belief on the life of the individual person while he is on earth. Unlike Buddhists, Christians and Muslims hold the notion of the judgment day, the day on which every individual person will be destined to either eternal life or eternal death on the account of their deeds on earth. The Bible states, “When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people one from another as the Shepard separates sheep from goats” (Mt 25: 31-33). The Islamic notion of judgment day is not very much far from that of Christians, although their understanding of paradise is quite different from Christians. The belief in life after death has an immense impact on the life of an individual in this world. Unquestionably, it enables people to lead an ethical life. The holy scriptures of various religions teach how an individual believer ought to live his life on earth. For instance, we read in the Gospel of Matthew, “You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. Honor your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 19: 18-19). It is important to note that though Christians focus very much on heaven, they continually strive to make this life better and meaningful by following the commandments of God. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, through her service to the poor, reached the hearts of multitudes. Today in India many Hindus and Muslims, admire her more than the Christians do. It is because she made her life more purposeful through her selfless service to the poor and the downtrodden. In

Messiah Paranthaman Kaliyaperumal 2 brief, the commandments are like paths leading to the gate of heaven. They enable us to make our life more meaningful. The holy scriptures of various religious discuss not only how an individual person should live his life on earth but also present the consequences of his deeds. Evidently, the illustration of last judgment scene (Mt 25: 31-39) creates fear and enables him to lead a moral life. As the scriptures teach, if a man walks on the ethical path, then he will be allowed to enter the kingdom of God. On the other hand, if a man leads an immoral life, he is cursed to be separated from God eternally. Jesus exemplified this notion in the Gospel of Luke through the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31). Life on earth is actually very short. We do not know when our life will end. However, the maximum time one can live is one hundred years. And I understand it; even a hundred years are nothing when compared to eternal life in the presence of God. During the past one decade, I have had the opportunity to visit people who were near to death due to their old age and sickness. While most of them were fearful about death, some of them were looking forward to it. The former have realized the fact that they were not faithful to God’s commandments during their life and were frightened of being thrown into the fires of hell. Whereas the latter were loyal to God’s commandments and were looking forward to the joy of heaven. It is very important to realize the fact that life on earth is very short and we should strive to make it meaningful. In conclusion, it is pleonastic essential that we look not for momentary pleasures; pleasures that give obtain through immoral actions, but for eternal ones. God through his Son laid down a righteous path for us to walk on. If we desire to be saved from eternal death, then we ought to start walking from this very moment.