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Seven religions. The same question. See how each tradition answers the things that matter most.
What Happens After We Die?
Every major religion has a view on what follows death. Some promise eternal paradise, others rebirth, others dissolution into the divine.
7 traditions · scroll to compare
Reincarnation (Samsara) based on karma. The soul (Atman) is reborn until it achieves Moksha — liberation — and merges with Brahman.
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Just as a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
Focus is on living righteously now. The World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba) exists but is not well-defined. Bodily resurrection is referenced in the Talmud.
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Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Daniel 12:2
Rebirth based on karma until Nirvana is achieved. Nirvana is not a heaven — it is the cessation of craving and suffering. The 'self' that is reborn is not a soul but a stream of consciousness.
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There is an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned. If there were not, there would be no escape from the born, the become, the made, the conditioned.
Udana 8.3 (Pali Canon)
Heaven (eternal life with God) for the saved through faith in Christ. Hell for the unsaved. Catholics also believe in Purgatory — a state of purification.
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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
After death, the soul enters Barzakh (an intermediate state). On the Day of Judgment, all are resurrected and judged. The righteous enter Jannah (Paradise); others face Jahannam (Hell).
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Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection.
Quran 3:185
Reincarnation based on one's actions (karma) and remembrance of God. Liberation (Mukti) is merging with Waheguru. It comes through God's grace, not merit alone.
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Those who have meditated on the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and departed after having worked by the sweat of their brows — O Nanak, their faces are radiant in the Court of the Lord.
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 8
Philosophical Taoism focuses on harmony in this life, not the afterlife. The self dissolves back into the Tao. Folk Taoism includes heavens, hells, and ancestor spirits.
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Returning to the root is called stillness. Stillness is called returning to one's destiny.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16
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Ask any question about these views — answered from the actual texts.