Of Life and Death
The concepts of life and death have always baffled philosophers of all times due to the unknown after death. Several theories of existence and afterlife have sprouted out throughout the history of men, manifesting themselves in the form of different religions, philosophies and way of life.
What is Life and Death?
When we are born, we are free to live our own lives, but all of us will inevitably die.
The whole life of a philosopher is for the preparation of death
— Plato, ancient Greek philosohper
Plato adopts a pessimistic approach to death, seeing life itself as meaningless because everyone is going to die anyways, so whatever achievement you have or whatever kind of life you have had is of no significance.
However, another perspective of life and death is that both are different sides of the same coin and complement each other. Modern philosophers believe that death gives meaning to life because we know that death is inevitable and as such, our time is precious. Because of the impermanence of life, we want to live life to the fullest. Because we have limited time, we have a sense of urgency to follow our passions.
Kharma and reincarnation: A Buddhist viewpoint on death
The Buddhist viewpoint on life and death involves the concepts of kharma and reincarnation. Kharma essentially means action, in which you reap what you sow given certain conditions. Hence, your experiences now are the result of your previous actions. The life you have now is the result of your actions in your past life.
Buddhists believe death does not mean the end of life, but simply the soul getting out of a body and moving to another one to get the new life.
This viewpoint is connected to the eastern concept of yin and yang, whereby life and death provides balance to the world: without life, there would not be death in the first place; without death, life itself is meaningless as we will not have the urgency to live life fully.
Christianity on Death
Christians believe that there is only one true God, and that humans used to be immortal but after committing sins, humans become mortal as punishment and are subject to death.
However, God is kind and will forgive the sins of man should he choose to believe in God and will be sent to heaven after death.
And everyone who lives and believes in me shal never die. Do you believe me?
— John, 11:26 ESV
What happens after death cannot be scientifically proven until we experience death ourselves. However, death is not a concern for us because we are alive and free now; when are are dead, we should have already lived our lives to the fullest and have no regrets and no human who has lived his or her life purpose shall fear death.
The clock is ticking; and I have one question for you: What do you want to achieve before your short life fades away?
