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Chan Kyaw
Dr. Aaron Parker
Introduction to Religion
4/13/2014
Buddhist View on Death and Afterlife and its Impact on Lifestyles
In this paper, the Buddhist perspectives on death and afterlife are discussed. The paper
focuses on how these perspectives affect our lifestyles as well as my personal opinions about
them.
According to Buddhism, death is not the end. There is a reincarnation or rebirth at the
end of life. Your deeds in your present life will determine your next life in one of the four
realms which are heaven, human beings, Asura, hungry ghost, animal and hell. Heaven realm,
also called the Gods realm, has many divisions based on the accumulation of good deeds. The
more good deeds you have accumulated, the higher division of the heaven realm you will be
reborn in. The good or bad deeds are called karma which influences your next life. According to
Buddhism, you still feel the effects of your past lifes karma until now. Therefore, you can never
escape from karma. Based on your karma in your present life, you will be reborn in one of the
realms in your next life.
There is also the belief the state of mind you are in at the dying moment determines
your reincarnation into the next life. If you are in a peaceful, pure mind, you will be reborn in

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heaven whereas if you are in an angry, impure mind, you will be reborn in hell.
1
This belief of
heaven and hell has a direct impact on the lifestyles of a persons present life. In order to feel at
ease during the dying moment, the person is determined to do only good deeds so that he may
not go to hell in his next life For me personally, I do not fully believe or disbelieve in the
existence of afterlife since there is no scientific evidence for it. Buddha has said in one occasion
that since a person cannot know for certainty what will happen after his death, it is safest to
assume that there is afterlife dependent on his karma. If he does good deeds and there is no
afterlife, he suffered no loss. He can also be at peace with himself with no worry for suffering
after death. This sounds reasonable to me since I will be doing good deeds not because I
believe in afterlife but because I can feel at ease with myself.
There is a paradox I have personally struggled with since I learned and seriously thought
about karma and rebirth according to Buddhism. If there is a next life after death, and my
whole existence is nothing but a cycle of life and death, I must have had a past life. But since I
cannot recall anything of my past life, how can I say that I am the same person as the past life
of me. For me, memories play an important role in determining the identity of a person. Since I
cannot identify with my past life, and I am still suffering the effects of his karma, I am actually
living out the rewards and punishments of a stranger from past time. Therefore, whatever good
deeds I do in the hope of rewards in my next life in reincarnation, I shall never enjoy the fruits
of my labor because I shall not remember myself. In other words, I am accumulating karma for
a stranger in a future time. This particular thinking will not deter me from doing bad deeds that
will haunt me in the next life because my next life is not my life.

1
Tang, Venerable Thich Nguyen. "Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth." Buddhist View on Death and
Rebirth. Urban Dhamma Organization, 22 Mar. 2002. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.

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There is also a group of Buddhist meditation practitioners who have a different
conception of heaven and hell. The Vipassana meditation groups led by the late S.N. Goenka
focus on the sensations of the body and try to observe them objectively. He said that heaven
and hell exist on a persons body in his present life and that there is a direct correlation
between a persons emotions and his bodily sensations or reactions. If a person is experiencing
anger or greed, the body will react with an increased heart rate, and stress. In other words, the
person will be miserable both bodily and mentally even if he does not consciously realize it. This
according to Goenka was hell in itself. Similarly, if a person experiences emotions of love,
peace, and compassion, he will be in bliss which is heaven in itself. The purpose of meditation is
to observe all the sensations which are related to our past deeds or karma, and exhaust them
by objective and conscious observation
2
. I personally support this logic of Goenka because it
will be a new interpretation of heaven and hell which will be treated as myths rather than
literal entities. As Kessler wrote, myths serve to explain important moral lessons using
figurative stories
3
. Therefore, I would do good deeds so I could be happy and enjoy heaven on
earth instantaneously but not out of hope for heaven after death. Similarly, I would refrain
from bad deeds because they will make me miserable and not because I fear for hell after
death.

2
Hart, William. The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka. San Francisco: Harper &
Row, 1987. Print.

3
Kessler, Gary E. "Chapter 4: Myth As a Sacred Story." Studying Religion: An Introduction through Cases. 3rd
ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. N. Print.


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If there is nothing after death, what implications will it have for a persons daily
lifestyle? If a persons knowledge of his existence were to disappear without a single trace after
death, would any of what we experienced and achieved matter at the dying moment? I think a
person cannot psychologically deal with the idea of absolute nothingness after death at a
deeply consciously level. I think that one may claim that he believes that nothing exists after
death, but he may not psychologically believe it as an undeniable fact. If he were to believe it
so, a lot of things in his life would lose their meaning. One such example is his legacy. If he will
not be around to appreciate his legacy and impact on the world and people around him, he
would be discouraged to better the world for the future such as preventing global warming,
pollution and overpopulation. The effects of these problems are expected to be extreme in the
distant future which will be irrelevant to him. Therefore, his lifestyle will be to seize the
moment and enjoy life to the fullest without consideration for future generations. Personally,
at the intellectual level, I may believe in the possibility of nothingness after death but I cannot
accept it internally in my mind as a fact that my existence and consciousness will be completely
obliterated after death.
A person had to deal with mortality in the event of the death of a loved one. In a well-
known story among Buddhists, a woman named Kisagotami, whose son had just died came to
Buddha to resurrect her dead son. Buddha replied that he would agree to her request if she did
something for him. He said Bring to me a mustard seed from any household where no-one had
ever died and I will fulfill your wish. The woman was not able to find a home and she
eventually realized the universality of death. She became a nun and finally attained

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enlightenment.
4
Even if a person believes in death as the ultimate end, in the event of the
death of a loved one, he still has the memories. So the loved one lives on in his mind even after
death. So, he may apply the same situation to himself that by leaving memories of himself to
his loved ones after death, his existence will still be remembered even if he was not there to
know of it. Even if he will not be around to appreciate his legacy, he will feel good while he is
alive. This may affect his lifestyle in such a way that he may strive to leave good memories of
himself to the people after his death. Personally, I believe that I would feel more at ease with
myself while I am alive knowing that I will be remembered well by my loved ones even if I
cannot appreciate it after death.
Another issue related to death is the morality of suicide and euthanasia. The suicide is
generally frowned upon by the society in almost all cases. The case of euthanasia where a
person in great suffering kills himself with or without the help of someone is different.
Buddhism view on suicide is controversial. According to Buddhism, the enlightened people such
as Arhats are allowed to kill themselves to end the worldly suffering and enjoy the peace of
nirvana. According to Buddhism, the intention behind the suicide and the consequences are
related and are important in deciding the morality of the action. In the suttas, there is a monk
called Godhika, who has reached temporary liberation of mind but never able to obtain the
ultimate liberation, nirvana, because of his illness. Frustrated by his situation, he reasoned that
if he died in one of those temporary states of liberation of mind, he will achieve nirvana. His
friend, Mara, learned of his intention and approached Buddha to intervene in the situation.
Buddha replied that since Godhika is not attached to life, he has achieved nirvana. Buddha also

4
"Skinny Gotami & the Mustard Seed" (ThigA 10.1), Translated by Andrew Olendzki. Access to Insight
(Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, Web. 13. April, 2014.

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condoned suicide as a means to achieve nirvana in two other cases Vakkali and Channa who
were terminally ill and in great pain
5
. It is unclear whether the act of suicide made them achieve
nirvana or the enlightened state made them commit suicide. I personally find this Buddhas
teaching paradoxical because Arahats or enlightened people are supposed to be models for lay
people. If they took their own lives to achieve nirvana, this could be an encouragement for lay
people who may be mistaken to believe themselves enlightened. If one is terminally ill and in
great pain, one cannot be attached to his body, thereby making it hard to know if one is really
depressed or enlightened. Therefore, I strongly oppose Buddhas teaching of condoning suicide
with the intention of achieving nirvana whether a person is enlightened or not.
A very important concept in Buddhism is called, Nirvana, the state of nothingness, which
is the ultimate goal of every Buddhist. It means to be free from samsara, an endless cycle of
birth, death and rebirth. According to Steven Collins interpretation, there are two states in
nirvana. The first where a person is enlightened and free from the burden of future birth but
still have to live in the samsara to completely exhaust his past karmi energy. During this stage,
even if he still has pleasant and unpleasant feelings, he is free from craving and attachment.
The second state is where the enlightened person has died and been freed from samsara
completely
6
. There were cases in suttas where even an Arhat, has to suffer through the karmic
punishments of his past deeds without choice such as in the case of Angulimala, a highway

5
Atwood, Michael. "Suicide as a Response to Suffering." Suicide as a Response to Suffering. Western Buddhist
Review, 1 May 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

6
Collins, Steven. "Chapte 2: Nirvana As a Concept." Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative. Cambridge, U.K.:
Cambridge UP, 2010. 40-41. Print.


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murderer turned Arhat, had to be beaten by people and suffer humiliation despite his
enlightenment. Therefore for Arhats who has no more karmic obligations to fulfil, it might seem
reasonable for them to suicide to achieve the final stage of nirvana even if they are not
terminally ill or in pain physically. Personally, I do not wish to be in nirvana since I do not think
of life as always full of suffering. How can I appreciate nirvana if I do not exist to feel it since
nirvana is a state of non-existence?
An important teaching in Buddhism as in some other religions is to constantly
contemplate death as very close as if it could happen tomorrow. The purpose of mediation is to
accept the impermanence of life by observing the constant changes in your own body or mind.
This leads to the lack of self or anatta since one has no control over the changes. Then one
becomes tired of suffering, dukkha, and loses all attachment to your body. This is usually the
general goals of Buddhist meditation practices. My personal opinion is although it is useful to
meditate death now and then to deal with misery brought on by life, I think excessive
meditation is psychologically unhealthy. I do not support devoting your life to meditation and
complaining to yourself that life is always full of suffering. I think the Middle Way as preached
by Buddha where there is no excess or lack should apply here as well. I do not think life is
always full of suffering, since there can also be joyful moments. When there are tough times,
one can meditate that this too shall pass.




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Bibliography
Tang, Venerable Thich Nguyen. "Buddhist View on Death and Rebirth." Buddhist View on
Death and Rebirth. Urban Dhamma Organization, 22 Mar. 2002. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Hart, William. The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka. San
Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987. Print.
Kessler, Gary E. "Chapter 4: Myth As a Sacred Story." Studying Religion: An Introduction
through Cases. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. N. Print.
"Skinny Gotami & the Mustard Seed" (ThigA 10.1), Translated by Andrew Olendzki. Access to
Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, Web. 13. April, 2014.
Atwood, Michael. "Suicide as a Response to Suffering." Suicide as a Response to Suffering.
Western Buddhist Review, 1 May 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Collins, Steven. "Chapte 2: Nirvana As a Concept." Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2010. 40-41. Print.