After Death or What's Next

Respective theories on life after death

The theories of ‘after-lives’ of the two religious schools of thought are related to their different viewpoints on God’s nature. Within monotheist religions God is transcendent and, figuratively speaking, elevated above all else that exists – his basis (at the least) is separate from the universe. Because he has personal relationships with each of his faithful, then life after death can be with him in eternity (what we refer to as “Heaven”).

Pantheism, on the other hand, due to its lack of a ‘personal’ God outside of the universe, can offer no such relationship after death. Commonly, pantheist religions offer reincarnation of the soul, through life after life, here on earth. Some pantheist religions, such as Zen Buddhism, do not even have a theory on after-life – i.e. they believe that the state of individual “being” is extinguished at death. One analogy from Zen that I have seen, offered as an explanation of death, is that of a drop of water (representing a living existence) being re-absorbed into a river (representing the ground of all being) from which it was dislodged earlier.