Do you believe in life after death?

We all know that we will die at some point. The thought suggests itself what happens afterwards, when we no longer exist. Is there a form of life after death or is everything over with death?

Every day, about 150000 people die per day, that is 2 people per second. For 150,000 people, today is the last day of their lives. You could be one of them. How do you use your last day and what do you think about the possibility of life after death?

Let's start our analysis from a different angle, namely with what we already know. What do we know happens not after death?

We cannot take anything material with us. Our earthly goods remain on earth and do not disappear with us.

Our bodies also remain here. All our organs, skin, brain, etc. stop working and decompose over time, but they remain on earth.

Knowledge and skills that we have acquired in our lives, at least insofar as they relate to the physical realm, die with us. If there is a life after death, it is highly unlikely that they will be of any use to us.

Everything material and physical as well as physical abilities either remain behind or die with us and thus disappear. This means that when something passes into another life, it is something non-physical, non-material. We call it soul, spirit, consciousness, etc. For the sake of simplicity, I will call it soul here.

When a person dies, either his soul passes on to another life, while everything physical and material remains behind, or his soul, his consciousness is extinguished with his body and disappears forever.

You can knit different variations of these two possibilities, such as reincarnation, but essentially it all boils down to our soul living on in some form, ...or not.

Which of these options do you think is more credible?

Experiences of people who were close to death but survived or people who claim to communicate with people from the afterlife point to the possibility of life after death. But there is no proof of this. There is only what these people say and believe themselves.

This brings me to the question: can we actually look at this question objectively? Or is it not rather the case that we find evidence for the version we want to believe? After all, all religions are based solely on faith, there is no evidence for what we are taught. The religious among us are obviously willing to believe, so believe what soothes their conscience and makes them feel safe. The less religious are a little more sceptical, but that does not necessarily mean they are less receptive to the belief in life after death. For many, it is a hope that they cling to all their lives, that everything they do will still be important after their death.

Believing in one of the two versions certainly influences how we live our lives. If you believe that there is a life after death in which you may be held responsible for your earthly deeds, you are more likely to try to do "good" than if you think that there will be nothing after your death. Then it doesn't matter anyway, so you live your life the way that is best for you and you alone.

The fact that we can only assume one of the two possibilities, but not know, What happens after our death can become a dilemma.

Uncertainty is not an ideal basis for lifelong decisions. It is better to choose one of the two options, even if it turns out to be the wrong one. If we believe in one of the two options, we can at least justify our actions to ourselves and say that we are living intelligently. This train of thought has convinced me that I definitely need to choose to believe in one of the two options in order to steer my life in a certain direction and feel free.

Since one cannot rely on evidence, as explained above, one must look for another way to obtain certainty.

Look at the situation from the other side, namely from the perspective of the deceased. In the version where a person and their soul cease to exist forever after death, there is no great perspective. The deceased is gone forever.

But if there were a life after death, the possibilities would split into two main directions:

The soul of the deceased continues to exist in some form, but is completely incapable of acting. It is an existence of being, not of active action. It sounds plausible that the soul continues to exist in the form it had at the time of death. It would therefore be a kind of continuation of life after death, without a further development of being.

Alternatively, the soul takes on a form, perhaps through a new body (rebirth), in which it is still capable of active and conscious deeds. In this case, the deceased would still be able to evolve after death and learn from the mistakes they made in their previous life. One could even go so far as to conclude that human evolution is a result of continuous reincarnations, that perhaps every person has lived before in a different form and builds on the experiences gained previously in their later life.

In the first case, in which no further development would be possible, it makes sense to live according to the motto "Seize the day" (Carpe diem) and to develop your consciousness as far as possible during your physical life.

In the second case, it would make sense to prioritise the development of the soul. In which direction do you want to develop your consciousness as a dead person, what mistakes have you learnt from by the time of death so that you don't make them again in the next life?

The result: In conclusion, it can be said that the option of the complete disappearance of body and soul after death offers no guidelines on how one should live. Since everything ceases to exist at death, it doesn't matter what you do during your lifetime or how far you get. The possibility of living on after death offers more: you can think about what qualities you value, which you can either keep for eternity after death or even carry on with.

You can try to learn from your mistakes or show respect for your fellow human beings in case you have to answer for your earthly deeds in some form of heaven or hell. If you focus your life on developing your consciousness, you will automatically take the path of love for your neighbour. The two paths are inevitably linked and are in perfect harmony with each other.

For example, someone who donates to charity achieves two things. They help someone who is in need of help, but they also help themselves as they develop spiritually and feel good that they have helped someone.

So the question: Is there life after death? depends solely on your decision. You have the opportunity to decide for yourself which option you want to believe and then live. There is no one answer to this question. The soul is on a level that cannot be scientifically researched.

For me personally, I have decided in favour of life after death. The prospect of everything being over at death is not very appealing to me or does not seem logical in a natural system where everything is incredibly complex and makes sense. I therefore try to live by developing my soul during my lifetime and doing good to other inhabitants of the earth, whether human or animal, as far as it is in my power to do so, because in doing so I am also doing something good for myself. I don't necessarily need to actively fight for others. It's the little everyday things where I simply try to show consideration for others and put myself in their shoes. My motto is: don't do to others what you wouldn't want done to yourself.