What Is Afterlife? The afterlife, or life after death, is a generic term referring to the continuation of existence after death, typically spiritual, experiential, or ghost-like, beyond this world. While in this life, people ask the questions: Is death the end, or is there something of people that survives after death? What kind of existence will one have...
Yazidism Yazidism, Sharfadin (شهرفهدین ,Şerfedîn), or Dasni (داسنى ,Dasînî, Dasnî) is a monotheistic faith followed by the mostly Kurmanji-speaking Yazidis and based on belief in one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings, known as Angels. Preeminent among these Angels is Tawûsê Melek (also written as “Melek...
Gautama Buddha In Hinduism In Vaishnava Hinduism, the historic Buddha or Gautama Buddha is considered to be an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Of the ten major avatars of Vishnu, Vaishnavites believe Gautama Buddha to be the ninth and most recent incarnation. Buddha‘s portrayal in Hinduism varies. In some texts...
Sikh Philosophy The basic belief in Sikhism is that life is not sinful in its origin, but having emanated from a pure source, the True One abides in all. Not only does all Sikh philosophy, but the whole of Sikh history and character flows from this principle. Sikhism, the youngest of...
Cheondoism Cheondoism or Chondoism; Cheondogyo; 天道教; 천도교; literally “Religion of the Heavenly Way”) is a 20th-century Korean religion, based on the 19th-century Donghak religious movement founded by Ch’oe Che-u and codified under Son Pyŏng-Hi. Cheondoism has its origins in the peasant rebellions which arose starting in 1812 during the Joseon dynasty. Cheondoism incorporates elements of Korean shamanism. It places emphasis...
Yoruba Religion The Yoruba religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria which comprised Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti as well as Lagos States and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland. It shares some parallels...
Druid A druid (Breton: drouiz; Welsh: derwydd; Old Irish: druí; Scottish Gaelic: draoidh) was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Perhaps best remembered as religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals, and political advisors. While the druids are reported to have been literate, they are believed to have been prevented by...
Eckankar Eckankar is a religion founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965. It is a non-profit religious group with members in over one hundred countries. The spiritual home is the Temple of Eck in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Eckankar is not affiliated with any other religious group. The movement teaches simple spiritual exercises, such as singing “Hu“, called “a love song to...
Supernatural The concept of the supernatural encompasses anything that is inexplicable by scientific understanding of the laws of nature but nevertheless argued by believers to exist. Examples include immaterial beings such as angels, gods and spirits, and claimed human abilities like magic, telekinesis, and extrasensory perception. Historically, supernatural entities have been invoked to...
Druze The Druze (درزي, darzī, durzī, דְּרוּזִי, drūzī, druzim) are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethno-religious group originating in Western Asia who self-identify as Al-Muwaḥḥidūn (lit., “The People of Monotheism”). Jethro of Midian is considered an ancestor of all people from the Mountain of Druze region, who revere him as their spiritual founder and chief prophet. It is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the teachings of Hamza ibn-‘Ali ibn-Ahmad and the...
What Is Reincarnation? Reincarnation refers to the transmigration of souls, the doctrine that after death the soul moves on to inhabit another body, then die again and then another body, and so on. Belief in some form of this doctrine of endless cycles of birth, death and re-birth can be...
Rebirth In Buddhism Rebirth in Buddhism refers to its teaching that the actions of a person lead to a new existence after death, in endless cycles called saṃsāra. This cycle is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful. The cycle stops only if liberation is achieved by insight and the extinguishing of desire. Rebirth is one of the foundational doctrines of...
Reincarnation Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being starts a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. It is also called rebirth or transmigration, and is a part of the Saṃsāra doctrine of cyclic existence. It is...
Parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of paranormal and psychic phenomena, including telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, synchronicity, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other paranormal claims. It is considered to be pseudoscience by a vast majority of mainstream scientists. Parapsychology research is largely conducted by private institutions in several countries and...
Samsara Saṃsāra is a Sanskrit word that means “wandering” or “world”, with the connotation of cyclic, circuitous change. It also refers to the concept of rebirth and “cyclicality of all life, matter, existence”, a fundamental assumption of most Indian religions. In short, it is the cycle of death and rebirth. Saṃsāra is sometimes referred to...
What Is Gilgul? In Kabbalistic esoteric mysticism, Gilgul/Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot (גלגול הנשמות, גלגולים Gilgulim) is a concept of reincarnation. In Hebrew, the word gilgulmeans “cycle” or “wheel” and neshamot is the plural for “souls.” Souls are seen to “cycle” through “lives” or “incarnations”, being attached to different human bodies over time. Which...
Karma In Jainism Karma is the basic principle within an overarching psycho-cosmology in Jainism. Human moral actions form the basis of the transmigration of the soul (jīva). The soul is constrained to a cycle of rebirth, trapped within the temporal world (saṃsāra), until it finally achieves liberation (mokṣa). Liberation is achieved by...
Samsara In Buddhism Samsara (Saṃsāra) in Buddhism is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma. Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms...
What Is Afterlife? The afterlife (life after death) is the belief that the essential part of an individual’s identity or the stream of consciousness continues after the death of the physical body. According to various ideas about the afterlife, the essential aspect of the individual that lives on after death may...
Indian Philosophy Indian philosophy refers to ancient philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The principal schools are classified as either orthodox or heterodox – āstika or nāstika – depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Vedas as a valid source of knowledge; whether the school believes...