1.0 Introduction
“No one knows whether death is really the greatest blessing a man can have, but they fear it is the greatest curse, as if they knew well” (Plato). This quote emphasizes that death is an aspect in life that all mankind have to deal with in their lives and for some people; it is considered as an uncomfortable subject and they try to avoid the subject in every possible way simply because they are afraid of what lies after death. The definitions of death have been one of the most debated issues for thousands of years as different individuals have different views on death depending on religions, culture, personal belief and medical profession. Basically, in medical terms death is defined as the termination of all the vital functions that supports a living organism (Godbole 2009). The answer as to whether there is life after death is simply a question of faith for some individuals. Religions generally interpret death as the death of the body and not of the soul. To this day, there is no precise answer to this issue and over the centuries experts have tried to explore and unravel the mysteries of this complicated or rather confusing phenomenon but have failed to arrive at a concrete conclusion.
It has long been established that the Western and Eastern society have very different views on death that have been developed over the centuries. In the Western society, death is viewed as something that is permanent and emphasized the notion of Heaven and Hell. Heaven is conceptualized as a place of eternal bliss or happiness after death and Hell is depicted as a place where souls are continuously tortured or punished by creatures of Hell called demons. The entrance to either of these places relies on the deed or sins that have been committed in one’s life. Christianity is one of the many religions that view death in this concept. The Eastern society, as an example Buddhism, adopts the concept of eternal death and rebirth cycle or reincarnation where a soul shifts from one body to another body. The status of life that one will attain in the next life depends on their action in the previous body. “Good” actions lead to a higher status in the hierarchy, and “bad” actions lead to a lower status in the hierarchy (Reincarnation – the truth n.d.). However, over the centuries, there have been numerous ideas by some individuals particularly Atheism, that life after death is simply a natural reincarnation where all living beings die and all the components of which they are made up of will unite with the air and the earth and recycled in a new living organism (Cornish n.d.).

2.0 Christianity
Christians’ teachings conform to the Holy Bible and their view on death relates to a place called Heaven and Hell. Death is accepted as something that is permanent and they strongly believe that individuals who have showed repentance over their sins and lived according to the laws of God will gain entrance to Heaven. Those who have sinned and have not asked for forgiveness from the Lord will suffer in Hell forever (Arguilevich 2003, 33). Throughout the centuries, Christianity has gone through multiple changes as different individuals have different perceptions over the teachings of God and thus this religion is divided into many branches. These branches of Christianity do not have the same views on death and afterlife but they accept the concept of immortality of the soul.
2.1 Christian Funerals
Although Christian funeral customs vary across the world, they share some similarities in some aspects. Normally, when a person dies, a short service is held for friends and family to mourn for the deceased and giving thanks for their life. Scriptures from the bible are read and hymns are sung throughout the service emphasizing the resurrection of God and the hope of eternal life. The priest will also include a sermon to give a sense of comfort for friends and family. In Christian funerals, the deceased may have two options which is burial or cremation. In burials, they may have the option of being buried in a coffin six feet under the ground or be placed in a mausoleum. Normally in burials, after the church service is held, friends and family will gather around the grave for the Committal. Committal is the moment when a coffin is lowered slowly into the grave and the priest will usually include some prayers for the deceased. In the cremation process, the body is taken to a crematorium for the body to be cremated in a proper cremation process. The body is burned and the ashes are placed inside a case called the urn and are given to the family of the deceased. The Committal process in cremations is the closing of the curtains around the coffin (Christian funerals 2009).
2.2 Heaven and Hell
As mentioned previously, Christians believe that when they die, their soul will either be sent to Heaven or Hell by the judgment of God. Over the years, people have tried to explain these supernatural places and these places can be viewed in two different ways. In traditional perspective, Heaven and Hell are viewed as physical places while the modern way of thinking accept Heaven as being very close to God and the concept of Hell is considered as being very far from God. As it is rather difficult for individuals to describe Heaven, they often depicted Heaven as a place filled with angels playing harps and saints living harmoniously and enjoying the presence of the God and it is simply a place where hatred does not exist. Hell which is the opposite of Heaven is often imagined as a place filled with demons that provide punishments for the sinful souls. (Grof and Grof 1980, 76) claimed that hell is a place of endless torture such as “burning heat and freezing cold, tearing and crushing, torturing sounds, disgusting tastes and noxious smells, combine with feelings of guilt, anguish, despair and humiliation”. A person has the choice as to whether to enter Heaven or Hell by adopting the teachings of Jesus Christ, and living a life with an ethical manner, in which case this person will be sent directly to heaven. However, if a person chooses to break the laws of the Bible and not abide by the rules of the Ten Commandments, this particular person will be sent straight to Hell (What do the major religions say about death? 2009).
2.3 Purgatory
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes purgatory as a place where the purification process takes place for the souls who die in the state of grace but are not completely ready to be accepted into Heaven. It has been considered that the purification process is needed because anything that is considered unholliness or unclean will not be granted permission to enter into Heaven (Carr 2004). These unpurified souls will remain in purgatory until all their accumulated sins have been destroyed. It is widely believed in the Christian religion that the living may offer prayers for the souls who are waiting in purgatory so that they may be freed from sins faster and be eligible to enter Heaven.
2.4 Protestantism vs. Catholicism
Protestants and Catholics seemed to have very different views based on life after death. While Catholics believed in the existence of purgatory where souls are taken to be cleansed, Protestants completely reject this belief and based on their concept, when a person dies, their soul will be sent straight to Heaven as they believe that Jesus took the responsibility over their sins by dying on the cross. They believed that even if they have committed a lot of sins on Earth, they will spend their eternal life after death with the presence of God. This concept does not mean that they are allowed to commit evil doings on Earth and not held responsible for these actions but they should always ask for forgiveness for their sins and avoid from doing bad actions with the guidance from God (Gerner 2008).

3.0 Buddhism
Buddhism, like most Eastern religions believe in the notion of reincarnation where the cycle of death and rebirth takes place. In Buddhism, the concept of impermanence exists in the lives of all beings and the cycle of death and rebirth will cease to continue till the person has achieved proper enlightenment. Death is not viewed as the termination of life but it is simply the termination of the body that a soul occupied in the life hence the soul will still exist and reborn into a new body where they will experience a new life. The status of life of which souls are born into the next life relies on one’s cumulative good or bad actions in the previous life and this process is called Karma, which is the law of cause and effect. Basically in Buddhism, a soul can be reborn into six different realms which includes heaven, hell, hungry ghost, animal, fighting and jealous spirits and human realm. The teachings of Buddha stated that the existence of souls in these realms is not permanent but it is constantly changing which means that they can be reborn into different realms (Tang 2002). Over the centuries, like Christianity, Buddhism has developed into many branches of Buddhists such as Theravada and Mahayana.
3.1 Buddhist Funerals
Theravada and Mahayana funeral traditions are slightly different from one other. In Theravada Buddhists traditions, the cremation process is preferred rather than burial as cremation is considered as the release of souls from the body. When a person dies, friends and family of the deceased would gather at the funeral home to assist with the preparation of the funeral ceremony. At the funeral ceremony, before friends and family leaves the funeral home, Buddhist monks would carry out funeral rites followed by a funeral oration carried out by the chief monk. During this time, the monk would comfort family and friends of the deceased by explaining that all living beings are not permanent and are bound to death according to the teachings of Buddha. A piece of white cloth called Mataka Vastra will be covered around the coffin by the Buddhists monks while chanting some prayers or sutras. After the cremation process, the ashes of the deceased are collected and spread over a river by their family (Buddhism practices: Buddhist funeral rites 2008).
In Mahayana Buddhists traditions, there are two traditions of carrying out the funeral ceremony. In the first tradition, the ceremony is carried out for forty nine days and the first seven days is seen as the most important period and prayers are continuously chanted every seven days in the period of forty nine days. In the second tradition on the other hand, the prayers are chanted every ten days (Buddhist funeral n.d.).

3.2 Nirvana
The goal of all Buddhist is to achieve nirvana or enlightenment. In the Western, Nirvana is often mistaken as a place called Heaven but according to the teachings of Buddha, Nirvana is a state where all the worldly pleasures are eliminated from one’s mind and this person is not attached to anything that the world has to offer (Rebirth n.d.). The feelings such as greed, jealousy, craving and ignorance have been completely eliminated and thus through this achievement, the person gains the liberation or the release from the continuous cycle of death and rebirth. If one wishes to achieve nirvana or enlightenment, one has to abide by the laws of Buddha such as having the right attitudes and carrying out proper actions.
3.3 Karma
According to the teachings of Buddha, everything that occurs in the world is tied to Karma which is the Laws of cause and effect. (Tsuji 2008) states that “by actions, thoughts, and words, man is releasing spiritual energy to the universe and he is in turn affected by influences coming in his direction”. This statement explains that every single action that a person does has effects that will be accumulated overtime. Obviously, good actions will lead to good karma while bad actions will inevitably lead to bad karma. When a person is reborn into the world, their karma will decide their placement in the hierarchical status of the six realms.
3.4 The Six Realms
Every living being is tied to the cycle of death and rebirth if they have not yet achieved nirvana or enlightenment and they will inevitably be reborn into any of the six realms. The first one which is Heaven is considered as a place where souls gain happiness and peace of the mind in a harmonious environment and according to Buddhism, there is the existence of thirty seven different levels of Heaven. The second realm is the human life where souls can be reborn as humans and it is considered as the best realm to achieve enlightenment. The third realm which is the fighting and jealous spirits realm lies the Demi-Gods who are not happy as they have the feelings of jealousy among the higher Gods. The Hungry Ghost realm is filled with those who have committed a lot of evil actions and are never satisfied as the feelings of greed have overpowered them. The animal’s realm which is the fifth one is a realm which is the closest to the human realm. It is where souls are born into when they have killed animals or have done other evil actions. Although it is close to the human realm, they lack the ability that humans have which is freedom and are subject to human cruelty. The sixth realm which is the lowest realm in the hierarchy is called Hell. It is a place where souls are sent to after having generated a large amount of negative Karma and in this realm; the souls are continuously tortured and punished (Tang 2002).
4.0 Atheism
Atheism originates from the words “a” which means without and the word “theism” which means belief in the existence of God. When these two are words are combined together, it simply means the lack of any belief in the existence of God. Unlike Christianity and Buddhism, Atheism is not considered as a region as they do not established a general set of beliefs or rules to be followed or be guided by. Atheists claimed that they simply lack the answer as to where the universe came from and relies on Science to maybe someday provide with a thorough explanation about how the world came to be (All about Atheism n.d.).
Each Atheist has their own opinion on what happens to them when they die. Most Atheists believe that the brain is the main cause of their existence and they rely on the brain to survive and function properly and thus when the brain dies, the body itself dies (Carrier 1996). The existence of the soul and afterlife is simply rejected and as the brain and the heart stopped functioning, their mind just simply shuts off which means that they will lose consciousness and the process of decaying of the body will start.
Some Atheists however, believe that when they die, a process of natural reincarnation takes place where the components of which their body is made up of will simply evaporate into the air or combined with the Earth thus recycled in a new organism (Cornish n.d.).
Even though Atheisms do not believe in the existence of the supernatural beyond death, this does not mean that they are allowed to commit evil actions as they have the mindset that they will not be punished after death. Atheisms do apply morality by being kind to other people as it not only benefits them but also benefits other people as well.

5.0 Conclusion
Death is an aspect in life that all beings in every walk of life have to face with at some point in their lives. Most people view death as a bad thing and it is generally considered as something that is greatly feared. People fear death because it is seen as something that inflicts pain or the lack of knowledge of what lies beyond death simply generates fear among these individuals. However, some individuals view death as a blessing because maybe the lack of consciousness means that these people are finally granted an eternal rest from the worldly burden. Some society on the other hand views death as a new beginning.
There are many great ideas that exist on what lies beyond death. Some cultures or religions described a blissful and harmonious place called Heaven where good souls are sent to and a place filled with fire and terror where bad souls are continuously tortured called Hell. Other religions apply the teachings of reincarnation where souls are reborn into the world where they gain the chance of being reborn into a state of happiness and having the ability of not wanting anything that the world has to offer. Even though these religions have very different views on the subject of the afterlife, when these subjects are being analyzed or looked into closely, there are some similarities that exist between these ideas as an example the concept of Heaven and Nirvana in the Christian and Buddhist religion. Both these places or rather state; is the goal of an individual. The concept of both these ideas conveys the message of being at peace and living in a harmonious environment. Both Buddhist and Christian religions depicted Hell as a fiery place where the sinful souls are sent to and punished. Moreover the teachings of both these religions have taught that in order to gain an entrance into the heavenly place or achieved the state of being at peace, one has to apply and live by the laws of God and of course this cannot be achieved without one’s great effort.
The view that some people have on Atheist that since they do not believe in God, therefore they do not conduct morality in their daily lives is simply not true. They also have the ability to commit good actions not only because they do not believe in fires of Hell but because it benefits them and the people around them as well.