Guest guest Posted November 4, 1999 Report Share Posted November 4, 1999 We are involved in teaching Hinduism at Advanced level stage in UK. >From time to time we get some interesting questions from schools. Recently a school sent us the following question. Can the list members help us out on this? It would be nice to get the reply via the list so that all can participate. Christien Bembridge <cdb vivekananda <vivekananda 04 November 1999 14:05 A Level Religious Studies >Hello there, > >I am a Religious Studies teacher helping two pupils on their A Level >coursework. They are comparing and contrasting the differences between >Hindu and Christian approaches to Death and the afterlife. Can you help >with some modern day points of view? It would be great if you can give them >any advice at all. > >Thank you, > >Mr C Bembridge > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 1999 Report Share Posted November 4, 1999 Protestant Christianity (common) essentially sees (physical) death as a temporary (temporal - in-time) end to life. At that point, the soul sleeps until Christ returns, at which point the souls of both the dead and the living which are not "saved" by repentence of sin and acknowledgement of Christ as savior will be cast into hell eternally, while those souls which are saved will go to heaven and be near God eternally. Catholicism admits the existence of a "purgatory" or in-between phase, where sin will be cleansed out before the soul may progress to heaven (eternal happiness). In this sense, Catholicism does not see sin as eternal damnation, but leaves open the possibility of redemption even after physical death, whereas most protestant christianity requires being "saved" while the body is still alive. Hinduism (common) generally sees each physical life as a long progression of events (reincarnation) controlled by the motivating principle of karma. Life exists eternally from the Hindu point of view, and the ignorant (jiva) will return to live another life after death because of this principle of karma. Those who have realized the truth of the Self will return no more, but will simply remain where they have always been (One with Brahman or the Absolute) upon death, and no more will ignorance (karma) have the effect of causing rebirth into a human body. Rebirth is generally considered "undesirable," eternal union with the Absolute is considered "desirable." The only viewpoint in common here is that both Christianity and Hinduism (most believe that the "soul" is eternal, and there is no end to life after physical death. This is an important commonality. Please note that this is a rather poor explanation covering the basic essentials only (and certainly not fit to be taught as-is in a classroom), but may serve as a foundation for further exploration. At 07:05 PM 11/4/99 -0000, you wrote: >"Vivekananda Centre" <vivekananda >>Hello there, >> >>I am a Religious Studies teacher helping two pupils on their A Level >>coursework. They are comparing and contrasting the differences between >>Hindu and Christian approaches to Death and the afterlife. Can you help >>with some modern day points of view? It would be great if you can give them >>any advice at all. >> >>Thank you, >> >>Mr C Bembridge ----- "Realization begins where knowledge ends." Visit *The Core* Website at http://coresite.cjb.net - Music, Poetry, Writings on Nondual Spiritual Topics. Tim's other pages are at http://core.vdirect.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 1999 Report Share Posted November 7, 1999 Greetings: Tim's explanation is quite adequate and complete. For more details, I suggest the book with the title, "What becomes of the soul after Death," by Swami Sivananda, published by the Divine Life Society. This excellent book discusses both the eastern and western point of views. Major Chapters are: What is Death; Soul's Journey after Death, Resurrection and Judgement, Soul after Death, Doctrine of Reincarnation, Lokas or Planes, Spiritualism, Shraadha and Prayer for the Dead, Conquest of the Death, Stories, Letters and Appendix. This will be a great resource fo the students to understand all the different aspects of death, life after death and liberation from birth-death cycle. Note: Downloadable Free books on Yoga, Religion and Philosophy are available at the Divine Life Society Site: http://www.SivanandaDlshq.org/download/download.htm (The above referenced book is not there and many relevant associated information is available at the site) regards, Ram Chandran Tim Gerchmez wrote: > Tim Gerchmez <core1 > ........................... etc., ............ > The only viewpoint in common here is that both Christianity and Hinduism > (most believe that the "soul" is eternal, and there is no end to life after > physical death. This is an important commonality. > > Please note that this is a rather poor explanation covering the basic > essentials only (and certainly not fit to be taught as-is in a classroom), > but may serve as a foundation for further exploration. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.