Ask a child , ask a teenager or ask an adult what scares them the most and they all will have the same answer , death. What exactly is death rises the question ... The question can be answered in a few different ways . Some might say death is when the body of a person passes away or doesn’t function in a sense, not the soul whereas some might just totally oppose that point and believe that death is when both the body and the soul pass away .. The scientific meaning of death would be stated as “The irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism”.. When we die , our spirit and our body take on different paths , but the question that has left all of mankind in a loophole arises , Whether or not there is life after death and if there is , is it for our body , for our soul or for us as whole ... What if when you die , you just die , and thats it ? Some would ask , would it be so bad to die ? This ideology arised around 300 b.c.e , the time when epicurus was alive . Epicurus , an ancient Greek philosopher advocated an atomic and a naturalistic view of the universe . He quoted “Death does not concern us , because as long as we exist , death is not here . And once it does come , we no longer exist” . Epicurus made us realize that this fear of death was irrational . Death doesn’t affect the one who died . It affects those who were left behind to grieve . Death is what ruins the lives of the family or the closest ones of the one who died . If death is inevitable , then does our life really have a meaning? A person who thinks theres no afterlife , rebirth or going to heaven and hell sort of thing may actually think that their life is meaningless .. is this thought actually that impactful that it can stop us from actually living and thriving rather than just surviving another day around ... Are you going to let one single line , one single sentence shape your life ? Death is the reality of life .. Just like all good things , our life also has to come to an end , whether it be sooner or later . So , why not live , why not thrive , why not be the best version of yourself you can be , afterall you dont actually know what awaits you after death ...Some of us fear death . Some of us fear what awaits us in the afterlife whereas some of us just spend our whole lives trying to impress our parents , our teachers , our bosses and god knows who else .. Till when are we going to live like this ? When are we going to start living for ourselves and not for the sake and not for the benefit of others. We should value this chance at life we have got. We as humans have divided ourselves into different communities or as we know them “Religions”. All the religions have different theories of what happens to us after death. Christianity makes people believe that God will give them a new life , but only to those who dedicate their life to him. Islam also interprets death in a similar way. Their main idea is that there will be a day when god judges humanity and decides who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. In Judaism , it is taught that the ones who die , all go to sheol , a place where the dead live as shadows . In Buddhism , Hinduism and Sikhism , the ideology is that of rebirth. They believe that when one dies , his/her soul leaves the body but not the world , instead the soul goes into another body which is then birthed . All these religions have different theories , and they all believe theirs is right , but the truth is no one can actually prove what happens to us after death , or can they ? In the year 2016 , there was a man , a priest actually , “Gerald Johnson” who claimed that he went to hell and heard Rihanna’s music .. He also says that he saw a man , walking on all fours like a dog and burnt from head to toe , he was also wearing chains on his neck. Johnson says it was just like seeing a hellhound and that there was a demon who was holding the chains. It has not been confirmed whether this statement is actually true or not , but if its true, then would everyone start to get punished for every little sin. The thing is , we will never know what will happen to us , we only know that we are going to die someday , and maybe thats for the best. Deaths approach gives impetus to our moral existence. We can believe anything we want to .
Written by Myra Khanna
