Why do we have to go somewhere when we die?

Question

Why do we have to go somewhere when we die are we humans that self centered that we have to live for ever. why can't we just die and be happey about it. Why does there have to be an after life, and would it realy matter if there was not one we would be dead after all why would it matter then.

Answer 1

Because it is human nature to wish to be immortal. People do not want to think that once this life is over that is the end. That is why religion is so popular, it gives people hope of an afterlife. We temper the hope with the promise that only the good (or the "believer" with fundamentalists) will be rewarded with an afterlife of joy.

Answer 2

I see useless birds interior the line perpetually! No, they in many circumstances do not fall from the sky until eventually they have been shot. in many circumstances if a poultry is that sick, it probably should not be able to fly besides. As for the position they bypass, maximum municipalities have a street branch that possibilities up carcasses from roads. Or they'd nicely be eaten with the help of alternative animals (raccoons, canines, cats). OR they basically decompose. On their way as a lot as heaven, although, they bypass to the Rainbow Bridge & anticipate the human beings who love them to take all of them a thanks to heaven ;)

Answer 3

It is their fear of the finality of death that drives them to need to rely on infantile god concepts to give meaning to their pitifully short life? Why do they waste that precious time preparing for an afterlife that doesn't exist? It is fear driven delusion.

Answer 4

I don't know but is not sure if really exist the "after life" you will see after you die and everyone else,too.

Answer 5

we dont. it is too scarey for some people to think that they lay in a box underground forever. i do believe that out bodies and souls are different entities and that you body will forever be in the ground but your soul is gone. just gone.

Answer 6

The truth is that you will live eternally. The choice is where.

Answer 7

if we don't.
the world must be disorderly.
stealing
killing
war
lying

if god created heaven,then we should be good to be there.
then there will less killing stealing etc.

Answer 8

We do not have to go anywhere and not all faiths necessarily think we do.

Answer 9

because.......

Answer 10

Heaven and hell: a Bahá'í view of life after death

As in the world's other religions, the Bahá'í
concept of life after death is deeply integrated
into teachings about the nature of the soul and the
purpose of this earthly life.

Bahá'u'lláh confirmed the existence of a
separate, rational soul for every human. In this
life, He said, the soul is related to the physical
body. It provides the underlying animation for the
body, and is our real self.

Although undetectable by physical
instruments, the soul shows itself through the
qualities of character that we associate with each
person. The soul is the focal point for love and
compassion, for faith and courage, and for other
such "human" qualities that cannot be explained
solely by thinking of a human being as an animal,
or as a sophisticated organic machine.

The soul does not die; it endures
everlastingly. When the human body dies, the soul
is freed from ties with the physical body and the
surrounding physical world and begins its progress
through the spiritual world. Bahá'ís understand
the spiritual world to be a timeless and placeless
extension of our own universe -- and not some
physically remote or removed place.

Entry into the next life has the potential
to bring great joy. Bahá'u'lláh likened death to
the process of birth. He explains: "The world
beyond is as different from this world as this
world is different from that of the child while
still in the womb of its mother."

The analogy to the womb in many ways
summarizes the Bahá'í view of earthly existence.
Just as the womb constitutes an important place for
a person's initial physical development, the
physical world provides the matrix for the
development of the individual soul. Accordingly,
Bahá'ís view life as a sort of workshop, where one
can develop and perfect those qualities which will
be needed in the next life.

"Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul
of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will,
assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of
the Beloved," Bahá'u'lláh wrote. "By the
righteousness of God! It shall attain a station
such as no pen can depict, or tongue can describe."

In the final analysis, heaven can be seen
partly as a state of nearness to God; hell is a
state of remoteness from God. Each state follows as
a natural consequence of individual efforts, or the
lack thereof, to develop spiritually. The key to
spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined
by the Manifestations of God.

Beyond this, the exact nature of the
afterlife remains a mystery. "The nature of the
soul after death can never be described,"
Bahá'u'lláh writes.

(Baha'i International Community, 1992, Magazine - The Baha'is)

Although it is impossible for man, at least in this world, to discover the essence of his own soul, he can observe its powers and witness the expression of its attributes within himself. Belief in the soul, and knowledge of its existence and attributes, come to us  6  originally through the words of the Manifestations of God. It is they who primarily impart to mankind the vision of spiritual realities.

In past dispensations humanity had not acquired the capacity to understand the spiritual realms of God. Christ confirmed this fact when He stated:

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you unto all truth..." [P-3]

This is why the Manifestations of old spoke about the soul but did not explain its nature or reveal any of its mysteries. Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, who was the last Messenger of God in the Prophetic Cycle and whose Revelation was the latest of all the older Dispensations, referred to the soul only in one short sentence in the Qur'án:

"They ask thee concerning the spirit. Say: The spirit (was created) at the command of my Lord. But you have no knowledge given unto you except a little." [P-4]

In this Dispensation, however, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá shed much light on the subject. In many Tablets they testify to the existence of the soul, describe it as an unknowable spiritual reality, acknowledge its exalted station, refer to it as a 'mighty sign of God', and reveal a great deal about its qualities and attributes, its immortality, its condition and its progress in the afterlife. So vast is the range of these Writings that a large volume could be compiled of all their utterances on the subject. Indeed, Bahá'u'lláh's explanations of the human soul are among the great contributions that He has made to religious knowledge, revealed in proportion to the capacity of the people of this age.

These explanations are limited to the description of the characteristics of the soul; in no way do they reveal the reality of the soul itself. Since it is a spiritual entity, the soul emanates from the spiritual worlds of God, and it is therefore impossible to describe its innermost essence in words; it cannot be understood by human intellect or other physical senses. Bahá'u'lláh confirms this in a Tablet addressed to a certain believer known as Abdu'r-Razzaq:

"Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel...

"Verily I say, the human soul is, in its essence, one of the signs of God, a mystery among His mysteries. It is one of the mighty signs of the Almighty, the harbinger that proclaimeth the reality of all the worlds of  7  God. Within it lieth concealed that which the world is now utterly incapable of apprehending." [P-5]

Nevertheless, a study of Bahá'u'lláh's Writings is enlightening. We learn from the Writings that the soul, being an emanation from the spiritual worlds of God, comes into existence at the time of conception, when it becomes associated with the body. The belief that the soul exists before conception is therefore contrary to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith, states, 'the soul or spirit of the individual comes into being with the conception of his physical body'. [P-6] The soul, being exalted above entry or exit, ascent or descent, cannot be physically placed inside a body or have any connection with material things.

Bahá'u'lláh declares in the same Tablet to Abdu'r-Razzaq:

"Verily I say, the human soul is exalted above all egress and regress. It is still, and yet it soareth; it moveth, and yet it is still. It is, in itself, a testimony that beareth witness to the existence of a world that is contingent, as well as to the reality of a world that hath neither beginning nor end." [P-7]

The association of the soul and the body is similar to the association of light and the mirror. The light is not inside the mirror, but reflected on it from a different source. When the mirror breaks, the light remains unaffected.

When the soul becomes associated with the body, a human being with a unique identity is created. This creation has a beginning at the time of conception, but has no end. 'Abdu'l-Bahá states: 'The spirit of man has a beginning, but it has no end; it continues eternally.' [P-8] The soul is thus immortal and will progress in the spiritual worlds of God for all eternity. Such a concept of everlasting life is truly a most uplifting vision for the human race. This thought of immortality can evoke in the heart of every believer the feelings of utmost joy and gratitude for having been endowed with eternal life by Almighty God. Another feature of this bounty is that God has bestowed an everlasting privilege upon the parents who become aware of, and rejoice in, being instrumental in bringing into this world children whose souls are destined to progress in the worlds of God throughout eternity.

To understand any spiritual reality, one needs to read the Holy Writings and meditate upon them. Another source from which the individual may learn is nature itself, through an examination of the principles of nature, provided he can relate his findings to the truths enshrined in the Holy Writings. The combination of the two can enable him to grasp a measure of the reality of any spiritual subject, including the human soul. A word of warning is needed, however,  8  in that whereas the Holy Writings are self-sufficient sources for the understanding of spiritual truth, the study of the laws of nature will have to be harmonized with the Writings. Otherwise, by merely employing some principles of nature in one's study of spiritual life, the result could be misleading indeed.

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Covenant of Baha'u'llah, p. 4)

Resurrection, Paradise, and Hell

An important part of the Báb's teaching is His explanation of
the terms Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Paradise and
 21 
Hell. By the Resurrection is meant, He said, the appearance of
a new Manifestation of the Sun of Truth. The raising of the
dead means the spiritual awakening of those who are asleep
in the graves of ignorance, heedlessness and lust. The Day of
Judgment is the Day of the new Manifestation, by acceptance
or rejection of Whose Revelation the sheep are separated from
the goats, for the sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd
and follow Him. Paradise is the joy of knowing and loving
God, as revealed through His Manifestation, thereby attaining
to the utmost perfection of which one is capable, and, after
death, obtaining entrance to the Kingdom of God and the life
everlasting. Hell is simply deprivation of that knowledge of
God with consequent failure to attain divine perfection, and
loss of the Eternal Favor. He definitely declared that these terms
have no real meaning apart from this; and that the prevalent
ideas regarding the resurrection of the material body, a material
heaven and hell, and the like, are mere figments of the
imagination. He taught that man has a life after death, and
that in the afterlife progress towards perfection is limitless.

(Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Baha'u'llah and the New Era, p. 20)

Body and Soul

The Bahá'í teachings with regard to body and soul, and the
life after death, are quite in harmony with the results of psychical
research. They teach, as we have seen, that death is but a
new birth -- the escape from the prison of the body into a
larger life, and that progress in the afterlife is limitless.
A large body of scientific evidence has gradually been accumulating
 208 
which in the opinion of impartial but highly critical
investigators is amply sufficient to establish beyond all question
the fact of a life after death -- of the continued life and
activity of the conscious "soul" after the dissolution of the
material body. As F. W. H. Myers says in his Human
Personality, a work which summarizes many of the investigations
of the Psychical Research Society: --

Observation, experiment, inference, have led many inquirers,
of whom I am one, to a belief in direct or telepathic
intercommunication, not between the minds of
men still on earth only, but between minds or spirits
still on earth and spirits departed. Such a discovery opens
the doors also to revelation. ...
We have shown that amid much deception and self-deception,
fraud and illusion, veritable manifestations do
reach us from beyond the grave. ...
By discovery and by revelation certain theses have been
provisionally established with regard to such departed
souls as we have been able to encounter. First and chiefly,
I, at least, see ground to believe that their state is one of
endless evolution in wisdom and in love. Their loves of
earth persist, and most of all, those highest loves which
find their outlet in adoration and worship. ... Evil to
them seems less a terrible than a slavish thing. It is embodied
in no mighty Potentate; rather it forms as isolating
madness from which higher spirits strive to free the distorted
soul. There needs no chastisement of fire; self-knowledge
is man's punishment and his reward; self-knowledge
and the nearness or the aloofness of companion
souls. For in that world love is actually self-preservation;
the Communion of Saints not only adorns but constitutes
the Life Everlasting. nay, from the laws of telepathy it
follows that that communion is valid to us here and now.
Even now the love of souls departed makes answer to our
invocations. Even now our loving memory -- love is itself a
prayer -- supports and strengthens those delivered spirits
upon their upward way.
 209 
The measure of agreement between this view, which is
founded on careful scientific research, and that of the Bahá'í
teachings, is truly remarkable.

'A lower degree cannot comprehend a higher although all are in the same world of creation... Degree is the barrier...'[2] 'Abdu'l-Bahá says. The animal is at our side but his degree of existence keeps him out of our world. A child's degree keeps him from understanding what constitutes an adult mind: you need make no effort to hide the nature of adulthood from him, his degree of consciousness automatically keeps this a well-guarded secret. No need, for example, to hide private documents from an infant. In the same way many things all about us are secret simply because of our own limitations. The afterlife is one of them. The love of God as passionately felt by the mystics is another. The secret itself is visible everywhere, to every eye: 'Every eye,' 'Abdu'l-Bahá once said, speaking of the promise that every eye should see the returned Christ: 'But not the blind.'[3]
[2. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Discourses by Abdul Baha Abbas During His Visit to the United States in 1912, (2 Vols., Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1922-5), Vol. 1, p. 110]
[3. Juliet Thompson, unpublished diary]

Since degree is the barrier, those who have progressed farther than others in God's love are hard put to it to initiate the rest. This seems to be what the mystics, the sufis, the lovers of God, mean by their eternal symbols and cryptic pronouncements. They try, this way and that, to communicate (while yet hiding) what they see mirrored in their hearts, and feel running in their veins. They write, even monotonously, about 'the secret'. They hopelessly try to embody their knowledge in the vocabulary of human love, since none other will serve: 'Often the same ode,' R. A. Nicholson says, 'will entrance the sinner and evoke sublime raptures in the saint.'[4]
[4. R. A. Nicholson, Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz, (Cambridge, 1898), p. xxvi]

(Marzieh Gail, Dawn Over Mount Hira, p. 34)