Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the religions of Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. The paper examines how each of these religions has distinct ideas about the concept of life after death; what takes place after death; the nature of the afterlife itself; and how and where one arrives in the afterlife, based on the life lived on earth. The paper explains that the major religious books of each religion, in which those four religions' beliefs about life after death are described, are, for Judaism the Torah; the Hebrew Tanakh; and the Talmud; for Buddhism the Tipitaka; for Islam the Qur'an (Koran); and for Hinduism the Bhagavad Gita. The paper compares and contrasts teachings about life after death within Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, respectively.

From the Paper:

"One major difference between the Buddhist and Hindu views of life after death compared to the Jewish and Muslim views of life after death has to do with the Buddhist and Hindu view of time as cyclical rather than linear. Judaism and Islam (and Christianity), each conceive of a linear concept of time, i.e., one's time spent on earth is then followed by one's time in the afterlife. Within the Christian New Testament, for example (Hebrews 9:27) it states: "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (BLB Hebrews 9)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• The Bhagavad-Gita. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. A. Sarah Lawall et al. (Eds.). New York, Norton: 2002. 1010-1028.
• The EAWC Anthology: The Bhagavad-Gita. Trans. Ramanand Prasad. The American Gita Society. Retrieved June 19, 2005, from: <http: www.eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/gita.htm>.
• "The Cow" [Sura 2]. The Koran. Trans. N.J. Dawood. New York: Penguin Classics, 1986. 334-365.
• Exodus 1-24; 31-33. From The Old Testament. The Holy Scriptures.Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1955. 72-104; 115-120.
• "The Exordium" [Sura 1]. The Koran. Trans. N.J. Dawood. New York: Penguin Classics, 1986. 15.

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