I confuss

[NoName]

I am little confuse on what hindus think will happen to us when we die, at frist I thought you guys belive in rebrith but there were of cuple hindus that I spoke to that sounded like they belive that we are going to some kind of after life, did I misunderstand somthing?

EDIT sorry for miss-spelling title, the sad part is I want to be writer. did not notice that until after I posted

[Agnideva]

Originally Posted by NoName

I am little confuse on what hindus think will happen to us when we die, at frist I thought you guys belive in rebrith but there were of cuple hindus that I spoke to that sounded like they belive that we are going to some kind of after life, did I misunderstand somthing?

Namaste NoName,

Within Hinduism, we have both concepts. There is the concept of multiple levels of heavenly and hellish worlds (lokas) beyond our own, and also the concept of reincarnation. The heavenly and hellish worlds are considered transient, and only to be experienced based on our karmas in the interim between successive births. So, after death one may experience a heavenly or hellish world for a period of time before the next birth. I should also mention here that some Hindus interpret “heaven” as a metaphor for a better life on earth, and “hell” as a metaphor for a worse one.

Hope that helps.

OM Shanti,
A.

[goldeneye]

That was a nice reply, Agnideva. It reflected my own understanding of Hinduism (which is largely garnered from the writings of Yogananda). Can you tell me why this temporary afterworld (i.e, astral plane) of the Hindu is unlike the NDE (near death experience) reports of Christians?

[sam1008]

Namaste,

Death is the big sleep - so they say.

And the heavanly or hellish astral planes are the dreams which take place during the big sleep. They reflect - and help us to process - the experiences, attitudes and believes held during the waking life - so are different for each person.

Presumably at some point we must enter a period of peace like the deep sleep we enter at night. Then just as we wake up to a new day after sleep, we are reborn to a new life.

This goes on and on - day after day - life after life - through all the species - evolving from lesser complicated organism to more sophisticated organism until we become human. After however many births as a human the next and final step in the evolution of the individual spirit through the species is release from the cycle of births and deaths.

[Agnideva]

Originally Posted by goldeneye

That was a nice reply, Agnideva. It reflected my own understanding of Hinduism (which is largely garnered from the writings of Yogananda). Can you tell me why this temporary afterworld (i.e, astral plane) of the Hindu is unlike the NDE (near death experience) reports of Christians?

Namaste Goldeneye,

Thanks for the post. I would say that most Hindus do believe in heavenly worlds and some have also reported NDE type experiences. The difference is that all the worlds of the astral plane – heavenly and hellish – are held as transient, to be experienced for a period of time determined by one’s karma before the next birth. If you have read Autobiography of a Yogi, you will no doubt recall that in one chapter Yogananda’s master, Sri Yukteswar, materializes in front of him and tells him that he is currently residing in an astral world called hiranyaloka guiding other beings unto yet higher worlds.

In Hindu doctrine, there is a belief in three planes of existence – the physical, the astral (or subtle), and the causal. These are likened to the three ordinary states of consciousness – waking, dreaming and deep sleep, respectively. Cycles of transmigration are said to occur between the physical and the astral planes. The astral plane, therefore, is often described to be like a dream world. The belief is that one is simultaneously present in all three planes. During dream states and upon shedding the physical body in death, one experiences the astral plane. The post-death astral experience is somewhat prolonged in relation to one’s daily journey in dreams, and results in taking a new physical body, as has been described already.

I hope that helps.

OM Shanti,
A.

[Divinity]

Dear all,

Hindusim is the oldest and eternal religion and so it is called as Sanatan Dharma too. Actuallly it is a way of life.... Hindu.....means (in Sanskrit) hinani dushayati eti Hindu.....means person having no bad qualities is known as Hindu.....

With regards to rebirth....it is reality.....since the beginning of this world the time is divided into four Eras (yugas)....viz....satya,treta, dwapar and kaliyuga....and we all souls are in a way failuar so taken so many rebirths...and now reached to kaliyuga....hope this time around we will realise the aim of our life and achieve final liberation.

There are 14 main planes of existence in the Universe. Seven of them are positive planes and seven are negative planes. The seven negative regions are commonly known as Hell (Paataal). There are numerous sub-planes within these main planes of existence.

Seven Positive Regions: The regions occupied mostly by living persons and subtle bodies doing righteous deeds and engaged in spiritual practice according to the positive path are known as the seven positive regions or saptaloka. By positive path, means the orientation of spiritual practice is towards God-realisation, which is the ultimate in spiritual growth.
The Earth region is the only physical plane in the Universe and is also the first plane in the hierarchy of the positive planes in the Univers

Seven Negative Regions: The regions occupied mostly by subtle bodies who have done unrighteous deeds and are engaged in spiritual practice according to the negative path. By negative path, means the orientation of spiritual practice is towards attaining spiritual power e.g. supernatural powers. This spiritual power is primarily used to enhance one’s control over others or for negative purposes. Thus all subtle bodies that go to any one of the regions of Hell, by virtue of their evil intentions become ghosts.

Below shows the 14 planes of existence in the Universe.


Hope you all will find this information useful and handy....

Peace and love
Divinity