The State of the Lost Ones

θάνατος (thánatos) is a Greek word meaning death. Death is expressed as 'the end of life in an organism. It is the state when all biological and living activity of the living thing stop, including the mind and the senses.'

A popular saying goes thus, the only sure things in life are death and taxes. This is not always absolute as taxes can be avoided in some cases for some certain people, but unfortunately no man can avoid death.

I don't mean to scare anyone, I only want to share the factual things that happen when a person takes their last breath. This is both biologically and spiritually inclined. Both biological and spiritual tools will be employed.

What happens when I die?

This question is crucial and at some point each and everyone who is living or who has lived would inquire about it. What really happens when a person dies, do they live on after the death? If they do, then where do they live, is it here on earth, or in the grave? In fact, is there a proof of existence of life after death? All these questions are world's imponderables which of course can be approached with science and religion.

Employing Scientific tools

The first stage of death is as soon as the heart stops to beat then the rest of the body begins to deteriorate. The extent at which the body decomposes depends on a wide selection of factors including the environment, the circumstances of death, and the condition of the individual bodies.

After about 12hours of the last breath the skin loses it shading and blood and begins to turn purple. Then Algor Motis sets in to cool the body temperature.

After this, the Rigor Motis also kicks in, this is the process which starts with the eyelids and muscles on the neck before it goes to the entire body, stiffening it up due to the degradation. After this, the body secretes putrid odors because dead body cells release enzymes, this allow for bacteria and fungi reactions like releasing noxious gases and odors. With such odor it paves way for animals to rush to devour the body.

The dead body may moan and groan, I guess that action is not only for Zombies. The immune system shuts down, the eyes bulge and tongue swells, this can eventually lead to explosion of the body. This is because the gases have nowhere to go so the body will bloat and eventually rupture.

However, recently I spoke with a man who had been clinically articulated to have died twice and he said that there was nothing specific there after he died. So may I suggest that it was simply 'void', No awareness of self, nothing!

Using religious tools, Starting with Christianity,

Death: The Wages of Sin. Knowing God's warning that disobedience would bring death, Satan said, "'You will not surely die'" (Gen. 3:4). But after they disobeyed God's command, Adam and Eve discovered that the wages of sin is, indeed, death (Rom. 6:23). He condemned them: You shall "'return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return'" (Gen. 3:19). These words points to the cessation of life. God barred the sinful couple from the tree of life so that they could not "'eat, and live forever'" (Gen. 3:22). His action made it clear that the immortality promised on condition of obedience was lost through sin.

The Nature of Death: If death is the cessation of life, what does the Bible say about a person's condition in death?

Death Is a Sleep. Death is not complete annihilation; it is only a state of temporary unconsciousness while the person awaits the resurrection. The Bible calls this intermediate state a sleep.
The New Testament uses this imagery. In describing the condition of Jairus' daughter, who was dead, Christ said that she was sleeping (Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39). He referred to the deceased Lazarus in a similar manner (John 11:11-14)

The Person Returns to Dust. To understand what happens to a person at death, one must understand what makes up his or her nature. The Bible at times uses the word soul to refer to the whole person, and at other times to the affections and emotions. But it does not teach that man comprises two separate parts. Body and soul only exist together; they form an indivisible union.

At humanity's creation, the union of the dust of the ground (earth's elements) and the breath of life produced a living being or soul. Adam did not receive a soul as a separate entity; he became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). At death the inverse takes place: the dust of the ground minus the breath of life yields a dead person or dead soul without any consciousness (Ps. 146:4). The elements that made up the body return to the earth from which they came (Gen. 3:19).

The soul has no conscious existence apart from the body, and no scripture indicates that at death the soul survives as a conscious entity. Indeed, "'the soul who sins shall die'" (Eze. 18:20).

The Abode of the Dead. The grave is not a place of consciousness. Since death is a sleep, the dead will remain in a state of unconsciousness in the grave until the resurrection, when the grave gives up its dead (Rev. 20:13).

The Spirit Returns of God. Though the body returns to dust, the spirit returns to God. Solomon said that at death "the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Eccl. 12:7). This is true of all, both the righteous and the wicked.

Then Islam;

Death in Islam is the termination of worldly life and the beginning of afterlife. Death is seen as the separation of soul from body, and its transfer from this world to the afterlife. Thus, it is the continuation of life in another form. Death is seen as a painful experience in Islam.

Islamic tradition discusses elaborately, almost in graphic detail, as to what exactly happens before, during, and after the death. The angel of death(Arabic: Malak al-Maut) appears to the dying to take out their souls. The sinners' souls are extracted in a most painful way while the righteous are treated easily. After the burial, two angels – Munkar and Nakir – come to question the dead in order to test their faith. The righteous believers answer correctly and live in peace and comfort while the sinners and disbelievers fail and punishments ensue. The time period or stage between death and the end of the world is called the life of barzakh.

In Islamic belief, souls may either rest in Barzakh during the time period between this worldly life and the final the resurrection on the Day of Judgment or immediately pass into paradise or hell after the questioning of the deathangels Munkar and Nakir, thus Barzakh, similar to Christian idea of limbo, contains the souls, which go neither to heaven or to hell and remain in the grave. It is said that the martyrs – persons who die on the way of God – always skip Barzakh and the trial of the deathangels and go to paradise directly.

Since dead bodies are deposited in the grave, tradition and other sources have tended to use the word 'grave' to refer to the life of Barzakh. Thus, grave is used synonymously for Barzakh. Muslims believe that each person is interrogated in the grave by two angels appointed by God. After the burial, the two angels, called Munkar and Nakir, come to question the dead in order to test their faith. The righteous believers answer correctly and live in peace and comfort while the sinners and disbelievers fail and punishments ensue.

In the life of Barzakh, the souls of the sinners and disbelievers are kept and punished in a place called Sijjin which is said to be located at the lowest level of the earth (or underworld). The books containing the full records of their deeds are also kept here. On the other hand, the souls of the righteous believers are kept in a place called Illiyin. Their books of deeds are also kept here. According to some account, Illiyin is located above the seventh sky.

Ākhirah (Arabic: الآخرة) is an Islamic term referring to the afterlife. It is repeatedly referenced in chapters of the Quran concerning the Last Judgment, an important part of Islamic eschatology. Traditionally, it is considered to be one of the six main beliefs of Muslims. According to the Islamic beliefs, God will play the role of the qadi, weighing the deeds of each individual. He will decide whether that person's ʾākhirah lies in Jahannam (Hell) or Jannah (Heaven) on the basis of the weight of either good or bad deeds in comparison with one another.

In Hinduism,

Death is a temporary cessation of physical activity, a necessary means of recycling the resources and energy and an opportunity for the jiva (that part which incarnates) to reenergize itself, review its programs and policies and plan for the next phase of life. Each life experience on earth and each incarnation of soul offers the jiva an opportunity to learn and overcome its inconsistencies and blemishes so that it can become the whole. We cannot have likes and dislikes, preferences, prejudices and attachment and yet expect ourselves be liberated. Even a preference for purity becomes an impediment at some stage in our lives. The soul therefore needs to be born again and again till it overcomes its state of delusion, achieves the state of equanimity and realizes its completeness. When a person dies, his soul along with some residual consciousness leaves the body through an opening in the head and goes to another world and returns again after spending some time there. What happens after the soul leaves the body and before it reincarnates again is a great mystery about which we can form an idea after studying the scriptures.

The Paths of the Sun and the Moon

The Bhagavad-Gita describes two paths along which souls travel after death. One is the path of the sun, also known as the bright path or the path of gods and the other is the path of the moon, also known as the dark path and the path of ancestors. When a soul travels along the path of the sun, it never return again, while those which travel along the path of the moon return again. (8.24). How is the path of the sun attained? Lord Krishna provides the clue in the following verses:
"Controlling all the openings of the body, with the mind established in the heart, fixing the prana in the self at the top of the head establishing oneself in the Yoga, uttering the monosyllable AUM, which is Brahman, who leaves the body remembering Me, he achieves the highest goal. (8.12-13)
In the same chapter we are also informed that all worlds including that of Brahma are subject to rebirth, but on reaching Him there is no birth.

The Fate of an Individual Upon Death

What happens to a soul after the death of a mortal being on earth depends upon many factors, some of which are listed below:

1. His previous deeds. If a person has committed many bad deeds in his life, he will go to the lower worlds and suffer from the consequences of his evil actions. On the contrary if he performed good deeds, he will go to the higher sun filled worlds and enjoy the life there.

2. His state of mind at the time of death, that is what thoughts and what desires were predominant in his consciousness at the time of his death, decides in which direction the jiva will travel and in what form it will appear again. For example, if a person is thinking of his family and children at the time of his death, very likely he will go the world of ancestors and will be born again in that family. If a person is thinking of money matters at the time of his death, very likely he will travel to the world of Vishnu and will be born as a merchant or a trader in his next birth. If a person is thinking of evil and negative thoughts he will go to the lower worlds and suffer in the hands of evil. His suffering may either reform him or push him deeper into evil depending upon his previous samskaras (tendencies). If he is thinking of God at the time of his death, he will go to the highest world.

3. The time of his death. The time and circumstances related to death are also important. For example, it is believed that if a person dies on a battle field he will attain the heaven of the warriors. If someone dies on a festival day or an auspicious day, while performing some puja or bhajan in the house, he will go to heaven irrespective of his previous deeds.

4. The activities of his children, that is whether they performed the funeral rites in the prescribed manner and satisfied the scriptural injunctions. There is a belief that if funeral rites are not performed according to the tradition, it will delay the journey of the souls to their respective worlds.

5. The grace of God. God in the form of a personal deity may often interfere with the fate of an individual and change the course of his or her after life. We have instances where God rescued his devotees from the hands of the messengers of death and placed them in the highest heaven in recognition of their meritorious deeds.

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