For more than 3,000 years Egyptians have supported their initial, original ideas of the afterlife. The Egyptian afterlife is very detailed and is described thoroughly in the Book of the Dead. Once an Egyptian passes away they transform into two parts, the Ba and the Ka. The Ba is described as being the breath or soul and looks like a human-headed bird while the Ka is a carbon copy of the deceased and is the guardian spirit or life force (Lewis 123). Both parts travel in a boat to the underworld and once they reach their destination they proceed through seven different gates. At each gate they have to giv

The Inca beliefs are very similar to many other cultures, because they keep their beliefs simple yet sufficient. The deceased are to cross a bridge in order to reach “the silent land”. The bridge is made purely of hair and if an individual falls they are doomed to the realm of punishment. The realm of punishment is located at the bowels of the earth and they are forced to eat stones for every meal. The individuals who make it across the bridge safely go to a happy realm in the “heaven of the sun deity“ (Sharp 22). When royalty dies, there are many expectations of the living. All family and close friends, such as wives and servants were expected to commit suicide in order to accompany their ruler in the “other” world.

Because it was such a mystery at how this all occurred these mythological figures became key parts of the Eleusinian mysteries which were mythological mysteries in ancient Greece.

Within the Hindu culture there are three types of religions, each believing something slightly different about the afterlife. Vedic Hindus believe that a new body is formed for the deceased and that process is called sapindikarana. Pitri-loka, the afterlife realm, is a place where everyone goes after being judged by Yama. Yama was the first man ever to die, he is now their god, king and judge of the deceased (Sharp 87). The next religious group, Upanishadic Hindus, are strong believers in karma and reincarnation. The samsaric process, reincarnation, is dreadful to these people. They believe that “life in this world means suffering” (Lewis 186). Samsara all depends on one’s karma. Karma is described as the natural law ensuring that every good or bad deed eventually returns to the person in the form of reward or punishment. The Hindus that become engaged in the samsaric process can attain Moksha. Moksha is the release or liberation from samsara, which may be achieved by proper performance of rituals or highly disciplined yoga (Sharp 86). The last religious group believes in extreme devotion. Devotional Hindus believe that the souls of the deceased partake in devotional activities towards god in a heaven world. Their heaven world is very similar to western religion heavens. God was approached as very personal and loving. Devotional Hindus think that “god would respond to devotional worship and forgive any sins that may have been committed“ (Lewis 186). Although each religion has their differences, Hindu hell worlds are all the same. Each is a place where your soul is tortured by demons, but hell is never a final resting place. Everyone is given another chance to prove themselves creditable.

The Greeks have had a myth about death that has stayed consistent for decades:

Muslims, having two different denominations, still seem to hold true to the same beliefs in most cases. The deceased stay in an interworld called Barzakh until the day of resurrection. Barzakh resembles a state of dreaming and awareness. The individual’s soul becomes aware of its true nature and disappears until resurrection. Qiyama, the day of resurrection, is a crucial da

Some topics in this essay:
God Heaven, Shiites Sunnis, Greece Inca, Devotional Hindus, Maat Maat, Upanishadic Hindus, , King Tut, Ka Ba, Hades Demeter, lewis 125, ideas afterlife, “clear light”, chance prove themselves, shabtis tomb, day resurrection, afterlife realm, hindus believe, enter realm, close friends, apocalyptic judaism,