(p.209) .
Life After Death - What Happens?.
In classical Buddhism that there are four stages which are repeated continuously until the spirit escapes the cycle of rebirth and enters Nirvana. (p.209) Nirvana being the .
total extinction of ones delusions, defilements and attachments to illusions of any kind and yet is described as complete happiness and bliss. "Whatever is left is good and pure and enters into peace and happiness" (p.210). After death the spirit wanders to find its "proper place" for forty-nine days, on the other hand, some case where someone had a .
strong attachment to worldly ambitions, cravings or desires, this period could last up to hundred days. This duration is called "Bardo" and when a decision is made, whether he or she wants to come back, a rebirth takes place. Conversely, holy people, sages and monks would be expected to escape rebirth and enter Nirvana, but they very often are reborn because they took an oath to delay Nirvana in order to return to help others reach enlightenment. .
Quality of the Afterlife - What does it depend on?.
As mentioned previously, the quality of an afterlife is based upon good deeds and evil deeds. If someone were accustomed to perform good deeds in his lifetime than he would expect a beneficial rebirth, nevertheless, if someone led a bad life, he or she would expect a regretful rebirth-that, Samu said, was the moral order of the cosmos and hence inescapable". (p.218).
Baha" i.
Religious Background.
Amongst the religions that captivated my interest was the Baha"i faith. Looking at its religious environment will give us an in depth account to what their afterlife entails. The Baha"i devotion is a religion that is a gathering of all religions and honors all. They see themselves as a "new revelation addressed by God to the entire world" (p.226). The founder for this new religious conviction was Mirza Husain Ali (1817-1892), who took the name Baha"u"llah, meaning "the glory of God".