In the first nine chapters of this book, we have attempted to outline some of the main aspects of the Orthodox Christian view of life after death, contrasting them with the widely held modern view, as well as views that have appeared in the West, which in some respects have departed from the ancient Christian teaching. In the West, the true Christian teaching about Angels, the airy realm of fallen spirits, about the nature of people's communication with spirits, about heaven and hell, has been lost or distorted, as a result of which the "post-mortem" experiences that are taking place at the present time are completely misinterpreted. The only satisfactory answer to this false interpretation is Orthodox Christian teaching.
This book is too limited in scope to give a full Orthodox teaching on the other world and the life after death; our task was much narrower - to expound this teaching to the extent that it would be sufficient to answer the questions raised by modern "posthumous" experiences, and point the reader to those Orthodox texts where this teaching is contained. In conclusion, here we specifically give a brief summary of the Orthodox teaching on the fate of the soul after death. This presentation consists of an article written by one of the last outstanding theologians of our time, Archbishop John (Maximovich), a year before his death. His words are printed in a narrower column, while explanations of his text, comments and comparisons are printed as usual.
Archbishop John (Maximovich)
"Life after death"
I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.
(Nicene Creed)
Boundless and unsuccessful would be our grief for dying loved ones, if the Lord did not give us eternal life. Our life would be aimless if it ended in death. What would be the use of virtue and good deeds then? Then those who say: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" would be right. But man was created for immortality, and Christ, by His resurrection, opened the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal bliss for those who believed in Him and lived righteously. Our earthly life is a preparation for the future life, and this preparation ends with death. Man is destined to die once, and then the judgment (Heb. IX, 27). Then a person leaves all his earthly cares; his body disintegrates in order to rise again at the General Resurrection.
But his soul continues to live, not ceasing its existence for a single moment. By many appearances of the dead, we have been given a partial knowledge of what happens to the soul when it leaves the body. When vision with the bodily eyes ceases, spiritual vision begins.
Addressing his dying sister in a letter, Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes: “After all, you will not die. Your body will die, and you will move to another world, alive, remembering yourself and recognizing the whole world around you” (“Soulful Reading”, August 1894).
After death, the soul is alive, and its feelings are sharpened, not weakened. St. Ambrose of Milan teaches: “Since the soul continues to live after death, there remains goodness that is not lost with death, but increases. The soul is not held back by any obstacles set by death, but is more active, because it acts in its own sphere without any connection with body, which is rather a burden than a benefit to her" (St. Ambrose "Death as a blessing").
Rev. Abba Dorotheos summarizes the teaching of the early fathers on this issue: “For souls remember everything that was here, as the fathers say, and words, and deeds, and thoughts, and none of this can be forgotten then. And it is said in the psalm: On that day all his thoughts will perish (Psalm 145:4), which refers to the thoughts of this world, that is, about the structure, property, parents, children, and every deed and teaching. All this about how the soul leaves the body perishes. .. And what she did regarding virtue or passion, she remembers everything and none of this perishes for her ... And, as I said, the soul does not forget anything from what she did in this world, but remembers everything after leaving body, and, moreover, better and clearer, as having been freed from this earthly body" (Abba Dorotheos, Teaching 12).
Great ascetic of the 5th century, St. John Cassian clearly formulates the active state of the soul after death in response to heretics who believed that the soul is unconscious after death: “Souls after separation from the body are not idle, they do not remain without any feeling; this is proved by the gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke. XVI, 19-31) ... The souls of the dead not only do not lose their feelings, but do not lose their dispositions, that is, hope and fear, joy and sorrow, and something of what they expect for themselves at the universal judgment, they they begin to anticipate... they become even more alive and zealously cling to the glorification of God. And indeed, if, having considered the evidence of Holy Scripture about the nature of the soul itself, according to our understanding, we will think a little, then whether it will not be, I do not say, extreme stupidity, but foolishness - to even slightly suspect that the most precious part of a person (i.e., the soul), in which, according to the blessed apostle, is the image of God and the likeness (1 Cor. XI, 7; Col. III, 10), after putting off this bodily in which she is in real life, as if becoming insensible - that which contains all the power of the mind, by its participation even the dumb and insensible substance of the flesh makes sensitive? It follows from this, and the property of the mind itself requires that the spirit, after the addition of this carnal corpulence, which is now weakening, bring its rational forces to a better state, restore them to be purer and more subtle, and not lose them.
Modern "post-mortem" experiences have made people remarkably aware of the consciousness of the soul after death, of the greater sharpness and speed of its mental faculties. But by itself this awareness is not enough to protect the person in such a state from manifestations of the out-of-body realm; one should master ALL Christian teaching on this subject.
The Beginning of Spiritual Vision
Often this spiritual vision begins in the dying before death, and while still seeing those around them and even talking to them, they see what others do not see.
This experience of the dying has been observed for centuries, and today such cases with the dying are not new. However, here it is necessary to repeat what was said above - in Chap. 1, part 2: only in the grace-filled visits of the righteous, when saints and angels appear, can we be sure that these were indeed beings from another world. In ordinary cases, when a dying person begins to see deceased friends and relatives, this can only be a natural acquaintance with the invisible world into which he must enter; the true nature of the images of the deceased, appearing at this moment, is known, perhaps, only to God - and we do not need to delve into this.
It is clear that God gives this experience as the most obvious way to communicate to the dying that the other world is not a completely unfamiliar place, that life there is also characterized by the love that a person has for his loved ones. His Grace Theophan touchingly expresses this thought in the words addressed to the dying sister: “Batiushka and matushka, brothers and sisters will meet you there. You'd be better off than here."
Encounter with spirits
But upon leaving the body, the soul finds itself among other spirits, good and evil. Usually she is drawn to those who are closer to her in spirit, and if, while in the body, she was under the influence of some of them, then she will remain dependent on them after leaving the body, no matter how disgusting they may be when they meet.
Here we are again seriously reminded that the other world, although it will not be completely alien to us, will not turn out to be just a pleasant meeting with loved ones "at a resort" of happiness, but will be a spiritual clash that our soul's disposition experiences during life - did it bow more to the angels and saints through a virtuous life and obedience to the commandments of God, or, through negligence and unbelief, she made herself more fit for the company of fallen spirits. The Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse well said (see above the end of Chapter VI) that even a test in aerial ordeals can turn out to be rather a test of temptations than an accusation.
Although the very fact of the judgment in the afterlife is beyond any doubt - both the Private Judgment immediately after death, and the Last Judgment at the end of the world - the external judgment of God will only be a response to the internal disposition that the soul has created in itself in relation to God and spiritual beings. .
First two days after death
During the first two days, the soul enjoys relative freedom and can visit those places on earth that are dear to it, but on the third day it moves to other realms.
Here Archbishop John is simply repeating a doctrine known to the Church since the 4th century. Tradition reports that the angel who accompanied St. Macarius of Alexandria, said, explaining the church commemoration of the dead on the third day after death: “When an offering takes place in the church on the third day, the soul of the deceased receives relief from the angel guarding her in sorrow, which she feels from separation from the body, receives because the doxology and the offering in the church of God has been made for her, from which a good hope is born in her. For for two days the soul, together with the angels who are with her, is allowed to walk the earth where she wants. Therefore, the soul that loves the body sometimes wanders near the house, in where it parted from the body, sometimes near the tomb in which the body was laid, and thus spends two days like a bird, looking for nests for itself. risen from the dead, commands, in imitation of His resurrection, to ascend to heaven for every Christian soul to worship the God of all" ("Words of St. Macarius of Alexandria on the Exodus of the Souls of the Righteous and Sinners", "Christ. reading", August 1831).
In the Orthodox rite of burial of the departed Ven. John of Damascus vividly describes the state of the soul, parted from the body, but still on earth, powerless to communicate with loved ones whom she can see: “Alas, what a feat for me to have a soul that is separated from the body! lift up your eyes to the angels, idlely praying: stretching out your hands to people, not having someone to help. In the same way, my beloved brethren, having thought of our short life, we ask the reposed rest from Christ, and to our souls we have great mercy "(Following the burial of worldly people, stichera self-voiced, voice 2).
In a letter to the husband of her dying sister mentioned above, St. Theophan writes: “After all, the sister herself will not die; the body dies, but the face of the dying remains. It passes only to other orders of life. In the body lying under the saints and then carried out, she is not, and they do not hide her in the grave. She is in another place. Just as alive as now. In the first hours and days she will be near you. - And only she won’t speak, but you can’t see her, otherwise here ... Keep this in mind. We who remain weep for those who have departed, but it is immediately easier for them: that state is gratifying. Those who died and were then introduced into the body found it a very uncomfortable dwelling. My sister will feel the same way. She is better there, and we are hurting ourselves, as if some kind of misfortune had happened to her. She looks and, of course, marvels at it ("Emotional Reading", August 1894).
It should be borne in mind that this description of the first two days after death gives a general rule that by no means covers all situations. Indeed, most of the passages from Orthodox literature cited in this book do not fit this rule - and for a completely obvious reason: the saints, who were not at all attached to worldly things, lived in incessant expectation of transition to another world, are not even attracted to places, where they did good deeds, but immediately begin their ascent to heaven. Others, like K. Ikskul, begin their ascent earlier than two days by the special permission of God's Providence. On the other hand, all modern "post-mortem" experiences, no matter how fragmented they are, do not fit this rule: the out-of-body state is only the beginning of the first period of the disembodied wandering of the soul to the places of its earthly attachments, but none of these people has been in a state of death. long enough to even meet the two Angels who are supposed to accompany them.
Some critics of the Orthodox doctrine of life after death find that such deviations from the general rule of "after death" experience are evidence of contradictions in Orthodox teaching, but such critics take everything too literally. The description of the first two days (as well as the subsequent ones) is by no means dogma; it is simply a model that only formulates the most general order of the "post-mortem" experience of the soul. Many instances, both in Orthodox literature and in accounts of modern experiences, where the dead instantly appeared alive on the first day or two after death (sometimes in a dream), serve as examples of the truth that the soul does indeed remain close to the earth for some short time. (Actual apparitions of the dead after this brief period of freedom of the soul are much rarer and always by God's Will for some special purpose, and not by anyone's own will. But by the third day, and often earlier, this period comes to an end. .)
ordeal
At this time (on the third day) the soul passes through the legions of evil spirits, which block its path and accuse it of various sins, in which they themselves have involved it. According to various revelations, there are twenty such obstacles, the so-called "ordeals", at each of which this or that sin is tortured; having gone through one ordeal, the soul comes to the next. And only after successfully passing through all of them, can the soul continue its path without being immediately plunged into hell. How terrible these demons and ordeals are can be seen from the fact that the Mother of God Herself, when the Archangel Gabriel informed Her of the approach of death, prayed to Her Son to deliver Her soul from these demons, and in answer to Her prayers, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared from Heaven accept the soul of His Most Pure Mother and take Her to Heaven. (This is visibly depicted on the traditional Orthodox icon of the Assumption.) The third day is truly terrible for the soul of the deceased, and for this reason prayers are especially needed for it.
In the sixth chapter there are a number of patristic and hagiographic texts about ordeals, and there is no need to add anything else here. However, here we can also note that the descriptions of ordeals correspond to the model of torture that the soul undergoes after death, and individual experience can differ significantly. Minor details such as the number of ordeals, of course, are secondary in comparison with the main fact that the soul is really subjected to judgment soon after death (Private Judgment), which sums up the "invisible battle" that it waged (or did not wage) on earth against fallen spirits. .
Continuing the letter to the husband of the dying sister, Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes: “For those who have departed, the feat of crossing through ordeals will soon begin. She needs help there! - Then stand in this thought, and you will hear her cry to you: "Help!" all attention and all love should be directed towards her.I think that the most truly testifying of love will be if, from the moment your soul departs, you, leaving the worries about the body to others, step aside yourself and, secluded where possible, plunge into prayer for her in her new condition, about her unexpected needs. Starting like this, be in an unceasing cry to God - for her help, for six weeks - and beyond. In Theodora's legend - the bag from which the Angels took to get rid of publicans - these were prayers her elder. So will your prayers... Do not forget to do this... Behold love!"
Critics of Orthodox teaching often misunderstand that "bag of gold" from which the Angels "paid for the debts" of Blessed Theodora during the ordeals; sometimes it is erroneously compared with the Latin concept of the "excessive merits" of saints. Here, too, such critics read Orthodox texts too literally. Here we have in mind nothing more than the prayers for the departed of the Church, in particular, the prayers of the holy and spiritual father. The form in which it is described - there is hardly even a need to talk about it - is metaphorical.
The Orthodox Church considers the doctrine of ordeals so important that it mentions them in many divine services (see some quotations in the chapter on ordeals). In particular, the Church especially expounds this teaching to all her dying children. In the "Canon for the Exodus of the Soul", read by the priest at the bedside of a dying member of the Church, there are the following troparia:
"The prince of the air, the rapist, the tormentor, the terrible ways of the defender and the vain words of these words, grant me to pass unhinderedly departing from the earth" (Song 4).
“Holy Angels, lay me to the sacred and honest hands, Lady, as if I covered those wings, I don’t see the dishonorable and stinking and gloomy demons of the image” (Ode 6).
“Having given birth to the Lord Almighty, the bitter ordeals of the head of the world-keeper are far from me, whenever I want to die, but I will glorify Thee forever, Holy Mother of God” (Song 8).
Thus, the dying Orthodox Christian is prepared by the words of the Church for the coming trials.
forty days
Then, having successfully passed through ordeals and worshiped God, the soul visits heavenly abodes and hellish abysses for another 37 days, not yet knowing where it will stay, and only on the fortieth day is a place assigned to it until the resurrection of the dead.
Of course, there is nothing strange in the fact that, having gone through ordeals and done away with the earthly forever, the soul should get acquainted with the real other world, in one part of which it will stay forever. According to the revelation of the Angel, St. Macarius of Alexandria, a special church commemoration of the dead on the ninth day after death (in addition to the general symbolism of the nine ranks of angels) is due to the fact that until now the soul has been shown the beauties of paradise, and only after that, during the rest of the forty-day period, it is shown the torment and horrors of hell, before on the fortieth day a place is assigned to her where she will await the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. And here too, these numbers give a general rule or model of the after-death reality, and, of course, not all the dead complete their journey according to this rule. We know that Theodora really completed her visit to hell on the fortieth - by earthly standards of time - day.
State of mind before the Last Judgment
Some souls after forty days find themselves in a state of anticipation of eternal joy and bliss, while others are in fear of eternal torment, which will fully begin after the Last Judgment. Before that, changes in the state of souls are still possible, especially thanks to the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice for them (commemoration at the Liturgy) and other prayers.
The teaching of the Church about the state of souls in Heaven and hell before the Last Judgment is set forth in more detail in the words of St. Mark of Ephesus.
The benefits of prayer, both public and private, for souls in hell are described in the lives of the holy ascetics and in patristic writings.
In the life of the martyr Perpetua (III century), for example, the fate of her brother was revealed to her in the form of a reservoir filled with water, which was located so high that he could not reach it from that dirty, unbearably hot place where he was imprisoned. Thanks to her fervent prayer throughout the whole day and night, he was able to reach the reservoir, and she saw him in a bright place. From this she understood that he was delivered from punishment (Lives of the Saints, February 1).
There are many similar cases in the lives of Orthodox saints and ascetics. If one is inclined to be overly literal about these visions, then it should perhaps be said that of course the forms that these visions take (usually in dreams) are not necessarily "photographs" of the state of the soul in another world, but rather images that convey the spiritual truth about the improvement of the state of the soul through the prayers of those who remained on earth.
Prayer for the dead
The importance of commemoration at the Liturgy can be seen from the following cases. Even before the glorification of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), the hieromonk (the famous elder Alexy from the Goloseevsky skete of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, who died in 1916), who was reclothing the relics, was tired, sitting at the relics, dozed off and saw the Saint in front of him, who said to him: "Thank you for your work for me. I also ask you, when you serve the Liturgy, to mention my parents"; and he gave their names (Priest Nikita and Maria). Prior to the vision, these names were unknown. A few years after canonization in the monastery, where St. Theodosius was the abbot, his own memorial was found, which confirmed these names, confirmed the truth of the vision. "How can you, saint, ask for my prayers when you yourself stand before the Heavenly Throne and give God's grace to people?" the hieromonk asked. “Yes, that’s true,” replied St. Theodosius, “but the offering at the Liturgy is stronger than my prayers.”
Therefore, a memorial service and home prayer for the dead are useful, as well as good deeds done in their remembrance, alms or donations to the Church. But commemoration at the Divine Liturgy is especially useful for them. There were many appearances of the dead and other events confirming how useful the commemoration of the dead is. Many who died in repentance, but failed to manifest it during their lifetime, were released from torment and received repose. Prayers for the repose of the departed are constantly lifted up in the Church, and in the kneeling prayer at Vespers on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit there is a special petition "for those who are held in hell."
St. Gregory the Great, answering in his "Conversations" the question "is there anything that could be useful to souls after death", teaches: "The holy sacrifice of Christ, our saving Sacrifice, brings great benefit to souls even after death, provided that their sins can be forgiven in the future life.Therefore, the souls of the departed sometimes ask that the Liturgy be served for them... Naturally, it is safer to do what we hope others will do about us after death. make an exodus free than seek freedom in chains.Therefore we must despise this world from the bottom of our hearts, as if its glory had already passed, and offer daily the sacrifice of our tears to God as we offer His sacred Flesh and Blood. this sacrifice has the power to save the soul from eternal death, for it mysteriously represents to us the death of the Only Begotten Son" (IV; 57, 60).
St. Gregory gives several examples of the appearance of the dead alive with a request to serve the Liturgy for their repose or thanksgiving for it; once also one captive, whom his wife considered dead and for whom she ordered the Liturgy on certain days, returned from captivity and told her how he was freed from chains on certain days - precisely on those days when the Liturgy was served for him (IV; 57, 59).
Protestants generally believe that church prayers for the dead are incompatible with the need to gain salvation first of all in this life: "If you can be saved by the Church after death, then why bother fighting or seeking faith in this life? Let's eat, drink and be merry" ... Of course, no one who holds such views has ever achieved salvation through church prayers, and it is obvious that such an argument is very superficial and even hypocritical. The prayer of the Church cannot save someone who does not want salvation or who has never made any efforts for this during his lifetime. In a certain sense, it can be said that the prayer of the Church or individual Christians for the deceased is another result of the life of this person: they would not have prayed for him if he had not done anything during his life that could inspire such prayer after his death.
St. Mark of Ephesus also discusses the issue of church prayer for the dead and the relief it brings to them, citing as an example the prayer of St. Gregory Dialog about the Roman emperor Trajan - a prayer inspired by the good deed of this pagan emperor.
What can we do for the dead?
Anyone who wants to show his love for the dead and give them real help can best do this by praying for them, and especially by commemoration at the Liturgy, when the particles taken for the living and the dead are immersed in the Blood of the Lord with the words: "Wash, Lord, sins commemorated here by Your precious blood, by the prayers of Your saints."
We can do nothing better or more for the departed than to pray for them, commemorating them at the Liturgy. They always need this, especially in those forty days when the soul of the deceased follows the path to the eternal villages. The body then does not feel anything: it does not see the gathered loved ones, does not smell the smell of flowers, does not hear funeral speeches. But the soul feels the prayers offered for it, is grateful to those who offer them, and is spiritually close to them.
Oh, relatives and friends of the dead! Do for them what is necessary and what is within your power, use your money not for the external decoration of the coffin and grave, but to help those in need, in memory of your dead loved ones, in the Church, where prayers are offered for them. Be merciful to the dead, take care of their souls. The same path lies before you, and how then we would like to be remembered in prayer! Let us ourselves be merciful to the departed.
As soon as someone has died, immediately call the priest or tell him so that he can read the "Prayers for the Exodus of the Soul", which are supposed to be read over all Orthodox Christians after their death. Try, as far as possible, for the funeral to be in the church and for the Psalter to be read over the deceased before the funeral. The funeral should not be carefully arranged, but it is absolutely necessary that it be complete, without reduction; then think not of your own comfort, but of the deceased, with whom you part forever. If there are several dead in the church at the same time, do not refuse if you are offered that the funeral service be common to everyone. It is better that the funeral service be served simultaneously for two or more deceased, when the prayer of the gathered relatives will be more fervent, than for several funeral services to be served consecutively and services, due to lack of time and effort, were shortened, because each word of the prayer for the deceased is like a drop of water for the thirsty. Immediately take care of the magpie, that is, the daily commemoration at the Liturgy for forty days. Usually in churches where the service is performed daily, the deceased, who were buried in this way, are commemorated for forty days or more. But if the funeral was in a temple where there are no daily services, the relatives themselves should take care and order a magpie where there is a daily service. It is also good to send a donation in memory of the deceased to monasteries, as well as to Jerusalem, where unceasing prayer is offered up in holy places. But the forty-day commemoration should begin immediately after death, when the soul especially needs prayer help, and therefore the commemoration should begin at the nearest place where there is a daily service.
Let us take care of those who have gone to the other world before us, so that we can do everything for them that we can, remembering that blessed are mercy, for they will receive mercy (Matt. V, 7).
Resurrection of the body
One day this whole corruptible world will come to an end and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven will come, where the souls of the redeemed, reunited with their resurrected bodies, immortal and incorruptible, will forever abide with Christ. Then the partial joy and glory that souls in heaven even now know will be replaced by the fullness of the joy of the new creation for which man was created; but those who did not accept the salvation brought to earth by Christ will be tormented forever - along with their resurrected bodies - in hell. In the final chapter of the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Rev. John of Damascus describes this final state of the soul after death well:
“We also believe in the resurrection of the dead. For it truly will be, there will be a resurrection of the dead. But, speaking of the resurrection, we imagine the resurrection of the bodies. For the resurrection is the second resurrection of the fallen; define as the separation of the soul from the body, then the resurrection is, of course, the secondary union of soul and body, and the secondary exaltation of the living being resolved and dead. from the dust of the earth, can resurrect it again, after it again, according to the Creator, was resolved and returned back to the earth from which it was taken ...
Of course, if only one soul practiced the exploits of virtue, then only she alone will be crowned. And if she alone was constantly in pleasure, then in justice she alone would have been punished. But since the soul did not aspire to either virtue or vice separately from the body, then in justice both will receive a reward together ...
So, we will rise again, as the souls will again unite with the bodies, which become immortal and take off corruption, and we will appear before the terrible judgment seat of Christ; and the devil, and his demons, and his man, that is, the Antichrist, and wicked people, and sinners will be delivered into eternal fire, not material, like the fire that is with us, but such as God can know about. And having created good things like the sun, they will shine together with the Angels in eternal life, together with our Lord Jesus Christ, always looking at Him and being visible by Him, and enjoying the uninterrupted joy that flows from Him, glorifying Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit in endless ages of ages . Amen" (pp. 267-272).
Without exaggeration, we can say that every person from a certain age thinks about death and asks himself: When a person dies, what happens ...
What happens after death to a person
And, in general, is something going on? It is hard not to ask such questions simply because death is the only inevitable event in the life of every living being. Many things may or may not happen to us during our lifetime, but death is something that will happen to everyone.
At the same time, the idea that death is the end of everything and forever seems so frightening and illogical that it in itself deprives life of any meaning. Not to mention the fact that the fear of one's own death and the death of loved ones can poison the most cloudless life.
Perhaps partly for this reason, throughout the existence of mankind, the answer to the question: "When a person dies, what happens to him?" searched for mystics, shamans, philosophers and representatives of various religious movements.
And, I must say, there are as many answers to this question as there are religions and various spiritual and mystical traditions.
And today, information about life after death can be found not only in religious and mystical traditions. The development of psychology and medicine, especially since the second half of the 20th century, has made it possible to accumulate a large number of recorded, registered testimonies from people who have experienced clinical death or coma.
The number of people who have experienced separation from the body and traveled to the so-called afterlife or subtle worlds today is so large that it has become a fact that is difficult to ignore.
Books have been written and films made on the subject. Some of the most famous works that have become bestsellers and translated into many languages are Raymond Moody's Afterlife and Michael Newton's Journey of the Soul trilogy.
Raymond Moody worked as a clinical psychiatrist, and over a long period of medical practice, he encountered so many patients who had NDEs and described them in surprisingly similar ways that, even as a man of science, he admitted that this could not be explained simply by chance or coincidence.
Michael Newton, Ph.D. and hypnotherapist, during his practice managed to collect several thousand cases where his patients not only remembered their own past lives, but also recalled in great detail the circumstances of death and the journey of the soul after the death of the physical body.
To date, the books of Michael Newton contain perhaps the largest and most detailed number of post-mortem experiences and the life of the soul after the death of the physical body.
Summing up, we can say that there are many theories and stories about what happens to a person after the death of the body. Sometimes, these theories are very different from each other, but they are all based on the same basic premises:
Firstly, a person is not only a physical body, in addition to the physical shell there is an immortal soul or consciousness.
Secondly, nothing ends with biological death, death is just a door to another life.
Where does the soul go, what happens to the body after death
In many cultures and traditions, the importance of 3, 9 and 40 days from the death of the body is noted. Not only in our culture it is customary to commemorate the deceased on the 9th and 40th days.
It is believed that within three days after death it is better not to bury or cremate the remains, because during this time the connection between the soul and the body is still strong and burial or even moving the ashes over a long distance can break this connection and thus disrupt the natural separation of the soul with body.
According to Buddhist tradition, in most cases, the soul may not realize the fact of death for three days and behave in the same way as during life.
If you watched the movie "The Sixth Sense", then this is exactly what happens to the hero of Bruce Willis according to the plot of the film. He does not realize that he has died for some time and his soul continues to live at home and visit familiar places.
Thus, within 3 days after death, the soul remains close to relatives and often even in the house where the deceased lived.
Within 9 days, the soul or awareness that has accepted the fact of death, as a rule, completes, if necessary, worldly affairs, says goodbye to relatives and friends and prepares for a journey to other subtle, spiritual worlds.
But what exactly does the soul see, whom does it meet after the end?
According to most records of people who survived a coma or clinical death, there are meetings with relatives and loved ones who have died earlier. The soul experiences incredible lightness and peace, which were not available during life in the physical body. The world, through the eyes of the soul, is filled with light.
The soul, after the death of the body, sees and experiences what the person believed in during his life.
An Orthodox person can see angels or the Virgin Mary, a Muslim can see the Prophet Muhammad. A Buddhist is likely to meet a Buddha or Avalokiteshvara. An atheist will not meet any angels and prophets, but he will also see dead loved ones who will become his guides to spiritual dimensions.
With regard to life after death, we can rely either on the views of religious and spiritual traditions, or on the descriptions of the experiences of people who have experienced near-death experiences or remember their previous lives and post-mortem experiences.
On the one hand, these descriptions are as diverse as life. But, on the other hand, almost all of them have a common moment. The experience that a person receives after the death of the physical body is largely determined by his beliefs, state of mind and deeds in his life.
And it is difficult to disagree with the fact that our actions throughout life were also determined by our worldview, beliefs and faith. And in the spiritual world, free from physical laws, the desires and fears of the soul are realized instantly.
If during life in a material body our thoughts and desires could be hidden from others, then on the spiritual planes everything secret becomes clear.
But, despite the differences, in most traditions it is believed that before the expiration of 40 days, the soul of the deceased is in thin spaces, where it analyzes and sums up the life lived, but still has access to earthly existence.
Often, relatives see the dead in their dreams during this period. After 40 days, the soul, as a rule, leaves the earthly world.
Man feels his death
If you happen to lose someone close, then perhaps you know that often on the eve of death or the onset of a fatal illness, a person intuitively feels that his time of life is ending.
Obsessive thoughts about the end or just premonitions of trouble can often arise.
The body feels the approach of its death and this is reflected in emotions and thoughts. Dreams that are interpreted by a person as a harbinger of imminent death.
It all depends on the sensitivity of a person and how well he can hear his soul.
So, psychics or saints, almost always not only foresaw the approach of death, but could know the date and circumstances of the end.
What does a person feel before death?
What does a person feel before death is determined by the situations in which he leaves this life?
A person whose life was full and happy or a deeply religious person can leave calmly, with gratitude, in full acceptance of what is happening. A person dying from a serious illness may even view death as a release from physical pain and an opportunity to leave the decrepit body.
In the case of an unexpected serious illness that happened to a person at a young age, there may be bitterness, regret and rejection of what is happening.
Experiences on the eve of death are very personal and there are hardly any two people with the same experience.
One thing is for sure, what a person feels before crossing depends heavily on what his life was like, how much of the desired he managed to realize, how much love and joy there was in life, and, of course, on the circumstances of death itself.
But, according to numerous medical observations, if death was not instantaneous, a person feels how gradually forces, energy leave the body, the connection with the physical world becomes thinner, the perception of the senses deteriorates noticeably.
According to the descriptions of people who have experienced clinical death as a result of an illness, death is very similar to falling asleep, but you wake up in a different world.
How long does a person die
Death, like life, is different for everyone. Someone is lucky and the end happens quickly and painlessly. A person can simply fall into a dream, experience a cardiac arrest in this state and never wake up again.
Someone who battles a deadly disease such as cancer for a long time and lives on the edge of death for a while.
There is not, and cannot be, any scenario. But the soul leaves the body at the moment when life leaves the physical shell.
The reason why the soul leaves this world may be old age, illness, injuries received as a result of an accident. Therefore, how long a person dies depends on the cause that led to death.
What awaits us "at the end of the road"
If you are not a person who believes that everything ends with the death of the physical body, then at the end of this path a new beginning awaits you. And it's not just about a new birth or life in the Garden of Eden.
In the XXI century, many of the scientists no longer consider the death of the physical body as the end of the soul or the human psyche. Of course, scientists, as a rule, do not operate with the concept of the soul, instead they often use the word consciousness, but most importantly, many of modern scientists no longer deny the existence of life after death.
For example, Robert Lanza, American, MD and professor at Wake Forest University of Medicine claims that after the death of the physical body, human consciousness continues to inhabit other worlds. In his opinion, the life of the soul or consciousness, unlike the life of the physical body, is eternal.
In addition, from his point of view, death is nothing more than an illusion, which is perceived as a reality due to our strong identification with the body.
He describes his view of what happens to the human consciousness after the death of the physical body in the book Biocentrism: Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe.
Summing up, we can say that although there is no unequivocal answer to the question of what will happen after death, but according to all religions and the latest discoveries in medicine and psychology, life does not end with the end of the physical body.
What happens to the soul after death in different religions
From the point of view of various religious traditions, life after the death of the physical body definitely exists. Differences by and large only in where and how.
Christianity
In Christian traditions, including Orthodoxy, there are concepts of judgment, judgment day, heaven, hell, and resurrection. After death, every soul will be judged, where charitable, good and sinful deeds are weighed, and there is no opportunity to be reborn.
If a person's life was burdened with sins, then his soul can go to purgatory or, in the case of mortal sins, to hell. Everything depends on the severity of sins and on the possibility of their expiation. At the same time, the prayers of the living can affect the fate of the soul after death.
As a result, in the Christian tradition it is important to perform a funeral ceremony over the grave on the day of burial and periodically pray for the repose of the souls of the dead during church services. According to the Christian religion, sincere prayers for the departed are able to save the soul of a sinner from an eternal stay in hell.
Depending on how a person lived, his soul goes to purgatory, heaven or hell. The soul enters purgatory if the sins committed were not mortal or in the absence of a rite of absolution or purification in the process of dying.
After experiencing unpleasant soul-tormenting sensations and gaining repentance and redemption, the soul gets a chance to go to heaven. Where she will live in peace among angels, seraphim and saints until the day of judgment.
Paradise or the kingdom of heaven is a place where the souls of the righteous are in bliss and enjoy life in perfect harmony with all things, and do not know any need.
A person who committed mortal sins, regardless of whether he was baptized or not, a suicide or just an unbaptized person, cannot go to heaven.
In hell, sinners are tormented by hellfire, torn apart and experience endless torment as punishment, and all this lasts until the day of judgment, which should take place with the second coming of Christ.
Descriptions of the hour of judgment can be found in the New Testament in the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew verses 24-25. God's judgment or the great judgment day will forever determine the fate of the righteous and sinners.
The righteous will rise from the grave and gain eternal life at the right hand of God, while sinners will be condemned to burn in hell forever.
Islam
The concept of judgment, heaven and hell in Islam as a whole is very similar to the Christian tradition, but there are some differences. In Islam, much attention is paid to the rewards that a holy soul receives in paradise.
The righteous in the Muslim paradise not only enjoy peace and tranquility, but live surrounded by luxury, beautiful women, delicious food, and all this in wonderful gardens of Eden.
And if heaven is a place for the just reward of the righteous, then hell is a place created by the Almighty for the legal punishment of sinners.
The torment in hell is terrible and endless. For someone who is condemned to be in hell, the "body" is increased in size several times, to multiply the torment. After each torture, the remains are restored and subjected to suffering again.
In the Muslim hell, as in the Christian one, there are several levels, which differ in the degree of punishment depending on the severity of the sins committed. A fairly detailed description of heaven and hell can be found in the Qur'an and Hadith of the Prophet.
Judaism
According to Judaism, life is inherently eternal, therefore, after the death of the physical body, life simply passes to another, higher, if I may say so, level.
The Torah describes the moments of the transition of the soul from one dimension to another, depending on what kind of inheritance from the actions of the soul has accumulated during life.
For example, if the soul was too strongly attached to physical pleasures, then after death it experiences inexpressible suffering, because in the spiritual world, without a physical body, it does not have the opportunity to satisfy them.
In general, we can say that in the Jewish tradition, the transition to higher, spiritual parallel worlds reflects the life of the soul in the body. If in the physical world life was joyful, happy and filled with love for God, then the transition will be easy and painless.
If the soul, while living in the body, did not know peace, was filled with hatred, envy and other poisons, all this will go to the afterlife and intensify many times over.
Also, according to the book "Zaor", the souls of people are under the constant patronage and supervision of the souls of the righteous and ancestors. Souls from the subtle worlds help and instruct the living, because they know that the physical world is only one of the worlds created by God.
But, although our familiar world is only one of the worlds, souls always return to this world in new bodies, therefore, taking care of the living, the souls of the ancestors also take care of the world in which they will live in the future.
Buddhism
In the Buddhist tradition, there is a very important book that describes in detail the process of dying and the journey of the soul after the death of the body - the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It is customary to read this text in the ear of the deceased for 9 days.
Accordingly, within 9 days after death, they do not perform a funeral rite. All the while, the soul is given the opportunity to hear step-by-step instructions about what it can see and where it can go. Conveying the essence, we can say that the soul will feel and experience what it was inclined to love and hate in life.
What the soul of a person has strong love, attachment or fear and disgust will determine what kind of pictures a person will see during his 40-day journey in the spiritual world (bardo). And in what world the soul is destined to be reborn in the next incarnation.
According to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, during the journey in the posthumous bardo, a person has a chance to free the soul from karma and further incarnations. In this case, the soul does not receive a new body, but goes to the bright lands of the Buddha or the subtle worlds of Gods and Demigods.
If a person experienced too much anger and showed aggression during life, such energies can attract the soul to the worlds of asuras or half-demons. Excessive attachment to physical pleasures, which has not dissolved even with the death of the body, can cause rebirth in the worlds of hungry ghosts.
A very primitive mode of existence, aimed only at survival, can lead to a birth in the animal world.
In the absence of any strong or excessive attachments and aversions, but in the presence of attachment to the physical world as a whole, the soul will be born in a human body.
Hinduism
The view of the life of the soul after death in Hinduism is very similar to the Buddhist one. Which is not surprising since Buddhism has Hindu roots. There are slight differences in the description and names of the worlds in which the soul can be reborn. But the point is also that the soul receives rebirth according to karma (the consequences of those actions that a person performed during his lifetime).
The fate of the human soul after death - can it get stuck in this world
There is evidence that the soul can be stuck for some time in the physical world. This can happen if there is a strong affection or pain in relation to those who remain or if it is necessary to complete an important task.
Often this happens due to an unexpected death. In such cases, as a rule, death is too great a shock for the soul itself and for the relatives of the deceased. The severe pain of loved ones, their unwillingness to come to terms with the loss, important unfinished business does not give the soul the opportunity to move on.
Unlike those who die of illness or old age, people who die unexpectedly do not have the ability to make a will. And often the soul wants to say goodbye to everyone, help, ask for forgiveness.
And if the soul does not have any painful attachments to a place, a person, or physical pleasure, then, as a rule, completing all things, it leaves our earthly world.
Soul on the day of the funeral
The soul of a person on the day of the burial or cremation ceremony, as a rule, is present next to the body among relatives and friends. Therefore, it is considered important in any tradition to pray for the easy return of the soul home.
In Christian customs, these are funeral services; in Hinduism, these are sacred texts and mantras, or simply good and kind words uttered over the body of the deceased.
Scientific evidence for life after death
If the testimonies of eyewitnesses who survived near-death experiences, psychics who see souls and people who can leave the body can be considered evidence, then there are now, without exaggeration, hundreds of thousands of such confirmations.
A large number of recorded stories of people who have experienced a coma or near-death experience, with comments by research doctors, can be found in Moody's book Life After Life.
Several thousand diverse and unique stories about life after death, received as a result of regressive hypnosis by Dr. Michael Newtan, are described in his books on soul travels. Some of the most famous are Journey of the Soul and Destiny of the Soul.
In the second book, The Long Journey, he describes in detail what exactly happens to the soul after death, where it goes, and what difficulties it may encounter on its way to other worlds.
Quantum physicists and neuroscientists have now learned how to measure the energy of consciousness. They have not yet come up with a name for it, but have recorded a subtle difference in the movement of electromagnetic waves in a conscious and unconscious state.
And if it is possible to measure the invisible, to measure consciousness, which is often equated with the immortal soul, then it will become obvious that our soul is also a kind of very subtle, but energy.
Which, as you know, from Newton's first law is never born, will not be destroyed, energy only passes from one state to another. And this means that the death of the physical body is not the end - it is just another stop in the endless journey of the immortal soul.
9 signs that deceased loved ones are nearby
Sometimes, when the soul lingers in this world, it stays for a while in order to complete its earthly affairs and say goodbye to loved ones.
There are sensitive people and psychics who clearly feel the presence of the souls of the dead. For them, this is the same part of reality as our world is for ordinary people, without extrasensory abilities. However, even people without special abilities talk about feeling the presence of a deceased person.
Since communication with souls is possible only at the level of intuition, this contact often occurs in dreams, or manifests itself in subtle, psychic sensations, which are accompanied by pictures from the past, or the voice of the deceased, sounding in the head. In those moments when the soul is open, many are able to look into the spiritual world.
The following events may be a sign that the soul of a deceased person is near you
- Frequent appearance of the deceased in dreams. Especially if in a dream the deceased asks you for something.
- An unexpected and inexplicable change in smells around you. For example, an unexpected smell of flowers, despite the fact that there are no flowers nearby, or coolness. And if you suddenly smelled the perfume of the deceased or his favorite scent, then you can be sure that his soul is nearby.
- Unclear movement of objects. If you suddenly find things where they could not be. Especially if it's the things of the deceased. Or you suddenly began to discover unexpected objects in your path. Perhaps the deceased so attracts attention and wants to say something.
- A clear undoubted feeling of the presence of a departed person nearby. Your brain, your feelings, still remember what it was like to be with the deceased before they died. If this feeling becomes as distinct as during his lifetime, do not hesitate, his soul is near.
- Frequent and obvious violations in the operation of electrical appliances and electronics can be one of the signs of the presence of the soul of the deceased nearby.
- Unexpectedly hearing your favorite or significant music for both of you, while you are thinking about the departed, is another sure sign that his soul is near.
- Explicit sensations of touch when you are alone. Although for many it is a frightening experience.
- If any animal suddenly shows special attention to you, or persistently attracts you with its behavior. Especially if it was the beloved animal of the deceased person. It could also be news from him.
It is in human nature itself to strive for eternity. Being a hostage of this fleeting material world, a person always strives for Eternity. Whoever listens to the inner voice will hear how he speaks again and again about Eternity.
Even if the Universe were given to man, this would not quench his thirst for Eternal life, for which he was created. The natural desire of people for permanent happiness is due to objective reality and the fact that eternal life really exists.
What is death?
The body is an instrument of the spirit that governs and controls all its organs down to the smallest particles that make up the cells. In the hour predetermined by the Lord, a person suffers a disease, and his body stops its functions, which marks the arrival of the Angel of Death.
Although death comes to a person by the will of the Lord God, He places the duty to take human souls on the angel Azrael, who is a symbolic veil that separates death in the eyes of people from the One who sends it. Diseases or various disasters also symbolize a kind of veil, but already directly between death and Azrael.
Appearance of the Angel of Death to the Dying
Since the angel Azrael, like all angels, is created from light, he can appear and be present in several places at once. The fact that he is busy at a certain moment does not mean at all that at the same time he cannot participate in the performance of any other affairs.
Just as the sun gives warmth and light to the whole world at the same time and, being reflected, is present in countless transparent objects of this world, the angel Azrael can take millions of souls at the same time without creating confusion.
Each of the angels is given angels similar to him in submission. When a good, righteous person dies, several angels with smiling, luminous faces first come to him.
They are followed by the angel Azrael, who may be accompanied by one or more angels subordinate to him - they are instructed to take the souls of the righteous.
The angels who take the souls of the righteous are different from the angels who take the souls of sinners. The souls of sinners who meet death with an embittered, frightened face, they "ruthlessly tear out" from the body.
What does a person feel at his death hour?
Before those who believed in the Lord and led a righteous life, the doors of Paradise are open. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that the souls of the righteous are taken as gently and smoothly as water flows out of a jug.
Moreover, martyrs (martyrs who died on the path of the Lord) do not feel the agony of death and do not know that they have died. Instead, they feel they have moved into a better world and enjoy Eternal Happiness.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said to Jabir, the son of Abd Allah ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), who was martyred in the battle of Uhud: “Do you know how the Lord met your father? He met him in such a way that neither eyes saw, nor ears heard, nor minds comprehended it. Your father said:
"O Supreme! Return me to the world of the living, so that I can tell those whom I left there how wonderful it is to expect after death!" The Lord replied: "There is no return. Life is given only once. However, I will tell them about your stay here."
And after that the following verse was sent down:
وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ
“Do not count as dead those who died in the way of Allah for the sake of His religion. Indeed, they are alive with their Lord, and their souls travel in the goiter of green birds in Paradise and receive their inheritance, eating the fruits of Paradise and rejoicing in everything that Allah has given them by His mercy. (Sura Alu ‘Imran‚ verses 169-170; “Tafsir al-Jalalayn”)
A man dies the way he lives. The one who led a righteous life dies a worthy death, while the death of a sinner is painful and terrible. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who praised the Lord God the most, advised reading special prayers at his dying hour.
It is known that the closest companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, for example, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, Hamza and Musab ibn ‘Umar and others (may Allah be pleased with them all), who dedicated themselves to the service of Islam, died the death of martyrs.
Should we be afraid of death?
For those who believe and do righteous deeds, death should not be terrible. Although it seems that death is the extinction of the light of life and its charms, in fact it is a liberation from the heavy duties of worldly life. This is a change of place of residence, a transition to a different state, but at the same time an invitation to Eternal life. According to the predestination of the Lord, the world is constantly being renewed, and mortal life is being replaced by Eternal life.
When a fruit stone falls into the soil, it looks like it is dying. In fact, it undergoes a biological process, goes through certain stages of development, and eventually a new tree grows out of it. Thus, the “death” of a stone is the beginning of the life of a new tree, a new, more perfect stage of development.
If the death of plants, which represent the simplest level of life, is beautiful and of great importance, then the death of a person, which represents a higher stage of life, should be even more beautiful and have even more serious significance: a person, going underground, will certainly find Eternal life!
Death frees a person from the hardships of worldly life, which becomes more difficult with age and the misfortunes that befall a person. Death takes him into the circle of Eternity and Love, where a person can enjoy the company of loved ones and find solace in a happy Eternal life.
Soul in the intermediate world
After death, the soul appears before the Lord God. If a person lived a righteous, chaste life and reached perfection, the angels accompanying his soul to the Lord transfer it to God.
Angels greet the soul wherever it flies and ask: “Whose soul is this? How beautiful is this soul! The angels accompanying the soul call it the most beautiful words and answer: “This is the soul of the one who prayed, fasted, gave alms and endured all the difficulties of life in the name of the Lord!”.
Finally, Almighty Allah welcomes the soul and orders the angels: “Take the soul back to the grave where its body is buried, for it must answer the questions of the angels Munkir and Nakir.”
The soul of the sinner is everywhere treated with disdain and literally thrown back into the grave.
Any troubles that happen to a person in our mortal world arise because of his sins. If a person sincerely believes, but sometimes cannot refrain from sinful deeds, God, out of mercy to him, sends troubles to him in order to cleanse him from sins.
The Lord can also subject him to severe death agony in order to forgive his sins or elevate him to a higher spiritual level, but at the same time the Lord takes his soul very gently and gently.
If, despite all the misfortunes endured by a person in the world, and despite the endured torments of death agony, a person still has unforgiven sins, he is punished already in the grave, but is delivered from punishments in Hell.
In addition to all that has been said, each person, while still in the grave, has a conversation with two angels about his worldly deeds, for the grave is the first stage in the transition of the soul to Eternal life, where everyone will be rewarded for his deeds in this world.
As it is written in the books, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) really wanted to see in a dream the second righteous caliph ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) after his (‘Umar) death.
However, he managed to see ‘Umar in a dream only after six months, and then he asked: “ Where have you been so far? ". To which ‘Umar replied: Don't ask me about it! I just had time to sum up my life ».
The grave bears a certain punishment and acts as a purgatory from sins. It is a very bitter medicine, but it is followed by a heavenly recovery.
As already mentioned, in the grave, each dead person talks with two angels, whose names are Munkir And Nakir. They ask: “Who is your God? Who is your prophet? What religion did you profess?"
If a person during his life believed in God and the mission of the prophet during which he lived, and if he chose the true faith, he will be able to answer the questions of the angels.
The relationship between the soul and the body is different - depending on what world they are in. In worldly life, the soul is imprisoned in the "dungeon" of the body. If the sinful personality and carnal desires dominate spirituality, this will certainly worsen the state of the soul and affect the final judgment passed on a person.
If, on the contrary, the soul can control the personality through faith, worship and right conduct and is able to free itself from the captivity of carnal desires, then it is purified, acquires purity and is endowed with good qualities. This brings happiness to the soul in both worlds.
After the funeral, the soul goes to the place of waiting - ( Barzakh). Although the body decomposes and goes into the ground, its essential particles do not decompose.
It is not known whether these particles are related to the human gene, but no matter what part of the body this particle belongs to, the soul interacts with the body through it. This part of the body also serves as the basis from which Allah recreates a person on the Day of Judgment.
Perhaps this part, formed from the constituent particles or atoms of the body, including those already mixed with the earth, will become a guide to Eternal Life in the course of the final destruction and creation of a new Universe. The Lord uses these particles to resurrect a person on the Day of Resurrection.
What does the soul do in the intermediate world?
The underworld (Barzakh) is a realm where the soul feels the "breath" of Paradise with its blessing or Hell with its punishment. If a person lived a righteous life, his righteous deeds - prayers, good deeds, etc. – will appear before him in the intermediate world in the form of friendly comrades.
Windows will also be opened for him overlooking the gardens of Eden, and, as it is said in the hadith, the grave will become for him like a garden of Eden. Nevertheless, as already mentioned, if a person still has sins, then no matter how righteous a life he leads, he will be punished in the intermediate world to purify the soul from sins so that it can go to Paradise immediately after the Resurrection.
If a person led a sinful lifestyle, his disbelief in Allah Almighty and bad deeds will appear before him in the form of unfaithful friends and such creatures as scorpions and snakes. He will see the scenes of Hell, and his grave will become hell.
Do body parts or cells survive after death?
Everyone knows that while a person is alive, it is his soul that feels pain and joy. Although the soul feels pain through the nervous system and uses this system to communicate with all parts of the body, down to every cell, the following is still a mystery to science: how does the interaction between the soul and the body, including the human brain, take place?
Any failure in the work of any part of the body, its internal organs, leading to death, can lead to a stop in the activity of the nervous system. However, as proven by science, some brain cells continue to live for some time after death.
Scientists conduct research based on the signals received from such brain cells after death. If the work goes well and they can decipher these signals, it will be very important, especially in the field of forensics, as it will shed light on crimes whose "authors" are unknown.
The Holy Quran tells how during the time of the Prophet Musa (peace be upon him), Allah resurrected the murdered, and he told about his murderer.
Torments experienced in the grave and Hell
Since the soul suffers and rejoices, continues to interact with the body in the intermediate world through those particles that are not decomposable, then there is no point in discussing the question: the soul or only the body, or will they endure grave torments together?
However, as stated before, Allah will recreate people on the Day of Resurrection from those very particles of their bodies, and these bodies will be resurrected at the dawn of Eternal Life.
Since the soul lives in this world together with the body, shares its joys and sorrows with it, the Lord will recreate people both physically and spiritually. Sunni Muslims agree with the statement that the soul and body will go to either Hell or Paradise together.
The Lord will recreate the bodies in a form corresponding to the other world, where everything will be alive:
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَآ إِلاَّ لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَلَلدَّارُ الآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ
(meaning): “Earthly life is nothing but play and fun, and the Abode of Eternity (Ahirat) is better for the God-fearing. Do you not understand this manifest truth and do you not understand what is good for you and what is evil for you? (Sura Al-Anam: 32)
What gifts can we send to the soul after death?
Souls in the intermediate world will see and hear us, the Lord allows them. The Lord, at His will, can allow some people to see in a dream, and sometimes in reality, dead souls, hear them or talk with them.
After the death of a person, the book of his deeds is closed, except for those deeds that were committed by him during his lifetime and continue to be beneficial even after death. If a person left behind good, righteous children, books and other heritage from which people can later benefit, if he brought up people useful to society, contributed to their upbringing, he will be rewarded again and again.
If, nevertheless, a person became the cause of some kind of evil or committed a sinful act that others began to imitate, then his sins will accumulate as long as this evil lives among people.
Thus, in order to be useful to loved ones who have departed to the Other World, we must be their worthy heirs. By helping the poor, by living a righteous life, and especially by using funds from the inheritance left by the dead to promote Islam, we can increase the reward of Allah.
10.11.2017 12:08
Mankind has been trying to unravel the mystery of death for many millennia. But no one could fully understand the essence of this process and where our soul rushes after death. In the course of life, we set ourselves tasks, dreams, we try to get the maximum of positive emotions and happiness from them. But the hour will come, and we will have to leave this world, plunge into the unknown abyss of another existence.
People have been interested in what the soul does after death since ancient times. Many who have experienced clinical death say that they fell into a tunnel known to many and saw a bright light. What happens to a person and his soul after death? Can he observe living people? These and many questions cannot but excite. The most interesting thing is that there are many different theories about what happens to a person after death. Let's try to understand them and answer the questions that concern many people.
The human soul continues to live after death. It is the spiritual beginning of man. The mention of this can be found in Genesis (chapter 2), and it sounds something like this: “God created man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his face. Now man has become a living soul.” Holy Scripture "tells" us that man is two-part. If the body can die, then the soul lives forever. She is a living entity endowed with the ability to think, remember, feel. In other words, the human soul continues to live after death. She understands everything, feels and - most importantly - remembers.
In order to make sure that the soul is really capable of feeling and understanding, it is only necessary to recall the cases when the human body died for a while, but the soul saw and understood everything. Similar stories can be read in a variety of sources, for example, K. Ikskul in his book “Incredible for many, but a true incident” describes what happens after death to a person and his soul. Everything that is written in the book is the personal experience of the author, who fell ill with a serious illness and experienced clinical death. Almost everything that can be read on this topic in various sources is very similar to each other.
People who have experienced clinical death characterize it with a white enveloping fog. Below you can see the body of the man himself, next to him are his relatives and doctors. Interestingly, the soul, separated from the body, can move in space and understand everything. Some argue that after the body ceases to give any signs of life, the soul passes through a long tunnel, at the end of which a bright white light burns. Then, as a rule, for some time the soul returns to the body again, and the heart begins to beat. What if the person dies? What then happens to him? What does the human soul do after death?
First few days after death
It is interesting what happens after death with the soul of a person in the first few days, because this period is for her a time of freedom and enjoyment. It is during the first three days that the soul can freely move around the earth. As a rule, she is at this time near her native people. She even tries to talk to them, but it turns out with difficulty, because a person is not able to see and hear spirits. In rare cases, when the connection between people and the dead is very strong, they feel the presence of a soul mate nearby, but cannot explain it. For this reason, the burial of a Christian takes place exactly 3 days after death. In addition, it is this period that the soul needs in order to realize where it is now. It is not easy for her, she may not have had time to say goodbye to anyone or say anything to anyone. Most often, a person is not ready for death, and he needs these three days to understand the essence of what is happening and say goodbye.
However, there are exceptions to every rule. For example, K. Ikskul began his journey to another world on the first day, because the Lord told him so. Most of the saints and martyrs were ready for death, and in order to go to another world, it took them only a few hours, because this was their main goal. Each case is completely different, and information comes only from those people who have experienced "post-mortem experience" on themselves. If we are not talking about clinical death, then everything can be completely different here. The proof that in the first three days the soul of a person is on earth is also the fact that it is during this period of time that the relatives and friends of the deceased feel their presence nearby.
What happens 9, 40 days and six months after death
In the first days after death, the spirit of a person is in the place where he lived. According to church canons, the soul after death prepares for God's judgment for 40 days.
The first three days she travels to the places of her earthly life, and from the third to the ninth she goes to the gates of Paradise, where she discovers the special atmosphere and happy existence of this place.
From the ninth to the fortieth days, the soul visits the terrible dwelling of Darkness, where it will see the torment of sinners.
After 40 days, she must obey the decision of the Almighty about her further fate. It is not given to the soul to influence the course of events, but the prayers of close relatives can improve its destiny.
Relatives should try not to make loud sobs or tantrums and take everything for granted. The soul hears everything, and such a reaction can cause it severe torment. Relatives need to say sacred prayers to calm her down, to point out the right path.
Six months and a year after the death, the spirit of the deceased comes to his relatives for the last time to say goodbye.
Soul of a suicide after death
It is believed that a person does not have the right to take his own life, since it was given to him by the Almighty, and only he can take it away. In moments of terrible despair, pain, suffering, a person decides to end his life not on his own - Satan helps him in this.
After death, the spirit of the suicide rushes to the Gates of Paradise, but the entrance there is closed for him. When he returns to earth, he begins a long and painful search for his body, but also cannot find it. The terrible ordeals of the soul last for a very long time, until the time of natural death comes. Only then does the Lord decide where the tormented soul of the suicide will go.
In ancient times, people who committed suicide were forbidden to be buried in the cemetery. Their graves were on the edge of the roads, in a dense forest or swampy area. All objects with which a person committed suicide were carefully destroyed, and the tree where the hanging was carried out was cut down and burned.
Transmigration of souls after death
Supporters of the theory of the transmigration of souls confidently assert that the soul after death acquires a new shell, another body. Eastern practitioners assure that the transformation can occur up to 50 times. A person learns about the facts from his past life only in a state of deep trance or when some diseases of the nervous system are detected in him.
The most famous person in the study of reincarnation is the US psychiatrist Ian Stevenson. According to his theory, the irrefutable evidence of the transmigration of the soul are:
The unique ability to speak in strange languages.
The presence of scars or birthmarks in a living and deceased person in identical places.
Accurate historical narratives.
Almost all reincarnated people have some sort of birth defect. For example, a person who has an incomprehensible growth on the back of his head, during a trance, remembered that he was hacked to death in a past life. Stevenson began investigating and found a family where the death of one of its members happened in this way. The shape of the wound of the deceased, like a mirror image, was an exact copy of this growth.
Details about facts from a past life will help to remember hypnosis. Scientists conducting research in this area interviewed several hundred people in a state of deep hypnosis. Almost 35% of them talked about events that never happened to them in real life. Some people began to speak in unknown languages, with a pronounced accent or in an ancient dialect.
However, not all studies are scientifically proven and cause a lot of thought and controversy. Some skeptics are sure that a person during hypnosis can simply fantasize or follow the lead of the hypnotist. It is also known that incredible moments from the past can be voiced by people after clinical death or patients with severe mental illness.
What does the soul look like after death?
What is the appearance of the human soul after death? Here, in earthly life, we see ourselves in a certain form, and we may like it or not. And what kind of view do we have in the Subtle World after death?
When the soul leaves the body its appearance does not remain constant, but changes. And these changes depend on the level of development of the soul. Immediately after death, the soul retains the human form in which it was in the physical world. For some time, usually up to a year, she retains her former external ghosts.
If the soul has a low level of development, but sufficient to continue its development, then after a year of being in another world, it begins to change outwardly.
The low soul is not capable of comprehending the Subtle World and working in it, and therefore falls asleep. Similarly, for example, in our world, a bear falls asleep for the winter, unable to actively manifest itself in forest conditions in winter. And other animals can exist well in the cold season.
That is, the activity of the soul on the Thin Plan depends on the degree of its development and the ability to actively participate in its life. Such a soul can be engaged in cleaning the space from unnecessary elements, perform some primitive work. Therefore, low souls can be divided into two types in relation to their appearance.
The soul that falls asleep, as a rule, loses its human appearance quite quickly, because it is not yet adapted to anything, and even more so is not able to maintain its appearance in the desired form.
The same low soul, which has already had several incarnations and acquired the rudiments of primary human qualities, is able to retain the form in the form of a human body for up to six months or a year, and then, forgetting about its former appearance, begins to adapt to anything.
Low souls do not yet possess any stable qualities, knowledge, therefore their idea of themselves and the world around them can often change. Since souls have developed imitation, at first they will form themselves according to what they see nearby, or what is preserved in their memory from past lives.
A young soul does not have a constant concept, therefore its form can take on a variety of external signs: after several years of being on the Thin Plan, a soul can look like an octopus, cuttlefish, oval, ball, any shape, etc. It is able to adapt to what sees. So the appearance of young souls who have not fallen into hibernation can change constantly during their entire stay on the Thin Plan.
All low souls are isolated from medium and high souls. All of them are in certain artificial worlds at their Levels. And the souls of the same Level cannot move into the lower or higher planes, more precisely, it will not work out for them purely according to physical laws. Because each soul can be located only in the layer corresponding to it in terms of energy potential.
The soul of an average development is already capable of maintaining the general form of the human body during its entire stay in the Subtle World. But outwardly, she is rapidly changing and does not resemble the person whose physical body she left. Their appearance is also constantly undergoing changes, as, indeed, the human body during earthly life.
The High Soul similarly retains the external features of the human body, but changes in features and details, as any person in the physical world changes. Appearance is influenced by the energies that the soul matrix is gaining. The higher its energy, the more harmonious and beautiful the soul becomes in its external form.
The afterlife and its uncertainty is what most often leads a person to think about God and the Church. After all, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church and any other Christian doctrines, the human soul is immortal and, unlike the body, it exists forever.
A person is always interested in the question, what will happen to him after death, where will he go? The answers to these questions can be found in the teachings of the Church.
The soul after the death of the bodily shell awaits the Judgment of God
Death and the Christian
Death always remains a kind of constant companion of a person: relatives, celebrities, relatives die, and all these losses make you think about what will happen when this guest comes to me? The attitude towards the end largely determines the course of human life - the expectation of it is painful, or a person has lived such a life that at any moment he is ready to appear before the Creator.
Read about the afterlife in Orthodoxy:
The desire not to think about it, deleting it from thoughts is the wrong approach, because then life ceases to have value.
Christians believe that God gave man an eternal soul, as opposed to a perishable body. And this determines the course of the entire Christian life - after all, the soul does not disappear, which means that it will definitely see the Creator and give an answer for every deed. This constantly keeps the believer in good shape, not allowing him to live his days thoughtlessly. Death in Christianity is a certain point of transition from worldly to heavenly life., and that's where the spirit to go after this crossroads directly depends on the quality of life on earth.
Orthodox asceticism has in its writings the expression "memory of death" - the constant retention in thoughts of the concept of the end of worldly existence and the expectation of a transition to eternity. That is why Christians lead a meaningful life, not allowing themselves to waste minutes.
The approach of death from this point of view is not something terrible, but quite a logical and expected action, joyful. As Elder Joseph of Vatopedsky said: “I was waiting for the train, but it still does not come.”
First days after leaving
Orthodoxy has a special concept of the first days in the afterlife. This is not a strict dogma of faith, but the position that the Synod adheres to.
Death in Christianity is a certain point of transition from worldly to heavenly life.
Special days after death are:
- Third- This is traditionally a day of commemoration. This time is spiritually connected with the Resurrection of Christ, which took place on the third day. St. Isidore Pelusiot writes that the process of the Resurrection of Christ took 3 days, hence the idea was formed that the human spirit also passes into eternal life on the third day. Other authors write that the number 3 has a special meaning, it is called God's number and it symbolizes faith in the Holy Trinity, therefore it is necessary to commemorate a person on this day. It is in the memorial service of the third day that the Triune God is asked to forgive the deceased for sins and forgive;
- Ninth- another day of remembrance of the dead. St. Simeon of Thessalonica wrote about this day as a time to remember 9 angelic ranks, which may include the spirit of the deceased. That is how many days are given to the soul of the deceased for the full realization of their transition. This is mentioned by St. Paisius in his writings, comparing a sinner with a drunkard who sobers up during this period. During this period, the soul comes to terms with its transition and says goodbye to worldly life;
- Fortieth- This is a special day of remembrance, because according to the legends of St. Thessalonica, this number is of particular importance, because Christ was exalted on the 40th day, which means that the one who died on this day appears before the Lord. Likewise, the people of Israel mourned their leader Moses at just such a time. On this day, not only a prayer-petition for mercy for the deceased from God should be heard, but also a magpie.
The above three dates are necessary for special remembrance and prayer for the departed. During this period, their fervent prayers for the deceased are brought to the Lord and, in accordance with the teachings of the Church, can affect the final decision of the Creator regarding the soul.
Where does the human spirit go after life?
Where exactly does the spirit of the deceased reside? No one has an exact answer to this question, since this is a secret hidden from man by the Lord. Everyone will know the answer to this question after his repose. The only thing that is known for sure is the transition of the human spirit from one state to another - from a worldly body to an eternal spirit.
Only the Lord can determine the place of eternal residence of the soul
Here it is much more important to find out not “where”, but “to whom”, because it does not matter where the person will be after, the main thing is with the Lord?
Christians believe that after the transition to eternity, the Lord calls a person to court, where he determines his place of eternal residence - heaven with angels and other believers, or hell, with sinners and demons.
The teaching of the Orthodox Church says that only the Lord can determine the place of eternal residence of the soul and no one can influence His sovereign will. This decision is a response to the life of the soul in the body and its actions. What did she choose during her lifetime: good or evil, repentance or proud exaltation, mercy or cruelty? Only the actions of a person determine the eternal stay and according to them the Lord judges.
According to the book of Revelation of John Chrysostom, we can conclude that the human race is waiting for two judgments - individual for each soul, and general, when all the dead are resurrected after the end of the world. Orthodox theologians are convinced that in the period between an individual court and a common one, the soul has the opportunity to change its sentence, through the prayers of their loved ones, good deeds that are done in his memory, remembrances in the Divine Liturgy and commemoration with alms.
ordeal
The Orthodox Church believes that the spirit goes through certain ordeals or trials on its way to the throne of God. The traditions of the holy fathers say that ordeals consist in denunciation by evil spirits, which make one doubt one's own salvation, the Lord or His Sacrifice.
The word ordeal comes from the old Russian "mytnya" - a place for collecting fines. That is, the spirit must pay a certain fine or be tested by certain sins. To help pass this test can be their own virtues, which the deceased acquired while on earth.
From a spiritual point of view, this is not a tribute to the Lord, but a complete awareness and recognition of everything that tormented a person during his lifetime and with which he was not able to fully cope. Only hope in Christ and His mercy can help the soul overcome this line.
The Orthodox Lives of the Saints contain many descriptions of ordeals. Their stories are extremely vivid and written in sufficient detail so that one can vividly imagine all the pictures described.
Icon of the Ordeal of Blessed Theodora
A particularly detailed description can be found in St. Basil the New, in his life, which contains the story of the blessed Theodora about her ordeals. She mentions 20 trials by sins, among which are:
- the word - it can heal or kill, it is the beginning of the world, according to the Gospel of John. The sins that are contained in the word are not empty statements, they have the same sin as material, perfect deeds. There is no difference between cheating on your husband or saying it out loud while dreaming - the sin is the same. Such sins include rudeness, obscenity, idle talk, incitement, blasphemy;
- lie or deceit - any untruth spoken by a person is a sin. This also includes perjury and perjury, which are serious sins, as well as dishonest trial and undertaking;
- gluttony is not only the delight of one's stomach, but also any indulgence of carnal passion: drunkenness, nicotine addiction or drug addiction;
- laziness, along with hack-work and parasitism;
- theft - any act, the consequence of which is the appropriation of someone else's, belong here: theft, fraud, fraud, etc .;
- stinginess is not only greed, but also thoughtless acquisition of everything, i.e. hoarding. This category also includes bribery, and denial of alms, as well as extortion and extortion;
- envy - visual theft and greed for someone else's;
- pride and anger - they destroy the soul;
- murder - both verbal and material, driving to suicide and abortions;
- fortune-telling - turning to grandmothers or psychics is a sin, it is written there in Scripture;
- fornication is any lascivious actions: watching pornography, masturbation, erotic fantasies, etc.;
- adultery and sodomy sins.
memorial days
This includes not only the first three important days (third, ninth and fortieth), but any holidays and simple days when loved ones remember the deceased and commemorate him.
Read about praying for the dead:
The word "commemoration" means commemoration, i.e. memory. And first of all, it is a prayer, and not just a thought or bitterness from separation from the dead.
Advice! Prayer is performed in order to ask the Creator for mercy for the deceased and justify him, even if he did not deserve it himself. According to the canons of the Orthodox Church, the Lord can change His decision about the deceased if his relatives actively pray and ask for him, doing alms and good deeds in his memory.
It is especially important to do this in the first month and the 40th day, when the soul comes before God. For all 40 days, magpie is read, after prayer every day, and on special days a funeral service is ordered. Together with prayer, relatives visit the church and cemetery these days, serve alms and distribute memorial treats in memory of the deceased. Such memorial dates include subsequent anniversaries of death, as well as special church holidays to commemorate the dead.
The Holy Fathers also write that the deeds and good deeds of the living can also cause a change in God's judgment on the deceased. The afterlife is full of secrets and mysteries, none of the living knows anything about it for sure. But the worldly path of each is the indicator that can point to the place where the spirit of man will spend all eternity.
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