Is there an afterlife

Until a while ago, I thought heaven and paradise would exist after death, but after the death of a relative, I didn't think so. If you die, they'll become bones and go back to the soil and that's it.
The world of heaven and pure paradise is common to all religions, and in ancient Egypt, there was a concept of mummifying and resurrecting because a body is necessary to be revived in the next life. But it's all made by people in this world, so I haven't actually seen it, and there are stories such as near-death experiences, etc., but I've never heard stories about it being a post-death world where you can catch a glimpse of heaven or paradise because it's hard to tell if it's a dream or not.
A picture of the Pure Land of Paradise is also drawn inside the hearse, and there is a custom where the dead are given six thousand yen so that they can cross the Sanzu River. However, all of these were made by people in this world, and no one knows if this is actually the case.
Many years have passed since I lost my relatives, and after all, for people in this world who are left behind when they die, they exist from this world, bones are left behind, and they are concentrated into something shaped called graves and left to visit graves on the equinox, so I can only think of graves as places to put remains.
The placard brings soul, but to me it seems like it's just a board; it's just the remains or the deceased itself, and it seemed like there was a world after death beyond that until now, but I can only think that there is no such thing. When you lose a relative, you understand very well what death is; what does it mean when there are no people left. So I no longer think that there is an afterlife that no one has ever seen when they are in this world.
There are probably more than a few people in the big world who think, but it's not a story anyone can do, so I'd like to hear if there are people around me who think the same way.

4 Zen Responses

There are a few. There's no such thing as not being there.

A long time ago, there were many people, such as Sanada Nobushige and Saigo Don, and they did a lot of things. Well, that kind of thing has come to an end, and today's world is here.

People die and go back to the soil. But it doesn't end when you go back to the ground. You can see that they send a huge number of people as monks. People who have left bad trends in their families and communities, and people who have left good trends. Surprisingly, things left behind after death without correction are more troublesome than acts during life that are unexpectedly redone.

The Buddha said. “Live honestly. Then you will have a good life in the next life.” Here, you can see the Buddha's way of believing by whether you take the Buddha's message as “live honestly” or “next life.”

Most likely, Buddhism presupposes “selflessness,” so life in the next life is selfless, isn't it? The moment I say words come out of my mouth, they change in various ways depending on how the other person receives them, regardless of my intention or purpose. That is the afterlife of selflessness.

People die and return to the soil. But it doesn't end when you go back to the ground. Dogen Zenji said. “Shakutei no Ichizansui, Nagare-kumu Senkunin” (Shakutei no Ichizansui, Nagare-kumu Senokunin)
Water gathers and becomes a river, flows to the ocean, becomes water vapor, becomes clouds, falls to the ground as rain, and also gathers to become a river, and loops endlessly. The water that remains on the bottom of the ladle when you run it quickly with a ladle. Even just a little bit of water can get involved with countless people in the endless loop.

Every one of your actions is the same. Towards that endless loop and selfless afterlife, now how are you going to live in this moment?

That is Buddhism.

It's too late after death

I read your question.
In India, where Buddhism originated, there is reincarnation where people are repeatedly reincarnated and die, and it is taken for granted even today.
The same goes for Buddhist countries such as Myanmar.
It's not a story or anything; it's a fact from their point of view.
Reincarnation is triggered by the accumulation of energy called “karma” generated by actions during one's lifetime.
In extreme terms, if you do good deeds, you will be reborn in heaven, and if you do bad deeds, you will be reborn into hell.
At the end of the day, it's an accumulation of “now.”

Daisetsu Suzuki, who is called the greatest Buddhist philosopher in modern times, had a conversation with a master of psychics who explained true stories about the spiritual world during his lifetime, and asked, “Don't you want to know what happens after death, Professor Suzuki?” I was asked, “More than that, I wonder what it's like to be here now. Isn't it too late after death?” It seems that he was muttered.
We haven't even been able to determine “what is there now.”
It overlaps with Daijishi, but what is important is “now.”

About after death

The End of the Earth

This is Kawaguchi Hidetoshi. This is my humble answer to the question.

Well, it's a bit exaggerated when you think about it after death, but if you think about whether there is a world 1 second or 1 minute later, I think I can understand it a little bit.

Everything changes due to causality (cause and condition).

Life and death are also divided by time axis, and they are not judged there; the form simply changes due to causation, and well, I think that what we normally think of as death is simply that the body no longer functions, and in Buddhism, the mind and consciousness, which is the main body of reincarnation, will continue to exist. The question is where that mind and consciousness go, and how to recognize the world it has traveled to, but that also depends on causation.

If possible, it would be a place where I would like to go to a good place due to a good cause, which is also due to the cause of Buddhism leading to pure and good enlightenment.

Also, I would like to hold memorial services for those who have passed away so that they can follow the flow of good and pure Buddhism and eventually reach enlightenment.

What is death, is there an afterlife, what happens to people when they die... if you want to know more, I hope you read “The Tibetan Book of Life and Death” (written by Sogyal Rinpoche, translated by Masahiro Osako, Kodansha+α Bunko).

Kawaguchi Hidetoshi Gassho

I'm sure there are quite a few people who think the same way as you. An acquaintance of mine also has one. That person says they want to be dirt when they die.
I'm also going to talk about my personal thoughts because they are very close.
The reason you are there now is because you were born by connecting only one egg from the many eggs your mother had and only one sperm from the many sperm your father had.
My mom was born for the same reason.
My dad was born for the same reason.
So are grandmothers and grandpas.
Also, if we go back in time, we can only say that humans were born, organisms were born, and the Earth was born, each one is an extremely low probability that cannot be expressed numerically, or can it be described as a coincidence; collectively, these can only be called miracles.
In Buddhism, it's also called marriage.
What you are there right now is an unimaginable miracle that you have consciousness, and one by one that cannot be explained scientifically.
If that's the case, wouldn't it be strange if there was a miracle that there is a Pure Land of Paradise after death?
I believe that someday I will be able to meet my late brother again in the Pure Land of Paradise.
Namu Amida Buddha

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