IndexReincarnationDarkness/nothingAfterlifeImagine yourself as an elderly person lying in a hospital bed, moments away from death, and you think to yourself, where will I go when I die? Life is not a circle, you are born and eventually you will die. What happens to us when the cycle of our life ends? Many people have different opinions about where we will go when we die. Do we reincarnate? Maybe nothing exists when we die or could there be an afterlife? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayReincarnationReincarnation is the idea that once we die, we will return to this earth in another form. We may still be human, we may still be animals, but somehow we will return as a life form to earth. Taking this view, we would say that we are in a cycle. We will be born, we will live and die, and then we will be reborn. Hindu and Buddhist people strongly believe in this as part of their religion. Of course, many people, non-Hindu and Buddhist, suspect that this lifestyle is supernatural and scientifically impossible, some scientists have found similar cases, however none of them belong to the term Reincarnation. So is reincarnation part of the cycle of life? The circle of life is continuous and never ends similar to reincarnation, you are endlessly reborn by repeatedly crossing the circle of life. Reincarnation and the afterlife both share the comparison of life after death. However, their contrasts greatly outweigh their comparisons. Reincarnation is technically life after death, it's just another life here on Earth. You die and your soul is recycled into another body. Darkness/nothingness Some believe that the human body goes nowhere after death. Now, where does the human soul go after death? Where do all the memories, abilities, thoughts and desires go, where does the personality, spirit, consciousness and character go? Some people believe that once you die you simply cease to exist. You are not in an endless tunnel of darkness with your consciousness, you are simply nothing. People like atheists and agnostics strongly believe in the idea that nothing happens to us when we die. When our life cycle ends, it becomes dark and we no longer exist. Keep in mind that people commonly have no problem understanding this about animals. For example, some people develop a loving relationship with their dogs. They know their dog's desires, traits and personality. When the dog dies, it's like a good friend has died. Yet, few people think that the dog's spirit has gone somewhere. People understand that it simply ceased to exist. Positive atheists believe that it is the same for humans too. AfterlifeAn innocent person suffers discomfort or injury: he is hit on the head, he has a stroke, he is injured in a car accident or on the operating table. A feeling of disconnection overtakes him, the feeling of being "outside" himself. Perhaps it resembles an opening: a gate, a door, or a tunnel. And then, suddenly, he is guided through other worlds that seem more "real" to him than the world he once existed in. These realms are both familiar and strange, containing music that doesn't seem like music and a light brighter than any light, and creatures that may or may not be angels and the familiar faces of lost loved ones. The afterlife is the belief that the essential part of an individual's identity or stream of consciousness continues after the death of the physical body. Many religions, whether they believe in the existence of the soul in another world such as Christianity, Islam and many pagan belief systems, or in reincarnation such as many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism, believe.