Week 3

BLOG PROMPT FOR WEEK 3

For your blogs this week I'd like you to compare and contrast 2 different traditions (1 'Abrahamic' and 1 'Eastern') on the question of postmortem judgment. Do they both have a concept of judgment after death? How does it operate? How are they similar/different? How do the myths of the religion support their view? Is there a role for ritual in the judgment? Defend your analysis with material from readings and/or lectures.

Islam and Buddhism have similarities and differences on the question of postmortem judgment. In Islam, judgment after death is a central concept. For instance, the last couple of chapters of the Qur'an indicate that life after death exists. Although the specific timeline for what happens after death is unclear, it is known that on the last day, resurrection of the dead and final judgment occur. It is at this time that the deceased is deemed either good or bad.

Likewise, Buddhism also focuses on the concept of judgment after death. For Buddhism, karma is synonymous to the final judgment in Islam. Karma is defined as "doing good and avoiding harm." Good karma is sometimes referred to as merit; when a person has merit, he or she is assumed to have good karma. Karma is said to help prepare a person for death.

However, Islam and Buddhism differ in what happens after a person dies. In Islam, great care is taken in funerary customs. This is because the dead reside forever in the grave, and the bodies buried in the ground are aware of the world above. Upon death, the deceased is in an intermediate state of dreamless sleep called "barzakh" until he or she is resurrected. The deceased is separated from the body and brought before Allah (the Islamic term for God), and watches his or her own burial.

In Buddhism, death represents the final moment of consciousness, and often times, the spirit of the deceased lingers around its body. Therefore, prayers are to be said for 49 days, to help calm the spirit and to pay respects to the deceased. Then, the deceased is reborn -- either into good or bad realms, determined by his or her karma, as aforementioned. There are 3 levels each for the good and the bad realms. Again, to reiterate, rebirth is determined by a person's karma. The more good karma a person has built up during the first life will be reborn into a higher level of good in the afterlife. The good realms are as follows: humans, Asuras (lower gods), and Devas (higher gods). In contrast, the more bad karma a person has built up during the first life will be reborn into a higher level of bad in the afterlife. The bad realms are as follows: animals, Pretas (hungry ghosts), and Naraka (hell beings).

Overall, both Islam and Buddhism have a concept of judgment after death, where both religions emphasize the importance of death. However, the religions differ as to what follows after a person dies. Though both Islam and Buddhism face judgment, the process by which it happens varies between the two religions. In Islam, the Qur'an specifically discusses death in the last chapters; and in Buddhism, karma is a fundamental concept. Thus, Islam and Buddhism are quite similar, despite Islam being an Abrahamic religion and Buddhism being an Eastern religion.