| afterlife | Occurring after death of the physical body; an existence after death.
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| bardo | In Tibetan Buddhism, an intermediate or transitional state between death and rebirth.
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| death dreams | Imagery and symbols of death that occur during the dream state.
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| hades | The underground realm of the dead in Greek mythology; usually depicted as a shadowy place inhabited by bloodless phantoms. See also She’ol.
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| heaven | In Abrahamic religious traditions, the dwelling place of the blessed dead; a spiritual state of everlasting communion with God.
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| hell | The underground realm of the dead in Greek mythology; usually depicted as a shadowy place inhabited by bloodless phantoms.
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| immortality | Survival after physical death; the quality or state of unending existence or lasting fame.
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| Judgment Day | An event involving final judgment of one's moral actions by God at the end of the world.
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| kaddish | A Jewish prayer, after a death, recited by mourners in the daily ritual of the synagogue and at public gatherings. The kaddish praises God and is an affirmation of life.
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| karma | In Hinduism, the moral law of cause and effect that determines the nature of a person's future existence.
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| moksha | In Hinduism, liberation from one's fate and the cycles of history. See also karma.
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| near-death experience (NDE) | A psychological event with mystical and transcendental elements, typically occurring to individuals close to death or in situations of intense physical or emotional danger.
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| niche | A recess in a wall into which an urn is placed. A structure with a series of vaults or niches for urns that usually contain human remains.
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| nirvana | Literally, "extinction"; a transcendent state beyond birth and death reached after ignorance and desire have been extinguished and all karma, the cause of rebirth, has been dissolved.
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| otherworld journey | A parapsychological or spiritual phenomenon associated with travel to a world beyond death or beyond present reality.
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| panoramic life review | An element of the near-death experience that consists of vivid and almost instantaneous visions of a person's whole life, or selected highlights of it, which may include visions of events in the person's future life.
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| paradise | A place or state of bliss or delight. See also heaven.
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| purgatory | In Christian theology, an intermediate state after death for purification to eliminate obstacles to enjoyment of eternal union with God.
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| rebirth | Spiritual regeneration; the idea that the soul or spirit is reborn in another body or form following death of the physical body.
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| reincarnation | In Asian religions, the idea that the soul, or some essential spiritual element of life, takes rebirth in new bodies or forms of life.
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| resurrection | In Christianity, the belief that Jesus rose from the dead in physical form and that all of the human dead will rise again to life before the final judgment.
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| samsara | In Hinduism, the journey or passage of beings through a series of incarnational experiences.
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| secularization | The process in modern societies whereby religious ideas and practices lose influence because of scientific and other non-religious knowledge.
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| She'ol | In Hebrew tradition, the underworld of the dead, a shadowy realm of ghostly, disembodied souls. See also Hades.
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| soul | The essence of an individual's life or self; the spiritual principle in human beings.
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| symbolic immortality | A nonreligious form of survival or continuity after death related to biological immortality (children), artistic immortality (creative works of art), or communal immortality (heroic or good deeds that benefit the community).
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| transmigration | In Asian religions, the idea that, at death, beings migrate or pass from one body or form of being to another.
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| yahrzeit | In Jewish tradition, the anniversary of a death.
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