The belief that human personality continues in some form after death is among the oldest concepts held by human beings. In traditional societies, death is usually viewed as a change of status, a transition from the land of the living to the land of the dead.
Traditional Hawaiian beliefs about death and the afterlife emphasize the clan and punishment for wrongdoing.
Western views of the afterlife and immortality have been influenced by Judaic, Hellenistic, and Christian traditions as well as by secular ideas of the modern era.
Hebrew tradition views the human person as an undivided psychophysical entity; it is not as if the soul inhabits a body, but rather that the body has life.
Plato refined the Hellenistic concept of the soul and advanced a number of "proofs" that the soul is eternal and is released from the body at death.
Christian beliefs about the afterlife emphasize the resurrection of the body and the destiny of the individual soul.
Islamic teachings embody a vision of the afterlife that is both spiritual and physical; Allah (God) determines the span of each life, and each person’s deeds, good or evil, determine whether the nature of the after-death existence will be eternal bliss or everlasting torment.
Whereas Western thought typically points up contrasts and establishes differences, Asian thought characteristically emphasizes the integrity of the whole rather than distinctions between constituent parts.
A distinguishing feature of Hinduism is belief in the transmigration of the soul; at death, the soul passes from one body or "being" into an incarnation in another form, animal or human.
Buddhism emphasizes the impermanence of the self, and the after-death state is conceived of as involving successive reincarnations toward the ultimate goal of nirvana, literally implying extinction, as when the flame of a candle, deprived of fuel, goes out.
For many people, if not most, religious offers pathways toward understanding and coping with dying and death. It provides an interpretive framework within which to find a positive meaning in an otherwise negative or tragic event.
Secular alternatives to religious concepts regarding immortality include humanism, positivism, and existentialism, as well as ideas about symbolic immortality.
Otherworld journeys, stories of travel to other realms beyond the earthly, are found in virtually all cultures.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are accounts by people who have seemingly returned from the edge of death. These accounts are interpreted variously, with some people taking them as an indication that the human personality survives death while others believe that the phenomena associated with NDEs reflect a psychological or a neuropsychological reaction to the stress of a life-threatening experience.
Suggestive hints about the afterlife are also associated with "death dreams" and experiences related to the ingestion of psychedelic, or mind-altering, substances.
The spiritual component of care for dying patients should be acknowledged by caregivers so that the appropriate resources can be made available to individuals who desire them.
