There are over four thousand religions present in our world, each of these belief systems offers its followers guidelines for living their best lives in accordance to the values ​​and ethics of their faith. However, in addition to the reward of heaven or paradise for one who devotes himself to his religion, there is also a consequence for wrongdoing: hell. The horror of the unknown as it relates to religion is an incredibly deep topic as many different religions attempt to decipher what comes after death. While the idea of ​​an afterlife comes as a welcome relief to many people from different religious backgrounds, horror also plays an important role in understanding life after death. Since humans are inherently anxious about not controlling their destiny, death is terrifying. Very few people know where, when and how their ultimate demise and what makes the final moments of their lives even more horrific is the enigmatic nature of heaven and hell which can seem almost disturbing as it is not enveloped only by the unknown. Among the four thousand religious faiths practiced in the world, there are thousands of possibilities for lives after death; Christianity and Buddhism are two of the most populous religions in the world, and yet their views on death couldn't be more different. The horror of the unknown plays an important role in religion because it can be assumed that since we are all humans, we will all go to the same place(s) after we die. Yet a large number of existing religions attach anxiety to the idea of ​​death and an afterlife, because if there are so many concepts of an afterlife, then no individual can knowing for sure which heaven or hell they will be a part of, and for a religious person, the idea of ​​finding themselves in an afterlife they never expected for the rest of eternity is truly horrifying . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Christianity is one of, if not the most followed religion in the world, it has ancient roots and even intercepts the ideals of God from other religions. , like Catholicism and Judaism. Millions of people have been raised to live their lives in the likeness of God and, due to their upbringing and religious upbringing, have become accustomed to certain images such as clouds, pearly gates and angels as being synonymous from the sky. Christianity and other similar religions believe that if you live your life according to the Church and put your unwavering faith and dedication in God, you will be rewarded with ascension to heaven after death. These theocentric religions visualize heaven as a paradise, because everyone is made perfect there and there is no sin or brokenness, only God's grace: "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Likewise, Buddhism is a very widely followed religion. However, while Christianity and other affiliated religions are theocentric, Buddhism is more focused on the self and one's connection to oneself, others, the world, and the common good. Since the central goals of the two religions are so radically different, it can be assumed that their ideas about the afterlife differ as well. Those who follow Buddhist schools of faith believe that for all the good they do on earth, they earn karma, although it is not an instantaneous "what goes around, comes around" idea like that who iswidely accepted in modern times. Instead, the karma they receive, based on the karma they produce, will decipher whether they go to heaven or hell. Those who do not go to hell will go to a dukkha heaven, meaning it is imperfect and temporary and will only be allowed to stay there until they spend their karma, then they will return to be reborn on earth. This type of cyclical existence is known as Samsara and can only be broken when an individual is able to achieve ultimate enlightenment and transcend bad karma. When this happens, they reach Nirvana; an afterlife considered beyond human conceptualization. Human life is fragile and every day we live we also face the possibility of death. The hope for most is a painless death in their warm beds in old age, surrounded by those they love, but death is capricious, cruel and unfair, and millions are taken too soon, too suddenly and too painfully. There are over a thousand ways to die, stupid or not, and naturally most are plagued by anxiety about when, how, and why they will die, and more importantly, who they will leave behind. The idea of ​​leaving your loved ones behind forever is horrible enough, but the idea of ​​ascending or descending into an unknown afterlife is even more so. Buddhism and Christianity describe two heavens out of thousands, and mathematically, the probability that the religion of one person out of a possible four thousand two hundred is accurate is highly improbable. This produces even more horror because we really don't know where a person will end up after death. Of course, there is an optimistic possibility that each person will arrive at the paradise of their religion. Yet if a Buddhist, raised to believe in Samsara, found themselves in a Christian paradise, or vice versa, a Christian raised with the Bible, discovered that they are trapped in the cycle of Samsara, it would be a horrible scenario because no of these individuals would do so. knew what was happening, only that it was different than what they thought would happen. Hell is another aspect that fuels the horror of the unknown, since many scriptures and religions preach that this is where all sinners will go to repent of their actions. . Christians have two distinct ideas about what might happen after death. The first is the concept of annihilation, where those who do not give up their faith in God upon death or after their time in purgatory will be annihilated and cease to exist. This idea is contested. by many because it is not in accordance with the ethics of Christianity nor those of God. Others instead believe that hell only exists because God opposes sin and must exercise judgment on human wickedness, sin, true evil, the devil, and those who rebel against God . Often described as a place of "unquenchable fire" or a "place of torture", the possibility of hell present when considering the afterlife, increases the horror of death in an infinite way, especially for those raised reading the scriptures who do such things. states: “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Buddhist hell or Naraka is also horrifying; As it is part of the cycle of Samsara, Naraka is a temporary hell where those who have inflicted harm on others in life will earn bad karma which they must pay completely before leaving hell and being reborn. Barbara O'Brien, practitioner of Zen Buddhism and author of Rethinking Religion,, 2000.