By Agnesia
What will happen to us when we die? This, surely, is one of the greatest of all mysteries. Although no one knows for certain what, if anything at all, lies beyond death, there are plenty of theories about the subject. But no one can know which, if any, of these theories is actually true.
My own hunch is that when we die—that is, when we leave the physical body that we had inhabited while we were in this world—we continue to live, in some other realm, our post-death destination being decided by the sort of person we had become while we were on Earth and the stock of actions (mental, verbal and bodily) that we had performed in this period. In this way, it is we ourselves who determine what is to come of us after we die. This means that if we want to enjoy a good fate after we die, we need to focus on developing a good character and doing good deeds while we have the only time to do this—that is, when we are alive here on Earth.
If my hunch is true—and I think it really ought to be—once we are dead, no one, not even our closest relatives or friends, can do anything to influence or change our post-death fate. Our Creator has allotted each one of us a certain period to spend on Earth during which to develop our character and perform actions, on the basis of which our post-death future will be decided. Once this period is up, we ‘take’ our character (i.e., the sort of person we became while we were on Earth) and the record of all our deeds with us and head to a corresponding realm. There is nothing anyone, not even ourselves, can do to change our destination now.
If this is true, no amount of prayers or charitable actions that others may perform for the deceased with the intention of thereby ensuring a better post-death fate for them can make any difference. The dead person had firmly sealed his fate by the sort of person he chose to become when he was on Earth and by the stock of actions he had chosen to engage in, and so, in my opinion, no rituals or supplications addressed to God on his behalf or good works done in his name by others can change it by even a dot.
In line with this thinking, I have requested in my will that no rituals should be performed on my death. If rituals cannot change my post-death fate, I don’t want other people to spend their money, time and other resources on them. Why cause inconvenience to the people who might dispose of my body by expecting them to do something that won’t benefit me when I’m gone for good, to where I simply have to go?
Once I’m dead, I’d be very happy to have the physical body that I had inhabited during my earthly sojourn be disposed off in the most convenient manner, with the least amount of fuss and at the lowest possible cost (preferably, free!), knowing that nothing anyone might now seek to do for my sake can alter my post-death fate that I had determined for myself when I was alive on Earth—by the sort of person I chose to become during my stay there and by all the many actions, good and bad, mental, verbal and bodily, that I performed in that period.