You will die, that is the only thing promised to you when you are born into this world. Death is the fate of all living things, but what happens when we die? In our demise what will we see, Heaven, Jannah, maybe Valhalla? Or perhaps more simply nothing happens, in that we will experience the same feeling that we had before we were born—nothing suddenly into existence—and now in death—existence suddenly into nothing. Possibly we are reincarnated, that in death, life awaits, and continue this cycle blissfully ignorant. This question perplexes the mind almost to the point of futility and it would be better off not entertaining it in the first place. I propose this thought of reasoning, in which the idea of the soul is taken into account and how it affects us in our passing; that if we take the existence of the soul, the question of the afterlife is answered in reincarnation.
What Makes Us Who We Are?
The topic of death is linked to the being of a person, so to die, it must be asked what actually dies from the body; precisely what makes one who they are, such as the body, the mind, or something more—more spiritual.
The Body
It may be sought to look at the physicality of the body and link it to identity. The body is how one interfaces with the world; feeling, smelling, tasting, seeing, the world is done only by the body and thus it must be the source of what it is to be. Surface level, this may be true, but this is inaccurate. It is true that interfacing with the world is done through the body, but that does not make us who we are.
The body is prone to damage, it may be cut, bruised, and dismembered; one may lose a finger, hand, or arm. A person could be born without the ability to see or hear. Do these things damage their personhood as well. Does losing a functionality of the body garner the loss of that person’s sense of themself? Obviously not. The body is very important to us, but do not confuse it with what makes us who we are. Instead view the body as mere parts, tools, modules that are used to enact our desires and wishes.
The Mind
So the body itself does not qualify for what it means to be oneself. So perhaps our mind or brain would be a better candidate. The mind is a very promising avenue to look for yourself, it is the place from which thoughts are derived, wishes, personality, and dreams. It is even what controls the body to move and contort to our needs at the time and at the instance of thought. Yet this does not entirely satisfy what makes us a person.
Like the body, our brain, our mind, is subject to damage or imperfection. For example, a good friend now stricken with the inability to speak or perhaps see right due to decay or trauma of the brain does not make them a different person. That friend is still them, only that they are inhibited from the function to speak or see. It will be apparent that nothing has changed within them only outwardly.
So what about thoughts, wishes, and dreams? They make up some important factors of what make a person who they are and are also a part of the mind. Yes, it is true that those things are intertwined with the mind and that they do characterize a great deal about a person. What is false is the idea that they are a part of the mind or brain—they are intertwined—not part of the brain. Evidence of this, are memories. It is very common for one to forget an experience or struggle to remember it, that memory will be lost forever until eventually they may be able to recollect it usually through a stimulus that jogs it back; that memory has always been within the mind, but the thoughts couldn’t grasp it without help. If thought and mind were one, then it would be reasonable to assume that thoughts could grab memories from the mind without any issue, yet this happens, yet people are plagued with the curse to forget even the fondest of memories. With this phenomenon of memory, it must be observed that thoughts are apart from the physical brain or mind—that these thoughts exist on a higher plane, commanding the mind.
The Soul and the Gundam Analogy
These wishes, dreams, and thoughts, as established, are not a part of the mind, rather something greater. This greater part is the source of individuality, desires, and identity. This thing is what people have named the soul. The soul, a spiritual-like entity which creates us a person; the soul grants us consciousness and a sense of oneself. The soul should be ascribed to that of a pilot of a Gundam; a Gundam is a Japanese military science-fiction media franchise in which people control large humanoid mechanical machines usually conducting combat with them, these large machines are commonly known as Gundams. This is a perfect analogy for the soul’s role in the body. Look at the soul as the pilot—being you. The mind as the controls. The body as the hardware. Like people, Gundams are familiarized by their pilot, their soul; damage to the limbs or controls do not work towards the destruction of who that pilot is, they only work to the detriment of the pilot limiting what he can do.
Where Does the Soul Go?
The soul is what makes us who we are, now another question, what happens to it when we die. This may at first prove to be another elusive question to answer, the same as answering what happens to us when we die. This question can be simplified however, by considering some rules of nature we already know to be fact the answer comes elementary.
Conservation of Mass
Take the law of conservation of mass, which states that nothing is created or destroyed. In our world nothing can be created from nothing, just as well nothing can be deleted into nothing. Everything exists within a cycle, only subject to changes, but never to creation or destruction. Maybe it will be argued that the soul may not abide by these rules, however if the soul is to exist here in this world it must follow this law as well. The soul can not be a product of divine creation or a victim of obliteration, just as all things in life. All of this to say that when we die our soul ejects from our body, leaving it behind.
The Afterlife
When the soul escapes from the body where does it go? The most logical answer would be that it inhabits a newborn’s body giving it its soul. This is because no souls can be created, so where would a baby get their soul from, the answer a hand-me down or a soul that has already existed prior. A cycle of souls must be in place if it is to follow in accordance with the conservation of mass and observation of the uniqueness of everyone. That isn’t to discredit the possibility of a paradise, a heaven of sorts, waiting for one’s soul. The only catch is that it wouldn’t reside there forever, take it as a vacation of sorts; relaxing and waiting till the next person is ready for their soul. Liken it to the water cycle where water travels up to the clouds awaiting for the moment when rain is prompted to then it returns to the earth from its heaven.
Reincarnation
We are products of a cycle of pilots trained since the beginning of time. Places like Heaven may exist, but they are not meant for a permanent stay. As for those electing that death just brings loss of consciousness and we would experience nothing—I say that is very correct and accurate. In death we will experience the same feeling of the moments before birth, because that is exactly what is happening—a rebirth—and we will emerge again without the knowledge of the life before. Reincarnation is the answer to the afterlife, given that the existence of souls is true.