Compare the afterlife in Hinduism and Christianity

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Comparison: After Life In Christianity And Hinduism
Introduction
Death comes to all creatures but humans are unique in the realization of this transition. This Paper shall investigate the comparison between the Christian belief and the Hindu perception of life beyond death.
Many cultures and religions have come up with the believe that there is life after death. The ancient people perceived this as a realm of vastly and diminished existence characterized by shades and ghostly components of bodies. Dating back to before 2000 BC, ancient Egyptians and Indians believed in life after death. The Greeks have Hades and the Hebrews have Sheol.
To say there is life after death means that biological death is not the end of human existence but a transition from one form to another. This holds the view that human life shall continue after the physical death. In philosophy, after life also referred to as life after death is the concept of a realm in which the identity or subconscious aspect of the individual life lives on after the death of the individual's body. It is believed that some elements of the human body such as the soul shall be conferred the characteristics that give that specific individual its identity. This disputes the believe of eternal oblivion after death. There are perceptions that life after death takes place in the spiritual realm or world, with others holding onto the view that there is a re-birth after death. They believe that this marks the beginning of a Lifecycle with the individual under re-birth devoid of memories of their past lives. These beliefs are derived from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.
The Abrahamic religions believe that there is a specific plane of existence after death determined by some divine judgment. This is based on their beliefs and actions while still alive. Contrary to this, the Dharmic religions believe in reincarnations determined by the actions of the individual in its life but not necessarily by a supreme being.
Life after death in Hinduism
The word Hindu is derived from the Persian- Arabic given to the people living in the Indus area. Hinduism is a religion that is not bound by adherence to a certain doctrine or a structured institutional framework. It is an association of individuals with similar beliefs and perceptions about life. They believe that life after death can occur in the form of a good or bad death and transitions itself into other forms such as reincarnation, living in heaven with God or admission into the reality (Firth 1). Hindus are born into different classes or Varna namely Brahmin (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and kings), Vaishyas (merchants and traders) and Sudras (peasants and laborers). The classes are further subdivided into castes based on the behavior of the individuals’ Dharma.
Related to Dharma is Karma which is a law based on conduct on the individual that binds him to the afterlife. A ...