Afterlife (also known as life after death) is a generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual and experiential, beyond this world, or after death. This article is about current generic and widely held or reported concepts of afterlife.

Afterlife as a belief

Many people believe in an afterlife. It is generally thought to be a non-verifiable (and non-falsifiable) belief because it is generally accepted as beyond the experiential knowledge or casual accessibility of most people (see esoteric knowledge). As a result, the popular mind relies on various sources for concepts about afterlife, arranged below in presumed order of reliability:

*Testimony of individuals who claim experiential knowledge of facets of afterlife
*by having died and then been sent back to this life (near-death experiences)
*by having visited the afterlife during a period of unconsciousness (out-of-body experiences)
*by having seen the afterlife during a revelatory vision
*by a unique personal gift of remembering an afterlife (before-life) existence
*Testimony of individuals who are presumed to have special insights into the afterlife
*holy ones
*miracle workers
*spectacular converts
*Claimed testimony of visitors from the afterlife
*God
*Angels
*Spirits
*Human intuitions of goodness assumed to emanate from the afterlife
*Speculation and extrapolation
*Concoction

While there is information available from all of the above sources, a preponderance of concoctions, speculations, and extrapolations have arguably historically characterized formal descriptions of afterlife. Religious traditions have historically formalized and codified ideas about afterlife in widely divergent forms. Though the onset of the information age is bringing to light increasing consistency and uniformity of beliefs about afterlife from across and without religious boundaries, most afterlife conceptions continue to follow traditional descriptions, often viewed as rationally weak by skeptics who -- particularly atheists and agnostics of a secular humanist mindset -- may hold that we entirely cease to exist. However, it should be pointed out that not all atheists and agnostics necessarily rule out the existence of an afterlife. For example, many Buddhists neither confirm nor deny the existence of the supernatural (gods, demons, heavens, hells, etc.), while simultaneously embracing the concept of rebirth.

For those who do believe in an afterlife, the various conceptions about it differ in their answer to the following questions:

*Is the afterlife a normal life, or a different type of existence?
*Are afterlife conditions a consequence of good and bad actions during life?
*Is afterlife eternal?
*Is it possible to reincarnate as a human or other form of life?
*What happens at the moment of death?
*Are ghosts and other undead a proof of an afterlife?

Afterlife as reincarnation

Another afterlife concept which is found among Hindus and Buddhistss is reincarnation, whether as humans or as animals. One consequence of the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs is that our current lives are also an afterlife, and both Hindus and Buddhists interpret events in our current life as being consequences of actions taken in previous lives. Although there is some scientific evidence that supports that humans may reincarnate as humans (see, for example, the writings of Dr. Ian Stevenson and Carol Bowman), there is very little (if any) evidence to suggest that humans reincarnate as animals, or vise-versa.
Some Neopagans believe in personal reincarnation, whereas some believe that the energy of one's soul reintegrates with a continuum of such energy which is recycled into other living things as they are born.