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I have asked some really dumb questions on here but this might be my dumbest one yet hahaha:D

Ok. So. Gonna ask it anyway. Do our Hindu texts say what a Christian or atheist western person from Europe or America (or Latin America or whatever) does say what they will experience during the time after death or when going to other lok ?

YamRaj & Chitragupt go over their stuff too, and they will go to heaven or hell then get sent for rebirth.

But would they experience it quite differently than one of us would because they don’t have even a vague grasp of past life sins, karma, prayaschit for mistakes, they don’t know anything of the different Devi/Devta.

When they are in heaven as a Christian person, for example, they’ve been taught all their lives that heaven is permanent, Jesus would be there and such stuffs.

I guess I don’t even understand how a religious Hindu person experiences heaven or swarg-lok…do people in heaven know they are in heaven and know they’re dead ? Can they see Earth & see us flailing around here ? Do they know they’ll take birth in this universe or another one pretty soon ? (And yes I realize how idiotic this sounds 🥶 But I don’t get it.)

Even the near-death experiences some western folks have seem so different from how a Hindu person would go through that sort of thing.

Do our Hindu texts explain even just in a limited way, how this experiences are for non Hindu folks ?

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    The heaven and hell in Hindu traditions is quite different compared to heaven and hell in Abrahamic religions. Firstly, svarga and naraka are temporary residing places, and are not permanent, they are always in flux. However, in certain devotional traditions such as those of Vaiṣṇava, there are heavens beyond svarga for e.g. vaikunṭha, and these are considered permanent. In the Vedic period, the conception of svarga was a bit different though than the Purāṇic conception.
    – Bingming
    Dec 26, 2022 at 3:24
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    Also, unlike Abrahamic religions, even if someone is a non-believer, svarga and naraka for them is on the basis of their karma rather than on their belief/disbelief in divine. A devotee having pure bhakti in divine is a different aspect altogether. Heaven and hell is not the ends, the true goal is liberation from saṁsāra and svarga and naraka are within saṁsāra . However, early Vedic and Pūrva Mīmāṁsā tradition didn't stress on mokṣa, had the idea of karma as a ritual activity, and one had to do karma in such a way as to gain entry into svarga and enjoy there. Later traditions contradict this
    – Bingming
    Dec 26, 2022 at 3:29
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    So, the Purāṇic svarga is not the place for the enlightened. It is only for those who have done enough puṇya to gain a temporary residence in it. Those who pursue enlightenment, for them heaven and hell both are just bondage, to the cycle of life and death. Only, in devotional traditions, they have heavens greater than svarga which don't fall within saṁsāra.
    – Bingming
    Dec 26, 2022 at 3:34
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    @Bingming Thx ! I think I understand those ideas, am just wondering how it goes for people with no understanding of this, when they’re in what we call “heaven” and such. Hindu or non-Hindu, do folks in heaven know they’re dead ? And are they able to see this lok and all of us running around here ? Do they know they’re headed for rebirth ? These are the things I’m wondering and possibly are ridiculous questions also 😂 But in case someone knows from some Hindu text, thought I’ll ask 🥶 Thx for the comments 🕉
    – veganenvironmentalist
    Dec 26, 2022 at 4:41
  • Someone has voted to close this question. Plz go ahead and close if that would be better, no worries. The question is something I’ve wondered about for awhile but this may not be the right place to ask it. So no probs to close it down, all good 🕉
    – veganenvironmentalist
    Dec 27, 2022 at 13:14

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