The simple answer is, I don't know. Really, nobody does. But I'll specify my personal beliefs. I strongly do not believe in the idea of heaven or hell, as well as god. They are human creations designed to enforce cultural morals on society. At the same time, there are far too many unexplained events to simply say "We just rot". That could very well be the case though, and is most likely.
I personally believe that after you pass on, your consciousness ceases and you are relieved of all worldly suffering. We obviously can't know for sure what comes after death until 1) we die ourselves or 2) talk to someone who died, and as the old saying goes, dead men can tell no tales. As for dano's question to whether or not one can believe in some sort of afterlife without believing in God/Yahweh/Allah or some other deity, I think there are certainly some that believe something like that. I just have not seen any evidence of it, which is why I believe consciousness ceases and you are relieved of all worldly suffering.
I believe in heaven but I don't believe in hell. I believe that wicked souls cease to exist and righteous souls have a chance at eternal life with God. That's just my opinion.
No offense to any belief but the whole "we just rot" or "nothing happens" sounds just depressing to me. I believe in a heaven where our minds and bodies are perfect and that any problem we had in our lives on earth disappears. I can just imagine my boyfriend woh had his struggles n his own life made into a strong, sexy saint with no problems physical or emotional. Picturing that warms my heart as sad as it is I know he is happy up there not suffering.
I definitely believe in Heaven and Hell, but I'm torn by how they both fit in. Sometimes I think that we're put here on earth to learn some life lessons and that earth IS Hell... but we just don't know it. Meaning, if in this life we don't learn whatever it is we're supposed to learn, then when we die, we get reincarnated and that cycle continues until we learn what we need to learn. If/when we actually learn what we're supposed to learn, then the next time that we die, we go to Heaven. But maybe I'm over-thinking the process. Maybe it is just a one shot deal. You live out your life. You die. You go to either Heaven and Hell. The thing I have a problem with is when they say God knew you before you were born and your destiny was already determined. That doesn't seem fair. I mean, if you're already predetermined to go to Hell -- and there's nothing you can say or do to change that -- what would be the purpose in life? Plus, why not just go buck wild doing whatever you want, rape, rob, murder... who cares? You're going to Hell either way. And the same goes for predetermined Heaven. I mean, if it's already been determined according to the Book Of Life that you're going to Heaven, then what's to stop some people from doing whatever the heck they want? Without conscience.
To me that is bs when people say that your destiny is predetermined. Nobody knows who is gonna enter heaven or hell honestly and I am pretty sure God does not do it like that. It's how you live your life and treat others which determines who enters heaven or hell.
I guess I'll go back to the nothing from before I was born. Yes it's depressing, but it wouldn't be death if it weren't so.
I have a second theory too. I was going to edit my original post, but since I see others have responded, I'll just start a new one. You know how when you sleep and you dream or have nightmares, how both feel so real while they're happening? But then when you wake up you realize the absurdity of it all. Like, for instance, in a dream you might be sailing on the ocean with Lady Gaga and in the dream it feels so normal, so natural, like you really know her and she's you best friend. Then you wake up and laugh because.... c'mon.... it's Lady Gaga and you're never going to meet her....let alone become her BFF. Well, sometimes I think that when we die our souls "dream" so to speak, but that after death we will either have eternal pleasant dreams, hence Heaven... or eternal nightmares, hence Hell. We won't have a physical body, just a soul that exists in a perpetual state of dream or nightmare.
This is another thing. People are afraid of the absoluteness of death, they are afraid of nothingness, so they make stories up to prevent themselves from going insane.
But we're going to die in this life as well so does that mean that we get two afterlives of are we reincarnated even after that? Let's hope so.
I think it's just nothingness. I've undergone general anesthesia a few times and I remember falling asleep and the next thing I know, I'm starting to wake up. What happened during the time in between is completely lost to me. It wasn't at all like sleeping, in which I still have a sense of time passing. I literally felt nothing. So, I think that death must be something like that. You lose consciousness and then ... nothing.