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Buddhist Beliefs on Death and the Afterlife

Faith · 5 min read · First published 2003 · Updated November 2026

Weathered stone memorial markers among green trees in a quiet garden
Photo by Krisna Yuda on Unsplash

What Do Buddhists Believe?

Buddhism is a religion, a philosophy and a way of life, all at once. According to the Pew Research Center, there were about 324 million Buddhists in the world in 2020, roughly 4% of the global population, and about 98% of them lived in the Asia-Pacific region. Buddhism is also practiced by many people in the Americas and Europe.

Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, which means "the Awakened One." Scholars differ on exactly when he lived, but it was in northern India roughly 2,500 years ago. According to tradition, Siddhartha was born into a royal family and raised in luxury. His father kept him within the palace walls to shield him from the suffering of ordinary people. Around the age of 29, he left his home, his wife and his son to search for the true nature of life and suffering.

What the Buddha taught after his awakening is often summed up in the Four Noble Truths. Life includes suffering. Suffering has a cause, which is craving and attachment. Suffering can end. And there is a path that leads to its end, called the Eightfold Path, which includes right understanding, right action, right effort and mindfulness. Peace comes from seeing clearly and training the mind with patience. When craving and ignorance are let go, a person may be freed from the cycle of birth and death, which Buddhists call nirvana. One short teaching sums up the path: to "avoid any evil, to seek the good, and to keep the mind pure." (The Teaching of Buddha, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1996)

What Happens to Us After Death?

Buddhists believe that life, death and rebirth are one continuing cycle, called samsara. Because Buddhism teaches that there is no fixed, unchanging self, many Buddhists prefer the word "rebirth" to "reincarnation." What continues is not a permanent soul traveling from body to body, but a stream of cause and effect, like a flame passed from one candle to another.

What shapes the next life is karma. Karma means action, and it refers mostly to our intentions and what we do with them. Good and harmful actions leave effects that carry forward through our lives and beyond. "Impure acts defile a person; stinginess defiles an offering; so evil acts defile not only this life but also the following lives." (The Teaching of Buddha, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, 1996)

Many Buddhist traditions describe six realms of rebirth. Three are considered fortunate:

  • the realm of the gods, a blissful state, though one so pleasant that its beings may forget about suffering
  • the realm of the jealous gods, who are driven by rivalry and the hunger for power
  • the human realm, which is considered especially precious because it offers the best chance to learn, practice and be freed

Three are considered more painful:

  • the animal realm, marked by instinct and fear
  • the realm of hungry ghosts, beings whose cravings can never be satisfied
  • the hell realms, states of intense suffering

Some Buddhists understand these realms as actual places, and others see them as states of mind we pass through even in this life. No realm lasts forever. Unlike the hells in some other religions, the Buddhist hells are temporary, and a being can be reborn elsewhere when the karma that led there has run its course.

Different traditions, different practices. Buddhism has many branches, and they do not all teach the same things about death.

  • In Theravada Buddhism, practiced widely in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, funerals often include chanting by monks and offerings made in the name of the person who died, and the merit from these good deeds is dedicated to them. In Sri Lanka, for example, a monk often returns a week after the funeral, and the family offers alms again three months later.
  • In Mahayana traditions, which include Chan and Zen, Pure Land and Nichiren Buddhism, customs vary widely. In some Pure Land families, relatives eat only vegetarian food for the 49 days after a death, to ease their loved one's way. In Chan and Zen funerals, the person who died is often given a Buddhist name.
  • In Vajrayana, or Tibetan, Buddhism, the time between death and rebirth is called the bardo. A text known as the Bardo Thodol (often called "The Tibetan Book of the Dead") may be read aloud over 49 days to guide the person who has died through the time between death and the next life.

Across these traditions, Buddhists often try to help a dying person keep a calm and clear mind, because the state of mind at death is thought to matter. This can mean quiet surroundings, being with loved ones who offer kind words and encouragement, and chanting or prayer. If you are with a Buddhist loved one, it can help to ask the family what their tradition and teacher advise, and whether they would like a monk, nun or lama to be contacted.

Ultimately, Buddhist teaching on death reflects how a person lives now. The aim is to do good, avoid harm, and above all let go of ignorance. Many Buddhists find comfort in this, because it means that how we love and act today matters, and that death is not the end of every possibility.

Sources

Written by Words to Comfort

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