Introduction
Existence, the meaning of life, death, soul, and eternal life have always been issues of human interest. Humans of all generations and historical periods seek to find the answer to the cause about the cause of life, the destiny and the role of each human in the life of others. There is no universal perception of life or existence, and each nation has its own view on is shaped by culture, history, and religious beliefs.
Modern Americans
Modern Americans view existence as something that can be experienced, lived through. People understand that nothing can exist forever, and every event and every human life has its own beginning and its own end. Thus existence is the period between birth and death. The American nation no longer believes in the superficial hopes that existence does not come to an end. They are fed by a logical explanation of everything; they ask many questions on how and why. Americans are not satisfied with the vague answers and strive to hear the logical explanation supported with scientific evidence. Taking into account that birth and death are the events that can be observed, and nobody knows what is happening with the soul of humans prior to birth or after death, modern Americans cease to exist when they die. “Good” is something that does not contract common rules and brings positive results. “Real” is something that can be sensed (touched, heard, smelled or viewed).
Christians
Christians, on the contrary to the modern American views, are confident that existence is something eternal because they are promised an eternal life of the soul after death if they follow the commandments of God and have true faith in their hearts. Thus, for Christians, existence is more than merely earthy life, everyday activities and events. Existence does not cease when the body dies; it simply transforms into another form. Christianity imposes many rules of life, and eternal existence is granted only to those who follow these rules. True Christian believers are considered to be good or righteous. They follow the commands of God, have true faith, and hope to get the price of eternal life. For Christians, the reality is both what is happening in the earthy life and what will happen after death.
Buddhism
Buddhism views on existence are not similar to Modern American or to Christian. They regard earthy life as unreal. People seek to label everything, to give the name to the objects and, thus, to create common visions of everything. If the person wants to understand the true meaning of existence, the true essence of all things and events, he has to get rid of all senses, feelings and thoughts. It is hardly possible to achieve because humans cannot lose the ability to think, sense and feel at the same time and remain in the conscious state. It is the aim of life to find the right path and to understand the essence of existence. Buddhism stresses the inter-relatedness of everything: nothing appears from nothing and nothing returns to nothing. Everything is emptiness, and human existence is emptiness as well. The action will be marked “good” only if it contributes to finding the Path and getting rid of all feelings and emotions. Buddhism holds that nothing is real because it does not exist. Even human life is not real because it has the point of beginning and the point of an end.