Immortality

===Dharmic religions===

The perspectives on immortality within [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]] exhibit nuanced differences, with each [[Spirituality|spiritual]] [[tradition]] offering distinctive [[theological]] interpretations and doctrines concerning the [[Eternity|eternal]] essence of the [[human soul]] or [[consciousness]].

====Hinduism====
{{See also|Chiranjivi|Naraka (Hinduism)}}
[[File:Reincarnation AS.jpg|thumb|Representation of a soul undergoing ''[[Reincarnation|punarjanma]]''. Illustration from ''Hinduism Today'', 2004]]

[[Hinduism|Hindus]] believe in an immortal soul which is [[Reincarnation|reincarnated]] after death. According to Hinduism, people repeat a process of life, death, and rebirth in a cycle called ''[[samsara]]''. If they live their life well, their ''[[karma]]'' improves and their station in the next life will be higher, and conversely lower if they live their life poorly. After many life times of perfecting its karma, the soul is freed from the cycle and lives in perpetual bliss.  There is no place of eternal torment in Hinduism, although if a soul consistently lives very evil lives, it could work its way down to the very bottom of the cycle.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

There are explicit renderings in the [[Upanishad]]s alluding to a physically immortal state brought about by purification, and sublimation of the 5 elements that make up the body. For example, in the [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] (Chapter 2, Verse 12), it is stated "When earth, water, fire, air and sky arise, that is to say, when the five attributes of the elements, mentioned in the books on yoga, become manifest then the yogi's body becomes purified by the fire of yoga and he is free from illness, old age and death."

Another view of immortality is traced to the Vedic tradition by the interpretation of [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]]:
<blockquote>
That man indeed whom these (contacts)<br>do not disturb, who is even-minded in<br>pleasure and pain, steadfast, he is fit<br>for immortality, O best of men.<ref name="Maharishi-Mahesh-Yogi">Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita, a New Translation and Commentary, Chapter 1–6. Penguin Books, 1969, pp. 94–95 (v 15)</ref></blockquote>

To Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the verse means, "Once a man has become established in the understanding of the permanent reality of life, his mind rises above the influence of pleasure and pain. Such an unshakable man passes beyond the influence of death and in the permanent phase of life: he attains eternal life&nbsp;... A man established in the understanding of the unlimited abundance of absolute existence is naturally free from existence of the relative order. This is what gives him the status of immortal life."<ref name="Maharishi-Mahesh-Yogi"/>

An Indian Tamil saint known as [[Vallalar]] claimed to have achieved immortality before disappearing forever from a locked room in 1874.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vallalar.org |title=vallalar.org |publisher=vallalar.org |date=7 July 2010 |access-date=4 November 2010}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=February 2012}}<ref>{{cite book|title=In the Fabled East: A Novel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1RgQC-hw1MC&q=Vallalar+immortality+1874&pg=PA174|author=Adam Schroeder|publisher=[[Douglas & McIntyre|D & M Publishers]]|page=174|isbn=978-1553656159|date=6 March 2010}}</ref>

====Buddhism====
{{Expand section|date=June 2019}}
One of the three marks of existence in Buddhism is [[anattā]], "non-self". This teaching states that the body does not have an eternal soul but is composed of five [[skandhas]] or aggregates. Additionally, another mark of existence is impermanence, also called [[anicca]], which runs directly counter to concepts of immortality or permanence. According to one [[Tibetan Buddhist]] teaching, [[Dzogchen]], individuals can transform the physical body into an immortal [[body of light]] called the [[rainbow body]].{{sfn|Rangdrol|Matthieu|2001|page=153}}