My wife (MVO) and I have had several conversations recently about the nature of life and death and whether our lives are, as Buddhism teaches, eternal. I was inclined to take the eternity of life for granted even though I didn't thoroughly comprehend it. On the other hand, MVO, being of a more sound, skeptical mind, wasn't convinced. So, we began exploring this important concept.
From the perspective of Nichiren Buddhism, our lives in each moment are affected by the karma, the eighth or alaya consciousness, we have formed in previous and current lifetimes. This karma influences the first seven consciousnesses (that's a mouthful!) -- our sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, the integration of this sensory data, and our sense of our individual identity. And this karma is carried over upon our death and influences our experience in between death and birth as well as the circumstances of our next existence. An important question is how we can increase our positive karma. This is why we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the fundamentally pure consciousness, to bring forth the enlightened nature of a Buddha.
In his book, Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth & Death, Daisaku Ikeda discusses Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), a French thinker and mathematician. Pascal described life after death in terms of probability or wagering theory. Since intelligence hasn't been able to provide definitive proof that there is an afterlife, people who gamble their lives on the chance there is life after death, even if they are wrong, haven't lost anything. On the other hand, if they gamble their life on the chance there isn't an afterlife then, later in life, they will be powerless to alter the course they have taken. Pascal concluded that it makes the most sense to base one's life on the odds that there is life after death.
So, we have concluded that it makes the most sense for us to base our thoughts, actions and deeds on a belief in the eternity of life. In this way, we can appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things and are motivated to deal with our fellow living beings with compassion and respect. Hopefully, these good causes will positively impact our future existence. I'm wagering they will!