What happens after death?

HINDUISM

His "Atman", his "spark of Brahman" surveys what is has learned and what it still needs to learn; it is then re-incarnated into another physical life, animal or human, or a higher or lower level, depending upon its karma. And so it will go from one incarnation to the next: finally it will achieve "moksha" and will be re-absorbed into Brahman and cease to be an individual "spark: the drop of Brahman will return to the ocean.

BUDDHISM: HINAYANA 

The unquenched desires that have driven the person and made the person who hi is will leap immediately into another human being who is being conceived even as the person is dying: and the flame of desire will burn on and on, causing more and more suffering: eventually  when the illusion of self has been blown out, there will be extinction of Nirvana. 

BUDDHISM: MAHAYANA

Much the same as Hinayana Buddhism except that the final goal of nirvana does not imply "extinction" but entry into greater plane of existence where personal desire will begone, the illusion of self will be no more, and there will be endless bliss.

TAOISM

No speculation on this matter except that the way of the Tao can be trusted; "the Tao has met all my needs up to this point; the Tao can be trusted with whatever is ahead"

CONFUCIANISM

Again, little speculation. The spirits of the dead are conceived as living on in another room of the house of life: they are still aware of what is happening in this world; their descendants should honour and respect them.

JUDAISM

At eath, a person becomes unconscious; his spirit is in the keeping of God: his body returns to dust. At the end of history, body and spirit will be reunited and resurrected. (i.e. he will be reconstituted as a real person, not as an ethereal spirit): he will be judged a ccording to how closely he lived by the highest that he knew; if found unworthy, he will be destroyed; if found worthy, he will enjoy an endless paradise.

ISLAM

Exactly the same as Judaism, except that , if the person is judged unworthy, his fate is not destruction, but a hell of endless and unspeakable torment that is almost beyond imagining; the description of paradise are equally vivid and speak of very earthly delights which await the saints beyond.

CHRISTIANITY: ORTHODOX

Originally, somewhat the same as Judaism; but as Christianity moved into Gentile thought, less emphasis was placed on a final resurrection and judgment: most Christians regard their loved ones as being in Heaven, with God already, rather than asleep in the ground, waiting for resurrection.

CHRISTIANITY: ROMAN CATHOLIC

Whereas the Orthodox see only two possible destinations for the soul at death, Roman Catholics see four; Limbo for the unbaptized innocents, hell for outright sinners who have none of God's grace, heaven for saints who have fully realized God's grace, and purgatory for those who some of God's grace but who are not spiritually ready to enter heaven; both Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism emphasize that God's grace must be "worked out": one is judged by what one has done, not by one's faith.

CHRISTIANITY: PROTESTANTISM

Protestants see everlasting life as a gift of God's grace, available whenever one stops trying to earn it by good works and accepts it on faith or "trust" in God's mercy. Conservative Protestants stress that the Jewish imagery off resurrection and judgment; Liberal Protestants don't attempt to describe the indescribable but simply say that, when one comes to trust in God's love, one realizes that that love extends beyond the grave and never ends.