Death and dying are emotive subjects, and ones which are central to the traditions and lived realities of many of the worlds religions today. This illuminating book examines how different religions understand death, dying, and the afterlife, drawing on examples from Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shamanism.  Encountering death almost always prompts a host of questions: What happened, and why? What do we do now? Beginning with an exploration of these shared reactions, the book traces the answers developed by the worlds major religions, exploring their views on the nature of death itself, the reasons for it, identities of those who die, religious rituals, and their differing perspectives on how the living should respond to death. The way in which different religions interpret the characteristics of the person who lives and the person who dies forms the central theme and primary organizing principle for the book. This emphasis on varying concepts of the self or soul enables students to gain a broader, comparative understanding of the subject.