In Marcus Aurelius’ ‘Meditations’:
‘Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.’
Here’s a Buddhist take on the above:
[1] There was the assumption that the nature of our possible afterlife is determined by gods, but it is determined by our karma instead, according to Buddhism. With connection to the blessings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there can be good rebirths facilitated too.
[1] Some g/God(s) are depicted to be unjust and demand devotion with fear, threatening with eternal damnation if otherwise, but there is no need to subscribe to such beliefs as they are self-contradictory with notions of these same g/God(s) being all-loving at the same time, which is impossible.
[2] According to Buddhism, there is rebirth, for the mind will move on to elsewhere. If so, it makes sense to live well now, not just for now, but for later too, with sound aspirations not just for this life, but for the next. No speculations on g/God(s) proposed need to be involved.
Related Course:
Destination Pureland: How To Die Well & Be Reborn Better
http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2014/03/destination-pureland-how-to-die-well-be-reborn-better