Hi AVG-JOE: As long as we agree we are talking about the same thing, we don't have to go into full detail.
What do YOU call what goes on in the world?
Let's start with YOUR terms for what happens, what exists, and why.
Do you focus on laws of science or nature?
This isn't a game to try to guess, it's based on what is natural for you so the answers are always right.

What goes on IN the world? Geology.
What goes on ON the world? Life
If you're asking what I believe the answers to the unprovable questions of origins and afterlife are...
I believe that we are here. I believe that Monkeys exist on a thing they call a 'planet' which they have named Mother.
I believe that what you see is what you get and that if Momma's little bastard Monkeys have a collective Father, His name is Time, and little wet rocks in space like ours, existing in relative cosmic peace, may indeed be rare.
Perhaps wet rocks in space are common, wet rocks in space with enough Time and luck to spawn life occur, and wet rocks in space with Time, luck and a lush enough biosphere to birth a truly Sentient World from a living planet is the dream of every Star in the sky.
Can humanity live with the power to break the heart of The Sun?

Mom!
___________
Afterlife: Since speculation is the only game in town, might as well make it a fantasy:
I hope that Sentient Creatures are reborn as Stars, and I hope I'm lucky enough to be one with a living wet rock to watch.