Quote Originally Posted by AEthos View Post
So, was the original question answered?
From what I read, I think it was, as much as a question like that can be answered. We can only give our own experiences in this case and what we get from them.
Does the consciousness' sense of self continue in the reflected copy in the afterlife as an independent free thinking being, but just at a different level until it chooses to move on to the next life path?
I don't think so, since so much of personality is learned or biologically determined. The essence, what was there before birth isn't changed, but it's not what we know here in the incarnate world. So I would say, that the essence of the person remains as it was before incarnation, possibly independent but unchanged, it doesn't mean that the person is the same the co-incarnates (i.e. friends and family) experienced in life.