Is There an Afterlife and What Happens?

I see deceased people (spirits) all the time, including dogs, so I assume there is some kind of afterlife for everyone. My best guess here is that most people spend some time (variable) in the real time zone before moving to one of the spirit worlds (heavens). There, they process and come to terms with their recent past life.

By process, I mean they relive life over and over until it is fully understood and absorbed. I think then a point comes when that life has been fully processed and the spirit has had enough and lets go, to merge back into the collective consciousness, to be reborn anew. This is a voluntary thing and hints at reincarnation, which is a good enough explanation for it down here in the physical universe where everything is perceived as being linear. But at a higher level, time does not exist so it could be said that from that perspective all lives are lived simultaneously. Real headache material that one (see my online article 'Reincarnation; not so simple'.)

To transcend the reincarnational process, I think one has to achieve a high level of development indeed, including fully developed Kundalini and Uraeus. Raising this level energy to its full creates a seed body, and this gestates inside one until it is projected out as what is called the 'light body'. This can then take on a life of its own to some extent, like a permanent astral projection, eg, maybe like the aspect of me that I call 'Astral Bob'. Then, when the physical body dies, the spirit shifts into the light body and gains independence from the reincarnation process. Then a new path begins and more choices are available. The spirited light body can then act as something like a spirit guide, helping the living. It can also choose to attach to a new foetus (one that does not contain a spirit yet) and be reborn. But this type of rebirth includes the continuation of ones existing knowledge and personality. This is what Tibetan masters and etc do. I'm sure you have heard how when a master dies, a few years later his deciples are led to search for the new incarnation of that master, and tests are given to prove this, etc. In this way, knowledge and spiritual 'skill' can be accumulated over many deliberate lifetimes. I think at the end of this process yet another choice appears, and that would be to begin the path of the masters, maybe as a junior master of sorts. Eventually, it is possible that such a spirit could become some kind of deity.

The above process is *not* limited to those who follow Eastern practices. This is a natural phenomeonon and it can occur spontaneously, eg, Carl Jung experienced this. I think it happens to those who reach a certain level of discipline, understanding, and realization about the nature of the universe. This includes people from primitive societies and tribes, and all religions, where it probably hides under a host of names and terms.

I think that everyone has the potential to transcend the reincarnation process in any life, but few actually achieve this, possibly due to life's many distractions. Realization seems to be the key to this process, eg, to realize our place in the greater reality and, that each and every one of us is for all intents and purposes 'the supreme being'. It can be said that the individual is only an aspect of the collective consciousness of the universe, of the supreme being, but in truth it is impossible to divide one aspect from the whole. An aspect only stays an aspect as long as it believes it is an aspect. So in this sense it is a matter of 'realizing' that one is greater than a mere aspect. And the greater this realization becomes the greater an aspect becomes.

I do not hold with the belief that in between life we float around in the clouds planning our next life and etc. This is a comforting thought, but I think this comes from the human need for security, to continue as one is and to maintain control, have all the power and choices, etc.

It may sound scary to let go of who you are now, and relinquish all your memories and experiences. But if you really think about it, how do you really feel about having a brand new life from the start, a fresh slate, full of countless new experiences and opportunities? Its quite something.

One of nature's blessings is that us humans have the ability to forget. Memory fades with time. The memories are still there in the subconscious, but faded and shelved out of the way. This allows us to enjoy life and have new experiences. Without this ability we'd drown in the misery of having every painful experience memory up close and personal all the time. This would cloud our minds and grossly interfere with our ability to enjoy life. The afterlife process is a bit like this, in that eventually all memories fade and we grow into a state of mind that is empty and hungry for more. At this point we let go and do it all again in a different way. Not too scary, aye........ In fact, its quite an exciting thought. Try looking at children as they are exploring their environment; such wide eyed delight and wonder.....priceless.

In closing, it is clear to me that everyone, including animals, has some kind of afterlife. It is also clear that how this unfolds is extremely variable. The movie 'What Dreams May Come', is probably fairly typical of the average afterlife. And that's not too bad, you must admit.