Death, Afterlife And Immortality

Death is supposed to be the source of biggest fear. What is death? What happens after we die? Is eternal life possible? If we are all destined to die, what is life about?

The time is ripe for this discussion as we, and the Earth, progress in light ascension. (Photo credit)

What is life?

To know death, we need to know life.

A few decades ago (I’m writing from my memory of advanced biology course I took at school, so please excuse the lack of details), scientists wanted to find out what makes a life form different from a non-life form. So they simplified and studied the single cell creatures. They identified only two factors that distinguish single cell life forms from mere bubbles.

1. Life forms have cell walls that differentiate the inside of their body from the outside fluid. Life forms “know” what is me and what is not. This makes it possible to take in outside stuffs as nutrition of the inside and excrete what is not necessary. (Biologist Dr Bruce Lipton maintains cell membrane is like the brain that plays central role to sustain us.)
2. Life forms have chromosomes that enable them to replicate, or reproduce, themselves.

So they made an artificial life form with cell wall and transplanted chromosome. That was easy with genetic technology. But the “life form” was not alive. They gave it electric shock, etc, but just couldn’t bring it to life.

Conclusion: There is something invisible that makes organisms alive. Let’s call it life force.

We now jump to a more complex life form, humans. I say “jump” because I think there is a bit of a discrepancy somewhere along the line of biological evolution. We, too, live on life force. But with humans, I recognize the driving power as our souls. Our souls direct the intake of the life force. Is a soul made of life force and the two really are one? I don’t know.

What we can learn from this experiment, however, is the idea that death is the end of everything doesn’t make sense. The idea that everything about you is over when your heart stops beating and your brain stops giving electric waves is limited to the physical, visible function of the body. There is invisible part about you, the life force and the soul (or whatever you want to call it).

What is death?

Now you know there are macrophysics and microphysics, and scientists are trying to come up with the Theory of Everything (TOE) that explains both. So I can explain the relationship of the soul (spirit) and the body in two ways.

On the macro level, we can observe the soul and the body as separate beings. A soul gets inside the body at the baby’s first breath of life and leaves the body at death (spare various cases of soul shifts). So on this level, death is about our soul leaving the body.

On the micro level, the soul and the body are one. The soul is energy, and it can take a dense form of body, which is also energy. Death, then, is the resolution of this dense energy body to another form of energy. Think of the transformation of ice – water – steam. They are all the same stuff, but they look different and act differently. None is better than the other. If the ice puts down the steam because the steam is invisible, it would be ridiculous. So physically incarnated souls are no better than spirits without the body after their “death”.

How these two views can be reconciled neatly, I don’t know at this time.

But in either case, I see the essence of me, the soul, doesn’t die. “I” can leave the vehicle I’ve been driving (macro level explanation) or I can dissolve / transform the body to some other form of being (micro level explanation).

What matters is if I do it consciously or not.

Conscious vs accidental transition

In conscious transition, the “I” knows what I am doing. Despite the appearance of “death,” my consciousness keeps on seamlessly to another form of being.

But if the transition happens without your awareness, it would feel accidental, and you may feel like a victim. While you are on this side. (I believe that once the transition happens, we all get to figure out we are “okay”.) (I’m using the word “accidental” meaning not fully consciously controlled. It doesn’t mean the death is caused by accidents.)

Just to be sure, by conscious transition, I don’t mean suicide. What I mean is the conscious opting out. The majority of death is accidental and not fully conscious no matter how old the person is or whatever the cause of death is.

What happens in afterlife?

As Akashic Record Reading specialist, I am the expert in beforelife. I can tell you about your past lives and the place we go in between physical incarnations. Again, this is the macro level explanation.

What happens after this life is an interesting question for all of us alive today ^_^. Do we repeat what we’ve been doing, that is, cross over to the other side, review our life, rest, and come back later? (If you are interested in more details of the process on the other side, please check Dr Michael Newton’s “The Journal of Souls”) Can we choose not to incarnate any more? If so, are there any requirements, like a certain level of “enlightenment” or vibrational rate?

Our souls can keep going beyond physical deaths. But is physical immortality possible? If it’s possible, is it something you want?

How do you want it?

I’m opening up the discussion here because I think this is up to our free will. Let me sum up the possible options:

1. To die (most likely accidentally) and reincarnate, like we’ve been doing for eons of time
If you choose this option, why? Are there something you want to keep doing in the next life? Is this present life not long enough to do it? Are you postponing something? Or is it about helping others in this world and you can best do it as incarnated being?

2. To die (most likely accidentally) and not incarnate again
Again, why? Is your choice based on hate of this life and the world? Or is it simply because you’ve had plenty and even the good stuff is enough after certain time?

3. To consciously transition or transform your physical body to some other form of being
One of the other form of being is called lightbody. This is what I aspire to do. If you are into continuity, one thing we want to check is we are not choosing this out of fear of death.

4. To keep going in the same physical body
I guess this is what Robin at Let’s Live Forever! stands for. The physical body is just a form of energy, so rather than transforming it to another way of being, keep healing and mending it forever. If it involves temporary death, this may mean resurrection.

5. (Well, as I wrote, I don’t support this view, but if you still like it) To die is to die, the end, period. Death means end and there is nothing after that. Because this view doesn’t acknowledge the invisible being (soul), the death must be accidental. 

6. To die  and go to heaven. Or hell. Depending on the judgement.  I don’t get this idea because God is love and we are God, so why do we judge ourselves to reward or to punish?

7. We lose our individuality at the transition and merge with God.  I guess this can happen both with conscious transition and accidental one.  It’s based on a different level of . . . well, what shall I call it . . . model. 

Are there other options?

Further resources:
Here is a movie about afterlife (HT: Evita Ochel)

Here is a discussion about physical immortality on Oprah’s website, started by Dr Janni Lloyd. 

And is our perception of life and death “real” to begin with? Here is my own post of the nature of reality.

So let me know what you want in the comment. Also, let me know if thinking about life and death give you clarity about the meaning of life.

Review: Journey Of Souls By Michael Newton

What happens when we die?  Where do our souls go?  What do we do before we come back?

Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives explores the fascinating world where our souls go in between physical incarnations.  Dr. Michael Newton is one of the authorities in the past life regression hypnotherapy and he compiled this book from multiple cases of his clients.  Unlike Dr. Brain Weiss’ Many Lives, Many Masters, which was written about one specific client, this book attempts to describe the spiritual world common to all of us.

Fear of death cripples many people.  Understanding that our souls live beyond the physical body’s death can help you overcome this fear and live more fully. So I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is afraid of death or people who may have lost their loved ones recently.

The sou’s life between lives

The book describes the process of in-between life in the spiritual world in the following chapters:

1. Death and Departure
2. Gateway to the Spirit World
3. Homecoming
4. Orientation
5. Transition
6. Placement
7. Life Selection
8. Choosing a New Body
9. Preparation and Embarkation
10. Rebirth

(the above numbers don’t relate to the book’s chapter numbers because there are several other chapters that discuss related issues.)

As Akashic Record Reading specialist, I have working knowledge about this process, but it was so interesting to hear the detailed accounts of each process.

The first part of going into the spirit world is often discussed in the near-death or out-of-body experiences as well.  As soon as the soul is released from the body, there is no pain nor fear any more.  The soul may feel a bit disoriented because of the sudden big change, but very soon it accepts what has happened and actually is delighted to come back to its real home world.

What Michael Newton calls Orientation is more about review of the life that just ended.  We review if we have learned the life lessons we ourselves planned to learn in that life.  There are special function Spirits who help us do this.  My understanding is this is not about judgment – we review our progress against our own plan.

It’s also interesting that souls belong to a small cluster group.  The members of this group are tightly knit together and help each other learn – kind of peer support group.

And isn’t it amazing that, although the spirit world is a wonderful place to be, souls eventually decide to take the challenge of incarnation again!  This physical world is a beautiful world with all its problems.

Soul’s age and development level

These two critical concepts can be quite confusing so I want to share my understanding.  In Journey of Souls, Michael Newton makes references to what I believe to be the accurate account, but sometimes the points are unclear or seemingly inconsistent.

In my practice, I make clear distinction between the soul’s age and its development level.  In my definition, the soul’s age is the number of lifetimes the soul has incarnated in the physical body on Earth.  Some of my clients are old souls who have incarnated more than a hundred times, and some are relatively new souls who has had only a few lifetimes on Earth.

The soul’s development level is another story. A new soul who has had only a few physical lifetimes may be a very advanced soul while an older soul may be behind in the development level.

The reason is one, souls don’t start at the same development level, and two, souls develop at varying pace.

Just like any school at Earth.  Even in kindergarten, each kids start at different level with different personalities and learning styles.  Treating them as if they are all at the same level is a fake equalitarian approach.

Large part of the reason why some souls start at higher level of development right from the start is because they are star travelers (sometimes called starseeds).  They had lives elsewhere.  I only count physical lifetimes on this Earth.  (Michael Newton discuss about souls coming from other worlds in the chapter about advanced souls.)

And of course, we develop at different speeds.  Otherwise, what is the point of making effort for personal and spiritual growth?  If you develop at the same pace with the couch potato who just pass their time watching TV and drinking beer, why would you work on your development and read this blog?

The time between each incarnation can differ greatly, too, among souls, which further complicates the issue of soul “age”.  Some souls come back within a few years, some take several hundred years.  Sometime, I get clients whose last lifetime was millennium ago  — it’s like the soul didn’t intend to incarnate again but changed its mind for some reason.  So this is a very old soul in terms of historical time span, but with only a few physical incarnations, and it may be a very advanced soul.

My simple question about the methodology of this book

I just couldn’t help wondering one thing as I read Journey Of Souls.  So Michael Newton gathered this amazing information about life between lives by conducting hypnotherapy to many people.  He keeps saying like, “My case reports . . .” “Many clients support this view of . . .”  Nice and objective approach, I guess.

But.  If he is so enthusiastic about uncovering the mystery of in-between life of souls, why doesn’t he go there himself?  He can certainly do this by having his trusted assistant therapist work on him.  Doesn’t he want to go see it himself?  Isn’t that a quick way to clarify some of the challenging questions?  Is there a reason he doesn’t want to do this?  Or did he do it but doesn’t want to disclose it?

When I read Dr Brian Weiss’ Many Lives, Many Masters, I felt his sincere compassion.  This book by Dr Michael Newton felt very different to me.

Do you have questions about life between lives?  Please share in the comments.

Ideal Death And More On Life And Death

So many people are indeed afraid of death, I guess. I lost 20 subscribers when I published part 1 of this Life and Death series last week. Well. Sorry for those who are so scared even to read about death, but we cool people go ahead and think more about death.  Not that we like morbid topics. But because facing our mortality and freeing ourselves from the fear of death is the critical step to living a truly fulfilling life.

I get to see various death scenes in the Akashic Records. Are some ways of death more preferable than others? What would be the ideal way to die? Although we don’t get to choose how we die, this is an interesting topic to ponder.

Do we get to know when our time is up?

I guess that is possible. Wild animals seem to be able to do so. So if someone is at peace with the idea of their upcoming death, they might get to know. They may not tell their loved ones, however, because they don’t want to surprise them.

I still remember a story I read years ago. It was about the writer’s friend’s father-in-law. He was in his mid eighties and had been living with his son’s family since his wife passed away. The essay described him to be in good health – he could take care of himself in the day to day life. When he wanted to go to town, however, someone accompanied him just in case.

One day, he wanted to have haircut. So his daughter-in-law went out with him. After that, he suggested they’d get some coffee and sweets. They went to one of those nice bakeries where fresh house-made cakes and tarts are served. He thanked her saying, “You are not my birth family, yet you’ve been taking care of me the most.” She thought it was so nice of him to say that, but didn’t think much about it.

When they were checking out, she saw him buying more than a dozen cakes to take home. She asked, “There are only three of us at home. Who is going to eat all these cakes?” (With fresh cream, etc, they only last for a day or so.) He just smiled. She thought it was strange, but she let him do what pleased him. He went to bed early that evening.

Next morning, the family found he passed away during the night.

So they called the relatives, who came in immediately, and – they found themselves eating those cakes!

“This is so strange. It’s as if he knew and wanted to look nice to see his wife again.” “He was like that always – very considerate to everyone around him.” “It’s good he passed away at his home. These days, most people die at hospitals, and it’s kind of impersonal.” The conversation continued in his memory, who passed so peacefully.

Preparing for death

That’s one of the most beautiful story of death I know. I wish I could pass like that. I guess the ideal way to die is to die in old age when the physical body weakens and naturally lets the soul go. That would be least painful, and you get to have some time mentally and emotionally preparing for the upcoming death. It would be easier for the family to accept, too.

The second best would be to die due to some kind of disease – this would come with a bit of pain (hopefully not too much) but you still get some time to prepare for the death. I mean, if you can accept it is coming.

Really sad cases of death

I don’t want to say some deaths are “bad” — in the long, long run, we all end up in the same place (I think – that is my current understanding). However, certain death are indeed more traumatic and damaging. Like death by violence (murder, war, persecution, accidents). These involve so much physical and emotional pains, and usually don’t give enough time to be prepared. When I do reading for souls who went through these deaths, it’s really sad. Sometimes, the pain and the damage carry over many following lifetimes.

By the way, I’m not “afraid” of death, but I don’t particularly like seeing dead bodies. Please don’t send me gross pictures just because I challenged you in the beginning of this article. That is un-cool.

How about death to young children? The way I see it is it really depends. Just because someone is physically young doesn’t mean they are immature spiritually. They may actually know what is happening and in peace, more so than the adults around. I’m compassionate when it happens to the young (as well to the older), but I also think age is quite relative. Of course, there are children with young spirit and don’t really understand nor accept their death.

Suicide and the soul

I’m still studying how suicide may affect the life of a soul. Some says it is definitely no good, others like Michael Newton (authority in past life regression therapy and the author of Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives – I will be writing the book review of this soon) says it depends on the age and situation.

I personally haven’t seen souls who have caused major issues due to their suicide in past lives – I don’t know if this means souls who have committed suicide don’t come to spiritual healing like mine or if they have problem with reincarnation. So this is part 2 of my Life and Death series. I found the comments to part 1 very interesting and illuminating. What do you think about death, and life after death? Do you believe in reincarnation? Let me know by writing your comment! (Photo by aeioux)

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