I was listening to a radio program last evening, and the guest was a gentleman, a doctor, who has turned his attention over the last decade or so to Near Death Experiences, making a scientific study using a couple thousand case studies, and is attempting to prove that there is, indeed, an "afterlife". He has written a book concerning this study, and after only eight weeks or so, the book has climbed to the bestseller list, proving at the very least the fact there are many, many people in the world with an intense interest in whatever it is that follows the earthly experience.
Most people over the ages have expressed a belief, be it religious or spiritual, of "heavenly" realms that await us upon our physical passing from this world. There are also realms, they profess, other than "heavenly" that await those of us who somehow fall short of expressed standards during our lives. The prospect of going to "hell" following death is meant to be a deterrent to living in "error".
My own belief is just a bit different from that expression, and it tells me there is no "afterlife". There is only Life, a continuous stream of consciousness that expresses itself eternally, something many have labeled the "Soul" or "Spirit". There is no before and there is no after, it just "is", and it is the mission of Spirit in it's physical manifestation to experience, and from that experience to learn. Physical life, then, is a classroom within the greater universe of being. Our calling is to become, forever to become.
Many people place their earthly focus upon those things that are not earthly. They place their faith in themselves into a consideration that transcends their course of study. Spirit requires no contemplation of itself in "Spirit Realms" or the proof or disproof that these realms even exist. It is not a considerable question, as studying the "afterlife" is a distraction from the physical life that is so important. Rather, everyone should be involved in a consideration of the present and the daily answers that are presented to us as the question of Life itself continues.
Why are you here? Who are you? What beauty has Life shown me today? Do I dialog honestly with myself and with those with whom I am in relationship? Do I reach daily for greater relationship? Is my Life a quest for understanding, or do I simply exist? What is Love?
The questions are eternal, for we are eternal. Focus on your Life as it progresses daily, removing as you do your concern for what comes "after". There is no "after".
