Is there life after death?
Hmmm, such an interesting topic! One most of us would like to believe. Does life continue after the body dies? I would like to think so! Ancient history, Religion, mythology, near death experiences, afterlife communication, between and past life regressions all tell us that the soul continues to live after the death of our physical bodies. Believing that the soul is eternal helps to ease the pain when grieving the death of a loved one and alleviates the fear associated with dying.
Some people are Atheists and do not believe in life after death. They believe there is no eternal soul. Personally I'm a strong believer in life after death. I find the similarities in different beliefs and the afterlife experiences (some claim to have had) very interesting. So I decided to do a little research on this controversial subject.
Here are my findings:
Between life regressions
Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, Llewellen Publications, 1997.
Dr. Michael Newton, a hypnotherapist has developed his own hypnosis techniques to reach his subjects memories of their life between lives. Newton placed a variety of people in a state of super-consciousness. While in deep hypnosis, his subjects describe what happened to them between their reincarnations on earth.
Dr Newton has found most souls are anxious to leave Earth after death and may stay near relatives and friends for a few days.
A soul will pass through a tunnel towards a bright light.
After passing through the tunnel, souls are met by their spirit guides or someone they were close in their last life.
A life review is conducted with spirit guides and a Council of Elders.
Souls proceed to small groups with other souls who have often shared past lives.
The spirit world is like a school with classrooms and teachers who monitor progress.
The souls evolution can grow to a level where it no longer needs to incarnate.
Souls with the assistance of guides choose their incarnations based on what lessons they need to learn. Souls can incarnate on other worlds.
For more on Dr Newton visit:
http://www.journeyofsouls.com.au/
Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce (born 1877-1945) was known as the sleeping prophet. He had many near death experiences throughout his life time. Under hypnosis Cayce would leave his body and travel to the Afterlife. He made over 14000 journeys. He claims the Afterlife consists of different regions. In the 1st region you deal with your unfinished emotional business left over from your past incarnation. In this region the soul learns to deal with choices made in its most recent Earth incarnation. When experiences in the first region are complete the soul moves on to the second region. In the second region the soul is divided into communities. There is more interaction with spirits, and angels from higher realms. In this region the soul will see the relationship of life in the human family and all other living creatures. The soul will develop an appreciation and respect for the oneness of all life. When leaving the Second Region the soul will leave behind any illusions created by its mental activities in the Earth. In the Third Region desires are emanated and the soul will experience all of its earthly wishes including ambitions, yearnings and hopes. Here in this realm the soul will see these aspirations blossom in their full purity. The soul will continue to another 4 regions as it releases its Earthly ties. The soul will then travel to another 7 regions known as the Spirit Lands.
For more on Edgar Cayce please visit the following website:
https://www.near-death.com/paranormal/edgar-cayce.html
Psychic Mediums
Many mediums believe that in the afterlife there is only joy, peace and love. There is no pain and suffering and you are not restricted by time and space. The sun is not blinding but a light of pure love. There are colours and sounds that are not seen on earth. The beauty of the after life becomes more incredible as you ascend to the higher levels. They believe the afterlife feels more real than our lives on Earth. We are reconnected with deceased love ones from recent and past lives including pets. We will also meet our spirit guides and Angels and become part of a heavenly community which includes our soul group and soul mates. A soul can visit loved ones still living on Earth and will communicate with them through the medium.
For information on a psychic mediums view on an Afterlife visit:
http://psychics.co.uk/blog/what-does-the-afterlife-look-like/
NDE (Near death experience)
During an NDE, A person will die with the brain being dead for up to two minutes. During this time the patient will feel a release from their dying body and experience no pain and great peace. He or she will feel a floating sensation and will see their body and its environment below them. The soul will then travel through a tunnel towards a bright light. After passing into the light the soul is met by a deceased relative, friend, pet, spirit guide, Jesus, God or some other divine being. Many say the Afterlife or Heaven is of indescribable beauty, with colour and sounds being far more vivid than anything on Earth. Some unfortunate souls claim to have gone to Hell instead of heaven. The condemned soul will witness or experience unbearable torture and pain. After being revived from death, most people that were sent to Hell change their lives to become more compassionate and kind. Those that went to Heaven no longer fear death and spread the message of peace and love. Often the souls that go to Heaven do not want to return to Earth.
Many cases of NDE have been investigated by scientists.
For more on NDE visit:
Religion
There are to many religions to mention, so I'll briefly touch on a few. I apologise if I am in anyway incorrect in what I have written. Please, do correct me if I am.
Christianity
Christians believe the soul is immortal. God loves his children and forgives their sins. If a person asks for forgiveness and believes in Jesus Christ they will be accepted in Heaven. The soul is then made perfect in holiness. Those who reject this gift, will be separated from God and sent to Hell. The soul will not remain in Heaven without a body, there will be a final resurrection where the spirit will be unified with the resurrected body. Some Christians believe if you have lived a good holly life when you die you will go to Heaven. If you have lived a sinful life when you die you will go to Hell. In heaven the soul will receive Judgment that will determine his or her destiny.
For more on Christianity and the afterlife visit:
http://www.sptimmortalityproject.com/background/christianity-and-the-afterlife/
Muslims
Muslims believe that present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence. Good deeds during life will benefit the soul and bad deeds will create eternal suffering for the soul. In the Muslim Paradise you'll find gardens, rivers of waters, rivers of milk, rivers of wine and rivers of clarified honey. They believe Allah will one day raise people from the dead and deliver the final judgment on all human beings.
For more on the Muslim belief and the after life visit:
https://www.reference.com/world-view/muslims-believe-afterlife-376add0aa5b4565a
Buddhism
Buddhists believe after death one is reborn into another body or will enter nirvana. Only those who have attained enlightenment achieve nirvana.
The Buddha describes Nirvana:
It is recognized that there is nothing but what is seen of the mind itself; where, recognizing the nature of the self-mind, one no longer cherishes the dualisms of discrimination; where there is no more thirst nor grasping; where there is no more attachment to external things.
But all these descriptions only tell us what is not Nirvana. What is it like? Is it like heaven, or is it non-existence? The answer is not clear, due in large part to the Buddha's aversion to metaphysics and speculation. When he was asked such questions, he merely replied that it was "incomprehensible, indescribable, inconceivable, unutterable."
References
- Vairacchedika 32.
For more on Buddhism and the afterlife visit:
www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/afterlife
Reincarnation
Buddhist wheel of life
By Laurent Bélanger [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Reincarnation is the rebirth of a soul into another body. Some religions believe when a person dies, the soul will leave the body and then will instantly be reborn into another. Others believe that after spending time in the afterlife and consulting with guides, the soul will choose a body. The life the soul chooses will contain lessons that will help the soul to evolve.
Many religions believe in reincarnation including Brahmanism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Many ancient traditions also believed in reincarnation such as Shamanism, Druidism and Norse mythology.
Today reincarnation is very popular amongst new age and spiritual believers.
There are people that claim to remember past lives (mostly children under the age of 6). Some cases of reincarnation have been investigated and the details given have been verified to correspond to a deceased person. In some cases (mostly when it's a young child's memories) the possibilities of the person knowing these details is near impossible.
For more on reincarnation visit:
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Reincarnation
Karma
Many people that believe in reincarnation also believe in Karma. I'm sure many of you have heard the old sayings "what goes around comes around" or " As you sow, so shall you reap" that is called Karma, the law of cause and effect. Our good and bad deeds produce good and bad results. Karma lessons are perfectly tailored to a souls spiritual needs. A Karma lesson can be carried from lifetime to lifetime until that lesson is learnt.
For more on Karma visit:
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-karma-p2-1770055
I've only just lightly touched on the subject of life after death. There is so much to learn on this interesting subject. I hope you enjoyed my research. If you would like to know more click on the links I have provided.
I'm open to discussions, so if you would like to leave a comment please do.