by Laurie Boulette

Created on: April 17, 2009

Tell someone you're dying and watch their response. Look carefully at their facial expressions and body language. Just hearing the word *death* conjures up fear in some people, and the fear of this unknown experience to come triggers very powerful emotions. And worse than that, we all know it's coming, and there isn't a darn thing we can do about it ....we just have to sit here and wait it out. We just pray that we have been a good enough person while we are living our lives to go to the *right* place. Have we been good enough? ...are we going to Heaven or Hell?

But why are we afraid? What really happens when we die? Do Heaven or Hell really exist? Are they physical places or states of consciousness? Does it really matter what we believe or that we believe differently? Does how we believe change our outcome?

Ask these questions to anyone who has *been to the Light* or experienced this magnificent Omnipresence in any way, and chances are you will get a very different answer than you would from someone who has never had this wonderful experience. And although each person who tells their story defines it a little differently (who greets them when they return, how long the experience seems to take, if they are guided or find their way on their own), some things remain the same (The Light, the love, the peace and tranquility). And while I consider myself very blessed to have had this experience in my life, I also understand that those who have not could be fearful of death or the dying experience. For me, death isn't death, it's the continuation of life.

The subject of the afterlife has been a global burning debate for centuries and I'm sure it will continue for many more centuries to come. Wars have been embarked upon because of the differences in beliefs, and as the centuries tick by I'm sure it will continue. It's a cycle. Life and death runs in a cycle. We see this in nature with the four seasons, that cannot be denied. So what makes us different? ARE we different in some way, or does ego just allow us to think we are?

In our brains the memories of our experiences in life creates familiarity, and without this familiarity, our mind sketches a fantasy slide show of possible outcomes similar to what we see in a horror movie. It's not our fault, it's how we are wired. The good news is that WE are in control of our thoughts, and the fear of death only exists if we allow it. And whatever we choose to believe about what happens to us after we die is a choice that each one of us makes individually.

"Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the same state. There is as little reason to deplore the one as there is to be pleased over the other" - Mahatma Gandhi

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