Is There Life After Death?

Is There Life After Death?

Through the night . . .

Many people in the world today are quite circumspect about the nature of the
"death" experience which can be discerned from a study of the historical and
modern-day research materials available. Even though historical discourses about
the "death" experience are remarkably confirmed by modern-day studies into
near-death and out-of-body experiences, many people are unaware of this
information, and when they start to familiarize themselves with the information
when they begin to perform research, they find that the conclusions to which
they must come are often in conflict with their own religious teachings, and in
conflict with the doctrines of many of the religious systems of the world.

A general pattern can be discerned regarding the death experience (and the
near-death experience), from a study of the historical and modern-day materials
available:

Floating above your physical body and viewing the scene of your "death."
Moving through a tunnel towards the Light at the end of the tunnel.
Feeling overcome by love or terror when meeting the Light/God/Christ/Buddha.
Meeting past relatives and/or friends and/or beings who console and advise you.
Experiencing a review of your life and a judgment of your life's actions.
Coming to some sort of new understanding about your life and/or the workings of
the Universe.
Going back to your previous life, if appropriate; or, in final death, moving
into your next dimensional existential realm.

Variations of the general pattern can and will occur, depending on many factors,
however, at final death, no adult life form can expect to avoid the life review
and karmic judgment.

Some sources to confirm the nature of death:

Life After Life; The Investigation Of A Phenomenon - Survival Of Bodily Death
(Bantam Books, 1976);
Reflections On Life After Life (Bantam Books, 1977);
The Light Beyond (Bantam Books, 1989);
Coming Back; A Psychiatrist Explores Past Life Journeys (Bantam Books, 1992);
By Raymond A. Moody, Jr.
Closer To The Light (Ivy Books, 1990) by Melvin Morse.
On Death And Dying (MacMillan, 1969);
Living With Death And Dying (MacMillan, 1981);
By Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.
Life After Death (McClelland & Stewart, 1997) By Tom Harpur.
Life Between Life (Warner Books, 1986) By Joe Fisher and Joel L. Whitton.
The Life Beyond Death (Yogi Publication Society, 1937), By Yogi Ramacharaka.
The Tibetan Book Of The Dead (Oxford University Press, 1960);
The Tibetan Book Of The Great Liberation (Oxford University Press, 1954);
W. Y. Evans-Wentz, editor.

Additional Internet resources relating to the subject matter of the nature of
death can be found at the following:

International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) - 
http://www.iands.org/

Dr. Raymond Moody Jr. - 
http://www.lifeafterlife.com/

Insights Into the Afterlife: 30 Questions and Answers on What to Expect - 
http://ils.unc.edu/inls300/usr/kaplr/doc18.htm

Near Death Experiences - Dr. George Ritchie - 
http://www.near-death.com/ritch.html

SpiritWeb: NDE, Near Death Experience - 
http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/nde.html

Adventures Beyond the Body - 
http://www.out-of-body.com/

Spirit Online: Near-Death Experiences - 
http://www.spiritonline.com/files/messages/357/357.html

Eternal Spirit: Practical Spiritualism, For Those Who Want To Know - 
http://www.eternal.ndirect.co.uk/frame1.htm

God - 
http://www.eternal.ndirect.co.uk/page14.htm

Near-Death Experiences - 
http://www.mindspring.com/~scottr/end.html

Personal Accounts of near death experience - 
http://www.mindspring.com/~scottr/nde/_accounts.html

400 Life After Death Links - 
http://www.mysteries-megasite.com/main/bigsearch/afterdeath-1.html

180 Near Death Links - 
http://www.mysteries-megasite.com/main/bigsearch/neardeath.html

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - 
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/dead/

Perhaps a good example of the great paradox of the near-death experience, is the
fact that so many fervently "religious" orthodox fundamentalists who have
experienced a near-death encounter, and who beforehand had persecuted and
condemned so many people to hell for "eternity" for their personality and
lifestyle, often report that afterwards, they went through a series of
remarkable spiritual changes that resulted in a new personality and lifestyle of
their own, one that treats all people with much greater respect and compassion,
including some of the same people whom they have previously so fervently
persecuted and condemned. It seems that in this matter, the Universe is saying
to people: leave the judgment up to us, it is your job to love your brothers and
sisters and make a better world for the children.

Ironically, it will be found that it is fervently "religious" orthodox
fundamentalists who most often deny and refute the historical and modern-day
information which is available about the near-death experience, and this might
be expected since it will also be found that the general pattern that is
discerned from research into the historical and modern-day materials available
strongly suggests that the criteria that is used for the life judgment that is
encountered as part of the near-death experience is, in fact, extremely
unfavorable towards the general personality and karmic lifestyle stereotype of
fervently "religious" orthodox fundamentalists. Among such people who have
experienced their own near-death encounter, only the most deeply disturbed have
continued to live their lives in a similar manner as before, ignoring the
lessons which were imparted, and denying and refuting the validity of their own
near-death experience, and the near-death experiences of other people.

Furthermore, conversely, another good example of the great paradox of the
near-death experience, is the fact that while homosexual people are generally
persecuted and often condemned to hell for "eternity" by many of the doctrines
of the religious systems of the world, the general pattern that is discerned
from research into the historical and modern-day materials available, conversely
strongly suggests that the criteria that is used for the life judgment that is
encountered as part of the near-death experience is, in fact, extremely
favorable towards the general personality and karmic lifestyle stereotype of
homosexual people.

All of this research, once considered by most people to be in the theoretical
realm and anecdotal/speculative by nature, is now buttressed by recent
scientific studies that have apparently provided sufficient evidence, and
reasonable proof, that there is, in fact, some sort of life after death, that
can provide a basis for future research and can provide spiritual empowerment
for people who study the already available accounts and the other research
material available. These recent scientific studies have been a result of
modern-day techniques used in high-risk operations on the human brain, where the
blood is completely drained from the patient, producing a flat-line response in
heart and brain functions (essentially, physical death), while at the same time,
upon return of the blood to the body and resuscitation, the patient has
subsequently reported close variations of the classic near-death experience, a
seemingly impossible conundrum, since such experiences have long been held by
many skeptics as being manifestations of the functions and complications of the
human brain, and whereby such experiences have been reported as occurring at the
same specific time as the brain of the patient was registering a flat-line
response regarding brain activity. Thus, such controlled experimental operations
are now providing a scientifically acceptable glimpse into future possible
realms of existence, realms of existence which may provide people as
individuals, and civilization collectively, with new and different information
regarding ways of life and forms of government which are evident in those future
possible dimensional realms of existence.

Rest of article at:
http://www.universalway.org/lifeafterdeath.html

Yankee