Like birth, death is a process each of us must experience for himself or herself, and a process none of us can share or describe. What does it feel like to die? What is it like to no longer be alive?

One of the major concerns about death that is shared by most people is that no one can predict just when it will happen to them. It sometimes comes to claim an infant even before birth, before the person has had a chance to live. It may come during early childhood, at the peak of one’s adulthood, or after a long and full life. There is just no way to tell. Death seems to come as it will, tragically and senselessly. It robs us of our loved ones, and it takes us before we are ready.

The importance of death has lost much of its impact, however, through the influence of television and cinema. Our children witness over twenty thousand (20,000) deaths before they are even thirteen years old, today. And, most of these deaths are violent, cruel, and criminal.

When we can accept death, when we can come to terms with our own physical mortality, we can accept more from Life. We can know that everything we do in Life counts, and that we do not have forever to complete our earthly tasks. What matters is not the length of a life, but what is done with it. We must not put things off until later, such as unspoken feelings or a thank-you... or spiritual growth.

Another major concern we all share about death is its seeming finality. But, our spiritual Life does not end when the body dies. This view, so far unsubstantiated by scientific research, has been met with skepticism by the medical community. Their work in this field, however, has only lent more credibility to the belief in and possibility of "Life after Death."

We cannot know for absolute certain what will be, or not be, when our earthly existence comes to an end. We can be fairly sure, though, that death is not a complete disappearance. If you doubt this, try to imagine yourself as not existing. You may succeed in visualizing the absence of your physical body, or even the loss of your mind and emotions, but there is always a part of yourself that continues the examination. Your Self simply refuses to not exist. It insists upon the reality of its own immortality.

When the Soul leaves the body, at the moment of what we commonly call death, it merely leaves behind a physical shell. The individual cells of the body, separated from the vital Life-Force of the Spirit Self which held them together as a single cooperative, will scatter and break apart to form other, new combinations. These cells, if left to their natural inclinations, will be recycled into the earth as food for plants, which will become food for animals, and so on.

The cells of the "dead" body are not dead. They are very much alive. But, without the controlling force of the human consciousness, chaos and disorder reigns among their numbers, pulling them apart. They rush hither and yon, interfering with each other, even fighting amongst themselves, trying only to get away from the collective and escape the general confusion.

During Life, the body is a single living organism. But, the body is even more alive when it is dead. It becomes a mass of uncountable individual lives, existing as smaller and smaller units, alive in their separate groups and individually, but dead in their totality.

When the energy of the Self leaves the body, at the moment of death, it carries with it the energy matrix which held the physical matter of the body together in its unique form. This energy shell is invisible to ordinary sight, just as water vapor in the air is invisible, but it may be sometimes seen by persons under certain conditions, just as the water vapor can occasionally be seen in a rainbow. This energy is like a thin mist of luminous vapor that exists for some time after the death of the physical form, and will eventually disintegrate into its component atomic particles, just as the crude matter it held together will fall apart.

Under rare emotional circumstances, the vacated energy shell may become visible to certain living persons. This "ghost" will sometimes manifest to relatives or close friends of the dead person. But, if the shell has been discarded by the Soul who once occupied it, and that person has moved on to other spheres of existence, it is just another kind of corpse. It has no life or intelligence of its own, and floats around in the lower atmosphere, near where it was discarded, until it resolves back into its original energy particles.

The energy shell of a deceased person may, occasionally, be animated with a semblance of life through the conscious or unconscious manipulations of a so-called "medium." Such a psychic puppet may be materialized during a seance, and can be quite impressive to those who are blinded by their own emotions and confuse the empty shell for the presence of their deceased friend or relative. The really good charlatan can even perform a kind of psychic "plastic surgery" on this energy form and make it manifest as a representation of anyone they wish.

There are, of course, other types of spiritual visitations which are quite real. But, these incidents are rare and do not require the assistance of some melodramatic intermediary to communicate with the living.

The Soul, after passing out of the physical body, falls into a semi-conscious state that resembles a blissful, restive sleep. The length of this sleep depends entirely upon the personal and spiritual development of the individual. The person who has evolved only a bit beyond the level of the lower animals will stay in the dream world but a short time. Such a person will need to cast off very little of their material sheaths, and will quickly reach the highest state of which he or she is mentally or spiritually capable, which not very far above the physical realm. Likewise, the person who has evolved to a high degree of human consciousness will rest for a longer period of time, having much useless and outgrown matter to discard from the Soul.

A Soul who has left unfinished business, or has a message that simply must be delivered before he or she leaves the earthly life behind, will fight off the dream state and will make desperate efforts to return. The mental and emotional grasping of those left behind may, also, disturb the slumber of the deceased, rousing him or her and drawing him or her back to the earthly plane.

The dream time of the Soul is very much like the semi-conscious existence of the developing baby in its mother’s womb. It sleeps for a time that it may awaken into a new life. But, those who pass out of the physical body suddenly, who are brutally killed or die in a violent accident, find themselves wide-awake. They are often not even aware that they are dead, and cannot understand why other people do not seem to be able to see or touch them.

Eventually, however, all Souls fall into the slumber of the spirit and begin to cast off their confining sheaths. Like a hot air balloon casting off ballast, then, the unencumbered Soul rises to the plane of existence for which it is best suited and to which it is drawn by the Law of Attraction. But, these planes of existence is not so much places as they are states of being. They interpenetrate one another, occupying the same time and space. Those inhabiting one plane are normally not aware of those on the other planes, nor can they pass from one to another, with one possible exception. Souls from the higher planes may easily see into the levels below, if they so wish. Those on the lower planes, however, are unable to see into or visit the upper realms. This is not because there is some "gatekeeper" or anything of the sort, since there are no gates or portals between the levels of existence. Remember, these planes are not literally places, so doorways are meaningless. No, persons on the lower levels cannot pass into the higher planes for the same reason that fish cannot fly above the clouds; it is simply not their element; they do not belong there.

The lower planes are not that much different from the plane of earthly existence, filled with Souls of a gross demeanor and undeveloped consciousness. They live out their lives, over and over again, very much like the lives they left behind. There are quite a few of these lower realms, and most are in close contact with the material world. Consequently, the Souls inhabiting these levels are often attracted to seances and other "psychic" events, masquerading as the spirits of departed loved ones.

Just as there are lower planes of existence that would seem as hells to you and I, inhabited by Souls who are bound up in the selfish and gross sensations, so are there realms that would seem like heavens, occupied by beings who would seem like archangels to us. And, we shall be like them, some day.

Do not, however, try to live too much of your life with your mind in the upper regions of the Soul, or despise the physical body and the material world. This attitude is known as "spiritual pride" and it will prove to be your downfall. You are here in this world for a good reason, and you cannot escape the purpose for which you have chosen this life. The only way to know whether or not you have fulfilled this purpose is... if you are still here, you have not.

You, who read these words, are an immortal being. You have lived many lives, upon this earth and upon the countless planes above it, working your way up the evolutionary ladder. In each lifetime you have learned many lessons, gained valuable experience, made countless mistakes, enjoyed numerous successes, grown and unfolded. And, as you passed from one realm to another, entering into a period of rest between incarnations, your memories of the past quickly faded away, leaving a blank slate upon which you could record the new lessons that you need to learn. But, the experiences of the past have left their indelible marks upon your character, remembered in consciousness or not, and they will continue to influence your every thought, word and action.

Death is as much of an illusion as Life. The only thing that truly exists, in the entire Universe of Universes, is Existence. And, we are as much a part of the Absolute’s Existence now as we have ever been. Perhaps, therefore, it is time for us to reach beyond Infinity and become the beings we were always meant to be.