The
notion that there is a life after this one on Earth is a widely held belief that predates recorded history. While cultures
like that of the ancient Egyptians believed existence continued in "the Land of the Dead," the more modern Christian beliefs
offer an afterlife in Heaven as a reward or in Hell as a punishment. Even more recent ideas suggest that life might continue
in another dimension or plane of existence - perhaps even on another planet.
Whatever the ideas, it's clear that humans want to believe - perhaps even
need to believe in life after death.
There is no definitive proof, of course, that a life after death exists.
But there are some rather compelling anecdotes that suggest there might be: remarkable cases of claimed reincarnation or past-life
recall, for instance. There are also countless cases in which the recently deceased have appeared briefly to family members
and friends to tell them that they are well and happy in another world.
Perhaps the most intriguing "evidence" are the stories related by people
who have gone through the "near-death experience." It's estimated that 9 to 18 percent of people who are near death have a
near-death experience. Although mainstream science suggests that these experiences are nothing more than the result of certain brain activity under extreme stress or hallucinations
brought on by drugs or medication, perhaps these accounts shouldn't be so readily dismissed. If they are real, after all,
they hold the only clues we have as to what life in the hereafter might be like.
From various cases of near-death experience (NDE), here is a glimpse of
life after death.
The Tunnel and the Light
One of the most common experiences at the beginning of an NDE is popping
or floating out of one's body and then floating or flying down a long tunnel toward a bright, white light that many describe
as "loving."
- "In front of me I saw a small light in the vast distance. The light
started to get larger. It became more brilliant and it stopped in front of me. I felt an intense love, which came from the
Light. I know without a doubt that this beautiful intense loving Light was God. The Light started to communicate with me;
but the communication was telepathic, it was not verbal. The Light asked me if I wanted to come with it. At this point I completely
understood the nature of the question and the consequences of my answer. If I choose to continue with the Light I knew that
I would die and never return to earth. I thought about this and replied that I thought that I still had important things to
do back there (on earth). At that point the Light began to recede. I found myself waking up on the bed of my dorm room."
(All of this is from: http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa082800a.htm)
