Dear Julia:

I have heard so many people say things about the afterlife with such conviction. Usually these are statements like, "I know he/she is watching over me" or "They are in a better place." While these thoughts may be comforting, much of my reading of spiritual material seems to contradict these ideas. For example, Robert Monroe writes that he came to the startling realization (via astral travel) that there is no "home" for us as conscious beings, because we evolve and outgrow these origins. Sylvia Browne, however, says we do go "home" when we leave our bodies. I guess we are all free to believe what we want. I think when we become non-physical, we move into different vibrational places, which may in fact be very distant from that which surrounds planet Earth. What do you believe, Julia, and why? Is truth relative to each individual? I wonder what it will be like for me - maybe I should just choose a potpourri of attractive thoughts and go with that! Thanks for any input. As you can tell, I'm a seeking and questioning soul. Love and Light!
- Diane

Dear Diane:

What I believe about the nature of the afterlife is based upon my own direct communication with those who have passed on; what I have read of others' similar communications; what I have read and heard from those who have explored other dimensions personally, such as those who have had near death experiences and those who have traveled mentally or astrally in non-physical dimensions while incarnate; and what resonates with my heart and soul.

I think what's tripping you up is the word "home," and how these different sources are using that word. You see, I feel many different teachers (and even religions) out there are all saying the same thing; they're just saying it with different words, or viewing the afterlife from a different angle or perspective.

Let's say for example that we're wondering what it's like on Hawaii. If we ask someone who has "astral traveled" there, it's sort of like asking someone who has flown over one or two corners of the islands in a helicopter. To this person, they may look beautiful but also desolate or uninhabitable due to the steep cliffs, active volcanoes, etc. If we ask someone who has had a Near Death Experience, this is sort of like asking someone who landed in an airport on Hawaii, who perhaps glimpsed the landscape through the windows and was met by a relative or two at baggage claim, but who got sent back on another plane before making it outside the building.

While obviously the "best way" to get to know Hawaii would be to move there, explore its every acre, get to know the locals, etc., we can't really "move" to the afterlife, so it seems to me the next best thing we can do is to call up lots of different people who live there and ask them to tell us about it.

Even with this, however, we're going to hear a wide variety of descriptions. Our sweet grandmother may tell us it's the most beautiful place imaginable, full of flowers and the nicest people anywhere. Grouchy Uncle Bernie, however, may say it rains too much and is too expensive, and not at all what he was expecting! If we talk to 100 people and 99 of them all say it is beautiful and full of nice people, we can assume that this is for the most part true.

This is sort of how we can make sense of the conflicting reports we're getting from various different entities (both living and beyond) about the afterlife, except that the non-physical is probably far more vast, complex and multi-faceted than the scope of possibilities for planet Earth, so we have to multiply this effect many times over. Further, in the non-physical, thoughts are "things," and seem as real as the "things" in our physical existence. For example, in dreams, we can think of someone and they will be there. If this is what is happening in the afterlife, then there could be as many different "afterlife" experiences as there are thinkable thoughts.

Now to make this even more complicated, let's say that instead of describing life on Hawaii, you have been sent as one member of a delegation from a planet far, far away to explore life on planet Earth. You happened to have been sent to the South Pole. You come back with descriptions of a cold, barren planet, incapable of supporting life. Other members of your party were sent to different locations such as the Bronx, a rain forest, Hollywood, Sedona, Calcutta, war-torn Iraq and Disney World. Some of them have such wonderful, attractive descriptions of life on Earth that it seems to be "heaven," while others have such horrid descriptions of life on Earth that it seems to be "hell." Which description truly captures life here?

I'd like to suggest that it's possible that many or even all of the descriptions you are reading about the afterlife are "true." What you experience will depend upon where you end up, and that will be governed by your level of spiritual evolvement as well as your belief system. If we are constantly creating our own realities here on Earth, why would the afterlife be any different?

Reports from the Other Side tell us that those who don't know what to believe are often confused and lost initially following "death." Those who haven't faced their own inner demons (their spiritual lessons) while living are often afraid of death, while those who have been on conscious spiritual paths and have clear ideas about what will happen when they cross over are often relieved and joyful. The energetic vibration of each individual determines his/her experience upon crossing over.

As I understand it, there are many, many other worlds - perhaps even an infinite number. However, in Near Death Experiences and spirit communications, some common elements have emerged about the afterlife. These come up time and time again regardless of the religious/cultural beliefs of the source.

These common elements include (but are not limited to): the idea that we do continue on and will meet up with those who have crossed over before us, that we are guided by intelligent beings and will be met on the other side by "tour guides," that there will be a life review when we will be held accountable for our life choices, that lands of great beauty and freedom exist beyond this one, that we can and do reincarnate and are given choices about the details of future lives, that tremendous learning takes place in the non-physical between lives, etc.

As I see it, the afterlife must be a lot like life on Earth, and yet also profoundly different. When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, it "goes to sleep" and awakes with "amazing" powers to enter a world so much vaster than its old one. Where it once inched along, now it can soar and see so many wonderful things it couldn't see before. It must feel blissfully light, uplifted, free and full of new possibilities. Its world has gone from a leaf or two to the entire planet - yet from our perspective, it still inhabits the same sphere. I imagine that "death" is much like this for humans: we go to sleep and awake into a world of immense freedom and possibility.

I believe you are very wise to adopt positive beliefs and expectations about the afterlife, for as I mentioned above, another common teaching from beyond is that in death (as in life), what we focus upon and expect is what we will experience. To explore more, I recommend the research/ teachings of Spiritualism. For starters, check out Spiritwritings.com, which offers over 200 full text books of spirit communication, and Victor Zammit's great page of links for sites that address the nature of the afterlife.

- Julia