I chanced upon this charming scene from behind a tourist couple at Rockefeller Plaza while I was subconsciously willing the floral Easter Bunny to magically turn into chocolate. I don't imagine them talking about life insurance rates...but judging from the guide book that the girl is holding, they're probably planning what to do next in New York City.
Since my grandfather passed away, I've been drawn to these spiritual books to help ease my grief and to help me understand more this inevitable conclusion of life called death. I've read Concetta Bertoldi's "Do Dead People Walk Their Dogs?", a medium's light-hearted yet serious approach to the most frequently asked questions about the afterlife--from the mundane to the sublime. Then I've also read NY Times Best-selling author Eckhart Tolle's "Oneness With All Life", which is a gift book made up of excerpts from his other book, "A New Earth." This one is more inspirational and preaches that the soul's purpose is "to awaken" and to heighten its awareness and live in the Present.
The most recent book I've read is by another NY Times Best-selling author & psychic medium, Sylvia Browne, called "Exploring The Levels of Creation." Here, she reveals that we come to this Earth from the Other Side with our charts pre-written by ourselves. We choose which country we'll be born in, what gender, what physical attributes and circumstances we'll be in, what challenges, whether we'll get married, be a single parent or simply live a single life. We also choose the manner and time when we die. Nothing in this world is ever an accident. Even the people who died in calamities chose to perish that way. We are all here for a purpose, and sometimes the lives we live are to teach other people a profound lesson, or something that will help them accomplish their own life goals. Look at how the Haitian earthquake and the likes of Hurricane Katrina sparked compassion and cooperation the world over. Both Tolle and Browne mention Jesus Christ as an example of someone who was very aware of his earthly purpose and accomplished it the way He wrote it.
It's interesting to note that the book regards Earth as Hell itself, because this is where all the suffering and disease exist, whereas when we die and go back to the Other Side, it's Perfection beyond what our senses and mortal intellect can comprehend. Browne likens our earthly life to going to university, where we sign up for different courses of our choosing according to what we want to learn in order to enhance our soul's knowledge. Without adversity and pain, how can the soul advance? When we look at ourselves now, we may kick ourselves and say, "What the hell was I thinking? I signed up for THIS?!" But we also enter this world with an important tool: free will. We still have the power to do or not to do, to say yes or no, to be prompt or be a procrastinator.
Another interesting thing that Browne discusses is how our pets are regarded as heaven's (the Other Side's) gifts to mankind, whose sole purpose is to provide unconditional love to their owners. She also claims that when we die, the pets we took care of who have passed on before us will be there on the Other Side to welcome us back, along with our dearly departed loved ones, of course. Remember that song "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton in which he asks, "Will you know my name...if I saw you in Heaven?" Browne's book answers this in the positive. There's instant soul recognition in heaven, according to her.
Death is like Graduation, and our lives will be "scored" according to the things we learned and the deeds we did.Whether we'd like to go back to Earth to learn more, and necessarily, suffer more, is up to us, too.
There are some cultures that hold funerals in a manner of a "happy send-off," in which there is lively music and merrymaking to celebrate the life of the deceased, because it is essentially seen as a Homecoming. I've stumbled upon this blog which tells of their "crashing a Daoist funeral" held in a festive way.
When my family and I fly to our province in the Philippines next month, we'll be celebrating my late grandfather's birthday with a special mass. I'm bringing some birthday decorations to liven up the mood. I know that my grandfather will be happy that we're all going to be there in his memory.
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4 vandalized my wall:
I think Kris Allen's song is meaningful in every sense. Ironic isn't it that a brush with dying makes one think hard about how to live with gratitude?
i do get into that mood where i question but can't find a definite answer to all the questions about "life." sometimes, all we have to do is appreciate what we have bec at some point we graduate.
have a wonderful trip to the philippines.
That was a romantic snap. The couple might want a copy. :p
the privilege of choosing the circumstances of your birth isn't for everyone. it would depend on the level of your spiritual growth. a murderer in a previous lifetime, for example, is destined to have his future lives tailored for him to pay off his karmic debts.
this world is like a classroom where we learn our lessons. death is like recess. it's rest and recreation until we hear the bell rings and we enter the classroom again to resume our lessons.
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