Is There a Life after Death?

"To die is to be born. With death comes freedom! "

-Grand Master Choa Kok Sui

There are numerous notions and beliefs about “Death the Leveller”. In spite of being the only true certainty, the process of dying and the idea of a life after death is often believed to be veiled in much uncertainty. We put in so much effort into living our lives, it seems hard to believe that all of what we did, wished and lived for, simply just ceases to exist at the moment of death. The finality of non-existence is probably what has lead to death being feared.

Beyond Death

Every culture has its own set of beliefs and rituals regarding death and almost all religions believe in the existence of an immortal soul that survives death. The soul or the essence of a person is believed to be immortal and there has been much debate on what exactly happens to the soul after death.

Into the Afterlife

The ancient Egyptians form the civilization that has received the greatest attention with regard to their theories and practices related to a life after death. While the preservation of the physical body through mummification seems a rather unnecessary ordeal considering that the physical body is a mere vessel for one life-time, the weighing of the heart ceremony is an interesting one.

Judgement, Heaven and Hell

This ceremony is important in terms of symbolism as it basically serves as a ritualistic euphemism for “Judgement” (a repetitive concept in most religious texts). The heart of the dead person was weighed against the Feather of Ma’at that symbolized a form of the Universal Truth to decide whether a person was pure enough to pass onto “Heaven” or was vile and impure and had to be condemned to “Hell”. Life after death has thus been a concern since centuries.

The Cutting of the Cord

Various esoteric books have mention of “breaking of the silver cord” which is actually a reference to death. Master Choa Kok Sui clarified that the process actually involves not one but three silver cords which are not broken but simply disconnected at their respective terminals in the body during which, the three permanent seeds are withdrawn. These are reabsorbed by the higher soul. The first cord to be disconnected is the silver life cord followed by the silver emotional cord and finally the silver cord of consciousness. This brings us to the question of consciousness after death.

Do Near-Death Experiences Prove Anything?

Individuals who claim to have had near-death experiences, though they were from varied walks of life, and different religions, share a similarity in their accounts. They unanimously speak of a tunnel of light. This is, in reality, the spiritual cord. Near-death-experiences thus seem to be proof that a person has a certain level of, if not heightened consciousness after death. If people remembered the tunnel of light, they were basically aware of their journey after their physical death as they passed through the spiritual cord towards their higher soul.

Death can thus be an opportunity to become one with your higher soul. It is not merely an end to life as we know it but a potential spiritual liberation. As Master Choa Kok Sui says:
“Death causes progress. Without death there is stagnation.”