Nothing is  more crucial to understand than the meaning of life and death.

                                             What happens to us when we die?

For most of our lives we push away the question of death and the afterlife. As we experience the loss of loved ones and  grow older, the mystery of our mortality invites more of our attention. Western culture doesn't put much emphasis beyond the here and now. Cultivating our belief system about the after-life is a crucial undertaking that gives deep meaning to our journey. 

Throughout the ages there has been an understanding that consciousness leaves the body after it ceases to function. But where does it go from there ? Heaven or Hell ? Or vanish into thin air ? For thousands of years the majority of eastern cultures have built their spiritual lives on the foundation of reincarnation and karma. Like billions of people that have come before us, after death most of us pass through the bardo state, the transition between lives,  then our soul reincarnates into a new body and starts a fresh new life here on earth.  

Under the laws of karma, of cause and effect, each subsequent incarnation gives ample opportunity to form new loving relationships, heal the heartbreaks of the past, and make good on mistakes we've made with other souls. The natural progression through the stages of life begins and ends with rebirth much like a flower that blossoms, withers away, hibernates, then blooms again in the spring.  

It's to our  advantage to wholeheartedly accept and embrace the transition from one life to the next.  A deep understanding of karma and reincarnation is crucial to our spiritual development.  Each breath we take is a new opportunity to make choices that enhance our growth into moral, conscious, and ethical souls.   

Just as dependable as the ebb and flow of the ocean waves, souls don't die, they return. But the physical body does die and from physical death springs new life.  Death is not the end but the beginning. 

Looking through the lense of reincarnation puts suicide in a much clearer context. The biggest spiritual mistake possible is to commit suicide because the torment that we're trying to escape is repeated in subsequent lives unless it's dealt with skillfully and healed.  In all circumstances the best choice is to deal with pain and trauma in the here and now, as difficult as that may be. 

The more skilled we are with karma the better the odds that we can shape the circumstances in our next life and beyond. Like a quilt sewn from the experiences of our past lives, this life is a family heirloom. Birth, death and rebirth, where one life flows into the next as reliably as night follows day, is the process of life itself.

Ultimately, after deep devotion to our spiritual growth, we can be liberated from the process of rebirth and exist only in the spiritual realm. That is our highest potential. But most of us have a round trip ticket back to Earth School.

​                          Soaring Eagle