[info] link: [url]books/various/?node=your-sacred-self|Passage from Your Sacred Self on afterlife from the perspective of twins in the womb. link: [url]speak/veena/?node=death|Veena's thoughts on death. [/info] Death is the only certainty in life, and the one thing nobody prepares for until it overtakes them nor think about until it claims a loved one. Leaf by Niggle by Tolkien is an allegorical tale describing life, purgatory and the afterlife. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran also has a chapter on death. There is also his Dying Man. A must read is the Tibetan Book of the Dead by WY Evans-Wentz and also the The Tibetan Book of the Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. It is said that when the soul dies, it is at first unaware of its death / removal from the physical world. It still perceives the actions of loved ones and feels their pain. It lingers behind trying to communicate with them and reassure them that there is nothing to cry about. We the bereaved need to let them go on their way into the afterlife / purgatory / next life as is our belief.