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Only love heals because love lies deepest within each one of us.
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My friend Norma Sherry lost her dog Pookie recently and wrote a story called ~ Is there life after Death ? I emailed her a note and explained that those who we love deeply become part of us forever. As such , Pookie will always live in her heart . The important word here is LOVE ~ for it is my belief that a loving state of Soul Consciousness lies deepest within us and pets can
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easily tap into that field ~ a field that also exists beyond time and space. I explain all of this on my website but perhaps you might be interested in Norma's heart felt investigation regarding this question ~ Is there a place in heaven for my puppy dog ?
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Allen L Roland
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- Is There Life After Death?
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- by Norma Sherry
- http://www.opednews.com/sherry032004_life_after_death.htm
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- Is there a Hereafter?
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- Is it a place of perfection and transcendent peace?
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- Does one float or merely walk, yet never get tired?
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- Is the Hereafter for only human folk or does it welcome all creatures from the tiniest
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- ameba to the most gargantuan whale?
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- If so,does the whale float among the angels or are there pristine waters where every
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- living organism lives without fear of a predator?
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- Is there a place in heaven for my puppy dog?
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- Or is the Hereafter a clever guise to keep us in line?
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- After all, if we fear an everlasting life in the fires of Hell and brimstone versus the
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- glorified everlasting life of splendor and peace: wherein all of humankind’s most
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- desired dreams and wishes are fulfilled, would this disparity not act as a deterrent for
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- the greater number of us to be good and lawful human-beings?
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- Interestingly, all major religions and their scriptures proscribe to the notion of an
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- everlasting life of tranquility and beauty known as the Hereafter.
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- Christianity and Islam believe in the Hereafter. Buddhism and Hinduism believe in
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- the Hereafter.
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- The Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians, and the Chaldaens of the ancient
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- world had some belief in an everlasting life.
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- There is even indication that the belief in the Hereafter existed for the Neanderthal
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- man. They buried their dead in an apparent ritualistic manner, even to placing their
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- tools and implements beside their dead. One would argue that by doing so they
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- demonstrated a belief in a life hereafter.
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- In Fiji, the island’s people believe that once one dies on earth they go to an
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- everlasting life where life resumes in every respect, even to procreating.
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- Buddhism differs from Christianity in that in the Buddhist’s faith, death is the
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- transition to another life or life form wherein one must evolve into a being of love,
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- peacefulness, kindness, and good.
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- For the Buddhist, Hell is not interminable damnation, but a temporary place in which
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- one can transcend. In their faith, they are continually evolving depending upon their
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- individual “karma”.
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- In Christianity, although there are many faiths under this umbrella all with differing
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- beliefs, the majority of Christianity believes that we have but one soul and it does not
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- live on beyond life.
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- Likewise, the many sects of Christianity have conflicting beliefs regarding Heaven,
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- Hell, and Judgment.
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- There is evidence, however, that the early Christian Celtics belief in a
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- continuity of life was very much akin to the Buddhist belief in reincarnation.
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- So, even in this the largest faith in the world with 1400 million followers, there is not
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- a concise belief in the Hereafter or the consequences of life that would determine
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- one’s Hereafter.
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- The Jewish faith, on the other-hand, believes that Heaven and Hell are here on
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- earth.
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- There are many legends in this regard, consider the story of a good man who
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- upon entering heaven is disappointed that there are no saints. He is instructed that
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- he is mistaken. “The saints”, he is told, “are not in heaven, heaven is in the saints.”
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- In a complementary story, a Chasidic rabbi is asked, "Where is God?" He answers,
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- "Wherever you let Him in."
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- The early Hindu’s did not believe in Heaven, nor did they ascribe to such desire.
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- Their early teachings were that they would be reunited with Mother Nature.
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- There was no yearning to live eternally – their prayers were for a healthy life.
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- The notion of reincarnation and Heaven evolved over time.
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- In the Hindu religion, righteousness and to be without sin is of paramount
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- importance.
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- They are the determining factors whether one goes to Heaven or Hell.
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- The Hindu’s teach, “As it does and as it acts, so it becomes: The doer of good
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- becomes good, and the doer of evil becomes evil…"
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- The Qur’an, the equivalent of the Bible for Muslims, teaches that all human beings
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- will be judged by God for the conduct of their earthly lives.
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- Islam teaches that life is a test and that all will be held accountable for their lives
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- before God. Consequently, for the Muslim, belief in the Hereafter is considered
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- essential to living a moral and well- balanced life.
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- Fascinating is the picture of Heaven within the different religions.
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- One of my personal favorites is the Hindu vision. Besides the beautiful gardens, the
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- lack of hunger, grief, or fatigue, the lovely breezes, resplendent bodies, captivating
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- sounds, cleanliness, the lack of need for bodily eliminations, and sensuous
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- fragrances, there are also celestial cars with which to move about the heavenly
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- environment. (I can’t help pondering what a celestial car looks like?)
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- The Islamic vision of Heaven is also a large heavenly garden with rivers of milk and
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- honey, with fruits and meats determined by one’s cravings.
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- This Heaven, however, is a man’s dream come true because this Heaven offers
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- female companions of exceeding beauty and refinement and in copious numbers, as
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- many in fact, as the pious man can handle.
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- The caveat being, piety is the determining factor. In this Heaven, one can over-eat
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- and over-drink without fear of indigestion or intoxication,
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- and do so in a reclining position upon heavenly cushions of silk and brocade.
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- Since I never broached the topic with my little pup before he succumbed to his
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- deadly demise, I shall never know if he was a Christian at heart, or a Jew, or a
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- Hindu, or Buddhist.
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- Now, I shall forever wonder if the bird that sings by my kitchen window is he, or if the
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- snake I wish to slay, or the flower that blooms underfoot, or
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- the squirrel that leaps from tree to tree, or the frog that chirps relentlessly, or if in
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- fact, he will return as my friendly or miserable new neighbor.
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- Are you in a Heaven of forever bliss?
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- Are you whole and well once again romping with all the other heavenly puppy dogs?
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- Or is this all there was and dead is dead?
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- So, in the end the answer to my query depends on whom I question.
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- I’m left to dwell on the hope and the prayer that there is a life somewhere in the
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- world beyond that goes on eternally.
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- At least, I hope so…
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- For Pookie, March 4, 2000 – March 13, 2004.
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