There is a theory called Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle that states “however you approach the thing that you're looking for, that thing responds to the WAY in which you are looking for it." In other words, you end up shaping the thing you seek, based upon the sum of the ways in which you seek it. Distilled even further down and in simpler terms: not so much “seeing is believing", but, “believing is seeing," and each of us believes differently.
That is an amazing thing. It implies we have, literally, an active role in shaping our reality. We shape OUR reality – not necessarily OTHER'S reality. And what is “reality" after all? This idea can blossom out into HUGE conjecture, but I'm talking about belief in particular, and mainly, for the purpose of this post, the process of “dying" or actually being “dead" as part of that “reality."
Do I believe in an afterlife? That is one question that pops up from time to time in my work. There are those who believe that their faith tells them what will happen, there are those who believe there is nothing there at all, closing the eyes to shut out the light - and there are those who see dying as the movement between the world of “reality" and the world of “dreams." But notice how many variations and inconsistencies there are in that last sentence alone!
Faith implies religion and conviction and a set of rules, light and dark implies opposites, reality and dreams implies a loss of solidity. It's only fair that since I brought it up, I'll tell you what I think. Coming from a funeral director it might surprise you, but as far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as “death" at all, except in so far as the body has ceased to function. There is only life. Birth is not the beginning just as death is not the end. Life exists, inside and outside of the events called “birth" and “death."
So, while I've answered MY question of an afterlife, I don't REALLY know - just as you don't. What you BELIEVE is what your reality is, for now. But what happens when something we take for granted is dislodged? What happens when a child dies? What happens when you know the date of your dying? What happens when what you WANT is of little consequence in the nature of things? Mostly, we think about it then...only when we are forced to.
From my experience dear friends, and I mean friends sincerely, in so much as I truly “see no stranger" - it is a good thing to not wait, and to set up a framework of what your reality could be, through your belief regarding your own “dying." Here is a starting point: If we don't already have an idea of what the meaning of life is then imagine that you have to MAKE meaning instead. What meaning, deep in the heart and soul, is YOURS?
If we haven't been creating meaning in our lives through the way we're living, then, our dying will be a narrow and hard place to start. The meaning of our lives and deaths is created by us. And the ground of meaning comes in how you dance with the way things are.
WHAT YOU BELIEVE, IS WHAT IS 
