Death doesn’t seem to scare me as much as it used to. I mean, I see it as a transition, and not an ending. In some ways, it will be a welcome “new adventure” if you think about it in spiritual terms.

No, I’m not talking about heaven and hell like the Catholic nuns and priests preached to me as a kid at St. Ludwig’s Roman Catholic Church where I served as an altar boy and wanted to be a priest until I discovered girls. I’m talking about a transition to a “way station,” a place where your spirit — or soul — ascends to meet with higher spirits or what some might call Ascended Masters.

There’ll be a judgement. But not by St. Peter at the Golden Gates. It will be more in tune with what we traditionally see Michael the Archangel doing “. . . come judgement day . . .”  My patron saint is usually depicted with a scale of justice in one hand and a spear or sword in the other as he stands on the head and torso of that fallen angel, Lucifer.

We’re judged by the good and the bad, or in Buddhist term’s, the positive and the negative karma we developed in our lives.

Light appears as doors of death open to a new life, a new rebirth

Tibetan Buddhism focuses a lot on death and it offers a practitioner a book called the “Tibetan Book of the Dead” that describes a process one goes through after death and before a “rebirth.” It chronicles stages of what wise men call the “Bardo,” where one’s consciousness or spirit spends 49 days in what I call the “Great Reflection.”

You reflect upon your entire life! And, it’s just not you viewing your life, but a group of spirits who sit in  judgement and offer the “true you” advice on what you had contracted to do your previous incarnation for the one you just ended.

I envision myself seated at a round table with a Michael the Archangel directly across from me and other “guardian angels” to my left and right. Call them spirit guides or companions if you like.

You give comments on events you influenced and choices you made. (You can even lie, but I wouldn’t because those at the table know the truth and they’ll know where to send you in your next life to “correct” those lying habits!)

We each had a purpose in life — one in which we agreed to follow like a script — and we’re sent here to do it, while helping others with their goal. It’s what our Creator wanted us to do, and that is, to be more like Him, offering unconditional love and compassion to our neighbors on this planet. That includes the mineral, the vegetable and all the animal life here!

I know that I did some foolish and crazy things when I lived on earth. Most came out of ignorance and stupidity when I was younger and thought I had to act cool for my peer group and not show I cared for others but myself. Ego got in the way when I became an adult and I believed that competition was the only way to secure what I needed for a job, a house and a new family. It was “Me” and “I” who I fixated on and not “We” and “Us.”

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I thank the Universe for allowing me to live long enough to gain a little wisdom from teachers, books and friends that pointed out there was another way to live. A more rewarding and joyful way. And that is to offer kindness where ever and with whomever you come into contact with. Offer ‘em love, the type of love that seeks nothing in return except their good health and well-being.

Hey, maybe I can even make up for some of the crap I did my first two or three (four or five?) dozen years while purifying those thoughts, words and deeds that harmed other sentient beings. I might still have time until the bell up yonder is finally rung.

Wouldn’t it be great to get another chance in life to do what you were meant to do in the first place?

OK. Let me at ‘em right now . . .

(Much of the info on the judging by Ascended Masters I gleaned from “The Evolving Soul: Spiritual Healing Through Past Life Exploration” by Dr. Linda Backman. I recommend it for further reading.