The Passage to the Other Life

…if indeed, there is one

By Apolinario Villalobos

My experience of a “near- death” was when I rolled down Mt. Hibok-hibok resulting to a series of bumps that my head suffered from the boulders. What I felt was a floating sensation while I was enveloped by a blinding light. I did not see the light at the end of a tunnel as other near-dead claim. When I came to, I found out that it happened in split second…so fast that I did not feel so much physical pain. What pained was my pride.

There are stories about spirits of those who encountered sudden death that still linger at the site of accident. There are also stories of those whose spirits still cling to their worldly wealth. Still, there are stories of those who died without taking the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, so that their spirit kept roaming around to seek help by way of prayers. And, finally, the spirit of those who died without talking to their adversaries to seek forgiveness, are said to be lingering in limbo, waiting for dispensation.

The belief in the afterlife is not universal. Some religions do not advocate such, while some even claim rebirth in another body, or reincarnation. Some religions do not believe in hell, hence, for them there is no heaven, too. But some believe in such two eternal destinations of spirits.

Whatever is our belief, it should be noted that there are just two things that we can do in this world: to do good or to do bad. The universal view is that if we do good, we make others happy, and if we do bad things, we make others suffer. It is important therefore, that we leave the world with a clean record, by seeking clemency for our wrong deeds while we are still gasping for breath, so that others will not remember us for our bad deeds.