Each culture has from one to a multiplicity of beliefs, traditions, rituals and so forth concerning death, dying and helping or birthing into the next world those who leave this one behind.  

          Imagine a collection of something natural and exotic like minerals and semiprecious /precious stones from all over the world, or maybe you've seen or yourself have such a collection.  Each item is so unique and gorgeous.  Even if some of them attract your interest more than others, their variability is a major contributor to what you find so absorbing and amazing about them.  Each item contributes something singular to the whole.  One can learn much by studying them in relation to each other and the way each is valued in the world in many ways.  

          I believe each and all cultures and beliefs, like these minerals and stones, is indeed something of great value to all of us.  The exotic and seemingly endless variability of beliefs, rituals, traditions, insights, wisdom teachings, great teachers and divine beings, expressions of acknowledgement and adoration of the First Cause and Its Creation is an unsurpassed glory that belongs to the whole of Humanity, a great, great Treasure above all treasures.  Each one is a magnificent creation out of the heart of love and reverence.  

          Look at a stunning blue star sapphire, a rare Australian black opal, a large hunk of gold-threaded lapis from the far East, a brilliant Brazilian agate, and a dozen other favorites you can name.  Each one totally unique and outstanding.  

          What can you do but admire every single one for itself?  Here, you will find a growing collection of various practices, beliefs, origins of wisdom teachings, quotes, prayers, meditations, inspirations, symbols from all over the world about death and dying and what, according to these sources, lies beyond The Doorway into the Next World and how to prepare for it.  

          One of the gifts of looking at all these cultural / religious / spiritual wisdoms together is to notice things like patterns of similarity or complimentarity, the very practical role the actual terrain and climate may play in the development of methods of caring for and releasing the body back to the Earth.  Each culture can be seen as a "new friend' you can get to know better, enjoying its singular character.  This kind of respectful appreciation and study from a global perspective may give us together whole new insights in a way that studying any one or few to the exclusion of others can never match.  ....  

          Within each great culture, modern and ancient, beats, after all, the one incomparable heart of all Humanity.  Here is where we may truly meet as One through recognizing the universality of our spiritual longings and gifts as created creatures. In his Hierarchy of Needs, at the very top of the pyramid, Abraham Maslow noted self-actualization and transcendence as two of the fundamentals drives of what it means to be human.  ....