I personally try and keep an open mind. I'm a firm believer that just because I can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there.

Personally I'm a firm believer that we do contain an energy within ourselves that goes beyond mere flesh and blood. Despite not being a religious person I tend to believe that there has to be *something* beyond this life, in some way. I can't accept that at some point that energy just... vanishes. So overall, while I don't believe every story I hear, I refuse to discount the concept as crazy or without merit simply because I personally don't have the experiences myself.

Perhaps death is simply to us as the coccoon is to a caterpillar becoming the butterfly. Who can say for certain. But the concept of life after death, whether a religious interpetiation or not, is so widely common that it becomes difficult to dismiss simply because science hasn't stumbled upon the answer.