One of the things that never gets talked about is the barrier. When we talk about afterlife, what we're really saying is "what is the next possible experience after my earthly body has been damaged in such a way as to no longer support life?"

Its not a pretty thought, what it takes to "get there." This is why we can imagine horrible things, like what if we were to find ourselves splattered on the pavement, still clinging to life but praying to slip away to nothing, but it never comes? Its difficult to talk about death and the afterlife without addressing what it takes to approach death, but you'll find that is very often exactly what we do.