Yesterday, I ordered a special vest for Bella on Amazon called “Raptor Shield.” It’s made out of the same material used to manufacture bulletproof glass, and I think it will deter the hawk from even considering her as a tasty morsel. Plus, if the hawk does try to scoop her up, the talons won’t be able to cut to ribbons. I should get it delivered to me in a couple of days. Here’s what it looks like. 

Don’t forget about Erik’s Hour of Enlightenment radio show TONIGHT at 5:00 PM PT/7:00 PM CT/8:00 PM ET. No more than 15 minutes before the top of the hour, call 619-639-4606 to ask Erik your question. There are three ways to listen: Listen on the phone line, click on the “Listen” icon on the right sidebar of the blog or click on this link: http://goo.gl/aFHTzJ

These two “Best of Erik” posts are so short that I decided to give you guys a two-fer!

Me: Will we remember pain? For instance, if we die a long, painful death, will we remember how awful that was?

Erik: Oh my god, hell no!

Jamie (giggling): He’s talking like a southern black woman.

Me: (laughing): I can just see the head movements and snapping the fingers.

Jamie: You got it.

Me: Can I get an Amen?

Jamie: Yeah, he’s got that hand up, palm to the sky kind of waving it side to side. He didn’t do the snappy thing.

Erik: Hell no. That’s in place, personally for the human. It’s the death of the body, not the soul. So, when the body is gone, we don’t really have those memories—those awful migraines or how the cancer ate away at our body or how the car impacted our chest and broke our ribs. No.

Me: I guess you don’t really have many painful deaths, because the soul probably leaves beforehand, unless you really need to have that experience for some reason.

Erik: So true. On most occasions you get out of the body before unless they signed up to have some awful, awful passing.

Me: Okay. Also, another person wants to know if Kurt Cobain’s death was a murder or a suicide. You know there’s been some controversy surrounding that.

Erik: That was a suicide.

Me: I thought so. Here’s another one about death: If people are unconscious before they pass over, are they aware of those around them?

Erik: Yes. If they’re’ unconscious or they’re in a coma, uh, most of the time when they’re in a coma, their spirit is in the room, and so they have a firsthand experience about what people are saying and how their bodies were touched and who said goodbye. For them, it feels firsthand. If they were unconscious like if they were in a wreck or they fell, hit their head and went unconscious, normally they go ahead and cross over because there are no more lessons or learning involved in the death. Then in their life playback, they’re given an image or vision of what the surroundings were or what happened so that they can make peace with the death.

Me: Okay.

Erik: So yes, they do maintain an image. Most of the time when we get that imagery not a lot of us want to have that memory and hold onto it and buy the fucking yearbook. A lot of them say, “Okay. Got it once. Don’t need to keep recalling it.”

Me: Really. Really!

Jamie (giggling to Erik): Buy the yearbook!

Me: I think a lot of these questions are coming from people who are afraid of death or are trying to help friends or family who are. I’d be more afraid of birth than death frankly.

Erik: Seriously, it’s way harder.

Me: Yeah.

*******************

Me: Here’s a funny one from a blog member. Will we understand why things happen the way they do once we get there? For example, would we know why God created tapeworms when all they do is hurt our pets?

Jamie and Erik laugh.

Me: She must have had a problem with her dog.

Jamie: Erik needs to straighten up first.

Erik: Yeah, fuck AIDS! What’s HIV compared to tapeworms?

Me: Yeah, and goddamn those fire ants! I don’t see much reason to have them around.

Jamie: All right, Erik, settle down.

Me (giggling still): It’s like, “God, I have a bone to pick with you!”

Jamie: Stop Erik! Center, center. (Whispering) Focus, focus.

Erik: No, seriously. That’s a great question. You’ll know why they came about, where they evolved from and what kind of lesson it’s teaching us like how not to eat your own shit.

Jamie is still laughing hard.

Erik: And how not to eat other people’s shit.

Me: Ew, Erik! Is it ever a lesson for the animal in the case of tapeworms or do they—

Erik: Oh yes. Totally.

Me: So, do animals come here for lessons, too?

Erik: Yes!

Me: Whoa!

Erik: Compassion and how to ask for help, being humble—

Me: Not to lick their own ass…

Erik (laughing): Yeah, not to lick their own ass. And how to be cared for, yeah and mostly the pet animal’s suffering is from that and also the other 50% of what pet suffering is from is absorbing and taking on the energy of their owner or of their environment.

Me: Hm.

Erik: You know they’ll often get cancer before their owner does.

Me: Interesting.

Erik: Unless the pet is there to help heal or help the person pass. You know when the person is dying, often animal won’t leave. If the owner stops eating, the animal will stop eating.

Me: Well our little Chihuahua, Peanut—she’s very old and she’s stopped eating, but it hasn’t worked on me. I guess it doesn’t work the other way around, then. That’s a whole nuther story though.

Jamie laughs.