Fear of death is a very serious problem for majority of people all over the world, regardless of their faith/religion/belief system, whether they choose to admit it or not. Hence, many people live their entire lives doing things to prepare for it, or to prevent/delay it.
I've shared briefly about lost souls (ghosts) in a previous posting http://www.sgforums.com/forums/1132/topics/406094. One of the many reasons that people may not be able to successfully cross over to the Light (Spiritual Realm) upon death, and get stuck in Earth realm as lost souls (ghosts) is their extreme fear of death, fear of going to a "hell", fear of being "judged" for their deeds in their lifetime, fear of having a terrible next/after life, etc.
This fear is a deep inner fear, so even if a person says or behaves outwardly as if he/she is not afraid of death, but deep inside, he/she can still be truly afraid of it, especially during the final moments of their life. In such cases, the person refuses to complete the process of crossing over, as he/she is afraid of dying, or simply refuses to die. In certain cases, the person can return to life, and so experienced an out-of-body experience (OOBE), that they can share with their loved ones upon waking up. In other cases, the person simply gets stuck in the 'middle of nowhere' in our Earth Realm as a lost soul (ghost).
This deep inner fear applies not just to the person dying, but also to his/her loved ones. If they are very fearful of death, and think that their dying loved one, will be suffering in his/her next step, or will disappear forever and ever, they may cause the dying person to be so disturbed and worried about them, that he/she doesn't complete the death process successfully. That's why often, family members and relatives are advised not to keep crying hysterically but compose themselves, and let the person "Rest/Go in Peace".
Learn to understand the true process of Life/Death, and people will be able to lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives without that fear.
Rainbow Jigsaw of Life
Question open for everyone to ponder over:
If you know, for whatever reasons, 15-20% of all the people in your life (which may or may not include yourself, but you won't know until it actually happens) are going to die tomorrow, what will you do today?
Insist that it will never happen, cry, fear, panic, pray that it won't really come true, or enjoy today to the fullest, etc?
Or do the most meaningful and purposeful thing possible today?
Often, when faced with the real prospects of death, that's when people become clearest in their minds, and start doing/realising things that they ought to have done/realised long ago. That is why we often hear of people having flashbacks of their entire lives as if watching a movie, during the final moments of possible sudden death.
Rainbow Jigsaw of Life