"You'll live on in their memories"

Browsing through a thread entitled "Ayahuasca death experience" on ayahuasca.com, I encountered the following interesting description of a bardolike experience:

Redmonk: At one point , my consciuosness only existed inside the heads of people that were thinking or speaking about me . Everytime one of them thought of me , my consciousness would "come on" inside their head . I had no ability to interact with them , only witness . When they would turn their thoughts elsewhere , my mind would "turn off" and go dormant until someone else turned their thoughts my way , when I would be summoned once again . I clearly remember thinking "Is this all there is for me now ?
This is now the nature of my existence ??" . It definitely gave new meaning to the old addage "You'll live on in their memories" !

How interesting! I've wondered if that is what it is like when you're dead, at least in part - assuming you continue to have any experience after physical death, perhaps when someone thinks of you, you are drawn to them and experience their thoughts. I've often wondered if it is like that when I think of Kalindi, which still happens many times a day. If so, all the more reason to think happy thoughts of the dead and send them love; and whether it has any objective reality or not, it certainly would have psychological benefits.

It also makes me wonder about the function and efficacy of rituals for letting go of the dead and moving on.

The entire post describing the person's death experience is compelling reading and mentions a number of parallels with descriptions in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Another author in the thread offers the following commentary:

Woodpecker: In some traditional West African cosmology that we studied in college, there are two stages or places for us once we're dead: Sasa and Zamyata. Sasa is where we are when people who remember us are still alive. After everyone who knew us is dead, then we go into Zamyata.

Judging from this, Sasa sounds like a sort of limbo, in-between state, and I reckon Zamyata is where the real postmortal fun begins; or perhaps it would be equivalent to the Bardo of Becoming, when you are karmically attracted to your next life.

Well, interesting ideas but who's to say? Ayahuasca is certainly capable of bringing one to some very interesting experiences, judging by some of the reports that are out there.