What happens when we die? Where did we come from? Why are we here? Can we communicate with our loved ones on "the other side"? Do they hear us and, if so, can they respond in ways we can understand?

Terri Daniel, whose credentials include that of a hospice-trained grief counselor, afterlife awareness educator, and certified transition guide, doesn't hesitate to take on the big questions that surround the mystery of death.

Her answers ring with the certainty of personal experience. She lost her only son, Danny, when he was 16, after a six-year illness. That experience led her to be "fiercely committed to the idea of conscious dying and conscious grieving."

Those who enjoy exploring metaphysics and spiritual philosophy will find much to ponder in this book. The first chapter, titled "There Is No Death," puts forth the proposition that "the way we perceive death is a choice." Daniel's clear choice is to see death as a way-station in the continuing journey of the soul. Our souls are sparks of a life force that fuels the universe, she writes, and are part of a continuously expanding, interconnected consciousness.

Meditation and prayer, she asserts, are ways we can telepathically connect to the energies that make up "physical and non-physical living things, all thought forms and all possibilities. ...it's as easy as clicking our ruby slippers together to hear them once we learn how to trust, surrender, and receive."

Although Daniel's beliefs may not match yours, her book is an interesting one that contains fascinating stories and examples of "communication" from loved ones who have passed on. These communications take place in the form of thoughts received during prayer and meditation and as events others might call "coincidences," such as her experience of walking into a store with a music CD kiosk, choosing a CD with no song titles on it, and finding that the first song was "Danny Boy."

She relates the story of a couple whose daughter Molly had been killed in a car accident. A few months later, on their daughter's birthday, when they were in an unfamiliar town, they asked one of the locals to direct them to a restaurant for breakfast. The first item on the menu was "Molly's Special."

The author believes we can receive direct messages from our loved ones, and she gives detailed instructions for training ourselves to receive them more clearly and to trust the "signs, symbols, 'coincidences,' visions, intuitive impressions, and dreams" that may be ways these messages are being sent.

She also details some positive aspects of grief and includes several contemporary rituals that may be helpful to those seeking ways to cope. One of the most endearing is to create a "journey blanket" made from materials contributed by the loved one's friends and family.

Daniel's book may not appeal to everyone, but for those seeking a nontraditional approach to death, dying, and grief, it has much to offer.