Purgatory is part of Catholic doctrine. A ‘place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven.’ Expiating is atoning for one’s sins. This is melding reincarnation, a non-Catholic belief w/ the Catholic belief of purgatory & the Christian belief of sins.

Some consider heaven/hell a construct of organized religion. How one views the energies we call God will make a difference w/ this too.

Luckymadon gives a very good description of this transitional process as well as the tone in which this evaluation of our life here & future goals transpires.

Some have incarnated here from elsewhere to help w/ our journey. These can be those in much higher Ds like ascended masters or starpeople from different galaxies. Unless they have inadvertently created karma that needs to be resolved while here, they can return to where ever they came from. They may choose to return here even if they don't have to. (BIG secret- some things about Earth are a blast. They don't have ice cream in the higher Ds!!)

Organized religion usually presents our life here as being crummy, relieved by the gift of heaven if we are judged sufficiently worthy. Some spiritual writers who have rejected organized religion have had this idea of us being flawed filter & our existence here being crummy filter over into their work.

In a zeal to move into the much discussed 5D (1-12D) awareness they have mistakenly viewed 3D & everything in it as something horrid to be fled from ASAP. This is problematic for multiple reasons. We are here to explore the nuances of this D, learning/experiencing things that are unique to this D. As we learn that LOVE for all extends to us, right here, right now we increasingly incorporate this ✩☆JOY☆✩ into our core energies & lives, realizing that we don’t need to wait for anything to experience this. Developing empathy also fosters an appreciation for others who are here of all levels as well as the planet. http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...153#post150153
Viewing expanding our consciousness as a one way journey from 3D up is aggravated by the popular, but flawed analogy of it being a ladder. This likely a holdover from the Biblical Jacob’s ladder (to heaven) story. Our journey is one where we expand our awareness in both directions. It’s more like 1D ← 2D ← ❉3D❉ → 4D →5D than 3D to 4D to 5D. It is an expansive process where we broaden our perspective from 3D, not leaving 3D for another D.