You cannot be born and you cannot die. You will exist in a universe that goes on forever. That is the ultimate horror from the Zen point of view. You could be unhappy forever.

The essence of your being reincarnates.

Karma is the sum total of who you are, everything you've been. The mind state you are in is karmic. Meaning, it's related by a causal chain of existences, of moments, of particles of timelessness.

You are all dirty and grungy. You go step in the shower and you come out clean. When you enter into the white light, it does something to you.

Enlightenment is a timeless void. It's an emptiness that's filled with the most excellent light.

Your experiences in the causal dimensions will give you knowledge of time, space, dimensionality and what lies beyond all these things.

Krishna says meditate and you'll see the various ephemeral worlds, the various ephemeral beings, all of them going through the same thing; some are rich, some are poor, some are more knowledgeable, some are less knowledgeable - in countless myriad universes, forever.