Might be the wrong board to pose this question, but I'll try: What is the "current stance" on afterlife in Star Wars?

I've read such a mess of things that I don't even know what to believe anymore.

George Lucas was once asked if Anakin and Padme were reunited in the afterlife of the force. Lucas said "yes, he was reunited with Padme and his family". I'm assuming "his family" was his mother and half-brother?

OK, so I was fine with that for years. It basically sounded as if the "Force Netherworld" was where the souls of all beings went when they died and the "Force Ghosts" were people strong enough with the force to manifest in the mortal realm. In other words--everyone has an afterlife in the Netherworld but only Yoda, Obi-Wan and select Jedi can manifest OUTSIDE OF the netherworld. Fine, I was fine with that.

Then, as time went on (and this is even before the whole Disney acquisition) I start hearing fans all over the internet talking about the force afterlife and it was shockingly contradicting what Lucas had said. They were saying that, when a person dies, they lose their "conscious individuality" and are essentially no more. They become fodder for the Cosmic Force. No afterlife. No consciousness. NOTHING. In their view, only a select few Jedi learn how to "maintain their conscious individuality when they become one with the Cosmic Force". So, if we go by that explanation, it sounds as if almost NO ONE gets an afterlife in the Star Wars universe except for a select few Jedi who learn some "secret of the Whills". That sounds...bleak.

Not only does it sound bleak--it sounds unfair. What warped mind developed this concept of the afterlife for Star Wars? It doesn't fit Lucas' statement about Anakin being reunited with Padme and his mother at all. If you go by the new explanation, Padme, Shmi and Lars should have been "absorbed into the force" so what gives? Who came up with this idea and why is it such a blatant contradiction of what Lucas stated?

Is there more to it or is that about the gist of it?

Because, taking this into consideration, that would essentially mean that Luke and Leia get an afterlife devoid of their mother, Han and all their other loved ones. That sounds...appalling. Who came up with this idea?

I much prefer the good old days of Star Wars when things like this were left to the imagination.