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Introduction.
I had to pick a cute non-boring title. Of course I might upset
a few folk with that title. Such is life. Not that I would seek
to annoy or upset anyone, or take enjoyment from it. I have decided
to write this booklet so that I can give it to folks who are interested
in hearing about the next world - our eternal destination. And as
I age, naturally I meet more and more folk who have lost a dear
one. This is often the stimulus to ask,
"What happens after death?"
It is my objective to try and write something that is largely devoid
of undue moralizing, or religious framework. I could explain along
the way why I believe something, but I have decided against that.
That is because this is supposed to be a relatively short "black
and white" story. Take it from me, that I have read very widely
on this subject. There are sometimes great differences in opinion.
That does not mean I am right, but I will have good reasons why
I believe what I believe.
Where does all this stuff come from? The other side of course!
And of course, none of us has "proof." The fact that I
believe I spent thirty minutes talking to my deceased mother does
not constitute scientific proof. Although the comments she directed
to me, that referred to one-way thought conversations I had had
with her, pretty well convinced me.
That fact, as far as science is concerned, is limited to my spending
30 minutes in the company of a dear friend who is a trance medium.
Even the bit about trance medium is not accepted by science, although
just recently they have found that some people can know things about
total strangers that is way beyond statistical chance. Incidentally,
my mother contributed virtually nothing to this paper, as she was
still too new in spirit to know what is going on. Enough, into the
good stuff.
Death.
I guess the first question to ask is whether we all survive death.
Until recently I would not have had any doubt about that, but it
seems there is a small complication for some folks. The universe
recognizes our free will choices, to a very large extent. Those
folk who are adamant that there is no life after death do not pass
immediately from one realm to the next. They are termed "sleeping
survivors." These folks almost get their most fervent wish,
annihilation. They may sleep for centuries, before a group awakening.
But the majority of us simply pass from one state to another, with
very little lost time. Some reports state three days are lost in
this transition, but that is not certain.
If you are awake, there is no knowing quite how death will unfold.
This is because as the brain shuts down, you can experience many
different effects. Most of these are anything but spiritual, although
you might think that they do feel spiritual. They are simply the
results of the brain shutting down. You might have a "life
review", sort of like a movie. You may see white tunnels, or
black tunnels. But you might have an instant out of body experience,
where you are floating above your body, looking down on the scene,
and that is a spiritual event, I admit. Sometimes if the body is
about to be badly damaged, the spirit body is withdrawn before impact
or injury. This gives rise to the out of body experience, where
you look down as an outsider on your own body.
If you are consciously expecting death, things are probably going
to be a bit different. Many folks know that they are dying, and
seem to gain additional abilities or insights. They often start
to see their spirit guides, and may feel the presence of their love,
and be quite calm. There is no reason to panic. For one it is not
going to help, and secondly, for the vast majority of us, what follows
is a big improvement over life on earth.
All of us have spirit guardians. Some have one or more additional
spirit guides. All of these will be there to welcome you as you
transition. You might even be met by dear loved ones who passed
over before you. Initially they, or other advanced spirits whose
job it is to manage this transition, are simply seen as a bright
white light. This is the basis of the reported white tunnel. Some
folks have reported meeting Jesus, but this is
very unlikely to happen. Not that he is not around, but if he was
there, you almost certainly would not recognize him - unless you
already know what he looks like - and more importantly he has far
more important things to be doing. Might he have welcomed Mother
Teresa? I think that is very likely, but I do not know that for
a fact, but I do know of another he did welcome. Take it from me;
you need to have been doing a pretty special job on earth to warrant
that compliment. And the chances are that you would not need to
be reading this, if that is true.
You may notice that you are completely naked, but this is not often
remarked on. But almost immediately, your spirit companions will
"create" spirit clothes for you. They seem to be able
to guess just what you would prefer. If you feel comfortable in
a safari suit, that's what you will have, or maybe a great floral
Hawaiian shirt? These spirit clothes are great. They don't get dirty
and they don't wear out either.
The very first thing that is going to happen to you, as you begin
to realize something strange is happening, is that you will travel.
I have no idea how far that is, nor how long it will seem. Then
you will arrive, at a way station, a collection point for recently
deceased folk. No doubt with much coming and going. It is very pleasant,
attractive, with a very loving atmosphere, and you will soon feel
very relaxed. It has been described as a station concourse, but
I don't think that describes a loving atmosphere,
although it may well be accurate in terms of comings and goings,
and meeting loved ones. It will undoubtedly feel like the best place
you have ever been to. Things are looking up, you conclude. When
you arrive in the next realm you will immediately notice an up step
in frequency, not just in your own spirit body but in your surroundings
as well. What you begin to experience is a higher frequency in which
you exist. The colours are more vibrant; the plant life is more
lush and alive.
If at this point you start to think about what you have left behind,
you will find that you are right back there. In other words, you
can travel, virtually instantly, just by thinking about it. So you
might well see your family back on earth, shedding tears about your
passing. But they won't see you, or hear you. You are better off
at this stage going back to the transition place. Back on "earth"
you can see everything just as you used to, but you will find that
nothing is solid. You can pass through people, walls, everything.
However, you will notice that you "hear" dear mortal friends,
thinking about you, and you may instantly visit them. If you are
really lucky, you may find a few who can "feel" your presence,
and this will give you a big thrill, just as it will give them a
thrill to know you are around. You may even be able to create a
few "signs" that let folk know you are still around. Things
like leaving a telltale cigar smell, or making a noise or two, or
leaving your favourite flower where it will be seen. Perhaps leaving
a scent in the air. How they do those things, frankly I
don't know.
But back at the way-station, things are very solid. You can hug
old friends, and they can certainly "hear" you. Then you
notice that they must be hearing your thoughts, and you hearing
their thoughts. And then you have a dreadful realization - these
folk know everything about you! They can simply read your memories.
And they hear your thoughts! You recall that time you got Fred fired
by making up a confidential report, and rather stretching the facts
to suit, now here you have to look Fred in the eye. He knows, but
strangely he's not mad. Or maybe, you remember wearing that really
low cut dress for the Christmas party, and how successful it was
in starting that affair with Joe. And here is Sally, Joe's partner,
smiling at you. Total openness leads to the rapid realization that
all of us fail from time to time.
During this period of orientation, you start to notice that not
all spirits are quite the same. Some have a beautiful countenance
and way about them. And they are brighter, and amazingly loving.
This brightness seems to come right out of them. Others are more
base, dark, indeed some are downright ugly. Even racial differences
somehow seem to have melted away. As you wonder why this might be,
you suddenly begin to wonder where you fit in. Are you ugly, or
beautiful? Bright or dark?
At this point you will also know that you are just the same person
that you were in the mortal life. With the same beliefs, memories,
attitudes, values, fears, unresolved issues and loves. How did this
happen? After all, your brain is already consigned to dust. Quite
simply, as a mortal on earth you had three major components. There
was your soul, which as far as we can tell, was probably billions
of years old. Then there was your spirit body, which encapsulates
the soul, and takes on the appearance of
the mortal body. Just as well, because none of us can see souls,
but we can see spirit bodies. It seems that the spirit body is a
sort of reflection of the enclosed soul. If this soul is pure, the
spirit body is literally full of light. If the soul is tarnished,
the spirit body is dark, even ugly. And finally of course you had
a mortal body. While you may have thought that all your memories
were in your brain, it seems it is not quite so. The spirit body
houses the mind, and the brain is the transducer that allows the
physical body to interact with the spirit body and its mind. So
you may have lost the physical body, but most folks report feeling
much lighter, and far prefer only having a spirit body. For one
thing, it has no defects. If you lost a leg, you will find you are
now perfect. If your brain suffered from senile dementia, you will
have no such limitation now. And there are some neat tricks you
will learn in the future in regards to your spirit body.
Just at this point, the spirits who manage this transition process,
explain that in the heavens, the Law of Attraction is paramount.
Every spirit has to live where it fits in - where it is in harmony.
And, yes, those beautiful ones, that seem somehow ethereal, are
more advanced, and no, most probably you won't live with them. You
can look down at your hands, or ask for a "mirror" to
see how you rate. They will explain that you can progress beyond
where you start out, but probably you won't be listening
closely enough. You are concerned that you are not going to be living
with your dear Madge, who passed some years before you. She says
that she will come and visit you regularly. Things are beginning
to sound more complicated.
The Structure of the Heavens.
I guess most practical folk have long realized you can get almost
no sense out of most religions when you ask about heaven. All that
singing and harp plucking stuff that is supposed to go on, strutting
around on streets of gold. Or maybe the idea that you are going
to be asleep until some great day of judgment.
It is far more logical to consider that since mortals have been
around a very long time, probably over a million years on earth,
that there has been a heaven all that time, with spirits in it.
Certainly the holy books, like the Bible, happily report interactions
with the spirit world going back many years before Christ. Perhaps
I should point out here, that the spirit realm that I am about to
discuss would appear not to be the Kingdom of God that so many orthodox
Christians expect to enter via Jesus' help. This is undoubtedly
the cause of a great deal of confusion, and even heartache. It is
what has led so many Christians to conclude, incorrectly, that only
they will get to "heaven" and everyone else will only
get to "hell." The real issue is "which" heaven,
something they have not considered. The main part of this paper
covers the Kingdom of Spirit, also called the Spirit Spheres and
not the Kingdom of God.
It may even be the case that we create this spirit heaven ourselves.
Not to suggest God has nothing to do with it, but as spirits we
have great powers, which powers increase as the spirit advances.
So it would not surprise me if in fact the "realities"
that are found are created by the spirits that are there. And this
creation need not necessarily be conscious. This would explain why
some spirits, and indeed many NDE's, (near death experiences) seem
to describe confusingly different places. We have explanations of
Jewish heavens, and the classic Christian heavens, complete with
harps, witnessing and bright holy images. We have descriptions of
fire and brimstone hells, and also dark places that are simply cold,
sad, dead places. One thing that is quite clear, the belief system
of the spirit has a very large effect on the experience it will
have. Whether this is only a function of the Law of Attraction,
which causes like-minded spirits to congregate, or whether it is
the will of the spirit that creates a "reality" it expects,
is uncertain.
The most common description of the Kingdom of Spirit talks about
seven "spheres" or "worlds". However these should
not be taken too literally. Don't imagine that there are just seven
planets. It is much more likely that there are hundreds or thousands
or millions of planets in each "sphere".
Then there are also the vast uncountable heavens beyond the seventh
sphere. Where are all these planets? Well, we are not sure, but
the universe is very much larger than man has supposed. Apparently
what we humans think is the entire universe is but a very tiny corner
of one of many super universes. And some 80% of the material is
apparently not visible to man anyway, but is visible to spirit.
Could it be another
dimension? It could indeed. But irrespective of the number of dimensions
that may exist, the distances involved in traversing our Universe
are immense. The solid material of the next realm can co-exist in
space with solid material from our realm. So different solid objects
can occupy the same spot, one in each dimension.
One of the difficulties or problems in getting a good description
of the heavens comes from the apparent fact that the bottom up view
is so limited and confused. We are accustomed, on earth, to always
know who is in charge, and how things are organized. But in the
next realm free will is paramount. You will not be used to this
idea, as earth is quite different. If you want to believe something,
you will be allowed to believe that, and furthermore, the Law of
Attraction will ensure that you find yourself amongst others of
like mind. So, you will be in the situation that unless you ask
for information, you will be left with your belief. It is quite
unlikely that someone will knock at your door, proselytize and hand
out a few pamphlets. That might be a relief for quite a few of us!
But if you want a good argument, it seems you may need to travel
a bit.
There is another problem. Spirits are confined, to a large degree,
to the sphere in which they reside. This is where they are in harmony,
and they would not feel comfortable any higher or lower in the scheme.
This does not mean that all in the same sphere are identical in
outlook. One can still find intellectuals and religious folk in
the same sphere.
There is also the issue that your perception is a function of your
spiritual development. So, if you are in the first sphere, you may
be told there are other spheres, but you can't see them. This is
not like living in Australia, and knowing that there are other continents,
such as the Americas, and knowing you could live there if you wanted
to. There is some evidence that short visits may be allowed to higher
spheres - a short stay with Madge, but I am not sure of this. What
I am sure of is that you will find Catholics living together, groups
of intellectuals, Muslims, Jews etc. And each of these groups will
believe that their current happiness is a function of what they
believe. Which is not surprising, except if they compared themselves
carefully with others, this would illustrate the falsity of the
idea. In this sense I describe things as confused from the bottom
up.
There is no overall agreement about what happens next, and what
is best for progression, or what is the "right" belief.
In fact I don't even think these lower spirits generally know who
is in charge, and maybe some are only vaguely aware of the desirability
of seeking to progress. So I would guess there may be spirits in
the First sphere who might dispute that there is a Second sphere,
never mind an almost unlimited number beyond that!
Those "in charge" always respect the free will choices
of these spirits, so it is only through a conscious choice to follow
a leader's direction, that folk can be said to be led. The leaders
are far more advanced, live somewhere else where you cannot go,
and cannot be seen unless they decide to make themselves visible.
This is because the more advanced spirits have this ability to conceal
themselves from less advanced spirits. In some ways it is like it
is on earth when we try to understand what happens after death.
Our perception of the next realm is limited, and indeed there are
many on earth that would dispute that there is any life after death.
The authority that we were used to on earth is simply absent. In
that sense you can experience total freedom of choice to do as you
please. But it also means you can follow dozens of spiritual paths
that don't lead anywhere special. In fact almost everything that
you do will probably lead to increased happiness, so it is very
easy to believe you are on the "right" path. And this
is typically how spirits continue. They ascribe their current happiness
to the path they are on, but it may be that there is
nothing special about that path compared to many other paths.
Of course there are other things that make it easy. You don't NEED
to eat, although folks apparently enjoy nuts and fruits. They don't
have digestive organs, so these foods are not eaten as we do on
earth, but apparently more like "inhaled." The same with
water. This refreshes, but is not used to sustain. Since you don't
need to eat, clearly you don't need a job to earn money to survive.
Indeed there is no money, because all you need is given. So, you
will do things because you enjoy them, not because you have to.
Well, that depends on where you are.
Although we describe the Spirit Heavens as having seven spheres,
in reality there are an almost infinite number of "planes"
within these. In a sense, one's spirituality acts like a sort of
gravity. The less spiritual you are, the further down you will sink,
possibly right to the bottom. And the bottom is called hell. In
fact, the really advanced spirits consider that all of the first
and second spheres contain some darkness. But, for us earthlings,
anything from the top of the first sphere upwards is just great.
Hell.
You will find plenty of "new age" folk will deny there
is any hell at all. They will tell you they have never had any feedback
from the other side to suggest anything like it. They report that
all spirits are loving and that there is only love. That may be
so, mostly because very few spirits in hell are keen to admit this
to loved ones on earth. But I have personally worked with people
who were seriously troubled by dark spirits, and my mother has also
told me my sister is in darkness. And, once you understand how the
universe works, there has to be a place where those who are seriously
out
of harmony reside until they learn. It is just inconceivable that
God would suddenly make loving spirits out of those who have chosen
to be unloving. No, our progress is entirely dependent upon ourselves.
That is what it means to be a free will creature.
What is it like in hell? Here is a description:
In this hell of mine, and there are many like it, instead of
beautiful homes, as the other spirits described, we have dirty,
rotten hovels all crooked and decayed, with all the foul smells
of a charnel house ten times intensified, and instead of beautiful
lawns and green meadows and leafy woods filled with musical birds
making the echoes ring with their songs, we have barren wastes,
and holes of darkness and gloom and the cries and cursings of spirits
of damnation without hope; and instead of living, silvery waters
we have stagnant pools filled with all kinds of repulsive reptiles
and vermin, and smells of inexpressible, nauseating stinks.
I tell you that these are all real, and not creatures of the
imagination or the outflowing of bitter recollections. And as for
love, it has never shown its humanizing face in all the years that
I have been here - only cursings and hatred and bitter scathings
and imprecations, and grinning spirits with their witchlike cacklings.
No rest, no hope, no kind words or ministering hand to wipe away
the scalding tears which so often flow in mighty volumes. No, hell
is real and hell is here.
We do not have any fire and brimstone, or grinning devils with
pitch forks and hoofs and horns as the churches teach; but what
is the need or necessity for such accompaniments? They would not
add to the horrors or to our torments. I tell you my friend that
I have faintly described our homes in these infernal regions and
I cannot picture them as they are.
But the horror and pity of it all is that hope does not come
to us with one faint smile to encourage us that there may at some
time be an ending to all these torments, and in our hopeless despair
we realize that our doom is fixed for all eternity. (See a later
explanation about the duration of hell)
This is of course but one description, and as mentioned earlier,
you should not be surprised to discover many variations on a theme.
Perhaps we should not use the word hell, because it is not a permanent
situation, although commonly believed to be so by its inhabitants.
There is no eternal damnation. In fact there is no damnation at
all. Hell is simply a place where dreadful spirits live, until they
choose not to be dreadful. So how long could you be there then?
It all depends on you. How low in the hells you are, and how soon
you start to try to get out. Yes but how long? From feedback, there
are two ways out, the normal way, which is pretty slow, and the
short cut way.
The normal way involves the spirit realizing that he/she is there
because of their attitudes and values, and then deciding to change,
and slowly changing, by being kind to his companions. If you were
really bad on earth, you could expect this process to take longer
than a lifetime. Some historically bad spirits, like the Roman Emperors,
seem to have spent up to a thousand years in darkness. Julius Caesar
was still in hell in 1915, but got out with some help, in 17 months.
That means he had been in hell for 2040 years, a very long time
indeed. But Hitler, it is rumoured, spent less than 20 years. So
I am told, he learnt of the short cut, because a bunch of loving
earthlings were determined to contact him and help him. Judas also
learnt of the short cut, naturally from the apostles. Apparently
Andrew was always close to Judas, and he encouraged him to apply
the knowledge that Jesus had taught them. Judas had not really understood
these spiritual teachings, and in fact neither did the Apostles
till Pentecost.
The first thought that probably you might realize, if you end up
here, is that you did not appear to have a big day of judgment.
You did not end up in front of God, and get judged. In fact, judgment
happened every day and every second of your mortal life. When you
broke a Spiritual Law, your soul was encrusted immediately, and
that was that. Now you have to in effect clean your soul yourself.
You could have done that on earth, if you had chosen to, but it
did not seem to affect your material life having an encrusted soul.
Well I might debate how much real happiness and peace you felt on
earth with a heavily encrusted soul, but you can retort that it
did not affect starting the Ferrari. Or distributing illicit drugs,
whatever took your fancy.
So how bad is hell really? It depends. Frankly, the upper reaches
of "hell" would be better than many folk's experience
of life on earth. The darkest depths are not good however. Here
it is reported one can be in total darkness, unable to perceive
anyone or anything, totally alone with only your own thoughts and
memories. Many spirits report that they would choose annihilation,
if it were an option. There is no fire, simply because fire does
not affect spirit. We can travel through the sun as spirit. But
the emotional darkness, and irritations of the other dark spirits
makes it a very unpleasant experience.
What are my chances of ending up there? If you are a normal person,
neither particularly good, nor particularly bad, then you will probably
land up at the top of the first sphere. Possibly a bit lower, or
possibly a bit higher. You might not ever realize that this is "hell",
and just simply think life sucks after earth. On the other hand,
if you were a poor African, or Asian, eking out a tough existence
on earth, battling disease and hunger, you may think this hell is
a huge improvement over your earth experiences. If you have really
tried on earth, and consider that you adhered strictly to your religious
beliefs, and more particularly those relating to living in love,
and caring for your fellows, which basically all religions espouse,
you might make the second sphere, or higher. But statistically,
the "normal" result is the first sphere.
So how do you get out of darkness? Actually help is always available,
although right at the bottom, it may take some time before that
help can be perceived. The problem is that most spirits in darkness
are too embarrassed to even acknowledge the help offered to them.
We are none of us an island, and thus everyone knows someone. The
more advanced spirits are always trying to help those that are less
developed, even in
darkness, particularly if there is a personal relationship. But
their advances are most often rebuffed. So the first lesson is to
be prepared to ask for, and accept help. The spirits that can help,
are those that are visually bright, or brighter than your companions.
They will be loving too, which is always a clear indication.
The second lesson is to know that there is hope, and that hell
is not eternal. The Christian Churches have done mortal man a great
disservice in preaching that hell is eternal. Spirits either believe
this themselves, or hear it constantly from their companions. Thus
it is very hard to have hope. Admittedly the environment is not
conducive to hope. Imagine this:
It seemed as if I was standing at the top of a mountain or hill.
Below I could see a pretty valley, with forests, meadows, springs
and streams. I heard birds singing, it was like a beautiful summer
day. Suddenly, everything began to dry off. The green colors turned
brown, the leaves fell off the trees, and after a short time, I
saw a
disastrous landscape. Everything was dry, the earth cracked, a few
trunks like skeletons without life, the streams had disappeared,
leaving behind only their stony beds. There was no sunshine
anymore, everything seemed dark, like a winter dawn in the
northern regions, but without snow, and the silence of death
reigned.
Let's assume you accept help. There are two types of advice that
you will get. The first is basically to develop your natural love.
One needs to repent, in the sense of accepting responsibility for
where you are, and wanting to change. But most of all one needs
to learn to be more loving. This as one can expect, is not easy.
Particularly when those around you are not loving. While saying
that this is the category of help you might get, if it was a Catholic
priest offering help, you might expect him to
suggest you follow his faith. The extent, to which this sort of
narrow religious advice is given, really depends on the level of
the spirit offering the advice. I tend to think that the more advanced
spirits do realize that many conventional religions have much the
same effect, and that therefore love is the common denominator.
But lower down, most spirits cling tenaciously to their religious
beliefs. So you may get a lot of pastors, all favouring their brand
of religion, trying to help you. The reason why this process is
so slow is that we are as we think. Amazingly, thoughts have been
described as real, and as having a real existence in this realm.
We have to change our thoughts in order to change, and that can
be hard.
The second category of advice that you might receive introduces
a totally new concept. Here you will be told that if you pray from
the heart (soul) to God and ask for His Divine Love, you will feel
this Love. It may take a few days, or a week, but you will feel
this Love as a real sensation. If you keep on asking, each time
you will receive a small portion of Divine Love. This Love is a
physical reality, and will purify your soul. This is the short cut
method. Not only does it get you out of darkness faster than any
other way, but also it will accelerate your spiritual progress through
the heavens. Many dark spirits have attested to its effectiveness,
but they also caution how hard it is to think of spiritual things
while in hell. Of course since almost no body has heard of this
short cut method, they may dismiss it out of hand. But since it
promises almost instant results, I suggest it is well worth trying.
You don't have anything to lose.
This technique also works on earth. That is to say, you can feel
the Love, and you will notice yourself changing over the next year
or so. And we have had confirmation that humans following this method
are in general much brighter in their spirit body than the general
mortal population. It does something at a very fundamental level.
Earth Bound Spirits.
This term may be a bit of a misnomer, but I have used it because
it is common in spiritualist circles. The earth plane is in the
first sphere, simply because of the poor "average" soul
condition of us mortals currently. If it were not so, there would
be more "heaven on earth" at this time.
It does happen, that spirits of a very material bent, find themselves
attracted back to earth. There can be many reasons for this. They
may have had an unexpected bad experience, such as being murdered.
They may also be of limited spiritual development, but not necessarily
bad. One reason is a desire to look after a family, or even to try
to enjoy, or protect material possessions. Another common reason
is a refusal to consider that they are dead. They may then hang
around their last place of living, for a long period of time.
These spirits can sometimes be helped to "pass over".
This term is another misnomer, as they are there because that is
where they want to be, although this is possibly an ignorant and
even possibly an unconscious desire. But free will is paramount,
even if the spirit has earned the right to greater happiness; it
stays here until it choose to move on. The human helpers, being
mediums and able to see and converse with the spirit, often tell
them to go to the light. This works, but the way it works may surprise
many spiritualists.
Accompanying these spiritually evolved mortals are spirit guides,
and it is their light that the earth bound spirit sees. This enables
the spirit to visualize these more advanced spirits, who then explain
things, and the spirit may indeed chose to "move on" under
their guidance.
The First Sphere.
Hell is of course in the first sphere, but most of us would not
consider the upper reaches of the first sphere as being in darkness.
That is because we are used to earth, a planet that is itself largely
in darkness. Above "hell" one finds the "Twilight
Zone", and then "Summerland". These are spiritualist
terms. Some spiritualists teach that Summerland is the Third Sphere,
but that is apparently not so.
In the upper reaches of the first sphere, spirits use tools to
create things, just like here. Later on, this is unnecessary. They
live in homes, and learn how to manipulate their spirit bodies.
They can for example create a perfect physique, or a full head of
hair. Most spirits choose a physical form from somewhere between
twenty and thirty, one which I guess represents their physical prime.
They also discover making love in the spirit is a bit different,
and very enjoyable. It is accomplished by a sort of fusion of energy
between the souls. Having been fortunate enough to experience it
a few times, in out of body experiences, I can report that it is
indeed something to look forward to. Apparently some spirits really
get into this new love making. Homes are provided too. I suspect
that these are not physically built in the first sphere, although
tools are used here, but in higher spheres they are certainly not
"built". Apparently you can decorate or change your home,
and presumably this is where tools come in. Since there are no folks
"employed" one wonders where the tools come from, but
I don't know the answer to all the questions! There may be folks
who do this for fun, who knows?
I am not sure how great the homes are in the upper planes of the
first sphere, but later on they seem to be better than the grandest
mansion one might imagine. In hell they are hovels or caves. The
old Bible phrase - "in my Father's house are many mansions"
has more than a ring of Truth.
Animals and pets are found in spirit. There is no doubt at all,
if you have a much loved cat, dog or even elephant, that you will
enjoy its companionship again. It is not the case that all animals
automatically survive death, but much loved ones are found again.
It is likely that this is a creation emanating from the love that
we hold for that animal. On the other hand, apparently there are
places in the spirit world where you can go and see the dinosaurs,
so no doubt all manner of animal can be found,
for our enjoyment.
Strangely many spirits report feeling cold when they first arrive,
but later this is not a problem. It is quite widely accepted that
spirits are cold when they appear in our realm, and at least one
spirit has reported being able to feel the heat from a fire in our
realm, as well as clearly hearing sound from our realm. When they
first arrive in spirit, spirits continue to talk, and it is also
reported that they can breathe, although that seems surprising.
Later on they simply use thought communication.
Spirits spend a great deal of time discussing God. Does He exist
etc. Naturally religious groups exist, and spirits will follow those
beliefs by attending church etc. Spiritual ignorance abounds, as
one would expect. That does not mean spirits are un-opinionated.
Indeed it seems some of the most opinionated spirits can be found
in the first and second spheres. The old adage of the empty can
making the most noise seems true of spirit as well. Arguments are
even more intense than on earth. This is because each spirit will
now have some experiences that support their belief.
The level of ignorance is actually very high, but that does not
stop many spirits attending séances and coming through with
a great deal of misplaced authority. These are the spirits who may
use Jesus' name, or even call themselves God.
One also finds spirits here who are mischievous, and immature,
rather than evil. They will also delight in frightening mortals
at séances. Summerland has been described as having a climate
similar to California. But without the pollution no doubt! There
are a great number of children in Summerland, but they are not found
lower, which is quite reasonable. The landscape is beautiful, with
pretty villages and cities. Spirits can choose to live in a city,
or in the country. I may finally get that water view I always wanted!
There is still a degree of negativity, which is illustrated by
gossip, differences of opinion, and anger. But most spirits are
pretty used to that from earth, and probably don't really notice
it. Sports are indulged, but one assumes attendance at soccer matches
might be restricted. (A passing reference to the unloving behaviour
of many followers of the round form of football, not common in the
U.S.A. but nevertheless the world's most popular sport.) I do wonder
whether boxing and martial arts are practiced. I rather think not.
It is here that spirits tend to discover what they really want
to do, and what talents they have. As they don't have to work, and
there is no authority chasing them, they are totally free to devote
whatever time they like to pursuits. Spirits find that they can
follow material pursuits here, but in time the attractiveness of
that fades, and suddenly they begin to realize that spirituality
is important, and a greater source of happiness.
Here the spirits find that their desires result in changes to their
spirit bodies. So, although they do not have conscious control over
this aspect, they do look attractive, with perfect bodies. In time
these pleasures pall, and the spirit finds itself drawn more to
spiritual avenues, and that this gives it increased happiness. They
are then starting to progress out of this sphere.
The Second Sphere.
The essential requirement for a spirit to reach the second sphere
is the recognition that material pursuits are limited, and does
not lead to real happiness. In the second sphere, spirits choose
their spiritual path. These are by no means uniform, and in general,
if a spirit decides later to change to another spiritual path, they
will return to this sphere.
In fact there are two great classifications of spiritual path,
but this distinction is probably not obvious to most spirits. The
first classification is the natural love path. In this class, one
finds all the religions, and even those following an intellectual,
and non-religious path. Slowly but surely, spirits become more loving,
and advance steadily through the spheres, stopping at the sixth.
The sixth is a heaven of complete happiness, so complete that spirits
there lack nothing, and cannot envisage anything
better.
The second classification is the Divine Love path. If you took
the short cut out of hell, you will have found so much happiness
flowing into your soul, that this will be the path you will follow.
Not many spirits follow this path however.
In this second sphere, which can be called a sphere of decision,
it is really like a kindergarten. In the first spheres, many things
were built by machine. Here in the second, spirits are learning
to use their spirit powers, assisted by other more advanced spirits.
There are many institutions of learning, and this sphere is well
known to many
spiritualists.
They learn to modify their clothes, to build their houses using
spiritual power, and to even modify aspects of their spiritual bodies.
This exposure to the spiritual powers that are available generates
a state of euphoria, and as a result many spirits stay here a long
time. It is such fun. That is no bad thing; there is no timetable
to keep.
In deciding what development path to follow, spirits are influenced
by those from more advanced spheres. Thus a spirit from the fourth
sphere may well extol the virtues of his path, and the beauty of
his sphere. Spirits in many cases retain some of the spiritual ideas
they had in the first sphere, but they may be beginning to modify
those to some extent. Some of them have a period of confusion, for
example if they believe that they should now stand before God, or
perhaps Jesus. As that does not happen, it takes a while to rationalize,
and evolve a new spiritual or religious
strategy.
Jesus does visit these spirits, but they do not generally recognize
him. He cannot display himself as he really is, because his spiritual
brightness is far too powerful to be revealed in these lower spheres,
and hence they generally do not accord him any special status. We
have been told that the sun is like a candle compared to his spiritual
brightness.
The second sphere is really a real heaven, as it has immense facilities
for study, facilities that cannot be dreamed of on earth. Eventually
however, each and every spirit eventually arrives at the highest
plane in this sphere.
There a tremendous change occurs. They remember that they have
got this far through the help given them by numerous spirits, and
a great urge overtakes them to perform a similar function. It is
an atonement task.
The Third Sphere.
Spirits in the third sphere have both sufficient love, and spiritual
understanding to begin to perform a useful task of helping other
spirits. Because of their greater spiritual development, they can
also begin to perceive the Will of God, although this is not because
they can perceive God.
Typically the tasks that they undertake have something to do with
their earth life. I came across a fellow getting a lot of help from
an ex-playgirl. This fellow had very strong sexual desires, and
she was trying very hard to influence him away from those. Clearly
she had to atone for inciting so many fellows to sexual desires
by being a playgirl. Another may be a pastor, who has spent a lifetime
spreading false doctrines. He may find himself trying to undo those
false beliefs. This work can be very hard,
and these spirits do experience frustration. However this does not
mean that all these spirits are teaching only truth. These spirits
still have many of their earth beliefs, provided always that none
of these are seriously harmful from a spiritual perspective. Where
that is the case, they do not progress, until they come to a realisation
that their belief is false.
Those spirits following the Divine Love path may spend a long time
in this sphere, because they feel the importance of the task of
teaching this "new" Truth.
When finally what started out as a work of atonement, and now becomes
a vocational choice, the spirit is ready to move on.
Here is a description of a home in the Third Sphere:
Yes, my home is very beautiful and I am perfectly delighted
with it. It is made of white marble and is surrounded by lawns and
flowers and trees of various kinds. The grass is so very green and
the flowers are so beautiful and variegated. The trees are always
in foliage and have such beautiful limbs and leaves. I am most pleased
with my home, I mean the building. There are many beautiful pictures
on the walls, and the walls are all frescoed and hung with fine
coverings, and the floors are inlaid with beautiful mosaics. I have
all the splendid furniture that I could possibly wish for, and my
library is full of books of all kinds, especially of those that
tell of God and His Love for man. You would be in your element if
you could be with me.
I have music, such as you never heard on earth, and instruments
of various kinds which I am learning to play, and I sing with all
my heart and soul as the days go by. I have beds on which I lie
down, but I never sleep. We do not need sleep here; we only rest,
for sometimes we get tired from our work and are greatly refreshed
by lying on the beds and couches which are so comfortable that we
do not realize that we are tired after lying down a little while.
The Fourth Sphere.
The spirits in this sphere are now used as teachers, in the various
learning institutions, and they develop in this sphere their sometimes
astonishing healing abilities. It is largely an intellectual sphere,
and some spirits following a Divine Love path spend almost no time
here, moving virtually directly on to the Fifth sphere. Others chose
to stay here, although they can do much the same work in the Fifth
sphere. There is
beginning to be a bigger and bigger difference between spirits following
the natural love and the intellectual path, and those following
the Divine Love path.
Earthly bonds weaken, and spirits are not much interested in the
affairs of earth. Even familial bonds weaken. This does not mean
that they do not care for other members of their genetic families,
but their general love for all mankind is now so strong, that familial
love recedes in contrast.
Soul mates now begin to be a topic of great interest. It is true
we all have a soul mate. This is because the initial creation of
souls creates pairs of souls. This appears to be yet another technique
that God has provided to gather his creation closer. Inevitably
one soul mate will be more advanced. Their great love for each other
spurs the less developed one to make great efforts to catch up,
so that they can live together. Some times this is in fact the way
a soul is "extracted" from the hells. The more advanced
soul mate is able to influence the less developed one to make the
effort to get out of darkness. What is intriguing is that this soul
mate attraction is so strong that a bright and pure spirit is actually
attracted at all to a dark spirit.
The fourth sphere, with its great facilities is often a sphere
where spirits stay a very long time. By the time that these spirits
have reached the upper planes of this sphere, they will have all
but lost interest in the affairs of mortal man. Their only interest
is in helping man to progress, but they take no personal interest
in his affairs.
The Fifth Sphere.
This is what is termed a soul sphere, and those spirits following
a natural love path do not spend much time here. But it is an important
sphere for Divine Love spirits. The only thing that natural love
spirits lack is absolute purity. They must eradicate the last traces
of sin. They may still cling to false beliefs, but none of these
will be harmful.
This last stage of purification does not take long, and the natural
love spirits then progress into the sixth, the ultimate goal of
their spiritual path.
There is no reason for them to tarry here, since there is more
happiness to be had in the sixth. There is also little commonality
between them and Divine love spirits. They have a fundamentally
different belief, and spiritual path, and this leads to different
interests.
In fact many of the Divine Love spirits also hasten to enter the
sixth, and then return. The sixth is not entirely congenial to them,
and they have much development that they can do in the Fifth. And,
once they have received more of the Divine Love, they can progress
directly to the Seventh Sphere.
It was reported that Mother Teresa passed over into the Fifth Sphere,
and that is the highest that we have heard of for a mortal, although
there have been others, apparently. Few could doubt the love that
she had.
Here is a description of a home in the Fifth Sphere:
I am living with your mother in her home, but I am not so spiritual
as she. We are both very happy though, and have everything that
the heart could wish for. The music is so beautiful that I cannot
describe it to you, and even the love which helps to make the music
is of such an intensity that you could not possibly understand if
I should attempt to tell it to you. My home here is much more beautiful
than that which I had in the third sphere, and everything is beyond
what I conceived when I lived there. The house and trees and flowers
and fruits are very much more beautiful and delightful. No one could
be anything but happy in such a home. We have nothing to interfere
with our happiness and every one is a delightful companion and full
of love and beauty. I have met many spirits that I did not know
either on earth or in the spirit world before I came to this place,
both men and women.
Yes, we have rivers and lakes and fields and mountains and all
the beautiful landscapes that you can imagine, I not only enjoy
these things, but they are more real than those of earth. I am sometimes
engaged in painting these flowers and landscapes, and have many
pictures which others painted. I find that I can paint with a more
artistic touch than when on earth. I have no trouble in drawing
as you know I had some in my earth pictures. I am also studying
music, and especially my vocal lessons. You will be much surprised
when you hear me sing as you cannot conceive what a different voice
I have. Sometimes I try to sing some of the songs that I used to
sing to you, but they are not pretty in comparison to the songs
we have here, either in the music or the sentiments.
The Sixth Sphere.
This is the pinnacle of spiritual development for natural love
spirits. It represents a return to the Adamic state. However, they
quite possibly simply dispute that there are any higher spheres.
Certainly Divine Love spirits find that these spirits are not interested
in listening to this concept. They enjoy themselves with many very
advanced intellectual and moral discussions. One should realize
that mental capacity has expanded enormously along with spiritual
development.
This is a perfect heaven, and spirits lack for nothing, and cannot
imagine anything better could exist.
The sixth sphere is a purely intellectual area, and by that I mean
that in spite of the great spirituality of the place, the zeal of
its inhabitants goes much more for increasing their knowledge, while
they live a life in absolute harmony with God's laws of spirituality.
It is a place where science has reached its most spectacular results
compared to all the spiritual spheres, and where the intelligence
of its inhabitants is supreme, and where absolute fraternity exists,
such as people dream of on earth.
There are great social events, amusements, all of which provides
them with great happiness, their class of happiness. Paradise, yes,
the sixth sphere is the paradise which the Hebrews dreamt of and
continue dreaming of, and it is the paradise that Christian churches
teach of, in general, and also spiritualists.
Religion is important too, and there is a great diversity of religious
practice. That indicates that the inhabitants are not in possession
of absolute truth. It is rare for these spirits to communicate with
mortals. But many work as teachers and professors in lower spheres.
Divine Love spirits can enter this sphere, but generally do not
stay long. They simply find that their interests are different.
So they return to the Fifth until they are able to pass into the
Seventh.
As these sixth sphere spirits do not progress any further, it is
not known what their long-term future will be. Some sources suggest
eventually all will awaken to the fact that something is lacking
- God's Divine Love, and progress will then resume. Other sources
suggest that in fact the "second death" will mean that
these spirits are isolated, and the "gates" to the Kingdom
of God will be closed, leaving them excluded.
The Seventh Sphere.
This sphere is only populated by Divine Love spirits. It marks
the beginning of a series of changes that will eventually leave
them quite different to other spirits. So different, that it is
said they cannot be considered to be of the same family. The first
change is that the soul manifests a mind, which is different to
the mind that all other spirits utilize. This begins to dominate.
Eventually, before the spirit leaves this
sphere, the mind of the spirit body will have entirely withered
away, leaving the spirit using the mind of the soul.
The duration of the process of the last stage of transformation
varies. It may be achieved in a relatively short time, but many
spirits stay longer in this wonderful paradise, enjoying and experiencing,
like tourists taking their time to explore the last corner of their
unknown world.
They gain enormous knowledge in this sphere, in this process, and
without study. The knowledge simply comes to them. Eventually they
are ready for the transition. In the transition to the Celestial
heavens which lie above the seventh sphere, they fuse with their
Divine Spirit, or Father Fragment which has accompanied them since
their earliest years. This gives the Divine Fragment a personality,
and the spirit gains Divinity and immortality. Spirits who have
passed this stage tell us they KNOW they are immortal. There is
no debate, such as exists in the Sixth. They then become pure spiritual
beings, as opposed to semi-material beings. This difference must
be subtle, because other less developed spirits do not seem able
to discern the difference.
There are "un-numbered" spheres in the Celestial Heavens
above, each more magnificent than the rest. Spirits who reside here
complain that words simply cannot describe these spheres, and generally
they just won't try. These would appear to be the classic Kingdom
of God that the Christian Bible talks about. But this concludes
our summary. Ironically, because this is probably only the start
of our next adventure, the re-birth by spirit that the Christian
Bible promises to those who have faith that
Father loves us. And an eternity of growth and spiritual adventure
lies ahead. Perhaps there will be another narrow path we might have
to navigate beyond the Kingdom of God?
Revision 2.0 11th October 2003.
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