Spirituality

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Body and soul

Small glossary

The attendant

Now, without fear, let us look at what actually happens when a person dies. The easiest way is to follow an old person who quietly falls asleep when her time is up. She may experience that the body is gradually paralyzed from the feet up. She hears noises and roars and sees herself traveling through a dark tunnel. It occurs almost like a clicking sound inside her head and the next moment she is out of her physical body. She can see herself from above, or alternatively she stands next to the bed and looks at her "sleeping" body.

In some cases, the tunnel experience can lead directly to an inviting white light to which she feels instinctively drawn. The light dawns as a microscopic point of radiance which quickly grows and soon envelops her completely. She is now outside the world, she is in the seventh sphere which she experiences through her memory body. Here she meets an exalted being, a formless ethereal being of light.

This being is the ‘attendant’, the manifestation of her higher self. The attendant is the twin soul who shares her life path but with a completely different starting point. While the dying individual sees her life from a now perspective, the attendant experiences the same life but simultaneously. The attendant sees the past and the future at the same time. It is another dimension of life, different but just as real.

In a superior position, the attendant has a recurring task. He (or she) must be at hand in those situations when the subordinate soul changes position between different planes of existence. The subordinate soul, who is not yet finally separated from her physical body, now has a question put to her. The question is not formulated in words, but the meaning is crystal clear: "Are you prepared to die?"


The flashback (the first)

The question the attendant asks is not a polite phrase. The soul is still connected to the sensory body through the thin silver thread. The process can be interrupted or postponed if there are things that need to be cleared up first. But otherwise, if no obstacles remain, the attendant can proceed with the retrospect. This is when man sees his whole life in flash lighting. Most people are probably familiar with the expression: "I watched my whole life pass by". The flashback is simultaneous, instantaneous. The attendant can, however, focus on important stages in life.

What happens is that the dying soul comes into direct contact with the contents of her memory body. She sees her life in an immediate vision and what emerges is the actual, objective path of life, not her personal experience of the course of events. Looking back can be a painful experience. Not only do you get to relive events in your life, you also get to tangibly experience how your fellow human beings felt in different situations. If, for example, you spoke badly about a person, you get to directly experience how that deed was experienced by the person at the time. A completed and accomplished retrospective means that the soul is free to leave her ‘density body.’


Personal farewell

The old individual who is completely done with life and who has made up with her past will surely take the straight path to the white light without looking back. But even if she is ready to leave the world, she may want to say a final goodbye to her loved ones. She then chooses to temporarily leave the white light and instead seek out those closest to her in the physical world.

None of her friends (except maybe some psychic person) will see or hear her when she appears. However, they may feel a wave of warmth when they receive an invisible hug or perhaps a kiss on the cheek. They may wonder about the experience only to later be struck with grief or loss when an unexpected message arrives that their old friend has now fallen asleep for good. A completed separation means that the individual is free to leave the physical ‘neurology body.’


Material ties

Not infrequently, the dying individual has strong ties to material property. This may include large financial assets; capital, real estate, arable land, livestock, vehicle fleets, even servants. But none of this is accepted on the 'other side', everything has to be left behind. A successful process of renouncing material expressions means in this case that the individual is free to let go of his physical ‘visual body,’ a big step on the way!


The border

When the flashback has come to an end, a new phase in the death process begins. Now it is no longer about looking back, but about looking forward. The attendant now shows another part of the life path, more specifically the one that describes the soul's intended spiritual existence. In a vision she now sees a heavenly abode and the people who reside there. This vision is a highlight, it is full of pleasure and very appealing. The individual recognizes people she has met before. They wave at her and invite her to come over to where they are.

The dying individual at this stage has been given very clear instructions by the attendant. They were never put into words but could go something like this: "When you reach the border you will separate from your physical body. You will lose consciousness for a time but when you wake up you will see the white light again. Go to that light, do not look to other lights." What the attendant means by the ‘border’ is a dividing line where the silver thread is cut and the connection with the three densest physical bodies is permanently severed.

The border or dividing line can appear in very different ways depending on what the human imagination looks like. For example, it could be a meadow with a fence in the middle or it could be a ravine crossed by a bridge. The individual herself must cross the dividing line, but if she is afraid, the companion is by her side. With the passage of the dividing line, the individual has passed the first death, which stands for separation from the physical world..

Complications (in the first death)

Before we approach the events of the second death (the release from the three psychic bodies) we should review some complications which may, under certain circumstances, arise during physical death.

A quick death

Death is not always a quiet and thoughtful process, it happens that people are taken away from life in an instant. In such circumstances, perhaps in a car accident, the affected person immediately falls into unconsciousness. She wakes up after a few minutes and sees that she is still at the scene of the accident. But things are not quite as they usually are. Her body has something transparent about it and when she touches objects her hand goes straight through as if it were made of air. To top it all off, no one in the scene either sees or hears her as she tries to get attention.

Strange events like this probably make most people realize that they are no longer in life. The sight of the mangled car and their own body lying lifeless provides the definitive proof. This can be a time when the individual panics because she can no longer re-enter her physical body. But there is nothing to worry about, because now suddenly a character appears who both sees and hears her. Maybe he even presents himself as her guardian angel because that's exactly what he is. He could not prevent death, because it was contained in her life path, but he can now help her move forward by affirming the white light.

About guardian angels

All people have guardian angels, they are with us from the day we are born. Some people have more than one guardian angel, but it is always one of them who is in a leading position. These angels can be said to be ordinary people who have reached a higher level of development than most of us here on earth. In a physical sense, they are beings of "standing G-waves" (see the tonal body) and they reside in a spiritual realm that is imbued with great empathy and love.

Many people are fully aware of their guardian angels and even know them by name. For example, some children have invisible playmates during a period of their lives. The guardian angels can be helpful in several areas, but they are careful about privacy. They do not intervene in a person's life if it is not in full accordance with what the person himself wants. However, they immediately spring into action when a person needs to realize that they have just died.


Denial

It is a particularly sad event when a person refuses to accept that he is no longer alive. A typical example of this is the faithful sentry who, in the final stages of the war, is hit by an expired grenade and dies. He wakes up again and regains his post, even though he doesn't feel the same as before and even though the matter behaves strangely. He may be thinking: "The enemy has bombarded me with nerve gas which affects my senses". An individual appears in the post who knows him by name and also claims that he just died from a grenade. The sentry does not believe this for a moment, he hardens and thinks: "The enemy are very cunning, now they have sent a spy who wants to make me surrender".

Another example of denial is a rich person who, throughout his life, has accumulated a large amount of personal possessions and has also raised large-scale buildings and gardens. Suddenly the rich man dies but he cannot accept the fact, he refuses to give up everything he fought so hard to win. No longer in his physical body but present in subtle form, he makes life miserable for any intruder who tries to live in his house or use his possessions. Or, a man so obsessed with the love of another that he goes against death itself. He dies but does not want to leave his spouse under any circumstances. Deaf to all warnings, he stays by his living spouse and tries to protect her from all dangers.


The purification process (in the first death)

It is in no way intended that man, or any other being, should live permanently in a state that is neither life nor death. Therefore, there is an eternal and universal plan of action aimed at converting lost souls. Repentance takes the form of a purification process where the lost soul, through hallucinations or dreams, is made to leave its place of residence and urgently seek liberation in the white light.

Let's follow a man who, against better judgment, escapes the white light and is drawn to the physical world. Wearing his "phantom body" (neurology body + visual body), he seeks out his accustomed habitat in a vain attempt to continue life as if nothing had happened. The heaviest body (the density body) he cannot return to, it is either in a coma or it no longer exists. In this situation, he takes no notice of guardian angels who want to be helpful.

Now six visions/hallucinations appear in turn for the lost person. They manifest at night over the course of six days. The initial visions are only to be regarded as unpleasant but towards the end of the six days they become increasingly demonic to end in a veritable inferno. The dreams connect to the accumulated impressions in the heaviest physical bodies of man; the density body, the neurology body and the visual body.

Of course, no human being has to endure this nightmare existence from beginning to end. At the same moment the distressed person asks for help, he is immediately brought up to the plane of light and can begin the retrospection and liberation from the physical bodies. But there are people who are so helplessly locked in their illusions that not even the worst imaginable torments can make them repent. In these cases, they again meet their attendant, now in the role of judge.


The earthbound and the path to liberation

As the seventh and final step in the purification process, the attendant appears as judge, often in a terrifying and awe-inspiring form. The lost person now has one last chance to repent, otherwise he is condemned to stay on the physical plane as a ghost. This is not an enviable existence given the limitations of the phantom body. Should he fall for the sentence, only one thing remains, he must search within himself to try in every way to find out the cause of his difficult situation.

In particularly severe cases, the ghost's stay on the physical plane can take a very long time. A human in a phantom body cannot be reborn directly into the physical world, the path to rebirth always goes through spiritual realms. The earthbound is often not receptive to outside guidance. The only thing left, is to let time and circumstances work until the person in question finally realizes his hopeless situation, and asks for help. The risk is non-existent that a person will remain for too long as a ghost. The way to the light plane is always open.


Across the river

Let us remember again that very rarely any purification processes need take place in the first death. The majority of all people join the white light directly without any major deviations. So what happens now, when the first death is happy and well over and man has freed himself from his physical bodies? Let us move on, for the journey to the spiritual worlds is not yet finished.


The two lights

An individual who has crossed the border and thus separated from her physical form falls into unconsciousness for a short time. The attendant has prepared her for this, but waking up in another reality can still be confusing. When we sleep we dream and when we die from the physical body we also end up in the world of dreams. But the dream world and the lower spheres of the collective thought world are not our destination, we must go on to the spiritual world.

The individual at this stage is still in a transitional phase. As she let go of three of her physical bodies, she must now also let go of three of her psychic bodies. This is a process that the person must actively participate in and the way there is via the attendant and the white light. Upon awakening, the person sees the white light but also another, more dim light. The latter is familiar because it represents the earthly life, this time however in thought form.

Greek mythology tells of the river Styx that people had to cross after death to get to Hades, the realm of the dead. The river was guarded by a ferryman named Charon. In symbolism, even the passage of a river is traditionally associated with obstacles and danger. It becomes clear here that the dangerous river is in fact the earth-bound world of thoughts with its odd natural laws, illusory forms and subjective processes.

People are constantly in different stages and phases of development. A person who is full of life or "wise in years" has no difficulty in renouncing the attraction of the earthly energies and immediately seeking out the white light. It can be more difficult for a person who died quite young, or who, in a cosmic perspective, is a young soul in the human realm. The pull to the "earthly" existence becomes irresistible and the person chooses to go towards the dim light.


Purgatory

Coming directly from the physical earthly life and being thrown into the world of personal or collective thoughts in some cases involves problems. In addition to the obvious differences we described in the paragraph "natural laws of the thought world", there are also differences in terms of attitudes between people. While earthly existence is individual and competitive, the collective thought world is based more on cooperation and compassion.

A person who thus tries to apply the rules of the physical world to the thought world is sooner or later exposed to adversity. If he tries to make a career, individuals will soon appear who are at least as suggested as him. His own mind misleads him because psychic matter is immediately shaped at the command of thought. The mere fear that his business will not prosper causes the shares to plummet on the stock market.

In general, any activity based on the desire for power and riches creates a downward spiral of adversity and unhappiness in the inner world. Hence the name "purgatory", a kind of hell based on a state of mind that does not harmonize with the prevailing energies of the thought world. But it is a hell with a purpose and that purpose is to adapt the individual to a decidedly more pleasant existence in the spiritual life.

An individual is never left out or isolated in the lower spheres of the thought world. Should he become entangled in her imagination or get lost in a self-created scenario, he only needs to ask for help. Guardian angels are constantly in the background and are always ready to intervene. Once the person is ready to move on, the guardian angels can lift him out of purgatory and the journey now goes as before towards the attendant and the white light.


Where the road branches

The post-physical life can be roughly divided into two areas of life. These appear as subtle spheres where man resides after death. The three heaviest bodies in the psychic makeup of the Earth form what is called the underworld. The lighter sensuous (spiritual) bodies make up the kingdom of heaven. As is clear from the name the underworld,  the heavier psychic bodies are attached to the area below the earth's surface, the kingdom of heaven is a thin physical area in the atmosphere.

The stay in the underworld is associated with material phenomena, a little simplified you can say that it is about good food and drink, sexual experiences, power, honor and property. What belongs to the kingdom of heaven is more about perfected art and culture, science and philosophy and altruistic, platonic love. The boundary between the underworld and the heavenly realm is clearly defined and man cannot partake in both of these realms, he must choose between them.

There is an image, an archetype, that depicts man's dilemma before this choice: The image shows a traveler walking on a road and approaching a crossroads. One road turns down the valley, the other goes up the mountains. Which path should he choose? At the crossroads sits a hermit or perhaps a beggar. The traveler asks for advice but the hermit gives evasive or ambiguous answers. The content of the situation is that everyone has to make this decision themselves.

The hermit in the parable is actually identical to the attendant. Because when man has adapted (through purgatory) to more harmonious energies, he must choose between the comfortable (but perhaps somewhat superficial) life in the underworld or the demanding, but more enriching life in the kingdom of heaven. Choosing the easiest path is not obvious. The flip side of the coin is that he will then be "deprived" of cultural merits, collected in higher sensory and higher psychic bodies.


Human development

Individual and collective development is the fundamental driving force in the cosmos. Refraining from choosing is not an option, the attendant does not allow it. It is entirely possible to develop as an individual in the underworld, but only within its given framework. For those who want to advance forward and work with their entire human spectrum, however, the kingdom of heaven is the only option. But therein lies an unyielding condition, one must strip off one's "earthly ties".

The stay in underground or heavenly spheres can be seen as an active holiday. Earthly life is demanding in many ways, rest periods are a necessity. Whether the individual seeks the underworld or the kingdom of heaven depends a lot on where she is emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Sooner or later, every human comes to a point when the material loses in status and the heavenly appears more and more appealing.

There is no evaluation whatsoever of which universal phase of development the individual happens to be in. An elevated phase is not better, just different. A caveman would not have much benefit from a heaven steeped in classical ballet or art history. There is a paradise for everyone and you can be completely safe in the assurance that the individual will come to the right place. The spiritual world works like that, like attracts like.

Let us follow an individual who has reached a certain point on the road, he wants to enter the kingdom of heaven. He wants to accumulate more wisdom and reach beyond the limits of his existing experience and knowledge.


The trial procedure

Once again outside the world, in the white light of the seventh sphere, the individual now receives new instructions about what lies ahead. He must put away the three heavier psychic bodies in order to enter the heavenly realms. In that process, he will be exposed to three temptations corresponding to certain attachments and desires to worldly phenomena. In doing so, he must actively refrain from the activity in question, which appears to him to be extremely attractive.

Each trial involves a confrontation with activities in the underworld (comparable to the lower collective thought world). The place is selected in accordance with one's universal level of development and individual climate of thought. If the individual can master the temptation, the ordeal is considered completed. After each successfully completed trial, the attendant presents a summary of the overcome obstacle and gives a description of the next steps.

First trial

This ordeal is usually about being able to abstain from fantastic food and drinks that, by all accounts, seem to be prepared just for our sake. The aroma and taste of these creations exceed all our desires. Like-minded people wave invitingly and perhaps say: "Come, there is plenty of food here. Hurry up!" However, for a person who has never treated himself to a decent meal, the trial may instead be about just that; to renounce asceticism itself.

Second trial

The second trial usually consists of putting aside one's desires but also one's inhibitions in the area of sexuality. A man may find that nothing prevents him from realizing all his erotic fantasies, yet he must give up the opportunity. A woman may finally meet the prince of her dreams she never found in her life, yet she has to leave him and move on. Each trial is always "tailored" to bring the individual's life into balance.

Third trial

Test number three is about greed, we need to be able to resist power, honor and wealth. We may be tempted with priceless artifacts, fabulous treasures, titles and domains. Or it applies to control, we end up outside our comfort zone and the challenge consists in renouncing excessive 'safety guarantees.' Scenarios can be shaped in an infinite number of different ways. Here, it is important to show balance and good judgment.

As man has passed the third test, he is free to enter the heavenly realms. We will travel through these spheres and describe them but it may be of value to first describe some complications that may arise during the trial procedure.

Complications (in the second death)

The purification process

It is perfectly natural to be carried away by various temptations. Habits and desires are strong factors in our lives. A person in the collective thought world who "falls short" during a trial therefore need not be ashamed. However, he will not be allowed to settle down in a carefree existence. In the spiritual as well as in the physical existence, all development takes place in cyclical processes. The goal is always to advance towards a greater life experience. It is therefore a rule that the attendant steps in when a person is "stuck" during an ordeal and cannot move forward on their own.

The attraction to the material realm is extremely strong, the individual may not be able or dare to challenge the desire. The attendant can then purify the subject with the help of hallucinations which are connected to their current life situation. The unpleasant visions last for six nights. Initially the visions are gentle, the attendant appears himself, pleads a first time, urges a second and finally commands the subject to free itself from the enticement. Towards the end, three demonic nightmare scenarios are portrayed. However, they cease as soon as the subject changes its attitude and renounces the habitual life pattern.


The verdict

You have to take into account that the human mind is a complicated phenomenon, the world itself is not always so easy to overview. Misunderstandings and complications easily arise. It happens because some people harden themselves and suffer through all six hallucinations, whether it is due to fear, bigotry or other factors. If the process goes this far, the individual is held accountable for their actions. She now meets the attendant in the form of a judge.

Man will at this moment claim: "I have done nothing wrong." However, the attendant can show, beyond all doubt, that the individual’s "evil" (selfish) deeds outweigh the good ones. If the person still does not repent at this moment, the sentence is executed. This means that the individual is stripped of the higher bodies and stranded in his place of trial (in the underworld). The attendant can now only wait for the individual’s voluntary choice to move on.


The Heavenly Kingdom

Any complications in the second death are, after all, exceptions, or if you like, "accidents at work". Let us therefore quickly return to man who has just passed his third trial and who can now triumphantly go to his chosen spiritual place.

The flashback (the second)

In connection with man now detaching himself from the lower psychic bodies, a retrospective of life is presented. The difference from the retrospect in physical death is that the person now sees his life based on his own experience, it is a subjective view.

As before, the vision ends with an ecstatic image of heaven followed by a brief period of unconsciousness. For the person who independently seeks out the underworld, the process is somewhat different. First he abandons his higher sensory bodies, then the higher psychic bodies. During the ecstasy, he sees his intended abode in the underworld, and for him it is, after all, an inspiring sight. Rest assured, life is so ordered that everyone ends up in the right place.

The Gate of Heaven

The trials that man undergoes all take place in the lower spheres of the collective thought world, a relatively obscure environment. But for those who overcome the difficulties, a completely different experience awaits. There is a clear and distinct boundary between the underworld and the spirit world. How our mind perceives this passage between dark and light is a subjective consideration but generally the border appears as a vast and radiant gate.

This gate we have passed countless times because we are all eternal beings. When we see the gate, we intuitively recognize it and know what it stands for, its revelation is strongly imprinted in the subconscious. In the absolute vicinity of the gate rumbles a deep and dull tone whose frequency is fundamental to our part of the cosmos. If we are not on our way in, the doors are closed but at its edges we can still see a brilliant light seeping out.


The arrival

The dying person has just shed the last of the three heavier psychic bodies. Now he is born into true life. The gates of heaven open wide, just for him. The light and radiance cannot be described. He sees that many are coming to meet him. Some of them he recognizes, others he doesn't remember yet but intuitively understands that they are connected to him in one way or another. This is the first sphere of heaven, the Cultural Sphere.

In the Cultural Sphere, man abides in the spiritual body we described in the paragraph "The sensory body" as the atomic body. The individual assumes the form, the embodiment of the person they were in the prime of their age, but this time without illness or disability. Children who died early in life continue as children even in the spiritual realms. The stay in the higher spheres can be seen as a period of rest or vacation from the usually laborious physical existence.


The spiritual realms

The Kingdom of Heaven is not an end station, the soul is, so to speak, on a journey through the three higher spheres. The transition between the spheres is usually completely undramatic. When the time is right she may, without reflecting on it, fall asleep in one place, after which she wakes up in altogether different surroundings. All spheres possess great beauty, but they have different characteristics that we can briefly describe here.


The cultural sphere

The first celestial sphere begins with healing and introduction into the new life. After that, the person can take part in the activity. The cultural sphere is the area of ​​innovation, new skills and abilities that are founded here will later be realized in solid physical matter. It can be about artistic expression in color and shape. It may apply to developing new methods in botany, pedagogy or why not rock climbing. The list can be made long.

The emotional sphere

In this sphere, the emotional energies in all their forms are developed and mastered. Emotions are something that distinguishes man, a good quality that many cosmic peoples seem to marvel at. But emotional energies always need to be balanced to be useful. Too high a level of emotion leads to weakness and paralysis of action. Too low a level causes emotional coldness and risk of psychopathy. Sentiment is often seen as a weakness but distinguishes cultured people.

The emphatic sphere

The third heavenly realm is the realm of altruistic love and compassion. Here man has the opportunity to actively enter into the service of the good. The emphatic sphere is the starting point for the activities of the guardian angels in various areas of life. But here there is also an opportunity to expand knowledge about humans in their social context. It's about psychology, intuition and parapsychology. Finally, causality and karma, the law of cause and effect.


Residing in heaven

Seen from earthly conditions, the individual spends two years in each celestial sphere. Since it is a harmonious existence free from disease, no time is lost. There are days and nights even in the kingdom of heaven. The days are usually filled with activities, yet the need for sleep is significantly less than on earth. There is no sense of achievement or stress, everyone does what he or she wants. Recreation and play are part of everyday life and are not forgotten.

The soul who has completed their time in the current sphere intuitively understands when it is time to move on. The transition between the heavenly spheres takes place completely spontaneously. The individual falls asleep in one sphere and wakes up in a completely different environment. But even here there are people she recognizes from before and she is soon involved in the affairs of this sphere. Now she has a new subtle body, the previous one is dissolved but the ability to recreate it remains for some time.


Breaking up

Even the stay in the heavenly kingdom has an end. About six years have passed of earthly time, the exception is children who died from the physical world at a very young age, they usually spend significantly less time in the heavenly spheres. Man is now done with his tasks in the empathy sphere and it is time to say goodbye to old and new acquaintances. But many impressions and ideas have come about, and even now there is an incipient desire to return to the physical world.

When the soul leaves the heavenly kingdom, she is again drawn to the white light, the attendant awaits as always. In spiritual existence there are no complications, the attendant can immediately ask his obligatory question: "Are you ready to die?" Now it is about dying from the spiritual world. Assuming that the soul is ready, she now sees a flashback of her life in the heavenly realm. Close to the border area, she finally sees her future life in the subtle ‘thought-heaven.


In heavenly thought-spheres

As the soul died from the spiritual world and released the bonds of her lighter sensory bodies, she also fell into unconsciousness. She now wakes up again and sees two lights dawning, one is the white light where the attendant is waiting. The other is the higher thought spheres of the Earth, to which she is still connected through her lighter psychic bodies. The individual can explore these realms on her own but the attendant intervenes should she get lost.

A consistent theme in the Tibetan Book of the Dead is that the dead person goes through a number of fainting states before being reborn. We now understand that it is every time the soul releases her sensory- or thought bodies that this occurs. This also happens when the soul lets its last remaining psychic body dissolve and enters as a full member of the seventh sphere. She has experienced this realm in the presence of the attendant, now she gets to experience it herself.  

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