DEATH  

 

PREPARATION

Preparation includes a number of requirements.

1. Acknowledging the law of cause and effect and improving one’s karma. This includes ridding oneself of unnecessary attachments and attending to needs not wants. Attachments hamper the transition of the spirit which may then become earth bound and lost between the worlds.

2. Losing the fear of death. The deepest and most profound meditation is that on death. Most of us fear death subconsciously if not consciously. Studying or meditating on it goes a long way to allaying this fear which can lead to a dysfunctional “crossing over.” None of us would take a trip to an unknown destination without informing ourselves and taking all possible preliminary precautions. Yet when it comes to our final and most seminal journey, many ignore doing any preparation.

3. Gaining knowledge of the death process will enable navigating skillfully. Our state of mind when we die will have a lot to do with which vibration we go to after death. 

 

CROSSING OVER

Forgiveness and settling unfinished business or any skeletons in the closet are essential before death, for a peaceful transition. Those facing death should clean the slate and release the living from any as yet unkept promises. 

All we are doing is changing our address, going out of one door through another. We can take nothing with us except our memories and our karma. Our mind state is key and we should have fearless clarity without confusion. It is best to go into an existential free fall without any angst, attachments or unfinished business. We need to be able look for the light and hear the ancestors or our guides calling us home. 

 

EARTH BOUND SPIRITS (E.B.S.) 

It is normal for spirits to hang around the earth plane for a period of time (usually about one month) to see what is happening before they cross over the veil. They want to see how everyone is doing, check the obituaries and funeral arrangements. Death rituals are important  - they like to know that they mattered and that their requests have been honored. Some may need to have final closure by visiting in dreams or even as “visitations” to those that are receptive. They may want us to know that they forgive, and would like to be forgiven, if this has not been done prior to death. 

 Also, if their death wishes have not been fulfilled or there are family conflicts this may create disappointments and urge them to temporarily remain earth bound. When the spirit is on the earth plane it is much easier for them to make contact than after they have crossed over the veil between worlds. If one is dreaming persistently of a loved one long after the first few months it is possible that the spirit may still be earth bound and there is unfinished business. 

Others, however, may voluntarily choose to be earth bound. This will enable them to be more available to assist the living with the trauma, financial challenges or conflicts surrounding disagreements such as those concerning the will. This is not necessarily a good thing for the spirit since it delays the soul’s transition. They also may delay crossing over until they are given permission to leave by the loved one they are supporting. Or they may cross over when they feel they are no longer needed. A distraught living, loved one also needs to know when the time has come to let the spirit go to the light.

Involuntary E.B.S. usually occur due to a traumatic, confused, or sudden death when there is no time to prepare or a distorted belief that there is nothing after death. These spirits are, sometimes unknown to them, lost between the worlds. Some do not even know they are dead and do not understand why none of the living are engaging with them. 

 

SPIRITUAL TRIBUNAL 

Material achievements on their own count for very little unless done for the greater good and for its own sake rather than for any agenda. A spiritual tribunal decides on our merits and demerits. Karma is only alterable if the dead have been or are forgiven for their sins by those still living. Reconciliations, however, can also be made between parties in the afterlife. New knowledge can be acquired and at least to some extent will reside in our “soulular” memories from previous life times into the next as a form of de ja vu. Forgiveness from other spirits in the Astral or those on the earth plane can improve dysfunction and advance the next incarnation. 

Forgiveness will release the spirit from their karmic sins which otherwise could result in a suboptimal reincarnation where they would be required to overcome some of those challenges that defied them previously. This is why the dead sometimes haunt the living for their forgiveness in order to be released from their karmic burdens .

Forgiveness will release the soul from the consequences of that particular action only. This applies especially to our fathers, mothers, grand fathers and grandmothers and hence the commandment; “Honor your father and mother ...” We do not have to love them or even like them, only honor them with our forgiveness no matter how toxic they may have been to us in life. They gave us birth and without them we would not be in a sentient body. 

For completion, the dead also need to forgive the living for their misdeeds. This is why closure is so essential before death. It can be done after death but it is much more difficult and requires expert spiritual assistance including forgiveness rituals. 

For others that have sinned against us there is no mandate to forgive but forgiveness is helpful to all concerned especially to the one doing the forgiving. For him or her it is releasing the spiritual burden of having a grudge. Neuroscience has shown that it is healthful and boosts the immune system. Also, spirits often reincarnate back into the blood line. Far better that they come back in a more purified state. The “black sheep” of the family may really be “white” in spiritual terms and may reincarnate to try and help heal family dysfunction. 

 

THE VARIOUS REALMS

We are carried by our hearts and karma to that “vibration” where we feel most at home. We lose touch with those with which we can no longer vibrate. Spiritual masters can travel freely throughout all the realms. To others the higher realms are invisible. There are multiple vibrations and realms within the realms. Our karma dictates which one we have earned and will go to.

These realms are commonly described as; Celestial, Causal, Astral and Lower. The Celestial is mostly unattainable for us although many report being visited by angels and the like. The Causal is the realm of perfected souls who can operate freely, do not need to reincarnate or may choose to do so voluntarily. The Astral (Imaginal) is the realm where we lose free will and reconcile with our karma before reincarnating or may be assigned to become a guide to the living. The Lower or Hell realms are where lost souls usually become stuck due to irreconcilably bad karma. Their cravings are accentuated and they may have little chance of redemption. Hence the term – “the Hungry Ghosts.”

 

THE CAUSAL REALMS

The Causal is the domain of the enlightened, pure, perfected souls who no longer need to reincarnate unless they decide to do so for a specific purpose. The Causal has different names depending on their belief system; the Pure land to the Buddhists, the Garden of Eden to the Kabbalists. Being non-local in space and time it has been said that they can be more present to those that are receptive when they are dead rather than when they were alive. They retain free will and can operate freely. They can visit the Astral realms to assist and guide. 

 

THE ASTRAL REALMS

Those that arrive in the Astral realm, which is most of us, will have more spiritual work to do. We are carried with intention, will, passion (our hearts and love) and our karma to that vibration which we deserve and where we feel the most comfortable. We navigate with our imagination and can create anything we wish. This is interesting and compelling at first but eventually becomes boring and the desire to do so dissipates.  We lose our sensory bodies and therefore can only experience sensation  in the imagination. 

We lose touch with other vibrations and cannot vibrate to higher realms but spiritual masters can travel freely throughout all the realms. To those in the Astral, the higher realms, are invisible.  Each faith will have a different imagining and hence go to a different place. We usually will end up in the same vibration as our loved ones with the same karma, belief systems and often into the same blood line. This is why we may want to do our karmic work before death – we may not want to end up similarly to where we had always been.  

In the Astral one faces a spiritual tribunal of a higher order or “school for the Higher Self or soul.” This is not severe as in a “judgment day". We are brought before this tribunal to reconcile with our karma. This is done in a loving and non-judgmental way but we are fully accountable to the spiritual laws of the cosmos. One’s lawyer cannot help here. We are confronted with our actions for which there will be inevitable  consequences. The principles that will challenge us have to do with Truth and Love. On the other side of the veil between worlds we no longer have options upon which to decide what fashions our destiny. We have already determined it. Thus, the ancestors need our help just as we need theirs. Forgiveness, love and gratitude are how we help them.

It seems there are two main options after reconciling with one's karma; to reincarnate or become a guide. 

Reincarnation

Reincarnation will usually occur into the family who is most likely to be able to challenge us so that we can overcome the issues we had difficulty with in prior life times. This may be a daunting option for those with bad karma. In a sense they have to do it all over again but maybe at a slightly higher or somewhat lower level. Many that had already been on a spiritual path will hope to inherit another life time where they can continue their spiritual trajectory at a higher level. We lose free will in the Astral where we can no longer do anything to improve our karma but forgiveness from those in real time can help. 

Becoming a guide.

We lose free will unless we become a guide to someone on the earth plane in the interim of our sojourn in the Astral. We are also able to complete work we never did in the previous life time. This can improve our karmic profile. 

Although we lose free will in the Astral one can work as a spirit guide through the free will of either a living, previously loved person or someone else that we have been assigned to help. The guide assigned will usually have had a similar mission or talent during their prior life time and therefore is most able to be of assistance to the one living.  However, because free will is the cosmic law, we on the earth plane have to ask very specifically for our guides to be allowed to operate. They cannot simply help us with our lives without clear direction.  

There is no time beyond the veil and it may take years in earth time before a spirit guide may appear. Ancestors and guides usually retain their persona, apparel, language, basic beliefs and idiosyncrasies. However, they have been “purified” and given a reality check during reconciliation. The religious fundamentalist may no longer be a zealot and now know there are many routes to God and someone who never believed in an after-life will know the truth.