DEATH # 4

 

DYSFUNCTIONS IN DEATH

 

It is all about cosmic union. Go forward with forgiveness which is essential to substance and joy.

 

The dysfunctions in death include spiritual intrusions which fall into two main groups: 

Spirits seeking forgiveness that intrude upon and haunt the living hoping for reconciliation.

 Earthbound spirits (E.B.S.) lost between the worlds.

 

INTRUSIVE SPIRITS

 

“When a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive.” Alan Paton

"Forgiveness is part of the treasure you need to craft your falcon wings and return to your true realm of Divine Freedom.” Hafitz

Forgiveness will release the spirit from a karmic sin which otherwise could result in a suboptimal reincarnation where they would be required to overcome that challenge that defied them previously. This is an onerous prospect especially in cases of sexual, physical and even emotional abuse. This is why the dead sometimes haunt the living for forgiveness in order to be released from these 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 is to; “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. Forgiveness, however, does not mean reconciliation and returning to the relationship.

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. 

Forgiveness is key– preferably before death because of the possibility of being confronted with intrusive entities from our past in the future and because it is more difficult after death.

 

Whether the intrusion is earth bound or a spirit seeking forgiveness the effect on the living will be similar.

Being haunted can cause "dis"-ease which may eventually even lead to disease. These symptoms are real, even if they would be incredulous to Western medicine and psychiatry. They include somatic complaints such as headache, neck pain and other maladies such as anxiety, malaise and depression. Sufferers may wonder why life is not going smoothly and why they have bad luck and difficulty with personal and work relationships. Frequently they see a physician and get a full work up, only to be told - "there is nothing wrong with you" - while there is - even if it's energetic and not organic.

There are three reasons to forgive.

RELEASING INTRUSIONS

 

Forgiveness will release the negative energetic effects and the “dis”-ease of being haunted by an intrusive spirit. The spirit can then return to the light and hope for a better karmic future before reincarnating. It is clear from my experience that once the spirit is released with forgiveness the "dis"-ease goes away. 

We should be wary of allowing these spirits to be guides or having them on your altar but we do need to release them from whatever it was they did to us.

 

IT IS HEALTHFUL

Forgiveness has been shown to increase T cell counts and one's immunity. Cynicism and judgment on the other hand can increase pro-inflammatory factors which precede certain diseases. Forgiveness is more beneficial for one forgiving than for the forgiven one. It releases the negative energy from the grudge that the living person has been carrying. 

REINCARNATION INTO THE SAME BLOOD LINE

Since spirits often reincarnate back into the blood line, it is far better that the spirit returns in a more purified state to the living.

We should forgive, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

Re the biblical saying,

"The sins of the fathers (and mothers and grandfathers and mothers) are visited upon the children unto the fourth generation ..."

 

This does not mean that their progeny will be accountable for their misdeeds, only that spirits frequently reincarnate back into the blood line. Far better that the alcoholic, abusive father reincarnates with less dysfunction and a better chance of redemption the next time around. The family may appreciate this in case he came back as a grandchild or a nephew.

The “black sheep” of the family may really be “white” in spiritual terms and may reincarnate to try and help heal family dysfunction.

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.

"Im'gonna lay down my sword and shield, down by the riverside. Ain't gonna study war no more." 

African American spiritual song 

E.B.S.

 

There are two kinds of E.B.S.; Involuntary and Voluntary. 

Involuntary.

Those that are stuck between the worlds need spiritual help to be redirected back through the veil. These usually occur from a sudden, confused or traumatic death.

Involuntary earthbound entities create energetic dysfunction similar to other intrusive spirits with their presence even though it may not be intentional. There is nothing good about being haunted even if it's a relatively benign appearing ghost in one’s home. The earthbound spirit can be directed back to the light with the right expertise from someone skilled in this type of work.

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.

Voluntary

Some stay behind to help a living loved one and will eventually need to move across the veil when the time is optimal.

 

Other forms of spiritual intrusion and dysfunction

 

In South Africa someone who is "called" to become a sangoma, may experience the "calling" sickness or the Thwasa illness. Until one relents and initiates or reconciles with the spirits as to why it is not possible at the moment, the energetic illness will persist. Thwasa is a calling to one's destiny and if not responded to appropriately there will be a serious missed opportunity and a later karmic burden. This is a favor and a blessing from spirit and not a dysfunction even if it causes "dis"-ease at first. 

The archetypal wounded healer is then driven by the "wound" to become who they truly are. Once the wounded one commits, the illness mysteriously disappears.

 

DEATH # 3

"Know not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee..."John Donne

IN THE ASTRAL...

 

When dead, you can influence on behalf of others but not for yourself. 

The last chance for determining and acting for your own mission and fulfillment, is with your last earthly breath. 

You are then stuck with how you are and where you were.

 

One's karma is usually cut in stone but can be altered and improved by being assigned as a guide to a living person. We can complete work we never fulfilled in a past life time in this way.

 

On the other side, we no longer have options upon which to decide what fashions our destiny. We have already determined it.
We do, however, still have thought, intent and opinion which we may use to help others though no longer ourselves.
Thus the ancestors (or our guides) need our help just as we need theirs.
Forgiveness, love and gratitude are how we help them.

 

Do not expect Astral actions and decisions here to transform into the Causal hereafter. You will be as you are now. 

Be whole hearted in your choice. 

Is one deciding from Narrow (Monkey) mind or from Spacious mind (Big mind)? 

We do not only ring our own bell but fashion it as well. 

The high Astral is greatly satisfying for those who do not yearn for more.

Heartfeltness is what the Creator wants most.

 

In the Astral one faces a spiritual tribunal of a higher order or a "School for the Higher Self or Soul." This is not "Judgment Day" in that sense. 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. One is confronted with one's actions for which there will be inevitable reincarnation consequences. The principles that will challenge us have to do with Truth and Love. 

We learn to detach from our compulsions, addictions, obsessions and fears. New knowledge can be acquired and at least to some extent will reside in our "soulular" memories, and also from previous life times, into the next. This may be as a sense of knowing or as a form of de ja vu.

We usually reincarnate into the family who can best challenge us to learn, so that we can correct the karmic mistakes of the past. This situation may be challenging depending on our karma.

Buddhists pray and practice to inherit a next lifetime where they can continue their spiritual journey at a higher level or better still inherit the Pure Land of the enlightened.

 

The ancestors need our help just as we need theirs. 

Karma is only alterable if the dead have been or are forgiven for their sins by those still living. Forgiveness can improve dysfunction and advance the next incarnation.

Reconciliations can also be made between parties in the afterlife.  

Forgiveness will release the spirit from a karmic sin which otherwise could result in a suboptimal reincarnation. In order to be released from their karmic burden the dead sometimes haunt the living seeking forgiveness.

Forgiveness will release the soul from the consequences of only that particular action. This applies especially to our fathers, mothers (as well as our grand fathers and grandmothers) ...

 

"Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long upon the earth."

 

It applies to the grandmothers and grandfathers because they also  enabled our birth and without them and our parents we would not be in a sentient body. Therefore, the onus for forgiveness is on the living progeny not the other way around.

 For completion the dead should also have forgiven the living for their misdeeds, as well as having released them from any promises or obligations. This is why closure is so essential before death. It can be done after death but will require expert spiritual assistance that includes forgiveness rituals.

For others that have sinned against us there is no mandate to forgive but forgiveness is helpful to all concerned. For the one doing the forgiving it is equivalent of taking off the "albatross" (or grudge) hanging around one’s neck. Neuroscience has also show it to be healthful.

 

There is no free will across the veil. The dead depend on the living to repair, complete, forgive and release them if such is needed.

 

Although we loose free will in the Astral we can be assigned as a spirit guide to work through the free will of either a living loved person or someone else. 

Reveal always truth and you will be guided about what to do.

"Foreign" guides assigned for a task will often have had a similar mission during their prior life time and therefore are most able to be of assistance to the one living. These guides, though seemingly foreign, may have been our loved ones in past lives from different traditions and religions. They can be exotic; Native American, Asian, African implying that we had past lives in these cultures as well. It is my belief that when there is a type of music, say, Celtic that speaks to one's soul, it might indicate a prior life time as a Celt. I relate strongly to Celtic and African music and have had prior incarnations in those genres. 

Love is the catalyst that helps them cross the veil between the worlds to inform us.

For instance, the "foreign" spirit guide who helps me in my bone divination was a sangoma in her previous life and is now completing work she never completed in her last incarnation. In this way she helps me with my destiny and improves her karmic profile at the same time. 

Due to free will being the cosmic law, the one on the earth plane must ask very specifically for what one needs or wants. Our spirit guides cannot help us with our lives without specific and clear direction.

Perfected souls retain free will and can also assist the living as well as other spirits in lower realms. However, they have no requirement to improve their karma.

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, beliefs and idiosyncrasies. However, they have been “purified” and given a reality check during their reconciliation. The religious fundamentalist may no longer be a zealot and someone who never believed in an after-life will now know the truth. 

You might ask; "why would I bother to listen to my grandfather or grandmother who was illiterate - I have five Phd's? The reason is they are not localized in space and time and have a broader vision. They can bilocate and if you are taking a journey can warn of hazards you are not aware of. They also have access to your Book of Life and know your prior incarnations as well as neglected talents related to your true destiny. They can help guide you in the right direction

The possibilities in the Astral seem to be:

 Reincarnate.

  Remain in the Astral and be a guide to the living and then reincarnate possibly at an improved karmic level.

 Graduate to a higher vibration and then reincarnate,

 or not,

if one has attained the Causal.

It therefore is encouraging to know that there is the possibility for those who have not quite made the grade, that after doing service or 

reconciling, they can graduate to a higher realm or even the Causal.

 

DEATH # 2 

 

THE VARIOUS REALMS

 

There are as many paths in death as in life.

We are carried by our hearts and karma to that “vibration”
where we feel most at home. We lose touch with those we can no longer vibrate with. 

 

There are multiple vibrations and realms within the realms. Our karma dictates which ones we have earned and will go to.

These realms can be broadly described as; Celestial, Causal, Astral and Lower. 

The Celestial is unattainable for us. Those, I believe, who are channeling archangels are probably connecting with Causal Beings of a very high vibration, possibly with a similar archetype to that particular angel. 

The Causal is the realm of perfected souls who do not need to reincarnate unless they choose to voluntarily. 

The Astral (Imaginal) is the realm where we lose free will and reconcile with our karma before reincarnating. 

In the Lower or hell realms the souls usually become stuck there and the cravings they had while alive are exaggerated. Hence the term – “the Hungry Ghosts.” Some may have little chance of redemption.

 

THE CAUSAL REALMS

 

Enlightened beings, perfected souls have full use of their faculties and do not have to reincarnate although they may choose to incarnate to support and guide.

Spiritual masters can travel freely through all the realms. To Astral spirits the higher realms are invisible.

Those in the higher Causal realms can make themselves known to those in the lower Astral realms. 

However, those in the Astral realms cannot vibrate to a higher level at their own volition or aspiration.

Those of higher vibrations can hear and respond to lesser ones in addition to seeking them out.

 

If one is “awakened” there will be no need “die again”and reincarnate. These souls have attained higher realms of consciousness where there is no need to return into a new incarnation to further advance the soul’s journey. They can, however, choose to come back voluntarily for a special mission, if they so decide. For instance the "Gandhi's" of the world. These spirits retain free will and reside in their own Self-realized vibration; the Causal realm in the case of the Yogis, the Pure Land for Buddhists or the Garden of Eden for Kabbalists.  Our  passions may determine which realm we end up in. The Dalai Lama teaches us to keep to our own religion. This could be because even though you practice like a devout Buddhist your heart may propel you to be with your ancestors rather than any one of the Boddhisatva realms.

 

”The sages who have died, are present in this world to a greater extent than when they were alive.”  The Zohar

 Causal spirits retain free and can operate more freely than Astral guides. They can traverse throughout all realms to help and advise those spirits and be more present for those alive on the earth plane as well. 

Those that are dead are never gone

They are there in the thickening shadow

The dead are not under the earth

They are there in the tree that rustles

They are in the wood that groans

They are in the water that sleeps

They are in the hut

They are in the crowd

The dead are not dead.

Bizago Diap (Mali poet)

 

THE ASTRAL REALM AND RECONCILING WITH KARMA

 

We each create our own reality and will go to the realm that we have earned, whether Astral or possibly Causal. "We reap what we sow." Material achievements on their own count for very little unless done for the greater good and for their own sake alone. Spiritual laws apply whether we know about them, understand them or believe in them or not. The rules beyond the veil differ from those on the earth plane.

Most of us headed to one of the countless vibrations in the Astral realm because we have more spiritual work to do. Bishop Tutu once said that the standards for entering "heaven" are quite low.

The Astral guides or ancestors we see in dreams, especially in the early morning hours in REM sleep, are usually working through their karma and transitioning before reincarnating.

“When the Soul wants to experience something, she throws out an image of the experience in front of her and also steps into it.” M. Eckhart

 We navigate with our imagination and can create anything we wish. This is compelling at first but eventually becomes boring and the desire to do so dissipates. 

As we imagine it so it will be. For instance, the avid golfer can imagine the most spectacular golf course on which to play but every strike, will be a hole in one. There is no longer any tension and hence no challenge. 

The Astral and especially the lower Astral, can be in a type of hell. 

We lose our sensory bodies and so can experience sensation only by imagining it.

We lose touch with other vibrations and also possibly with those loved ones who have a different vibration. 

 

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 vibration and belief systems. This is why we may want to do our karmic work before death - we may not want to end up similarly to where we have always been.

DEATH #2

DEATH RITUALS

These are important. The dead want to feel cared for, to know they mattered. Hence obituaries, accolades, flowers, incense or anything they would have like or asked for should be honored.

This includes whether they wanted cremation or burial. The death stone should be appropriate to their wishes. The ashes should be attended to according to what they wanted or would have wanted. Prolonged grief and mourning as well as not having their requests fulfilled can delay the transition of the soul and keep it earth bound.

VISITATIONS

 

The soul may linger on the earth plane after burial for up to a month or more before crossing the veil between the worlds for a period of transition before rebirth. If the soul is perfected it enters the Causal Realm or the Pure Land of Buddhism or Garden of Eden of Kabbalah.

 

 During the earth bound period there may be visitations. 

Spirits can visit to announce their death to someone who may be far away and unable to hear the news. 

They also visit for closure and to ask for or give forgiveness. 

They may come to complain if there are disputes amongst the living re the will or other issues. 

Sometimes they need to inform someone about a vital matter that they had neglected while alive. 

It is not unusual for someone to pass a message from the spirit onto a loved one that the latter has been unable to receive. This may even be a stranger who is receptive to receiving messages from the dead.

 

Tibetan Buddhists look at the dream time as preparation for the Astral Imaginal realm after death. They say, as do other mystics, that the dream state is no different to the stages of death. 

Death goes through three basic stages, death, transition through the intermediate stage in the Astral and then rebirth. 

Sleep also has three stages, deep dreamless sleep, travel into the Astral Imaginal realms during R.E.M. sleep where we may encounter our guides or ancestors (usually reconciling with their karma) and then rebirth into a new day. 

Death > Intermediate Stage > Rebirth

Dreamless Sleep > Dream/REM Sleep > Awakening

By knowing one is dreaming one can better prepare for the Astral realm when dead and not getting lost across the veil. Lucid dreamers are more likely to be adept in this. 

Mystics seek to pierce the veil of Maya (illusion) to glimpse transcendent truth and awaken out of the illusion of life’s dream which is no different to the dream of sleep. They recognize sleep as preparation for the Bardot, the intermediate stage of death before rebirth.

Mahayana Buddhists and tantric Tibetan practitioners can practice entering the initial stages of the death experience short cutting the cord.

 

PROOF

Many scientists and doctors disagree that there is life after death or that consciousness resides outside of the brain. Research on Near Death Experiences helps to dispute this dogma and give us an idea of what to expect when we pass on. Although some have negative experiences most will describe it as life changing. Usually after traveling out of body they described it as going through a tunnel and then breaking into the light. This light feels like unconditional love and creates a sense of total bliss. The person then comes across a sort of barrier; a gate, a river or a lake or just the presence of a guide who tells them to go back, that it's not their time yet. When they come back, often reluctantly, they usually are never the same and are induced to go on a spiritual path. Children may have similar experiences. 

Although conventional medicine will interpret this as being due to hallucinations due to chemical changes in the brain from a lack of oxygen this does not seem to be the case. N.D.E. researchers have discovered some unusual facts relating to the person traveling out of body. They can recall  details of everything that happened during the resuscitation and conversations of loved ones even in the waiting room. One patient described seeing a sneaker on the ledge of the hospital as she ascended outside of it. The sneakers presence was confirmed by the researcher.

 Eben Alexander, a Harvard  trained neurosurgeon who never believed in N.D.E.'s changed his mind after he had his own and wrote a book on it called Proof of Heaven. 

Tibetan Budddists have documented similar experiences from folks who appeared to have died and came back. They are call Delogs, the most famous being Darma Drolma who described her experiences beyond the veil which lasted five days. 

More recently researchers have reported the Shared Crossing Experience where someone who is receptive can travel part of the way with the dying one.

The San Kalahari Bushmen are able to travel out of body in their out of body, spirit flight, trance dance. They call it the Little Death during which they can converse with the spirit world and attain information, not localized in space and time to help the clan. They ascend on what has been described as "Ropes to God." They return through this same connection of soul to body. Unexperienced initiates can sometimes  lose touch with these 'Ropes' and have a real death. 

Solomon in Ecclesiastes describe a silver cord that connects the soul to the body and allows the soul to find its way back. When we travel into the Astral realm in our dreams we are always connected to this cord. It has been said that when we have a startling awakening this can be due the soul coming back into the body after dream travel.