I asked God to help me interpret the dream, which I did in the following manner: I woke up understanding why “good works” alone are not sufficient to reach the Heaven of “Eternal Life.”
It is because there are many different heavens.
Christ’s Mansion is Earth University and the seven heavens over it are the many mansions within our Father’s house described by Jesus Christ. The first floor of the Mansion is the first level of Heaven filled with the good ballroom dancers, honest people who have done good works on Earth. As James 2:24 says, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Their good works are weighed and counted during the Judgment at the end of their life. If good outweighs evil, a soul will at least enter the first level of Heaven. When evil outweighs good, the soul is sent to “lower” darker planes or existences often referred to as Hell or “outer darkness.”
The opportunity of “salvation” illustrated in the dream is available to all who “dance” in the Mansion of Earth University. The good people still carry the burden of mistakes (sin) they have made in their life, which makes them fall short of “God’s glory.” My dream showed me the ballroom dancers can “plug” into Grace anytime to remove the burden of their sins, which affect the depth, and vibration of Love in their heart, but most of these souls—both Christians and non-Christians—do not notice and even ignore the opportunity. Once they “plug” into Grace, they have additional opportunity to grow by going up the elevator to God’s higher Realms of Heaven.
This includes born-again Christians who still feel their post conversion “mistakes” will bar them from entry into the Heaven of “Eternal Life.” Christ can still remove the dark marks of sin anytime in Heaven and on Earth, while one works on becoming an example of unconditional love and forgiveness.
While my belief about good works, salvation and Heaven is different from traditional Christian teachings, it does not conflict with Scripture. The Truth is: 4.8 billion non-Christians will not perish. The “bad guys” will be sent or resigned to darker, lower realms discussed in chapter 19, Tragedy, Evil, and Hell. Good souls will enter at least the first level of Heaven when they die. Perhaps, it is why the Dead Saints find both the “unsaved” and the “saved” in the Realms of Heaven they see.
One thing is clear. They describe a path to Heaven open to all who believe and have faith; a path ruled by “the condition of the heart”—a quality of character defined by love, integrity, honesty, and goodness. It is who we are, not the religion we profess or the words we say. John says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to Him, and will sup with Him, and he with me.”
~Ponder in your heart: That which is closest to the truth can be used as the most dangerous untruth. ~Chronicle 965
—
Endnotes
1Bridget F NDE, #1654, 07.21.08, NDERF.org
2http://www.near-death.com/experiences/notable/david-oakford.html
3Freke, Timothy and Peter Gandy 1999. The Jesus Mysteries. Three Rivers Press, Crown Publishing Group. pp. 6-7.
4Ibid. p.5.
5Paul Solomon, in a Seminary Come Alive Bible class in 1984, talked about the controversy and differences between the mystical Christ and the historical Jesus. Quoted from transcripts, Paul Solomon 1982. A Closer Walk with Jesus. 8 CD’s. Ireland, UK: Paul Solomon Foundation.www.paulsolomon.com.
6Paul Solomon 2003. The Meta-Human, Twice-Born. Ireland, UK. Paul Solomon Foundation. Originally published by the Master’s Press, 1985. p. 27.
7Deuteronomy 6:4.
8Paul Solomon 2003. The Meta-Human, Twice-Born. Ireland, UK. Paul Solomon Foundation. Originally published by the Master’s Press, 1985. p. 27.
9(NIV) John 10:29
10(NIV) John 10:31-39
11I Corinthians 15:20
12Ibid. p.27.
13Nicholas P’s NDE, #676, 09.03.05, NDERF.org
14A New Hope NDE, #270, aleroy.com/board270.htm
15Julie H NDE, #3228, 01.15.13, NDERF.org
16Chamisa H NDE, #2170, 02.26.10, NDERF.org
17Jean K NDE, #2555, 01.01.11, NDERF.org
18The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Shmita (Sabbatical years). On the following (50th) year, the Jubilee, according to Leviticus 25;8-13, occurred on the Day of Atonement: slaves and prisoners were freed, debts were forgiven, and the mercies of God were particularly manifest. The entire year was considered Holy.
19Yeshua is the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Joshua.” Iesous is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Jesus.” Thus, the names “Joshua” and “Jesus” are essentially the same; both are English pronunciations of the Hebrew and Greek names for Jesus.
20Irene A NDE, #1231, 10.14.07, NDERF.org
21Shalom G’s NDE, #448, .08.09.04, NDERF.org
22John C’s NDE, #275, 04.17.03, NDERF.org
23Raymond N. Rogers September 2004. Abstract. Thermochimica Acta 425 (2005) 189–194.
24http://www.newgeology.us/presentation24.html. Based on the Article, The Shroud of Turin, Evidence it is authentic? J Michael Fischer, adapted from the original article by John C. Iannone.
25Ibid. web article.
26Giulio Fanti and Pierandrea Malfi 2015. The Shroud of Turin: First Century after Christ! Singapore: Pan Stanford. p.197.
27Shaver Parker, Jr. May 06, 2013. The Daily News: Science Shines New Light on Shroud of Turin’s Age. While questions have been raised about his methodology, an Italian researcher’s novel use of test procedures suggests the shroud is indeed 2,000 years old. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/science-shines-new-light-on-shroud-of-turins-age/#ixzz3zyPZwF4
28Numerous surgeons and pathologists have studied the Crucifixion wounds on the Shroud (including Dr. Frederick Zugibe (Medical Examiner-Rockland, New York), Dr. Robert Bucklin (Medical Examiner-Las Vegas, Nevada), Dr. Herman Moedder (Germany), the late Dr. Pierre Barbet (France), and Dr. David Willis (England)
29Barbara Frale 2012. The Templars and the Shroud of Christ. Skyhorse Publishing. p.196.
30Ibid. p. 202. See also, Marion and Courage, Nouvelles dècouvertes, forward by Christian Imbert (director in chief, Institute d’Optique and of I’Ecole Superieure d’Optique d’Orsay), pp. 7-10.
31Ibid. pp. 202-204.
32Barbara Frale April 2004. Abstract. The Chinon chart: Papal absolution to the last Templar, Master Jacques de Molay. Journal of Medieval History, 30,.2, pp. 109–134.
33Stephen E. Jones July 9, 2009. The Shroud of Turin. My commentary on Shroud of Turin related matters. http://theshroudofturin.blogspot.com/2009/07/re-there-is-compelling-evidence-it-is.html. See also, Moroni, M., 1991, Pontius Pilate’s Coin on the Right Eye of the Man in the Holy Shroud, in the Light of the New Archaeological Findings, in Berard, A., ed., 1991, “History, Science, Theology and the Shroud,” Symposium Proceedings. St. Louis Missouri, June 22-23, 1991, The Man in the Shroud Committee of Amarillo, Texas: Amarillo TX, p.286.
34Based on the Article, The Shroud of Turin, Evidence it is authentic, J Michael Fischer, adapted from the original article by John C. Iannone.
35Based on the Article, The Shroud of Turin, Evidence it is authentic, J Michael Fischer, adapted from the original article by John C. Iannone.
36 Micki P’s NDE, #328, 11.02.03, NDERF.org
37Vinnie G NDE, #1094, 04.23.07, NDERF.org
38Ken R. Vincent Ed.D. 2005. Journal of Near-Death Studies. Abstract, Resurrection Appearances of Jesus as After-Death Communication. Houston, TX. Excerpts taken from (Maxwell & Tschudin. pp. 77–78), p. 142.
39John F’s NDE, #61, 12.03.00, NDERF.org
40Rob D NDE, #1216, 10.06.07, NDERF.org
— 24 —
The 13th Path
The Journey
of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lao Tzu
Approaching-Death Dream: A wolf bites off the roots of one of my Bonsai trees, killing it. As I traveled down the road, I passed by a Japanese maple nursery. A Bonsai master lived in a house on the nursery grounds, and I stopped in to see him. I noticed everything in his home was in perfect order. Nothing was out of place. I told him I had taught Bonsai, but he spoke almost no English. Soon, several other Bonsai teachers came in. We were all excited because it was so unusual to get so many Bonsai teachers together to share our love for the art. I then saw the remaining Bonsai tree the wolf hadn’t killed. I looked closely at the top third of the tree, and noticed I had wrapped copper wire too tightly around the main trunk, choking off its circulation. The bark was falling off. The tree was rotting and dying. It would only be a short time before the top of the tree would break off. ~Chronicle 865
In Japanese gardens, pathways are composed of stone and gravel, and when we walk on them, they make a crunching sound. The sound makes us conscious of our footsteps and surroundings.
Our life is a “Zen journey.” We picked up a walking stick and began stepping on these granite stones. Our experiences, our lessons, and our classes have been closely monitored by our Inner Teacher, the Christ, and our Planetary Headmaster. His servants—Rice Paper Teachers, professors, teaching assistants, family, friends and angels—have left a trail of breadcrumbs to help us pass the syllabus designed for us before we were born. These lessons derived from the 12 pillars of Life, help us evolve and grow so we can accomplish our Mission and graduate Earth University with our intended Bachelor, Masters or Doctorate—with honours.
The story of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles, describes the 12 paths of Earth University with Jesus standing as its central pillar, a 13th path to God. The Book of Revelation reflects this same philosophy. It describes a Virgin woman in Heaven, crowned with 12 stars, the Sun and Moon beneath her feet, preparing to birth a child, a 13th archetype, known in mythology and legend as The Redeemer. The 12 is repeated again (Revelation 21:12-14) describing the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven—its 12 gates looking like pearls, with 12 angels representing the 12 tribes of the children of Israel and its 12 foundations representing the 12 apostles of the Lamb (Christ).
At the centre of the Holy City, in the midst of the street on either side of a river, is the Tree of Life, which bears 12 manner of fruits every month (Revelation 22:1-2). Here again, the Tree of Life stands at the centre of New Jerusalem and represents the Christ, a 13th archetype, who declares, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
This ancient teaching, impressing itself in modern times, describes the mysterious importance of the 13th path. In previous chapters, we referred to the 12 paths as part of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil—a path of birth, death, reincarnation; a path represented by a serpent swallowing its tail: a path of evolution, but also a path described as a curse. Yet, in Revelation 22:3, for those who overcome, “There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and His servants shall serve Him.” The curse of death and rebirth will end. Revelation 21:4 promises when this occurs, there will be an end to all sorrows:
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
In Revelation 21:22-25:
And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the Light of it, and the kings of the Earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day—for there shall be no night there.
The Dead Saints describe Heaven as a place with no tears, no sorrow, no pain, no sun, and no moon. There is no contradiction between Scripture and the Dead Saint experience. They consider the City of God in Heaven, the New Jerusalem, our heavenly Home. However, both the Apostle John and the Dead Saints believe the City of God will someday descend from Heaven and manifest on this physical Earth. When will this occur? When we begin walking the 13th path—the path of redemption, love and forgiveness.
Walking the 13th Path
How do we walk the 13th path and bring down the Holy City to Earth? To reiterate, the 13th path doesn’t deny the 12 paths. They are fruit from the Tree of Life for the healing of the nations, (overcoming), but offers a faster way to evolve through the lessons of the 12.
One powerful mystical-death experience describes the 13th path. It happened in 1995 to Afshin Javid, an ex-Hezbollah Iranian extremist who was captured carrying 300 passports across the Syrian border and jailed. During his incarceration, Afshin had a dramatic encounter with Jesus, an experience foreign to his religious beliefs at the time. Afshin was a fervent, Islamic Shiite. He prayed five times or more a day and read the Qur’an cover to cover every ten days. Then one day during his jail term, Afshin felt a “spirit” enter the room. It frightened him. He tried to use every tool Islam had taught him and prayed in the name of Allah, “I rebuke you!” He used all of these prayers, but nothing helped:
In that moment, I was totally desperate. I felt like this spirit was choking the life out of me-—that I was dying.
I then cried out to the heavens saying, ‘God, help me!’
Immediately, I heard a voice as clear as day saying, ‘Great is the name of Jesus.’ I felt like a man drowning. ‘When you are thrown a rope, you never question the color of the rope. You just grab on…. So I did.’
I cried, ‘If you are really true, show yourself!’ I wonder to this day, ‘Why did I word it that way? Why didn’t I just say, Jesus help me?’ I didn’t know why, but that’s the way it came out. And before I was finished with the sentence, everything went back to normal.
Now, this was not my conversion to becoming a Christian; it was only the beginning of my confusion. I thought, ‘Why would Jesus help a Muslim?’ I would have been a martyr for Allah, and would have walked on mines and sacrificed my life. I thought I had done everything I could do to fight the infidels.
So the question came back, ‘Why would Jesus help a Muslim?’ Over and over I said to myself, ‘I believe in Mohammad the last prophet. I believe in Allah.’
This supernatural encounter confused Afshin. He desperately needed an answer. He demanded God to show him the right path. There are verses in the Qur’an, which say the ways of Allah are many, and no matter what part of the mountain we climb, we always arrive at the same mountaintop. Afshin thought, ‘Maybe God has a specific purpose for me?’ Frantic, he decided he was going too fast, and prayed to find an answer. From the bottom of his heart and with all his strength Afshin asked God, ‘What is it that you want me to do? Which way do you want me to follow?
I wrestled and demanded of God every waking moment for two weeks the simple question, ‘What do you want me to do?’ And every waking moment, I fasted, prayed, and then fell asleep with the haunting question, repeating over and over in my mind. For two weeks no answer came. Then out of sheer frustration, I shouted, ‘Then forget it God! I am over it. I don’t even know if you really exist! I feel like I’ve wasted my entire life. I have been afraid all my life. I’ve tried to do everything that would please you.’ I felt if Allah could see my heart, God would know I truly loved him. Still, I wondered, ‘Does it really matter what I called God? And if it does matter, why isn’t He responding after praying for two weeks?
Then, in that precise moment, I felt the power of God fill the room. In Islam, the greatest sin you can commit, and you cannot be forgiven, is to doubt God. I thought I had done that. In Islam, God never visits human beings. I thought I could never be forgiven for that because God’s presence was in the room, a great holiness, which pressed the weight of my sin upon me.
I knew God was just and I expected to be killed—wiped from the face of the Earth for my doubt. I truly believed I had no chance to live, and I cried because I literally did not want to die. The Being before me was so holy, and I felt so wicked. I retreated into the corner of the jail cell, buried my head in my hands, and cried out, ‘God forgive me!’
As I was crying, I felt a touch on my shoulder, ‘I forgive you.’ And in that very instant, I physically felt like I was forgiven. In Islam, you cannot be forgiven until the Day of Judgment. That’s why there are no verses in the Qur’an that say Mohammad is in Heaven (Al- ‘Akhirah). He must wait his turn like all the other people for the day of Qi amah (Qur’an 4:141), the Day of Resurrection at the end of time, where the people will be divided, some will enter Jannah (paradise) and some will enter Jahannam (hell-fire) during the Judgment (Yaumud-Din).
So Afshin wondered, ‘Who is this God who says… ‘I forgive you and I am forgiven?’
I asked, ‘Who are you?’
Then I heard the words, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’
The moment I heard it, I knew they were of great importance, but I had absolutely no idea what it meant. I had no clue who God was, so I asked again, ‘What is your name?’
And I heard, ‘Jesus Christ. The Living God.’ The moment He spoke those words, ‘It was as if every single bone was taken out of my body, and I just fell down to the ground and started weeping.’
Standing before the Presence of Jesus Christ, Afshin just wept:
18 years have gone by and I cannot forget his Love and his Mercy. I cannot forget what happened to me that day.1 (I highly recommend you watch the 9-minute You Tube of Afshin’s testimonial)
When we stand in the Holy Presence of God, our soul becomes ecstatic. There is a tendency to prostrate, even as I did in my post NDE dream before Christ when I was 16 and in my living room in October 2011 during my Near-Death Lightning experience. John, in Revelation 1:17, describes this same moment, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.”
The Dead Saints Chronicles: A Zen Journey Through the Christian Afterlife Page 41
