The God I had created in my own imagination was a God of wrath, a terrible judge, one without mercy, one to dread and fear. And that God I kept constantly before the eyes of my congregation. Was it any wonder then, when I came to the end of my earthly journey, that I should quail at the terrible prospect before me of having to face that Judge?
Needless to say, when in the body, I was not a happy man. How could I be happy holding such views? I had children and loved them tenderly, but I was afraid even to show my love for them. I tried to hide it, to crush it down, for my God was a jealous God… Even my wife I was afraid to love because of my jealous God.
I passed out of the body in fear and trembling, in an agony of despair and awoke at once to find I had been making an awful mistake. I found life in the spirit world fair and beautiful, peaceful and comforting; differing in every respect from the ‘Heaven’ of which I had ever had any conception. There was a home ready for me, a host of loved relatives, friends and acquaintances to welcome me, and absolute freedom of mind and body.” — Secret of Death
You’ll notice in the above that although the man “passed out of the body in fear and trembling,” he did not then go to a realm where others were of like mind. Angel Guides often meet the person just as they exit the body. This gives the Guides a chance to correct at least some errors of belief before the person is moved on to the place best matching their spiritual development. Also, with such people, the Guides tend to intervene near the Earth sphere where the substance is not so malleable to thought. In addition, his Guides probably surrounded him with a loving atmosphere to help him let go off his fear. Once he has calmed down and seen the beauty of the Afterlife realms, and the welcome surrounding him, he is able to come to his own conclusions about what the place is really like and leave his fear far behind him.
Meeting an Angel
In every passing over to the Afterlife, there is an Angel present who watches over. Sometimes the Angel will appear and sometimes they will simply remain invisible unless they are required. In this example, the Angel appears and even has wings – though they mostly don’t appear that way.
“I found myself free from my body. It was such a strange new feeling. I was standing close to the bedside on which my body was lying; I saw everything in the room just as before I closed my eyes. I did not feel any pain in ‘dying’; I felt only a great calm and peace. Then I awoke, and I was standing outside my old body in the room. There was no one there at first, just myself and my old body. At first I wondered as I was so strangely well. Then I saw that I had passed over.
I waited about a little; then the door opened and Mrs. H. [who had been looking after me] came in. She was very sad; she addressed my poor body as if it was myself. I was standing looking at her, but all her thoughts were upon the poor old body I had left behind. It seemed so absurd I could not help laughing. I did not try to speak at first; I waited to see what would happen.
Then I felt as though a great warm flood of light had come into the room, and I saw an angel. She, for at first, she seemed to be a female, came to me and said – ‘I am sent to teach you the laws of the new life.’ And as I looked, she gently touched me and said: ‘We must go.’
Then I left the room and my poor old body, and passed out. It was so strange; the streets were full of spirits. I could see them as we passed; they seemed to be just like ourselves. My angel had wings; they were beautiful. She was all robed in white. We went at first through the streets, then we went through the air, till we came to the place where we met friends who had passed on before…” — After Death: Letters from Julia
After being welcomed by friends, she began to feel a pull from those back on Earth. It was the grief of a loved one registering on her sensitive Afterlife body. Often Guides and helpers will try and mitigate such waves of grief and so allowing New Arrivals a chance to adjust. However, in this case, the bond was very strong so the Angel took her back for a visit to Earth.
“Then I began to be sad… and I wanted to go back; the angel took me swiftly through the air to where I came from. When I entered the death-chamber, there lay my body. It was no longer of interest to me, but I was so grieved to see how you were all weeping over [the] worn-out clothes [which were my old body]. I wished to speak to you. I saw you, darling, all wet with tears, and I was so sad I could not cheer you. I very much wanted to speak and tell you how near I was to you, but I could not make you hear. I tried, but you took no notice. I said to the angel – ‘Will it be always thus?’ She said, ‘Wait; the time will come when you will speak with her. But at present she cannot hear, neither can she understand.’” — After Death: Letters from Julia
She was then helped to move away and later made the comment:
“I cannot tell you everything; you could not understand it. But I am in a state of bliss such as we never imagined when on earth. I am with my friends who went before.” — After Death: Letters from Julia
More Examples
Here are a few more examples of people’s experience of passing over.
“I was ill for a time and left the old earth in an unconscious state. It seemed to me I was drifting, drifting slowly into the dark, but not a terrible dark; a time of rest in which I was content. Then into the darkness came a faint light and the light grew stronger and brighter, and through all my being there ran a thrill of life, life in abundance. Then I awoke to a vision such as I had never dreamed. Beauty, love, all seemed blending in one beneficent power about me, and I felt enveloped and translated into a bliss I had never imagined. Such is heaven.” — Life Here and Hereafter
“Will you try to conceive what it was to come without a moment's real preparation or any true idea of this life? Will you try to conceive the dense and unnecessary ignorance and fear? That is the tragedy of it all. Fear is so unnecessary and the change is so beautiful, if only one could hold the true spiritual thought and life there. I do not mean preaching and praying necessarily, but just a generous loving life of trying to help one's fellow men and cultivating a belief in a larger and better life here.” — Spirit World and Spirit Life
“I had only the old orthodox conceptions; a dim cloudy vision of harps and choirs and a sort of eternal Sunday. Aah! How I wish I could describe it to you! But I think I can only give you the idea of a natural life on earth, but with all pain and sorrow removed, all bickering, all quarrels, wars, or epidemics or disease, - in fact all evil, all discomfort, removed, and only happiness and joyous health and beauty of surroundings, and then friendships and occupations such as one’s heart desires. I feared to come, and regarded the approaching end as a fearful calamity, never knowing that it was the open door to a country so fair that I could have no regret.” — Life Here and Hereafter
In this chapter, we’ve looked at what people experience as they transit to the next world up until the point where they are met by either relatives or friends or an angel. The next chapter, we will look more deeply at what happens next.
Chapter 3: Arrivals - The Astral Plane Welcomes You!
“I cannot tell you everything; you could not understand it. But I am in a state of bliss such as we never imagined when on earth. I am with my friends who went before.” — After Death: Letters from Julia
Much of this chapter, and in the following chapters, may sound a bit too prosaic, too ordinary and not otherworldly enough. Yet, some human needs do no drastically change just because we have let go of a physical body – at least not right away. We can adapt gradually to the Afterlife, first starting off with that which is likely to be familiar and reassuring. This acts as a good basis to then explore further. Also, the more otherworldly aspects of the Afterlife are the ones which Afterlifers find the most difficult to express to us. They say we just do not have the words to allow them to get their message across. As the quote above puts it, “ I cannot tell you everything; you could not understand it.” We also need to keep in mind the background feeling of buoyancy, well-being and delight which can imbue even the more mundane sounding of experiences
in the Afterlife realms.
For the average person, going from life in a physical body on Earth to the Afterlife is a vast improvement. Having found ourselves on a new, delightful plane of existence, having been led to it by those who welcomed us, or having woken up to it in one of the Rest Halls, which act as reception centers, we will naturally be curious to know more about what lies ahead.
Guides
Initially, as already outlined in the first chapter, we are usually welcomed to our new life by a friend or relatives who will be familiar to us, or an Angel Guide, and who helps put us at our ease. They will often show us around and answer our questions and help us find our feet.
If we are met with an Angel Guide, they may also be someone very familiar to us, who we then recognize more fully, as it was they we were prompting and guiding us while on Earth.
“We have all our guides. These angels, unknown and unseen by us, prompt us to all good actions and dissuade us from evil. They are with us in thought, and we often receive their warnings as if they were the promptings of our own spirit. So they are; but the spirit which prompts is quite outside our own conscious self.” — After Death: Letters from Julia
"Each one there attracts some one here, and such a one is often desirous of helping the one on earth, and becomes what you call a 'guide.' Those on earth receive from teachers here, oftentimes not recognizing the source of the thought given to them; and so in a way, they are guided from here." – Spirit World and Spirit Life
Variety is the Spice of the Afterlife
Needs vary widely so the experience of arrival in the next life also varies widely. Particularly the realization that we have passed over can happen in many different ways. Many first find themselves waking up in one of the places that act as reception centers; others find themselves outside their body, while others find themselves in a beautiful nature spot in the Afterlife. What happens next depends on our needs. Some want peace and quiet for a while to take in the change with perhaps someone to explain things to them; others want to be surrounded by people they knew who have already passed on. Afterlife residents often delight in taking New Arrivals on a guided tour.
Amongst the variety, there are some common experiences. As New Arrivals, we would find ourselves in a very real body, which initially at least feels just like the one we had only better. It certainly does not feel like we have ‘lost’ anything. We feel more alive than we have ever felt. If we had been old or ill, we will especially notice that our aches and pains have completely gone.
The effects of old age gradually disappear and people revert to how they looked when they were at “the prime of life”. Those who die young gradually mature and also stabilize around about that same age too.
"We have a much better wearing body than the physical one we leave behind. It is composed of different elements from the physical one… In appearance, it is very much the same, but fresher looking. Lines and blemishes disappear, or rather are not apparent on the new body. Actually, it is not new, we have had it all the time. It is at first influenced a little by the age of a person in appearance, but grows older or younger till it reaches its most attractive period, maturity.” — Travellers Return
As we begin to discover where we are, we find ourselves with most of the advantages of life on Earth with none of the disadvantages. We can’t get ill or get aches and pains. Our new body can’t be damaged or injured. We don’t need to work to earn a living, but we can - eventually, when we are ready - engage in ‘work’ we find appealing. We can learn just about anything we want from the best teachers (who love to share what they know) and unlimited facilities. We can fulfill un-lived longings to learn or do something; to paint, play music, to travel or whatever.
In the Afterlife, we are in a beautiful environment that matches our own tastes and needs. It is a vast realm, which we are free to explore and with the time and means to do so, if we want. If we just want to spend some time staying in a cozy corner somewhere and catching up with old friends and relatives who passed on before us we can do so.
We no longer have the fear and worries of earth life; about money, health, and of course we no longer have the fear of death, or fears about what is going to happen to our loved ones when they ‘die’.
Those Left Behind on Earth
Many new arrivals naturally want to rush back and tell their loved ones, left behind on earth, the good news and want to let them know all about what it is really like in the Afterlife. However, this is usually discouraged (but in no way prevented) by Afterlife friends and helpers for a number of reasons and such visits back to the site of passing are usually kept short. The grief of those left behind can create a dark, heavy atmosphere and a ‘pull’ back to earth. Friends, or family members, who have already adjusted to having passed over are often better placed to help the ones left behind, but they cannot always get through.
“I was often with you during the last illness of your dear one, and oh I did so want to help you, but I could not make you see me or hear. I was with you that day when she came over to our side. We were all waiting round for her, and I felt it would have been such a comfort to you, to have told you just how happy she was with her mother and husband and the others. But, alas!... we could not make you hear anything.” — After Death: Letters from Julia
When we pass over, it is only natural that we will feel connections of love and affection for those still on the earth. Yet, the grieving process, mourning ‘death’ rather than celebrating ‘new life’, acts as a strong barrier against communication between the two worlds and makes it much more difficult. Communication with people on the earth is usually easier when their feelings settle down.
Descriptions of the Afterlife
"I find it nearly impossible to describe what I have seen and heard. I feel I express myself so badly when I try to tell you about those conditions of life which are not in any way akin to the physical world, because the language in which they could be expressed is beyond ordinary words. The language of spirit is so different and so vast in its terms. There is so much to be comprehended which is not known even to your greatest scientists and philosophers.” – Letters From Mother
It is important to be aware that messages from those in the Afterlife, from many different sources, say again and again that it is a big challenge for them to even begin to get across the wonders of the life they are experiencing. The sense of time there is very different from how we experience it and they can travel instantly from place to place, or even ‘fly’ through the air, with a little bit of practice. They can see colors that are completely unknown to us; experience music and art forms unique to those realms and so on. And they can take as much time as they want to explore and enjoy the world around them.
They learn to create things with their mind that become ‘solid’ on those realms till such times as they don’t need or want those things any more. Some delight in specializing in using those mental skills in the fields of art, architecture, landscaping and so on, to create objects, environments and places for others to also enjoy.
Another thing they have difficulty putting across is the sense of wellbeing pervading their lives. When we go there, we will also discover that there is a feeling of a benign presence that enfolds and in-fills us to the extent that we are open to it. This benign presence does not impose and does not intrude; it is simply available to us when we are willing to allow it in.
When we pass over, it will be much easier to understand what it is really like, though, of course, the whole point of their communications is to begin to give us at least some small idea of it.
In reading communications from the Afterlife, it helps to keep in mind a few points:
A) That the communicators are expressing their personal experiences and preferences and that our idea of ‘heaven’ might be very different and we would have experiences more aligned with our own temperament.
B) That they are limited by our use of language and are trying to convey things such as colors we do not see.
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C) Much of their happiness comes from the ’atmosphere’ and environment where they live: they not only have let go of earthly worries such as money and time pressure and stress; they additionally have access to the sense of a benign presence, that gives them a feeling of wellbeing and delight far in advance to what is normally available on earth.
D) They have not suddenly transformed into all-knowing beings: They are still learning and can give wrong or one-sided, and even wrong, information simply out of not yet having wide enough experience of the Afterlife.
We can get around these challenges by looking to multiple sources of information about the Afterlife and getting a general impression from comparing them. We can them give the most credence to those that seem the most consistent and compelling.
"This is a wonderful world for happy relationships. I think people meet those they can be happy with. There is much more harmony in our world, where we know the truth about life and God. We realize there is nothing to fear. Fear is one of the real causes of discord. People are afraid of each other or of life, or many things that can happen in the old world. They are afraid of losing money, jobs, health, or one’s friends. Here we can lose nothing. So there is no more fear. Because we have that peace of mind, we can really enjoy life to the full.” — Travellers Return
Going Home
For many, though not for everyone, having a sense of place includes the desire to have a house, a ‘home’, and a base, of some kind. This naturally means that people often want to have a house in the Afterlife too. And why not, since it is a world created and sustained by thought? It is one of the ways people can live out unfulfilled yearnings they had while alive on earth: either having a home as grand as they always dreamed of, or just somewhere nice and cozy looking. Some may not feel the need of a house, and some may let go of the idea later, but in the beginning, it is often part of what people feel as being normal and natural to them. Since having a house feels so ‘right’ to so many people it is very common – especially on the spheres near the Earth.
Afterlife Adventures Page 4
