I
could see clearly straight ahead, but my field of view
was narrow and I could not
see more than 60 or 70 degrees to either side. Slowly,
I scanned the horizon in all directions. In the distance,
I saw a small cluster of low dwellings and a number of
people either walking slowly in small groups or standing
and talking together. They looked up and welcomed us
warmly as we drew near. One separated himself from the
group and approached us.
Up until then I had no hint that anything was wrong, but the realization
suddenly dawned on me that I was dead, and so were my four companions.
I needed some answers and I began questioning the entity that had come
to meet us.
" Where are we?" I asked.
He responded telepathically. This is the Learning Place and I am your
guide. All Essences, or what are also called Souls, come here after making
the transition. Here we meet other members of our Group Soul, some of
whom had been our friends, relatives or loved ones during our earthly
incarnations. We also make new acquaintances with other Group Souls that
we subsequently encounter on the physical plane.
"This
place seems vaguely familiar. Have I been here before?" I
wondered
But
of course, we have all been here many times.
" Why don't I clearly remember it, then? I'm very confused," I admitted.
Those whose lives are ended violently or suddenly may not have had time
to prepare for their transition from the physical to the spiritual plane.
You will soon readjust to your ethereal body and your memory will return
after a short transition.
A
woman who had arrived with me began to cry. "I'm
a devout Christian! Why have I come here? Why haven't
I gone to Heaven?"
You
are disturbed because of your religious programming.
Here there is no religion, which is an invention of
the earth plane to help people understand that there
is a universal creative force and an existence after
physical death. However, the true nature of the afterlife
has unfortunately been corrupted, distorted or embellished
into such a diversity of religious credos and beliefs
that the reality of it has nearly been lost. Do not
worry, you will not be here for eternity. Soon you
will return to the physical world and resume your quest
to return to the ONE.
I
noticed several people picking the fallen snow off
the ground and eating it. I asked our guide about it.
It is not snow. It is manna, which is the food of the spirit. If we have
brought over any spiritual hunger from the earth plane the manna will
satisfy it. Since we are in the realm of spirit we require neither food
nor drink, but the manna is there if someone hungers for it. Try some.
I scooped up a handful of the powdery stuff, pressed it into a flat patty
and tasted it. The others cautiously followed my example. It had the
consistency of a crisp meringue and was tasteless, but its effect was
electrifying. My peripheral vision immediately broadened from the previous
narrow span to a wide angle. I also could see long distances very clearly,
as if I were looking through a camera's telephoto lens.
Our
guide took us to the highest point of the barren plateau
and pointed to the distant horizon. Far below us, spreading
out from all sides of our desolate viewpoint, we beheld
a verdant garden: beautiful emerald trees of all description,
turquoise lakes, lush green fields and rolling golden
meadows. We gathered around him and asked him to tell
us more.
There
is our ultimate goal. When we have experienced Love
in all of its infinite and universal manifestations,
and all of our karmic responsibilities have been fulfilled,
we shall achieve our reunion with the ONE in that place
yonder. Each being is part of the fabric of the Universe
and is motivated by an overwhelming innate desire to
return to the ONE. Upon our reunion with the ONE we
take with us those lessons generated by our myriad
experiences, both the positive and the negative.
"Who
or what is the ONE?" I asked.
The
ONE is the Central Creative Force of the Universe:
the source of all Love, the dynamo of all Power, the
wellspring of all Time, the fount of all Knowledge.
The ONE and the Universe are One! The ONE is the consciousness
of all universes, visible and invisible. The ONE is
neither spirit nor body, nor any form which we can
conceive. The ONE is pure other droplets. As these
droplets join together they become a rivulet: this
is a Group Soul. The myriad rivulets then become small
creeks and larger streams which, in turn, combine to
become mighty rivers.
Finally,
just as all rivers of water flow into the sea, the
rivers of Souls join the Collective Unconscious, as
Jung called it. This is the point at which the Group
Souls unite with the ONE. Some Groups evolve more rapidly
than others, but it is important that all souls in
the group stay together to help each other in their
development.
A question formed in my mind. "Have we really lived other lives
in the past?"
Of
course, and you can recall them if you desire to, but
do not be deceived by the illusion of time. Since time
does not exist here, we have no conception of the passage
of time and we have no control over the period of history
when we reincarnate. However, if the time span is too
great from the period of the last incarnation an Essence
may experience difficulty in adjusting to the different
cultural vibrations it encounters. If an Essence is
unable to adapt it may decide to exit that life prematurely.
If the Essence is successful, however, it can be very
valuable to the planet's spiritual, cultural
and psychological development when it eventually returns to a more primitive
zone of time.
"In
what way?" I asked, telepathically.
Take,
for example, Pythagorus, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart,
or Jules Verne. From whence did they receive their
genius? Was it in their genes? Not exactly! The answer
is that these Essences had once incarnated in a period
of time when science, technology, music or philosophy
was very advanced. After their deaths they reincarnated
into ancient Greece, Europe during the Renaissance,
or the eighteenth and nineteenth century, taking with
them the knowledge and talent they had gained in their
journeys through time. That is all that genius is:
the recollection and application of knowledge or talent
already learned.
We
returned to the community and strolled around, talking
to strangers and old friends. Suddenly, in the crowd,
I saw an Essence who had been one of my daughters who
had transitioned before me: We remembered and embraced
joyfully. I looked at the Essence carefully. Although
familiar, her spirit Essence was very different from
the daughter I remembered. I inspected the other Essences
more closely. We had what appeared to be physical bodies,
but everyone was the same age, height and weight, yet
each had a distinct identity. Because we were in timelessness,
we were neither young nor old, black nor white. But
I also observed that the ethereal body is not androgynous.
Like all things, the Essence has natural positive and
negative energies; the ying and yang. The Essence that
had been my daughter was, in reality, a male. We had
shared more than one incarnation together and were
linked karmically by circumstances that I did not yet
fully understand.
"I
am a male Essence. What happens if I incarnate in a
female body?" I wondered, silently.
Our
spiritual growth depends upon our ability to learn
all aspects of Love and to experience it in all forms
as both male and female. Most Essences adjust to a
different sexual orientation with little or no problem.
However, if a male Essence repeatedly incarnates as
a female and becomes adjusted to that gender, and then
has an incarnation in a male form, he may carry some
of the female psychology over into the male identity.
The same is true of a
female Essence who has been in a succession of male lives and suddenly
finds herself back in a female role.
Homosexuality
and transvestitism result from this gender confusion,
and it is something that many Essences experience in
one incarnation or another. It is neither a genetic
condition nor one caused by societal influences. Nor
is it either a person's conscious or subconscious decision.
It is simply something that requires a period of readjustment.
For example, suppose you put your left shoe on your
right foot. It would feel uncomfortable at first, but
if you left it on for a long time your right foot would
gradually, if painfully, adjust to the different shape
of the shoe. Then, if you put the left shoe back on
the correct foot it would again feel strange, would
it not?
"Are
we here to be judged for our sins or our 'misused energies',
as you call them?" I asked.
No-one
judges us. The Learning Place is not what some religions
call purgatory for we are not here to be purged of
our sins. Rather, it is what mystics call the “astral
plain.” It is here that we weigh the heaviness
of our hearts against the feather of truth, discover
whom we have offended, and decide on how we can rectify
those wrongs . It is we who judge our actions and determine
our own karmic responsibilities according to how we
have used the life force entrusted to us and atone
for our misuse of the ONE's energy. Thus,
we mature spiritually and prepare ourselves for our
eventual reunion with the ONE – although in reality
we are never completely disunited from the ONE.
The
group began moving down the hill to join with others,
but I hung back saying I had forgotten something and
that I would catch up with them. As I separated myself
from the group, the recollection of all my past lives
suddenly flashed into my memory.
Like
the fragments of a shattered hologram, my experiences
began arranging themselves into a three-dimensional
picture. But something was wrong: the picture was incomplete.
Clearly, there were still karmic responsibilities to
be satisfied and lessons to be learned before my reunification
could occur. I still had not experienced Love in all
of its myriad manifestations. Suddenly an urgency overwhelmed
me – an impatience to return to the physical
plane and resume the search for my missing fragments.
As soon as this thought flashed into my mind, my feet
left the ground and I found myself floating in the
air, drawn along by the ever-present wind. Eventually,
I began to descend and I looked down. Below me was
a yawning hole. I was sucked down into a darkness that
seemed endless. Gently, I touched down in the center
of a jumbled hilltop village crowded with other Essences.
Many side streets lead from the square and disappeared
down the steep hill.
I
looked around and saw that the village consisted of
a variety of small shops, but nothing was being sold.
Instead, in the window of each shop a different scenario
was being enacted. In the first one was a group of
female essences who asked me to enter and join them.
I declined to spend my next incarnation as a prostitute.
In
the next store window I beheld male essences dancing,
drinking and cavorting. They beckoned to me, but that
lifestyle would not help me to achieve the spiritual
growth I required, so I demurred. One after another
I peered into each window and saw doctors operating,
dentists drilling, scholars studying, politicians orating,
teachers lecturing, merchants buying and selling, mechanics
repairing, farmers planting, secretaries typing. Every
conceivable occupation was depicted, but none seemed
right for me.
Then
I saw a group of male and female figures sitting in
a room, singing together in beautiful harmony. I knew
this was where I belonged and that my next task was
to learn to love and perform beautiful music. I entered
and took my place with them. Before long, however,
I felt the summons. I left the building and began walking
down the pathway next to it: the Path of Life. The
path became ever steeper before I came to where my
guide was standing.
Remove
your clothing and cover yourself with this.
I
was handed a short gown, not unlike those worn in hospitals.
I covered myself and was instructed to wait in front
of a circular door for a signal that would transport
me into a receptivewomb in a period of time not of
my own choosing.
A
female Essence standing by a nearby door began to weep. "They've
taken all my clothes!" she cried.
"Don't
worry, you still have your gown," I said, trying
to comfort her.
"What
did you say?" A voice echoed across the canyon
of time.
"You
still have your green gown," I repeated, groggily.
As I spoke, I opened my eyes and looked up into my
beloved's smiling face, as she stood by the side of
the bed holding two steaming mugs of fresh coffee.
"You've
been talking in your sleep," she remarked.
"Come
and sit down here beside me, darling. I've just had
the most remarkable dream!" I mumbled sleepily.
I fumbled for one of the mugs of coffee she held, still
stunned by the impact of my revelation.
"Tell
me about it," she urged.
Struggling
for words, I began:
"I
was in an elevator, not unlike the ones with a big
panoramic window that you see in some large shopping
malls. It was pitch black... "
Top
of Page
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I had always
heard that if you dreamed of your own death you'd never wake
up. Well, that's wrong, because I did and I'm still here, but
it was the most vivid dream I've ever had. Some people may
call it a nightmare, but there was nothing very frightening
about it. It was more like... familiar. Perhaps it was either
a vision of something that has already happened, or will occur
in the future.
