The belief held by many Christians and Muslims is: Moses and Elijah represent evidence that death brings a sleep of unconsciousness until the Final Judgment at the end of time. Why do many believe this theology? The whole crux of the matter is this: There would be no need of a bodily resurrection if everyone immediately went to Heaven to live in Christ’s presence at death. Similarly, translation to Heaven would have no special significance because everyone would go to Heaven immediately after they died. Orthodox religion wants you to believe you sleep until the Final Judgment, but overwhelming evidence described by the Dead Saints and scriptural proof of a conscious Moses and Elijah, support an entirely different theology. While some appear to sleep, most souls enter one of the many levels of the Kingdom of Heaven conscious and awake immediately after their Life Review and Judgment.
There are several other examples of the dead being contacted by the living in the Bible, including Saul’s contact with a dead, but conscious Samuel. It is interesting to observe how an entire body of theology becomes a universal teaching, even in the face of direct evidence, its beliefs may, in fact, be wrong. I believe the original inspired visions of the prophets, apostles and Saints are true. I also believe the original meaning of some sacred Scriptures over the course of thousands of years and multiple translations and revisions has been lost or changed. If this were not so, why would thousands of Dead Saints return to life and describe a dramatically different reality?
In the end, I believe God is not a God who indiscriminately chooses to awaken whomever he wants before Judgment Day. Thousands of Dead Saints are waking up in Heaven, meeting God and Jesus, and coming back to talk about it.
Now, perhaps, there may be some grand human universal Judgment before our Creator at the “end of time.” Who knows? However, until then, I feel you can be sure at the end of your life, this time around, you will be afforded an opportunity to join Jesus, the prophets and friends and family, and have an awake conversation with them. It’s not an exclusive club. The accumulated evidence from the Dead Saints is clear about this. Offended or outraged members of various dogmatic doctrines may try to use Scripture as evidence against the Dead Saints encounters and testimonies, but I believe, a better approach is to take a closer look at Scripture to understand its deeper meanings.
Readers familiar with the New Testament may wonder about the statement by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 9:27 “It is appointed unto men to die once, then after this the Judgment.” This verse is often cited as proof humans die only once. However, if this verse affirms people experience but a single death, this of itself excludes those biblical characters who were “raised from the dead” i.e., experienced death more than once (Jesus excepted). Other Bible Prophets-Enoch, Elijah, and Melchizedek—apparently did not die at all.
The statement by the Apostle Paul (Hebrews 9:27) is also contradicted by the thousands of near-death situations where physical death is medically verified, but the Dead Saint is resuscitated. In the face of such overwhelming evidence, the apparent meaning of “dying once” and then facing the Judgment is difficult to dismiss. When we die, we face the Judgment after we review our Book of Life.
What is the Book of Life?
In our walk through Earth University, our actions and thoughts are daily entries into what Christianity calls our Book of Life. Eastern mystics call this book the “Akashic Record,” the record of our thoughts and actions. Every minute and every second of our lives are recorded in this Book of Life.
Mark describes how life is literally written in The BOOK of LIFE:
I slowly sank to the bottom of the pool, where I stayed for five or more minutes with a water-filled body. After a short while, I sensed Angels gathering around me; it was peaceful. Then, I was maybe 20 to 30 feet above the pool, looking down at my friend diving into the pool to save me. The Angels took me up to a gathering of clouds. There were a few Romanesque pillars with green ivy, and an archway in the back. I had seven Angels holding me up and four in front of me on the landing. Three were very animated and discussing what to do with me, the fourth angel kept me company.
I looked around and saw very large pure love orbs with silhouettes of human souls - like a chalk outline of a dead body. I looked down at our Earth and it was brown and moving, and alive with all of the souls it takes to make our planet whole; our Earth is alive, as you are. I saw Heaven, a little to my left behind the pillars. It has gold wrought iron fencing with spikes on top. I saw the pearly gates. My three angels, still perplexed as to how to get me back to my body - did not like my response of, ‘I don’t want to go back down there; it is painful.’
‘You Must! Your Mission is Not Yet Complete!’
We communicated telepathically; no lips or mouth movements; all thoughts. Moment by moment you discover how quickly you are gaining knowledge and how easy it is to accept. My Three Angels sought permission from above to show me something. The clouds above their heads lit up as they cringed in fear, as did I.
‘Show Him!’ was the response. The Angels flew me over to the right of these pillars to what looked like a HUGE 4-Foot Thick Book of LIFE. MY Life. Just as my life had passed before my eyes when I was being drowned, I was now being shown my future life, with as much info as I could remember. Imagine a deck of cards—each card has a scene/event from your life. Now flip those cards in front of your face, and try to remember anything you can from any card you see. That is what I saw with my Book of Life. I gather that Life is written; LITERALLY.4
Some Dead Saints see the Book of Life appear as “bar graph” memory files compiled in 3-5 minute lengths. Jo B saw scrolls— “strands of thought” containing huge amounts of information:
My mind kept seeing, and attempting to absorb, data that was contained on scrolls. A scroll would unroll and the data implant itself in me. Some of it I could comprehend. Much of it was totally above my head. Gibberish. What was clear to me was the overriding message that humans, as units of consciousness, are capable of experiencing reality in ways far beyond what we typically do. As the data flowed into me, I was stunned and completely intrigued with what little of it I could understand. I could not wait to dive in and begin to unravel the information. A huge sense of purpose and contentment filled me up. Death wasn’t such a bad thing after all! Cool.5
According to Anna, this great library is multi-dimensional, and occupied by a team of beings caring for unfinished manuscripts and tablets:
My aunt, my father in law, my grandmother was all there, yet the remaining ones weren’t relatives I’d known from Earth. They were Light Beings I’ve known before being born into the Earth. They guided me to a ‘library.’ I place this word inside quotation marks because it was a multidimensional composition (I cannot even call it a structure). Apparently, I had a ‘job’ up there and had left it ‘briefly’ when coming to Earth because I’d needed to experience certain things and learn certain things in order to be able to continue my work. And, BTW, everything I’d learned—languages, subjects, nature observations—while being on Earth, was absolutely useful up there.
I’d then floated onto my unfinished manuscript, which looked like some form of tablet except it would only appear by my mind’s command. However, the thoughts I had filled into the manuscript, I was in charge of, had a great purpose.6
The Judgment
The Papyrus of Ani, Thebes, Egypt, 1275 BC, depicting the Judgment of the Dead. 12 Deities or Assessors (usually 42) supervise the Judgment. Handmade papyrus reproduction.
The Judgment is developed over the course of the Life Review as every thought and action is weighed. Who oversees the Judgment? Is it God? Is it panel of judges or counselors? Or is it simply the Dead Saint judging itself?
The ancient Papyrus from the Book of Dead of Ani, Thebes, Egypt, 19th dynasty, 1275 BC,7 depicts the Judgment of the dead in the presence of Osiris. This scene from the Book of the Dead of Ani reads from left to right. At the left, Ani and his wife enter the Judgment a
rea. In the centre are the scales used for weighing the heart, attended by Anubis, the god of embalming. The process is also observed by Ani’s ba spirit (the human-headed bird), two birth-goddesses and a male figure representing his destiny. Ani’s heart, represented as the hieroglyph for ‘heart’ (a mammal heart), sits on the left pan of the scales.
It is being weighed against a feather, the symbol of Maat, the principle of order, truth and Cosmic Equilibrium, which in this funerary context means ‘what is right.’ The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of the emotions, intellect and character (conscience), and thus represented the positive and negative aspects of the individual’s life. If the heart outweighed the feather, the deceased was condemned to non-existence and his heart was consumed by the ferocious Ammit “the Devourer–Eater of the Dead,” the strange composite beast, part-crocodile, part-lion, and part-hippopotamus, shown at the right of this scene. However, a papyrus devoted to ensuring the continued existence of the deceased is not likely to depict this happening. Indeed, no such papyrus has ever been discovered.
Once the Judgment was complete, the deceased was declared ‘true of voice’ or ‘justified’— a standard epithet applied to dead individuals in these texts. The whole process is recorded in a Book of Life by the ibis-headed deity Thoth (Greek), Djehuti in ancient Egyptian. (See the Papyrus of Ani: 12 Deities or Assessors (usually 42) supervise the Judgment.)
We find similar “Scales of Judgment” weighing the heart described in Greek, Hebrew, and Christian sacred Scriptures. Paul says in Romans 14:10-12:
But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Paul further explains in Romans 2:28-29 the importance of “what you think in the heart and spirit” is more important than outward appearances:
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The Scales of Judgment: Good and Evil Weighed in the Balance
During David’s Life Review, he was asked by beings he recognized, if he had affected more people positively than negatively, again a concept of Judgment Scales:
He cautioned me to be truthful with the group of beings I recognized. These beings showed me my life from the time I picked my parents until the time I died. They asked me if I had affected more souls positively than negatively. I told them negatively, but I did think about lying to them because I knew my future depended on my answer. I wanted to stay in that place I was because of the love I felt there. It felt right like I was home.8
Roger compared the Judgment scales to a “bank account” —as though getting good karma points would allow him access to a better place in Heaven:
I was also capable of seeing that the better I made [people] feel and the better the emotions they had because of me would give me some credits (Karma) and that the bad ones would take some of it back, just like in a bank account, but here it was like a Karma account to my knowledge. The more points (karma) I got would give me permission to access a better area or a better place somewhere. It was the knowledge I had then.9
Peter experiences the Judgment as a sifting process that will reveal his frequency and vibration:
As this Being, this Light, conjoined me in and with its love, and I returned mine to it, so that both merged together so that neither existed except the two in the one, I knew (it did let me know), that it was ‘looking’ for something. It was feeling its way through and around me (though I stress it was also in me, or me in it) searching for that upon which ‘Judgment’ could be made.
I have since having had this experience read of some other accounts of this part of the death process and have read some people actually see images or aspects of their lives played out for them, as if a ‘review’ was being made.This did not happen to me. Yet, I did know I was being ‘judged,’ or rather I was participating in a ‘Judgment.’ I knew this Light, this beautiful Being was ‘sifting through me.’ Looking for something, gauging something, vibrations, frequencies, taking them into its love, knowing the whole. This did not feel intrusive.
I was happy for this being to ‘look at me’ in this way. I welcomed it, and loved it. And I knew it was on this that ‘Judgment’ was based. This is ‘Judgment’ based on the essence of you within an intimacy that would simply be impossible on any understanding we have in ordinary life. This ‘Judgment’ has as its basis the answer to a single question which would translate to something quite precise-What is, was, the essence of your love? If you like, in a summative sense of the whole, what vibration, or frequency, did your love resonate at? Wave after wave after wave of love washed through me from this being and I returned this to it. Then there was what I can only describe as something like a pause, it was clear the ‘Judgment’ was over.10
Who Judges Us?
As we discussed in the last chapter, a council of judges along with God and/or Jesus Christ, is present through the Life Review along with the Dead Saint. They are there to gently guide us through the experience and point out the consequence of our actions and where we have erred, or where we have done well. While people may try to lie to his or her self and give an excuse about why they committed a particular act, it is not possible to get away with it during the Judgment. They have no more excuses or lame justifications for their actions. It is all there in plain spiritual sight. They have more than complete telepathic
understanding of their actions and their consequences, and understand the truth because they experience it from inside the persona of the other person they committed the act against.
It is important to understand that the Being of Light presiding over our Life Review does not slam down a gavel of Judgment against us, but instead brandishes a feather of love—unconditional love—through the entire assessment of our life. To be clear, it is a Judgment. However, in the end, if there is any sound of a proverbial Judgment gavel hitting the Judgment Desk of God, it is the sound of our own self-judgment and not the wrath of God or Jesus.
During his Life Review, Carmen was attended by his guide who pointed out in the Book of Life, he had done something very wrong during his time on Earth:
After the review, I was lead to another marble room where there was a huge open book on a marble table. My guide sat behind the table, and with his index finger pointed in the book, he scanned through the page to see if he found my name on the book. His head lifted up and looked at me, a wave of guilt overwhelmed me. I did something very, very wrong; no one had to judge me. I judged myself and knew I did wrong.11
Steve’s experience of the Judgment was filled with joy and with pain. Joy when he touched someone’s life for good and suffering when he caused pain in the life of another. He had to look at himself and face up to what he had done with his life:
Every aspect of every experience that had occurred from the moment I was born until the moment I departed from the world was made visual before me, and it was done so in a reflective manner. And, adding to the awesome effect, that in our linear time spanned nearly four decades, were the emotional viewpoints of all who were involved in every single instance of my life. It was all so very clear, I was my own critic, my own evaluator. There were many visions where I felt joy and happiness for having touched someone’s life in a positive way—helped a person in need—raised a lowly spirit—turned a frown into a smile—made someone laugh when they felt like crying.
But, interlaced with the positive were also many moments where I was utterly grief stricken, feeling shame and sorrow for the negative impact I had had on other lives. I had caused so much unnecessary pain, conflic
t and strife, and as much as I wanted to, there was no changing what was already done. I saw everything through their eyes, I felt their pain, their emotions, and I experienced their experience and I became very critical because of it holding myself in contempt for having done such horrible things. Part of me wanted to run and hide, but I couldn’t. There was no escape. While a higher part [of me] felt compelled to continue and learn from it all, I somehow knew it was for the best.
As the grand finale rolled in front of me, there are no words to describe how I felt near the end when the reflection began to grow dim. I saw before me the lifeless body of a man whose existence had drawn to a conclusion with a consciousness filled with anger, resentment and bitterness because of everything that had transpired just shortly before his departure. That man in the mirror was a reflection of me. 12
Most of us have not had the stunning lens of an NDE to examine our lives in resplendent, granular detail. We can learn a great deal from these Dead Saint experiences, yet they are somebody else’s experiences, not ours. Knowing our lives are being recorded like a movie may help, but most of us do not run around thinking about death or what happens to us when we die.
We are busy living, not dying. (In Zen-speak, we are dying and NOT living!) Death happens “later” to someone else. Whether by disease, or sudden misfortune, death takes us all, prepared or not. If the Judgment were to happen today, how would it play out? The good and the bad, the positive and the negative, the constructive and the destructive? Let’s take a different perspective and look at the Afterlife in a different way—through the metaphor of a fallen tree.
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Endnotes
1Sarah W probable NDE, #3523, 11.23.13, NDERF.org
2George G. Ritchie, Jr., M.D. 1991. My Life After Dying, Becoming Alive to Universal Love. Norfolk, Virginia: Hampton Roads Publishing. p. 24.
The Dead Saints Chronicles: A Zen Journey Through the Christian Afterlife Page 16