It's very useful to look at the challenges that people have when trying to communicate from the Afterlife. Often, they speak of the difficulties they face in describing their homes, their lives and their experience to us, as we just do not have the language.
“We have much difficulty in reducing the spiritual, the heavenly, the wonderful, into terms of human understanding.” — Life Here and Hereafter
They may mention the 'conditions' in which they are trying to communicate. What they mean is that for them to get close to the Earth, they enter into a foggy, cloudy realm. If you consider the level of feelings of the average residential area in some parts of the cities on Earth, it is often tinted with worry, fear, greed, bitterness, resentment and so on. At any rate, it is not filled with the atmosphere of love and happiness that becomes very familiar to the average person who has passed over. Afterlifers usually have to penetrate this unhappy fog in order to reach us. In coming into harmony with our environment, Afterlifers from the brighter spheres – which are really the ones we want to communicate with - leave behind their light-filled realms and enter into our relatively dark realm. No wonder they like us to do what we can with prayer and song to lift the ‘vibrations’ before contacting them. There are other ways they can communicate, without having to enter into the Earth vibrations, but those take more skill on both sides.
“If you could only see our difficulties, you would be more patient with misunderstandings. We are of different condition and different expression, yet we try to give the marvels of this life in ways that you can understand. Be patient with our efforts to describe the indescribable.” — Spirit World and Spirit Life
Maintaining Unhealthy Relationships
We are sometimes blind to the dysfunctional parts of the relationship we create here on Earth and cling to situations when we really need to let go. There is sometimes a risk that Afterlife communication could be used to maintain such an unhealthy relationship.
Not every relationship that is disrupted by physical death was a healthy one. For some, the transition of their domineering life partner, or controlling parent, is at least partly a relief. Some people are too passive and struggle to make their own decisions and live their own life. Such people create severely co-dependent relationships with others and when someone significant to them passes on, they might be tempted to try and find ways to maintain the relationship.
On the other side, the person who was the controlling one may also be tempted to stay around near the Earth and influence the ongoing life of the one they left behind. A domineering person might be only too delighted to keep up their old role through some means of psychic communication, either through a medium or directly with the person themselves. This would obviously not be good for either party, as both of them need to change their ways, to learn and to move forward.
It must never be the case that we let someone in the Afterlife tell us what to do. The wise ones over there will not even try to do that as they put great emphasis on free will, but communications can get distorted and what sounds very specific and definite may have merely been a suggestion. Of course, we can take on board their suggestions and consider them in the light of our own knowledge and experience.
We also take into account the nature of our relationship with the person communicating. If they were the dominant type, then they may still have that habit and expressing themselves that way. If someone we know, who tended to be mild and gentle before they passed over, makes a very strong comment, then we either allow for the medium's influence, or take it as a sign that we really need to pay attention. In any event, it is really our decision to make, and someone who has been in the Afterlife for only a short time, might not know any more than we do. Whatever choice we make, and wherever the advice comes from, ultimately the responsibility is ours.
“We usually have to fit our language to the ability of the medium. That is why so many mistakes occur, and why messages are mistrusted - because the language is not like that which the communicator used on earth." – Spirit World and Spirit Life.
Influential Visitors
“You must not forget that upon this plane that is nearest to earth, both good and evil forces meet. All come here; and even the malicious ones can communicate with those on earth who will receive their messages. This is one of the evils of the 'open door,' and must be carefully guarded against. Do not harbor thoughts of hatred or revenge; for they will call towards you the evil-minded here, and evil is the result. Be true to high ideals.” — Spirit World and Spirit Life
The average person would be both delighted and possibly horrified to see the reality of interaction between the Afterlife and Earth. They would be delighted to see the many good forces at work to uplift humanity; they may well be horrified at the number of negative and ignorant Afterlifers who are deliberately working to try to bring people down to their own base level. Yet, the influence of the good Afterlifers is far greater than the influence of the ignorant or ill intentioned.
You might wonder, ‘Why have we not known about this before? Why have we been left in ignorance? These are very good questions and much of the blame can be laid at the door of the various organized religions. The mainstream churches, owing to their insistence in leaving people ignorant about the Afterlife, have left the door open for much evil that could otherwise have been avoided. Ignorance is often a breeding ground for evil. All they have done with their preaching superstitions is make it harder for those in the Afterlife working for the good to do their job.
There is a huge continual flow of people from the Afterlife towards Earth, and also a huge flow from Earth residents towards the Afterlife (such as during sleep as well as those passing over permanently). This flow from the Afterlife includes everything from high angelic beings influencing the progress of nations to Afterlife residents seeking their loved ones still on Earth to offer help, or even just curious to see what is happening on the Earth at these times.
There are also those Earth Bound spirits who were so materialistic in life that they struggle to lift themselves out of the Earth’s influence even when they pass over. Their addiction to something earthly has formed a chain that binds them. The fictional character of Jacob Marley in Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, (the character haunting the earth and bound in chains while regretting his loveless life) has a lot of truth in it. Such Earth Bound people are stuck to what obsessed them on Earth, so they remain that until they sicken of it and ask for help - this is then immediately forthcoming. (see Chapter: Earth Bound).
Afterlife residents influence events on Earth in many ways. They act as Spiritual Guides offering ideas and inspiration to the ones they watch over. They inspire scientists to new discoveries, musicians to new music, writers to write uplifting works and so on. On receiving these gifts, many people on Earth distort or twist the inspiration to suit their purposes such as changing it to achieve maximum financial gain or presenting it in ways that boost their ego. We on Earth tend to assume that we deserve the credit for inspirations and inventions. However, the real source is from the Afterlife as that is where all creative and spiritual impulses originate. Ultimately, everything comes from God, but they act as intermediaries.
“We try to form pictures in your mind of the things we wish you to know, and the choice of the words generally comes from your own consciousness. But the idea is ours.” — Spirit World and Spirit Life
There are also those who seek to exert a negative influence of people still in physical bodies. Evil men who are discarnate, and especially if they are still in their Astral Body, will try to exert their influence on those who are open to evil suggestions on Earth. They gain some sort of sick satisfaction from bringing down others. Some act as agents, even if unwittingly, for those more truly evil in the Hell states. These harmful beings are drawn to those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs or those who have violent or criminal tendencies. They create an unhealthy atmosphere around such people and try and exert a mental influence on their thinking to encourage them
to act out the worst in the nature. The evil Afterlifers cannot force anyone to do something against their will; they simply encourage the worst in that person. Once a person has yielded up their will too often to negative influences, they can become possessed and then feel compelled to do things that they would normally shrink from.
Some of these malicious ones are not of evil intent to start with. They might be heavy drinkers who are having trouble letting go of the habit even after passing over. Serious problems arise if they then try and manipulate people still in physical bodies so as to gratify their longings. Such Earth Bound can end up possessing binge drinkers and this sucks on the life force of the drinkers concerned, contributing to their ruin and the shortening of their life span. The price for this is the gradual dissolving of the malicious possessor’s Astral Body and they end up in a Hell State - where they get to contemplate the error of their ways for a while. The Hell State is, of course, simply the result of them being attracted to where others have a matching state of consciousness.
Help is always at hand for people who realize that they are allowing themselves to be drawn into a slippery slope. Prayer is immensely and immediately powerful for drawing in this help. The prayers can be by the person themselves or from others intervening on their behalf. Prayers can help the person affected not only cast off negative influences but can also even create a barrier or shield against those influences in the future. Fervent prayers go to powerful spiritual beings who take dramatic action if necessary.
Where’s the Proof?
Where is the proof that Afterlife communication is real? Ultimately, such proof can only come from our own experience. However, the Afterlife material represents a large body of work that is consistent and compelling. When the more recent phenomena of NDE material is added this creates an even more compelling case.
Much of the material about the Afterlife includes the steps the recipients took in order to verify that the Afterlifer was authentically who they said they were. Some recipients of messages were worried that the communications were really from their own imagination and sought information that they themselves definitely did not know from such contact. They could then verify this later to prove the communication was genuinely from outside themselves. The types of proof sought varies widely with the type of communication and how well known the Afterlifer was to the recipient of the messages. If the Afterlifer was previously unknown to them, they might ask when and where the communicator was buried and attempt to verify this. This would then form part of the proof, but not all of it.
Sometimes, the proof can take dramatic and entirely unexpected turns. The chapter After Many Years, in the book, Secret of Death describes one of these. A man who went to a Medium could make no sense of a message from a woman Afterlifer expressing her love for him and saying that she was his mother. As far as he was concerned his mother was alive and well and living nearby. When the Afterlifer insisted, he went to his ‘mother’ and she admitted what had happened. It was then that she confessed that his birth mother had died in childbirth and she had stepped in to help and eventually married his father. She had no intention of telling him the truth till this remarkable event occurred.
Proof received by others might not be acceptable to us and we need to make up our own minds as to the quality of each source and whether there is enough verification. However, looking at the lengthy attempts many of the sources made to verify authenticity, there seems to me to be plenty of justification in assuming that communication with the Afterlife is real and is indeed substantiated.
The Most Important Thing
“If one will only live a life of helpfulness, of thought for others, of kindness wherever possible, he has made a great beginning.” — Life Here and Hereafter
In a world created by thought, feeling and intention, love plays a fundamentally important role. Love, caring and affection are among the best things to bring to any form of communication with the Afterlife. These help to build the most effective bridge between the two worlds. Ideally, these are coupled with an enquiring mind, which is open to proof, but not hard-bitten and cynical. The cynic creates a mental barrier, or shield around themselves, that is hard to penetrate. Why should an Afterlifer bother with that? Afterlifers don’t owe it to us to prove anything, but usually they are only happy to do so if approached in an atmosphere of mutual respect. An atmosphere of love is even more suitable, when possible, as it is closer to what they are used to and makes it much easier for them to approach us. They experience our thoughts and feelings as a tangible atmosphere around us. What type of atmosphere do your thoughts and feelings create? What type of Afterlifer would feel comfortable getting close to it? Hold these facts in mind and your connection with those who have passed on can improve considerably.
Chapter 14: Reincarnation and Rebirth
“If you could imagine a wheel with many spokes, and each spoke capable of being detached and heated to white heat, and hammered on an anvil until it was fit to take its place in the perfect wheel, you can form some idea of reincarnation. There is not any total plunge into matter again, or ever. The Soul always has its vital principle on this side. The hub of the wheel is here, but the spoke is incarnate. - After Death: Letters from Julia
The material I have come across about the Afterlife has opposing views about Reincarnation. Some are adamant that there is not such thing as being reborn on the Earth; and some are equally adamant that this happens regularly. What are we to make of these diametrically opposed views from people we would expect to know with certainty?
Some of the confusion around these issues is probably due to a problem of definition. It depends on what we mean by ‘reincarnation’. Afterlifers tend to respond to the picture in the mind of the person asking a question. The picture might be different from the words they use. Reincarnation is not ‘transmigration’ where people supposedly reincarnate as animals. I have found no evidence of that, so far, in the Afterlife material. We do not evolve backwards, even though there are those who like to flippantly claim that their pet dog is more highly evolved than some people that they know.
Even Afterlifers with an open mind about the issue of Reincarnation can run into mixed responses when they investigate opinions amongst their peers.
“[Reincarnation?] I have often discussed the question and have found that opinions vary. Experiences of some people point to the conclusion that this certainly, perhaps in many cases really takes place, and the reason is not difficult to conjecture. A person who voluntarily returns to his former state in a reincarnation takes a short cut, as I may say, to progress, while we others proceed more laboriously by deeds of service and will be out-distanced in the upward course by those who have again passed through the hard school of earth. But you must take nothing that I say for absolute truth, as I must confess that I have received no instruction on this point and I hear the most different ideas expressed on the subject. What is certain is that it has never been suggested to me that I may return to earth otherwise than by voluntary visits on my present mission {i.e. communicating through a Medium}, when, as you of course know, I have no need to take on flesh.” – As One Ghost to Another
“You want to know how it is I now believe in reincarnation, and say that other spirits you find do not?... We are still very far from ultimate truth, and people here vary in their opinions and ideas just as they did on earth. We are still learning,” – Claude’s Book
“[Must we all return to earth life?] Not necessarily, but as a rule you reincarnate with those whom you have injured, and thus have an opportunity to make amends.” — Secret of Death
It is noticeable, from the Afterlife material, that those against the idea of reincarnation are very happy to not have to do so. They are the ones vehemently set against it. While those who insist that reincarnation not only happens, but they plan to do so, are equally vehement. It seems to be that reincarnation is a matter of choice and those who really don’t want to, do not need to. However, there is a lot more to it than that
.
The sources of the material, going by what they say about other topics, are sincere and well-meaning. However, some of those people are relatively new to the Afterlife and may be speaking from their own prejudices and preferences. Roughly speaking, there are four different Afterlife perspectives on Rebirth:
Those who had a ‘hard life’ on Earth and just want to mostly just forget about it and move on and not go back.
Those who are attached to Earthly experiences, or who want to develop themselves in particular ways, and who see another life on earth as attractive.
Those who see returning for another Earth life as the best way for them to help others and to serve Earth humanities’ evolution.
Those who want to serve Earth humanities’ evolution, but want to do so from the Afterlife Realms and so they do not want to reincarnate.
It is also reasonable to assume that people change their minds. Someone who has been in the Afterlife, say, a few thousand years is going to experience a very different Earth than the one they previously experienced. Even if they did not want to at first, they might be tempted to return for another Earth life eventually. In this current life on Earth, I don’t feel any inclination to want to return. But who knows what the Earth will be like in the future, say, 2,000 years from now? It could become a paradise at least in comparison to what it is now. Maybe by then people like me, who are not so keen on rebirth, would become tempted to return.
There is another approach to the issue of rebirth, or reincarnation, that shines a very different light on it: Group Souls.
Group soul: The One in Many and the Many in One.
“Through our communal existence [as a Group Soul], I perceive and feel the drama in the earthly journey of a Buddhist priest, of an American merchant, of an Italian painter, and I am, if I assimilate the life thus lived, spared the living of it in the flesh.” — Beyond Human Personality
Afterlife Adventures Page 18