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| From the Archives |
| Sumpter on Life between Lives |
| The material in the archives was not originally written for a website, but is nevertheless well worth reading. It was all written in New Zealand, and you will occasionally notice this. |
| Most of you while you are in the flesh will have wondered at some time what it is like in the non-physical worlds; what do people do there in between having physical lives? Because I am currently between lives myself, and because I am a sage and an explorer, I am in an excellent position to describe this phase of your existence to you. There is not just one kind of experience available here, but even as there are on earth many countries with different cultures and lifestyles, so there is a variety of 'places' here. Each person is still an individual after their physical death, with their own interests and understandings and so will have a unique experience of these inner worlds exactly as they had a unique lifetime. Immediately after death, there is a freeing of the spirit into this dimension that can be likened to the freeing of a child from the womb at physical birth. This freeing of the spirit is correct for the death experience, just as the freeing of the body was correct for the birth experience. Each death is chosen, no-one is a victim in that sense. I do not mean that people consciously think something like, "Today I will have a heart attack and die," but on levels close to conscious the decision is made, and for purposes that make complete sense to that individual. With the freeing of the spirit completed - it takes only moments and in that regard is much easier than birth - there are some constant factors which are the same for everyone, but apart from those each person will have a different experience. The first constant is the acceptance of being free, permanently, of the physical body. This acceptance may happen immediately, with the newly released soul looking down with wonder upon the body that until this moment was their primary source of identity, and feeling themselves to be whole and safe without it. Many who were sick at this point rejoice in profound feelings of well-being. Many who were old become young again, there and then. Some, however, for various reasons, deny to themselves the feeling of freedom from the physical body, in which case the acceptance of death, with its benefits, is delayed. These people usually need help to reach that point of acceptance, and such help is everywhere available in the inner worlds. Question: "What about these experiences with tunnels and going towards a white light that we hear about from books on near death experiences? Where do they fit in?" Sumpter replies: "If people do not have any other way to understand the freeing of the soul at death, they fall back on likening it to the physical birth, and have the experience you describe, the tunnel representing the birth canal, and the bright light representing the first light a baby sees at birth. It need not be experienced this way; for those who are familiar with out-of-body experiences it is possible to just step out of the body and then experience the final disconnection from it. And others handle the death in other ways." Question: "Well that makes me curious about something else. If it is possible to die without experiencing the tunnel and the light, is it also possible to be born into physical life in different ways?" Sumpter: "Of course it is. You already have caesarean births, and science will soon enough be able to grow a foetus in an entirely artificial environment. Those babies will be born through a lid! Also, very advanced souls can form a physical body without being born at all. There are cases, too, where one individual is ready to leave physical life, but the body is still strong and healthy, so another soul takes over and adapts it. They have to be very similar, however, and usually they are from the same oversoul. I should stress that this can only happen by agreement." Question: " I didn't think this was possible. After all, each person creates their own body with their thoughts, don't they? That makes it very personal. So how can another individual fit it well enough to live in it?" Sumpter: "The fit will never be perfect, it is true, and the original owner will be kept in touch with the body until it dies, and may even from time to time take it over again briefly, but basically anything is possible. If it can be thought, it can be experienced. (This has nothing to do with so-called possession, by the way, which is another misunderstanding by those who believe in evil, and therefore do not recognise repressed parts of their own, or other's, personalities, which look ugly, and act badly, only because they are misunderstood.'') The second constant factor that all individuals experience happens right after the acceptance of their new condition. A mechanism is in place in the soul which can be likened to the mechanism that causes a baby to draw its first breath. This soul mechanism causes the life just finished to rise up to consciousness with a clarity as of being seen from the divine part of oneself, the wisest part, the part some call the Higher Self. To an observer this takes only seconds, but to the soul experiencing it, it takes 'forever, yet no time at all'. The individual then sees with great clarity where they did well and where they did badly in that lifetime, and many decisions are made at that point about their future which they will follow up on later, when they are ready. There is some variation even with this most important event, for those who are already comfortable with examining themselves will be able to make better use of what they learn in this moment, while a few die with such intense feelings, of horror, or anger, loss, depression, or desire for revenge, that even this divinely inspired moment is clouded by their intense feelings. The next constant factor is a recognition of where they are, what their new environment is like, and the other people who are with them in it at that moment. For most, but not all, this includes a welcome reunion with loved friends and relatives who had died before them. The final constant factor is the need which all feel to look back to the life they have just left, to keep in touch with the loved ones they have left behind, to oversee the disposal of their worldly goods, and other earthy considerations which are still of interest to them. Much is already known of their continued interest in these matters, for their presence is often seen or felt by their living friends and relatives, and they make their concerns known in many ways. These concerns are, of course, the kind of information picked up by clairvoyants if their loved ones go to them, for this is the information that is of interest to both parties. Having set the scene, as it were, I will now concentrate on explaining to you what else goes on in these inner worlds besides contacting the still living. The freedoms of the inner worlds are available to all, but are not experienced by all. These freedoms include the freedom to take on any body-image we desire, the freedom to move in the twinkling of an eye from one place to another, the freedom to operate in very responsive environments where the slightest thought causes objects to appear and disappear, or events to change, with great rapidity. For those who are aware of the possibilities, there is the opportunity to visit other planets, and also other planes of existence which do not even have a planet as a focal point. I am fond of making excursions to both other planets and other planes. The adventurous can explore other dimensions and play with altered states of consciousness to their hearts' content. It is possible to experience time, space, maths, music, and other phenomena very differently here. I enjoy manipulating time, using it in ways that are very definitely not possible while one is geared to the usual linear time perceptions. Others enjoy getting inside music, or exploring all the nuances of a colour, or expanding and contracting space for their own pleasure and education; there are unlimited opportunities here to bend the rules that define a multitude of physical experiences, in ways that are clearly not possible, except as meditation experiences, while in physical life. There is a connection here between having these kinds of interests, and visiting other planets or planes, for many of those inhabitants take these alternative perceptions, that are at best a hobby for earth-oriented souls, and carry them as far as they can go as their normal way of life, achieving most wonderful results. They visit us also, and regard our main focus, of turning thoughts into typical earth objects and events, as their hobby, and a most wondrous strange one at that! Many of those between lives maintain a more solidly earth oriented focus, for reasons that make sense to them. They choose more stable environments, very similar to earth conditions, and there carry out projects of great value to their spiritual advancement. Many of them are not even aware of the other possibilities, nor would they be interested if they were, however there are doorways, points of reference, available to each one of them just in case they should want, or need, to move into these different dimensions. Teachers are also available who bring the knowledge gained in those other states to them in forms that they can utilise without upsetting the stability of their chosen environment. Everywhere there are opportunities for learning, and only some of that learning would be possible in physical life. Much of it is only possible here, between lives. However, most people, as they go along, doing whatever is right for them here, begin to build up a list of projects they want to carry out, experiences they want to have, that can only be fully implemented in a physical earth life. As their list grows, so does their desire to be born again, and they begin to make the necessary arrangements. As usual there is great variation between individuals in this. Some come out of one life with such a strong desire to return that they immediately plan their rebirth. There can be many different reasons for this. Some who die young return very rapidly, perhaps because they have left much of their project unfinished. They may have found that they had bitten off more than they can chew in that short life, for example they may have thought, while between lives, that they could handle a life as a cripple and learn from it, or a life in a war zone, and then when they are born, discover it is too hard, and decide to leave again while still a child or a young adult, they then die with much left undone, and choose to be born rapidly into more auspicious circumstances, with the aim of fulfilling their purpose some other way. Then there are the old people who have built up such a longing, in the twilight of their lives, for all the pleasures of youth, that their desire propels them into early rebirth. Any intense longing for experiences that were no longer available, or perhaps those which were never available in that lifetime - such as wanting to be the opposite sex, or to belong to another race - can propel that soul rapidly back into rebirth. It may seem to them that they had no choice, but the choice was made, and was the right one, given the strength of the desire that fuelled it. Others who became world weary, or who wish to be born again with loved ones who have not yet finished their current earth life, or who want to wait for certain developments of the human race, may wait even for centuries before again making the exciting transition from non-physical to physical life. Almost every human soul who is found in the inner worlds associated with the earth, will be reborn. However, there comes a time when each soul decides that they no longer wish for any more earth lives. Most then leave the earth system, and become a different kind of being, but one which is evolved from the human, and looks back on their human past with love, appreciation, and understanding. Some stay, and act as teachers and healers in the inner worlds for those who are still learning from earth lives, just as in a university, most graduates will leave, but some will stay on as professors. Question: "Is it the individual who decides to leave, or the oversoul? Is it possible for an individual to want to leave, while their oversoul wants to stay, and if so, what happens then?" Sumpter: "Each individual does have freewill, so it is indeed possible for an individual to want to leave the earth system before the oversoul makes that decision. In these cases, the individual travels to the other planet, plane or reality of their choice, and acts as a 'foreign ambassador' for the oversoul. When the oversoul is ready to leave the earth too, it can follow the individual and become focused in that other reality. Then the individual and the oversoul both become fully a part of that reality instead of just visitors. Again, this is very simplified, for the oversoul may decide from the individual's experiences not to become fully focused in that particular reality, and go elsewhere, and still the individual can stay there, or leave and go with the oversoul. If any individual stays in one reality while their oversoul is in another, however, they will always feel like a visitor." Question: "Does that happen here? Are some of the individuals leading human lives while their oversouls belong to a different reality?" Sumpter: "Yes. Yes this does in fact happen." Question: "And these people always feel like visitors to the earth system?" Sumpter: "That is correct, yes. The rewards for such a focus will of course differ from the usual rewards, and that is their intention. There are other complications in that a group of individuals from the same oversoul, or even one individual, if they know enough about their own power, can break away from their oversoul and form a new one, if they wish to go a separate way. I think it best if I leave this subject for now and cover it more thoroughly in a separate essay about the oversoul." Some of you may be interested to know that at the beginning of our human lives our oversouls have to come from somewhere, and the majority come to the earth from other places, planets, and kinds of existence, from which they have already gained as much value and spiritual development as possible. They decide to become human, as one day they will decide to move on from being human, and for the same kind of reasons. The inhabitants of the inner worlds associated with this earth are a very mixed bunch. Of course there are all the people who are between lives. You are free to meet here with others you knew in your lifetime and who have also died and you will meet those who are waiting to be born into your family; you may meet friends and relations and even enemies from your other lives, and you will also have some friends whom you only meet between lives. All the normal possibilities of friendship, love, communication and interaction are possible here. Those who have chosen stable earth type environments will meet for meals, and talk to each other, and they can shake hands, or hug, or even make love. In the other dimensions, contact can be made with others in new and interesting ways, blending parts of the consciousness together, for example, or causing electric type currents to flow between them, or creating together an environment from both their imaginations and then exploring it. There are many other possibilities besides. As there are in physical life people playing all different roles, teachers, healers, politicians, wastrels, heroes, victims and so on, so in the inner worlds as great a variety of stances is found. Just as you do in life, you will find yourself in the company of people you believe in, whose ideas about the nature of the universe and the soul's experience in it, match your own, and just as in life, if you do not like the people you meet, it is up to you to change the way you think, so that they disappear from your experience, to be replaced with people you prefer. There are other beings walking the earth's inner worlds who are not human at all. There are angels, and earth-angels, and nature spirits, there are gods and demi-gods, there are aliens from other planets and planes, there are the souls and group souls of animals, and there are other beings of many descriptions who do not fit any of those categories. Only the most thoroughly spiritually awakened human souls can perceive all of these non-human beings. All play an important role in the maintenance and development of the earth and its human inhabitants. Most can and do make contact with the human souls when they wish to, some are readily perceived by most of us, but some never deliberately make contact, it is up to us to discover them. The animal souls are easy to contact, of course, only those who firmly believe that animals don't have souls will never see them. Question: "I'm sure a lot of people will want to know this; can you perceive all of these non-human beings?" Sumpter: "Yes. The answer is yes. This is not my own assessment but the assessment of my teachers, some of whom are very much more advanced than I am." Question: "Then I have another question. If you are so advanced, why do you stay in this system?" Sumpter: "That is like asking a great artist, 'If you are so accomplished, why do you go on painting?' I have become very accomplished in working with earthy phenomena; I am enchanted by the possibilities, I see potentials which I could not see when I knew less, I am still, our oversoul is still, enthusiastic about this amazing reality. We will stay a good long time yet.'' The inner worlds are every bit as sensual and as delightful to the senses as the physical world, but in different ways. In all realities the use of the senses is deliberately arranged to be so delightful, so 'sensual' that the inhabitants are teased and tempted into development. The colours here are exquisite, for example, and encourage the full development of the ability to see. Here, between lives, the ability that is expressed as eyesight in physical life, is found in a different version. For those who are very entranced still with physical life, or who have chosen stable earth type environments, it can be experienced as normal eyesight, but for the curious, and for those who want to, or are ready to 'see more', it is a different quality indeed. Sight is not restricted to the eyes, for example, indeed it is possible for us to take on forms that do not have eyes and still see. Many of the attributes considered clairvoyant in physical life, are available with a greater immediacy. It is possible to see through constructs, (objects, walls, buildings, mountains, etc) or to see events happening in other 'places'. In addition, it is also possible to see, for example, with the feet deep into the structure of whatever you are standing on, and in other ways to use the ability of sight for purposes not possible when it is restricted to the eyes, as it is for most people in physical life. While we are in the non-physical worlds these planes are clearer to us than the physical world. This makes channelling very attractive to many of us, it is a way to keep in touch with the beauty, splendour and richness of the physical world, and for us, corresponds in intensity and pleasure with your out-of-body experiences. My own personal life here is a very satisfying one. It is many years since I last had a physical life, so I do not have friends still alive who shared that lifetime with me. However, I am sufficiently well developed that I can keep track of my friends in their other lifetimes, and indeed some of my favourite people currently have physical lives. I am also well tuned in with my oversoul, and therefore have access to those parts of it which are now alive, numbering over two hundred people. Some of these characters I have very little interest in, except as members of the same oversoul, others I count among my closest friends. I enjoy the freedom of expressing myself through a multitude of different images, and can hold around twenty clear and separate focuses at any one time. This is very convenient when I am exploring a subject about which I have two points of view, for I can be two people, as easily as you can be one, and quite literally have an argument with myself. Because I can be aware of myself in multiple images, I can obviously explore a great deal more, and accomplish more in any given amount of time. I can be learning from one of my teachers, and visiting you, and helping a colleague, and experiencing a doubled timeframe, and visiting another planet all at the same time. To the uninformed observer, it would seem that I am not one but many people. Question: "What on earth is a doubled timeframe?" Sumpter: "Well, it is nothing on earth at all! It is only possible in the inner worlds. I hesitate to attempt to describe it. It is a situation in which two apparently discreet and separate events, perhaps even from two different centuries, are experienced together in a manner in which time has multidimensions, unknown on earth, just as some people think (correctly) of space having fourth and fifth and more dimensions, also unknown on earth. Shall we call it a specific kind of experience with multidimentional time? The events behave very differently in these altered conditions, I suppose you could say they are pulled out of shape, but the new shape they take on reveals other aspects of them. I think this is enough on this subject for now." I visit the stable earth type environments, but do not live in them. The environments I live in would remind most people of their dreams. They are very responsive and ever changing. There is structure and order in them, and they vary one from another because they exist to serve different purposes, but they do not have the houses, trees, chairs and meals and stable images of people which fill your waking days. I do not have a structured day in that sense at all. When I am born again, I will bring some of my knowledge of these different environments with me, and I will be joined in that lifetime by others who are also familiar with them. Our combined knowledge and focused thoughts will cause significant changes in the very nature of physical life, which will become more rapidly responsive to thoughts and feelings, with objects instantly appearing ``out of thin air'', for example. From your point of view, there will be a return to 'magic', for what we will do has been done before, although of course our version will reflect the changes the race has achieved. I would like to end as I began, talking to my readers of their personal interest in life between lives. You will have gathered by now that your experiences of the inner worlds will depend on your own desires, understanding and abilities and will be beautifully suited to your stage of development. I have to admit that it is possible to have unpleasant experiences here, but the understanding you are developing by finding out about the conditions will certainly help you to avoid them. You will find teachers and helpers readily available in any case; only a handful of people cut themselves off from such help, and then only temporarily. You can look forward to meeting your loved ones again here, and to having a time as ordinary or as adventurous as you wish. It is very wise to prepare for death, as you once prepared for birth, by becoming a little acquainted with the conditions. To this end, you will find studying your dreams most helpful, and keeping in touch in your thoughts with those you love. Creative visualisations and experiental meditations are also good preparation. But the best preparation of all is living your life as fully as possible; those who have completed their life's projects as well as they possibly can, are propelled into the life between lives in the best and easiest possible manner and most quickly find themselves at home there. My loving thoughts are with you all, I become aware of you when you read my words, and send my loving thoughts to you. This is your friend, Sumpter, signing off. |
| Copyright © Z Smith 1993 Unaltered copies may be made for free or non-profit distribution. All other rights reserved |
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