What is Death?

There is nothing to fear in death. Death is the great liberator; death brings freedom.

You rejoice when babies come into your world. There are many who cry in our world when babies are about to be born into your world.

Similarly there is weeping when people die in your world, but there is rejoicing in ours. Death means that the life has served its purpose, or should have done, and the individual is ready to enjoy all the tremendous richness and beauty that the spirit life has to offer.

You have the spirit, which is the divine essence that enables you to live. You have a physical body that exists because it is animated by the spirit. When the spirit finally withdraws -- I stress finally because temporarily it does so when you sleep, but returns when you wake -- death comes to the physical body because the animation has gone.

Those who have clairvoyance will see that the parting is finally accomplished when the cord connecting the spirit body to the physical one, after being extended as the spirit body gradually moves away, is cut. When that severance takes place, death occurs. There is nothing and nobody in your world who can by any means enable the physical body to live again.

* * *

“A problem has arisen because of new techniques of removing organs. Now doctors wait for people to die to take a heart or kidneys. The question is: ‘Is the person dead? Am I at liberty to take the organ?’”

I know about transplants, and am aware that the motive is often a very good one. But I must say that I am opposed to transplanting any part of the human body to other people.

“Some people believe it is necessary to leave the body in a state of peace for a given amount of time. This is because of the present-day tendency to whisk people into laboratories and open them up for experimental purposes. Do you think this is in any way harmful to the soul or the spirit?”

It depends on whether the individual has any knowledge of spiritual matters. If there is ignorance, there can be temporary harm to the soul. Even when the cord connecting the physical and spirit bodies is cut, there is still a certain amount of interplay due to the long association of the two forms of being.

Generally it is considered advisable, where there is complete ignorance of spiritual truths, for an interval of three days to elapse before there is either burial or cremation.

What happens after that is unimportant. If people wish to give their bodies to help knowledge for purposes which can be of service to others that is a matter for them to decide. But let me also say this. There is a time to be born and there is a time to die. If that time to die is reached than transplants will not succeed in maintaining you in your world.

“But there is a problem on a plane which crashes and they die instantly. What is the effect on them?”

Exactly the same as I have said. Those who have knowledge of spiritual realities will not be affected. Those who have not will be affected because of the shock. But in the process of time, awareness and realization will come.

“An accidental death predisposes one to accept reincarnation.”

I am not happy about the use of the word “accident” because I know only of cause and effect in operation. Whatever you regard as accidental can be due only to the operation of the law of cause and effect. As to the question of reincarnation, that is a more complex matter.

* * *

“I have been watching on TV ‘The Making of Mankind.’ It set me thinking about the origin of the human soul. In the very early beginning does the human soul emerge from a group of an animal species?”
No.
“Does that mean the animal kingdom is separated from us?”
No.
“How does the human soul first emerge?”
It does not emerge at all. It has no beginnings.
“I always thought that the human soul has gradually evolved.”

No, the body has evolved. The soul is part of the Great Spirit which always was and always will be.

The soul has always been. It is individuated when it becomes incarnated into the human frame. The soul has no beginning and no end. It says in your Bible, “Before Abraham was I am.” The spirit has always existed; the spirit was not created out of nothing.

Spirit is life. Life is universal. Souls, like spirits, do not have beginnings and ends. Spirit individuals when it incarnates into human form but as spirit or soul it has always existed.

* * *

“I would like to know about the eternity of the soul. One speaks of old and younger souls. Is the soul always so, or is it created? From where do we come? Are all souls reincarnated ones, or are there some new from the Great Spirit?”

Souls are not created; they have always existed.

I quoted the Bible: in the words of the Nazarene, “Before Abraham was I am.” As spirit you have always existed. Spirit did not have to be created. There never was any stage when nothing became something.

Spirit, the dynamic, the essence, the vitality that is life, has always existed. Spirit is the energy out of which every manifestation of life is formed, whether it be a plant, a bird, a tree, an animal, a human. Spirit is the mainspring of existence.

When a child is conceived it is not a new soul or a new spirit. It is part of the eternal spirit that has always been in existence.

It becomes individualized and that individuality functions for a short time.

But the soul can have many facets. Some of these facets can reincarnate in your world and bring added lustre to the diamond of the soul. There are old and young souls. You do not manufacture new souls by conception. You provide them with a physical body to express themselves.

When birth is to be achieved and a physical body prepared for its existence, spirit becomes individualized and incarnates into your world. There is nothing new in that spirit. It is taking individual form. It is becoming a person. When he or she is developed and leaves your world, it is a facet of a larger diamond to which it adds its contributions.

“If there is a time for everybody to be born, equally there is a time for them to die. What happens when there is a Caesarian operation; somebody steps in and alters the time of birth?”

It alters only the time of entry into your world. It does not alter the time when the spirit has started at the moment of conception to begin to express itself. There is also the free will where an individual can decide to end his physical life, but then automatically he or she is confronted with the law of retributions.

“When a child is to be born it often happens that the doctors accelerate the birth with artificial means. A baby is born earlier than it is due. Does this have any influence astrologically?”

The things that worry you! The only vital fact about entry into your world is when life first begins to show itself. That is when conception takes place, not when a baby is born. I am not interested in the astrological arguments. With conception, earth life begins. Without conception there is no earthly life.

“The Pope in Brazil complained about the poorness of the people and stressed at the same time that family planning should never be allowed. How does this make sense?”

The Pope is a very good man, but he is not the repository of all the knowledge that exists in the universe. Family planning will continue in your world because it is your responsibility. But if a child is to be born, it will be born despite all family planning.

* * *

“I know some people who genuinely do not wish to survive death. What would you say to them?”

I know some people who genuinely do not wish to be born into your world. They can do nothing about it. You cannot opt out of the natural law. It will operate irrespective of what you think about it. You see in the unfolding processes of nature how this panorama presents itself unceasingly, irrespective of man’s desires, wishes, or even objections.

“Are we then forced to come into this world if we do not wish to do so? I always thought it is our choice.”

This is not always the case. There is a choice in our world as there is a choice in yours. When the soul knows it has work to do, it will incarnate into your world. There are some who have no desire to do so, but they come because they have work to do, or they have a karmic condition to fulfil.

“Could it ever be true it is sometimes planned that a person will commit suicide?”
No! The planning is done by the soul before it incarnates.
“Are there no lessons one can learn by committing suicide?”
No! The Great Spirit gives life. It is not your responsibility to shorten it.
“When a person passes, does he know he has died?”
Not all. The majority do, but it takes some time for a complete answer to be realized.

“Do spirit people not help?”

Yes, we always help, even if the one who is being transferred from your world may be unaware of the aid he is receiving.

All is known by the powers that be. There is a hierarchy of evolved beings, some of whom have never incarnated in your world. They are charged with fulfilling the divine plan. It is an overall one, and encompasses everything and everybody. There is nothing that can be outside the scope of universal natural law.

“When people die, relatives and loved ones meet them and help them over. Does it mean they are all at the same level?”

No, because those who love you will in most cases have evolved spiritually since their passing. They will come down, as it were, so as to be able to communicate at the stage you are when you reach our world. You must try to realize that spiritual growth is always towards maturity. There is no equality with physical age.

Now I come back to the question about at what stage in our world is awareness attained. This is difficult because awareness is a growing condition, not fixed or finite. Awareness has infinite possibilities. You cannot reach the end of it. As you increase it, you realize there is more to be attained.

It is an eternal process at work. Awareness is a gradual realization. It is not a sudden transformation from ignorance to knowledge. It is graduated, and slowly comes as the soul is ready to reach higher stages.

“We obviously don’t live as long as we could physically under better conditions. Under perfect conditions probably we could live to be a hundred and fifty?”

Do not confuse physical age with spiritual maturity. It is not the number of years that matters, but the growth, development and unfoldment of the soul that is temporarily manifested through the body.

It is not the plan of the Great Spirit to increase the number of physical years that your body should exist in your world.

What should happen is that when the spirit is ready the body will die, just as the apple drops from the tree when it is ripe. So forget the physical years. They do not matter.

The whole object and essence of earthly life is to enable the spirit to have the kind of exercise, education and experience that fit it to begin its life in our world.

If the spirit does not have the experience to equip it for our world, then it is like a child who has gone to school has not learnt the lessons, and is not ready for the adult life that follows.

* * *

To a widow whose husband had laboured long in the spiritual field the guide gave this encouragement:

I am very glad to welcome you and to reassure you of fundamental truths which have provided a help in your hour of difficulty and trial.

It is not easy for people in your world, even when they have knowledge that life is continuous after physical death, to adjust themselves when those who are closest to them are removed to another dimension of the universe.

It would be foolish to minimize the fact that inevitably there is sorrow when this physical separation takes place. But it is only a physical separation and not a spiritual one.

Death is inevitable for everyone in your world. There comes a time when you have to say farewell to earth, for it has no more to offer you and the soul is ready for the adventures that are an essential part of its evolution towards perfection.

How you comport yourself when the trial comes is a question you have to decide. I know it is not easy.

Death cannot separate those whom love has joined. Love, like life, is undying. And love, like life, is a mighty force that can work its will as conditions make it possible. Of course there are times in the silence when tears are shed. But hold your head high, and know that the power of the spirit will never desert you. Help will always be forthcoming.

Do not worry about anything. Worry blocks the channels by which help can come.

You may not always realize it, but you are very fortunate because when you plumbed the depths of sorrow you were ready to receive knowledge. It was not easy to come out of the depths, but the way was shown. Now you are completely certain that the one you love is as close to you as it is possible for any human being to be.

I always wish that people in your world, especially those who have this knowledge, could become aware of what is around and about them. If only they could see the ones they love who are close to them, shielding them, guarding them, guiding them, ensuring that no real harm will ever befall them.

If you could realize the extent of this radiance you would never have any doubts or fears as to what the morrow will bring. So you should, as I always tell you friends, greet each new day as the herald of wonderful spiritual adventures

Your life has been transformed by the evidence you have received. I know, because I have seen it, that you labour to help others as you were helped. Do not bother about what others say. That does not matter. What matters is the way you conduct your life; do the best you can and serve wherever you can.

Your man is freed from the thraldom of the flesh. He will never again suffer the aches and disabilities that proved such a nuisance to him in the last days of his earthly existence.

He will make you aware of his continued presence in what he still regards as home. So keep a stout heart, hold your head high and continue to be an exemplar of how to behave when death removes the one who is closest to you.

The separation is physical, not spiritual. There is nothing in your world or mine that can part those whom love has united. Love, like life, is stronger than death. Love, like life, is the spirit, and the spirit cannot be destroyed.