[Question] 3. Will I become a ghost? If so, how can I be released?
It is most unlikely that you will become a ghost. Ghosts, apparitions, shades, or astral shells result only in the relatively rare cases when the etheric body (or etheric double as some call it) fails to seperate promptly from the physical body and to disentegrate. Seperation normally takes place in minutes, but may take up to 30 or 40 hours. Some persons, ignorant of this fact, may have a tendancy to hold on to the etheric body and may appear as ghosts. (Some bystanders are able to see this energy field as a bluish-white mist.)
Until the etheric body has seperated completely from the astral body, the person cannot proceed to his earned existence in the astral world. Usually this failure to shed the etheric body results from a very traumatic event - murder, fatal injury, or unpleasant emotional experience. Such a failure can also result if a person has never thought about an afterlife and has been wholly centered on his possessions and personal affairs.
A ghost can be released very easily from the area it is "haunting" by a good psychic. The psychic needs only to get in tune with the ghost and in a friendly, loving manner explain that death has taken place and that there is nothing to be gained by lingering in these old haunts. The psychic then encourages the soul to relax and look for any sign of light from persons who are willing to lead it into the realm where it should now be living.
4. ...Let us assume that you are right when you say each person will shed his caterpillar-like physical body and start flitting around like a butterfly on some other level of existence...on what level am I likely to find myself?
Not knowing you, I cannot answer that question. However...assuming the [following] character groupings...are reasonably accurate, you can answer the question yourself.
[Level]A. Individuals who have made more than average progress in this and/or past lives and whose souls have evolved to the point that they "just naturally" are living their present lives in harmony with [certain positive] characteristics. [fewest number of people]
B. The average, kind-hearted, considerate, well-meaning, hard-working adult, and all infants and children. [largest number of people]
F. Greedy, cruel, selfish, materialistic, highly egotistic and unloving persons; including, for example, swindlers, rapists, drug addicts, alcoholics, sex perverts, suicides, murderers, hardened criminals, political despots. (The letter F [indicates] failure.)
5. Is there an actual place called hell? If so, where is it?
Yes, there is such a place. It definately is not the fire and brimstone place of the New Testament...It is really more like the traditional purgatory...referred to by the Catholic church. It is a dark, dismal, uninviting place filled with countless numbers of souls who are lost and wandering about in great distress.
It is also occupied by some rather frightening life forms of non-human lines of evolution. It is cluttered up with thought-forms accumulated over the centuries as a result of humanity's hatred, greed, lust, jealousy and other nonvirtuous passions. These thought forms can be as "real" as the shadowy "bodies" of the poor souls whose lives qualified them for this plane of existence.
Of all the levels in the lower worlds of Spirit, "hell" is the lowest.
6. Is there a devil?
No, at least not a red-skinned character with a tail, a pair of horns and a pitchfork...The lower astral level - like all other levels in the worlds of Spirit - is largely a world created by thoughts. That does not make it any less real. Far from it! Mental torments can be far worse than actual physical torments...
8. I am miserable and unhappy. Will everything be better after I die?
Sorry, but the answer is No.
When you some day cast off your physical body, the real you - your mind, memory banks, personality and soul - will be precisely what they were before you left the physical body...
9. Does a suicide succeed in escaping his troubles?
No, he only compounds them...
12. Where is the "next" world (or "astral" world) located?
...the "next world" is the one in which your mind and soul already live and in which your mind and soul will continue to live...
14. Do persons addicted to alcohol, tobacco, and hard drugs lose their craving...
No, not right away...He may remain in this dreadful condition for what would be centuries of earth time.
15. Can a "dead" person look in on activites of a child or mate?
Yes, this is happening all of the time...
As the deceased becomes fully reconciled to his or her new life, the earth ties...become less binding...
18. As a Christian/Buddhist/Muslim, will I meet Jesus/Buddha/Mohammed?
...it is not likely that you will meet any of these beings in person...it is possible for you to "see" and meet a being which fits your own image of the being you desire to meet.
19. ...do [angels] really exist...?
Yes...There are many types or classifications of angels...None of them developed from the human line of evolution...[these] should not be confused with the term "Guardian Angel." This is a broadly discriptive term which is applied to the friendly and helpful beings on the astral planes who are assigned to work with each of us as individuals...they are more properly called guides, masters, teachers...etc.
20. Have beings in the world of Spirit described what they see as to "material things?"
Yes, the literature is full of such reports...
"The surface of the zone is diversified. There is a great variety of lanscape, some of it most picturesque. We, like you, have lofty mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, forests, and ...all the vegetable life that exists on your earth. Trees and shubbery covered with the most beautiful foilage, and flowers of every colour and character known to you, and many that you know not, give forth their perfume. The physical economy of each zone differs from every other. New and striking scenes of grandeur are presented to us, increasing in beauty and sublimity as we progress."
"This place I have been living is so beautiful, George, so beau-u-tiful. I know that all that beautiful country that you brag about where you live in Florida cannot possibly measure up to this...
"The trees are so green, grass is so green and so velvety, air is just like breathing wine, if you could do such a thing. The sun is not too hot, the breezes are lovely. Oh it is MARVELOUS. I don't know why I hung around that place Philadephia so long...
"Margaret and I have not been here very long but we find there is quite a lot going on. We have been in on some very interesting discussions...We have been circulating from group to group deciding where we belong. It is very wonderful to be here..."
21. Will I retain all of my five senses...Will I acquire any new senses?
You will no longer have any need for, and in fact will lose, the sense of smell, taste and touch.
Your sense of hearing and seeing will be extended far beyond your present capabilities.
...you will know a person's thoughts by merely looking at him...
...You will feel far more alive...
23. What about food in the afterlife?
...Not having a physical body, you will have no need for food...
24. Is there marriage in the next life?
No and yes...
Since there is no generation of new children on the planes of Spirit, there is no compelling need for the institution of marriage as such.
On the other hand, if your present marriage is a completely happy one and you would find your greatest happiness in association with your mate...then it is fitting that the relationship continue. If the relationship is unhappy, then it will automatically cease. All will find themselves in surroundings and with people with whom they are attuned.
25. Is sexual intercourse possible...?
No. Intercourse...was provided by the Creator for the purpose of continuation of the species...In the worlds of Spirit...there is no functional need for sexual intercourse.
However...a new arrival on the astral plane is still filled with all of the thoughts and bodily desires intact...He may...get a vicarious thrill out of wandering into a bedroom as an undetected witness to sexual intercourse. Eventually when he evolves and moves up to higher levels, such fascination gradually disappears.
26. ...my daughter died at the age of six months. Did her...spirit remain that of a baby?
No. She was received on the middle or higher astral plane and given the most tender and loving care. She was given every opportunity for continued growth and development. She will reach adulthood. If you wish to meet this daughter after you have made the transition to your next level of life, you can do so. (That is, provided you are not now living a life that results in your arrival on the lower astral. In that case there may be considerable delay before you meet your daughter because she almost certainly will not be found on that level.)
If she has not been alerted to be on hand when you make the transistion, all you have to do is to send out mentally a call for her with all the love and longing you can muster. She will come.
Children in the afterlife are cared for very much as they are here. There are those who find the greatest delight in mothering the motherless, and teaching the young...(They will in most cases still return for additional learning experiences on the earth plane of existence.)
...children need mother love no less in spirit life than in earth life.
Little do most people know how close the afterlife is, how close its inhabitants come to us, the influence they exert on us, or the result of our thought vibrations upon them...
There are in the next life institutions of learning just as we have here...the inhabitants do not cease to study and increase their store of knowledge...your daughter will continue to grow in body, mind and spirit.
27. Both of my parents died in their eighties. Both...had wasted away to skin and bones. Both were senile...AFTER death of their physical bodies, what was the condition of their minds and souls?
They were in excellent condition...When the full transition of the mind and soul have been completed, they would be, in most respects, the same as they had been in the prime of life.
30. How is time measured...?
It isn't...There is no serial time as we know it.
31. What about political or governmental systems...money?
There is nothing to resemble countries, states, or nations...Nor is there any need for money or a unit of exchange...The generating force is thought...You can think and have beauty and happiness. You can think base desires and they will be fulfilled.
32. [Is there] guidance from departed spirits...?
Yes, there most certainly is. Such advancement as humanity has made in the past 4,000 years is in part due to such guidance, often explained as "intuition."
Most "revelations" received by sages, mystics, prophets and spiritual leaders have come from such sources.
...But...this is a most hazardous business. The pages of history are filled with acts which stemmed from self-delusion with respect to "heavenly" guidance.
33. Can I put much trust in what I am told by a Spiritualist medium?
Yes. No. And then maybe, again - perhaps.
...Communications from spirits closest to the earth plane - the easiest to obtain - are, for the most part, useless as well as inaccurate.
...the most readily contacted persons are those who are on the nearest astral planes. These are often recent arrivals and are no more knowledgeable than before they left their physical bodies. This, combined with the "noise" - or the sheer difficulty of communication - gives rise to misconceptions.
...For this reason a bereaved person should strictly avoid trying to contact the loved one through a medium.
...some of the more mischievous of the earthbound spirits - the only level which most such mediums can reach - delight in masquerading as the departed person and can be quite adept at putting on a [convincing] performance...
It is infinitely more useful for the bereaved to sit quietly every few days and send prayerful and loving thoughts to the loved one.
36. Can a person ever visit the astral planes while still resideing in the physical body?
A very definite "Yes"...
...through meditation techniques it is possible to sit down in a quiet and secure spot, relax, and then attune to the higher planes and let the astral body travel..
40. 42. 43. ...what is meant by the term reincarnation?
I use the term strictly as "rebirth of the soul in a new body," a human body...
Has it not occurred to you that if death is the end for each of us, our Creator's plan is a very wasteful one? What in all the world is more precious than a human soul?
...Does it make any sense to think that an all-wise Creator is going to send your soul to the dump, to the graveyard of your dreams, the incinerator?
...What could be more logical than the recycling of YOUR soul?
...Much of the material in this book has come from our friends now living on [higher astral planes]. Most of these left the earth plane within the last 35 years. There is much reluctance for any of these intelligences to come back to the chaotic world of today. Some say frankly that they will wait and take a look at things in the twenty-first century. Who are we to suggest they do otherwise? They need be in no hurry.
If they continue to work and study and grow metally and spiritually, they eventually have the possibility of taking the [local "elevator"] which makes the short run to one higher level - the celestial planes...this involves shedding what has loosely been called the "mental body" and accepting what is known as the final rebirth.
Since...modern man can hardly conceive of the level of existence on the celestial planes, we can end our effort to explain reincarnation here. There is no recycling from this level.
...you can get off the wheel of rebirth if and when you make up your own mind that you want to..."just as soon as you find out how the system works..."
45. What happened to [pets] when they died?
A long-cherished pet is just as certain to survive death of its physical body as you are.
...If the survival of well-loved pets were not a fact, "heaven" or the afterlife would be a less happy place for animal lovers...
........
...the message of this book - was captured in only four lines by R.W. Raymond (1840-1918):
Life is eternal;
and love is immortal;
and death is only a horizon;
and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
George W. Meek
After We Die, What Then?
(c)1980 by Metascience Corporation
Publications Division
Franklin, NC