Spiritual Forum

Continued from Part 2

So far, we’ve explored some of the reasons not to fear death from the perspective of people who’ve experienced it. We’ve learned a little bit about the transition and the realms beyond, and now, I’d like to look at the blissfulness of death itself.

The idea that death is a blissful process might sound strange, but apparently, it’s much different than our fear would have us believe.

Winifred Combe Tenants tells us about the heavy weight that fearing death puts on us in comparison to the peaceful nature of the spirit planes.

“There comes to me from the earth such a feeling of oppression, of worrying, of anxiety, of fear of death, and all is derived from non-belief. If they could but realize the glory, even a fragment of the peace of this life I now experience.” (1)

Understanding that the place we pass on to is peaceful and joyous will take an enormous fear-based weight off of our shoulders, but we’re the only ones who can make the choice not to fear death and to enjoy the life we experience here.

Physical life becomes much better when we understand that it doesn’t end. We might not experience physicality the same way we do now when we pass on, but from what’s been said so far, the realms we’ll enter are much more enjoyable to exist in anyway.

The realization that consciousness continues after the body stops living is incredibly liberating, I imagine, for people who’ve feared death all of their lives. Can you imagine discovering this and moving into the etheric realms at the same time?

Sir Alvary Gascoigne tells us about his peaceful passing, during which his departed mother was present.

“I had a good night of refreshing sleep on my last night on earth and, when both of you came to see me, I was in a state bordering upon pleasant relaxation. Every part of me seemed to be switching off gently, and, when the last switch was pressed, I suddenly found I was floating above my body. I made instinctively for the window.

Mother was there, but I couldn’t see her. She said my first words were: ‘Thank God that’s over – I never thought I should have lived through it,’ whereupon she burst out laughing and that was the first etheric sound I heard… Obviously the laughter did not come from you. But in a few moments I could feel her arms round me and recognized her voice.” (2)

I’ve read material elsewhere that suggests that when we die, departed family members and even spiritual guides will be there to welcome us into the etheric realms. If you passed on and knew a friend or family member was about to as well, wouldn’t you want to be as close with them as possible at the time of the transition?

Especially for those who really fear death, I imagine it’s comforting to have their departed friends and family around them when they cross over. Being able to see their faces and hear their voices again probably feels better than the peaceful process of death itself.

Personally, I look forward to seeing a few people when I cross over (or evolve), and I’m sure the list will grow as time passes and more relatives make the transition.

The night my grandfather, who had a stroke and was wheelchair-bound and practically speechless for the last two decades of his life, crossed over, I had a dream that he got up out of his wheelchair and started walking around.

The next morning, I woke up to the call that he’d passed. Everyone was expecting it by that point, and my family was happy to see him depart into heaven. Because of their religious views, a lot of people in my family are assured that death isn’t the end and that heaven awaits us after this life.

I have a feeling that ol’ Poppy will be among the people to greet me when my work here is done.

Gascoigne tells us about the joy of dying and the physical resistance that’s bred from fearing death.

“Nothing in life comes up to the immense joy of dying.

Death has been made such a bogey that it is only through suffering and great discomfort that we are persuaded to let go and co-operate with death. The body fights to retain life on any terms: [it’s an] inborn instinct of the body brain, so we have to re-educate this body brain to the point when it will accept and relinquish its power without waiting for the spirit to be wrenched away through pain and disease. (2)

Sick people who are kept on machines to keep their bodies going could experience a much less painful transition if they or their family understood that death isn’t the end and that unnecessarily prolonging physical life only causes more pain.

Releasing oneself to the natural dying process will see one experience it with much more ease, whereas remaining trapped in a body that’s ready to rest can be very difficult and confining.

Gascoigne then tells us about the process of being drawn up out of the body when it dies.

“You will find that more and more people just die in their tracks, which is the ideal way of leaving.

I told you that I had experienced a strange feeling of power that seemed to be drawing me out of my body during the last few days of my illness. I was hopelessly ill and I knew it, so I welcomed this inrush of new life and let go very willingly. That was why I did not linger.” (2)

We’re also told that we’re meant to relax and “go with the flow” of transitioning instead of fearing or fighting it.

“You must realize that, when you have joined the ‘Club,’ the passing cannot be very long delayed and be ready to receive the power that draws you quite painlessly out of your body. It’s the most beautiful and glorious thing. I see so many are prolonging their life quite unnecessarily. If you give up the reins, as it were, to the great Creator, expressing your readiness, then life is withdrawn gently and lovingly and the dossier of your earthly effort is closed.

We are not meant to suffer death. … We … say relax and let life do with you what it will.” (2)

When we’re ready to be called home, it’ll be easier to simply surrender to the process instead of wasting our time and energy fighting it. Of course, to the ego, surrender would seem like the worst thing to do. To somebody who wants to stay alive for fear of dying, surrendering to the process could be much easier said than done.

Why surrender to a process that you worry will take your existence away? Because of this, I think it’s essential for everyone to understand death’s real nature, as well as the realms we transition into when the body stops living.

Concluded in Part 4 tomorrow.

Footnotes:

(1)- Geraldine Cummins, Swan on a Black Sea. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965.

(2)- Cynthia Sandys and Rosamund Lehmann, The Awakening Letters. Jersey: Neville Spearman, 1978.

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