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The Last Judgment |
All religious teachings seem to talk about a Heaven and a Hell. Christianity teaches of a Judgment Day, which upon the outcome of the soul's trial, the soul is either sent to a place of reward or punishment. Interestingly enough, this idea of a Judgment Day originated from the ancient Egyptian's Judgment of the Dead.
The
Last Judgment of the Dead |
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Last
Judgment
by Michaelangelo |
Other
religions (and cults) have had a wide variety of visions and philosophies
of Heaven and Hell, some wacky, idiotic, and dangerous.
The
original, ancient religions apparently knew and had a somewhat complete knowledge
of the Astral World, but the "powers-that-be" at that time elected
to hand down to their faithful followers only a fragment of the Truth, a fragment
they determined the masses could assimilate at that time.
So in a sense, all the theological teachings regarding Life After Death and Heaven and Hell, contained some small truth at one time, but have since drifted far, far, far away from the COMPLETE and REAL TRUTH.
What happens when we die?
Based on my research, this is the way I see it: In general, and I emphasize the word "general," the majority of people sink into the slumber of so-called "death." After a period of restful, transformation slumber, the soul awakens on the (Astral) plane of disembodied souls. Here, their new life begins.
In some cases, there is a brief awakening shortly after departing the physical body and they may appear visibly to a friend or family member or loved one on the physical material plane (as a ghost?) But soon thereafter, the disembodied soul will become drowsy and sink into the preliminary slumber on the Astral "heavenly plane," which exist ABOVE the Astral (as I described on the previous page.)
MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with the AFTER LIFE
I was 7-years-old when my grandmother died. One night, several weeks after her passing, while I was laying in bed (awake) I saw her enter my bedroom, walk over and look down at me with a big loving smile on her face. She was wearing light-gray, thin, long flowing evening clothes/robe. Her body had the appearance of a thin, ether substance that was transparent. I was petrified, and I immediately grabbed the blanket and pulled it over my head. Several moments later, I slowly peeled the blanket back and peeked out from under it. My grandmother was gone. Experiences like this stay with you forever...
Our loved ones who have passed on frequently visit us in our dreams (to say good-bye? or to reassure us they are okay?) In any case, we all know how dreams can be—many times strange and without reason. So the next time a loved one of yours who has passed on appears in one of your dreams, try to remember to ask them, "Where are you?" and "What is it like over there?"
Here's another experience: I am 24-years-old. Shortly after my father's death, he appeared in one of my dreams. I was startled to see him and I asked him, "What are you doing here? You're suppose to be dead!"
He smiled at me and replied, "I'm not dead."
"Yes you are!" I returned, scared. Then I turned and ran as fast as I could around the corner of the street and hailed a taxi (to get me out of there!) I never saw him in a dream again.
Unfortunately, in that dream, I was more scared then intrigued. If I could have that experience over again, I would hope I would ask a few smarter questions.
Btw, do you remember the movie The Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis? Do you remember when Bruce was telling the young boy ... wondering why his wife was so distant, and the boy replied, "Talk to her in her dreams." ?? Do you remember that scene? Ghost is another memorable movie that comes to mind that deals with this subject matter.
Now some may think what I had experienced above was nothing more than "lucid" dreaming. I cannot dispute such an explanation for my dreams above, but I do know that when we sleep we are sometimes visited by loved ones (family and friends) that have passed over.
There is a great difference in time spent slumbering between souls. Strange as it may seem, the highest and lowest developed souls awaken first, while the average soul slumbers the longest.
The
highly spiritual person awakens quickly because they need little transformation
for the "higher planes" (the Regions of the Mental Plane, or what
occultist refer to as the "heavens") because the soul's transformation
work has already been done.
THE
LOW, MATERIAL-BOUND PERSON
The low, material attached souls awaken very fast and passes at once to the
low plane they have an affinity for. These souls are not destined for the
higher scenes, in fact, they will never reach them. Instead, they descend
to a low plane of the Astral where they will live out their low inclinations
and ideals, and here they will stay until they are sick and tired of them.
Then, and only then, will they be ready for further transformation.
THE
AVERAGE PERSON
On the other hand, the average souls require a much greater transformation
period than the low developed souls AND the highly developed souls.
All souls however, whether low, average or highly developed, eventually move off the Astral Plane and enter a place or "state of being" on the Mental Plane, or "Heavens," thus leaving their "astral shells" behind.
But keep in mind, all this doesn't happen overnight. The soul's spiritual development involves many lifetimes on this physical, Material Plane, as well as on the Astral Plane, as well as on the Mental Plane, as well as on the planes Above the Astral. Think of this as a spiritual evolutionary process that is eternal. Yes, eternal. We are and always will be, forever. Life doesn't stop or start upon our physical death.
So the simple fact you are reading this and I am writing this probably means we both have a long way to go before our karmic debts? attachments? desires? (whatever you want to call them) to this Material Plane have been fulfilled and we can move on and advance to the higher planes :-| .
While on the "heaven" planes, the highly spiritually-developed souls spend great periods of time enjoying their well-earned bliss, whereas the souls of lower development spend much less time on the "heaven" planes, and the lowest material-bound souls barely have the chance to taste the experience of these higher Regions before descending to the lowly plane they have an affinity for.
As far as Hell is concerned, in my opinion, Hell is not a place, per se. Since
the Astral Planes are not (linear/strata) planes but rather "States of
Being" (as I have previously explained) Hell — if you want to believe
in such a place/thing — is an emotional "State of Being" closely
associated with our lower cravings, desires, addictions, etc.
As far as Hell being a place of damnation with eternal pain and suffering, well, that exists, too, but only in the imaginations of the disembodied souls who want to see that kind of thing (as I have previously explained on Astral Sub-Plane 2.) But remember, these poor suffering souls in this Hell are not real people/souls but simply creations of the imaginations of those who want to watch these things.
What happens to the people (souls) who have committed
horrific evil crimes?
Excellent question.
I don't know the answer but I have found some hints. Apparently, they sleep in a very deep sleep, for a very, very, very long time in a dark abyss of nothingness, and when they finally awake, their judgment day, so to speak, comes, but not in the way many (most?) of us would probably like or want to see. I don't know exactly what that is but I have learned it has something to do with a black abyss of nothingness. An existence of nothing but loneliness, for a very, very, very long time...
This thought is not exactly the pain and suffering of eternal damnation of pain and suffering in burning flames that is typically associated with Hell, nor something most of us would want to see as punishment for the pain and suffering some of these evil souls had inflicted upon others.
So the question remains: What happens to the evil souls in this black abyss of nothingness?
I'm
not going to speculate but I have learned every soul is held accountable for
everything they have ever done, even down the minute detail. So I'm sure there
is some type of judgmental accountability somehow, some way when they wake
up. (I often wonder why some souls are born into starving, disease-ridden
families in third-world countries, while others are born to rich, affluent
families. Could their incarnation have anything to do with their behavior
in a previous life — punishment in the form of an earthly incarnation
of physical suffering?
As
a general rule, the higher the advanced soul's spiritual
development, the greater the time between incarnations, and the lower
the soul's spiritual development, the less time between incarnations.
There are special cases however, when the high soul is called to duty, or there is a strong attraction to another soul or souls (family for instance) or others approaching reincarnation (friends/people with a special purpose/cause.) This is called, renunciation.
Please
continue. We're almost finished with the tour.
