Image: Cathar Cross
Today, I would like to write about spirits who remain close to the physical realm, otherwise known as ghosts. These spirits generate a lot of interest even amongst those who profess to have no spiritual beliefs. In fact, in spiritual terms, they perform an important function in that many people would never reflect on the afterlife were it not for the repeated and startling evidence of their existence.
It can be said that a ghost is generally a spirit who is troubled. We need to differentiate between evolved spirits who come through with a purpose such as healing or the progression of the soul who is incarnate and those who are bound to the physical realm by their attachments. You will notice generally that a ghost or spirit who is bound to the earth realm is bothered in some way. The spirit in question may have an unhealthy attachment to a person, place or thing. I have encountered this a number of times in my work and have done healings to help these spirits move on. Where death has been sudden and dramatic, the spirit is often in a state of shock and sometimes does not realize that he or she has passed on. There is confusion and the spirit wants to wake from what he thinks is a dream.
It must be remembered that the experience of the initial stages of the afterlife is very comparable to the dream state. Remember that spirit is consciousness and that each soul or consciousness exists at a certain vibration which is directly related to the awareness of that soul. The well being of the soul in spirit is directly related to the level of awareness that the soul has achieved in its most recent and in previous lives. The soul that has remained asleep to any spiritual awareness will take considerably longer to achieve awareness in spirit. The Buddhists talk about the Bardo states i.e. the states that the consciousness or soul experiences after death. In Buddhist thought, the aware soul will know even after death how to navigate these states and achieve a favourable rebirth. The unaware soul will tumble in a disturbed way into the first incarnation that crosses its path, irrespective of the life form, whether it be animal or human. The orthodox Christian soul who has achieved a high level of awareness will experience the after death state as heaven (which could be described as a blissful state of pure awareness). The Gnostic Christian soul will experience unity with Godhead, the Atheist may experience universal love and so on.
Ultimately each soul, no matter what its philosophical, theological or spiritual background, will experience spirit in some form, that form being directly dependent on the level of awareness of the soul and the filters through which the reality of the divine has reached it during its last and previous lives.
The concept of the filter is important. In the same way that human beings experience everyday reality in considerably different ways through the filters of their personalities and their conditioning, so it is with their experience of the world of spirit. The variety of religious and philosophical paths available to human beings is considerable. Some do not progress beyond their creature needs and their emotional drives, some experience orthodox religion of various kinds, some experience the mystical path, some are adamantly and ideologically agnostic or atheist, so various filters are taken on to examine and relate to the nature of reality.
It is important to note that after physical death, when the consciousness expands, these various filters and lifelong impressions do not simply fall away. Bearing in mind that spirit is consciousness, albeit a much clearer form of consciousness without the burden of the physical realm, the reality is that consciousness has been deeply influenced by the impressions of a lifetime and so when we open to the world of spirit the greater reality flows through the channels of our being. To give an example, let us say that somebody whose concept of the divine is Jesus and who has had a devotion in this regard, will largely experience Jesus in spirit and so it is with Buddha and Krishna, Mohammad and so on. The person who has lived the positive and spiritually aware side of his or her particular religion and learnt compassion from it will largely experience the divine in positive form through the impressed icons that have moulded his or her awareness and expectations of spirit and the afterlife.
If we consider the Virgin apparitions (visions) in Catholic countries such as Italy, this is a good example and a microcosm of what happens in spirit. Certain individuals in these countries who have a devotion to Mother Mary can open their consciousness, although they are still present in the physical realm. They are in fact opening their consciousness to one channel of the Divine, i.e. Mother Mary. They experience the Divine as Mother Mary because this is the channel of their devotion and the channel that has been mapped by the conscious mind. You will note that there are no recorded sightings of Mother Mary by Buddhist devotees, or Hindus or even other denominations of Christians who do not have a devotion in this regard. You wonder about the supposed messages that these people relay from Mother Mary and yes, here caution must be exercised. The messages are also coming through the filters of a persons consciousness and reality and one needs to be a very good channel to decipher what is a valid message and what is coming from the persons consciousness or attachments. In my own case and in relation to my work, I have spent a lot of time perfecting this process and it has been a cause of considerable concern to me.
If we imagine a flower opening and as the flower opens to the sky and the air so does the spirit open to consciousness. There are many flowers opening in many different places, all in their own time and under varying conditions of light and shade, nurture and neglect, freedom and control, adverse conditions and ideal conditions and so on and so it is with the soul. It is the nature of the soul to open to full consciousness of God and Spirit and it happens eventually for each and every soul incarnate.
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