The Afterlife – New Maps of Heaven » 14. The Mental Plane – The Second Heaven

The Second Heaven: “Wonderful in Every Way”

Ed. Also known as Helios, the Plane of Flame, or the Second Heaven.

J.W. Sharpe Arrives in the “Fifth Plane” or Second Heaven

At first, after passing over, we rest and get accustomed to our surroundings. Also we receive instruction from our higher guides. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 128.)

In this letter I want to tell you something about my sphere. It is wonderful in every way, but not easy to describe in your earth language; there are so very many things to which you have no parallel on earth It is rather like trying to make a blind man see by word-pictures or a deaf man the many sounds of nature.

I woke up in what I believe you would call the fourth sphere (1) and thought that nothing could exceed it in beauty till I passed on to the fifth. (2) There the atmosphere was even purer and the colours more exquisite, also my companions more congenial. I found those who are interested in the same subtle investigations as I am, and there are many scientific men here, also artists, poets and musicians. (J. W. Shape, M.A., in FMABL, 122-3.)

(1) If I am correct, the First Heaven.

(2) If I am correct, the Second Heaven.

The scenery of this sphere is most beautiful, a little like earth, only far transcending it in every way. Think of your finest sunsets for a scheme of color, bathing the mountains and lakes in wonder and glory. The notes of your purest instruments or the songs of your nightingales and larks cannot give you even a faint idea of the music of this sphere. For food, we have the most delicious fruits and we revel in a wealth of exquisite flowers; but words fail me altogether to convey to you a picture of this land of beauty and delight. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 123-4.)

The Inhabitants of the Second Heaven

I am struck by the people I meet, not only because they are interesting people, but because I find in this sphere many whose moral character (as we on earth appraise it) would prevent them from gaining admittance here. Again there are others whose sanctity (from our point of view) was assured, but they are not here, and we find on inquiry they are far away down in the Borderland spheres. (1) (J. W. Shape, M.A., in FMABL, 127.)

(1) I do not think that Sharpe means the Borderland proper, but more astral spheres bordering more closely on the Earth than the Mental Plane does.

It is a great joy to meet in this glorified life those whose names are as household words on the earth. In some cases, however, they have had to pass through periods of purification and probation for pride of intellect is one of the greatest barriers to progress. Later they come on here and are permitted to work in the special branch in which their souls delight. So you see I am in good company and I rejoice to learn from these splendid men, who through their writings or their art, were my teachers in the earth life. (J. W. Shape, M.A., in FMABL, 123.)

Often there is so much spiritual pride in those whom we call saints that when they come to the spirit-world they have to pass through a necessary period of probation before this can be cast aside. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 127.)

Now this puzzled me not a little and, when talking to my higher guide, he tells me that, because of our limitations, we judge only from the outward and God judges wholly from the inward, hence, Christ bids us, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Open Co-operation

On earth we shut ourselves up in air-tight compartments and live in them, only opening the doors to a few who are congenial to us, who sympathize with our ideals, or with whom we can work. Now, the first thing that impressed me here is the wrongness of all this – the vastness of this life – its breadth of sympathy. Its overflowing kindness struck me as wonderful and this impression only grows and deepens the longer I live here.

You meet people of every clime, of every shade of thought, and of every religious opinion, and yet we are all one, full of loving sympathy the one for the other. For instance, the artist holds no secret of success from his fellow-artist, but gladly shares it with him. The scientist is not shut away working out his discoveries behind closed doors, but gladly invites those of like tastes to join him. It is the wonderful hand of love and good fellowship that has impressed me so deeply and this being one of the things so badly needed in your world, I would say, “Throw open the doors of your homes more freely and give out love in a stream of blessing.” (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 126-7.)

In the short time I have been on this side, I have learnt so much that is new and strange to me, and, also, I have had to unlearn some things. Amongst the latter I would place my former conception of your side of life. I did not realize as I do now the great “Oneness of Life” as displayed here. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 125-6.)

Waiting for Loved Ones

If our dearest are still with you on earth, we often elect to live together in communities, rather than in separate houses, as we can thus wait the more patiently until they join us here. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 123.)

Service in the Second Heaven

Here everyone is at work, but with the absence of time, we do not need to hasten our decision as to the nature of the work to which we will devote ourselves. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 128.)

“Our Connection is Purely Spiritual Now”

The fetters of earth have been stripped off me. (1) (Sigwart, BOTR, 35.)

(1) Probably the second death, which occurs after the Judgment.

Rejoice with me when I tell you I have advanced again, (1) for every divesture is a festival. (Sigwart, BOTR, 36.)

(1) From the First to the Second Heaven.

Now that I have divested myself of all material sheaths I may tell you there are quite unpleasant moments to be gone through after death. Fortunately I was able to collect myself in perfect quietness; otherwise it would have been difficult to extricate myself from the chaos. (1) Helpers and good friends stood by me with advice. Which gave me the necessary inner tranquility. (Sigwart, BOTR, 39.)

(1) Given that Sigwart has divested himself of all material sheaths and refers to collecting himself in perfect quietness, it is most probable that he is referring to the second death.

I am around you without the minutest longing for anything of material substance. Our connection is purely spiritual now. (Sigwart, BOTR, 40.)

The spirits who have reached this “Return or Stay Sphere,” (1) and are purified and qualified in themselves, those who stand the tests and pass out as Grade 1, pass to another and altogether different and lighter land – and each becomes impersonal. (2) Impersonal in the sense that they are no longer Jack Brown or Madge Black, they are now pure spirit people, and their former love, which had been a personal and individual thing, is no longer for one but equally for all. All are alike to all. The purest tissue of God Love binds one and all. (W.T. Stead, BI, 147.)

(1) The Second Heaven. (2) Impersonal, but not ceasing to exist as individuals.

Of course, I have consciousness here, but it is not like so many on earth, a narrow self-consciousness. The old sinful self is lost and forgotten in a great humility, which is absorbed in the consciousness of God and of others, but one is not obsessed by self. (Sherwood Eddy in Paul Beard, LO, 126.)

Rarity of Maintaining Earth Contact in Second Heaven

I have found many dear human souls who console me concerning my spatial separation from you. They are all amazed over my strong and intimate connection with all of you because it is considered rare to maintain such near relationship on earth. (Sigwart, BOTR, 93-4.)

Many beautiful and dear thoughts from you have reached me today [Dec. 24]. They came to me every so often as pretty white doves. I received each one as a gift. I have never before experienced such a lovely Christmas Eve. …

Generally it is no joy to approach mankind, because one is seldom rewarded with real success. It is a thankless job. Can you comprehend how your devoted love, your striving and your understanding gladdens me? (Sigwart, BOTR, 95.)

You need not be afraid that these communications with you might harm me. Naturally, I would advance faster without the direct connection with you. However, I want to keep it up and my will is equal to a command from me.

We do not love one being only in the world! (Sigwart, BOTR, 58.)

I was able to divest myself of the various sheaths in peace (1) because you did not hold me back, and therefore we could stay together. (Sigwart, BOTR, 79.)

(1) In his ascent through the Astral Plane and in the Second Death.

Only harmony, unity and love will keep me in your midst. Should you fail in this, I must then withdraw. (Sigwart, BOTR, 49.)

It will be decided whether or not I shall be permitted to continue this unusual communication with you. … Two Masters discussed it [today] and then they came to me. (Sigwart, BOTR, 84.)

I have pupils here, too, but naturally I am more concerned about you. I was afraid at first that this wonderful task would be taken away from me. Control your thoughts very much these days so the Masters will let me keep this happiness. (Sigwart, BOTR, 85.)

The Masters have decided. I may go on speaking to you. I was afraid I might still experience some disappointment because you were not free in your world of thoughts concerning me during these past days. But the Masters have tested everything, not only the last unfavourable days, as I had feared. Thus they saw the immense power you have created because all has remained of what you have done so far. The uncertainty is past. We can begin our work now. (Sigwart, BOTR, 85.)

I renounce gladly any overly fast advancement for your sake. (Sigwart, BOTR, 91.)

Experiences in the Second Heaven

The Soul is Continuously Conscious

(5) The Plane of Pure Flame. In this state the soul becomes aware of the pattern his spirit is weaving in the tapestry of eternity and realizes all the emotional life of those souls fed by the same spirit. (F.W.H. Myers in RTI, n.p.)

Fifthly, a mental or intellectual existence within the group-soul in which you envisage and experience–but only as an act of emotional thought–all the stages of existence that belong to those various souls fed by the same spirit. I have spoken before of the group-soul and defined it for you. (F.W.H. Myers in RTI, n.p.)

It is necessary to describe by some symbol each chapter in the Book of Life.

The term “flame” expresses the Fifth stage. (1) For now the soul becomes emotionally whole, aware not alone of himself, but of all those other souls who are of his group. He remains himself, yet is all those other selves as well. He no longer dwells in form–as it is conceived by man–but he dwells still in what might be described as an “outline.” All the past emotions, passions, intellectual modes of expression belonging to his companion souls shape this outline, an outline of emotional thought; a great fire which stirs and moves this mighty being now.

While he abides in this Fifth plane, experience is manifold, is a multiplication, loses, in a sense, its apparent oneness. He lives indeed a life that seems to burn like a flame. It is a time of severe discipline, of vastly increased intellectual feeling, of great limitations, of boundless freedoms, of the glimpsing of infinite horizons. “Swoons of contemplation, agonies of dreaming,” states in which all lucid thought lies fallow, states in which the intense feverish activities of all the passionate existence of his comrade souls flame through his being. He is thus all the time becoming more and more merged with the Unifying Spirit.

A rare intensity of feeling, of joy, of ecstasy, of sorrow, of dark despair nourish him, feed his life. Yet, all the while, he is, in a sense, apart, aloof. He is not caught in the storm of this emotional whirlpool. He is sensible of it, yet rides above it. His attitude, however, does not resemble that of St. Simeon Stylites, who remained upon his pillar remote and aloof from the gorgeous ancient world which was playing out its drama in those Mediterranean lands of his day.

The soul, on this Fifth level of consciousness, is continuously conscious. There are now no gaps, no periods of non-existence. He revels in the emotional and intellectual life of all those comrade souls who are on the various rungs of the ladders which reach up to the One Spirit and are lighted by it. But this soul, at the climax of his existence on the plane of flame, is as an artist who lives in his masterpiece, derives from it, in all its features, in the freshness of its evolving, changing creation, that strange exultation which may, perhaps, at one rare moment, be known to a creative genius–though very faintly–while he still lives upon the earth.

This state on the Fifth plane may be imagined but not understood or conceived by a man’s mind. To the travelling soul the purpose of his existence will seem to be, at last, revealed. He tastes of Heaven and yet the revelation of the last mystery still tarries, still awaits the completion of the design of which he is a part.

It is a glorious existence, despite certain sinister aspects. The Soul-man, however, may not leave it for the Sixth plane (2) until the group-soul is complete, until those other souls, necessary to this design woven in the tapestry of eternity, have also attained to this level of consciousness. (3) Some may still be far behind. But while in this state of being, the Soul-man becomes aware of the emotional life of all the more primitive souls who inhabit denser and denser matter and, yet, belong to his group. He becomes aware, in short, of all the parts of the great body which his spirit, or the Unifying Principle, feeds with its Light. He realizes the subconscious life of the flower, the insect, the bird, the beast, all those forms which are connected with the governor of his being, that Light from Above. (F.W.H. Myers in RTI, n.p.)

(1) Possibly the Second Heaven. (2) Possibly the Third Heaven. (3) I have not seen the allegation that the traveler may not leave the Fifth Stage for the Sixth until all members of the group-soul have left anywhere else and am inclined to doubt it. It would seem to put a brake on the soul’s evolution which I do not think exists.

The actual construction of the group-soul must be clearly visualised. Its spirit feeds, with life and mental light, certain plants, trees, flowers, birds, insects, fish, beasts, men and women; representatives of living creatures in varying states of evolution. It inspires souls who are on various planes, various levels of consciousness in the After-death. It feeds, also, creatures on other planets. For the spirit must gather a harvest of experience in every form.

Gradually these intelligences evolve and merge. The experience necessary to the spirit is completed when all the souls necessary to the design have reached this Fifth plane. Once they become sensible of their oneness and their individuality they may go forward to the Sixth plane. There is, then, a breaking of the threads, a casting away of the dross of emotional experience, a sifting and changing on the part of all these souls. They pass once more into Hades and review, in that state, all that now lies behind them. (F.W.H. Myers in RTI, n.p.)

The Acquisition of Subdivided Consciousness

I am able to sense all of you even when you are separated; I divide myself then and am present in various places at the same time. I acquired this capacity only recently. (1) (Sigwart, BOTR, 75.)

(1) I.e., after the second death.

I have to concentrate my thought for what you might call a moment and I can build up a likeness of myself, send that likeness speeding … to a friend, to one who is in tune with me. Instantly I appear before that friend, though I am remote from him, and my likeness holds speech – in thought, remember, not words – with this friend. Yet all the time I control it…. And as soon as the interview is concluded I withdraw the life of my thought from that image of myself and it vanishes. (Frederic W.H. Myers in Paul Beard, 69.)

It wasn’t always necessary for me to be asleep during this process [of attending the Electrical College on the Mental Plane in the night time]. I had the capacity to subdivide my consciousness, and a part of me could actually stay on the inner planes, even while I was awake.

My form of concentration was unusual. During my moments of intense concentration, part of me could be here on earth and part of me could be on the inner planes – simultaneously. That is not the common phenomenon known as bilocation, by the way. It’s something else and requires a well-developed mind. (Nikola Tesla, NTR, 60.)

When one comes over here, one learns to divide one’s radiations. We can use different bodies. We can go out simultaneously to different planes and people. (Sir Ronald Fraser in AL, 175.)

[Douglas] leaves a part of himself here and calls it his extra body. But it need not look like a body. It can be a burn, a rock, or an animal which holds his personality and becomes his acting self, while his greater self is elsewhere. (Sir Alvary Gascoigne in AL, 112.)

Intimation of Undergoing the Training of an Adept

Douglas and Pat (1) [are] both now high Initiates. (Sir Alvary Gascoigne in AL, 155.)

(1) Douglas, son of Sir Alvary Gascoigne, and Pat, daughter of Cynthia Sandys.

This difficult information [that I have just communicated] contains a major experience. That darkness of which she (1) spoke has been my ‘dwelling place’ for a prolonged period and was part of the process of ‘consolidation’ undergone by the disciple seeking the power of the adept. I had to ‘swell in darkness’ – i.e., the clinging, miasmic, black, engulfing earth and make it part of myself and transmute it – yet not be OF it. (2) I was part of ‘original sin,’ of horror and cruelty and lust and violence – yet it was not I. This is what she meant; it is now over as a long-term process. And so I earned the power of being with you almost physically – I mean I can tune it at will to the wavelength of the physical; I become more and more like a powerful radio station which can transmit and receive. But if I want to function in my deeper reality, I can shut off less powerful vibrations. (Philip to his mother, Alice Gilbert, in ITE, 76.)

(1) Oga is the medium’s spiritual control. The medium is Mrs. Roberts.

(2) This description conforms to passages about the sacred initiation of the adept to be found in Comte St. Germain’s The Most Holy Trinosophia, online at http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/mht/index.htm ; see particularly section 9. It is possible that Philip underwent mystical training and became, as he intimates, an adept.

There was a kind of demonstration before the Masters today. It was a great joy to be able to show our accomplishments at last. This had to do with thought forces; we had to extinguish thoughts and then recreate them. We had to bring new beings to life with our will power and to free ourselves from any external influences and currents. Through feelings we had to call forth colours that changed their shades according to their delicacy. It was an hour of real instruction under the supervision of the highest Masters. (Sigwart, BOTR, 78.)

The great assignment I had to accomplish here is finished – now I am free. (1) I may choose whether or not I want to continue to work in the same direction, i.e., if I want to acquire more forces and develop myself as quickly as possible, or if I want to take up again great, magnificent assignments in music. I shall choose whichever brings me nearer to you. I renounce gladly any overly fast advancement for your sake. This will be decided today.

Everything has transpired according to fixed rules and laws up to now. But now I have arrived at the point where I may choose the further direction of my activities. Generally this is only the case after many years, figured by your concepts of time. You can see from that how diligently I have worked lately. You have no idea how infinitely happy and grateful I am for having been permitted to initiate you as your teacher into the spiritual truths, which alone are of real value. (Sigwart, BOTR, 91.)

(1) This may be the point talked about where the individual can dedice his or her own future – whether to remain in the spirit planes or reincarnate. It is also the point beyond which the individual can decide what form of intensive service he or she wishes to pursue.

I have my free will now and can work on whatever I enjoy. You can hardly imagine what this means here: free of the fetters of earth; free of every material worry; free of the longing for an earthly body; freed from the sorrow of the bereaved. I am indescribably fortunate. Now I can work on all the thoughts I am harboring within me. (Sigwart, BOTR, 93.)

One must steadily practice great patience here. No matter how sublime the work of art one has created, one is not allowed at first to utilize it for the benefit of others until the artist has passed all tests, and has reached a certain level of development.

I wanted to tell you this so you know that one is not permitted to be active in the work of one’s choice until much later. I have decided to stay with music, my beloved music. By this decision, I can remain especially close to you.

Juts now I am busy with a composition. It will contain all my sublime and holy experiences of late. I shall dedicate it as a “Gift of Thanks” to my Masters who – as mediators of the Godhead – have made possible for me a life of greatness and illumination.

This composition will be sung like a hymn and will be played by innumerable beings assigned to me at my disposal. You can imagine how I enjoy this work – I shall not report to you in detail about it as I do not know myself yet how it will come out. Only the basic motive, the key, and the approximate outlines are clear to me. It is exhilarating to be able to create something big again all by myself! (Sigwart, BOTR, 93.)

Intimations of Significant Spiritual Development Achieved

Even after death we cannot immediately see higher beings, but only after one has removed all of one’s sheaths. (Sigwart, BOTR, 84.)

Seek for my spirit, for my real self, not for my material raiment I do not wear any more. Think of a figure of light that is akin to my earthly one. (Sigwart, BOTR, 93.)

Death is not extinction but resurrection; life is not a becoming but annihilation. The structure of matter must be shattered in order to liberate the force gained by the spirit during life. As long as matter prevails, spirit remains anchored within it. When the matter returns to nature, that spiritual force remains because it is different from nature’s and cannot be dissolved in it. Then the spirit searches for what earthly life has preserved for it – and finds that force! (Sigwart, BOTR, 42.)

The earth is permitted to attract only those souls who, because of their stage of development, are forced to descend into matter again; others it has to repel. Fortunately, I am not being drawn into the magnetic vortex anymore and thus I am able now to rise above it from the moment my real higher existence began. (Sigwart, BOTR, 46.) Everything in our world is so totally different from your logic and from the premises human brains have concocted with the so-called sharp intellect. Only feelings and sentiments contribute to comprehension here. You see, it is a totally different conception to judge everything by the capacity of comprehending through higher feelings alone. The more a spirit is developed, that much more readily will his soul react to all external impressions. This is so rich and proliferous. (Sigwart, BOTR, 47-8.)

Holy Night!

I was permitted to behold something immeasurable. .. I was granted to feel< my Redeemer. My Saviour, Christ Jesus. Waves that emanated from Him penetrated me and I received them with the holiest cognition: Waves from Him, from Him.

I had to remain quiet. Nothing was revealed to me beforehand. Then a stream of love passed by me. I knew at once: this came from God, this came from Him! But I lost consciousness in a most blessed surrender. Why did this happen to me? Why my strange condition? Was I not strong enough to receive this holy stream? It came by me and wafted further on to gladden others, to bless others.

I was not mature enough. I was unable to assimilate the love, and thus it overpowered me. The stream had passed on, but a tiny heart-thought of it stayed behind, of the immensity that had flowed through the spheres and had touched me too. I shall nurture and foster this thought in my heart as one would a rare plant, which was born by love and can survive only through love. Thus I feel this heart-thought. It was the mightiest of all the events I was granted to experience. (Sigwart, BOTR, 94-5.)

An inner withdrawal into a focus is the secret for acquiring transcendental knowledge. (Philip Gilbert in ITE, 8.)

Hold on to the concept of luminous fluency. In this lies all. (Philip Gilbert in ITE, 8.)

There is a vast Power which is the mainspring of our being. It is the source of our work. This work we are doing is intended to blaze a trail of light in the dark places of post-death existence. This will help to guide man into an appreciation of after-death. You perceive that there are levels interrelating in an almost-arbitrary manner yet each man has his individual experience based on the contents of his sub-conscious mind. It is not easy for people in a flesh body to visualize it. It’s a world of thought-forms (but then so is the physical from our angle!), very fluent (1) and interrelated. But, to those in it, just as normal and natural as yours seems to you, and with its own laws. (“Ross” in ITE, 39.)

(1) Fluid?

The deepest mystery of our being – yours, mine, and Ross’s – can only be approached by dwelling in Light and Harmony and becoming of this and then letting it percolate into the sadness and overwhelmed fatigue of those who are in the forefront of the battle. It is a calling on the Master and he never fails to respond. Even though you may be too immersed in the battle of the flesh to sense the response, it is and works within you: just tune into it, never flinching. (Philip to his mother, Alice Gilbert, in ITE, 39.)

I can touch you with the point of my sword – it is liquid fire – for I have learned the magic of creation – and this can sustain all it touches. (“Ross” to Alice Gilbert in ITE, 41.)

I have been on a far trip – is ‘far’ the word? It seemed a century of experience. I went into a silent world of geometric patterns which spoke to me through their shapes; I seemed in this way to grasp the MEANING of us all – I don’t think I can formulate it in word concepts. (“Ross” in ITE, 50.)

Alice, I have merged deeper into the clarity which I sense as

beyond – the interlinking web of geometrical patterns which have an alphabet of their own which I am learning slowly. (“Ross” to Alice Gilbert in ITE, 50.)

No inner reality can be achieved without casting aside physical concepts. For a ‘pinpoint’ of pure LIGHT of the WHOLE is infinitely potent in the WHOLE. To be afraid that you are too small is to lack true humility. What you are to do is to continue to radiate the WHOLE through that minute point which is your body, not seeking to measure how ‘much’ you give or whether it is ‘worthwhile.’ All thought of selfness must go; continue to BE and to act when it is indicated in so far as your vehicle will permit and do not seek acknowledgment of what you have done. (The Unknown Teacher to Alice Gilbert, ITE, 47.)

By your side, at the foot of the giant beech, ancient king of the forest, is the minute shoot, his child, sending out a leaf which also contains the life force in its tiny stem, equally potent with the vast trunk behind you. So you and your seeming-puny efforts have infinite potentiality yet in yourself you are so tiny as to be well nigh invisible in the concourse of the spheres.

Only by accepting your smallness, yet continuing to tune into the WHOLE can you achieve what purpose there is for you; your self has no importance, yet, to me, your beloved, it is important for I too am infinitely small by the side of the WHOLE. (Philip to his mother, Alice Gilbert, in ITE, 59.)

You were told that ‘power concentrates on a point.’ This is true to infinity. Could you see these processes of permeation, there are in fact milliards of POINTS of Force entering the earth. Yet though these points seem thickly massed, there is in fact SPACE between – this is the negation, the unimpregnated, which forms the setting of each point-jewel and plays an immense part in the balancing of the opposites which is the pattern of creation.

Each point is then separate even if by so minute a space that the eye cannot see it, yet each is attracted to the other and seeks to blend. This is the eternal process of motion which creates the electronic whorls of which all physical matter is made. This is a fact of ‘science’ which may be measured and checked when science has gone far enough to measure the Cosmic inflow. It is in the manipulating of these ‘points’ of Power that Eternal Mind creates form. (Philip to his mother, Alice Gilbert, in ITE, 63.)

These [planetary] arcs are eternal – the producers of form – but it is in form that you are and to it you must adapt. (The Unknown Teacher to Alice Gilbert in ITE, 66.)

There is the law of the point and the circle; you are the point within the circle but you are also the circle for the point is IT. This paradox is accomplished through the mechanics of the planetary arcs.

The point in infinity differs from your point in time and space for the former is vibrant and non-physically focalized – elusive yet, to the skilled observer, visible. It is the recipient of rays from the point in time and it links with the SOURCE, and, in the approach to your physical system, it links too with the planetary arcs. In your meditation on the Silence, add now the concept of the circle of your being enclosing the point in infinity – do not seek to grasp this intellectually. Let it be and envisage it as a concept. (The Unknown Teacher to Alice Gilbert, ITE, 64.)

The ray of Power in which you bathe is the source of your energy because your INNER will desires this. This form of desire is pure and allowable and it is the only valid desire, whose fulfillment beings life and LIGHT. I need not remind you that it must flow from you and around, so seek always, never falter in the seeking, to achieve non-attachment plus compassion, the perfect paradox of being – the recipe for physical harmony. (The Unknown Teacher to Alice Gilbert in ITE, 78.)

You see, my dear, my inner self knew all the answers without your telling me. (Philip to his mother, Alice Gilbert, in PTW, 115.)

“Speeding up the Processes”

I get busier and busier. This is because I am speeding up my processes. I do not have to stop and think deliberately how to get to places. It is like a baby learning to walk, or, in my case, as I knew it all previously, like someone who has been in bed a long time, getting out and trying his legs again. (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 29.)

Ecstacy

In this “positive” silence of our world, one may float on thought landscape in a sort of dreamy ecstacy, with no particular willed act of steering. (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 46.)

If you can enter even for a brief second this silence, which you call peace, you have touched truth. This you learn to do, and we strive here also to blend, in flashes, with the Ultimate. (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 66.)

Gaiety

Oh, if you only realized how often I come to you and try to make you dance with me and to hearten and liven you up! We are so gay here in our crowd. I am so abundantly joyous. (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 49.)

Most people, if they are on the upward path, take us so solemnly. They still wrap up round the with “church” atmosphere: lowered voices, chanting, and this and that. … Joy, gaiety are what I try to bring. (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 52.)

Silence

Remember always that the more you sense the shimmering world with that quality of inner silence, the more you are functioning in my world, for that is where I function. (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 79.)

Concourse with Other Planes

Changing Planes

The puzzling problem is that one can here “change planes” more rapidly and “unconsciously” than on earth, where the gross act of death is required except in imagination. One may melt or blend into a “higher vibration,” causing the previous conception to blur away, disconcertingly. One gets used to this in time and can take measures to control one’s own alteration of “tempo.” (Philip Gilbert in PTS, 70.)

I told you in a recent letter of the beauty in which I dwell, and I know that each sphere as you pass upward is more perfect than the one below. I have discovered this for myself, as my old habit of falling into a condition of trance is much indulged in here and, when in this state, I pass consciously into spheres above mine. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 128-9.)

At other times I have travelled into Borderland and the lower spheres of the grey world. Your John [Heslop] has promised to take me with him when next he visits the Land of Darkness. (J. W. Sharpe, M.A., in FMABL, 129.)

Saying a Final “Goodbye” to the Physical Body

What grace! The final act has been consummated now. (1) How fortunate the blessing of the earthly body has been fulfilled! I felt for a moment, through you, (2) the pain of severance. These earthly remnants still made their demands on me. But now I have said farewell forever to my old garment. The pain made my spirit tremble for a moment, but then I was free. Now I am relieved and my earthly shell has also begun its eternal sleep, which will end with its dissolution. (Sigwart, BOTR, 72.)

(1) Sigwart has passed through the second death on the Mental Plane and is now ready to bid a final farewell to his earthly body.(2) It is probable that his sister was visiting the gravesite.

I had to make the test today because the time had come when I had to separate myself from it forever. …

I want to say the following for your understanding. We all separate from our earthly sheath. It becomes foreign to us. And we lose all connection with it. But then comes the moment when we must gaze on the material world for the last time before the final decay of these remnants.

Everyone descends to his once-worn raiment and will observe whether the innumerable thoughts of the bereaved have done their good or bad work on it.

Thoughts can sustain a body!

I was separated from my body soon after death. I did not know it anymore. But everyone has to experience what I have gone through there. It is similar to a fleeting reunion with someone we have not seen since childhood and had therefore almost forgotten. (Sigwart, BOTR, 72.)

It is deeper than you can comprehend.

All this has nothing to do with physical connections, nor with spiritual threads that remain. These are rather waves that emanate from there and have to be intercepted once more – an essence of experiences that persisted, but that has been destroyed now.

If a body is cremated or destroyed in some other way, this essence – if we may call it thus – remains also. It stays at the place of the sudden transformation and the spirit returns once more in order to control the surviving essence because it originated from that spirit. It is nothing physical nor is it connected directly with the body, but it can be aroused through many grieving thoughts of the ones left behind.

I saw, or rather sensed, my earthly body again for the first time at that opportunity – but now the place beneath the oak tree is empty again as before. (Sigwart, BOTR, 73.)

Ed. An example is provided here of an Astral-Plane resident, Judge David P. Hatch, discussing the morbid fascination he has of watching the decay of the physical body, to illustrate what Sigwart is talking about.

I want to say a word to those who are about to die. I want to beg them to forget their bodies as soon as possible after the change which they call death.

Oh, the terrible curiosity to go back and look upon that thing which we once believed to be ourselves! The thought comes to us now and then so powerfully that it acts in a way against our will and draws us back to it. With some it is a morbid obsession, and many cannot get free from it while there remains a shred of flesh on the bones which they once leaned upon.

Tell them to forget it altogether, to force the thought away, to go out into the other life free. Looking back upon the past is sometimes good, but not upon this relic of the past.

It is so easy to look into the coffin, because the body which we wear now is itself a light in a dark place, and it can penetrate grosser matter. I have been back myself a few times, but am determined to go back no more. Yet some day the thought may come to me again with compelling insistence to see how it is getting on.

I do not want to shock or pain you – only to warn you. It is sad to see the sight which inevitably meets one in the grave. That may be the reason why many souls who have not been here long are so melancholy. They return again and again to the place which they should not visit.

You know that out here if we think intently of a place we are apt to find ourselves there. The body which we use is so light that it can follow thought almost without effort. Tell them not to do it.

One day while walking down an avenue of trees – for we have trees here – I met a tall woman in a long black garment. She was weeping – for we have tears here also. I asked her why she wept, and she turned to me eyes of unutterable sadness.

I have been back to it,” she said.

My heart ached for her, because I knew how she felt. The shock of the first visit is repeated each time, as the thing one sees is less and less what we like to think of ourselves as being.

Often I remember that tall woman in black, walking down the avenue of trees and weeping. It is partly curiosity that draws one back, partly magnetic attraction; but it can do no good. It is better to forget it. (Judge David P. Hatch, LLDM, Letter XVI.)

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