The Afterlife – New Maps of Heaven » 17. The Christ Sphere

The Exalted Realm of the Christ

General Descriptions of the Christ Sphere

The Christ Consciousness is the same field of energetic intelligence that is referred to as the 12 D field and its “Avatar Matrix”. (Lisa Renee channeling the Guardians, “Opening of a Seal,” September 9, 2010, at http://tinyurl.com/3ab4coe. If Renee is right and the Astral Planes are the Fourth Density and Mental Planes the Fifth, then the Christ Sphere may be the 12th Density. Again it may not be.)

In each higher sphere, the inhabitants gain a fuller consciousness of the presence of Jesus the Christ, until they come to the seventh, or Christ-Sphere, where He reigns supreme. He is the Life-Principle of everyone here and moves amongst us in full and beautiful communion.

It is here that the crude religious ideas of the lower spheres become crystallized into perfection, for in those spheres, as in your world, Jesus also manifests, but He can only be seen and His Divine Presence realized by the heart that has been prepared by love and service and a total self-abnegation, to open and receive Him. Beyond the seventh sphere there are other celestial states, but of these I cannot speak. (John Heslop, FMABL, 9-10.)

There are worlds in existence nearer to your earth than Mars, but invisible to you because of celestial transparency. Such is the Christ Sphere of which I have written you. (John Heslop to his wife, F. Heslop, SABL, 137.)

Your world is in darkness when compared with the Christ Sphere. (John Heslop, SABL, 29-30.)

Could you but see the glory and beauty from which we come, your soul would be filled with wonder and amazement. (John Heslop, SABL, 76.)

I will now try, my Beloved, to describe to you the sphere in which I dwell, but the difficulties of comparison are very great and words quiet inadequate.

The Christ-Sphere is a planet, half-way between the earth and Mars, but invisible to you because it is composed of celestial transparency. Its light comes not from the sun, but is a beautiful spiritual radiance which illuminates everything with marvelous colours, casting no shadows.

The atmosphere of the whole sphere is translucent, filled with soft glowing light, causing an appearance of transparency to all objects and the colouring enfolded in this transparency is exquisite. The nearest approach which you have to this effect would be in the Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire, a colour seen within a Diamond.

Here you see the inner heart of that upon which you gaze, the wonderful purity of each object which irradiates the exterior. The walls which surround this sphere are composed of what you would describe as precious stones, and the Golden Gates are set with great Pearls. (John Heslop, FMABL, 11-2.)

(1) Could it be that the “pearly gates” refer to the Christ Sphere?

It is all so beautiful, I hardly know how to tell you of this life or where to begin. Sometimes, as I look back, I seem always to have been here and the few years on earth appear as a dream and yet they did so much in the development of my character and in opening my mind to the realities of true life. The trials that seemed so hard to bear are all absorbed in the joy of my present life and I understand now how necessary they were. From here they look so small, so unimportant, it makes me wonder why they distressed me so much and cost so many tears.

But other things – which seemed to us such little things – nevertheless linked us on to God and are here the big and important things which live and glow in the light of His Love. So, my dear friend, do not let these pains and trials distress you too much because they are just the bit of training you need and the loving Christ will help you to bear them all. (“Stella,” FMABL, 111.)

Evidently this [Christ] power is wonderful. The Messenger seemed to love to speak of it: yet he was in awe of it. (Private Thomas Dowding, PD, 29.)

The Christ Sphere is everything, and, yet, by some strange paradox, we [are] able to shut it out from view. (1) (Private Thomas Dowding, PD, 28.)

(1) The reader should keep in mind that Private Dowding is not in the Christ Sphere. His view is included for interest sake, but should not be looked upon as authoritative.

The Sun, the Christ sphere, the centre whose Light is Jesus Christ – that is spirit at its purest and best. (Philemon [Archdeacon Wilberforce], LFOS, 29.)

Far above us is the Christ Sphere of glorious intensity of light and awful beauty. Your [highest] worship … proceeds to the Father through Him, that is, through the One Who came to earth and manifested the Christ to men. (G. Vale Owen, LBV, 89.)

Is the Christ Sphere the Seventh or Beyond the Fourteenth?

In each higher sphere, the inhabitants gain a fuller consciousness of the presence of Jesus the Christ, until they come to the seventh, or Christ-Sphere, where He reigns supreme. He is the Life-Principle of everyone here and moves amongst us in full and beautiful communion. …

Beyond the seventh sphere there are other celestial states, but of these I cannot speak. (John Heslop, FMABL, 9-10.)

We are they who came before, friend; Astriel, as you know me, and my fellow-workers of the Tenth Sphere of progress. (Astriel in G. Vale Owens, LBV1, 216.)

Far above us is the Christ Sphere of glorious intensity of light and awful beauty. (Astriel in G. Vale Owens, LBV1, 224.)

The highest-numbered sphere where conditions are at all known is the Fourteenth and somewhere beyond this is the “Christ Sphere.” (Lord Dowding, MM, 59-60.)

(1) Dowding’s scheme could make sense if the numbering scheme starts from the seven Earth levels plus the seven levels of probation, in which case the Christ Sphere would be on the planes of contemplation beyond the Fourteenth Plane.

I heard it suggested to you lately that this Seventh Sphere is not the one where Jesus the Christ now reigns, but that He dwells in a region far above this. Now that is not wholly correct; but, again, I feel it very difficult to make this clear to you because in one sense He possesses the power to be practically everywhere at one and the same time.

Thus the Christ pervades each and every sphere, and in the same way He pervades your earth, for the redemption of which He lived, suffered and died. Nevertheless, this Christ – or Seventh – Sphere is peculiarly His Dwelling Place, where He manifests Himself in a specially intimate way to those who dwell there. (John Heslop, FMABL, 14.)

But, my dear, wherever you are, it is not possible to be beyond or outside this pervading influence of the Christ. That is the wonder of it. The “Universal Christ,” as He is so often called, has the power to illuminate the soul till it can not only become conscious of His Glorious Presence, but be actually filled interiorly with the “Essence of Christ.” This is what is meant by “Christ in you,” the consciousness of His Inner Presence, by the stimulus of His Outward Presence upon the soul.

Now until you can become thus conscious of Him, you cannot pass into the Seventh Sphere. If such a thing were possible, you would be unable to see its beauty or glimpse the Divine Christ when He reveals Himself. Even in the lower spheres as on earth this holds good. Glimpses of Jesus the Christ are given everywhere and gradually as soul becomes open to these Holy Visitations do you grow more and more ready for entrance into the land where He specially manifests. (John Heslop, FMABL, 15.)

Christ has passed into the spheres of Contemplation; (1) but He may personally return when our work is completed. (Spirit leader Imperator in Moses, MST, 13-4.)

(1) Beyond the seven planes of probation.

I, myself, Imperator Servus Dei, am the chief of a band of forty-nine spirits, the presiding and controlling spirit, under whose guidance and direction the others work.

I come from the seventh sphere to work out the will of the Almighty; and, when my work is complete, I shall return to those spheres of bliss (1) from which none return again to earth. But this will not be till the medium’s work on earth is finished, and his mission on earth exchanged for a wider one in the spheres. (Spirit leader Imperator in Moses, ST, 22.)

(1) Here Imperator makes a clear distinction between the Seventh Sphere, in which he resides, and the higher Spheres of Contemplation, where Christ resides.

Qualifications for Entering the Christ Sphere

Humility of spirit … alone enables [you] to enter into the Sphere of the Christ.

For you can enter it even while on earth. Under the direct influence of the Divine Lord you can evolve the Christ-Spirit in your own soul. Growing daily into His Image, you are enabled by prayer, contemplation and love, to be sharers with Him in the [upliftment] of the world. In the ecstacy of this revelation, you gain your first glimpse of that which awaits you, in all its loveliness and perfection, in this land of unspeakable joy, where the soul is one with Christ for evermore. (John Heslop, FMABL, 50-1.)

To the soul, either on your earth or here, who has surrendered the pride of intellect, and consecrated his will to the Divine Lord, desiring to become as nothing before Him, there opens the glory of the Christ-Sphere and the inflow of His Presence and Love. From that moment he co-operates with Christ, first in the regeneration of his own nature, and then in the regeneration of the world. (John Heslop, FMABL, 48.)

Heaven is all made up of Love and Sympathy and Service. And here these attributes of the Divine are all coloured by prismatic tints, scintillating round those who so love and serve, and we gauge their quality by the brilliance qand beauty of these colours.

Even on earth you reflect these tints to a great extent in your auras, but they are dim and fitful, largely influenced by the mental states and bodily health. But here they shine forth unimpaired and, in the higher spheres, the brightness is so great that they must veil themselves when they approach or they would blind us by the excess of light. (“Stella,” FMABL, 110-1.)

Inhabitants of the Christ Sphere

John, from whom these letters came, was a Scotsman and gloried in his nationality. Extremely reticent in the expression of his deeper feelings, he was a very Highlander in his genial nature and filled with love and hospitality. (F. Heslop, SABL, xix.)

His character was a combination of strength and tenderness, strong in rectitude and every manly virtue, but tender and understanding toward the weaknesses of others. He had a well-balanced brain, clear, excellent judgment, and keen artistic perceptions. But the bias of his mind was toward the practical rather than the poetical, while for mysticism and all occult matters he had no toleration.

A keen sportsman, he reveled in the beauty of river and loch. Few men ever won more affection from other men than did he, and, when he passed, they told me with one voice that he was the most loveable man they had ever known. His religion was hid with “Christ in God,” and so sensitive and reticent was his nature, that even to me – his wife – he never spoke of these things and passed away with the seal of silence unbroken. His beautiful life alone revealed how closely he had walked with God and he bore bravely and without a murmur his agony of suffering. (F. Heslop, SABL, xix-xx.)

Arrival in the Christ Sphere

You would like me to tell you how I passed to spirit life. When I died, I simply fell into a state of unconsciousness and was taken at once into my mother’s loving care. In this condition I remained for a fortnight, by your time. Then by the help of my mother and other dear ones, I revived. Gradually, the wonders and beauty of this new world unfolded themselves. The loveliness of the trees and flowers, the grandeur of the mountains, the glint of distant lakes, seemed familiar, yet spiritualized. It was some time before I could realize what had happened and that death had really passed. (1) (John Heslop in SABL, 1.)

(1) John Heslop was a wonderfully spiritual man, but he did not believe in an afterlife.

Jesus Reigns in the Christ Sphere

About three or four weeks (according to your time) after I came here, I saw a great concourse of people, millions of people, and they were all singing. How can I describe it? It is not like human singing, but as if your soul and mine, being attuned to perfect harmony by our love, should evolve into waves of music. And all that vast assembly being so attuned by their love of God and Jesus Christ, produced a volume of harmony indescribably beautiful.

Then Jesus preached to us of the infinite love of the Father for God is the embodiment of love. Often since, I have gazed upon His glorified face and realized the sweetness of His presence. His radiant figure clothed in purity – eyes full of love – lips parted in praise – the crown upon his royal head. (John Heslop to his wife, F. Heslop, SABL, 103-4.)

I heard it suggested to you lately that this Seventh Sphere is not the one where Jesus the Christ now reigns, but that He dwells in a region far above this. Now that is not wholly correct; but, again, I feel it very difficult to make this clear to you because in one sense He possesses the power to be practically everywhere at one and the same time.

Thus the Christ pervades each and every sphere, and in the same way He pervades your earth, for the redemption of which He lived, suffered and died. Nevertheless, this Christ – or Seventh – Sphere is peculiarly His Dwelling Place, where He manifests Himself in a specially intimate way to those who dwell there. (John Heslop, FMABL, 14.)

But, my dear, wherever you are, it is not possible to be beyond or outside this pervading influence of the Christ. That is the wonder of it. The “Universal Christ,” as He is so often called, has the power to illuminate the soul till it can not only become conscious of His Glorious Presence, but be actually filled interiorly with the “Essence of Christ.” This is what is meant by “Christ in you,” the consciousness of His Inner Presence, by the stimulus of His Outward Presence upon the soul.

Now until you can become thus conscious of Him, you cannot pass into the Seventh Sphere. If such a thing were possible, you would be unable to see its beauty or glimpse the Divine Christ when He reveals Himself. Even in the lower spheres as on earth this holds good. Glimpses of Jesus the Christ are given everywhere and gradually as soul becomes open to these Holy Visitations do you grow more and more ready for entrance into the land where He specially manifests. (John Heslop, FMABL, 15.)

And so, because He is the embodiment of all that is Pure and Noble, His Presence produces the most exquisite music and the most gorgeous colouring. From Him stream rays of intense purity, understanding, and love. In His Presence we too enter into “Oneness with God” and all created things and receive a portion of that “Creative Power” which comes through Perfect Love. Every faculty of our being is quickened and we can pierce with our sight things happening in other spheres.

We can create all things for our needs and for the needs of those who have not yet attained to this power and by our love we can dispel the darkness encircling some undeveloped soul and lead him into the light.

My Beloved, in your world this power of transforming love is also present, but used in a more material way because the need is often material. But it is the same spirit. (John Heslop, FMABL, 15-6.)

John Heslop Welcomed and Illumined by Christ and a Chorus of Angels

I want to tell you something of my passing. I had not realized that the end was so near, but just a little while before, my cousin came to me and said, “We have come for you, Stella, prepare yourself to see the Christ.” Just then He, the dear Lord, came into my sight; I stretched out my arms – a great flood of light enfolded me – and I knew no more. (“Stella” in FMABL, 102-3.)

When I opened my eyes I found that death had passed and I was safely on the farther shore. Then soft music thrilled me and many loved ones came and bore me away. Up, up, through great spaces we passed, till we came to the Golden Gates, which swung back as we approached and we entered in. Oh. The glory of this sphere! No words of mine can describe it and, as I stood there entranced, the Christ came and I fell before Him in wonder and in awe. He was so brilliant that I dared not raise my eyes till He had touched me and lifted me up, saying, “Welcome, my Beloved, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into our joy.”

Then they clothed me in a glittering robe and sang as they led me forth to the Temple of the Christ. This Temple is in the centre of the sphere, glorious beyond expression in majesty and beauty. (“Stella” in FMABL, 103.)

When on earth I was privileged to see Jesus Christ many times. The universal character of the Christ permits of His showing Himself in vision in many directions at one and the same time and to all of us who love Him very dearly are these visions given. To those who love deeply, the image of the loved one is practically ever present with them and this is specially so with Christ. Thus was He ever with me and now I dwell in the Sphere where He reveals Himself constantly – the “Sphere of the Christ.” (“Stella,” FMABL, 113.)

To this Christ Sphere I was brought by my Guardian Spirit and clothed in glittering robes such as those that are worn by all who dwell here. As we passed through the gates, strains of wonderful music fell upon my ears; music unlike anything you have ever heard, which uplifts the soul with peace and joy. A procession of Angels greeted us, and amongst them some of my loved ones who had gone before; together we passed onward until we saw One before whom I fell in a rapture of adoration, Jesus the Christ.

He raised me and bade me welcome to His Sphere and in voiceless words poured into my soul the fulfilment of every desire of my life – a Union with Himself – of which I can never speak. Then all these Angelic Beings burst forth into songs of compelling sweetness and we were wafted to the Temple in the isdst of the Sphere where Jesus imparted to us the Love of the Father. (John Heslop, FMABL, 12-3.)

It was some time before I could realize what had happened and that death had really passed; so I rejoiced, for my sufferings on earth had been very great and I had longed to die. Then spiritual illumination came to me. (1) I developed wonderful new powers and was literally born again. (John Heslop, SABL, 1.)

(1) Assumed to mean enlightenment.

Many souls never get their heritage on your side of the grave. They have to wait for the fuller revelation till they come here. (John Heslop, SABL, 44.)

When the one to whom we are appointed realizes our presence, it naturally attracts other spirits to share in his awakening to higher experiences. They desire to be present at the birth of a soul into this Kingdom of Heaven, just as they always assist at the birth or death of anyone on the mortal plane. Then they want to guard these heavenly gifts from the pollution of earth.

So often [these heavenly gifts] are not used for God, but degraded to low and material ends. When a really spiritual nature possesses these gifts, they are employed for the comfort and raising of humanity and the instrument becomes one through which angels and glorified spirits can work. They can only work through an absolutely pure channel.

To become thus purified and selfless, there must first be the complete surrender of the soul to the divine influence, the opening of the whole nature to God, and the inflow of His grace. That is the first step and, thank God, many attain thus far.

But there are old prejudices to be abandoned, old habits of thought to surmount, and these form a barrier, and many souls never get their heritage of your side of the grave. They have to wait for the fuller revelation till they come here.

But here and there we find one who, in addition to this soul surrender, has a mind open to receive the higher revelation. To such a one the revelation comes even during the earth life. … Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, what God hath prepared for you who love Him. (John Heslop, SABL, 43-4.)

John Heslop’s Home

[My relatives] carried me to my home and every flower I loved was there to greet me. (John Heslop, SABL, 1-2.)

Remember, you are building your home in Paradise all the time you dwell on earth. It is the outer expression of your thought. All spiritual and beautiful thought produces beautiful surroundings so that, as you walk about here, you can guage the spiritual quality of the inhabitant by the beauty of his dwelling. There are no mysteries in Paradise, all is open, and every secret thought is known. I am very busy perfecting our home, but it cannot be completed till you join me hereafter. (John Heslop in the “Christ Sphere” to his wife, F. Heslop, SABL, 3.)

Later they bore me to my spirit home and I was filled with wonder and awe that anything so beautiful and so perfect could possibly belong to me. Oh, how can I tell you of the exquisite gardens with their living, speaking flowers; of the fairy-like alcoves and sparkling waters! It was perfect – no, not quite because you were not yet here to share it with me. And so the Divine Father allows me often to bear you here in your sleep, that in the joy of spiritual communion I might be comforted and your refreshed; and I am permitted to return to earth and help you until you join me here. (John Heslop, FMABL, 13.)

Julia Escorted to the Christ Sphere by an Angel

Ed. Julia’s experiences seem too advanced for the Mental Plane. They may in fact place her on the Buddhic Plane. I have included them here in the Christ Sphere because they compare so closely with those that John Heslop had. But I await further research to establish with more certainty exactly where Julia alighted.

I found myself free from my body. It was such a strange new feeling. I was standing close to the bedside on which my body was lying; I saw everything in the room just as before I closed my eyes. I did not feel any pain in “dying”; I felt only a great calm and peace. Then I awoke and I was standing outside my old body in the room. There was no one there at first, just myself and my old body. At first I wondered [that] I was so strangely well. Then I saw that I had passed over.

I waited about a little; then the door opened and Mrs. H. came in. She was very sad; she addressed my poor body as if it was myself. I was standing looking at her, but all her thoughts were upon the poor old body I had left behind. It seemed so absurd I could not help laughing. I did not try to speak at first; I waited to see what would happen.

Then I felt as though a great warm flood of light had come into the room and I saw an angel. (1) She, for at first she seemed to be a female, came to me and said –

“I am sent to teach you the laws of the new life.”

And, as I looked, she gently touched me and said: “We must go.”

Then I left the room and my poor old body, and passed out. It was so strange; the streets were full of spirits. I could see them as we passed; they seemed to be just like ourselves. My angel had wings; they were beautiful. She was all robed in white.

We went at first through the streets, then we went through the air, till we came to the place where we met friends who had passed on before.

There were Mr. M-, and Mr. M-, and Ethel A-, and many others. They told me much about the spirit world. They said I must learn its laws and endeavour to be as useful as I could. The angel who remained with me all the time helped me to explain.

The spirit friends had their life much as it was here; they lived and loved, and if they had not to work for their daily bread, they had still plenty to do.

Then I began to be sad about you [probably to her friend, Ellen], and I wanted to go back; the angel took me swiftly through the air where I came from. When I entered the death-chamber, there lay my body. It was no longer of interest to me, but I was so grieved to see how you were all weeping over my worn-out clothes. I wished to speak to you. I saw you, darling, all wet with tears and I was so sad I could not cheer you. I very much wanted to speak and tell you how near I was to you, but I could not make you hear. I tried, but you took not notice. I said to the angel –

“Will it always be thus?”

She said: “Wait; the time will come when you will speak with her. But at present she cannot hear, neither can she understand.” (Julia Ames, AD, 41-44.)

[When] the disembodied soul immediately after death … meets the Guardian Angel there is usually a blank wonderment.

All is so new, and there are such unexpected samenesses as well as differences. When, for instance, we wake into the new life we are still in the same world. There are all the familiar things around us – the walls, the pictures, the window, the bed, and the only new thing is your own body out of which you stand and wonder how it can be that it is there and that it is no longer you. And then you begin clearly to understand what has happened. … The first thing you notice that is not the same is the Angel. You are the same. I mean that there is no break in your consciousness, your memory, your sex. I was a woman in my bodily life and I am woman still. There is no change there. But you are in a manner different.

The Angel Guardian who came to me had wings, as I said. It is not unusual, but if we please we can assume them. They are no more necessary than any of the contrivances by which you attempt to attain mastery of the spirit over the burden of matter. We think and we are there. Why, then, wings? They are scenic illusions useful to convey the idea of superiority to earthbound conditions, but we do not use them any more than we use steam-engines. But I was glad my Guide had wings. It seemed more like what I thought it would be and ought to be and I was at once more at ease than I would otherwise have been. (Julia Ames, AD, 71-2.)

(1) Although I do not know how reliable the account is, here is another account of an angel coming to take away the departed soul of a woman in Gaul in Gregory of Tours’ History of the Franks: “In the nunnery ruled over by the blessed Radegund there died a girl called Disciola, who was the niece of Salvius, the saintly Bishop of Albi. The circumstances of her death were as follows. When she began to feel ill, the other nuns nursed her with great care. The day came when she was on the point of death. At about nine o’clock, she said to the nuns: ‘I seem to be lighter in body than I was. My pain has gone. Please do not worry about me any more, or nurse me with such great care. Perhaps you will leave me now, so that I can manage to sleep for a while.’ When the other nuns heard this, they left her cell. Later on they returned and stood there at her bedside, wondering if she would have the strength to speak to them. She spread her hands wide and seemed to be asking a benediction of someone. ‘Give me your blessing, holy messenger from God on high,’ she whispered. ‘This is the third time today that you have taken the trouble to visit me. Why, holy one, do you take such pains for a poor, feeble woman?’ The nuns asked her whom she was speaking to, but she did not answer. Some time passed and then she laughed aloud. Just as she did so, she died. [A man possessed of a devil said:] ‘The Archangel Michael has just received that sister’s soul,” said he, “and he is even now carrying it off to heaven. My own master, he whom you call the Devil, has no share in her at all!’ Those who washed Disciola’s body said that it shone with a snow-white purity, and that the Abbess could not find in her cupboard a winding-sheet which was whiter than she was. They wrapped her in clean linen and committed her to the grave.” (Gregory of Tours, HF, 356.)

When my Guide came he spoke to me in a very sweet, strong voice that had in it the confidence of the Invisible. And I was thrilled through and through with its note, which did not seem strange to me. Nor was this strange for he had often been with me in my earth-life, although I had never seen him. I recognized him as an old and familiar part of myself and this at first made me think that it was a woman. And, when he said, “Come!” I did not hesitate. There was, as it were, a natural response to what seemed as the prompting of your own conscience. That is often the case. We have all our guides. These angels, unknown and unseen to us, prompt us to all good actions and dissuade us from evil. They are with us in thought and we often receive their warnings as if they were the promptings of our own spirit. So they are; but the spirit which prompts is quite outside our own conscious self. (Julia Ames, AD, 72-3.)

When we were journeying I spoke little. My thoughts were busy and yet I was not conscious of even thinking, only of feeling and seeing, drinking in at every point new impressions. When we seemed to be arriving at a new world, I spoke. I asked my guide, “Where is this? Is it Heaven?” He replied, “Wait and see. You will find those there who will teach you what you want to know.”

The place was very pleasant to behold. The air was sweet and there was a delicious fragrance of flowers in June. The world – for it was a world we were approaching – seemed not unlike our old world, but it was different – there was nothing to jar. The sense of restful peace and contented love was everywhere. The place had a placid smile of tranquil joy. (Julia Ames, AD, 77.)

The Guardian Angel is indeed a kind of other self, a higher, purer, and more developed section of your own personality. This is perhaps a little difficult to understand, but it is true. (Julia Ames, AD, 73.)

The soul in the body hears but dimly, and sees not at all the innumerable influences with which it is surrounded. … We are on earth, as it were, with blinkers on. … Hence when we close our eyes in the sleep of death, it is more of a laying down of the blinkers that limited and confined our vision than almost anything else. (Julia Ames, AD, 73-4.)

There are many to whom the light of the new life, which is Love, manifesting itself and manifested, appeals at once. They are in their element and rejoice exceedingly to be at home in Heaven, at home with God Who is Love. (Julia Ames, AD, 167.)

When we stand for the first time on this side there is not so much fear as great awe and curiosity. The sense of being in a land altogether undiscovered and unexplored, where there may be all manner of strange beings, perhaps hostile, fills you with a moment’s trepidation. And then it is that the good Lord in His kindness sends to the newly-delivered soul the Guardian Angel of whom I wrote before.

So far as I have been able to ascertain, this Messenger of Love and Mercy meets all men when they die. (1) In this there is no distinction made between the saved and the lost, and the Messenger is sent alike to all. But the lost have not the faculty to see him. The saved not only profit by his counsels, but feel him, and know he is with them. It is to all that the good Lord ministers – to all on your side and on this. His loving kindness is over all His creatures. (Julia Ames, AD, 67.)

(1) Notice how Julia has changed her opinion in the following quote, written around a decade later than the above quote. Here she says that angels “sometimes” attend transitions. The research that underpins this book suggests that angels may attend the transitions of developed human beings, but seldom figure in the transitions of “normal, average” human beings.

Now, when I say that angels attend the new-born soul, I should have said that there are sometimes angels. Not always angels, sometimes nobody, sometimes worse than nobody. (Julia Ames, AD, 164.)

Julia Experiences Self-Realization upon Meeting Jesus, Amid a Heavenly Host

I was then called away [from the death-chamber]. I found myself in a great expanse of landscape where I had never been before. I was alone; that is, I saw no one. But you are never really alone. We are always living in the presence of God. But I saw no one. Then I heard a voice. I only heard the words. “Julia, He who saved thee would fain speak with thee.” I listened, but no words other than these were spoken.

Then I said – “Who is it that speaks?” And, behold, a flaming fire – really like fire though in human shape. I was afraid. Then he spoke and said, “Be not afraid. It is who am appointed to teach the secret things of God.” Then I saw that the brightness as of fire was only the brightness that comes from the radiant love of the Immortals.

Then the flame-bright One said to me, “Julia, behold your Saviour!” And when I looked I saw Him. (1) He was sitting on a seat close to me, and He said, “Beloved, in My Father’s House are many mansions; here am I whom you have loved so long. I have prepared a place for you.” (2)

And I said, “Where, oh, my Lord?” He smiled and, in the brightness of that smile, I saw the whole landscape change as the Alps change in the sunset, which I saw so often from the windows of my hotel at Lucerne. Then I saw that I was not alone, but all around and above were fair and loving forms, some of those whom I had known, others of whom I had heard, while some were strange. (3) But all were friends and the air was full of love. And in the midst of all was He, my Lord and Saviour. He was as a Man among men. He was full of the wonderful sweet mildness which you are acquainted with in some of the pictures that have been painted by the Italian Fra Angelico. He had an admirable look of warm affection, which was as the very breath of life to my soul. He is with us always.

This is Heaven – to be with Him. You cannot understand how the consciousness of His presence makes the atmosphere of this world so different from that with you. There are many things I wish I could write to you, but I cannot, nor could you understand them. I can only tell you that He is more than we ever have imagined. He is the Source and Giver of all good gifts. All that we know of what is good and sweet and pure and noble and lovable are but faint reflections of the immensity of the glory that is His. And He loves us with such tender love!

Oh, Ellen, Ellen, you and I used to love each other with what seemed to us sometimes too deep and intense a love, but that at its very best was but the pale reflection of the love with which He loves us, which is marvelously and wonderfully great beyond all power of mind to describe. His name is Love; it is what He is – Love, Love, Love!

I cannot tell you everything; you could not understand it. But I am in a state of bliss such as we never imagined on earth. (Julia Ames, AD, 43-5.)

(1) I am reminded of the Koran: “Paradise shall be brought close to the righteous. … Enter it in peace. This is the day of immortality.” (Koran, 120.)

Sri Yukteswar Giri, guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, describes a similar situation, but on the mental plane. “Joyous festivities on high astral [planes] take place when a being is liberated from the astral world through spiritual advancement and is therefore ready to enter the heavens of the causal world. (1) On such occasions the Invisible Heavenly Father, and the saints who are merged in Him, manifest Themselves in exquisite astral bodies and join the celebration. To please His beloved child the Lord assumes the form desired by him. If the devotee worshipped through devotion, he sees God as the Divine Mother. To Jesus, the Father-aspect of the Infinite was appealing beyond other conceptions. The individuality with which the Creator has endowed each of His creatures makes every conceivable and inconceivable demand on the Lord’s versatility!” (Sri Yukteswar Giri in Paramahansa Yogananda, AY, 413.)

(1) Like so many references, this comment by Sri Yukteswar is problematic. Graduation from the high Astral Plane would take one to the Mental Plane. Several subplanes into the Mental Plane would take one to what could be called the “causal world.” I can do no more than note the dilemma here.

Here is an account of a modern-day individual meeting his saviour from They Lived with God. It is the story of Sri Ramakrishna, descending in a chariot to take away the soul of his devotee, Balaram Bose: “At the last moment, we were seated around [Balaram Bose], while his wife, stricken with unspeakable grief, was in the inner apartment with Golap-ma, Yogin-ma, and others. Just then she noticed something like a piece of black cloud in the sky, which became denser by stages and began to descend. Soon it assumed the shape of a chariot and alighted on the roof of Balaram Babu’s house. The Master [Sri Ramakrishna] came out of that chariot and proceeded towards the room where Balaram Babu lay. Soon after, he issued forth, taking Balaram Babu by the hand, and entered the chariot again, which then ascended and vanished in the sky. This vision raised [Balaram’s wife’s] mind to a very high plane where there could be no touch of grief or sorrow. When she returned to normal she related this to Golap-ma, who came to apprise us of the fact. Balaram Babu had passed away just a little while before.” (Swami Shivananda in TLWG, 133.)

Compare this last account with the Biblical rendition of the passing of Elijah: “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (II Kings 2:11.)

(2) Compare with the alleged experience of Abba Sisoes, as related by observers. I have no idea of the authenticity of it: “It was said of Abba Sisoes that when he was at the point of death, while the fathers were sitting beside him, his face shone like the sun. He said to them, ‘Look, Abba Anthony has come.’ A little later he said, ‘Look, the choir of prophets is coming.’ Again his countenance shone with brightness and he said, ‘Look, the choir of apostles is coming.’ His countenance increased in brightness and lo, he spoke with someone. Then the old men asked him, ‘With whom are you speaking, Father?’ He said, ‘Look, the angels are coming to fetch me, and I am begging them to let me do a little penance.’ The old men said to him, ‘You have no need to do penance, Father.’ But the old man said to them, ‘Truly, I do not think I have even made a beginning yet.’ Now they all knew that he was perfect. Once more his countenance suddenly became like the sun and they were all filled with fear. He said to them, ‘Look, the Lord is coming and he’s saying, ‘Bring me the vessel from the desert. Then there was a flash of lightning and all the house was filled with a sweet odour.” (SDF, 215.)

(3) Compare the presence of people all around to John the Beloved’s enlightenment experience: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

“And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:1-3.)

When I had tried in vain to communicate with Minerva and with Ellen, I began to be a little sad. It seemed to me as if I were away from the real interests which bound me in life. … Then it was that the Good Angel who had welcomed me into this world took me to see my Lord. …

It was beautiful and glorious, exceeding all my powers of description. There was no expectation of the meeting nor was I even able to realize the fact that I had met Him until I saw the whole landscape flame and glow as with the radiance of opened Heaven when He spoke to me. The cause for this difficulty was, I suppose, the extreme naturalness of all that I saw and heard. There is such a difficulty in realizing that today, as yesterday, is the same. When there is something of what we used to call the supernatural order occurring in the midst of what seems so very natural it is difficult to realize it. But, oh, my friend, when it is realized, what a change occurs! The whole world was transfigured in the realization of the intensity and constancy of His love. And from that moment I have never been sad, save from my own shortcomings and my own lack of love. Oh, my dearest friend, if only we could live more in the realized sense of His love. (Julia Ames, AD, 87-8.)

When I had seen the splendour of the love-light that flooded the world, I was beside myself with joy. All the many loves which I had known on your side faded swathed me about as with a garment and enabled me to see what marvelous possibilities, what undreamed-of powers were all the while in the heart of each of us. (Julia Ames, AD, 89.)

When you see, as we do every day, the great unfolding of the infinite glory of the Infinite Father and when you see also, as we do, that the whole secret of all things is Love, and that there was never so much Love revealed to mankind as in Him, you can understand how it is true that there dwelt in Him the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Julia Ames, AD, 88.)

When I had, as it were, recovered from the delighted amazement of the new light, I felt overpowered by the marvelous condescension of my Lord; for there was about Him nothing of the majesty that terrifies and repels. The one supreme idea which He left on my mind was that of the infinite attraction of love; and a love, too, that was personal to myself. There was no jealousy in my love, but I felt that He loved me as much personally as He loved any one; and He wished for my love, and that without it neither He nor I could be complete. … There is the incompleteness of the not yet realized ideal; and the thought of God will not be completely embodied until every heart throbs in responsive love without one jarring note to the All Lover, in whom we live and move, and have our being.

And with the great new joy in my heart I talked with Him…. What I meant and what He understood was very simple. I longed, simply longed, with an all-constraining desire to make known this love that passeth all understanding to those I loved; and He smiled with loving satisfaction as I spoke and I know that I was not denied. (Julia Ames, AD, 89-90.)

You know not, nor can I ever pretend to begin to explain the exceeding wonder, and glory, and infinitude of the sense of the realized Love of God for us, in which we live and move and have our being. … It is more than I ever dreamed of. … All earthly loves and ecstacies of affection are but as the alphabet of the language of Heaven. … What the glories of sunrise are to the grey twilight that precedes dawn is our life of love to the life you lead, excepting in those high moments when the heart glows with a divine exaltation which is born of the inspiration and consecration of love. (Julia Ames, AD, 146.)

Visits to the Christ Sphere to See Jesus

Yes, I have seen Christ once, Mummy, and, remembering how awe-inspiring the occasion was, cannot help wondering how any one could imagine at death they would go straight to His kingdom, when most of us have done so little to earn that beatitude!

I was told I should be allowed to see Him, but honestly at the time I did not realize or appreciate the fact. I thought it would probably mean going to a very high church with an elaborate ritual of pomp and ceremony. When the appointed time came, my guides provided me with a plain white / robe to wear (you cannot attend the court of an earthly king without suitable garments), and we passed through connecting shafts to the Christ-sphere.

My general impression was that of brightness, almost dazzling; the air scintillated like diamonds – it almost crackled, it was so full of electricity; my feet had not a very firm grip of the ground. There were bands and processions of people white-robed, all going in one direction. They moved with uplifted faces, singing beautiful music.

We joined the rear of one group, and were almost swept along on a tide of intense feeling.

We came to a building without any walls. It consisted of a roof, which seemed to be composed of interwoven rays of light of different colors, supported by pillars which looked as if they were made of mother-of-pearl.

There were crowds of people all round, and raised above all others stood one glowing, radiant figure. I knew at once it was Christ, and instinctively fell on my knees (though He is not like any picture I have ever seen). I was so conscious of Him that I felt as if He was bending over me. His eyes seemed to penetrate me, and produce a wonderful glow. I felt uplifted in a culminating thrill of / ecstasy. He was speaking, but I could not hear the words.

As I knelt there, many events of my life passed in review through my mind. I could visualize them as pictures. My memory seemed stored with records, not alone of the life I had just left, but of others in the far-away past; and as the various scenes presented themselves I seemed to realize the different lessons I had learned through these experiences, and to know that all the events of my life had been leading up to this. (Claude Kelway-Bamber in CB, 25-7.)

I have been to the heavens of Christ, and know their beauty. (Judge David P. Hatch, LLDM, Letter XLVIII.)

I have met the Master from Galilee, and have held communion with him. There was a man – and a god! The world has need of Him now. (Judge David P. Hatch, LLDM, Letter XXVI.)

Last night [Christmas Eve], after visiting various places upon the earth, I went to one of the highest Christian heavens. Perhaps I could not have gone so easily at any other time; for my heart was full of love for all men and my mind was full of the Christ idea.

Often have I seen Him who is called the Saviour of men, and last night I saw Him in all His beauty. (Judge David P. Hatch, LLDM, Letter XLVIII.)

Life in the Christ Sphere

Acclimatizing

The chief surprise that I found was in the fact that we were all so very much the same. We did not seem to become angels or saints. For my part, I was, I fear, by no means saintly. There was at first a certain awe that numbed me, but, as that numbing sensation wore off, my old natural self asserted itself and I really felt that I was as I had been, only with a much greater sense of power and of freedom. There was the increased sense of vitality – doubly and trebly delightful after my illness – and a great feeling of restful absence of fret. (Julia Ames, AD, 81.)

When you come over you find it difficult at first to escape from the old conceptions. They gradually fall off you as the chrysalis drops from the butterfly. But you will find that the Guide and your loving Father are wonderfully accommodating to your weakness and ignorance and prejudice. (Julia Ames, AD, 79.)

Being Reunited with Family and Friends

When I came here I had not lived long on earth. When I passed over I was still in the full energy of my prime. Among those who were here before were none who had been so close to me on earth as to make me long for them more than for all else. If Ellen, for example, had been on this side, my first thought would have been for her and she would have been with the Angel. But, as it was, all the longings of my heart were for those still on your side. My affections were set on the world and the souls still in the body. With regard to the New World, what I felt was more curiosity and wonder than the immediate passionate longing of the heart to meet those who had gone before. Hence the Angel met one alone. Hence the apparently long journey through space. (1) (Julia Ames, AD, 79.)

(1) Julia’s guide had demonstrated the power of thought in traveling by taking her on an extended journey through space.

When the newly arrived have had many friends, relatives, or those whom they have loved on this side, they find them waiting for them. Especially when they have kept thinking of or praying for them. Forgetfulness separates here as there. But all whose minds and hearts have been closely knit in love with those on this side find their loved ones waiting. And yet so great is the difference between what is and what they expected that even when they are welcomed on this side this whom they knew to have been long ‘dead,’ it is to them as a dream. Bewilderment, surprise are the first sensations. (Julia Ames, AD, 164.)

When I came over you will remember I was at first quite alone, when I was allowed by my experience with the nurse to discover for myself what had happened and then came the angel who took me apparently a long, long way to my relations and friends. This is sometimes the case and sometimes not. Sometimes even before the soul leaves the body, it hears the welcome sound of the voices loved and lost, sees the angels, and hears the music of the spheres. But these cases are comparatively few. Not until the body is cast off like a worn-out garment do you begin to see, hear, and understand the new life. (Julia Ames, AD, 164.)

I met my beloved friends. The meeting was very pleasant, but also in some way strange. There was a sense of difference. Those whom I met were still as loving as when I had bidden them adieu, but they were also somewhat different. There was nothing that reminded me of the pain and sorrow in which I had last seen them. They had grown spiritually. I felt myself a poor child beside them. Yet they were not haughty, only they knew more and loved more. They were very tender and kind to me. My Angel Guide handed me over to them. She (1) said, “She needs what you can give her.” (Julia Ames, AD, 78.)

(1) Stead’s footnote: “Julia speaks of this Guide indifferently as he and she explaining, when I asked, that in our sense angels are neither male nor female.” This statement, plus the description of the Guide having wings (whether assumed for the occasion or not), lends support to the notion that Julia is actually speaking of an angelic, rather than a human, being when she speaks of her Guide.

The first thing they were to teach me was to see those whom I knew on this side. This is almost always the way. I am no exception. When the soul wakes up on this side it is often encompassed about by those whom it has loved and served in life. But sometimes a little space intervenes, as was my case. (Julia Ames, AD, 78.)

My dear little sister was the lovingest and dearest of all. I saw before me the semblance of her childhood, just as she was in the long years ago, when I had parted with her it seemed for ever. But she was only assuming the child-form to gain recognition. After a time, when I learned more about the life here, she revealed herself to me as we see her now, as a spirit who is a woman grown. There is no difficulty in our assuming whatever form we need for the purpose of the moment. No, I do not mean to say that I could assume permanently any disguise, but you can make yourself appear for the time that you think you wish to be. For the subtle thought is as an artist not merely in colour or marble, but to all apparent semblance in the actual person. (Julia Ames, AD, 80.)

“My Present Life is So Full”

How can I tell you of this new and beautiful life, I, who could never speak of these higher truths, even to you? But I was ever striving to live the Christ life on earth and to understand the deep things of God. My soul and mind were centred in the spiritual, below all outward activities and below my pain. … My present life is so full, so complete in Christ. How wonderful is the mystery of holiness. The soul rising from perfection to perfection, unending, age after age. But for the glories of these higher spheres I have no words. They transcend all human thought. (John Heslop, SABL, 2.)

We never hurry here. This is the land of infinite leisure and of infinite peace. (John Heslop, SABL, 2.)

I try to give you some dim and faint picture of a spiritual beauty and perfection far beyond your ken, but just enough for an impression of the glory and beauty and joy of this other side. But it is only as you cultivate spirituality while you dwell in the earth-life that you can enter at the death of the body into this glory. You cannot even see or partake of it, until either on earth or on this side, you desire it beyond all else that the divine love may fill you and be expressed by you. … Tell our friend … there are cottages, as well as palaces, in the sphere of our Christ. (John Heslop to his wife F. Heslop in SABL, 9-10.)

Everyone in this Christ Sphere knows his own imperfection and need far better than he ever did on earth. As we rise to fuller heights of spirituality, we receive higher gifts and powers. Ofttimes we are permitted to direct the waves of Divine love toward you and to bend circumstances for your help. We are, in actual truth, ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation. (John Heslop, SABL, 25.)

I am only in a higher stage of development here, and need to progress every day toward the Source of all light, just as you do. I have greater powers, fuller opportunity than you have, and freedom from all earth’s sufferings and limitations. But I am just your John, knowing my own imperfections a great deal better in this pure and holy atmosphere than I ever did on earth. Indeed, I am a babe in all things here, where all beauty and perfection are blended, and where the wisdom of all the ages is concentrated.

Think of that! The greatest in music and art, the most advanced in science, vast problems solved, mysteries unraveled, and ever form of religious though all lying revealed to the eye and the mind. It is a stupendous feast, ready for us as we gain power to perceive and appreciate it, and all eternity in which to learn to understand it.

And the needed preparation is begun by the discipline of earth. If the lesson is learned there, and the soul freed to rise above the hindrances of the world, making its home with God, then death is only the portal to a joy and delight beyond anything you can even dimly imagine. (John Heslop, SABL, 45-6.)

You are right to point out to our friend the great difficulties we encounter in trying to explain the spiritual, in words and similies of the material. Yet that is the only way in which we can give you a picture of this Christ Sphere. We try to do for you what an artist does when, for instance, he paints a woodland scene. After all, it is only paint and canvas, but his artistic power enables him to depict the spirit of the spring, which entered into his soul one day in the words. … When you look at his picture you do not think of the paint and canvas at all, only of the spring morning. (John Heslop to his wife, F. Heslop, SABL, 9.)

Time

These years, which to you seem so long, to me have been but as the gleaming joy of a summer’s day. (Julia Ames, AD, xxxviii.)

Flora

In this exquisite world all things are pervaded by the law of affinity – two halves of a complete whole. Thus, if you gather one of these flowers, the affinity of the flower is still there. It does not fade and die, as with you. When you have finished with it, it flies back to its other soul and is absorbed into it again. (John Heslop, SABL, 2.)

No Need for Earthly Things

We never weary and do not need to sleep as we did on earth; neither do we need to eat or drink; these things were necessary for the material body; here we do not need them. (Julia Ames, AD, 46.)

All are Young

No one seems to be old. We are young, with what seems to be eternal youth. We can, when we please, assume the old bodies or their spiritual counterparts as we can assume our old clothes for purposes of identification, but our spiritual bodies here are young and beautiful. There is a semblance between what we are and what we were. We might recognize the new by its likeness to the old, but it is very different. The disembodied soul soon assumes the new raiment of youth, from which all decay has been removed. (Julia Ames, AD, 45-6.)

No Possibility of Deception

The most extraordinary thing which came to my knowledge when I passed over was the difference between the apparent man and the real self. (Julia Ames, AD, 47.)

The real self is built up even more by the use it makes of the mind than by the use it makes of the body. There are here men who seemed to be vile and filthy to their fellows, who are far, far, far superior, even in purity and holiness, to men who in life kept an outward veneer of apparent goodness while the mind rioted in all wantonness. It is the mind that makes character. … Hence the thoughts and intents of the heart, the imaginations of the mind, these are the things by which we are judged; for it is they which make up and create as it were the real character of the inner self, which becomes visible after leaving the body. (Julia Ames, AD, 48.)

When the body is cast off, the real state of the case is visible. Then it is for the first time that we are seen as we really are or rather have been thinking. The revelation is startling and even now I am but dimly beginning to be accustomed to it. (Julia Ames, AD, 49.)

When the wrappings are off, we see the nature of the soul and the factor that decides is the character. I know this sounds like a commonplace. But it does not seem a commonplace when it is applied as we see it applied here. No. You can hardly by any stretch of imagination realize what a change it is to live in a place where the only test is character, where property, station, and work do not count – no, nor religious profession. The idea that you so often have in the world, that the words which you say with your lips have magic influence on your hearts, must be seen in all its hollow absurdity to be understood.

We see things as they are, not as they are labeled. We have such surprises to encounter; such amazing upturns and revolutions of the estimate bin which men and women are held. (Julia Ames, AD, 91.)

Here we see as we are seen, not by every one, but the sense which with you is intermittent – of Thou God Seest Me – here is not only permanent, but is extended to many of His creatures. There is a sense in which all who see at all see the true character. But there are degrees of insight. And there is mercifully hidden from those who do not possess love in their souls much that the soul that loves can read like plain print. We cannot wear masks here to conceal the thoughts and intents of the heart. They are shown to multitudes, to all on the same plane of love as ourselves. And these things make for improvement. First, nakedness in the sense of the loss of materialities. Second, nakedness in the loss of all masks, wrappings, and veils that conceal the true character. (Julia Ames, AD, 187.)

It is true that with the nakedness [in the loss of all masks, wrappings, and veils that conceal the true character] we are like Adam and Eve, very much ashamed to see what kind of things we are. And, if it was not for the realizing sense of the Love of God which clothes us as with a wedding-garment we should be very much inclined to flee away, calling upon the rocks to fall upon us to hide us from the sight of God and of our fellows. For you see we all have our ideal of what we ought to have been. And when we see the contrast between the reality and the vision which God gave our soul of the true self, we stand condemned and humbled before it. But Humility is the gate into Love. (Julia Ames, AD, 187-8.)

Colleges and Schools in the Christ Sphere

In our colleges and schools here, the fundamental laws of all sciences are taught and I have been studying the birth and development of stars and planets. (John Heslop, SABL, 136.)

There is one passion that increases rather than diminishes on this side and that is the desire to know and learn. We have so much to learn and such facilities! (Julia Ames, AD, 76)

Angels Instruct the Residents of the Christ Sphere

The angels and archangels who minister directly to God through eternity have attributes and powers quite beyond finite understanding. To them are committed the behests of the Divine Father. These behests are then passed down from one High Intelligence to another, till they reach us in the Christ Sphere. By us they are communicated to various unfolded worlds.

Angels from more exalted spheres frequently visit the Holy Temple [in the Christ Sphere] to instruct us, but, transcending the all is our Divine Jesus Christ, who was perfected through suffering. (John Heslop, SABL, 97.)

We Live in Love

The difference between what we feel here and on earth is that here the consciousness of love is everywhere. We see what we are and we often regret it and mourn for our shortcomings. But we know that we live in the very love of God and that our stumblings tend upwards. But we do stumble and fall short of the glory of God. (Julia Ames, AD, 82.)

The ozone of our life here is love. (Julia Ames, AD, 82.)

Heaven differs from earth most of all in this. There is more love in it; and ever love that throbs in the human heart makes earth more like Heaven. (Julia Ames, AD, 83.)

I find it so difficult to explain how we live and how we spend our time. … I think we can best teach you what we experience by asking you to remember those moments of exaltation when, in the light of the setting or rising sun, you look out, happy and content, upon the landscape over which the sun’s rays have shed their magical beauty. There is peace; there is life; there is beauty; above all, there is love. Love, love is the secret of Heaven. God is love and when you are lost in love you are found in God. (Julia Ames, AD, 46.)

We cannot doubt the love of God. We live in it. It is the greatest, the only real thing. (Julia Ames, AD, 46.)

Love is God, God is love. The more you love, the more you are like God. It is only when we deeply, truly love [that] we find our true selves or that we see the Divine in the person loved. … Love is the fulfilling of the law, love is the seeing of the face of God. … If you wish to be with God – love! If you wish to be in heaven – love! For heaven differs chiefly from earth and from hell in that in heaven all love up to the full measure of their being and all growth in grace is growth in love. Love, love, love! That is the first word and the last word. There is none beside that, for God, who is love, is all in all, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, world without end. (Julia Ames, AD, 54.)

There is nothing to which you can compare our constantly loving state in this world except the supreme beatitude of the lover who is perfectly satisfied with the one whom he loves. For the whole difference between this side and your side consists in this … that we live in love, which is God, and you too often live in the misery which is the natural, necessary result of the absence of God, who is love. (Julia Ames, AD, 52.)

Whatever else you may doubt, never lose hold of this: God is Love. The atmosphere of the universe is the realizing sense of the love of God and the more I live here the more impossible it seems to doubt it. (Julia Ames, AD, 70.)

I am ashamed of the poor, paltry, miserable words and metaphors with which I am trying to give you some idea of the abounding and overwhelming and all-encompassing sense which we have of the love of God. That, my friend, is Heaven; and when you have it Heaven is there. All is summed up in that: God is Love, Love is God, and Heaven is the perfect realization of that. (Julia Ames, AD, 71.)

Love is the Great Secret of Life

There is much love on earth. Were it not so it would be hell. … All … forms of love are the rays of heaven on earth. They are none of them complete. They are the sparkling light from the diamond facets, the totality of which is God. The meanest man or woman who loves is, so far as they love, inspired by the Divine. The whole secret of the saving of the world lies in that – you must have more love – more love – more love. (Julia Ames, AD, 52-3.)

My dear friend, if you had but love enough, you would have Heaven where you are. Believe me that there is no truth greater than this. God is Love! God is Love! (Julia Ames, AD, 82-3.)

You have never mastered the secret of true life until you have learned that love is the magic wand that can transform the world and that wherever it is not transformed it is because you do not love. For instance, if your heart was always full of love for all men as it is for the woman whom you most passionately adore – if ever human or sentient being were so much loved by you that you were as much rapt into ecstacy by a chance of helping them and of making them glad as you are by similar opportunities for her whom you love – you would never be desolate or forlorn. Life would never be a blank nor existence a burden. … Whatever else I may have to teach you, there is nothing that for a moment is comparable in importance to this – the open secret of Heaven is Love. He who dwells in perfect love is in Heaven. Hatred is hell and God is with all who love so far as they love. God is love. Those who do not love are without God. (Julia Ames, AD, 83-4.)

God is Love, and Love is God, and the mystic power of God is Love. We may become God so far as we enter into His Divine Nature, which is love. We may be God as we love, and we remove ourselves from God as we don’t love. (Julia Ames, AD, 89.)

He is all in all and all His all is Love; and you cannot work out His purposes in hate and unkindness. Oh, if only I could make you see as we see it here, how true it is that they only live who love; that all that is not of love is as death; that the soul that does not love is without God in outer darkness; and the only way to save the world is to drench it with love, to flood it with love; yes, love even the worst. It is not by disliking men, even for their sins, that you will save them from their sins. Pardon me, but this is the truth; all else that I can tell you is but as the fringe; this is the central essence of all. (Julia Ames, AD, 89.)

Selfish and Unselfish Love

Love is not mere yielding to pleasant, easy-going complacency or indifference; that is not love, but self-love. The love that spoils a child is [as] cruel as hate. It is selfishness. You must often smite in love. But love feels the blow before it is delivered; suffers first and feels the most. (Julia Ames, AD, 145.)

You may say that there is a love which is selfish and a love which is evil. It is true, but that is because the love is imperfect. It is not love when it leads to selfishness. … The great need wherever love seems to make people selfish is not less love for those whom they do love, but more love for the others who are neglected. You never love any one too much. It is only that we don’t love others enough also. (Julia Ames, AD, 53.)

The love which takes you out of yourself and makes the happiness of another so important to you as to make even pain and trouble joyous if they are for the welfare of the beloved, that love is the love that overcometh the world. (Julia Ames, AD, 83.)

Perfect love all round is the Divine ideal and when love fails at any point, then evil is in danger of coming in. (Julia Ames, AD, 53.)

All love is of the nature of self-sacrifice. … To love, therefore, any one really truly, means that we are putting ourselves in his place, loving him as ourselves, that we desire for him the best, and give up ourselves and our own pleasure in order to secure it for him. This is true love and wherever you find it you find a spark of God. That is why mothers are so much nearer to God than any one else. They love more – that is, they are more like God; it is they who keep the earth from becoming a vast hell. (Julia Ames, AD, 54.)

Sin is only the absence of love. Sorrow would be turned into joy if only you loved. But the sorrow that comes from loving one too much – no, you can never love any one too much. You often love others too little and the misery you feel because, as you say, you love one too much is really because you love the other too little. (Julia Ames, AD, 83.)

Sexuality on the Christ Plane

I want to tell you what I know will interest you much, viz., the relation of the sexes on this side. You know that it is written that we neither marry nor are given away in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven. And that is true because the nature of angels is not as the nature of men. Nor do we on this side continue to be bound by the limitations necessary for you where the earth ties and conditions prevail.

We are able here to see the side of the sex question as it were detached from its earthly impediments. We are as the angels of Heaven inasmuch as we can, and do, intermingle without the restraints which you rightly insist upon. Nor are we in any way limited by the sex. My dearest William, all the earthly conceptions of sex are more or less vitiated by the fact that sex union is localized in the physical organs necessary for generation. When the purposes of generation are served – and on this side we do not increase and multiply – there is no longer that precipitation, condensation, so to speak, of sex feeling in the generative regions.

Hence, when we unite with those whom we are attracted to, we no longer need the specialized action of organs which have become an anachronism like the appendix. Their use, or, rather, the use of these organs on your side, was twofold. First, to secure the perpetuation of the race; that was their maternal side, and, from that, by maternal love, came all religion and morality into the world. But, secondly, on the spiritual side, it was intended to foreshadow, in a limited, temporary physical ecstacy, the most important of all truths, which is that the Supreme Bliss and highest Heart-leap towards the Infinitre can never be attained alone. It is the mutuality of self-abnegation, the all-giving, the all-possessing, the symbol of the union of the Creator and the creature, of the sacrifice that yields all and finds all, the symbol of the universal law universally imprinted upon all created things.

But as the law which was the schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, as the school with its rules and bounds, so the limitations on the interpenetrating, all-surrendering, all-possessing union of beings on this side are removed. We neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven, free to mingle and to merge our being in their whole totality with any other Being or Beings with whom the vibrations of our souls coincide. The ecstacy of such union transcends the ecstacy of physical love on earth as the area of the human body exceeds the fractional part dedicated to generation.

There is no restriction on the liberty of love. If any one arriving here is incapable of vibrating in sympathy with any one but the spouse of earth life, they can remain as monogamous as on earth. But we do not regard that selfishness of two as the highest stage. Yes, the sexes continue, but sex is deeper than the organs in which it finds its temporary expression on earth. (Julia Ames, AD, 191-2.)

Descents

I do not much go to Borderland nor to the first and second spheres (1) because my work does not lie there, except on the rare occasions when I am sent down for the special help of one, probably known to me in the earth life. (John Heslop, FMABL, 8.)

(1) This region is probably the Stony Plane and the Dark Plane.

Realms Above the Christ Sphere

A Resident of the Christ Sphere Points to Higher Regions

Beyond the seventh sphere there are other celestial states, but of these I cannot speak. (John Heslop, FMABL, 10.)

We do not feel as weary as you do, but there is need to be cleansed from the deflilement of earth and to re-adjust to the Divine Harmonies. So we pass into one of the many beautiful chapels opening from the main building, and resting in the healing rays of light, we become bathed in their purity and are cleansed and revived. Oft-times in the calm and beauty of these chapels, enveloped in the incense from a thousand flowers, combined with strains of exquisite music, we rise into a condition of Trance, in which our spirits are wafted to Higher Spheres, (1) where we mingle for a while with the Exalted Beings who inhabit them. (John Heslop, FMABL, 18.)

(1) Again, John indicates that higher spheres exist above his Christ Sphere.

Below the dome there is a raised dais, from which Exalted Beings from Higher Spheres instruct us. From this one centre they ever minister to the inhabitants of this Sphere and these Spiritual Instructors are in contact with other Spheres, which transcend even this one in beauty and perfection. (John Heslop, FMABL, 21.)

My present mission is in two spheres above this [Christ Sphere], and its beauty is quite indescribable to anyone on your side. I cannot dwell in it habitually and still continue in close contact with you on earth; so while you are there, my Beloved, I can only visit this exalted region for a time. (John Heslop, FMABL, 86.)

How I wish I could give you even a faint idea of the nature of my work in the Ninth Sphere, but, as I have told you many times, you have no words that I could use, no parallel of comparison. … The work is progressing, and will be completed in due time, when I shall return to our home in the Christ-Sphere for rest and refreshment. (John Heslop, FMABL, 85-6.)

My work in the Ninth Sphere was difficult and complicated, but it has all been successfully carried out so now I hope to come often to see you for I have returned home. (John Heslop, FMABL, 86.)

John has been too busy to come to you this morning. He is engaged with those Higher Spirits whose special work is to keep back Anarchy and Revolution from this dear land. Where clear judgment and the conciliatory spirit are needed, he is very successful and so has plenty of scope at the present time for the exercise of those gifts. (Mother of F. Heslop in FMABL, 87.)

Working to Ascend to Higher Realms

Everyone in this Christ Sphere knows his own imperfection and need far better than he ever did on earth. As we rise to fuller heights of spirituality, we receive higher gifts and powers. Ofttimes we are permitted to direct the waves of Divine love toward you and to bend circumstances for your help. We are, in actual truth, ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation. (John Heslop, SABL, 25.)

Let me tell you how spirits advance here. A long course of training is necessary to enable a spirit to pass into other states, spheres, and worlds. They cannot do so at all until they become sensitive to the finer spiritual vibrations. At stated periods, we go through a process designed to assist us to come into contact with Higher Intelligences. Isolation in the Holy Temple, with our spirits raise aspirationally toward the All Good enables us to receive a species of trance vision. Then our spirits become active in the sphere revealed in the trance. Gradually by this process we are enabled to will ourselves into these higher realms. The most delightful experiences reward us. Each sphere is more transcendently beautiful than the one below. The scenery of each being a new creation, expressing the love of God and His Christ. (John Heslop, SABL, 76-7.)

Intimations that Deepening Enlightenment will Eventually Put an End to the Need to Reincarnate

There is within yourself this indwelling Christ, a great divine force, always growing and increasing as you absorb more and more the life of the Eternal Spirit. As you live in the Spirit, it will continually support, heal and cleanse you; till one day it will be all spirit, so strong that it will escape altogether from the cramping and limitation of the mortal life, ready and fitted for the grander and higher life on this side. (John Heslop, SABL, 114.)

One day when all the earth training is past, and you look down from the vantage-ground of these glorious spheres, you will know the Truth fully and the Truth will make you free. (John Heslop, FMABL, 44.)

Next

Previous

Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike.