The Metaphysical View of Death and Life After Death Part 4

At times the soul undergoing transition is led across rivers with the aid of an escort. In Greek myths, Charon, the boatman, was assigned the task of guiding souls to the Otherside. Hermes, acting as psychopompos, led deserving souls to Olympus. The ushabtis, or statuettes buried with the dead among ancient Egyptians, could conceivably represent escorts or soul-bearers, aside from the usual interpretation of scholars of them being servants in the afterlife. In other religions, the escort of the soul is the Angel of Death, the grim reaper wielding a scythe as depicted in one of the cards of the Major Arcana of the Tarot--although the average Christian sees that being not as an escorter but as an avenger. Muslims call this Angel of Death, "Izrail." There is a possibility that escorts of the soul do not always fetch departing souls from the Otherside. They may, in fact, also come from our physical dimension aiding souls in their transition. What we are intimating is that the mastery of astral projection or lucid dreaming actually gives the mystic or psychic the power to act as psychopompos, or guide of the soul. Our own personal experience may suggest this, as we will relate below, however, we are not implying here that we have personally mastered the art of occult mobilization, or attained a spirituality of a high degree:

We (I, me, myself) once had a dear friend who was a Theosophist. Although there were decades of physical years between us, we were rather close. One day, we received a call informing us of her demise. Her passing was sudden and unexpected. Wondering what her condition was like in the bardo, that night we decided to be by her side to offer assistance. And so with affirmations, intense mind-programming, and a strong desire, we spontaneously attained a projection without strenuously going through the usual steps as taught in occult books and schools. Moments later, we were by her side, leading her to a certain place, to a certain spiritual guide or master with whom in the astral state we were well acquainted with. When we reached our destination, we said to her: "from hereon you are on your own. We shall meet again." After bidding her farewell, we were once again back in our physical body.

All along the projection, we were lucid and aware--aware that a part of us was asleep in bed; while another aspect, was active in another world. This is one of the signs indicating that the experience was not a dream. Soul-travel as we have mentioned before, is a mystery to the average religious devotee. Eventhough mystics, prophets and saints have alluded to this particular occult ability possessed by man, the average person still remains unconvinced and skeptical as to its reality; or from another perspective they fear it as a satanic gift. However, at least the Bahái'i faith firmly states the possibility for one to experience the afterlife while yet still alive and embodied on earth. Many modern saints such as Padre Pio were adepts of soul-travel.

Soul-travel, or astral travel is a natural mode of rest for the incarnating soul from the vicissitudes of everyday life. This usually occurs through sleep, but may be induced through various means. It is through this occult faculty that knowledge of the various dimensions may be gained. Ancient Greeks were familiar with the art of astral projection. In their myths there are many references to heroes visiting the underworld, such as Hercules, Aeneas, and Odysseus, or sorceresses such as Medea accompanying Jason, the captain of the Argonauts in his adventures--although she in her astral body. These myths probably refer to the astral aspects of the secret initiations of the ancient Mystery Schools.

The Occult Tradition

Before explaining the death process from the occult and metaphysical point of view, we ought to possess some knowledge of man's occult anatomy, for man's hidden structure and physiology play an important role in the release of the soul from its confinement to the form and the disintegration of the physical body and they are, therefore, a pertinent factor to our understanding of transition. It is also of some relevance to know the structure of the various planes or dimensions. We shall, therefore, consider these two essential topics briefly before discussing the process of transition from the occult perspective.

The Microcosm

Man, the microcosm, possesses several bodies, principles, or vehicles. According to Theosophy, these principles/bodies are seven in number: Monad, Atma, Buddhi, Higher Mental/Causal, Lower Mental, Astral Body, and Etheric/Physical. Christianity divides man's components into body, soul and spirit. The concept of man possessing several bodies is also to be found in Hinduism, the Qaballah, and Islam; and is in fact based on the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom; it is to be found underlying all spiritual traditions in one form or another. The Initiates of ancient Egypt, for instance, had a clear understanding of man's subtle anatomy as we can see from the following suggested correspondence with the Theosophical system:

Physical Body - Khat

Etheric Body - Khaibit (shadow)

Astral Body - Ka (double)

Lower Mental - Ba (heart-soul)

Causal Body - Sahu (spiritual body)

Higher Mental - Ren (name)

Buddhi - Khu/Ab (spiritual soul)

Atma - Sekhem (power)

Monad - Khabs

In average cases, the bodies directly involved in the death process and in the afterdeath state are of the first five-the physical body, etheric, astral, lower mental, and causal. In certain conditions it may involve the first two or three.

Each body or principle has energy-centers fully developed and functioning, or in the process of unfoldment. These energy-centers are called chakras in Hindu occultism and there are seven of major importance. In the physical body the endocrine glands and the plexi correspond to these chakras. The following are the Hindu terms for these chakras as well as their correspondence to the glands and their location:

Muladhara - gonads - base of spine

Svadishtana - spleen/pancreas - naval

Manipura - adrenals - solar plexus

Anahata - thymus - heart

Vishuddha - thyroid - throat

Ajna - pituitary - center of eyebrows

Sahasrara - pineal - crown

Every vehicle of consciousness possesses chakras, some of which are not functioning to its full potential or fully-developed as yet in the average human being. Chakras are channels and transformers of energy. They receive the influx of energies originating from higher spheres and distribute those energies to a lower principle. The frequencies or qualities of these chakras are associated with one's evolutionary development; this account for the many colours attributed to them by various authorities who often seemingly contradict one another. These chakras vibrate at a rate determined by the quality of the indwelling soul. During transition the soul escapes through one of these portals. One's evolutionary development determines where the soul would make its exit. According to occult teachings, it is favorable for the soul to be released through the crown chakra or other higher centers; escape through the lower centers results in a transition to one of the lower worlds. Generally speaking, the average person evacuates the body, in the process of transition, through the solar plexus chakra. This is because the manipura chakra is associated with the qualities of self-centeredness, and is the normal expression and polarization of the average person. Aspirants and servers of humanity often emerge out of the heart chakra, as this chakra is related to an expanding love for all sentient beings. Enlightened, spiritual souls pass out of the physical form through the crown chakra. This major center is associated with pure, lofty thoughts and feelings, with a sense of oneness and identification with all beings. It is this crown chakra that Hopi Indians believed to be the exit of the soul at death. Occultism declares that the point of exit indicates the realm that the indwelling soul would sojourn, whether it be in the lower regions of "hell," or in the upper localities of "heaven."

Connecting the various bodies together, like beads on a string, is the sutratma. This sutratma is sometimes referred to as the "silver cord." This term comes from one of the books of the Old Testament.

"Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern." (Ecclesiastes 12:6)

While the indwelling soul is incarnated in the physical form, the sutratma remains intact, connecting the lower form to the higher principles. It functions primarily as a channel for divine life forces--the energies emanating from the Monad. In sleep and in the astral state, when the awareness-principle roams about in the higher dimensions, this cord serves as a connecting link between the material body and the astral form. So long as this cord exists intact, the soul is bound to the physical body. Once the cord is severed, as occurs in the death process, the soul loses its connection with the physical body. A person may be in a coma, or in a cataleptic state with a resemblance of death, but so long as the cord endures, it is always possible for life to return--it is possible to "raise the dead," so to speak.

Another point to consider concerning man's occult anatomy which is relevant to our discussion of the process of transition are the seed-atoms. These atoms are vortexes of energies which collectively speaking, may be considered as the records of the unfolding soul, or as the soul's "book of life." They correspond to "Kiramun-i-Kaitibun," the recording angels in sufi teachings. Occultism teaches the existence of three seed-atoms--the mental, astral and the physical seed-atom. These atoms register all of the thoughts, feelings and actions of the incarnated soul. They are records of the quality and nature of the soul, and may be thought of as the memory book of all the experiences of the soul's past incarnated lives. They, therefore, also contain the records of one's karmic history. It should be noted that although Buddhism teaches reincarnation, they do not believe in a "self" that reincarnates. To Buddhists, that which reincarnates are the karmic traits of the awareness-principle. Although we will not consider the question of what survives and reincarnates, it is interesting to know that these "karmic traits" correlate with the contents of the seed-atoms.

The mental seed-atom is associated with the soul's consciousness and mental world of thoughts and ideas. In the physical body it resides in the pineal gland. One's feelings, negative and positive, are registered in the astral seed-atom. The liver is the temporary home of this seed-atom. The physical seed-atom abides in the heart. It is associated with the life-principle within the body. In the death process, the seed-atoms emerge out of the physical body in sequence, as we shall see presently.

According to occultism in general, in the beginning of a manvantara, or cycle of manifestation and creation, the First Cause emanated from Itself streams of energies of varying densities; or Spirit vibrating in a whole spectrum of frequencies. These energies, structured electronically in high and low densities, are the various dimensions, planes, realms, or mansions of the manifested Cosmos. In the Qaballah, these dimensions and planes are referred to as the 4 worlds and the sephiroths. According to theosophical teachings, there are seven planes that concerns man's present evolution. These seven planes are collectively called the cosmic physical plane. Though there are higher planes, we will not consider them, as they have very little to do with man's evolution, and are far beyond our status as human souls.

The seven planes, in theosophical teachings are called: Logoic, Monadic, Atmic, Buddhic, Mental, Astral, and Physical. Certain Sufi teachings refer to these various planes as: "Alam-i-tabi-at," "Alam-i-surat," "Alam-i-ma'na," "Alam-i-malakut," "Alam-i-jabarut," "Alam-i-lahut," and "Alam-i-hahut." Each of the seven planes mentioned are subdivided into seven lesser realms making 49 in all. The various heavens and hells (realms of joy and suffering) which the human soul sojourns and dwells are to be found in the Mental and Astral regions. In the upper regions of the Mental subplanes is to be found what is called the Causal plane. This is paradise proper where most souls go to rest before reincarnating in the physical dimension. Tibetan Buddhism refers to the Physical, Astral and Mental planes as the six worlds: the world of gods (Devaloka), of Titans (Asuraloka), of hungry ghosts (Pretaloka), of hell, of animals, and of humans. These descriptive realms symbolically refer to human behaviour and evolutionary development with a predominating characteristic vice: for instance, pride, envy, greed, hatred, ignorance, and desire. These six worlds are the abodes or heavens--or hell, as the case may be--of souls of varied spiritual development. Below we give the evolutionary level of souls in correlation with the six worlds that they vibrate in harmony with:

Causal-Higher Mental Planes - World of gods - Saints, masters . . .

Lower Mental Planes - World of Asuras - Philosophers, heroes . . .

Higher and Mid-Astral Planes - World of Pretas - Average man

Lower Astral Planes - World of Animals - Purgatory, temporary abode of average man.

Sub-Lower Astral Planes - World of Demons - Hell, temporary abode of evil and wicked men.

Physical Plane - World of Humans - Physical world, all types of souls.

Transition and the after death state

We have already discussed the various relevant parts of man's occult anatomy that are directly involved in the death process. We shall now see how they fit together in the soul's birthing process into another realm. It should be noted, however, that there are variations in the death process. We shall be considering the normal process of death for the average person, but before we do, let us consider how occultism advocates the method of assistance to the dying.

Occultism teaches the necessity for absolute quietness surrounding the dying. The moanings and wailings of relatives and friends should be kept at a minimum and away from the presence of the one undergoing transition. The dying's sense of perception is heightened during transition and is focused strongly on the bardo, and, therefore, it is imperative at this stage that nothing disturbs the dying person. To do so would distract the soul from liberating itself in the early stages of the bardo and prevent it from being reborn in a higher realm. It is said that orange light in the room of the dying helps the awareness-principle to maintain consciousness so that it would not miss the Clear Light of the first stage of the bardo. Oneness and identification with the Clear Light is what causes liberation for the soul--liberation from the necessity to reincarnate. Sandalwood incense and chanting of mantras also aid the dying to remain focussed and mentally alert. In the Tibetan tradition, certain guidance is given verbally to the dying pilgrim, that it may recognize the various stages of the bardo and what it should do once they are encountered and experienced. Occultism advocates similar assistance to the dying, since the basic purpose underlying both systems are one and the same, that is, the liberation of the soul from an unfortunate rebirth in one of the lower regions of the cosmos which causes evolutionary stagnation. The techniques for aiding the dying as well as dying fruitfully is well worth knowing--especially to practicing metaphysicians.

What is important to learn is the maintaining of one's mind and consciousness at a lofty level through constant meditation and mental reflection in everyday life. This polarizes the consciousness in the head chakra and facilitates the recognition of the dawning light in the first stage of the bardo. Dying consciously is more advantageous than dying in an unconscious manner for the above reason.

Strangely enough, depending upon our perspective, highly evolved souls are aware of the time and onset of their death. This inner knowing is derived from intuitive impressions from the Oversoul, or Higher Self. Such initiates are knowledgeable of the process of death and they transit in full awareness without a break or a hiatus in their consciousness. Some even attain what is called "the Rainbow Body." This is the transformation or the absorption of physical particles of the body into one's spiritual light during transition, leaving no empty corpse behind. This is alluded to in the biblical passage concerning the prophet Enoch, where it is said that he walked with God "and was not."

Those having seen the Clear Light and have united with it, or acquired the divine gnosis called "marifatullah" in Esoteric Islam encounters various esoteric/exoteric signs months and days prior to the death process:

[Note: The table of the esoteric/ exoteric signs may be seen as originally published at our website]

Copyright © 2006 Luxamore

Luxamore
Metaphysical teacher, counseler, healer and merchant of occult/magickal items of Indonesia.
http://www.indotalisman.com/
http://www.bezoarmustikapearls.com/

The Metaphysical View of Death and Life After Death Part 3

FINDINGS

In this chapter we will consider the four perspectives in greater detail. We will look into the dying process and the nature of life in the higher planes, as seen through the eyes of Western and Eastern occultism. Analysis of the religious concepts anent death, dying and the after-death state will offer us a clearer picture of what is commonly believed by the average person. We will deal with religious concepts not from the perspective of any particular religion, but from an overall, general view. The findings of modern researchers of the paranormal will greatly enhance our comprehension of nature's laws, while Tibetan teachings concerning death will offer us a better insight into the purposes of life and the liberating nature of the death process. We will discuss these various perspectives with a metaphysical understanding.

The metaphysician is a seeker of empirical and pragmatic truths--truths and laws that are applicable and relevant to one's life. The metaphysician, as a healer of man's souls, is a searcher for not merely theoretical, but practical, factual, and experiential knowledge. Such knowledge, as an accumulation of relevant data, offers the material required to gain wisdom, insight and understanding of God's plan, and the privilege of participating in the creative work of the universe. Knowledge of the death process and the purposes of life offers us a certain power to pre-determine our fate in the higher worlds and in subsequent incarnations with the exercise of our God-given gift of free-choice and the divine-will of our Higher Self.

Religious Beliefs

Followers of religions have viewed death, or the passing over to a new dimension, in contradictory terms. On one hand, there is a lively anticipation and hope for a glorious future-state in a heavenly paradise, and on the other, a pronounced fear of eternal damnation and torture in an everlasting burning hell. The concepts of heaven and hell are common to most religions, and from the occult point of view, there is a basis for these ideas; however, heaven and hell as understood by the masses and unenlightened clergymen are a distortion of the reality underlying those states.

Hell, according to religious ideas, is a place in the afterlife for the punishment of wicked, immoral and sinful men and women. It is described to be a place of eternal torture, a place filled with fire and brimstone, a place of horror and terror, a locality where one suffers pain and misery indefinitely. Judaism refers to this hell as Sheol and Gehenna, while the ancient Greeks called it Hades and Tartarus. In Buddhism, the hell-state is known as Avitchi. Hell has been described in literature as the Inferno, the Abyss, the Pit, the Darkness, Limbo etc. In Paradise Lost, Milton called the capital of Hell, Pandemonium, which figuratively, refers to a state of chaos, lawlessness and anarchy. In the Gospel stories the Piscean Master referred to a pit outside the walls of Jerusalem--a pit utilized as a garbage incinerator. This burning pit was used as an illustration, in a metaphorical and symbolical manner, of the nature of Gehenna. Not understanding the symbolism, followers of Christ have accepted the Master's explanation in a literal sense. It should also be noted that ancient mystics considered this earth plane to be one of the hell regions.

In the scriptures we are told that God is a consuming fire. This fire is synonymous with the fires and flames of hell; to the soul, higher vibrations are always fiery in nature. What do the flames of God consume? They consume temporarily the manifestation of the false ego with its expressions of pride, hatred and cruelty. They cleanse the subtle bodies of psychic dross. In the alchemical tradition, fire has been a symbol of the processes of transmutation and purification. In the same esoteric sense, the fiery stimulus of hell causes a purification and transmutation of the soul which results in soul-awakening. Once the soul realizes its mortal errors and repents, it rises from the fires of hell and enters into the planes of "purgatory" for the next phase of the purification process. From another perspective, the flames of hell may symbolize a soul's lust for the physical world--its ungratified consuming desire, and rage or resentment towards all that opposes its egoistic will. Freedom from such a hell is a simple matter of extinguishing lowly desires and the acquisition of humility. Sufferings one experience in hell, aside from the above conditions could also be the result of remorseful feelings for one's past negative deeds, one's "sins" of omission and commission; or the result of one's anger and displeasure for not possessing the ability to resume the life-style one had previously known. This often cause what is called an "earth-bound spirit."

The concept of purgatory was first formulated by Pope Gregory I, who lived in the sixth century AD. Although turned into a dogma in some Christian sects, this particular doctrine is based on reality, as it is validated by the experiences of psychics and mystics. Purgatory is an intermediate plane between heaven and hell; however, in actuality, all planes are purgatorial in nature. Purgatory, in a specific sense, is a plane of consciousness, a dimension where souls sojourn temporarily to cast off material and carnal habits, attitudes and feelings. It is a realm of purification of one's thoughts, emotions and desires. Purgatory is where one also commences the assimilation of experiences of one's incarnated life. Once this purification has taken place, the soul goes to one of the heavenly regions appropriate for its expression. This occurs automatically without any authoritarian decree or overseeing.

To believe that a loving, kind and merciful God would banish and exile wayward souls to eternal condemnation and punishment is a sacrilegious attitude and feeling, and an injustice towards our Creator. The loving Omniversal Mind of the Cosmos would never have conceived of such an idea. God does not punish. The many hell regions were not created by God but by man's guilty conscience, by man's evil tendencies and propensities, by man's willful disobedience and violation of the Cosmic Law of Harmony. This is not to say that hell and its tortures do not exist. They do exist, but as an illusion of maya. They are tangible but are phantasmagorias. Hell is an inner state of darkness within the consciousness projected and objectified onto astral substances. Hell is a state of mind and consciousness externalized and reflected in one's astral, or even physical environment. Sojourners of hell unconsciously build, share, and experience a collective thoughtform.

Religion in the collective sense, paints hell in frightful forms and images. In actuality though, most of the devils and demons torturing souls in hell are mere phantasms arising from the psyche. The wrathful deities, creatures and demons found in hell, such as Satan, Beelzebub, Ashtaroth, Mara, the Raksasas, the Furies, the Harpies, the Erinyes, Chimaeras, Cerburus and Hydras, are all negative thoughts and feelings within one's soul externalized in an illusory, hallucinatory sense to torment oneself for one's past misqualification of soul-energies. Aside from hell, these gruesome and grotesque images are also seen and experienced at a certain phase of the bardo. These terrifying demons are mere symbols of negative human behaviour. The guilty conscience of men and women evilly-inclined erupts from the unconscious to manifest as horrible illusions. Simply put, a bad conscience and temperament creates the experience of hell. Cornelius Agrippa, the eminent occultist of the 16th century, referring to the illusory nature of hell as experienced by hell-sojourners says that souls,

". . . are most cruelly tortured in the irascible faculty with the hatred of an imaginary evil, into the perturbations whereof, as also false suspicions, and most horrible phantasms they then fall, and they are represented to them sad representations; sometimes of the heaven falling upon their head, sometimes of being swallowed up into the earth . . . and sometimes of being taken, and tormented by devils." (1995:596)

In the Gathas, one of the holy scriptures of Zoroastrianism, hell is described as the place of the worst thought, and as the House of Lies. The people of Ahura Mazda believed and still believe that in hell one is tormented by the daena, or conscience; however, they do not propose this to be construed and considered as a permanent state--a concept expounded by theologians of many other living faiths. Eternal punishment is illogical, senseless, and without purpose, and goes against all spiritual principles and values. It would be more realistic to view a merciful God ending soul-identity and consciousness rather than to picture the Almighty banishing and gloating at the sufferings and miseries of wayward souls. Hence, the purpose of hell is not that of punishment but to awaken the soul of its spiritual poverty, of its need to turn towards the Divine Light. Here we emphasize the concept of hell from the perspective of Zorastrianism for it has greatly influenced the Semitic religions which somehow distorted the transmission of esoteric knowledge.

Hell should not be seen as an eternal state. It exists for the soul only for as long as the soul refuses to acknowledge and face the Light of God, of Truth, and give up its resentments, hatreds, and other negative feelings. Not all souls sojourn in hell or purgatory. Lofty, pure souls bypass the lower worlds to head straight for their place in the heavenly regions. Every soul goes to the plane most appropriate for its nature. This process or procedure is not directed arbitrarily by any being, there is no one to coerce and force us to be in any realm. This is all executed according to the Law of Correspondence. Man's spiritual attainment or lack of it determines where he would go. It is a matter of frequencies. One's personal frequency attunes one into the appropriate dimension vibrating at the corresponding wavelength. Imagine if you will, a wicked sinner obtaining forgiveness at the last hour and goes to the heavenly worlds. The very presence of the sinner would transform heaven into hell, for his innate wickedness, his negative character, would pollute the surrounding environment. Death does not transmute our character. We carry our same personality, character, minds and emotions wherever we go. If we are in constant discord with our environment, with our many relationships here on this earth plane, we would express no differently in the subtle worlds. The presence of negativity causes the soul, the astro-mental bodies, to assume a certain density in its energy-structures and fields, a certain atomic weight which binds it to the lower regions of hell or purgatory. Heaven is thus protected from trouble-makers. Whether in hell or purgatory, the soul suffers all of its misqualified and misspent energies alone. The length of time that one sojourns in hell or purgatory is dependent upon one's self, upon one's own inner desire to improve one's character, upon one's desire to be free, the desire to forgive self and others--to request forgiveness from those wronged, and the desire to serve others.

Concerning heaven, Christians have long visualized it to be a magnificent city with streets paved in gold and ornamented with precious stones. The book of Revelations has done much to mould Christian beliefs regarding this matter. What is not known to the average Christian is that the apocalypse in Revelations is symbolical and that it is a work written by great initiates for lesser initiates studying the mysteries of God, and that to interpret it literally is to deceive and mislead oneself. It takes a great deal of familiarity with the occult, the Qaballah, and the initiatory teachings of the ancients to properly interpret the real significance of its spiritual contents.

Heaven, generally, is believed to be a place of rewards, of eternal rest. Ancient Greeks called heaven the Elysian Fields or Olympus. Followers of Zoroaster describe it as the House of Suns, and the abode of the best thought--a place where the sun never ceases to shine--no doubt alluding to the luminous nature of the plane. To Hindus, heaven is Surga, and it lies in the higher lokas. Theosophists call heaven "Devachan." Ancient Egyptians referred to it as Sekhet-hetepet. To Scandinavians it is Asgard; and spiritualists call it Summerland. Heaven as an abode of peace, happiness, and abundance is a fundamental religious belief in every culture, ancient and modern. As hell is believed to be a place of punishment, so heaven is believed to be a realm of rewards due to the virtuous, the "poor in spirit" and to those who serve God faithfully.

Like hell, followers of religion have likewise misunderstood and misconceived the nature of heaven. In their theology, most religions lay too much stress on externals without considering the mystical nature of their teachings; this applies most specifically to such concepts as heaven and hell. The Bahá'i faith, as an exception, believes heaven and hell to be spiritual conditions, and not mere places. In their theological teachings, heaven is defined as the proximity of the consciousness to the throne of God, and hell as a remoteness from the heavenly Godhead. This is in accord with the words of the Nazarene that the kingdom of God is within. Eventhough the concept of paradise among Christians has a different meaning from the kingdom of God as enunciated by the Master--the former believing it to be a place--it could indeed be considered as such, as a place or places reflecting the inner state of the soul, just like hell--eventhough we apparently contradict our previous statement concerning Christian emphasis upon externals. As mentioned before, heaven and hell as places have been substantiated by the discoveries and experiences of mystics and psychics. However, we have to realize that the external protean reality is but a reflection of the inner state or condition of the mind. We have considered this before, but it is necessary to reiterate because of its importance.

Although heaven is as beautiful and glorious as described by religions, it is not a place of eternal rest. A heaven of ease and idleness is a static state. Inertia does not exist in the universe. All is in motion and in a continuous flux. The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said that "everything is becoming." All Sparks, or creatures of God are forever evolving. Everything is in a dynamic state moving towards a higher expression and manifestation. Heaven as experienced and understood by mystics, is a state of intense activity. Heaven is not a place where one sings hymns and play on the harp all day long (unless that is what gives us pleasure), it is a place of continued education for the evolving soul, where the mysteries of the universe, and Cosmic laws are studied. In the higher worlds one learns to exercise one's creativity in myriads of ways. One also spends one's time in heaven serving the whole of creation in various capacities, in accord with one's innate abilities and talents. In the heavenly regions, there are no angels ornated with wings and halos, as represented by painters in their artwork. In heaven, angelic beings are adorned with their purity, love and other positive virtues. What are supposed to be wings are simply magnetic radiations streaming from their persons.

One of the salient features of religious beliefs is that during transition, before one passes over to heaven or hell, one has to undergo a judgment. The Ancient Egyptians, Tibetans, Christians, Muslims and many others all have and had their judgment scenes in their theological concepts. This is ingrained in the eschatology of religion and has, as a matter of fact, a basis of truth which we shall see later as we consider the bardos. It will suffice here to describe certain aspects of the Judgment scene.

The Judgment scene of almost every religion consists of a judge, a weigher of the scales, a scribe, and of course, the soul being judged. To Ancient Egyptians, Osiris was the judge of the soul, Anubis the weigher of the scales, while Thoth was the scribe. The human soul was often depicted as hawk-headed. In Zoroastrianism, Mithras or sometimes Zoroaster sits on the judgment seat, with Rashnu acting as weigher and Sraosha as recorder. Tibetans called their magistrate Dharmaraja and their scribe Shinje--the monkey-headed one. Christians believe that Jesus would be the one to judge the "quick and the dead," with angelic personnel acting as his amanuensis.

In the Judgment scene, as conceived by the ancient Egyptians, the Ab, or heart of the soul is weighed against Maat, or Truth, symbolised by a feather. The deceased makes a long confession, affirming his or her goodly works. The negative works of the soul goes unstated and unproclaimed--the soul hoping that its past sinful deeds are overlooked and not revealed. But then comes the weighing of the scales, where the statements of the soul are gauged of its truth. When found not to measure up to its honesty, the soul is led to hell to be tormented by Typhon, who is one of the presiding demons; otherwise, it is shown the way to paradise. The Judgment scene of all religions follows more or less along similar lines.

According to some religious and cultural beliefs, prior to the Judgment or the entry into the underworld, the soul had to cross a river or rivers, before passing on to its destination. The soul is usually led across the river in a boat or by using certain bridges. Ancient people used these symbols to signify the processes of transition. Muslims call the bridge "Sirat," while followers of Zoroaster call it "Chivat." Ancient Greeks called the underworld rivers Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, and Phlegethon. These named rivers correspond to the four streams of the Garden of Eden: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Phrath. Occultly, they probably refer to the four etheric planes. Scandinavians also believe in a river that souls in the cthonian world had to cross. They call this "Wimur." Ancient Babylonians believed that the soul had to cross the Huber river prior to reaching the "mountain of justice," or the Judgment scene.

Psychologically, rivers, oceans, pools, and lakes all refer to the subconscious element within man. In the depth of the Freudian "id," lurk various monsters--phobias, psychosis, neurosis, and repressions. In an occult sense, these monsters of the psyche are known collectively as the Dweller on the Threshold. Crossing rivers in the context of its symbolism, entails encountering these monsters, these repressed images in the death process; and indeed, according to Tibetan thanatology, this is exactly what occurs in the bardo. All religious doctrines teach of the danger that the soul may have to face in the intermediate state.

Copyright © 2006 Luxamore