What Happens After Death
This teaching on what happens after death may seem unconventional, but it makes sense to me. It is based on the book, New Testament Revelations of Jesus of Nazareth which I have found very insightful. Interestingly, much of it parallels the views of Vedic sages of ancient India, as documented in a book by Deepak Chopra in Life After Death, the Burden of Proof. Much of this is also supported by quantum physics. For a related article, click here.
After physical death, humans don’t cease to live – they merely enter life on a different plane and in different form, becoming inhabitants of the spirit world.
At death, the so called silver cord, which in this life holds the physical body and spirit body together, is broken and the connection is severed for all eternity (Eccl. 12:6-7). When this happens, nothing can resuscitate the person back to life. (Hence, those “raised to life” referred to in the scriptures weren’t truly dead, but only appeared so from the human perspective. More accurately, they would have been in a state of suspended animation.) The lifeless physical body disintegrates over time. It has fulfilled its purpose and will never again be used by the same individual or even another spirit or soul.
The passage into the spirit world happens through a “resurrection” of the spirit body which also contains the soul. The spirit body remaining after death has a real substance. It doesn’t need and cannot be clothed with another physical body as this would contravene the laws operating on earth, as well as those in the spirit world.
Individuals who have passed into the spirit world retain all the things of mind, conscience and soul that were theirs in the earthly life. The spirit body continues to house, protect and control the soul. To some degree, the soul also controls the spirit body. Changes in the body occur over time, but are not controlled by the same laws as those that control the changes in the physical body, but rather by laws which control the development of the soul.
When a spirit first enters the spirit world, it is met by loving family or friends, who help it to awaken to its new existence and adjust to the new environment. When the spirit realizes its new state, it then needs to move to where it is destined based on its soul condition and its mental and moral development in accordance with the Law of Attraction.
Based on the Law of Compensation (aka cause and effect or karma), a contaminated soul cannot have a place in the Spiritual Heavens or Paradise unless it is purified. This process will involve a period of suffering in the lower regions or hells, the length of which depends on the soul itself – its will and awakening – as well as the help of other spirits. Spirits of similar condition assist one another – somewhat like the blind leading the blind. All spirits have work to do and opportunity to grow and progress to higher realms. Eventually all souls will become cleansed and reach the point of their original purity.
Most spirits start on the earth plane, in which there are several spheres. Here conditions are not too different from those on earth with the same ideas of right and wrong, beliefs, concepts and desires. Friends and relatives can help and instruct the newly arrived spirit on how to proceed higher. Depending on the spirit’s soul condition as well as priorities, they will proceed along the lines of intellectual, moral, or spiritual development.
Those with desires for moral and mental development are assigned a place in the Second, Fourth, or Sixth Spheres. They pass through the intervening spheres, but do not stay long or gain much. At the Sixth Sphere, one’s mental and moral qualities are developed to their greatest extent. The spirits at this point have reached the state of natural perfection and purity experienced by the first humans before the Fall. As they progress through the spheres, they are able to assist others, both mortal and spirit, in overcoming their weaknesses and turning to God.
Those at the Sixth Sphere in the Spiritual Heavens or Paradise are experiencing a high state of happiness – but have not reached their full potential. Their soul is not highly developed as they have not sought at-onement with God through the Divine Love. They can progress higher by realizing the need for receiving the Divine Love. However, many are satisfied in their state of happiness and do not seek God’s Love. Some do awake to the necessity of their soul development as a result of childhood recollection of teachings that God loves them. Indeed, as Jesus taught, becoming as little children is a way to God’s Kingdom (Matthew 18:3-4).
Those spirits, whose priority is spiritual or soul development, which involves actively seeking the Divine Love and New Birth, progress through the Third, Fifth and Seventh Spheres and then to the numberless and limitless Celestial Spheres (God’s Kingdom).
All along, God respects the free will and desires of His creatures and will not force anyone to seek the Divine Love. Rather, He waits till they learn from their own experiences and become dissatisfied with their level of happiness at the moral and mental level. With such dissatisfaction comes the desire for a source of happiness beyond themselves. God makes his redeemed happy by setting before them an ever higher mark for which they may seek with the assurance, that it can be attained.
Reference: New Testament Revelations of Jesus of Nazareth published by Foundation Church of Divine Truth
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