Looking forward to it.

Don-

Fire away!  I for one applaud your commentary and look forward to it.  A refreshing change from so much of the new age "woo woo" stuff we seem to be inundated with of late.

R

I want Jessica Alba to be in my version of heaven.  Can I request that of God?

Just kidding.  Great stuff as usual, Don.  I have nothing of real substance to add, but please keep it coming.

Don,

I would agree with the multiplicity of heavens in most religious teachings as well as in new age thought.  ES describes 3 heavens, inner, middle, and outer and talks about societies within these.  These seem strikingly similar to levels of consciousness I’ve become familiar with in some small degree. These heavens or “worlds” all are connected or interpenetrate one another from higher to lower in vibration.  (The influx of the Lord is a perfect description in my opinion.) Each of these “worlds” seems to have a range of frequency that describes the activities/consciousness within it.  Once you are beyond the range of one level’s frequency, you enter into the next world that contains its own range of frequency.  The “influx from the Lord” is perceived differently in each of these as well.  The higher the frequency, the greater or more pronounced the influx, which influences that world in a different way than the one just above or below it, yet to some degree is still felt within it.  My apology if that doesn’t make sense.  This is hard to describe to say the least.  And I can only speculate as to whether or not my experiences of the consciousness of each really could relate to ES descriptions.  Some things described in HH seem like contradictions, but perhaps I do not understand what is being said. 
 
The first (outer) is what could be described as a level of divine order or perfect order. (A place for everything and everything in its place no matter what that may be.)  It is a level of precision, overall patterns and forms for all life.  There is the powerful feeling of great unfolding divine will and purpose within this consciousness.  It is the level of clear light from where the great plan of the universe is continually unfolding.

The second (middle) is the consciousness of divine love, communion and brotherhood.  It is the feeling of PUL, of elation, tremendous joy and bliss that is greatly expanded and encompasses all the beings of the various worlds or heavens.  You mentioned ES talking about a discarnate enjoying paradise before being drawn away to a hell/hollow heaven.  I think one reason for this is directly related to a lack of spiritual nourishment while in the physical.  Various things such as an environment without exposure to spirituality/religious teaching or disillusionment with a religion that caused the person to reject God and religion could cause this lack.  I may explain more about this later as your thread progresses.  Right now I fear I may be getting off track regarding multiplicity of heavens.

The third (inner) is that of divine mind or divine wisdom.  Within this consciousness exists Oneness with God and all that there is and being able to understand that there is perfection within every imperfection.  It is like having a clear, strong and integrated understanding of God or universal mind.  There’s also a deeper level/world/heaven that seems to correspond to this one.  I can only describe that level of consciousness as a complete connection or non-separation with God for all beings that exist there.

This should be an interesting thread.  Thanks for starting it.

Kathy

I've had only two or three occasions in which people I regressed could identify levels of the spirit world.  In this sense, the spirit world is the state of awareness in which the ptient is either able to contact other spirits, or is aware of being a spirit, having died and gone into a different state of existence. I do not believe that the "spirit world" is a place, so much as a condition.

In general the situation in which levels seem important is one in which I suggest that they take their regressed awareness into a part of the spirit world in which they have access to "the place that all knowledge is kept" - which I often call a "Library".  The purpose of this is to have access to the "Cosmic Consciousness" (or Mind of God if you prefer) so that they can gain new information. However, the metaphor of a Library generally allows people to look up their "Book of Life" - a metaphor by which their path through the world is available. Then they can write new goals and values in it etc, which is the essential action that provides the therapy they seek.

One a very few occasions Ihave had people tell me that they are separated from the "nicer part" of the spirit world by a fence or the equivalent. I interpreted this as the gate between Upper and Lower Astral. One person escribed a "waiting room" in which she found herself. She said that there was a bell on the desk, buit nobody came when she banged it. A youngster walked through and walked through a doorway which closed, so she could not follow.

To get through to the other side I generally ask something like, "Are you willing to devote the benefits of your life to the good of all beings everywhere?" The woman in the waiting room thought a moment and said, "Yes," and then a few moments later, "Oh, there's a door in the wall that I hadn't seen before. It just opened up." She walked through it and was immediately in the Upper Astral, where she could get to the Library and resolve her issues.

Most of us who have done any kind of retrieval or therapy work in the spiritual state are aware of the spooks who get stuck in the Mental world - the earthbound ones who haunt places, attach to other people as entities, or who just seem to wander around being miserable. This seems to be a distinctly different modality than our normal material world, but it intersects the material world.

And we are all involved in the physical level at present. That seems sufficiently evident.

I suggest that these are very basic divisions that can be fairly well described by attitude. There is excellent theoretical evidence, as well as the experiences of those who do yoga,  that higher states occur. (Yoga is from Sanskrit "yug" = "to yoke", "to join" or "to unite". Hence any psychic trancework is de facto yoga.) This is based on the levels of rejection of contingencies by which we limit ourselves. Thus, those who attain a greater degree of selflessness, so that they are no longer at odds with anything, seem to have acess to a world in which there is only continuity by which all elements of reaity are connected to all other elements, experienced by us here in the everyday world as sarvastarka samadhi - the samadhi without contradictions. Many yogis (including psychics, meditators, etc who practice the same discipline under different names) experience this state as "moments in heaven".

At the next level there seems only to be existence, non-contingent and undifferentiated, as is experienced in nirvastarka samadhi, the samadhi of empty oneness (which is a poor description, since the actual state can't really be described in everyday terms). This is less often experienced because most people who have no training tend to get caught up in seeking the "heaven" experience again, where they can watch the pretty colors and blinky lights, hear the angels singing, and generally bliss out. The value of training, at least in this respect, is primarily to understand that there is more, and not to get sidetracked.

While these are very pragmatic working levels, familiar to most formal yogis as well as informal practitioners who happen to be doing the same thing (which is why I call them yogis as well). I'd never thought of them as levels of heaven, but that's as good a metaphor as any, I suppose.  I'd be interested in how these experiences fit the more orthodox or classical ideas.

dave

Some days I wouldn't mind dying it seems like - I'm not really looking forward to the dying process, but at this point I'm not afraid of actual death.  Thinking about these things that Don is writing about makes me want to be there somewhat.

I was feeling this way recently and I had this weird sensation, a spiritual experience but its pretty tough to describe.  I was feeling depressed because I'm frustrated at work, wishing I could just hang out with God, and my wife was sleeping in a bed.  I was given some sort of knowledge somehow - I'm not sure how.  I somehow knew that if I died I would miss my wife a whole lot, and I knew what it would be like to watch her sleep but for me to not be in the physical body, and not be able to interact with her.  I would miss her a great deal, and I snapped out of this experience pretty quick.  I felt grateful for this experience from God - basically letting me feel a bit of what I would be missing out on before I missed out on it.

I know that life is an adventure, and its probably not fair (nor beneficial to me or others) to get off the ride before its over.  I'm sure if I died soon I would have regrets about not being able to do more good with my opportunities / squandering the ones that I've had.  And I also know that I'm luckier than many in life, and I should be grateful for what I've been given.

I'm not assuming that my spiritual destination in the afterlife will be great, I'm just hoping initially its at least pleasant.

Hi guys

Very interesting thoughts I'm curious what happens if a group of people die at once like in a car or bus accident.  Will they all go together to somewhere? Will they all be standing outside their bodies looking at themselves and then see each other or will each one have their own experience? Also when you die do you meet up with your passed loved ones or do you carry on and not see them again?