It occurs to me, through stimulating conversations with others here, that in the afterlife realms of consciousness there are likely different factions, and that they are belief systems unto themselves.  The confusing thing about this fact is that to those of us in human bodies, some of these afterlife realms set their point of view up as a gold standard to follow for spiritual evolution.

For a while, I have seen Focus 27 as a belief system territory - admittedly for open minded humans who wih to manifest things with their minds, and explore, but who still are bound to their earthly egos and not necessarily feeling themselves as part of the whole.  It sounds like a fun place (from a human perspective).  As Bruce stated, if you liked shoes, you could have a whole ware house full of them, manifest just by thinking of it.  Or you could converse with great sages or explore the akashic databases to absorb reams of knowledge.  Yet absent from this realm is a direct contact with Source/God.  Focus 27 is more concerned with your transition to the afterlife an exploration of your wants and needs.  The folks there are said to have a live and let live attitude, and wouldn't impose their will on another.  I would call this faction the "humanists." 

However, there are other afterlife factions which seem to be concerned with the direct experience of our true nature as a spiritual being, as a unique small piece of God.  To them, physical human life is based on an illusion or false premise - that we are separate beings.  That the world is divided into polar opposites.  These souls have a reached an awareness where they recognize themselves as part of God, but unique and one part of a unity.  The driving force behind the unity is love.  This faction, I will call the Unity faction.  To the unity faction, enlightenment comes when we our aware of our true nature, accepting of it, and are able to be part of the whole universe, yet still present as our unique point of perception. 

The humanist faction of the afterlife is full of earth like activity.  Helpers, councils of elders, teachers, training areas, heavenly Rehab/Hospital like centers.  Essentially an evolution of our humanity without a body, but still minus the final big picture. 

In contrast, the Unity faction of the Afterlife consists of a soul-group, and a sharing of knowledge and experience, with the goal being to rid ourselves of ego, and to merge with each other and Source itself. 

The two factions have different perspectives and therefore different goals.  The humanist faction seeks spiritual advancement by learning on the earth plane and "getting it right."  Acting in a more loving way in any given situation.  Reincarnation and planning is key to this faction.

The Unity faction is quite different.  I don't believe a council of elders or reincarnation would play a prominent role.  As Nanci Danison noted in her NDE, those espoused to the Unity view look at earth as a playground for experience, which will ultimately be digested, shared and eventually merged with Source.  To their view, people don't have to "get it right" because there is no getting it wrong.  They believe that when we shed the body, our consciousness expands to such a level that the we can shed our earthly egos and realize who and what we really are. 

Swedenborg saw innumerable afterlife societies, and did mention different "heavens" for those who expressed love more for their fellow men than to God/Source, though he felt that one had to love both to have spiritual understanding.

Of course, when thinking about it, one can imagine limitless afterlife factions and schools which address our true nature, each one seeming to be authoritative in its own way.  In the end, perhaps we end up in the same final place.  I would imagine, we choose which faction to be a part of, much like we do on earth.  I would just suggest keeping this in mind when we hear definitive explanations of planning in the afterlife, reincarnation and the like.


M

Hi Albert,

I guess I'm going through a change of belief systems myself, and that is why I'm not as upbeat as usual.  One thing on my mind is that with the great expansion of our consciousness in spirit, after the first stage of death, when we find we can manifest at will, absorb huge databases of information, etc., there may be a change in priorities, and a, um, well "dehumanization" process.  It addresses in part, Don's question about why we don't hear from our loved ones more often.  It is quite possible, even likely, that once we are soul-realized, sharing with others, that our earthly lives become more like a recent play we just watched.   We know that our true reality is more than the human animal with our soul.  We still love our loved ones, but we realize that on earth, they were part of the virtual experience, and that they will be fine in the end.  Earthly matters, in a nutshell matter less, once we are soul-realized.

I think most contact from the afterlife is from those who stay in the most human-like realms up to Focus 27.  And people who stay there usually can't or won't stay long - they are intermediary belief realms. 

After going through an intellectual spiritual awakening, I am now in a "now what?" phase.  Much of the regular life goals and activities make less sense to me right now.  I probably should go off and live in a cave somewhere.  But seriously, goals of a career, planning for kids, finances, future, most of these day to day cares have to do with the drama or play of life here in the earth life system.  Once the genie is out of the bag, about our true nature, who is going to remain fully in the game?  It is like the movie The Matrix, where the "real person" is in their own little battery pod, but hooked into a computer program which makes them think they are interacting in a normal life.  If you knew that, would you live virtually, and in ignorance?  One of the villains in the movie, as I recall went back into the Matrix as part of his deal to betray his comrades. 

The Unity experience tells us that we are pinpoints of consciousness, independent but part of God/Source, and that it we fool ourselves into thinking we are alone and separate.  The Humanist faction for the afterlife believes in growing as a human being first, both here and in the afterlife, with the goal being to express love and be closer to God/Source that way. 

I had always been a humanist, but now, I am realizing that the most direct experience that you or I can have with the divine is the experience or knowing of the Unity faction.  This is what I am trying to wrap my head around right now, and somehow integrate my current human life into the equation to act in a way that makes sense.

M

DocM wrote on Mar 11^th, 2014 at 6:39pm:



Doc or Matthew. I know you and others here treat me like some sort of a pariah...But that is to be expected from people who put other people on a pedestal, and "worship" them like visionary seers. These are your words, quote; as Bruce stated, "if you liked shoes, you could have a whole warehouse full of them, manifest just by thinking of it.  Or you could converse with great sages or explore the akashic databases to absorb reams of knowledge." Quoting Bruce Moen.   

So how come Bruce Moen, or anybody else here that uses his "imagination system", will never publish anything about future events or wondrous words of wisdom from ancient sages, if they have access to these higher dimensional places? And if you wondering? The Akashic libraries in the afterlife dimensions contain everything from the past to the ever changing present-future! And that also includes our physical future lives if/when we wish to reincarnate again. So all of you that paid your hard earned dollars for a system of afterlife communication and exploration, let us know something in advance that is going to happen in the future via the akashic records, however small? All you have to do is to "imagine" it!?   
Carl. Blessings and Love in Christ    PS. Sorry to off topic, Matthew, but I'm sure when you pass over, you'll be met and given your white shining robes by exalted masters, then taken to the huge translucent marbled Greek temple, where you'll be given the secrets of the universe, much like most of the disillusioned crew here. Accept Christ before negative forces explodes your self-centered ego, and you end up in one of their lower realms.    
    

Lucy wrote on Mar 13^th, 2014 at 3:49am:


Wow! Lucy, so what do you you stand for? People who write books, but have absolutely no proof that what they write is true and honest? Or do we just stand around each other on this forum, drinking cups of tea or coffee, urinating in each others pockets with our false self-centered egoistic words and pretensions? Blessings and Love in Christ. Carl 

Carl,

Is there something wrong with drinking tea...or coffee? What is your favorite kind of tea?

Although many people like to name their favorite things here on earth as reasons why they would return for another life here, it seems that in some places in the afterlife we can experience these sorts of pleasures, or others.

I hope to be reunited with loved ones who have crossed over, and to enjoy other experiences there which are just as wonderful as some moments in this life. But, I hope, also, that those who could not enjoy them here will be able to enjoy them there. So, I can see a purpose for many different kinds of places for individuals to spend eternity in, as we all have different ideas of what is wonderful, and what is wonderful to us in a certain instance can change. We can desire change.

But, I see no reason why it would be necessary to return to earth to experience these things. For instance, I have never been a mother here on earth, but I may be in another realm of being. I would prefer not to do it here, as I barely have what it takes to care for my little dog. And I love her dearly.

And, unity. Must it be one or the other?

In near death experiences people report moving toward and even into a great, wonderful, loving being which may be recognized as "God" to some, and they also report returning all the way back into their bodies when they are revived. So, I don't actually see it as being so separated into factions. I see it as us being kind of like children learning to walk and moving towards a wonderful "Great Mother" or "Great Father" who doesn't care to hold us so closely that we cannot experience a different point of view. This great being allows us to have a multitude of experiences, for better or for worse, like our earthly mothers and fathers do.

Thanks, Carl. It was nice having this cup of tea with you.

carl wrote on Mar 13^th, 2014 at 4:19am:

Hi Matthew,

Well, I'd probably pick apart some of the faction premises, but I get what you're saying so, I'll just say that, I see it as all of the various realities having evolved out of necessity to give support to the evolutionary process of the One Consciousness.  The realm that receives the newly deceased is a part of the transition, re-acclimation process set up to meet the needs of individuals as they progress toward shedding the earthly ego and realizing who they really are.  Perhaps like stepping stones where one can take it slow and savor the journey or skip steps when one has "been there, done that."  Still I see it all as a process of choice, even if choice can be limited within the various realities.  Like ELS, I suspect every reality evolves in its own way and in its own time.

Focus 27 and all other virtual realities (the non-physical to us) have their evolutionary purpose and intention.  Still, they all evolved within one entire system and they all work for the betterment of that system.  None of us has ever become separated from that system or each other, except for the distinction of the individuation we were initially given/acquire as we continue to evolve.  I don't know as though there really is an endpoint.  I see it more as boundless.  Merging with Source and each other to me is a metaphor for who we really are... One Consciousness Being interacting with itself in a myriad of ways.

K

Quote:

Carl, it would be similar if someone said to you: accept some new age icon before so and so happens. Would you "surrender" by means of guilt and/or intimidation? This experiental pattern is a loop and goes nowhere repeatedly until the loop is broken.

Lucy,

In your post you distilled some very important points and questions.  I like your anaolgy about a trip to Boston.  It is sort of like the three blind men describing an elephant (one touching the trunk - seems like a snake, one touching the body, "seems like a cow" and the last the tail, etc..).  They each experience their own knowns based on their limited experience.  Only a synthesis of their experiences can give the bigger picture of what the elephant or city (your Boston example) is really like.

I was going to start a thread on belief systems vs. "knowns."  Tom Campbell, a former scientist who worked with Monroe and authored the book My Big TOE (theory of everything), goes into detail about this.  Belief systems are deeply ingrained in us and tied into our egos.  Our ego wants to be "right" about things, and have opposing views be "wrong" or deluded.  This gives us temporary confidence in life but is rarely satisfying.  A known is something directly experienced.  People who explore and find astral planes, heavens or hells.  People who have a NDE, relate an absolute certitude of what they experienced based only on their direct perception of it.  But from that point on, it is an unshakeable "known."

Some types of perception occur on an enhanced level, where we can take in a lot of data in terms of knowledge, feelings, associations all at once.  This type of experience is perhaps the strongest verification anyone can get.  And yes, your "knowns" may be different than mine, must be different initially, except when we get to some of the most basic knowns out there like love.  Some call this Christ consciousness, and indeed, I think much of what is in the gospels would fall into the category of teachings about pure love.  Yet to a bible thumper, you, Lucy are a deluded Hell-bound fanatic if you speak of love (the same love that JC spoke of) but don't belong to church or quote the gospel.  The same person who derides you for being New Age, may be anti-gay ('cause the bible tells them so - well not really in the NT, but ...), anti-immigrant, and have a whole list of those who he/she feels are not worthy of love.  This is eventhough JC tells his disciples to love everyone, and never, in all the gospels excludes any group of people from love or heaven. 

What I have come to understand, is that those who quote the letter of scripture from a church or temple, but do not live the heart or spirit of scripture are acting from a belief system, taught to them but not experienced as a known.  A person who comes on this website and tells New Age people to convert to their religion or be hell bound, has no direct experience of the teachings of Christ, or Christ consciousness.  They simply are taught an earthly series of rules to live by, and they interpret it in their own way, but keep their own "us vs. them" mentality that JC never advocated in the gospels, and that most great religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism never advocate. 

So there is a difference between belief systems and knowns.  And any seeker must be open enough to challenge long held taught beliefs in order to progress in love and spirituality.  Otherwise, they take a smug seemingly self-confident approach to life in their learned but never experienced belief system, until at some point in their lives, it fails them.

Thanks for your post, Lucy.  It is clear that you give this stuff a lot of thought, and are really seeking answers to the big questions.

M