Life after death 
by Aart Jurriaanse

Aart Jurriaanse, undoubtedly one of the foremost experts on the Alice A. Bailey books, discusses several subjects from the esoteric viewpoint. In previous issues he has dealt with the etheric body, the senses, the third eye, the kundalini fire, the astral body, and so on.


For the unevolved, there is no conscious existence after death; the mind is not sufficiently awakened to react, and there is no store of memory which can be re-lived. For these, death will therefore be but a deep and dreamless sleep.

The only slightly evolved, constituting the mass of humanity, are still largely focused on the physical and emotional aspects of life, being guided by selfish motives and gratification of sensual desire. For them the transfer to the astral world will be a condition of only semi-consciousness, of emotional and mental bewilderment, and a failure to recognize their environment or circumstances — just a vague and confused dream-world.

The average well-meaning man, with shortcomings, typical of the normally developing human being, will, during his sojourn in subjective realms, spend most of his time on the astral plane, living mainly with his memories and thoughts and carrying in his consciousness the interests and tendencies which qualified his Earth life. Many will even be unaware that they have 'passed over'. In some instances the astral sojourn will however be disturbed by a constant urge to return to Earth life — possibly caused by feelings of intense personal love for someone left behind, some unfulfilled desire, or the realization or illusion of some uncompleted task. For these there will be no rest until they return.

Then there are the 'Earth-bound' — those poor souls who spent wicked, cruel and selfish lives on Earth, or who lived purely material and sensuous lives and who, even after passing over, are still craving worldly goods or sensual satisfaction. For these the astral life is a time of real hell; often not realizing that they have left the physical world, thus becoming extremely frustrated.

For the aspirant who has discovered the Path of Return and has become aware of the light ahead, leading him from revelation to revelation and ever brighter light, for him death is but a release from physical restrictions, and an opportunity for more effective service and expression. He will discover that, while still in the physical body, he had already initiated during his hours of sleep a field of service activities which he can now extend by giving it his undivided attention. One of the great advantages of rapidly spreading esoteric knowledge is that the general public is becoming aware of the fact of the continuity of soul life, and of the retention of consciousness after death; they are realizing that there is no cause to fear death, a feeling which in the past was merely founded on ignorance and a dread of the unfamiliar and unknown. The Spiritualist movement, with its world-wide ramifications and abundant literature, has already rendered valuable service by sweeping away many of the fears of death.

Purgatory

For the man of goodwill, life in the physical body might be regarded as purgatory; for him life in the astral 'hereafter' will be a happy release from life on Earth, with its never-ending range of pain, distress, fear and friction; but he will not find that mythical 'heaven' on the other side, with its golden streets and lovely harp-playing angels flitting about.

For the man of evil, the position will be different. Such a man, having his first experience of 'hell on Earth', has also prepared a further bed of thorns for himself in the next life, where he will dwell in murkiness, surrounded by reflections and memories of his evil deeds, and tortured by self-reproach and remorse.

One of the worst misrepresentations with which 'religions of fear' so often threaten believers is 'eternal' punishment for the misdemeanours of a moment! What a terrible alleged judgement to attribute to a God of Love! No, fortunately for us this is not the way our Father metes out punishment to His children. There are the laws of Nature, such as the Law of Cause and Effect, which must run their course, and in accordance with which every action inevitably calls forth a corresponding reaction. Man will consequently be rewarded or penalized for his every activity in direct proportion to its strength, quality and motivation — but this certainly must not be seen as some ruthless retribution or punishment by an unforgiving Deity.

That man should pay his dues for deeds of the past, or receive commensurate reward, is fair enough. But the beauty of life, and one of the crowning gifts from Divinity, is that even the worst sinner will always be given another opportunity of rehabilitating himself — if this is not achieved in his present life, then such a chance for redemption will again be provided in some subsequent life, and so, in the course of time, every individual will discover the Path of Light, the Path of Return to the Father.

Cremation

Throughout the ages the many races, each with its own customs, traditions and mystical and religious backgrounds, have devised numerous methods for disposing of discarded physical vehicles. These have varied from setting out the corpses to be devoured by wild animals, such as hyenas, crocodiles, tigers and vultures; burial, with the body in various postures, in graves, caves, tombs, catacombs, sepulchres and pyramids; burning on funeral pyres or other forms of cremation; and finally embalming to preserve the corpse against decomposition.

Several of these methods are still practised, but burial in Mother Earth is probably still the most commonly used method. This is most unhygienic because so many deaths are caused by infectious diseases, and in burying these corpses the soil becomes contaminated by the causal germs and viruses, which may remain contagious for many years. Thus the burial of millions of the infected corpses has contaminated large parts of the Earth's surface.

By far the most effective, hygienic, and also the 'neatest' way of disposing of these physical remains is by cremation. The exact technique applied, and whether open fires or electrical equipment is used, is immaterial. What is important is that cremation is increasingly gaining ground over other practices, and this may in future at least contribute towards purifying the soil, and reducing sources of infection.

Articles about Reincarnation


Directory of articles by Aart Jurriaanse

 

This article is from the December 1986 issue of Share International

Links

 Goodwill Groups     News links      Top of page