14 - Light and Death
Oh
Power of Light! Be Thou present here in the quietness of this
room, be Thou here to bring to the understanding of these in the
mortal body that You are the Maker and Creator of all things, the
Lord of light and darkness, the Lord of life and death; indeed You
are the Lord of power, the Lord of beauty, the Maker and Creator of
all things.
When Thy
children bring their consciousness into attunement with Thee, they
come to know that Your infinite power and infinite law is at work in
and through all things of the immortal realm - of which the mortal
life is but a part. As they come here in this quietude of prayer
and inwardness of communion, may they come to realise the immensity
of the great stream of life which is flowing and flowing through all
the manifestations of Thy creation – shaping and re-shaping, making
and re-making all things into a pattern which is ever-renewing, ever
more beautiful, ever more orderly, because it is the manifestation
of Thy most holy law.
Into the
peace and power of Thy presence we bring these who are here. We
would encircle them in holy light, in simple love and quiet peace
that they may learn to live through all the changing conditions of
the mortal life in the realisation of the immortal and unchanging
power.
May peace,
power and light be here.
Beloved brothers and
sisters, I come to talk with you through the voice of this medium
and release into the quietness of this room some measure of
spiritual power and unfoldment of spiritual knowledge.
As I bring
you to think upon things which are infinite and eternal, I would say
to you in the spoken words of your earthly understanding, There is
no reason for you to fear death or dread the coming transition of
spirit, there is only a need for you to understand that life is part
of death, and death is intertwined in the great fabric of life.
Once you come to understand this, then much fear and dread can
vanish silently away never to return, never to oppress the mortal
mind of people again. It is the dread of death, the fear which
presses in upon the minds of people because they see the struggle of
the mortal body, they see the changes taking place within the mortal
self and do not yet understand that the immortal, spiritual part is
but withdrawing from the mortal and visible body. It is in the
withdrawing and separating of the great forces of life from the
structure and cells and organs of the mortal and physical body that
there appears to be suffering and a horror in dying.
Those who
are growing in spiritual knowledge and look forward to the moment of
death, you often say that you do not fear death and what will come
after but fear the moment of dying because you do not know what it
will hold nor how to help yourself: unto such would I say, What is
in the consciousness is deeply implanted in the understanding of the
mind. This endures, this is stronger than the movement and activity
of the mortal body itself. That which is implanted deep in the
mortal imagery, the teaching which has influenced you during the
many years of your mortal life, this is what you will remember when
your mortal consciousness is separating from the brain and body it
has used during the many years of life.
The wise
teachers of your land have taught their priests how to help the
children of earth. The priests who belong to the Christian
religions seek to minister to the dying just before the time of
death, to bring to the mortal mind the reassurance of life beyond
the earthly plane. Coming to the dying person, the priest will
breathe forth familiar prayers and help that one to become free from
all sense of guilt by bringing from the deeper memory the
remembrance of sins and a recollection of things wrongly done; thus
the consciousness will be free from the oppression of guilt and
regret. And in that moment when the priest tends the departing
soul, does he not also teach the soul where to look, where to seek
for the light when the body and soul no longer hold together? The
Christian priest will say to the departing soul: “Look in the land
beyond death for the Master Teacher, the Master Jesus Who will lead
you home.”
By
imparting this thought into the spiritual consciousness of the one
who is leaving the mortal body, the priest brings to the departing
soul a recollection of the Leader, the Teacher, the Master who has
been the focus of attention throughout all the years of mortal
life. When free of the body, instead of remaining in fear and
confusion, that soul will look into the land around him, through all
the shades and shadows of the near-earth world, searching for a
light, seeking for a cross, searching for a spirit who will lead him
out of fear and confusion into light and peace - the thought of
Jesus, the thought of the Christian Master is a light to guide him
upon the way.
Those who
followed the ancient religion in the mountains of Tibet, their
priests were taught to go forth from their monastery places unto
those who were coming to the closure of their lives. They would sit
beside the bed, breathe forth prayers, lay their hand upon the seat
of consciousness which is the head and say to the departing one:
“Linger not within the land which is near to earth, look for the
light, seek for the power which lies beyond - that you may pass
safely through the nether regions into the great land of peace and
joy.” So the priests spoke to the dying soul, impressing deeply
into the consciousness of that one the recollection of truths
learned during the years of earthly life; and within the confusion
and fear which closes upon the mind at the moment of death, the
dying one would remember: “I must pass swiftly through the places
of shades, pass swiftly through the places of shadows and look for
the light, go to the light.” Thus would he come into light and
peace and meet again with the beloveds of his heart in the place of
reunion.
In the
great religion of the East, those who learn the teaching of the
Buddha have their priests and teachers who go forth in time of need
to the household in which the dying lie; sitting within the
household they will turn the wheel of prayer and say to the dying
one: “Linger not close to the body. Fear not the place of shades
but pass swiftly, swiftly through the realms of illusion into the
peace and light of the Great Nirvana of which the Blessed Buddha has
spoken in His teachings unto His children.” Entering deeply into
the consciousness of the departing one, this thought can be retained
through the moment of death when the brain dissolves and the spirit
no longer holds the elements of the body. Then would the spirit
remember this and pass swiftly into the places of light.
It is even
so in this spiritualist truth to which peoples of your earth are
slowly turning for new enlightenment and understanding from teachers
such as we who speak through this medium. Those who are learning
these truths also learn from their spirit teachers that as the body
weakens and the spirit begins to free itself from the body, they
must look round for the teacher in the bright garments of spirit who
will guide and lead him out of the place of shadows into the place
of light, the land of eternal summer or radiant light, which is
similar to the heaven of the Christian God and to the place of light
to which the Tibetan may look.
All
revelation which is pure and all truth which is good leads people to
the same state of understanding and illumination; though it may be
clothed in a different language and symbolism according to the place
and teachings of the land wherein the people dwell, it brings to
each the same fundamental truth.
I would say
to you who are here and those who will later read or listen to these
words, Do not fear death! As you come to the dissolution of the
body, open your heart, open your mind, open your awareness to the
light and thought of the glory which lies beyond. Remember that
fear causes the consciousness to close in around the mortal brain,
but joy and understanding cause the consciousness to rise into a
great expansion of light and lightness. Fear closes in the thought
of the soul and makes it cling more closely to the body - love and
understanding and joy expand the consciousness so that it may more
easily separate from the cells of the brain and body itself.
Death
should be a thing approached with quiet resignation and simple
expectancy, in the quiet hoping and remembering of ancient truths.
It is to us a sad and fearful thing that so many of earth’s children
cling to their body as it dissolves through disease and age, the
consciousness closes in and clings to the brain instead of opening
to the beauty of the eternal truths like a flower to the sunlight.
You may say unto me: “How and what is it that causes many to die
slowly and in fearful illness?” Beloveds, I would say that this is
a sorrow to us. The fear of separation of spirit and body is
largely because of wrong teaching and the lack of understanding
which has been implanted in the minds of people through ignorance.
But where
the laws of spirit are understood and rightly applied unto the
living of mortal life, where men and women use their body in wisdom
and understanding and maintain within the mortal mind the
realisation of immortal truths, then the body is lightly held by the
spirit. The body is maintained in harmony and kept in health by the
spirit until the term of earthly experience is ended and the soul
and spirit loosen the link with the heart and brain. Swiftly and
easily does such a one separate from the body through a fault in the
mechanism of the heart, and the soul moves swiftly into the realms
of light.
Question:
I would like to know the difference between the soul and the spirit.
Ramadahn:
I would say to you, Spirit is divine energy, the indestructible
divine manifestation: the soul is part of the spirit, it is the
inner ruler, the consciousness using the physical, emotional and
mental bodies which comprise the earthly personality. Beloved ones,
it should not be a sorrow or thing of mourning when your beloveds
die swiftly because the heart no longer holds the spirit. It should
be a matter of great joy, a thing for which you give praise to the
Master Creator of the days and nights.
Question:
What happens to those who die through accident, war or the hand of
other men and women?
Ramamdahn:
When this happens, fear closes in upon the consciousness and the
spirit is held within the near-earth region. But if they have been
made aware of the teaching to look for the light at the time of
death, look for the guide, for the region which is beyond earth,
then this recollection will begin to come forward as they realise
they are dying. They will begin to look away from the place of
terror, away from the horror which has held their awareness, and
slowly come toward the region of peace.
Many in
your earthly world today do not understand the laws of spirit and do
not study the truths which are within their own religions. Many men
and women live only for the things of the body so we behold many
spirits held close to the earth: confused and frightened and lost
they hover around their place of dying and seek to come back again
into familiar places. But let this teaching be made widely known
and then even those who die through tragedy shall find their way out
of the places of sorrow into the places of peace.
I would say
to you, beloved ones, You should always send forth your prayer of
light unto those whose plight is made known to you. When you hear
of one who has experienced murder, when you know men and women whose
bodies are destroyed through accident, when you know of those who
died in war, send out your prayer and light to them, saying: “Be at
peace, look for the Light, seek for one who will lead you out of
fear into truth.” Your thought sent forth in love and enlightenment
will reach these souls. Your speaking comes to them as the speaking
of a priest comes into the consciousness of those who hear his voice
upon their deathbeds. Those who have died without the speaking of a
priest and the reassurance which should come to them through their
religion, these can be reassured. They hear your thoughts and can
be guided by the prayers which go forth from your mind into the
region that surrounds your earth - they will be led out of their
darkness and confusion into light and harmony and order.
So
we come to the ceasing of our time together and I would say to you,
beloved ones, It is good to blend our thoughts in this way, to share
the pondering of the mind of one with the mind of the other. In
this there is an exchange of spiritual force which enriches and
enlarges the consciousness, each one develops just a slightly
greater degree of individuality than was there before. As you go
from this meeting, go forth with the knowledge that what has been
shared, what has been interblended, is something which you can
retain and will remain and enrich you in the weeks and months that
are still to come.
The
knowledge you have gained becomes a golden key within your hand, a
golden key which lies deep within your awareness; you may bring it
out in your conversation and use this key to unlock the door of
ignorance within the brain of your brothers and sisters. By love
you may sometimes unfasten a door, bring out a golden key and open
the inward sanctuary and look into the consciousness of the people
around you. As you look into the inward consciousness, softly and
with slow reverent hands take out the untrue and replace it with
truth. This need not mean a laborious process - but it is something
to be undertaken with reverence and love. As you meet people,
encourage them to bring forth their prejudices, and as you look upon
these give the opposite to them, give Truth. From within the inward
citadel of the soul draw out the darksome forces of ignorance, and
with a soft and gentle touch put in the things of light, the things
of truth and understanding. Thus do the doors of ignorance become
easier to unfasten and the gates of love become wide open to the
rays of truth.
I send you
forth clasping the soft and silent gloves of reverence in your
hands, that you may revitalise the thoughts of your brothers and
sisters and gently impart to them the healing of spirit, the
knowledge and love of spirit, the light of spirit, that men and
women everywhere may at last come in simplicity and joy to worship
and praise their relationship with their great Heavenly Father whom
you call your God. And in peace and harmony lie down to sleep
without fear, and rise up from sleep in joy to greet each coming day
in the knowledge that they are indeed spirits sojourning for a while
in the places of earth before they go on to other places of greater
experiences, greater knowledge and fuller fruition.
In this
thought and with this blessing, I sign and seal each one with the
sign and seal of spirit - the cross which is the symbol of man
incarnate in matter surrounded by the great golden circle of
ever-increasing light, ever-increasing knowledge, ever-increasing
love and ever-increasing joy.
Peace and
light and love be here, and remain with you for all the days that
are still to be.
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