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What do you say? Yes or no? Why? I hope you love music and good stories... Nobody knows, other than the body dissipates, one way or another.
The commentary...6.
Are the many Earthly Lives of Human Beings Predetermined by God?
When the Youngest had promised to let themselves be bound unto earthly bodies, had promised to live as human beings, God gave them a certain time, that they might prepare themselves for their difficult task.
In this time of preparation, God laid the plan and gave the laws for the life and being of mankind in the time to come.
Then God became the Keeper.
But God saw that dwellings were wanting for the future human spirits. And He resolved to fashion dwelling places for them.
By Thought and from the Light, God formed and created six spheres. And the first of these He laid about the ravaged Kingdom and the Earth, and the next He laid about the first.
And God created the spheres in such manner that they brightened, through numerous shadings, from shimmering dawn to clear and glorious light. And He created many dwellings in all of the spheres, that none of His future children should be without a home.
And God ordained that while embodied upon the Earth the human spirit should itself prepare for the next earthly life by the striving of the free will toward the Light — the good — and by the striving of the free will against Darkness — against evil.
And He ordained that the spirit, when upon death delivered from the earthly body, should be drawn unto that place, unto that dwelling it had itself prepared through its deeds; prepared with that purity, with that wisdom and love that the spirit had attained through the struggle and suffering of life upon the Earth.
And God ordained that the spirit, after each completed life upon Earth, might for a time abide in its dwelling, there to reflect upon the life just ended, to repent, to rest, to learn and to prepare for the coming journey.
Thus, through numerous lives on Earth, prepared by its own struggles and victories, should the human spirit rise slowly from the early dawn of its first dwelling, to the clear and glorious Light of the final dwelling in the final sphere. And there, the eldest of the Youngest, by you called Christ , should receive the human spirit, and in the name of the Father deliver it from the Earth, that it might journey further along brighter and more beautiful paths.
When God had fashioned and ordained all these things, He bade His Helpers to gather the shadows. And God’s Helpers gathered together all the shadows from the Earth and from the Kingdom ravaged by Darkness.
And behold, there was a mighty host, legions of legions!
And God bestowed upon each shadow a spark of His own radiant Being. And He took them all into His keeping, to a place He had prepared for them far from the Earth, that in peace they might abide there, until the divine radiance was become one with their bodies of shadow. And thus endowed with life could they once more be bound unto human bodies, to begin their journey toward the high goal.
Let people read the book "Toward the Light" and be inspired...VI
When God had promised His remorseful children to take their spiritually and bodily malformed creatures into His care, and when all the Youngest had promised to help lead them out of Darkness, He decided to create habitats and dwellings, both for the Youngest and for the spirits of human beings, where they could abide whenever they were not incarnated on Earth.
If the Youngest had permanently resided in God’s Kingdom during the time of their leadership of mankind, it would have become very difficult for them to subject themselves to the earthly order of time.
From the astral-material and the ethereal-astral Light — that generates the material forms in the transcendental world — God formed six habitats, or spheres, which together with the Kingdom created previously but ravaged by Darkness — i.e., „Hell“ — constituted seven worlds of astral Light that surrounded the Earth.
In order that all of them, the Youngest as well as the spirits of human beings, could have access to the Earth in the future without having to pass through the Darkness of the ravaged Kingdom, God opened a pathway through the habitat of the Eldest by the power of His Will. He extended this pathway through all the spheres to the outermost one and let it be pervaded by the Light. This provided a pathway, a Passage of Light, directly to the Earth, so that all of them could readily journey back and forth.
The transcendental dwelling places are as visible and material to spiritual beings as everything on Earth is to human beings. The higher the spirits advance in their struggle out of Darkness, the higher will be the ether-oscillations that produce the material from which these, their limited worlds, are formed. The farther the dwelling places are located from the Earth, the brighter, the more splendid, the more harmonious everything becomes, both dwellings and nature, e.g., seas, rivers, lakes, lands, flowers, etc. So long as the spirit stays in the sphere which it has reached by purification through its reincarnations — i.e., earthly rebirths — its body moves about in the same way as one moves about on Earth, i.e., by walking, running, etc. However, the movements of the released spirit are quicker and easier, just as the thoughts are more lucid and more precise than when the spirit is bound to the heavy earthly body that imposes so many restrictions upon it.
The means of transportation in the spheres are similar to those on Earth; however, they are all better, faster and more comfortable than those on Earth. All innovations and improvements that in the course of time have been brought to humanity have first been proved in the spheres, before they have become a reality on Earth.
If the Youngest do not wish to make use of the Passage of Light when communicating with inhabitants of the various spheres and of the Earth, they apply the energy of thought and will that lets the spiritual body be transported by the ether, which by virtue of the fourth dimension penetrates everything.
The fourth dimension cannot be explained in greater detail, since humanity as yet lacks the basis for an understanding of this concept.
The higher spheres are invisible to the inhabitants of the lower ones. The lower spheres are partly invisible to the inhabitants of the higher, and even the Youngest have only a moderately clear view of them, when, borne by the oscillations of the ether, they move from sphere to sphere, or from place to place within the various spheres.
The inhabitants of the lower spheres cannot on their own, either by thought and will or by the Passage of Light, ascend to worlds that are above their own sphere. They can descend only to the Earth or to the lower spheres that lie in between, and only through the Passage of Light. However, within their home sphere and the sphere of the Earth, they are able to move about by thought and will, but only to a limited extent. They are thus unable to penetrate strong concentrations of Light or ethereal Light-radiations.
God’s Servants and the Youngest can move about everywhere by the power of their thought and will, and therefore do not always make use of the Passage of Light. If they so desire, they can even make their way through the Earth’s numerous accumulations of Darkness.
In the course of time God has created a number of animal figures for the enjoyment of human beings, for example birds, horses, dogs, cats, etc., so that they should not miss the purely earthly surroundings too much. However, these animals are not astral counterparts of earthly animals, but thought-forms without everlasting life. When the spheres have served their purpose as temporary habitations for the spirits, these animal figures ᴐ: thought-images — creatures and objects — that are only temporarily contained in and by the Thought of God, can therefore have no eternal life and will disappear. By the Will of God they are then retracted into the substance from which He created them, they will dissolve and revert to their original state — the Light-ether. But so long as the spheres exist, human spirits will always be able to find reproductions there of the animals that they most cherished during life on Earth. And since God creates these animal figures to conform exactly to their earthly prototypes, everyone will be able to find his or her favourite horse, dog, cat, bird, and so on.
In several of the accounts that departed human beings have conveyed to their earthly connections about life in the spheres, it is often stressed that the animals are endowed with everlasting life. This refers to the aforementioned thought-forms. However, there is some justification for such erroneous information that is given by deceased relatives and friends, since even the more advanced human spirits find it difficult to realize that these animals, which are apparently as alive as they themselves are, have only been endowed with temporary life. In a few cases where such messages have apparently been given by higher spirits, this erroneous information about the eternal life of animals must be ascribed to the Elder, who implanted these false thoughts while the communicating spirit was in contact with a medium. This has occurred quite often and cannot really be held against the mediums, since the Elder would of course avail himself of every opportunity to falsify any information given by the spirits of the Light.
But these and other false assertions could have been rectified in time if the mediums or the séance leaders had always analysed the various passages of every message and demanded verification that all was in exact agreement with the truth; for where the truth was demanded in the name of God, the Elder would have had to yield.
Through the eldest of the Youngest, God gives a broad outline of the life of each human being on Earth and also determines its duration, all in agreement with that which can be allotted each individual on the basis of that person’s thoughts, actions and progress in the preceding incarnation, as well as all that has not been atoned for from previous earthly lives. Before entering upon a new incarnation the spirit receives a message specifying how the forthcoming earthly life shall be lived, what demands will be made upon it, and for which deeds it shall atone. Not until the spirit has closely considered what is to come, has understood why the new incarnation must take the exact form specified and has accepted what has been proposed, will it be incarnated in that place and in those surroundings that are best suited to that particular purpose.
But since everything must take place on a voluntary basis, and as the human spirits, especially the undeveloped ones, do not always immediately understand the purpose to be served by a new incarnation and therefore often refuse to undertake such a venture, they must remain in their dwellings with no possibility of further progress open to them until, after the elapse of a shorter or longer period of time, they come to acknowledge and comprehend the advantages that they will achieve through a further incarnation. Once this recognition is achieved they can continue the temporarily interrupted journey toward their Father’s Home.
However, it is not left entirely to human beings themselves to overcome all earthly difficulties. In order to render effective help, guardian spirits watch over them and try by influencing their thoughts = „stirring their conscience“ — to guide every human being into the ways of life given by God. But since human beings are endowed with a free will, in the same way as the Eldest and the Youngest, and since they very seldom pay full attention to the admonitions of their conscience, the incarnation often becomes a sad departure from the specified plan; and as human beings frequently take their own lives instead of awaiting the time and manner of death appointed by God, they very often create much needless suffering for themselves.
A human being who commits suicide while in a delirium (i.e., unpremeditated suicide) will be reincarnated immediately after an account of the earthly life just ended has been given. These immediate reincarnations, without time for rest and learning, are given by God partly as a continuation of the abruptly terminated life, and partly so that the individual can move beyond the spiritual sufferings recently endured on Earth. Even if the new incarnation should be of short duration, the spirit will be able to look back upon the mental or physical anguish of the previous earthly life with greater calm when it is again released. (Regarding premeditated suicide, see Speech of Christ).
A guardian spirit is normally in charge of many human beings, sometimes several hundred, and is in direct thought-communication with all of them. The older the human spirit, the clearer and the more emphatic does the voice of conscience sound to that human being. The younger the human spirit, the more closely does Darkness surround the human being, and the fainter and more uncertain does the voice of conscience sound. Many human beings often hear two voices that contradict each other, one of which constantly opposes the admonitions of the conscience to follow the ways of truth and of the Light. At the present time this argumentative voice is that of the human being’s own selfish and undeveloped spirit, giving its own opinions on the questions or situations under consideration; but clearly nothing is gained by overriding the conscience in order to yield to the human being’s own desire to sin and to commit evil deeds.
When the spirit at death is released once more from its earthly body, the guardian spirit brings it in a state resembling sleep to the sphere and the dwelling that it left upon its incarnation.
Upon awakening, the spirit must carefully consider the earthly life just ended, must review all thoughts and all actions — the evil as well as the good — and account for all the occasions when, as a human being, it was in disagreement with its conscience. God Himself poses the questions to which He requires more detailed answers by letting His voice sound to all spirits who have completed the rendering of their accounts.
God speaks through His Thought, and by His Will he transforms the vibrations produced by His Thoughts into waves of sound. God normally „speaks“ to thousands of spirits at a time; but each individual hears only the questions addressed to that spirit alone, and the words sound as though God spoke in the earthly language used in the spirit’s latest incarnation. When all questions have been answered in accordance with the truth, the spirit is given once more into the care of the guardian spirit for protection during the time of rest.
When the allotted time of rest is over the spirit is transferred to a better dwelling or to a higher sphere, if the spirit has become worthy of this through its life on Earth. If this is not the case it will remain in its former dwelling, for however much the human being has sinned, the spirit will never be relegated to a lower sphere or to a poorer dwelling. In the world of Light there is only progress or — for a time — standstill, but there is never retrogression.
After the time of rest, whether the spirit is transferred to another place or remains in its dwelling, it receives instruction in the special matters that will be of use during the next incarnation.
In all the spheres there are numerous institutions of learning, corresponding to the schools and universities of the Earth. All scientific and literary works that exist, or have existed, on Earth are available there, reproduced in the earthly languages, except for the most primitive ones. Each institution of learning has its own large libraries with appropriate reading and study halls. All public buildings, churches, assembly halls, universities, observatories, museums, etc., display great architectural beauty and are adorned with many works of sculpture. Many of these buildings have been designed and built by human spirits during their time of learning and thus were not created by God by the power of His Thought and Will, but were constructed from the materials of the spheres, similar to those on Earth (stone, wood, etc.).
From the moment God endowed the human souls with life, He created them in the likeness of His first children, two by two, man and woman, so that when they had completed all the stages of their journeying and reached God’s Kingdom, they would belong to each other for all eternity. Each retains his or her individuality, they are two — yet as one, since one will always be a reflection of the other .
Wherever possible, the human male and female duals accompany each other in their existence on Earth as man and wife, brother and sister or as other close relatives. But they do not always succeed in finding or understanding each other under earthly conditions.
Like God’s other children, each human spirit is endowed by Him with the characteristic of its spirit-body, but this is not seen in its full beauty until the goal — God’s Kingdom — is reached.
A description in broad outline is hereby given of the bodily appearance of the spirits.
The spirit-body, like the human body, consists of an outer form that encloses various internal organs. The outer form has the appearance of the most beautiful human body, many times idealized, but without sexual organs. (The female spirit-body is softer and more rounded than that of the male, but the actual difference in the outward appearance of the male and female cannot be explained, since human beings lack any basis for understanding this difference). The internal structure of the body bears only a remote resemblance to that of the earthly body. The physical digestive system consisting of the stomach, intestines, kidneys, etc., and all reproductive organs are non-existent, but the vascular and nervous systems are far more extensively and finely developed. By breathing in through the nose, the windpipe and lung-like organs, the body is supplied with the necessary ether currents, which then circulate through a finely and extensively ramified „vascular network“ and back to the respiratory organs, where the currents are renewed. The vascular system is a double one. The network of vessels leading from the organ on the right side terminates on the left side, and vice versa. There are no blood-carrying vessels. If a spirit of the Light stays in or passes through accumulations of Darkness, a sensation is experienced similar to that of a human being breathing air of low oxygen content.
The spirit-body has no bone structure, but is nevertheless entirely firm in its construction, since it is supported everywhere by a strong musculature.
Instead of the human brain, but in the same place, there is a nerve centre from which an extremely fine network of nerves spreads from the head along the back and through the entire body. All the nerve fibres lead back to the brain-centre through a lesser centre that corresponds most closely to the human heart and is situated at approximately the same place; here the nerve-ends converge and lead through two cords, one on either side of the neck, back to the point of origin ᴐ: the brain-centre.
Beings in the transcendental world need not take nourishment, if they do not wish to do so.
Nourishment, if taken, consists mainly of fruit, which is consumed in the natural state or prepared in various ways. This nourishment is taken by mouth (the tooth structure of which is similar to that of the human body), is distributed through a finely ramified tubular system to the entire body, and is then imperceptibly secreted through miniscule pores of the skin by interaction between the tubular and vascular systems of the body and the surrounding ether of Light or of Darkness. The pores of the skin are not unlike those of the human body’s pores for perspiration, but are much finer and are all connected directly with the tubular and vascular systems.
The spirit-body as it has been described here is alike for all spirits; but because the human spirit in the transcendental world is always an exact copy (see Commentary VII) of the human embodiment of its previous incarnation, the spirit-body also contains duplicates of all the organs, etc. of the human body. In the transcendental world everything human remains completely latent — rests in a state of dormancy. On the other hand, for as long as the spirit is incarnated the organs of the spirit-body are at rest, since these can be used only when the spirit is released. But the nervous system of the spirit-body functions at all times, although to a lesser degree during life on Earth.
When the spirit has completed all its incarnations and is released from life on Earth, God removes by the power of His Will all the rudimentary organs that stem from its human existence, and the spirit-body then appears exactly as God created it.
To learn more please go to other posts related to...
LIFE, EVERLASTING LIFE and ...THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
How nice. I agree except I say 'God' the way physicists do, and I regard Life as a lottery win, not a present, like it or not.JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 9:59 am Yes, I want to live forever.
- Why? Because I believe life is a precious gift from God.
- Where would I like to live forever? Right here on this our planet earth!
To learn more please go to other posts related to...
LIFE, EVERLASTING LIFE and ...THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
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