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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

 

Editor's Essay:

A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Afterlife: 10 Things You Need to Know upon Arrival


 

 

return to "Afterlife" contents page

 

 

Editor’s prefatory comment:

On the Word Gems site one will find several thousand pages presenting and discussing, not just the “scientific evidence for the afterlife” but, an array of related topics.

For the assiduous student, there’s enough to investigate here to keep one immersed in research for several years. However, who has the time, or the energy, to closely survey all this? Probably not many. I know, for myself, in my 70s now, not infrequently I’ll mentally exclaim, “How did I ever write all this stuff? I couldn’t do it today. I’m glad I started nearly 30 years ago when I was ‘still alive’.”

Preparing for the next life, we might say, is our primary mission in this world, but maybe some reading this don’t have an extra 30 years to sort it all out. And so I thought it would be helpful if I offered a strict distillation, a compendium, of the most important items one needs to know for a successful transition to Summerland.

Most people, we learn, don’t get this right, set themselves back, and delay their happiness. But it can be different for you.

 

 

temporary dark detention

Of those transitioning to the next worlds, 75% will spend some time in a “shadowland” or dark detention. But don’t let this fact trouble you overmuch. If this happens to any one of us, take heart, we can leave the same day for better accommodations. If one finds oneself alone in a dark place, simply speak out loud and ask for help. A Spirit Guide will soon come offering guidance concerning necessary life-changes that need to be made. A willing and sincere heart is one’s passport to better climes. See more discussion on the “sensibility” and “dark realms” pages.

Editor's note: For newcomers to this subject, it should be stated that we, our own "higher" or "true" selves, send ourselves to detention. There is no "judging sky-god" involved in any of this.

many in Summerland are still worldly and materialistic in their thinking

There’s a lot to do in Summerland. It’s a virtual mecca of activities, entertainment, all sorts of pleasurable things to do. One could spend years going to concerts, walking on a beach, hiking in the mountains, traveling far and near, playing sports, sailing, visiting art galleries, learning gourmet cooking, horse-back riding, studying at universities, on and on. So, what’s the downside of this full-daytimer? While all this animation is very good, if non-stop recreation becomes an end in itself in Summerland, we will eventually face “existential crisis”. See more discussion in the “500 tape-recorded messages from the other side.”

be careful who you take advice from

Everyone you’ll meet in Summerland will be friendly and would be willing to help you. However, because the majority there are often not so spiritually mature and wise, they will tell you what they know, or think they know, which isn’t much, but it could embroil you in fruitless and even harmful endeavor. This caution must be extended, possibly, even to one’s closest relatives, and even to those who call themselves teachers or guides. This is a problem, and one will need to guard one’s sensibilities. As stated, everyone you meet their will be friendly, but, we would do well to recall the dictum of George Orwell (which always makes me smile):

 

organized religion does not rule in Summerland

Summerland is spiritually oriented, not religious in nature. There are no visible icons or trappings to remind one of the Earth’s ecclesiasticism. There are no churches, or the like, in Summerland - well, there are, but not in the good neighborhoods. There are “religious ghettos” where the “true faithful” still gather with ministers, priests, etc., but only until each believer, each in his or her own time, wakes up to the fact that this is not what God requires. Religion is something that one needs to “grow out of” in Summerland, and we’ll want to stay clear of it.

most earthly marriages are destined to break up

Many couples upon transition, still worldly in their thinking, continue to live as husband and wife. These unions, by and large, were forged for insubstantial reasons, never knew the true eternal love, and therefore virtually 100% of them will dissolve. See the article on "divorce."

the eternal mate will likely not be found in Summerland

The key element to discovering one’s eternal romantic Twin Soul has little to do with embarking upon a hunting expedition. Success here is a function of first finding oneself, one’s true self. Without this, one will have no “internal radar” to recognize the true mate when she comes. She may already be here, but, without “eyes in one’s head,” he’d never know it. Most Twin unions, not surprisingly, find reality in more advanced worlds beyond Summerland, where people are more mature.

beware of those who emphasize too much charitable service

We discussed this at length in the “500 tape-recorded messages from the other side” article. What’s wrong with good works? Nothing, of course, unless it devolves to meddling and, worse, a program of earning “merit badges” to prove that you’re better than the next guy. This is poisonous; but millions of friendly, smiling ones over there are caught up in this worldly one-up-manship way of thinking. God and the authentic Guides employ a laissez-faire management style with the consequences of one’s own actions as primary teacher, obviating the need for much of what passes for “help” and “service.” Go tend your rose garden or take a course at the university, and be happy.

there is no ostensible government policing us in Summerland, we are free to pursue our own development as we see fit

We can live easily and peacefully, without any requirement from some cultish Dear Leader deciding what’s best for us. We determine this. Each person will define happiness on an individual basis. On the Earth, various organizations attempt to make us feel bad if we do not measure up to their standards, but in Summerland we will live our own lives, on our own terms, led and motivated by a loving disposition.

whatever we do, wherever we go, whatever we become in Summerland, each person has one primary personal responsibility, as she or he stands before the “unknown” and “invisible” God

We were “made in the image”. We are, as they say, “sparks struck off from God.” We share God’s essence, Universal Consciousness. As such, we harbor a vast and unlimited human potential which, when unfolded, will reveal a panoply of abilities and powers presently unknown to us, but lying within us dormant. How do we bring this “hidden gold” to the surface of personality? This is a question and effort which will occupy the spiritual person for millions of years and unending ages to come. God packed more than we know into our deepest persons. Our primary responsibility before God is to uncover the “true self” and to make it operative in our lives. Much of the Word Gems site is devoted to this potentiality, but a good place to start is the “true self” page.

 

postscript

In the “500 tape-recorded messages from the other side” writing we met Elizabeth Fry, the grand and wise lady. She lives in a world a notch above Summerland, where the inhabitants have entered a better maturity.

Often, but not enough, I’ve presented a transcript of her testimony. See how her words impinge upon many of the items we discussed above:

Elizabeth Fry: “The first thing a person must learn here, if they are to progress, is to lose this idea of self-importance. Those who are really progressed never, never, give that impression, because it is not even in their nature to appear, or want to appear, important… Above all things, if you want to discover truth, avoid men of power and position.”

Elizabeth, from the afterlife, via Mr. Flint, frames her message around, offers a virtual statement against, those who desire to give an "impression" of being "really progressed." It's all they, "the insane 500," do in their preening and puffing.

"There is, in a sense, organization here [on the other side] -- there is a feeling that everything is in its place, but there is no conscious organization here… there is always the realization of greater possibilities… because nothing is static here, everything has the opportunity for change; and when a person begins to seek, begins to change in themselves, begins to desire things of a better order, so, automatically, gradually, they will find those things – it’s all a state of being, a state of mind. Every existence in which one might find himself is a state of mind, a state of awareness, a consciousness…
 
"There are no actual  leaders [here] as such – we have an organization which is so subtle and yet so natural – because, a person here, for instance, does not, in a sense, ‘give orders’; we have groups of souls who do special work – but we all realize, automatically, within ourselves, what our part is, what work we have to do; and we realize that we are all interwoven, one with another – I think it is [that] we are all very conscious of this oneness of spirit. Here, no one glories in being a leader – whereas in your world [in various organizations] you do get this sort of glorification of the individual [leader]; the first thing a person must learn here, if they are to progress, is to lose this idea of self-importance.
 
Editor's note: Glorying in being a great leader is all the "insane 500" do. And notice, in the next paragraph, the phrase, "those who are really progressed." She did not craft her words in this way without cause. Elizabeth is addressing a certain group who just love to tell you all about how progressed they are; it's all they do. She will go on to warn, "avoid" them and their "material perception of things."
 
"Those who are really progressed on this side never, never, give that impression -- because it is not even in their nature to appear, or want to appear, important. Everything that we talk about, everything that we do, is done in a complete love, in a complete harmony, one with another. No one wants to override another person; all of our influences for good are [done] in love; and therefore we don’t have, on this side, organization, as such. We don’t recognize leaders, in the sense that you do…
 
"Christ himself had no intention, no desire, to found any religious organization. This is completely, absolutely, a man-made thing - which over the centuries has misled mankind; and, indeed, I think it is pretty obvious, that if you analyze the whole of Christ’s teaching, you will find that he was the most humble of souls; that he had no desire to form any kind of an organization; he chose his disciples among the most ordinary of men; he did not try to dictate; he did not suggest, in the sense that some people assume that he dictated that they should do this or do that – he gave them, completely and absolutely, free will -- free will to choose the path that they should follow.
 
"I think that people will only recognize … what Christ really was, when they begin to discount a lot of untoward creeds and dogmas, tacked on over the centuries by men who desired power and position – I would say to you, above all things, if you want to discover truth, avoid men of power and position, because … [they desire] power and position because of their material perception of things - you cannot, surely, build a truly spiritual realization of God on something which is of a material conception – God is not found, in a sense, in buildings or places … God is found within one’s soul, within one’s inner consciousness.”