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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity


 

Summerland

Does some, or all, plant life survive planet Earth and enjoy eternal existence in the next world?

Part II

 


 

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Channeled information from the other side, as reported in “Thy Son Liveth: Messages From A Soldier To His Mother” (1920); also the basis of the movie “Rumors Of Angels” (2002), with Vanessa Redgrave:

“Mother, it is not a new thought, but it is true that all forms of life are created dual. We have spoken of the human and spiritual only briefly, because I am crassly ignorant, even yet. But Nature is also two-sided; material and ethereal. Everything is duplicated, forest, stream, landscape.”

 

 

from "Letters From The Spirit World"

 

all life ascends 

I  wrote  to  you  in  "The  Discovered  Country"  that  the 
spirit  existing  within  all  things  which  have  life,  ascends  to 
this  life,  when  those  things  appear  to  die  or  decay  on 
earth;  and  this  is  true;  consequently,  we  have  everything 
here  that  you  do  there;  we  have  vast  forests,  plains, 
mountains,  rivers,  seas,  oceans,  vegetation  of  all  kinds,  an- 
imal and  insect  life  in  their  various  forms,  flowers,  shrub- 
bery, rivulets,  ponds;  nothing  at  all  is  left  out,  but  on  the 
contrary  much  is  added  that  you  have  never  seen,  for  we 
have  also  all  that  the  past  can  give. 

Now  it  has  been  said  on  earth,  and  we  have  heard  these 
sayings,  that  there  would  not  be  room  enough  within  the 
celestial  spheres  to  hold  all  these  things.  We  think  those 
who  can  say  this  must  entertain  very  cramped  notions  of 
eternity.  Do  such  minds  ever  stop  to  consider  that  eter- 
nity has  no  bounds  or  limits — that  it  is  forever  and  for- 
ever? ...

Eternity  is  filled  with  forms  of  all  kinds,  and  eternity 
has  no  beginning  or  ending  bounds  or  limits.  So,  when  I 
tell  you,  Carlyle,  that  our  home  is  situated  near  a  beauti- 
ful lake,  it  need  cause  you  no  surprise.  The  lake  bears 
the  same  correspondence  that  lakes  do  of  earth.  The 
ethereal  water  is  just  as  much  heavier  than  the  ethereal 
air  as  the  water  on  the  earth  is  denser  than  the  atmos- 
phere, and  within  the  waters  here,  glide  beautiful  fishes 
— the  spirits  of  those  that  have  died  on  earth,  and  it  is  the 
same  with  our  animals,  they  arise  up  more  and  more 
beautiful,  one  sphere  above  another,  but  nothing  propa- 
gates its  species  here.  All  propagation  is  on  the  mate- 
rial earths  and  the  earths  cannot  and  do  not  propagate 
more  than  the  celestial  worlds  need — moreover,  nothing- 
is  crowded  here  and  there  are  vast  areas  of  space — so  vast, 
indeed,  that  the  mind  of  man  cannot  even  conceive  of 
them — wherein  no  form  yet  exists. 

When  wild  animals  die  on  the  earth,  their  spirits  rise 
into  great  spiritual  forests  which  are  so  wild  and  gloomy 
that  human  spirits  seldom  or  never  visit  them;  when  great 
sea  monsters  die,  or  smaller  fish,  their  spirits  ascend  and 
find  homes  within  boundless  spiritual  oceans.  Your 
globe  of  earth,  that  seems  so  vast  to  you,  is  but  a  small 
speck,  or  like  a  grain  of  sand,  compared  to  eternity  and  its 
eternal  heavens.  It  is  simply  that  the  mind  of  man  can- 
not grasp  these  things. 

Forms  come  up  through  the  material,  not  that  they 
may  perish,  but  that  they  may  be  conserved  to  fill  eternity 
with  beauty  and  intelligence — not  only  the  intelligence  of 
mankind,  but  the  lesser  intelligence  of  beasts,  birds,  reptiles 
and  fishes — these  forms  to  nature  are  just  as  beautiful  as  is 
that  of  man.  Do  you  ever  stop  to  think,  my  dear  son, 
that  there  are  other  earths,  or  planets,  in  space,  whose  in- 
habitants are  so  much  beyond  the  men  of  earth  that  a 
man  to  them  would  appear  as  a  reptile  does  to  man  on 
earth.  Such  is  the  fact,  however;  but  the  dwellers  of 
those  planets  are  too  wise  altogether  to  say:  "Oh,  the  rep- 
tile man,  on  that  small,  insignificant  earth  cannot  be  im- 
mortal"— for  they  well  know  that  all  forms  whatever  are 
immortal  and  imperishable.  Why  the  forms  of  every- 
thing you  have  on  earth  are  contained  within  a  small  ethe-

real  germ — spiritual  germ — which  must  be  held  within  all 
earthly  seed,  whatever  its  kind,  and  each  after  its  kind — 
and  right  here  is  where  man  makes  a  fatal  mistake,  for  the 
spiritual  germs  of  everything  in  existence  or  that  ever  did 
or  ever  will  exist  are  forever  within  the  ethereal  atmos- 
phere, and  as  this  ether  penetrates  through  the  material 
atmosphere  the  flowers  of  all  vegetation  attract  and  hold, 
each  its  kind;  so  of  all  animals,  so  of  all  men... 

But  nothing  is  mean — nothing  is  insignificant — noth- 
ing can  ever  be [insignificant].  

We  are  not  the  makers  of  anything  that 
exists,  consequently  we  have  no  right  to  despise  anything 
whatever,  not  even  the  smallest  insect  or  worm.  Life 
does  not  originate  with  man;  he  simply  observes  it,  and 
the  nearer  he  approaches  [perfection]  the  less  he  feels  like 
despising  anything  that  exists  within  the  universe,  for  all 
is  God;  All  is  God! ...

Life  is  spirit  and  spirit  is  immortal  in  whatever  form  it  may  exist.  The  tiniest  blade  of  grass is  just  as  immortal  as  is  man.  No  form,  when  once  attained, is  ever  resolved  back  into  elementary  principles. Matter  falls  away  from  it  but  the  form  is  retained  forever-more.

plains, rivers, mountains

My original intention concerning the featuring of Franz Petersilia’s comment was to highlight the survival of plants. However, in this special focus, it seems that I might have blinded myself to a larger dynamic in play. Let’s look at his statement again:

I  wrote  to  you  in  "The  Discovered  Country"  that  the
spirit  existing  within  all  things  which  have  life,  ascends  to
this  life
,  when  those  things  appear  to  die  or  decay  on
earth;  and  this  is  true;  consequently,  we  have  everything
here  that  you  do  there;  we  have  vast  forests
plains,
mountains,  rivers,  seas,  oceansvegetation  of  all  kinds,  an-
imal and  insect  life  in  their  various  forms,  flowers,  shrub-
bery
, rivulets,  ponds;  nothing  at  all  is  left  out,  but  on  the
contrary  much  is  added  that  you  have  never  seen,  for  we
have  also  all  that  the  past  can  give.

 

I was not ready to accept the full impact of his assertions. That which contains the life-principle is more than animals and plants. Look at how he includes, plains, rivers, mountains, ponds, oceans – no natural form of our world is left out!

The reason for this, it would appear, is that the life-principle, Universal Consciousness, inhabits much more than animals and plants. See this statement by Leadbeater:

 

the secret life of a stone 

The Astral Plane: Its Scenery, Inhabitants, and Phenomena (1900), by C.W. Leadbeater:

“The ordinary objects of the physical world form the background to life on certain levels of the astral plane... For the sake of illustration take a rock as an example... When regarded with trained sight [of the advanced person in Summerland] it is no mere inert mass of stone… the vibrations of its physical particles are perceptible … also in constant motion … the universal life is seen to be circulating through it and radiating from it … an aura will be seen surrounding it.”

 

 

This is phenomenal, and much more than we knew things to be. It would mean that our favorite places on Earth – when they “decay” – are transferred to a Summerland nature-preserve.

This means, for me, that the lake beside my father’s old farm will one day exist in another realm.

 

Editor’s note: I was pleased to discover the above information on Christmas morning, as I approached age 73.

 

postscript: my most unusual experience

A very strange experience was given to me.

So much so that part of me wanted to forget about it. It’s so unusual that few would believe it. I myself can hardly accept the occurrence and wanted to repress the incident; in truth, the majority of my sensibilities still deny the event.

However, in the passage of time, I’ve realized that there may exist a duty to provide testimony; which now, finally, having reached agreement with myself, I will offer, but only briefly.

There was a young tree, like this one, about 12 feet in height.

On the previous page I stated that I’d been walking in a wooded area and had encountered a few young trees that had been vandalized.

On subsequent days, as I continued to walk by these trees, I witnessed that the purposeful injury had continued. “Why would somebody do this?” I asked myself.

Initially, concerning my “favorite tree”, the narrow trunk, about two feet from the ground, had been snapped, though still partially intact. The 10 foot length of the tree was now prostrate, lying on the forest floor. My disconsolation at this atrocity prompted me to take photographs of the carnage.

But, this caused me to think, could I create a splint, could it be propped up? maybe, if I could tape an artificial support securely enough, the tree might recover and grow normally. However, this seemed like a long shot, as the damage appeared to be too extensive and irreversible.

A few days later, as I continued to walk by these trees, to my dismay, I discovered that someone had completely severed the 10 foot length, leaving only the upright 2 foot narrow trunk – now, a lonely baluster standing sentinel; moreover, the 10 foot length was completely gone, nowhere to be seen. I did a quick search of the immediate area, thinking that it might have been tossed nearby, but no trace of it.

For many days, I would continue to pass by these trees on my walks. I should mention, too, that, because of the violence inflicted, with a certain sense of injustice weighing upon my spirit, as I passed them – four or five damaged trees -- I would briefly touch each one and, either mentally or with whisper, would offer a word of prayer or encouragement to them that they would one day, again, exude all of their verdant glory, in another world.

This went on for many days. But then it happened.

I was walking as usual and, indeed, looking forward to seeing my several “friends.” But, as I approached the place of residence for the 2 foot high sentinel, I exclaimed to myself – where is it??!! it’s gone!!

How can this be? Maybe I’m confused. Yes, I must be confused. Maybe it's farther up the path! But, no, I know this path too well now, and, anyway, I have photographs of the very spot, and there’s no doubt that my favorite tree had been in this very place!

Had someone snapped off the trunk at ground level? But the ground was smooth, no evidence of any uprooting. Further, a 2 inch layer of composting leaves covered the ground, on the very spot where the tree had been. I pushed aside this layer of leaves to see if I could find any indication of a tree’s root system. But, no, nothing, in fact, the composting leaves gave the impression of not having been disturbed for a long time.

This is not possible, I thought. I’d always heard that a tree’s root system is about as extensive below ground as the growth above ground. But even if the root system were somewhat less burgeoning, it would have to be some substantialness! That “2 foot baluster” was very sturdy in the ground, you couldn't move it, and one would have a heck of time taking it out, there would be much digging to dislodge this woody edifice.

None of this made sense to me. How can a 12 foot tree’s root system, which is not nothing, simply vanish? – and not only vanish, but with no trace or mark upon the ground that it had ever been there! No indentation on the earth!

You can’t just take out a root system, of a 12 foot tree, without having some sort of depression in the ground! But –there's nothing! The ground was flat, and not only that but with a layer of composing leaves suggesting lack of disturbance for some time.

Well, this bothered me a lot. And it’s sort of funny, as I’m the one who’s catalogued all sorts of unusual phenomena – but when it happened to me, I couldn’t really accept it!

I sent photos and commentary to several close friends to see what they’d think. No one could say much, but that some sort of spiritual event had taken place.

I contacted Sue Barnes for her opinion. She said it was unusual – that it was a kind of “apport” situation, but in reverse. It’s not so uncommon, in physical mediumship, for objects to appear, but this seemed to be a case of an object being removed.

Many months have gone by since all this took place. I no longer get out to walk much as I don’t feel that well. But, what’s my assessment now?

I still have trouble accepting that this really happened. There must be some other explanation, I’m sometimes tempted to think. But, in my studies of this area, I know that unusual things can occur in the presence of those who have physical-mediumistic abilities, even if the abilities are unknown to the agent facilitating the event.