Before venturing into the subject of talking to the dead, we need to identify a number of related concepts so that we are on the same page. The entire subject of talking to the dead presupposes the existence of a spirit (or soul or astral body) that survives the death of a physical body. This article is constructed on that basis.
Out of Body Experiences (OBE)
Many people have, under various circumstances, claimed to have left the physical body and floated above it. Some have even claimed to have travelled to other places. Most of the time, when they return to consciousness and recount their experience, they are not believed. This is simply because these events cannot be proven by observation, one of the primary requirements of scientific evidence. Observation is impossible because these events are happening in a non physical realm that we have no access to.
Near Death Experiences (NDE)
A special case of OBE is a Near Death Experience. Persons who are mortally ill to the point where the devices monitoring the body functions report that the person has died and then later show that the person's body functions have resumed, are deemed to have had a near death episode. Some of them report what they experienced during that period. Believers accept their report as evidence of there being a heavenly place where the deceased can meet guiding spirits or even people who have passed away before them. Again, we have no means of verifying that experience.
Verifiable cases of NDE/OBE
Pam Reynolds Lowery (1991) - Needed surgery to remove a large aneurysm in her brain. Her eyes were closed with tape and small ear plugs with speakers were placed in her ears. These speakers emitted audible clicks which were used to check the function of the brain stem to ensure that she had a flat EEG. Her body temperature was lowered to 50 °F (10 °C), her breathing and heartbeat stopped, and the blood drained from her head. She was brain dead during the surgery and physically could not have seen or heard anything. The total surgery lasted about seven hours with a few complications along the way.
Reynolds reported that during the operation she heard a sound that seemed to pull her out of her body and allowed her to "float" above the operating room and watch the doctors perform the operation. She reported seeing the surgical "saw" but said it looked like an electric toothbrush. She said she could hear conversations between operating room staff.
At some point during the operation, she noticed a presence and was pulled towards a light, where she began to discern deceased relatives and people unknown to her. At some point she was reminded that she had to go back. She says her uncle brought her back to her body.
The University of Virgina Forum on Life After Death offers rich scientific evidence.
Talking to the dead
There are mediums who claim the ability to talk to those who have already passed to the other side. Without a doubt, there are many charlatans exploiting the gullibility of those desperate to communicate with their dearly departed. But there are also some remarkable cases where alternate explanations cannot be found.
Tyler Henry is current and truly remarkable. He has a live show, of which recorded segments are now available on Netflix, where he meets people without any pre-preparation and appears to connect with spirits wanting to communicate with those present. He is able to tell his guests intimate details shared with him, purportedly by the departed souls, which only they could have known. If anyone has doubts about the authenticity of his show, go to Tyler's page and sign up for a reading. You never know where it can take you.
I could look up other credible mediums but I don't think it is necessary. This is a case where we only need a single positive instance to prove that the process is possible.
Talking to dead animals
This segment begins with the reply to a question on Quora: "Do animals have a spirit and an afterlife?". Richard Martini starts his response with the following startling statement:
Based on the research, the footage, the conversations filmed with people having conversations with their animals (tame and wild) offstage, they’re no different than we are in terms of the incarnation process… however, as I’ve heard from more than one animal offstage; “they understand how incarnation works and humans do not.”
Richard Martini is a renowned author and moviemaker. His odyssey into the afterlife began with the passing of his actress friend Luana Anders. After her passing, she began appearing in Richard’s dreams and later, more vividly, in his waking life. When he realised that this was not a figment of his imagination, he dived into investigating the afterlife.
Richard worked with Dr. Michael Newton to use hypnotic regression in exploring past lives and the afterlife. His sessions revealed astonishing details about the continuity of the soul. Richard’s work provides a window into these otherworldly experiences. He emphasizes, “We are all just actors on a stage, and the real learning happens when we step off the stage and reflect on our performance.” This lines up perfectly with the vedic view of the hereafter which I have explored in some detail here. Souls incarnate in physical bodies to resolve karmic attachments. Upon death, they leave the body and examine how well they had fulfilled the purpose of that lifetime. That learning guides them towards the next incarnation.If we bring in the "forbidden fruit" element of the Abrahamic religions which I mentioned in the Blog Post that led to this Page, it seems to me that the forbidden fruit could in fact be the superior intellect which the human species elected to take on. By so doing, they were banished from Paradise. As anyone striving to meditate can attest, it is the intellect which isolates the human mind from the soul's awareness within. Thus, we are born with a blank mind, ignorant and helpless and have to learn how to navigate the world. As children, we are somewhat sensitive to our inner voices but generally lose that ability as we immerse in the belief that the physical world is the real world.
The other beings in our physical world, still enjoying the privilege of Paradise, remain aware even as they take on animal bodies. They are born more aware and quickly become capable of independent action. Their bodies may be lacking human intellect and speech, but their ability to cope with the physical world is both sufficient and well harmonised. Their awareness, as Richard Martini pointed out, understands incarnation where humans remain clueless. The other beings have demonstrated a far superior connectedness to the world than humans are capable of. They can detect the imminence of disasters and take preemptive action. Some have even warned humans or prevented them from entering danger areas. Humans are mastering the ability to understand and manipulate the material world but know so little about their inner realm. In the words of George Harrison, humans have "gained the world and lost their soul".
It occurs to me that human souls, with repeated immersion in human bodies, may begin to believe that the physical human experience is the reality and, upon death, remain confused and seek to reconnect with the physical world instead of moving along in the spiritual realm. Religious/spiritual training would condition their thinking and cloud their awareness. That is why they need guidance when they leave this world.
The old religions speak of spirit guides which often take the form of animals. People who are psychically sensitive can develop a relationship with a spirit guide and gain a better ability to navigate this world in harmony with the unseen realm. There is so much that we don't know and that we have blindly cast aside as superstitious nonsense.
But skepticism continues to burden us. For instance, most of the cases reported by Martini are anecdotal. It is very difficult to conduct double blind tests because of the difficulty in arranging identical parallel sessions. The most verifiable report involves a New York hypnotherapist who sought relief from water related anxiety. Under deep hypnosis, she accessed a past life memory of drowning. She was able to provide specific details about dates, location and context which were later verified independently. In that session, she also encountered a figure who identified as her father who had saved her from drowning in her childhood. The recurrence of such traumatic events in subsequent lifetimes is in keeping with the need to resolve specific karmic entanglements.
Conclusion
Locked as we are in this physical body with no natural access to the world of spirits, it is difficult to believe or understand any of this. But if we are willing to set aside skepticism and disbelief, the ideas presented in this article hold together quite coherently. If we accept as reality the idea that our real selves are our astral bodies and that these human bodies we wear are merely temporary shells, it is easier to visualise the picture painted above.
By all means, remain skeptical, ask questions, dig for your own answers. But don't reject anything just because you don't understand it. Remain open to new possibilities and be willing to learn. You owe yourself that much.
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