Where Do We Go When We Die? (Part II)

Spirits who have written in automatic writings have detailed as best as they can how the spirit world is structured. Many have written that the spirit world has seven primary spheres, each with multiple levels. Similar to the human energy bodies each successive sphere vibrates at a higher frequency and contains greater degrees of knowledge and love. Spirits who have not attained a certain level’s vibration can’t travel up to that level without the accompaniment of one who has already achieved that level.

It’s not that they are not allowed, but that the energy and light are so brilliant that the spirit finds existence there to be unbearable. It’s all about where does the spirit find a natural level of comfort given its own vibration rate (similar to the The Law of Attraction). However, spirits can always move to lower spheres without any problems as they have higher vibrations than the lower spheres do.

Many near-death experiences (NDE’s) describe a long, dark tunnel leading to an intense, bright light. Once in the light, the individual commonly sees a loved one they recognize who telepathically tells them how much they’re loved, along with various aspects of their life. However, a common ending to NDE’s is the spirit telling the person that it’s not their time yet and they must return to the physical.

This typically upsets the individual as they find this new existence so much more ideal than Earth that they want to stay and have no desire to return. Occasionally, the spirit will give the person a choice if they want to stay or return to their family on earth, which creates an entirely new dilemma for the person near a transition. Only a few individuals (self-described “selfish materialists”) described having an NDE that sounded like a version of “hell.”

Interestingly, automatic writings never describe this “tunnel of light” that most NDE’s detail. One theory put forth is that this black tunnel leading to a bright light represents a method to insulate or block any view of the first or lowest-vibration sphere, which could potentially traumatize a person with higher vibration rates if they saw it. Instead of seeing the first sphere, a transitioning individual or person having an NDE would only see bright spheres. Conversely, there have been some NDE’rs (the “selfish materialists”) who have felt they directly entered the lowest sphere, without any protection of the tunnel at all.

The first sphere is typically considered a realm for less developed spirits who carry low vibrations (or in some cases malicious intent) and lack of love in their aura. Light is unable to penetrate this lowest vibration sphere, so it is typically dark. What’s important to understand about this region is the squalid conditions that exist are self-created due to a lack of love. Once the spirit learns to forgive themselves and love others (which may take a very long time), then they are in a position to be rescued by highly evolved spirits who take on the very special job of rescuing souls from their own torment and help them up to higher levels.

Emanuel Swedenborg described the first sphere (considered hell) below:

“In the spirit world, hell is a place, as well as a condition; and as a place, it has all the accompaniments that make it a reality to the spirits who inhabit it. The condition of the spirits who are in these hells is determined by their recollections worked upon by their consciences. There are, of course, no fires or brimstone lakes or devils with pitchforks adding to the sufferings of these spirits, but yet, there are certain conditions and appearances that are outside of the spirits themselves that cause their recollection to become more acute and to work in a manner to produce a greater degree of suffering”.

The second sphere is considered to be the sphere of familiarity, for it is the most similar to the earth in nearly all respects. This is where regular people start their spiritual journey—those who were not particularly spiritually minded and just did the best they knew how. The homes, streets, and trees will seem familiar, and friends and family are easy to find here. This sphere has trees, grass, animals, houses, rivers, oceans, and everything beautiful one could imagine on earth.

Arthur Findlay wrote of the second sphere:

“A surprise for some who have made their transition will be to see the stately buildings, comfortable houses, gardens, cities, pets, all sorts of games, sports, amusements; and the pleasures of science, art, music and literature, and to be able to continue those things that were of interest in the earth life.”

This is one of the reasons that spirits occasionally get confused and initially have trouble understanding that they have passed out of the physical.

The non-physical life carries far more brilliant aspects for every sense, while the earth appears far more muted in every respect. For example, rather than a sun up in the sky at a fixed point, spirits have described bright light coming from every object and every direction, as if every object was a sun and emitted light. There are no clouds or rain or weather and thus, it’s always bright. Because nothing decays, since everything is pure energy in the spirit world, everything lives eternally. This implies no dirt or dust or disintegration of any item.

Colors are similar to earth levels, except there are so many more hues that humans never have experienced on earth, that the diversity of color makes a dazzling array to the eyes. Furthermore, the colors aren’t just more vivid and come in a broader spectrum, but they create beautiful music and gorgeous sounds, the likes humans have never heard, based on the specific hue. Combined, the colors and sounds form a living, breathing entity throughout nature that comes alive.

Additionally, water shines and sends forth brilliant colors, which themselves sing special tunes based on the colors. The water is always the perfect temperature and always enables people to float, swim or boat wherever they want. Everything is alive with light, color and music, giving rise to the saying that spirits feel more alive in the spirit world than they ever did when they were alive on earth.

Spirit constructs buildings and homes for the sheer enjoyment of it, especially the architecture. If they want a feeling of a vast space with beauty and decorations, they might prefer to build and live in a mansion. Others are more comfortable to live in a small house similar to one they grew up in when they were a child. They might want to replicate their childhood bedroom exactly the way it looked when they were young. Should they want to change their home, then they build something new. Whatever the mind wants, the mind creates, for the power of thought is pervasive in the spirit world.

Helen Padgett described her home on the third sphere like this:

“Yes, my home is very beautiful and I am perfectly delighted with it. It is made of white marble and is surrounded by lawns and flowers and trees of various kinds. The grass is so very green and the flowers are so beautiful and variegated. The trees are always in foliage and have such beautiful limbs and leaves. I am most pleased with my home-I mean the building. There are many beautiful pictures on the walls, and the walls are all frescoed and hung with fine coverings. And the floors are inlaid with beautiful mosaics. I have all the splendid furniture that I could possibly wish for, and my library is full of books of all kinds-especially those that tell of God and His Love for man. You would be in your element if you could be with me."

I have music such as you never heard on earth, and instruments of various kinds which I am learning to play. And I sing with all my heart and soul as the days go by. I have beds on which I lie down, but I never sleep. We do not need sleep here; we only rest. For sometimes we get tired from our work, and are greatly refreshed by lying on the beds and couches which are so comfortable that we do not realize that we are tired after lying down a little while.

We eat fruit and nuts not because we are hungry, but more because we enjoy the flavors. They are like pears, grapes, oranges and pomegranates - of course not just the same, as you know them. We do not actually eat these things with our teeth and palate or use our intestinal organs, as you do, but we imbibe, as it were, the delicious flavors and aromas of the fruits; and, strange as it may seem, we are just as satisfied, and probably more so than when you eat these things with your physical organs.”

The most important takeaway from spirits’ descriptions is that in the spirit world, they create with their thoughts. This sounds like many of the great philosophers who have said that “Thoughts Become Things,” or as Buddha said, “All That We Are Is A Result Of What We Have Thought.” We in the physical should learn from spirit and better apply this truism, for it’s been shown countless times that our thoughts influence our reality.

The third sphere is the first sphere where the spirit resides as a result of a devotional path of progress, either as a result of a life on earth or since coming to the spirit realms. Starting with the third sphere, the vibration rates become substantially higher, while the focus or concern for material or earthly matters rapidly dissipates. The higher up the levels a spirit progresses, the greater the quality of spirituality and love he or she gains.

A spirit has three possible paths of progress up to higher levels in the spirit world. The first path is the Development of the Intellect. This is done by increasing one’s powers of thought and reason, such as science and medicine. Spirits progressing on this path use spheres two, four and six. The second path is the Purification of Human Love. This is accomplished through the expansion of one's good words and deeds, or The Golden Rule.

While spirits progressing on this path also use spheres two, four and six, they use different levels or planes on those spheres. The final path is the most spiritual, as it develops a relationship with God by acquiring God’s divine love. Spirits use spheres three, five and seven for this path as they progress. Few spirits have completed their spiritual progress to the seventh sphere, but those that have are well known, including Jesus and Buddha, and are also home to angelic beings.