CHAPTER 13

AFTER-DEATH LIFE: PRINCIPLES

It cannot be too strongly insisted that it is not found that any sudden change takes place in man at death: on the contrary, he remains after death exactly what he was before, except that he no longer has a physical body. He has the same intellect, the same disposition, the same virtues and vices; the loss of the physical body no more makes him a different man than would the removal of an overcoat. Moreover,the conditions in which he finds himself are those which his own thoughts and desires have already created for him. There is no reward or punishment from outside, but only the actual result of what he has himself done, and said, and thought, while living in the physical world.

As we proceed with our description of the astral life after death, it will be recognised that the true facts correspond with considerable accuracy with the Catholic conception of purgatory, and the Hades or underworld of the Greeks.

The poetic idea of death as a universal leveller is a mere absurdity born of ignorance, for, as a matter of fact, in the vast majority of cases, the loss of the physical body makes no difference whatever in the character or intellect of the person, and there are therefore as many different varieties of intelligence among the so-called dead as among the living.

This is the first and the most prominent fact to appreciate: that after death there is no strange new life, but a continuation, under certain changed conditions, of the present physical plane life.

So much is this the case that when a man first arrives on the astral plane after physical death he by no means always knows that he is dead: and even when [Page 113] he does realise what has happened to him he does not always at first understand how the astral world differs from the physical.

In some cases people consider the very fact that they are still conscious, an absolute proof that they have not died: and this in spite of the much-vaunted belief in the immortality of the soul.

If a man has never heard of astral plane life before, he is likely to be more or less disturbed by the totally unexpected conditions in which he finds himself. Finally, he accepts these conditions, which he does not understand, thinking them necessary and inevitable.

Looking out upon the new worlds, at the first glance he would probably see very little difference, and he would suppose himself to be looking upon the same world as before. As we have seen, each degree of astral matter is attracted by the corresponding degree of physical matter. If, therefore, we imagined the physical world to be struck out of existence, without any other change being made, we should still have a perfect replicate of it in astral matter. Consequently a man on the astral plane would still see the walls, furniture, people, etc., to which he was accustomed, outlined as clearly as ever by the densest type of astral matter. If, however, he examined such objects closely he would perceive that all the particles were visibly in rapid motion, instead of only invisibly as on the physical plane. But, as few men observe closely, a man who dies often does not know at first that any change has come over him. Thus many, especially in Western countries, find it difficult to believe that they are dead, simply because they still see, hear, feel and think. Realisation of what has happened will probably dawn gradually, as the man discovers that though he can see his friends he cannot always communicate with them. Sometimes he speaks to them, and they do not seem to hear: he tries to touch them, and finds that he can make no impression upon them. Even then, for some time he may persuade himself that he is dreaming, for at other times, when his friends are [Page 114] asleep, they are perfectly conscious of him and talk with him as of old.

By degrees the man begins to realise the differences between his present life and that which he lived in the physical world. For example, he soon finds that for him all pain and fatigue have passed away. He also finds that in the astral world desires and thoughts express themselves in visible forms, though these are composed mostly of the finer matter of the plane. As his life proceeds, these become m ore and more prominent.

Moreover, though a man on the astral plane cannot usually see the physical bodies of his friends, yet he can and does see the physical bodies of his friends, and consequently knows their feelings and emotions. He will not necessarily be able to follow in detail the events of their physical life: but he would at once be aware of such feelings as love or hate, jealousy or envy, as these would be expressed through the astral bodies of his friends.

Thus, although the living often suppose themselves to have "lost" the dead, the dead are never for a moment under the impression that they have lost the living.

A man, in fact, living in his astral body after death is more readily and deeply influenced by the feelings of his friends in the physical world than when he was on earth, because he has no physical body to deaden his perceptions.

A man on the astral plane does not usually see the whole astral counterpart of an object, but the portion of it which belongs to the particular sub-plane upon which he is at the time.

Moreover, a man by no means always recognises with any certainty the astral counterpart of a physical body even when he sees it. He usually requires considerable experience before he can clearly identify objects, and any attempt that he makes to deal with them is liable to be vague and uncertain. Examples of this are often seen in haunted houses, where [Page 115] stone-throwing, or vague, clumsy movements of physical matter take place.

Frequently, not realising that he is free from the necessity to work for a living, to eat, sleep, etc., a man after death may continue to prepare and consume meals, created entirely by his imagination, or even to build for himself a house in which to live. A case is recorded of a man who built for himself a house, stone by stone, each stone being separately created by his own thought. He might, of course, with the same amount of effort have created the whole house at once. He was eventually led to see, that as the stones had no weight, the conditions were different from those obtaining in physical life, and so he was induced to investigate further.

Similarly, a man new to the conditions of astral life may continue to enter and depart from a room by a door or window, not realising that he can pass through the wall just as easily. For the same reason he may walk upon the earth when he might just as well float through the air.

A man who has already during earth life acquainted himself, by reading or otherwise,with the general conditions of astral life, naturally finds himself after death on ground more or less familiar, and consequently he should not be at a loss to know what to do with himself.

Even an intelligent appreciation of occult teaching on this subject, as experience has shown, is of enormous advantage to a man after death, while it is a considerable advantage for a man merely to have heard of the conditions of astral life, even though he may have regarded such teachings as one of many hypotheses, and may not have followed them up further. In the case of others, not so fortunately situated as to their knowledge of the astral world, their best plan is to take stock of their position, endeavour to see the nature of the life before them, and how they can make the best use of it. In addition, they would do well to consult some experienced friend. [Page 116]

The condition of life referred to above constitute Kâmaloka, literally the place or world of Kâma or desire: the Limbus of scholastic theology. In general terms Kâmaloka is a region peopled by intelligent and semi-intelligent entities. It is crowd ed with many types and forms of living things, as diverse from each other as a blade of grass is different from a tiger, a tiger is different from a man, there being of course, many other entities living there besides deceased human beings (See Chapters 19 to 21). It interpenetrates the physical world, and is interpenetrated by it, but, as the states of matter in the two worlds differ, they co-exist without the entities of either world being conscious of those of the other. Only under abnormal circumstances can consciousness of each other's presence arise among the inhabitants of the two worlds.

Kâmaloka is thus not divided off as a distinct locality, but is separated off from the rest of the astral plane by the conditions of consciousness of the entities who belong to it, these entities being human beings, who have shaken off the dense and etheric bodies, but who have not yet disentangled themselves from Kâma, i.e., the passional and emotional nature. This state is also called Pretaloka, a preta being a human being who has lost his physical body, but is still encumbered with the vesture of his animal nature.

The Kâmalokic condition is found on each sub-division of the astral plane.

Many who die are at first in a condition of considerable uneasiness, and others of positive terror. When they encounter the thought-forms which they and their kind have for centuries been making - thoughts of a personal devil, an angry and cruel deity, and eternal punishment - they are often reduced to a pitiable state of fear, and may spend long periods of acute mental suffering before they can free themselves from the fatal influence of such foolish and utterly false conceptions.

It ought, however, in fairness to be mentioned that [Page 117] it is only among what are called Protestant communities that this terrible evil assumes its most aggravated form. The great Roman Catholic Church, with its doctrine of purgatory, approaches much more nearly to a true conception of the astral plane, and its devout members, at any rate, realise that the state in which they find themselves shortly after death is merely a temporary one, and it is their business to endeavour to raise themselves out of it as soon as may be by intense spiritual aspiration, while they accept any suffering which may come to them as necessary for the wearing away of the imperfections in their character, before they can pass to higher and brighter spheres.

Thus we see that although men should have been taught by their religion what to expect, and how to live on the astral plane, in most cases this has not been done. Consequently a good deal of explanation is needed regarding the new world in which they find themselves. But, after death, exactly as before it, there are few who attain to an intelligent appreciation of the fact of evolution and who, by understanding something of their position, know how to make the best of it. Today, large numbers of people, both "living" and "dead", are engaged in looking after and helping those who have died in ignorance of the real nature of the after-death life (vide Chapter 28 on Invisible Helpers). Unfortunately, however, on the astral plane, as on the physical, the ignorant are rarely ready to profit by the advice or example of the wise.

To a man who has, before he dies physically, already acquainted himself with the real conditions of life on the astral plane, one of the most pleasant characteristics of that life is its restfulness and complete freedom from those imperious necessities, such as eating and drinking, which burden physical life. On the astral plane a man is really free, free to do whatever he likes, and to spend his time as he chooses.

As already indicated, a man who has died physically, is steadily withdrawing into himself. The whole cycle [Page 118] of life and death may be likened to an ellipse, of which only the lowest portion passes into the physical world. During the first portion of the cycle, the ego is putting himself forth into matter: the central point of the curve should be a middle point in physical life,when the force of the ego has expended its outward rush and turns to begin the long process of withdrawal.

Thus each physical incarnation may be regarded as a putting of the ego, whose habitat is the higher part of the mental plane, outwards into the lower planes. The ego puts the soul out, as though it were an investment, and expects his investment to draw back added experience, which will have developed new qualities within him.

The portion of the life after death spent on the astral plane is therefore definitely in the period of withdrawal back towards the ego. During the latter part of the physical life the man's thoughts and interests should be less and less directed towards merely physical matters: similarly, during the astral life, he should pay less and less attention to the lower astral matter, out of which counterparts of physical objects are composed, and occupy himself with the higher matter, out of which desire - and thought-forms are made. It is not so much that he has changed his location in space (though this is partially true, See Chapter 14), as that he has moved the centre of his interest. Hence the counterpart of the physical world which he has left gradually fades from his view, and his life becomes more and more a life in the world of thought. His desires and emotions still persist, and consequently, owing to the readiness with which astral matter obeys his desires and thoughts, the forms surrounding him will be very largely the expression of his own feelings, the nature of which mainly determines whether his life is one of happiness or of discomfort.

Although we are not in this book dealing with that portion of the life after death which is spent in the "heaven-world", i.e., on the mental plane, nevertheless, in order to understand fully what is happening to the [Page 119] astral body on the astral plane, it is desirable to bear in mind that the astral life is largely an intermediate stage in the whole cycle of life and death, a preparation for the life on the mental plane.

As we have seen, soon after physical death, the astral body is set free: expressed from the point of view consciousness, Kâma-Manas is set free. From this, that portion of lower-manas, which is not inextricably entangled with Kâma, gradually frees itself, taking with it such of its experience as fit for assimilation by the higher mental body.

Meanwhile, that portion of the lower manas which still remains entangled with Kâma, gives to the astral body a somewhat confused consciousness, a broken memory of the events of the life just closed. If the emotions and passions were strong, and the mental element weak, then the astral body will be strongly energised, and will persist for a considerable time on the astral plane, It will also show a considerable amount of consciousness, due to the mental matter entangled with it. If, on the other hand, the earth life just closed was characterised by mentality and purity rather than by passion, the astral body will be poorly poorly energised, will be but a pale simulacrum of the man, and will disintegrate and perish comparatively rapidly. [Page 120]