The soul’s contact with the body (bodies) is maintained through a twofold channel or thread. It is a literal bridge of light from the Soul to its mechanism. The first, called in Sanskrit the Sutratma is the life thread and is anchored in the heart center, one of the 7 major centers or Chakras found in the etheric or energetic counterpart of the physical body. The second is the anthakarana or consciousness thread which is anchored at the top of the head at the Crown center. It is sometimes referred to as the “Rainbow Bridge”. We know that we can be alive but unconscious, and this is a result of the temporary withdrawal of that contact. Meditation is the process by which the anthakarana is developed and strengthened and the conscious contact with the soul is increased, allowing it more influence in the “life” of the practitioner.
The withdrawal of the soul’s support is sometimes accompanied at the moment of death by the appearance of a blue spark coming out of the top of the head. This is one of the points of exit usually used when we are dealing with an advanced human being, because that is where the consciousness is centered, rather than in the solar plexus of the less developed individual. I shared a flight with a Registered Nurse, who by the way shared very little else in the way of beliefs or philosophy other than a fairly open mind. When I told her I did not believe in an anthropomorphic and interfering God she said “oh, I’m sorry”. I couldn’t help but feel the same for her. She told me she had seen this occurrence 7 times in her career.
At that moment of withdrawal the body is no longer subject to the cohesive and coordinating energy of the soul and begins to decompose. The etheric or energetic structure remains for a period of time and the life force of the cells themselves is still present. This is why an organ can be removed and used in another body. The cells are still alive and when placed under the influence of the other person’s soul, can begin functioning again along with the normal repair and rebuilding that replaces all of those cells over time. Keeping with the statement from Part I, over the course of 7-10 years this will no longer be foreign material but each and every cell will have been re-created under the influence of the dweller of the “new” body in which this organ now resides.
Cremation is a recommended practice in esoteric circles because it hastens the decomposition of the Physical and Etheric bodies, freeing the consciousness or soul more quickly to continue its journey.
The Soul now resides in the Astral or emotional body, but this too must be dropped when the time is right. Depending on the strength of the astral body and its attachments to the physical world, this can take a prolonged period of time. People have long reported having been “visited” by loved ones just after passing. This can be caused by strong astral or emotional ties between the two people.
In some cases of addiction or other irresistible drives toward material satisfaction the Soul may become “earthbound” and wander the astral plane searching for satisfaction it can never have without a physical body. This is a cause of possession, which is only recognized as such in the most dramatic cases but can occur without the person possessed realizing it, even after the fact. In an impaired state either due to intoxication or severe emotional distress the host is overcome by an entity seeking expression and loses control. The next day he may not know what came over him, but he knows that he was “not himself” the night before.
When the Astral vehicle is dropped the soul remains in the mental vehicle, a more refined and subtler body of the Manasic plane. Under certain conditions the astral shell may go on even though uninhabited. In some cases when a psychic is contacting a person who passed long ago, they are merely contacting a resilient thought form or astral shell and have not really contacted the being who had at one time occupied that shell.
Once the mental body is likewise abandoned the Soul now occupies the Causal Body on the upper levels of the Manasic Plane, which in Biblical texts is referred to as the Temple of Solomon. A temple “made without hands” or mortar or brick. It is here that it will process the experiences of physical form life and prepare for the next cycle on the Wheel of Life in a state known as “Devachan”.
When the soul has processed it’s “life”, and is ready to take in a new round of experiences, it begins a new cycle, endowed with the heightened capabilities and capacities it has gained through all of its experiences. The Soul, on its own level is the product of its experiences just like the man. It just has more of them. It brings these capabilities to its next incarnation without the memories of the specific experiences, just as we bring our entire childhood with very few specific memories to each situation we encounter as adults. You can see behavior in people sometimes and just know that it is the product of something that happened when that person was a child. He does not even remember the event, but its effects are obvious.
This is the basis of psychological evaluation. We even refer to the psychologist as an analyst. Unfortunately, Psychology which is the knowledge of the soul or psyche has devolved into a science of behavioral modification. Modifying the personality rather than understanding the soul. It’s like the new math; getting the answer without understanding the process. This can just bury problems deeper rather than solving them.
The soul re-enters the physical realm with specific goals and chooses the environment that will most likely allow for the needed growth and development as well as the payment of what is called karmic debt. St Gregory, in the third century AD said “It is absolutely necessary that the soul be healed and purified. If this does not take place during its life on earth it must be accomplished in future lives.” The problem is that it enters the world in a body that is, for all practical intents, useless. This new body or, in its totality, “personality” is then basically programmed by other personalities, our parents and teachers. We have to overcome this programming through self discovery as adults so that we can realize our purpose.
If you are reading this article it is an indication of your desire to discover your true self because it is a challenge to the programming that most of us have undergone to question those things that are presented as absolute, like the nature of life and death or the existence of heaven and hell. I hope what I have had to say here has been helpful in your quest. Next month we will address the process by which the soul creates and takes hold of its mechanism.
