The Afterlife
Communication from earthlings Agree: 15 
Disagree: 0
118
The biggest influence the past loved ones on earth have upon spirits who are crossed over occurs when those that remain on earth hold on with such grief and to such a degree that it does not allow the person on earth to move forward and it keeps the spirit on the other side too earthbound to move forward in their life as well--into their new spirit life.
Question 936. What effect does uncontrollable grief of surviving relatives have on newly departed spirits? Answer: Spirits are touched by the sustained memory and deep regret of their loved ones. However, persistent and excessive grief causes them considerable distress. They see in it a lack of faith in the future and confidence in God. The survivors' grief could even prevent the departed spirit from a peaceful adaptation to its new reality.
— The Spirits Book: Modern English Edition, Allan Kardec
pg. 348, 2003
The spirit world disapproves of mourning in every shape and form. Genuine, heartfelt sorrow is a human emotion that none of us is secure from, but so much mourning is spurious. Here we can see just what is taking place in the minds of the mourners. Mourning as a rule is utterly selfish, because people are not sorry for the soul who has passed on except in so far as it is thought that he is now infinitely worse off 'dead'. The great majority of people are sorry for themselves at the physical separation, not happy and glad that their friend has gone to a greater, grander, more beautiful life. Of course, I am now speaking of those who are destined for the realms of light. With those whose destination here is in the realms of darkness we are not treating at the moment. Even where the sorrow is perfectly genuine and inspired by true affection, every effort should be made to curb it. The soul newly arrived in spirit lands will feel the determined drag of the thoughts of those who are left behind, unless those thoughts are constructive thoughts for the present and future well-being of the friend who has gone. Thoughts of the wrong kind will draw the soul back like a magnet and prevent it from making a steady and natural transition into its proper sphere. It is no exaggeration to say that it would be immeasurably better, things being what they are upon earth, if mourners on earth were to pass into a complete state of physical insensibility for some days after the passing of a friend into the spirit world. There would then be no danger of the thoughts of others circumscribing the actions of the newly-departed soul. (from channeled spirit of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson)
— Here and Hereafter, Anthony Borgia
pg. Chapt1, 1968
The spirit body may take some days of your time before it becomes completely separated from the earthly body, and it may be hindered very much by the combined thoughts of the sorrowers who are participants in the dismal rites. Instead of departing from the earthly sphere, the discarnate one will be attracted to the scene of obsequial activities, and more than likely will be saddened himself by what he is witnessing and by the sorrow of those he has left behind. He will feel a heavy weight within him of the separation that has come about, and perhaps being ignorant of what has befallen him, he will be doubly distressed, and even trebly distressed by the fact that he speaks to his friends but they cannot hear him. And how great a difference a little knowledge would make! (from channeled spirit of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson)
— Here and Hereafter, Anthony Borgia
pg. Chapt1, 1968
Let the prayers be addressed to the Father of us all, that help may be sent to the soul who has passed on, and that the Father will also aid those who are offering their ministrations to the newly-arrived one. We need divine assistance in our work just as do you upon earth, and often are our powers taxed to their utmost when we come to aid those who are making their advent into spirit lands as permanent residents. Long recitations from the psalmists, however beautiful may be their theme, are perfectly useless to us and to the newcomer we are helping. They produce no effect whatever upon the endeavors we are making. A short prayer, efficiently directed, asking for help, will bring an instantaneous answer. That response will be invisible to you on earth, but to us here it means a downpouring of light and power that we most need for the case in hand. Pray that the soul may soon receive the light of understanding of the new situation in which he finds himself, if he is entirely ignorant of spirit truths, and that he may be happy and contented in the life upon which he has just embarked. (from channeled spirit of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson)
— Here and Hereafter, Anthony Borgia
pg. Chapt1, 1968
From the fact that a mourner is spending time at the grave, indulging in melancholy thoughts of the soul who has passed on, and contemplating that a few feet of earth are now separating them, and so on, you will infer, in such a case, that the mourner has no acquaintance with spirit truths, or else he would never think that the departed one really lies there himself. We in the spirit world know that a soul who gradually yields to such melancholy importunities of thought as are being sent out from the earth, knows very little of spirit truths. And being in such case, when a soul returns to the earth and stands in the presence of the mourner and tries to talk to and comfort the one who is left behind, he becomes acutely disturbed in mind when he discovers that his voice cannot be heard on the earth. His words are falling unheeded upon the air. The thoughts of sorrow and despair pass and re-pass in a constant stream until at last both persons become exhausted with the emotional strain. The mourner will eventually leave the graveside, the newly-arrived spirit will return whence he came, and both are filled with inconsolable sadness. The whole performance has done no good whatever on the contrary, it has had a very bad effect upon both parties. And what is still worse, the episode will be repeated and repeated until we on our side can instil some reason into our distracted friend, and show him the futility of the proceedings. Better counsels will eventually prevail, and the visitations to the resting place of the physical body will cease. In the meantime, the soul has passed through a period of untold misery that could have been avoided if only those who were left behind upon earth had possessed themselves of the necessary knowledge of spirit truths. (from channeled spirit of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson)
— Here and Hereafter, Anthony Borgia
pg. Chapt1, 1968
From the moment of passing until the physical body is finally committed to the earth, and frequently for some time afterwards, the thoughts of the mourners are concentrated in sorrow upon the departed one. The various performances that comprise the 'last rites' add force to this sorrow, enhance it, and give it greater directive power. Where this feeling of sorrow is genuine it will unfailingly reach the recently departed soul. (from channeled spirit of Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson)
— Here and Hereafter, Anthony Borgia
pg. Chapt1, 1968
A constant feature of the experiences described in natural death is the fact that the person concerned was 'met', aided and welcomed by friends and relatives who had 'gone before'. Many insisted that the act of dying involved no pain, and said they saw the Physical Body lying on the bed, reminding them of a discarded garment. Everything was so natural that the fact of transition was often unrealized at first. They found they could not be seen or heard by (non-psychic) friends still in the flesh. Meanwhile any undue grief on the part of the latter enveloped the newly-dead in gloom and despondency.
— The Supreme Adventure: Analyses of Psychic Communications, Robert Crookall
pg. 17, 1974
The following are typical statements by those whose death was enforced. (1) "I awoke from a deep sleep. Bewildered, I got to my feet, and, looking down, saw my body among many others on the ground. I remembered the battle, but did not realize I had been shot. I was apart from, yet I still seemed held in some way to the body. My condition was one of terrible unrest; how was it that I was alive and had a body and was not yet apart from the covering I had thought constituted my body? I looked about. Others of the seeming dead moved. Then many of them stood up and, like me, seemed to emerge from their Physical Bodies, for their forms still lay upon the field. Soon I found myself among thousands in a similar mental state: none knew just what had happened. I did not know then, as I know now, that I always possessed a Spirit Body and that the Physical Body was only the garment it wore in earth-life. While the passing-out from this old body is without pain, it is a terrible thing to drive a strong spirit from a healthy body, to tear it from its covering. It is unnatural, and the sensation following re-adjustment is awful. In a short time I became easier, but I was still bewildered. It was neither night nor day; about us all was gloom. Something like an atmosphere, dark and red, enveloped us all. We seemed to hear one another think. Soon there was a ray of light that grew brighter each moment and then a great concourse of men with kindly faces came and, with comforting words, told us not to fear-that we had made the great change, that the war for us was over...I will not tell you of the sorrow that came with such realization, sorrow for wife. Her great grief, when she learned what had happened, bound me to her condition. We sorrowed together. I could not progress, or find happiness, until time had healed her sorrow. (Edward C. Randall, Frontiers of the After Life, 1922)
— The Supreme Adventure: Analyses of Psychic Communications, Robert Crookall
pg. 22-23, 1974
"We are extra-sensitive to the thoughts of those on earth, especially in the early days when our minds hover between the earth and the new land...In that between condition we need...constructive, helpful, loving thoughts. (Lady Barrett, Personality Survives Death, 1937)
— The Supreme Adventure: Analyses of Psychic Communications, Robert Crookall
pg. 23, 1974
I went out suddenly, in full strength, consequently it did not take long for me to awaken...The shock was terrible...I was at home in my father's house as much as ever I was. I heard every word uttered, saw the sadness, and, as it were, lived it. I could not make myself known. (Dr. Hereward Carrington, Psychical Phenomena and the War, 1918, p 23)
— The Supreme Adventure: Analyses of Psychic Communications, Robert Crookall
pg. 27, 1974
[Denise to her friend Kelly] "Your mother is here, but first before we speak with her there is
someone else here too. I cannot get around him so I would like to try and identify him and
bring him through first...He is very insistent. He is a young man and good looking from
what I can tell, with dark hair and my guess looks to be around twenty-two or twenty-four.
He is just very clear to me...it is almost like I am looking at him through static, like a TV
screen. He is very upset and is telling me he was shot. Do you know who this is? He is still
earthbound and has not crossed over yet like your mom has, he is here, standing right
there...I feel like he has not been passed long, maybe a few weeks...He says his name is
Walt...Walter?" [Neither could remember who he was]. He then vanished and I was able to
move on to her mother.
[week later]...William walked in..."Hey William, what's up? Where have you been? I haven't
seen you in a while"...What he told me next was not something that I was at all prepared to
hear..."well I have been out of town for awhile and I just got back this week. I have been in
New York. Walter's (24 year old son) funeral was last week."..William turned and walked to
the door...It was all making sense now, all coming back to me-the reading with Kelly and
Walter (week before). He was trying to come through to Kelly and me. He knew I was going
to see his dad and he wanted to get a message through to him. The lights flickering in the
house, the light bulb exploding, the computers turning on and off, my feelings of being
depressed, sad and overwhelmed all week, the nausea - it all made sense now. He was
trying to get through to me and he was still earthbound, he had not yet crossed over.
— The Messenger, Denise Lescano
pg. pgs. 96-98, 2014
As Walter sat in a chair...his grandmother appeared standing behind him and the chair. She
came to take him over to the spirit side although he had not wanted to go...After some
coaxing, he did go into the light as we say, and home with his grandmother.
— The Messenger, Denise Lescano
pg. pg. 99, 2014
119
Expressing love and forgiveness from a human on earth can often help a spirit who has committed suicide be released to move into a full spirit being.
120
A human can make contact with the essence of a spirit in heaven even though that spirit has since returned to earth in a human form.
Those souls who are currently incarnated in one or more bodies at the moment may not be actively engaged with welcoming anybody back...radiate a dim light with low pulsating energy patterns and don't seem to communicate much with anyone.
— Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives, Michael Newton
pg. 85, 1996
...all souls who come to Earth leave a part of their energy behind in the spirit world, even those living parallel lives in more than one body...if someone you loved died thirty years ahead of you and has since reincarnated, you can still see them again upon your own return to the spirit world.
— Destiny of Souls, Michael Newton
pg. 116, 2003
W.T. Stead, communicating, said, "In this land we are much more sensitive than whilst on earth and when thoughts are directed to us by mortals we have a direct call...and we are practically always able to come in close contact with the person who is thinking of us." (The Blue Island, 1922, pg.94)
— The Supreme Adventure: Analyses of Psychic Communications, Robert Crookall
pg. 10, 1974
