Q&A on the Dead and the Afterlife (Blog)

[Erin Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Erin Pavlina's blog:

Q&A on the Dead and the Afterlife

[geekchic9]

I read with interest about the dead and the afterlife on your blog. Still, I'm wondering: Is there really a heaven and a hell, or are they inventions of religions in this life?

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Thanks for this entry, Erin. My grandmother recently passed away and I live in her house. I can't keep the clocks in the kitchen running. As soon as I put a new battery in, they stop within a day. Last night I heard a voice when I was walking from the kitchen to the bedroom, but I couldn't make out what it was saying. I don't know if it was anything, but I got a chill and goosebumps and just had a strange feeling. I would love to contact my grandma and see that she's okay. I worry about her even though I know there's no need. I just want her to know I still think about her all the time. I hope she was able to find my grandfather. He died when I was little and I can imagine she would be really happy to see him again.

I've asked her to come visit me, so hopefully she is able/willing to do that soon.

[Erin Pavlina]

Originally Posted by geekchic9

I read with interest about the dead and the afterlife on your blog. Still, I'm wondering: Is there really a heaven and a hell, or are they inventions of religions in this life?

I'll answer this in a separate entry since you are not the first to ask me this. I did a blog entry on whether I believe in hell already though. Here it is:

Erin Pavlina’s Blog » Blog Archive » Does Hell Exist? Does Satan Exist?

[Akashic_Librarian]

Erin...this has really been bugging me for a while now. I read your posts and I intellectually understand that you seem to genuinely communicate with the other side, but I can't accept it...

I am that sort of person that has to DO things to really believe in them. I would like to ask you, could you please give me some tips on communicating with Spirit guides, deceased relatives...even my own higher self...I just don't know HOW to do it!

[Erin Pavlina]

That would fill a book Akashic

Try these for now:
Erin Pavlina’s Blog » Blog Archive » Spirit Guides: Who are they and how do you connect with them?
Erin Pavlina’s Blog » Blog Archive » How to Meet your Higher Self

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

I am that sort of person that has to DO things to really believe in them. I would like to ask you, could you please give me some tips on communicating with Spirit guides, deceased relatives...even my own higher self...I just don't know HOW to do it!

I think the best (and most convincing way) is to hang out with someone who does have the ability. For some reason it seems that the energy of such people rubs off, almost like a power transfer.

I was never into this stuff at all until after I met Erin in 1994. My astral or other worldly experiences were totally nil, and I was somewhere between atheist and agnostic. But after hanging out with her for a while, I started having experiences of my own. First it was lucid dreaming, then astral projection, then channeling, then communicating directly with spirit guides, and later I even channeled a dead person for a couple I'd never met... to the point of bringing them to tears. I freaked myself out.

I made a conscious choice not to pursue this path as a profession, but I would not expect anyone to fully accept this until they've had at least some kind of direct experience. Otherwise it's just too much to swallow -- it's too hard to believe.

What made me pursue this was really my relationship with Erin. I knew she wasn't lying because she's the most honest person I've ever met, but I had to know she wasn't somehow deluded or mistaken. I don't know what it is about her, but she's like a magnet for non-physical entities.

I've read many stories about people developing or expanding their psychic abilities as a result of hanging out with someone else who already had similar abilities. But it seems to have little or nothing to do with learning skills or picking up the person's mindset -- that comes later. Just hanging around such a person seems to be enough in many cases to open up some kind of channel where new input starts coming through that was previously blocked.

[Akashic_Librarian]

Ahh thanks Steve, thanks Erin. You guys sure are useful

[Lallymac]

AL you could join a spiritual group. When you work with a group of people with the same intention the focus is on recieving information and the energy levels are enhanced. People who've attended my groups have often commented that they get heaps more in the classes than when working on their own. I think it's easy to get distracted with the busyness of life.
Spirit make contact initial with us in numerous ways. An American couple who had attended one of Elizabeth Kubler Ross's seminars on death and dying did a survey people who have had contact with loved ones after they'd passed over. The husband was very skeptical and wanted more proof so they put ads in newspapers across the states. They were both confounded by the amount of mail they recieved in response and wrote a book based on their research.
I lent the book out some time ago and can't recall the name of it but someone else may know it.
From my experience working with groups and individuals, people tend to recieve information through their primary mode of sensing intially eg; if you're naturally visual, you're more likely to see auras and energy shifts first or if auditory, you'll hear, kinesthetic, you'll feel. Determined spirits will make their presense known to loved ones by knocking pictures off walls and turning electrical appliances on (I have a friend who frequently gets woken in the night by spirit turning on her radio and TV) or making the phone ring. My ex partners mother would set my youngest daughter's musical toy playing whenever the whole family got together for special occasions. My son would smell her perfume when she was around.
Lallymac

[Akashic_Librarian]

Ahh good idea Lally, its just...there arn't any around here. I have looked before.

[Andwan]

Well Erin, I have to say that this was a very nice article...But I have a question......Why whould it be a bad decision to want to merge back with the ether after you're dead? I thought that was our true identity in a subjective reality anyway? Can you help me with this?

[Erin Pavlina]

Andwan, I'm not sure what you mean. Can you rephrase or add to your question?

[The David]

Since this is apparently 'Ask Erin questions she's probably already answered' week, let me ask one that just popped into my head:

You talk about meeting spirits on the Astral plane, and you obviously believe in reincarnation, but have you ever actually found out about someone you know or were related to reincarnating? Would it be possible to sort of 'track' them down using information you gained from astral and/or psychic communication?

That would be really cool.

[Erin Pavlina]

No I have never received information about the reincarnation of anyone I know/knew. Just myself. I've had other psychics tell me I had past lives with people I know but nothign I could verify on my own.

[Lallymac]

Originally Posted by The David

Since this is apparently 'Ask Erin questions she's probably already answered' week, let me ask one that just popped into my head:

You talk about meeting spirits on the Astral plane, and you obviously believe in reincarnation, but have you ever actually found out about someone you know or were related to reincarnating? Would it be possible to sort of 'track' them down using information you gained from astral and/or psychic communication?

That would be really cool.

Hi David,
I had a local Real Estate agent come to me for a reading a few of years ago to get confirmation on detailed information he'd received through psychic visions of a number of his previous lives. I bumped into him recently and he'd verified his most recent past life through the national registrar and traveled to the US to view his grave. He'd seen flashes of his past lives for a few years.
It was exciting for him to real validation.
Lallymac

[Lallymac]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

Ahh good idea Lally, its just...there arn't any around here. I have looked before.

Al; are there any spiritualist churches in your area or healing groups?
There something I'd really like to clarify at this point that's relevant to any other curious dabblers in psychic realms. It is so important to be very clear on your intent and the intentions of anyone else you consciously venture out into the realms of spirit with. Cause and effect is immediate when you start opening to spirit. There's often a relay with cause and effect in the physical and the return isn't always obvious.
Seek the company of people who uplift you. People who are working with the highest intentions for all involved. If you feel uncomfortable or afraid, leave.
Like attracts like. The more pure and honest your intentions, the more closer you'll align yourself with the same in spirit. There are plenty of lower astral energies that will willingly play games and scare the daylights out of thrill seekers.
Lallymac

[Andwan]

well, what I meant was that in your article "The After Death" you said you was giving a choice to merge back into the ether...I thought thats where we all come from anyway...Why not want to merge back with it?

[Erin Pavlina]

The way I understand it, Andwan, when you choose to merge back in with the ether you lose your own consciousness. it's like cancelling your video game account, your character and your ability to make new characters is lost. it's a choice. But your sense of "I" would cease to exist.

[carenkh]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

I would love to contact my grandma and see that she's okay. I worry about her even though I know there's no need. I just want her to know I still think about her all the time.

I bet she knows! John Edward frequently recommends setting aside time to reconnect with that person's energy... holding their picture, talking to them, etc. He said it means a lot to them, and they will do what they can to make their presence known.

Speaking of John Edward... I was watching his new season of Crossing Over, and fell asleep during the show. (It was good! I was exhausted!) Immediately after falling asleep, I saw a vision of my childhood home from above - a perspective I had never "seen" - and I felt a flash of light, right in my heart. The next day, I felt more "open" to spirit, and when I gave someone reiki, it was like I entered an altered state - this doesn't usually happen to me! I was able to get very clear images of her life. Usually I do pick up on some images, feelings, etc. that are meaningful for the person, but this was more clear than usual, and like I was right there. I wonder if John has sent out an "invitation" to folks who are open to it, to raise their vibration, accelerate their abilities? I did have a dream a while ago where it was just him and me, sitting facing each other, and he was asking, "Why aren't you doing this work? You're supposed to be doing this." Like maybe he's aware of the effect Steve wrote about, and this is his way of "hanging out" with people - that he set an intention for his guides to reach people.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Originally Posted by carenkh

I bet she knows! John Edward frequently recommends setting aside time to reconnect with that person's energy... holding their picture, talking to them, etc. He said it means a lot to them, and they will do what they can to make their presence known.

Thanks, caren. I will definitely give it a try. I miss her very much.

[Erin Pavlina]

Caren, I have had similar dreams where John Edward is telling me I'm ready to do this work and encouraging me, etc. And I have had lots of people tell me that they dream that I am giving them readings or advice or encouragement. It's interesting.

[Amethyst]

I just wanted to say thanks for that article. It was really interesting. I used to think that someday when I die, I would go back to the Tao or whatever and that I would be able to know anything or everything. Now that I have gotten more information I wonder if there are scientists on the other side studying us and studying all sorts of other things that I don't know about. It must be interesting over there.

[Rowena]

One of the reasons that I have difficulty believing in an afterlife has to do with the communication aspect, namely:

If the dead can hang around and communicate with the living, why don't

1) murder victims a) help solve their murders and b) "haunt" their murderers?

2) dead children and spouses and others comfort their families?

3) dead people honor deals they made to let someone know that there is an afterlife? (There is a famous, but probably apocryphal, story that Ben Franklin and a friend had an agreement that the first of them that died would let the other know if there was an afterlife. The friend died first, and never contacted Franklin, by which he concluded that there was no afterlife.)

4) dead people hanging around their loved ones warn them of imminent danger?

It strikes me that the existence of an afterlife is incompatible with realities like unsolved murders and people driven to suicide by grief at the loss of loved ones.

Don't get me wrong -- I wish there were an afterlife. The idea of ceasing to exist is unappealing. But wishing doesn't make it so.

[Erin Pavlina]

You have interesting information and beliefs.

Let me address your points.

The dead often TRY to communicate with the living but the living aren't listening on the right frequency. Don't blame the dead people. I personally have encountered a few murder victims who tell me about their murders. But I'm a professional. most people don't have their "radios" even on let alone tuned in to the right channel.

Deceased people often are comforting their living parents or children. You betcha. Again, most living people can't detect them. Don't blame the dead people.

Your third point is interesting. I know of a few cases where pre-arrangements were made and were completed but you probably would not have heard of these. Also, the deceased may not be able to make good on their promise due to free will, the rules of the game, or a host of other reasons. And when a deceased person comes through with validating evidence a lot of people realize they are really there.

Dead people DO warn the living of imminent danger. Again, most people can't hear or see or detect the dead. They're on a different frequency. It would be like trying to hear channel 5 while you're tuned to channel 10. Whose fault is it if you're on the wrong channel?

If you're really interested in knowing more about the afterlife, study it a little. Plenty of info out there.

good questions though!

[Ron Stoppable]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

could you please give me some tips on communicating with Spirit guides, deceased relatives...even my own higher self...I just don't know HOW to do it!

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

That would fill a book Akashic

... or a fabulous audio program.

[XeutonMojukai]

Akashic:

Just keep intending a spiritual guru, and make sure you're ready for it.

It may not be a person you expect.

It may not be a human being.

Practice meditation to make your mind silent.

Listen.

Let them find you.

They will.

~ David

[dancer]

Erin, thanks for an interesting article. Is it possible for the living to prevent/hinder the dead crossing over, i.e. a lover or a child who stick around out of guilt for the suffering of the living.

[Erin Pavlina]

Read here:

Crossing Over

[KeithHandy]

It's good every so often to come across links to older articles like the ones sprinkled throughout this thread. Why let 'em go to waste?

[Lola]

Originally Posted by KeithHandy

It's good every so often to come across links to older articles like the ones sprinkled throughout this thread. Why let 'em go to waste?

Perhaps you should take a day and read all of them.