Neale : This is really getting to be an amazing discussion. First we got into perception theory and quantum physics, then super string theory and metaphorical metaphysical cosmology, and now we’re into alchemy. Whew.
But you indicated that before this conversation ended you would be talking to me in much more depth about the moment of merging, or reuniting, with the Essence. Is it okay if I ask about that now?
G : “Of course it is. But I must tell you again that plain words are going to fall short as we try to describe the indescribable. Perhaps it would help if we created another picture within the picture now in your mind…”
G : “Great. Make it any shape or color that you wish. Now picture a sign on the door leading into this chamber. The sign reads ‘DEATH.’ And let us imagine that there is a second door leading into this chamber from its far side. This one is marked ‘BIRTH.’
G : “Okay. Now, the inside of the door marked ‘DEATH’—the side that you would see behind you once you moved through the door--is marked ‘PHYSICAL WORLD.’"
N : Okay…we are imagining that the chamber at the core of the Applorange has two doors, one on each side. The outside of the doors are marked Death and Birth. The inside of these same doors are marked Physical World and Spiritual Realm. Both doors lead inward to the same chamber, the same experience—and both doors lead outward to entirely different experiences.
“Thus, you realize when you are in the chamber that you may move to either door and, opening it, will find life in one form or another. There are two ways out of the Core. One door leads to physical life, one door leads to spiritual life.”
G : “Not directly. The door does not open directly into the chamber, but into a short passage that leads into the chamber. The door remains open behind you as you step into this passage.
“You can feel something ’happen’ to you as you move into this passage. It feels like a real ’passage,’ with the word used as verb, not as a noun. It feels as if you are making a passage, not just in a passage. You will move through all three stages of death in this passage--and it will feel as if something is passing away.
“What is passing away is your sense of yourself as a physical body. It feels as if you still ARE someone, but your ’sense of self’ does not include a sense of having a body.
“What is occurring here in the during this passage is that you are being cleansed of all physical limitation, experience, or sensation. This is the first stage of ‘death.’ when you realize that you are not your body—but that you are still very much alive.
“The door marked DEATH is still open behind you, and you can look back through it onto the physical world. Now you move into death’s second stage and will experience awareness or confusion or whatever you expect to experience.
During this second stage you can go back and forth through the open door to the physical world. You will not experience yourself there in any physical sense, but you will feel very much as if you are there nonetheless. Others, still living with their body, may also experience you there.
“If you believe that nothing exists or occurs after ‘death,’ you will pass during death’s second stage into ‘nothingness,’ and experience nothing at all. I have described this before.
G : “Each experience after death stands on its own. Whether you experience the ‘hell’ of your own creation or the ‘heaven’ of your own creation, the ‘nothingness’ of your own creation, or another created reality altogether, those experience will stand alone. You will draw from them whatever remembrance there are to draw from them, and then you will move on.”
N : During this second stage, do we ever return in spirit to those loved ones who are still living with their bodies?
N : ในระหว่างขั้นที่สองนี้ เราเคยกลับไปหาคนที่เรารักที่ยังมีชีวิตอยู่ในร่างกายในรูปแบบของจิตวิญญาณไหมครับ❓
G : “The soul may indeed choose to return in spirit to loved ones remaining in physicality. Often the soul visits loved ones even before it leaves the body.”
N : Yes. Maggie Berry did that. Many others have done it, too. My father did that. He came to me in a dream in a way that told me he was leaving. The next morning I received a call that he had died the night before.
Maggie Berry was the founder and visionary of Core Matters, a transformational leadership organization in Denver. Her close friend and partner in Core Matters at the time of her death, Tom LaRotonda, told me this astonishing story in June 2005, one year following the death of his dear friend, who he knew was terminally ill.
'On the morning of June 23, 2004 I was in the office Maggie and I shared. I had cancelled all my appointments. I was sitting at my desk just dazed, not knowing what to do. I wasn’t sad or angry…it just felt so surreal.
'Maggie was in hospice and I truly wanted to be with her; but I fully understood and honored her request to not see visitors. I had my feet up on my desk and my eyes closed and began to meditate. Suddenly I heard Maggie’s voice so clearly say ‘Hi, partner’—a term we used with each other all the time. Suddenly a vision appeared in my mind and there was Maggie standing in front of me, smiling.
'I was filled with joy at seeing her. She looked completely healthy and radiant, even though I knew she had lost all her hair and her body had been ravished by the cancer. She came over and we embraced and then she took both my hands in hers and said to me. ‘Tom, it’s time for me to go. I have said good-bye to everyone but you. I wanted to save your good-bye for last.’
' She then took me by the hand and we walked holding hands as she thanked me for everything I had ever done for her and she told me how much she loved me…and I did the same for her.
'Suddenly she stopped and released my hand, even though I tried to hold on. She said to me, ‘It’s time…I have to go. I love you, partner!” and she ran off. As I opened my eyes I noticed the time on my laptop computer. It read 11:44 a.m.
'I was unsure of what had just happened, so I walked outside to get a breath of fresh air. I had been keeping my cell phone with me, waiting for any news from Butch (Maggie’s husband), however I failed to take it with me just then. After about five minutes I returned and noticed I had a message. It was from Butch, and the call was recorded on my phone as being received at 11:45 a.m.
'I called Butch and he said that he had a real strong feeling that I needed to be there at the hospice. I told Butch I would come immediately and he said to hurry, that she might not make it much longer.
'When I arrived Butch greeted me and took me into the room. Maggie was still alive but incoherent. She lived about another hour before she took her last breath. It was the most sacred moment of my life. After she died, I told her family that I would go back to the office and notify people.
'I returned to my office, called the people that I needed to call, then composed and sent out an e-mail to the remainder of the wonderful community that she had started and that together we had built. After that was completed I drove down to my favorite park in Denver; a place called City Park.
I went down to one of the two lakes that are there and just sat…stunned and at a loss for words…and cried. Maggie had one message that she sent constantly to people in every situation: Live a life of joy. Life is meant to be joyous. I tried hard to get in touch with that message now. I calmed down a bit, and after about an hour I decided to head back to the office to see if I had any messages.
'As I was driving back the traffic was extremely congested and I found myself getting more and more irritated. Already I was reverting back to fear and anger after just experiencing one of the most spiritual moments of my life.
'As I sat at a traffic light, fuming. I glanced up and there was one of those giant-sized SUVs directly in front of me. I looked down and noticed the license plate. It was one of those personalized plates and the letters jumped out at me…the plate said JOYOUS.
"ขณะที่ผมนั่งรอสัญญาณไฟจราจร อารมณ์เสีย ผมเหลือบมองขึ้นไปและเห็นรถ SUV ขนาดใหญ่คันหนึ่งอยู่ตรงหน้าผม ผมมองลงไปและสังเกตเห็นป้ายทะเบียน มันเป็นป้ายทะเบียนแบบกำหนดเองและตัวอักษรดึงดูดความสนใจผม...ป้ายเขียนว่า JOYOUS (ความสุข)
'I laughed out loud.
"ผมหัวเราะออกมาเสียงดัง
'Maggie was sending me a message loud and clear. She was telling me that she was free and happy, and she was reminding me that there is only one way to live life. She was reminding me to be joyous.
'I now have a replica of that license plate hanging above my door; reminding me and everyone who sees it what Maggie’s life and her message to us was all about the joy of an inspired life.'
N : When Tom told me this story I was really taken aback. I had heard of things like this before, but never actually met a person who had such an experience. So these things do happen.
G : “Oh, yes. They are very real. They are very real. Sometimes before death, and often in the second stage of death, your soul will ‘visit’ loved ones.
“When you are ready, you will move into the third stage of death. Now the door behind you closes, and you can see only the passage before you. This entire passage presents a much shorter distance than the distance you’ve just traveled through life. It took years to get through the first corridor, but you now experience yourself racing through this one, flying forward at an incredible speed.
“There is a pinpoint of Light at the end of this passage, with the passage itself appearing to be getting smaller and smaller. The Light is warm and glowing and feels wonderfully safe and inviting.”
N : Are there pictures on the sides of this passage?
นีล : มีรูปภาพอยู่ข้างๆทางเดินนี้ไหมครับ❓
G : “No. This passage into the chamber that is the Core of Your Being is darker, but not in a foreboding way. Rather, in a soft, warm, and glowing way. The glow is coming from the far end of the passage. It is the Light, and it is a tiny speck at first, but as you zoom through the passage it becomes larger and larger in your field of vision until the Light is…