Common Questions About The Afterlife

Thank you and Merry Christmas to Sparrow, and everyone here.

JL

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by David mc

interesting stuff here I'm just new, so does this mean spirit guide sparrow is just making it all up?
its hard to know what to believe.

Well, follow your gut. We were born with a meter inside us...and oddly, it's not in the brain, but the heart/gut/intuition area.

[David mc]

I agree and well said.by the way happy Christmas ��

[Convolution]

Originally Posted by David mc

interesting stuff here I'm just new ,so does this mean spirit guide sparrow is just making it all up?its hard to know what to believe.

No way to prove he is or isn't. I am one who thinks that incredible claims usually call for incredible evidence.Until there is evidence for something, I can not say it is true, nor untrue. I simply read and think on it, try and understand it.

Mediums and others in the past have gone to lengths to show the veracity of their abilities, because skepticism is a natural and normal thing- not a thing to run from, when claims are legitimate and truthful- as not anyone can be believed.
Maybe at some point SGS will choose to back up what is said with stronger evidence of some kind, but that is a choice only he can make, if he is able to. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't. I have no way of knowing.

[malcolm]

Originally Posted by Convolution

No way to prove he is or isn't. I am one who thinks that incredible claims usually call for incredible evidence.Until there is evidence for something, I can not say it is true, nor untrue. I simply read and think on it, try and understand it.

Mediums and others in the past have gone to lengths to show the veracity of their abilities, because skepticism is a natural and normal thing- not a thing to run from, when claims are legitimate and truthful- as not anyone can be believed.
I do hope at some point SGS can back up what is said without evasion, but that is a choice only he can make, if he is able to. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't.

Proving something is one thing, but appreciating proof is another thing altogether. I understand Sparrow's predicament. Even if he found proof to back up his spiritual statements, people would ask for proof that his proof is valid. And then they would ask him for proof of his proof of his proof. As Convolution said, listen to what is said, and if it feels true for you, investigate the matter further. Spirituality is not mathematics. Spirituality is dynamic and open-ended. Plus Sparrow is limited by earthly words when attempting to convey concepts that extend the boundaries of the physical world. Obviously, Sparrow is trying his best, and one cannot ask for better than that.

[Sorai Rai Aorai]

Or how may we become aware of such ourselves?

Originally Posted by Sorai

Well, now that we are on the same page:

Now that I am open to it, would you share about the depth and complexity of beauty and orchestration of sublime sentient design within a simple flower, as you put it? So far I am seeing some interesting patterns in vision, and realizing that the patterns which form the flower are forms of thought.

Originally Posted by Convolution

No way to prove he is or isn't. I am one who thinks that incredible claims usually call for incredible evidence.Until there is evidence for something, I can not say it is true, nor untrue. I simply read and think on it, try and understand it.

Mediums and others in the past have gone to lengths to show the veracity of their abilities, because skepticism is a natural and normal thing- not a thing to run from, when claims are legitimate and truthful- as not anyone can be believed.
I do hope at some point SGS can back up what is said without evasion, but that is a choice only he can make, if he is able to. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't.

This is a pretty silly mind game that you won't get the OP to go along with.

It reveals an insecure, scared mindset that wants proof but is unable to glean any.

Personally, I think people can believe anything - ask any fundamentalist, and you will know how much people cling to their beliefs, of whichever creed.

My take, a1candidate and Co.

JL

[malcolm]

Originally Posted by Pagandell

Hi Sparrow.

I read some time ago now, so as far as I can remember, it said if you have a habit / addiction/ life style for instance with alcohol and cannabis when you passed over, you had to go through some kind of detox thing in the spirit world.

If are mental and physical problems no longer exist in the spirit world then I would like to think we would not crave a smoke or drink, or sex for that matter.

Much depends on one's level of addiction. Addiction usually rises past the physical, sometimes even past the mental, and into the domain of spiritual addiction. After death, we no longer have a physical body, through which one's cravings can be satisfied. Sure, after death we don't experience physical withdrawal symptoms such as aches and pains, shaking and sweating, but mentally our cravings intensify greatly, which can only wear off gradually.

[neil]

Originally Posted by Sorai

Dear Neil,

Thank you for your response. I see you are sincere in your assertions and wishing to help, however I disagree with you on most points.

My use of the term Christed, as I believed was clear, was simply an indulgence of your assertion about it. I am not familiar with its exact meaning, and perhaps you'd like to clarify that. However, my intent was to convey that we are all divine. It does not require reaching some so-called "higher" state to be divine. While the journey towards spirit may be a long one from the perspective of a human, at the same time the Spirit is the true self of the human, thus we are divine.
”

Hi Sorai..and to others that read this post. This post is in response to those few members who have been wondering about Christ transformation..
So below i have left an excerpt from the padgett messages regarding the christed divine soul, and how to attain the christ transformation.

It is one of a few hundred messages and is freely available to download and i believe that it should be allowable to post any where, but i am not sure how long it will stay, before it may be taken from this thread, and it would be a shame to be removed.

I also know that this is sparrows thread but any one who speaks of love and progression, i hope may not mind it being posted here on this thread....so here goes.....

Ps only for your considerations.
_____________________________
the gospel revealed anew by Jesus and the Apostles

Jesus: How the soul of a mortal receives the Divine Love, and what its effect is - what is a lost soul?

November 10th, 1916

Received by:James Padgett.

Washington D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to tell you that you are in a better condition than you were last night, and in fact, have been for some nights past. I desire to write you a message on the question of "How the soul of a mortal receives the Divine Love, and what its effect is, even though subsequently his mind may indulge in those beliefs that may tend to prevent the growth of the soul - what is a lost soul?"

As you know, the inflowing of this Love is caused by its bestowal by the Holy Spirit in response to sincere prayer and longings. I mean prayer and longings for the Love Itself, and not prayers in general, for the material benefits that men more often and more naturally, as they believe, ask for and desire. The prayers of mortals for these things that may tend to make them successful and happy in their natural love, are answered also, if it be best that they should be, but these are not the prayers that bring the Divine Love or cause the Holy Spirit to work with men.

As the prayers of the sincere, earnest soul ascend to the Father that soul becomes opened up to the inflowing of this Love, and the soul's perceptions enlarge and come more in rapport with the conditions or influence that always accompanies the presence of this Love, and, consequently, its entrance into the soul becomes easier and its reception more perceptible to the soul sense. The more earnest the prayer and sincere the longings, the sooner faith comes and with this faith, the realization that the Divine Love is permeating the soul.

When once the Divine Love finds a lodgment in the soul, it, to the extent that it receives the Love, becomes as it were a changed substance, partaking, of the Essence of the Love; and as water may become colored by an ingredient foreign to itself, and which changes not only its appearance but its qualities, so this Divine Love changes the appearance and qualities of the soul, and this change of qualities continues ever thereafter. The natural qualities of the soul and the Essence of the Love become one and united and the soul is made altogether different in its constituency from what it was before the inflowing of the Love, but this only to the extent of the Love received. As this Love increases in quantity, the change and transformation becomes correspondingly greater, until at last the transformation may and will become so great, that the whole soul becomes a thing of this Divine Essence, and partakes of its very Nature and Substance, a being of Divinity.

When once this Love enters and truly possesses the soul and works the change mentioned, It, the Love, never leaves nor disassociates Itself from the soul - its character of Divine Essence never changes to that of the mere natural love, and so far as It is present, sin and error have no existence, because it is just as impossible for this Essence and sin and error to occupy the same parts of the soul at the same time as it is for two material objects to occupy the same space at the same time, as your philosophers say. Divinity never gives place to that which is not of the Divine. Man is working towards the attainment of the Divine, when he pursues the way provided for obtaining the Divine Nature, and as he advances, and obtains a portion of this Divine, no matter how small, he can never retrace his steps to the extent of ridding himself of this transforming Essence, and again become without its presence.

But this does not mean that a man may not lose the consciousness of the existence of this Essence within his soul, for he frequently does. The indulgence of his carnal appetites and evil desires will place him in the condition that he may cease to have a consciousness of the existence of the Divine Love in his soul, and to himself, he will be as if he had never had any experience of the change that I speak of.

And while this Love can never be eradicated by the evils that man may indulge in or by the mental beliefs that he may acquire, yet the progress of this Love in his soul may be checked and become stagnant, as if the Love were not, and sin and error may appear to be the only dominant elements of his life and being. But yet, when once possessed, the Love cannot be crowded out of his soul by sin and error, no matter, how deep and intense they may be. I know that this may seem strange and impossible to man's intellectual thinking, and that it is not in accordance with what has been attributed to me as teaching that a soul may be lost, nevertheless, a soul that has once received this Divine Essence cannot be lost, though its want of realization of the presence of this Love and its awakening from its dormant condition, caused by sin and error and its misdirected beliefs, may delay its manifestation of life and existence, for a long time, and much suffering and darkness may have to be endured by the soul that is in such condition. And I must not be understood by this, as meaning that a soul cannot be lost, for it can, and many have been and will be, and many will realize the fact when too late.

Now, what is a lost soul? Not one that a man may actually lose in the sense of being deprived of it, - separated from it actually, or even as regards his consciousness of not having a soul, for while, at times, he may believe that he has lost his soul, in the sense of not having any, yet he is mistaken, for the soul, which is the man, can never be separated from himself, and as long as he lives in the physical body or in the spiritual body his soul will be with him. And yet he may have a soul, consciously or not, and at the same time have lost it. This may seem a paradox to the mortal intellect or to the intellect of spirit, but it is true.

Then what is a lost soul? When God gave to man a soul that soul was made in the image but not in the Substance of its Maker, and at the same time there was bestowed on him the privilege of having that soul become of the Substance of the Father, and to an extent, Divine, and entitled to and capable of living in the Celestial Kingdom of the Father, where everything is of the Divine Essence and Nature. When the first parents by their act of disobedience forfeited that privilege their souls lost the possibility of becoming of the Divine Nature and at one with the Father in His Kingdom, and they thereby lost not the natural soul, which was a part of their creation, but the soul having the possibility of obtaining the Essence of Divinity and Immortality as the Father has Immortality.

As I have said, heretofore, with my coming this great privilege was restored to mankind, and the lost soul became again the object of man's recovery, and now he has that privilege as did the first parents before the fall; but also men may lose it as did they. As with them their souls were lost until they received into it the Divine Essence of the Father, so with men now, their souls are lost until and unless they receive this Divine Essence therein. As the first parents by their disobedience and refusal, forfeited their privilege of having their souls become a living, Divine Substance, so now, men by their disobedience and refusal will forfeit their privilege to save their souls from separation from the Divine Unity with the Father. The lost soul is as real as the verities of the Father's immutable laws, and only by the operation of the Divine Love can the soul lost, become the soul found.

Men may believe and teach that within them is a part of the Divine that will cause their souls to progress and develop until it reaches the condition of Divinity that will make it a part of the Divinity of the Father. But in this they are all wrong, for, while man was the highest creation of God, and the most perfect, and made in his image, yet in man is no part of the Divine, and having no part of the Divine, it is wholly impossible for him to progress to the possession of the Divine. He, of himself, no matter what his development may be, can never become greater or more perfect or of a higher nature, than he was at his creation.

The Divine comes from above and when once planted in a man's soul, there can be no limit to its expansion and development, even in the Celestial Heavens. Let all men seek this Love and there will be no lost souls; but, alas, many will not do so, and the spiritual heavens will be filled with lost souls, not having the Divine Essence of the Father.

I have written enough for tonight, and I am pleased at the way in which you received my message. Continue to pray to the Father for more and more of His Divine Love, and your prayers will be answered, and you will realize with the certainty of conscious possession of the Divine Essence, that your soul is not lost and never will be. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night and God bless you.

Your brother and friend,

Jesus.

[malcolm]

Originally Posted by neil

Hi Sorai..and to others that read this post. This post is in response to those few members who have been wondering about Christ transformation..
So below i have left an excerpt from the padgett messages regarding the christed divine soul, and how to attain the christ transformation.

It is one of a few hundred messages and is freely available to download and i believe that it should be allowable to post any where, but i am not sure how long it will stay, before it may be taken from this thread, and it would be a shame to be removed.

I also know that this is sparrows thread but any one who speaks of love and progression, i hope may not mind it being posted here on this thread....so here goes.....

Ps only for your considerations.
_____________________________
the gospel revealed anew by Jesus and the Apostles

Jesus: How the soul of a mortal receives the Divine Love, and what its effect is - what is a lost soul?

November 10th, 1916

Received by:James Padgett.

Washington D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to tell you that you are in a better condition than you were last night, and in fact, have been for some nights past. I desire to write you a message on the question of "How the soul of a mortal receives the Divine Love, and what its effect is, even though subsequently his mind may indulge in those beliefs that may tend to prevent the growth of the soul - what is a lost soul?"

As you know, the inflowing of this Love is caused by its bestowal by the Holy Spirit in response to sincere prayer and longings. I mean prayer and longings for the Love Itself, and not prayers in general, for the material benefits that men more often and more naturally, as they believe, ask for and desire. The prayers of mortals for these things that may tend to make them successful and happy in their natural love, are answered also, if it be best that they should be, but these are not the prayers that bring the Divine Love or cause the Holy Spirit to work with men.

As the prayers of the sincere, earnest soul ascend to the Father that soul becomes opened up to the inflowing of this Love, and the soul's perceptions enlarge and come more in rapport with the conditions or influence that always accompanies the presence of this Love, and, consequently, its entrance into the soul becomes easier and its reception more perceptible to the soul sense. The more earnest the prayer and sincere the longings, the sooner faith comes and with this faith, the realization that the Divine Love is permeating the soul.

When once the Divine Love finds a lodgment in the soul, it, to the extent that it receives the Love, becomes as it were a changed substance, partaking, of the Essence of the Love; and as water may become colored by an ingredient foreign to itself, and which changes not only its appearance but its qualities, so this Divine Love changes the appearance and qualities of the soul, and this change of qualities continues ever thereafter. The natural qualities of the soul and the Essence of the Love become one and united and the soul is made altogether different in its constituency from what it was before the inflowing of the Love, but this only to the extent of the Love received. As this Love increases in quantity, the change and transformation becomes correspondingly greater, until at last the transformation may and will become so great, that the whole soul becomes a thing of this Divine Essence, and partakes of its very Nature and Substance, a being of Divinity.

When once this Love enters and truly possesses the soul and works the change mentioned, It, the Love, never leaves nor disassociates Itself from the soul - its character of Divine Essence never changes to that of the mere natural love, and so far as It is present, sin and error have no existence, because it is just as impossible for this Essence and sin and error to occupy the same parts of the soul at the same time as it is for two material objects to occupy the same space at the same time, as your philosophers say. Divinity never gives place to that which is not of the Divine. Man is working towards the attainment of the Divine, when he pursues the way provided for obtaining the Divine Nature, and as he advances, and obtains a portion of this Divine, no matter how small, he can never retrace his steps to the extent of ridding himself of this transforming Essence, and again become without its presence.

But this does not mean that a man may not lose the consciousness of the existence of this Essence within his soul, for he frequently does. The indulgence of his carnal appetites and evil desires will place him in the condition that he may cease to have a consciousness of the existence of the Divine Love in his soul, and to himself, he will be as if he had never had any experience of the change that I speak of.

And while this Love can never be eradicated by the evils that man may indulge in or by the mental beliefs that he may acquire, yet the progress of this Love in his soul may be checked and become stagnant, as if the Love were not, and sin and error may appear to be the only dominant elements of his life and being. But yet, when once possessed, the Love cannot be crowded out of his soul by sin and error, no matter, how deep and intense they may be. I know that this may seem strange and impossible to man's intellectual thinking, and that it is not in accordance with what has been attributed to me as teaching that a soul may be lost, nevertheless, a soul that has once received this Divine Essence cannot be lost, though its want of realization of the presence of this Love and its awakening from its dormant condition, caused by sin and error and its misdirected beliefs, may delay its manifestation of life and existence, for a long time, and much suffering and darkness may have to be endured by the soul that is in such condition. And I must not be understood by this, as meaning that a soul cannot be lost, for it can, and many have been and will be, and many will realize the fact when too late.

Now, what is a lost soul? Not one that a man may actually lose in the sense of being deprived of it, - separated from it actually, or even as regards his consciousness of not having a soul, for while, at times, he may believe that he has lost his soul, in the sense of not having any, yet he is mistaken, for the soul, which is the man, can never be separated from himself, and as long as he lives in the physical body or in the spiritual body his soul will be with him. And yet he may have a soul, consciously or not, and at the same time have lost it. This may seem a paradox to the mortal intellect or to the intellect of spirit, but it is true.

Then what is a lost soul? When God gave to man a soul that soul was made in the image but not in the Substance of its Maker, and at the same time there was bestowed on him the privilege of having that soul become of the Substance of the Father, and to an extent, Divine, and entitled to and capable of living in the Celestial Kingdom of the Father, where everything is of the Divine Essence and Nature. When the first parents by their act of disobedience forfeited that privilege their souls lost the possibility of becoming of the Divine Nature and at one with the Father in His Kingdom, and they thereby lost not the natural soul, which was a part of their creation, but the soul having the possibility of obtaining the Essence of Divinity and Immortality as the Father has Immortality.

As I have said, heretofore, with my coming this great privilege was restored to mankind, and the lost soul became again the object of man's recovery, and now he has that privilege as did the first parents before the fall; but also men may lose it as did they. As with them their souls were lost until they received into it the Divine Essence of the Father, so with men now, their souls are lost until and unless they receive this Divine Essence therein. As the first parents by their disobedience and refusal, forfeited their privilege of having their souls become a living, Divine Substance, so now, men by their disobedience and refusal will forfeit their privilege to save their souls from separation from the Divine Unity with the Father. The lost soul is as real as the verities of the Father's immutable laws, and only by the operation of the Divine Love can the soul lost, become the soul found.

Men may believe and teach that within them is a part of the Divine that will cause their souls to progress and develop until it reaches the condition of Divinity that will make it a part of the Divinity of the Father. But in this they are all wrong, for, while man was the highest creation of God, and the most perfect, and made in his image, yet in man is no part of the Divine, and having no part of the Divine, it is wholly impossible for him to progress to the possession of the Divine. He, of himself, no matter what his development may be, can never become greater or more perfect or of a higher nature, than he was at his creation.

The Divine comes from above and when once planted in a man's soul, there can be no limit to its expansion and development, even in the Celestial Heavens. Let all men seek this Love and there will be no lost souls; but, alas, many will not do so, and the spiritual heavens will be filled with lost souls, not having the Divine Essence of the Father.

I have written enough for tonight, and I am pleased at the way in which you received my message. Continue to pray to the Father for more and more of His Divine Love, and your prayers will be answered, and you will realize with the certainty of conscious possession of the Divine Essence, that your soul is not lost and never will be. So with my love and blessings, I will say good night and God bless you.

Your brother and friend,

Jesus.

Maybe I can simplify things. God loves you just the way you are. But if you can't accept that and want to win God's love without all the dogma, treat and respect all of God's creations, including our planet and all living things on it, in the way you would like to be treated and respected. Be kind, be caring, be generous, be compassionate. Nice and simple.