children

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by Redchic12

But in the spirit world the child could take on any form it wishes as there really is no form there but only what each person chooses it to be and also chooses how best to appear to someone.

I feel that when we cross over we leave adult/child/male/female behind because none of that exists on the other side and we become just consciousness. I kinda visualise it like a spark of light.

Much of the literature suggests that as personalities we are unchanged after discarding the physical body. Which is why some people do not realise that they have "died", because for them nothing is different. They may be confused by a change in their environment but they still feel the same person.

And our astral appearance is determined by how we think of ourselves. So if we are accustomed to seeing ourself in the mirror as an elderly person then that will be our astral appearance immediately after death. And likewise, the child is unlikely to suddenly take on the appearance of an adult.

When people become more familiar with conditions in the astral realms then they realise that they can control their appearance, so people usually revert to how they were in their prime of life, say in their twenties. Again, this would not apply to children who have not yet reached their prime of life.

While someone could take on any appearance, they still identify with being a certain person with a certain appearance and so they tend to retain that appearance. Those who are more advanced may change their appearance to something which they feel better suits their Soul expression.

I suspect that when we eventually leave the astral realms behind then our appearance becomes more abstract, and maybe we do become spheres of light which would be closer to our true nature.

All this is based on the available literature, which is all we have in the absence of direct experience.

Peace

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by boyce

From accounts of such occurrences not only does a (prematurely returning) spirit maintain the outward appearance of a child - the way it's perceived by others - but also the demeanour of a child. Consequently that apparently immature spirit will be taken care of in a way similar to how we would take care of children in this world.

Yes ordinarily a spirit individual can assume on return whatever age and appearance it's able to achieve but children do not appear to do so. They continue to (or grow to) look like kids and they develop similarly to how kids grow up here.

Yes, the literature supports this viewpoint.

Let us remember that the child on Earth is not just a mature Soul in a childish physical body. As well as the undeveloped physical body there is also an undeveloped emotional body and an undeveloped mental body. These various bodies develop to a greater or lesser extent as the child matures into an adult.

But if the individual dies while still a child, then they no longer have the undeveloped physical body but they still have an undeveloped emotional body and an undeveloped mental body. Therefore they have to continue the process of maturing in some astral realm.

We should remember that the human incarnation does not begin at physical birth (or even conception), nor does it end at physical death. It begins when the Soul takes on a new mental body and astral body, and the incarnation ends when the entire personality has been discarded. So someone may physically die as a child but they are still only midway through the whole incarnation process.

We are told that there are many possibilities for adults on the astral planes to work and serve, according to our particular abilities and inclinations. One of the specialised spheres of service is tending to astral children and guiding their development.

As always, none of this is stated as fact - we simply do not know.

Peace

[Starman]

boyce, Not everyone embraces the same perspectives, and as you have stated about losing a child and I have stated about working with people who are dying or dead, we get our perspectives from how we interpret our experiences, and people interpret experiences differently, even death.

For me the death of a child (spiritually) is no different then the death of an adult. I understand how you may feel differently about this having lost a child; the death of a child is a very intimate and emotional experience and you have interpreted it your way as I have interpreted the death of babies my way. We can politely agree to disagree because I am not here to persuade people to see things my way.

No matter what this thread was intended for, threads evolve into extended discussions that may drift away from the original post, you can see this in posts all over this forum. I do not embrace that a child’s soul is different then an adults soul, or that they are different discussions. It seems to me that you are disappointed because no one has yet addressed your very narrow point on the death of babies, and you do not want to consider other perspectives on this point.

There are spiritual masters who come into this world fully developed spiritually at birth. So I embrace a different perspective. Nonetheless, blessings and God’s speed in your discussion as you would like to have it.

Peace

[boyce]

"No matter what this thread was intended for, threads evolve into extended discussions that may drift away from the original post, you can see this in posts all over this forum. I do not embrace that a child’s soul is different then an adults soul, or that they are different discussions."

Contributors could choose to stay on-topic.

The subject in the final sentence above has just been introduced hence its discussion here would be different from the earlier one.

[Starman]

But we are on topic! We are talking about the death of babies and children but you specifically want to talk about the soul of children, which some here have addressed in this thread, but in a different way then you see it, so you say it is off topic. You say spiritually talking about the comparison of babies and adults is not on topic while I say it is. I embrace that you have a very different perspective on this then I do and that's okay.

[boyce]

I'm sure you're right that some individuals say what they felt about the death of their baby or child was no different from how they felt about the death of an adult they knew. It has nothing to do with interpretation of those deaths and everything to do with the associated emotions.

Only someone who has experienced both can compare.

[boyce]

I have not used the word soul anywhere.

[Starman]

Soul, spirit, they mean the same thing to me, but you are telling me now that
you don’t see those as similar. Thank you for the discovery, I now know a little
more about how you think and use words.

[boyce]

Originally Posted by Starman

Soul, spirit, they mean the same thing to me, but you are telling me now that you don’t see those as similar.

I was actually telling you only that I had not used the word soul. You introduced it.

[Starman]

I hear you boyce, what you have experienced is an incredibly emotional impact experience. I have walked into people’s homes as an ambulance paramedic and their baby was laying on the kitchen table dead. The parents were in absolute grieving and the sadness in the air was incredibly thick. The baby had already been pronounced dead before the ambulance arrived.

Their baby had died from SIDS, but it does not matter if the baby died suddenly or lingered before dying; the death of a child is felt keenly by most people regardless whether that child is theirs or not. Although it is something that stays with most parents in a very unique way. Contrary to that, I have seen young women go through an abortion procedure and think nothing of the life they just aborted. I do not judge these situations.

It may be natural to want to think of the inner life of your child after they have departed from this Earth. But actually we really don’t know. Now I will contradict myself and say that lots of parents who have lost children have told me that they know the soul or spirit of their child is, and then they will explain it to me. How another person perceives the death of loved ones really has nothing to do with me, and I try to respect their views. I offer my heartfelt condolences.