Going Into The Light

by Jurgen Ziewe

What does it mean, “Going into the Light”?

This is an expression frequently used by people when referring to the process of dying, but where does it come from?

A while back we discussed in a group of Astral Travellers the subject of the boundaries of human consciousness and the phenomena of “going into the light”. In after-death circles this is often used as a metaphor of going into the lighter, more sublime, beautiful regions of the “Summer Land”, after we shake off ‘our mortal coil’. What turned into a lengthy discussion, we considered though the more literal aspect of the phenomena; of travelling beyond the boundaries of human consciousness or the “mere” afterlife states often discussed in afterlife groups.

Some interesting and fascinating experiences came to light. Some of the people in the discussion group were very experienced OBE travellers, one an author and university professor. What came to light were experiences which by some were regarded as overwhelming, even unsettling to the point of “ecstatically disturbing”, but there was some surprising consensus as well. For example, during an out of body experience, when people aimed for higher states, often initiated by them, it literally shot them higher into the sky or into space as one Astral projector described here:

“Both experiences involved me kind of shooting into the sky where my experience turned into this fractal, hyper dimensional pattern (almost like flying into a wormhole). It really was out of this world. It reminded me of some of the experiences I have read about people who have experimented with DMT (although I can only make a literary comparison). In both experiences I kind of lost consciousness (went unconscious), or felt I couldn’t handle the power of the experience.”

Going into a wormhole or through a tunnel has also been reported in NDEs and I have experienced it myself, often during deep meditation and even visualised it (below) as a video. But this is often only the start. It can become somewhat unsettling after that if you are not a regular meditator. One person said and referred to it as a “second death”, which means the end of ego identification. At this point we seem to die literally for a second time after we crossed over in order to make it into a completely different level of consciousness. (Even the relatively common OBE can be seen as a kind of death, the first death, similar to the physical one to come). But the second death is of a different nature altogether. Being on unfamiliar territory, in my first book, I called it the “Super Dimensions”, because there was nothing I could compare it with. In my last book, I simply referred to it as “Heaven” because this word was already used in mysticism.

One Astral Traveller described his experience like this:

“I have some experience with what you refer to as “superdimensions”, which I think is a much better term than mental planes. Even within the theosophical model, as you describe your experiences, they go beyond the mental planes, more closely corresponding with their ideas on the anupadaka planes. That seems “way out” there, but it is. I can particularly relate to the death process you mention. My experience with it is limited. It was something that was not particularly pleasurable at all, losing my entire sense of identity, or even the ability to think in a three-dimensional manner. It took me a lot of effort finding my way back, and I still have to get used to it.”

He later goes on in describing “intense bliss, extreme brightness and illumination”, once surrendered into this state. Many people can feel unsettled by this because we completely lose our accustomed sense of ego identity. Meditators who enter these states regularly during Samadhi, eventually find it hard, if not impossible, to connect to their past, finding it hard to maintain a coherent construct of their person, often because the sense of self has turned into an experiential, even blissful awareness of an unchanging present moment which can persist and is underpinned by an underlying presence of pure bliss.

Entering this state during OBEs can be equally disconcerting. In my first book “Multidimensional Man” I described it as “coming in from the cold, laying down a heavy coat”. On another occasion it felt as if a completely new, unique “me” was waiting in the wings and I simply had to die for me to unite and become it. Once more, familiarised with this unusual state (which never shows up in the same way), this then becomes a true “homecoming” and everything that went on before, even in the luminous “Summer Lands” of the Astral Planes, appears like darkness or “second rate” by comparison.

Travelling from the lower strata of the Astral level to the next one may at first also be experienced as light as we approach or enter, but simply turns into a more pleasant environment as we adjust, like a more beautiful scene than before. But this is much less emotionally challenging compared to what happens at Ego death.

Eventually this Non-Ego State seems to be our natural spiritual birth place we feel we originate from and may wish to return to. But, to many, this may not be their preferred choice given the infinite varieties of pleasures to be had on the higher Astral levels. After all, surrendering what we have become so accustomed to and built on, our ego may not be an easy task, especially if we simply can have no concept at all of what lies in wait for us and to this date very few have found words to describe it.

One person in our group said: “(This State) corresponds in a remote way with the writings George Arundale in his book Nirvana on the atomic plane if you stay in that sort of model. I have simply referred to it as “beyond human consciousness” as it does go beyond human three-dimensional existence to such a great extent.“

(Ref. “Multidimensional Man”, 2008 – J. Ziewe, “Vistas of Infinity”, 2015-J. Ziewe)