by Geoffrey John Cutler

I guess the first question to ask is whether we all survive death? Until recently I would not have had any doubt about that, but it seems there is a small complication for some people. Many people would be aware that the universe appears to attempt to supply that which we focus on, even if it is not good for us. Those people who are adamant that there is no life after death, and make this a certainty in their life often do not pass immediately from one realm to the next in a conscious state. They are termed “sleeping survivors.” These folks almost get their most fervent wish – annihilation. They may sleep for centuries, before a group awakening. More recent information now suggests that relatively few pass over as “Sleeping Survivors” at the present time. This may be because the rules have been changed, as we enter the “Correcting Time” and also possibly because there are far more Celestial helpers available at this time. I assume these “tough cases” were grouped together as an efficiency measure which enabled them to handle these folks en-mass.

But the majority of us simply pass from one state to another, with very little lost time. Some reports state three days are lost in this transition, but I now believe that is probably incorrect, and may simply be an attempt to insert some Biblical material. Depending on your physical health as you depart this life, you may be instantly conscious of your existence in the next realm, or require some healing in the next. Thus you may pass almost without any break in consciousness. Obviously one would not be aware of lost time, so this issue is impossible to answer accurately without third party feedback. However there are many stories which suggest almost no break in “time” occurs.

If you are awake, there is no knowing quite how death will unfold. This is because as the brain shuts down, you can experience many different effects. Most of these are anything but spiritual, although you might think that they do feel spiritual. They are simply the results of the brain shutting down. You might have a “life review”, sort of like a movie. You may see white tunnels, or black tunnels. You might even have an instant out of body experience, where you are floating above your body, looking down on the scene, and that certainly is a spiritual event. Sometimes if the physical body is about to be badly damaged, the spirit body is withdrawn before impact or injury. This gives rise to the out of body experience, where you look down as an outsider on your own body, and will avoid you feeling any pain.

If you are consciously expecting death, things are probably going to be a bit different. Many people know that they are dying, and seem to gain additional abilities or insights in the last hours or days. They often start to see their spirit guides, and may feel the presence of their love, and be quite calm. There is no reason to panic. For one it is not going to help, and secondly, for the vast majority of us, what follows is a big improvement over life on earth. The spirit folks who are full time workers assisting us to pass over will be in attendance at your passing. Generally this job is left entirely to these skilled beings, and your spirit family generally waits until you are settled, and then arrives to welcome you. If you are weakening in the last hours of life, you most likely may see one or two of these spirit beings who assist, as this will limit any concern when you see them from the other side.

You might be met by dear loved ones who passed over before you, but it is more likely it will be one of those tasked with this function. As you pass through death, initially they may be seen only as a bright white light. This is the basis of the reported white tunnel. Some folks have reported meeting Jesus, (if Christian!) but this is very unlikely to happen. Not that he is not around, but if he was there, you almost certainly would not recognize him – unless you already know what he looks like – and more to the point he has far more important things to be doing. Might he have welcomed Mother Teresa? I think that is very likely, but I do not know that for a fact, but I do know of another individual he did welcome. Take it from me, you need to have been doing a pretty special job on earth to warrant that compliment. And the chances are that you would not need to be reading this book, if that is true. But the folks who assist with this transition know what they are doing, and some of them could appear like a very advanced spirit being. But generally they try to appear as non-threatening as possible and adjust their clothing to suit the occasion.

However it seems that those who see the “tunnel of light” or actually recognize some of the beings, who are there to meet the newly departed, are in the minority. Far too many depart this life with inadequate spiritual preparation, and the result is that they have great difficulty in triggering their spiritual vision and spiritual hearing. You can imagine that moving from a situation where you operate out of a physical brain, even though it is linked to a spirit mind, is a very different situation when that physical brain is gone, and you must operate entirely with spirit faculties. The result is that many spend a period of time in a dazed state, in almost complete silence, and in almost total darkness. In the meantime, their “greeters” are frantically trying to make some sort of break through. So if it happens to you, and you hear music, or see shadows or faint voices, do make an effort to hear and see more clearly. The irony is that because the next realm is subject to the influence of our thoughts, simply believing and saying: “I can see” or “I can hear” will trigger the required spiritual vision and hearing.

You may notice that you are completely naked, but this is not often the case. Probably because almost immediately, your spirit companions will “create” spirit clothes for you. There are various opinions as to whether they wear diaphanous gowns, or clothes that you are familiar with. It seems that it varies, and varies particularly according to your station in the next realm. So the attendants may in fact change into our style of clothing for some hours to ease the transition and avoid scaring you. These spirit clothes are great. They don’t get dirty and they don’t wear out either. And you can change them just by thinking a new outfit, assuming you are sufficiently spiritually advanced. But as individuals progress, they seem to all adopt a sort of diaphanous gown which has very specific colors reflecting the development and even the personality of the individual.

The very first thing that is going to happen to you, as you begin to realize something strange is happening, is that you will travel. I have only a vague idea how far that is, and it will probably not take more than a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes. While a lot of people report going to a way station, each person can have a unique experience. So from this point on, it’s very hard to say what will exactly happen to you. For example if you departed this earth life in need of significant spiritual repair, it’s almost certain you will be taken unconscious to a hospital (albeit rather different to ours!) for recovery, and you would regain your consciousness in that location. This repair can cover emotional as well as physical weaknesses. Some people are in effect scarred by their life experiences and need considerable work before they are freed from these effects. Curiously the material and the physical worlds can be quite interwoven, to have outcomes in the spiritual realm that result from the physical.

Let’s assume that you will arrive at a way station, a collection point for recently deceased individuals, as this is relatively common. No doubt with much coming and going. It is very pleasant, attractive, with a very loving atmosphere, and you will soon feel very relaxed. It has been described as a station concourse, but I don’t think that describes a loving atmosphere, although it may well be accurate in terms of comings and goings, and meeting loved ones. Sometimes these places are described as outside, on a hillside. It will undoubtedly feel like the best place you have ever been to. Things are looking up, you conclude. When you arrive in the next realm you will immediately notice an up step in frequency, not just in your own spirit body but in your surroundings as well. What you begin to experience is a higher frequency in which you exist. The colors are more vibrant; the plant life is more lush and alive.

If at this point you start to think about what you have left behind, you might find that you are right back there. In other words, you can travel, virtually instantly, just by thinking about it. So you might well see your family back on earth, shedding tears about your passing. But they won’t see you, or hear you. You are much better off at this stage going back to the transition place; particularly as at this very early stage you will still have strong earth attractions. Later on it is safer to travel back to earth because these ties will have dissipated. Back on “earth” you may be able to see everything just as you used to, but you will find that nothing is solid. You can pass through people, walls, everything. But the ability to discern things on earth seems to be inversely related to the degree of spiritual advancement of the individual, and is one of the faculties that can be lost quite quickly. So some people can see the earth and its human forms relatively clearly in this early stage if they are somewhat unevolved spiritually, while others have as much difficulty as we do in seeing spirit. However, you will notice that you can “hear” dear mortal friends thinking about you, and you may almost instantly visit them. If you are really lucky, you may find a few who can “feel” your presence, and this will give you a big thrill, just as it will give them a thrill to know you are around. You may even be able to create a few “signs” that let folk know you are still around. Things like leaving a telltale cigar smell, or making a noise or two, or leaving your favorite flower where it will be seen, or perhaps by leaving a scent in the air. How they do those things?

But back at the way-station, things are very solid. You can hug old friends, and they can certainly “hear” you. The spirit body appears very solid, and still appears to need to breathe, but does not need sleep or food as sustenance. But, in the early phase, sleep may be required; however that phase will soon pass. While you can talk in the old conventional way, you will also discover that it seems to be possible to converse just via thoughts. Then you notice that they must be hearing your thoughts, and you hearing their thoughts. And then you have a dreadful realization – these folk know everything about you! They can simply read your memories. And they hear your thoughts! You recall that time you got Fred fired by making up a confidential report, and rather stretching the facts to suit, now here you have to look Fred in the eye. He knows, but strangely he’s not mad. Or maybe, you remember wearing that really low cut dress for the Christmas party and how successful it was in starting that affair with Joe. And here is Sally, Joe’s partner, smiling at you. Total openness leads to the rapid realization that all of us fail from time to time. Actually not all thoughts are shared, so we can still have some secrets!

During this period of orientation, you start to notice that not all spirits are quite the same. Some have a beautiful countenance and way about them. And they are brighter, and amazingly loving. This brightness seems to come right out of them. Others are baser, dark, indeed some are downright ugly. As you wonder why this might be, you suddenly begin to wonder where you fit in. Are you ugly, or beautiful? Bright or dark?

At this point you will also know that you are just the same person that you were in the mortal life. With the same beliefs, memories, attitudes, values, fears, unresolved issues and loves. How did this happen? After all, your brain is already consigned to dust. Quite simply, as a mortal on earth you had three major components. There was your soul, which as far as we can tell, was probably billions of years old. Then there was your spirit body, which encapsulates the soul, and takes on the appearance of the mortal body. Just as well, because none of us can see souls, but we can see spirit bodies. It seems that the spirit body is a sort of reflection of the enclosed soul. If this soul is pure, the spirit body is literally full of light. If the soul is tarnished, the spirit body is dark, even ugly. And finally of course you had a mortal body. While you may have thought that all your memories were in your brain, it seems it is not quite so. The spirit body houses the mind, and the brain is the transducer that allows the physical body to interact with the spirit body and its mind. So you may have lost the physical body, but most folks report feeling much lighter, and far prefer only having a spirit body. For one thing, it has no defects. If you lost a leg, you will find you are now perfect. If your brain suffered from senile dementia, you will have no such limitation now. And there are some neat tricks you will learn in the future in regards to your spirit body, as you progress spiritually. I have recently learnt that the spirit body itself is complex, and has at least two constituents, one being a relatively gross astral body, and the other a more etheric spirit body.

Just at this point, the spirits who manage this transition process, explain that in the heavens, the Law of Attraction is paramount. Every spirit has to live where it fits in – where it is in harmony. And, yes, those beautiful ones, that seem somehow ethereal, are more advanced, and no, most probably you won’t live with them. You can look down at your hands, or ask for a “mirror” to see how you rate. They will explain that you can progress beyond where you start out, but probably you won’t be listening closely enough. You may be concerned that you are not going to be living with your dear Madge, who passed some years before you. She says that she will come and visit you regularly. Things are rapidly beginning to sound more complicated.

Excerpt from Getting The Hell Out Of Here: What Happens After You Die