|
 John
Van Auken (www.johnvanauken.com) is
a former director of the
Association of Research and Enlightenment, the
Edgar Cayce Research Foundation. He is editor of
the newsletter
Living in the Light and author of many books,
audio tapes, and videos. He's an expert in Egyptian,
Hebrew, and Christian mysticism, and is a skillful
teacher of meditation from
kundalini to his unique passage in consciousness.
He practices the techniques he teaches and has become
a popular speaker, leading retreats, workshops,
and tours, and writes regularly as a columnist.
He is also the author of many outstanding books
on the Cayce readings including: •
Edgar Cayce's Amazing Interpretation of The
Revelation •
Hidden Teachings of Jesus •
A Broader View of Jesus Christ •
Edgar Cayce on the Mysterious Essenes •
Reincarnation & Karma: Our Soul's Past-Life
Influences •
From Karma to Grace: The Power of the Fruit of
the Spirit •
Born Again & Again: How Reincarnation Occurs and
What It Means to You •
Edgar Cayce and the Kabbalah •
Passage in Consciousness: A Guide for Expanding
Our Minds and Raising the Life Forces •
Ancient Egyptian Mysticism and Its Relevance
Today •
Edgar Cayce on the Spiritual Forces Within You
•
Spiritual Breakthrough: Handbook to
God-Consciousness •
2038: The Great Pyramid Timeline Prophecy •
Edgar Cayce's Tales of Egypt •
Mound Builders: Edgar Cayce's Forgotten Record
of Ancient America •
Edgar Cayce's Atlantis •
Ancient South America: Recent Evidence
Supporting Edgar Cayce's Story of Atlantis and
Mu •
Angels, Fairies, Dark Forces, and the Elementals
•
Toward a Deeper Meditation •
Seven Spiritual Centers (DVD).
The following
is a discussion concerning consciousness and how
it relates to reincarnation. It is an excellent
explanation of reincarnation that dispels many myths
that people have about it. One particular myth is
that people are forced to reincarnate immediately
after death in the manner that some eastern religions
teach. This myth is dispelled by many NDE testimonials
which suggest that reincarnation is not bound by
time nor is it necessarily a linear cycle. Time
as we know it does not exist in the realm of the
NDE. A soul can spend an "eternity of eternities"
in the realms after death before deciding to incarnate
again. Below is
an excerpt from
John Van Auken's outstanding book,
Reincarnation: Born Again and Again.
This source
of answers to the mysteries of life has no unifying
name for its body of knowledge. Various parts of
its principal concepts are actually scattered throughout
different cultures and countries with no central
collection point for the ideas. Because of this,
and because many of its ideas are not widely known
(often the adherents of these ideas have purposefully
withheld them from the public), this school of thought
can be referred to as the "secret teachings." But
it is not a single school of thought; rather, it's
a hodgepodge of concepts from many diverse and often
unrelated sources that reveal a very similar view
of life and its meaning.
Science might categorize the secret teachings
as metaphysical, meaning "beyond the known laws
and observations of physics." Religion might
refer to them as mystical, meaning that they
belong to a collection of thought considered
too mysterious to consider or of dubious origin.
It's interesting to
note that the great religions had sects that
knew of and ascribed to some or all of the secret
teachings. In Islam it was the
Sufis;
in Judaism, the
Kabbalists;
in early Christianity, the Gnostics
and later, from the Middle Ages through the
Reformation to even modern times, the many Christian
mystics.
Science, too, has had its
adherents to concepts held by the secret teachings.
Many quantum physicists have written about theories
of life beyond the physically observable. In the
field of medicine, doctors have found that some
patients, who have been declared dead and later
revived have had near-death experiences that confirm
many of the concepts found in the secret teachings.
According to the secret
teachings, the universe was not first created out
of matter, but existed prior to material creation
in spirit form. Imagine a consciousness similar
to our own, except that this first consciousness
was boundless, a Universal Consciousness.
This is God. At some point, the Universal Consciousness
desired to express itself. It began to conceive,
to imagine, and to express Its inner promptings.
And so the creation began light, sound ... eventually
stars, galaxies, trees, and rivers. This point in
creation was still prior to the physical creation
of the universe that science records. This was a
realm of thought; no physical forms existed, only
thoughts in the consciousness of the Universe. The
physical universe had not yet been created.
According to the secret
teachings, there came a point in this creation where
the Creator's Consciousness desired to bring forth
companions,
creatures like unto Itself that would share in this
expression of life. In order for the creatures to
be more than creations, they had to possess individual
consciousness and freedom so that they could choose
to be companions. Otherwise, they would only have
been servants of the Original Consciousness. So
within the One Universal Consciousness many individual
points of consciousness were awakened and given
freedom.
It's important for us to
realize that at this point in our existence we did
not have physical bodies. All of what has just been
described occurred within the Mind of God. Consequently,
its "form" resembled that of thought rather than
physical objects. In the very beginning we were
individual points of consciousness within the one
great Universal Consciousness.
At first we were quiet,
our wills content to observe the wonders of the
spiritual creation as they flowed from the Mind
of God. In these early periods we were so much a
part of the Creator's Consciousness that we were
one with It, virtually indistinguishable from It.
However, it wasn't long before some of us began
to use our wills and express ourselves. At first,
we simply imitated the Creator, but eventually we
gained experience, and with experience came knowledge
and confidence. Then, we truly began to create on
our own, adding new realms to the spiritual creation,
much like a second voice adds to a song by singing
harmony with the main melody.
This was exactly why we
had been created to share in and contribute to the
great expression of life and to be Its companions.
To fulfill this purpose we were created in the image
of the Creator: consciousness with freedom, capable
of conceiving, perceiving, and remembering; capable
of communicating directly with the Creator and the
other companions.
Consciousness and free will
were the greatest qualities given any creation,
but they came with equally great responsibility
for their use or misuse. Of course, the all-knowing
Universal One knew the potential dangers in giving
beings complete freedom to do as they desired. However,
the potential joy of sharing life with true companions,
not servants, was deemed worth the risk. Therefore,
each of these new free-willed beings would simply
have to learn to take charge of themselves and to
subdue harmful desires in order to live in harmony
with the other companions and the Creator. To do
otherwise would only bring chaos, suffering, and
separation.
Unfortunately, chaos
came. As we continued to use our godly powers,
we became more fascinated with them. We
began to focus more and more on our own
creations and became less concerned with
and attentive to their harmony with the
Creator, with the Whole. The more we thought
of just ourselves and our own desires with
less regard for the Whole, the more self-centered
we became, eventually perceiving ourselves
as separate from the Whole.
Of course, this sense
of separation was all in our minds, so to speak,
because there really was no way we could exist
outside of the Whole because everything was
of spirit. It was more a result of our sustained
focus of attention on ourselves and our self-interests
that resulted in a heightened sense of a distinct
and separate self.
This was the beginning of
trouble. It led to a very long fall for us. A fall
that eventually left us feeling alone and separated
from the rest of life, even to the point that we,
who were actually companions and co-creators with
the Universal Creator, today come to think of ourselves
as little more than dust-like creatures, descendants
of apes and inhabitants of a planet on the outskirts
of a typical galaxy in the endless and diverse universe.
 This
chaos occurred in spirit when no physical universe
existed. To know ourselves and yet be one with the
Whole was the ideal condition, but the centering
of awareness on self alone resulted in a sense of
separation from the Whole. The more we exercised
our individual consciousness and free will for self-interest,
self-gratification, self-glorification, and self-consciousness,
the more we heightened our sense of self apart from
the Whole.
The resulting loss of contact
with the Source of our life and the purpose of our
existence was the beginning of darkness and evil,
which is ignorance. Without a clear sense of our
relationship to the rest of life, many of us began
to use free will in ways that were never meant to
be. Others simply let themselves be carried along
with the current of life, abdicating their free
will to the will of others. In both cases, these
were things that would make it very difficult for
us to be companions to the Creator.
However, the Creator foresaw
this potential and, prior to creating companions,
It created a Universal Law: Whatever one did with
its free will, it must experience the consequences.
The law was not intended as punishment or retribution
for offenses, but as a tool for education and enlightenment.
Thus, as we used our freedom, we experienced the
effects. In this we came to understand and learn.
Interestingly, both science
and religion recognize this law. In science it is
often stated, "For every action there is an equal
and opposing reaction." Its religious counterparts
are, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"; "As
you sow, so shall you reap"; and "As you do unto
others, it will be done unto you." Even today's
common knowledge expresses this principle in the
saying, "What goes around, comes around."
This is the law of karma,
of cause and effect. It was, and is, the great teacher
of the companions-to-be and it is an integral part
of the secret teachings. Once this law was established,
the Creator conceived and freed countless independent
points of consciousness within Its own infinite
consciousness and the companions came into being,
each conscious and free. What a trembling wonder
it must have been in those first moments!
Again, it's important
to realize that the companions were not physical
bodies. They were like "ideas" in the mind of the
Creator that were given freedom to be independently
conscious. As they used their freedom, they developed
into unique points of thought, feeling, desire,
expression, and memory. Each was slightly different
from the other by virtue of its different vantage
point within the Universal Consciousness. Each companion
had a spirit, mind, and a soul.
Spirit is the essence of life. Remember the condition
of the Creator before the creation; alive yet still.
This is Spirit. It is the living stillness in the
midst of activity. So often we identify life with
motion, but the essence of life was there before
the motion. Spirit is the essence of life.
Life in motion, or the power
to move and shape ideas and even physical forms
out of spirit, is mind. Mind is the sculptor, the
builder who conceives, imagines, and shapes ideas
out of the essence of life. Spirit is life; Mind
is the power to use it.
Each of the companions had
spirit and mind. As they used their life forces,
they developed experiences, memories, desires, fears,
etc. This caused them to become unique from one
another each having its own collection of experiences
and aspirations; each its own story. This individual
aspect of the companion is its soul. Soul is the
sum total of all that the companion had done with
its free-will consciousness. It's the companion's
story, its complex of memories. All of the companions
have spirit and mind, but each developed a unique
soul, because each built a different collection
of memories and experiences, resulting in different
desires, hopes, and attitudes about life. Thus,
spirit is the life force, mind is the power to use
it, and soul is the being that develops. All are
one in consciousness.
 The
creation then progressed from essence to thought,
thought into thought-form, and from thought-form
into particle-form or atomic-form; in other words,
matter. There are many realms to life. One of these
realms is the third dimension physical form, as
we know it today.
The companions, filled with
their newfound consciousness and freedom, went out
into the vast universe to experience life and to
learn about themselves, the Creator, and their relationship
to it. In their travels through the cosmos, some
of the companions entered the three-dimensional
influences of the planet Earth where they entered
into physical form for the first time. Here they
became so encapsulated in the physical that they
began to identify themselves more with their form
than with their consciousness. They began to think
of themselves as physical entities rather than free,
living consciousness. Incredibly, they began to
think they were only terrestrial beings and their
celestial origins began to be forgotten. Form was
so substantial, so captivating that it was difficult
to hold on to the more delicate reality of spirit-thoughts,
pure point of consciousness in a Universal Consciousness.
To have an individual body
was also the ultimate in self-identity and self-expression.
It then had the power to separate the individual
from the Whole and the formless spirit-thoughts
of higher realms.
Strong identification with
the physical made the companions subject to the
laws of nature, and, of course, a part of nature's
cycle is death. The body would come to life according
to the laws of nature, live for a time, and then
die. In their original state, the companions were
continually alive, but those that began to strongly
identify with their physical bodies were now affected
by death. Since they thought they were their bodies,
they considered themselves dead when their bodies
died.
This led to great confusion,
and when the companions who had not become involved
in the material universe saw what had happened to
the others, they decided to help those in the flesh
regain their former state. However, it was not going
to be easy.
In addition to the influences
of the physical dimension, the souls were building
reaction patterns (karmic patterns) with their willful
activities in the physical universe. According to
Universal Law, these actions had to be met properly
met in the physical universe where they had been
initiated. The more one acted in the physical dimension,
the more one built debts that had to be met in the
physical. Death changed nothing except those with
karmic debts to be paid had to pay them by incarnating
into another physical body. The result of this was
reincarnation.
Another effect of entering
the physical dimension was the division of consciousness.
According to the secret teachings, as an individual
entered deeper into the physical, its consciousness
separated into three divisions of awareness. Two
of these divisions we acknowledge today: the
conscious and subconscious.
The first entails the physical realm where the human
body required a three-dimensional consciousness
to function. It has become the part of our consciousness
we are most familiar with, what we have come to
call the conscious mind. Many of us would consider
it to actually be the "I" or "me" of ourselves.
It is within this part of consciousness that we
experience physical life, and our personalities
are developed.
The second part of consciousness
is shadow-like while one is incarnate in the physical
dimension. It lives life as a shadow, always there,
listening, watching, remembering, and only occasionally
making its profound and sometimes frightening presence
known. We have come to call this part of our consciousness
the subconscious mind. From out of this area come
dreams, intuitions, unseen motivations, and deepest
memories.
According to many teachings,
the subconscious is the realm of the soul that uses
the conscious mind as a mechanism for manifesting
in the physical realm through the five senses. Often
the thoughts and interests of the conscious mind,
combined with the desires of the body, become so
strong and dominant that only its activities seem
important and real; the subconscious seems illusionary
and unrelated to outer life. But in truth, the real
life is occurring in the subconscious.
The third area of the
now divided consciousness is the most universal.
It is the part we can perceive and commune with
the Universal Consciousness.
We have different names for it: the Collective Mind,
the Universal Mind,
the Collective Unconsciousness,
and the superconsciousness.
The more one's attention
moves into the conscious mind, the more narrow and
limited the focus and awareness becomes. The more
one moves toward the superconsciousness, the more
one becomes aware of the Whole, the Universal Forces,
the Creator.
It may be more difficult
to perceive the infinite when one is grossly involved
in the finite, but the Universal Consciousness and
the potential for attuning oneself to It remains.
Curiously, access to it is through the inner consciousness
of the incarnate individual and not outside of it,
making it a very mysterious passage for a physical
being.
In time, however, the companions
trapped in the physical dimension could again become
aware of the difference between terrestrial and
celestial life. They could again come to know their
original state and purpose, and regain their celestial
birthright of companionship with the Creator. In
time they could again come to realize that the conditions
in their present physical life were the result of
their free-will actions and choices before the present
life.
If the companions trapped
in the physical dimension could genuinely begin
to believe that the physical cannot possibly be
all there is to life, they could begin the long
journey back from form to spirit, a very difficult
journey. In many ways we, as human beings, are no
longer spirit. Flesh has become very much a part
of us, not just physically but mentally as well.
Even when we are out of the body (through death,
deep sleep, or some altered state such as meditation),
bodily manifestation is still very much a part of
us. Otherwise, there would certainly be no reincarnation.
We would simply leave the physical dimension and
never return.
The great paradox of humankind
is that we are now both spirit and flesh. That's
like saying we are a combination of oil and water,
two substances which do not combine. The mystical
analogy would more properly be fire and water; these,
too, don't combine. How can anything be made up
of two substances that are impossible to combine?
Yet, such is the nature of humanity. We are constantly
forced to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable:
mercy with justice, cooperation with independence,
unity with diversity, tradition with change, feeling
with thought, love with truth, and on and on.
 In
order to fully appreciate the secret teachings,
we need to understand how the Universal
Law of cause and effect works. It's easy
to say that the experiences in one's life
are the result of past activities, but the
forces of this law are greater than we may
first imagine.
Every action, every
thought, every idle word sets up reactions,
according to the Universal Law. When one thinks
a thought, that thought makes an impression
on the Universal Consciousness. Nothing is lost
or done in secret. Everything is done within
the Universal Consciousness, and the Whole is
affected by it (as well as all others within
the Whole).
This isn't easy for us to
believe, living in our own little worlds. The words
"secret", "private", "alone", and "separate" are
active words in our vocabulary. This is due to our
current separation in consciousness from the Whole.
In the higher realms of consciousness, there is
no space. Things and people are not separate, but
part of a Whole. All is actually One. All is within
the Whole. By increasing the focus on self, we have
created the illusion of a self separated from the
rest of life, but it just isn't so. Our individual
actions and thoughts make an impact on the Mind
of the Universal One (the Whole).
 Reactions to past thoughts
and actions become our fate, destiny, and karma.
An individual's fate is simply the rebounding effects
of previous choices remembered by its soul. The
reason the effects of these previous choices often
seem unfair to the conscious mind is because the
personality doesn't see beyond its own life for
sources of current conditions.
As companions of God, we
are free to live and choose and grow almost as we
desire, but not without being subject to the Universal,
Spiritual law. Through meeting our thoughts, actions,
and words we learn to discern wisdom from folly,
lasting strength from weakness, and true life from
illusion. In turn we become more able to fulfill
our ultimate purpose for existing: to be a companion
to the Universal Creator. The law is actually a
magnificent tool for perfect learning. It is completely
impersonal everyone experiences it equally and for
the purpose of enlightenment.
The law of karma is not
some fierce god in the sky keeping track of everything
so that it can zap people when they least expect
it. Most karmic reactions, in fact, come from the
individual's own deep memory of what it has done.
Karma has been described
as memory. Karma is memory coming to consciousness
again. What has occurred in the past is recalled
and has an effect on the present. Now, the recollection
may not surface to the conscious level; the personality
may have no awareness of the memory, in fact. Yet,
it exists at the deeper, soul level. Nevertheless,
the soul sees through the same eyes as the personality
and is reminded of its past use of free will and
consciousness. Naturally, some of these memories
will be compatible with the Universal Mind and some
will not. Memory is an important concept in understanding
how the law of karma works.
As a soul draws closer to
the Universal Mind, it becomes aware that some of
its memories are not compatible with the Creator,
and since its ultimate purpose for being is companionship
with the Creator, it seeks out opportunities to
resolve these incompatible memories.
Suppose a soul criticizes
another soul among its peers and behind its back.
As it becomes more aware of its true nature, it
will recall this wrong and, because of its incompatibility
with the Creator, will seek to correct it. Now,
the resolution could take many forms. The soul might
seek out an opportunity to work closely with the
injured soul as a supporter, assistant, publicist,
agent, or the like. Or perhaps it would seek to
re-create the original scene putting itself in a
position to criticize the other soul again in front
of the same peers. The test would be to see if the
soul would choose not to criticize this time, even
if it meant a certain loss of position for itself.
Throughout all this the soul grows wiser and more
compatible with the Creator.
If, however, a soul has
gotten so far away from its true nature that it
has no conscience, then the law of karma can become
a formidable obstacle to any further free-will action.
Such a soul becomes surrounded by its karma; everywhere
it turns, it meets the terrible effects of its previous
action and thoughts. Yet, even a soul who has gotten
in this pathetic situation can return to perfection
because there is no total condemnation from the
Creator or the law. If the soul turns away from
its self-centeredness and begins acting, reacting,
thinking, and speaking like a companion to the Universe,
then the law is just as perfect as it is with error;
and the reactions begin to build and establish a
new destiny for that soul.
Karma is memory. As one
recalls or relives situations, one meets self again,
and a new decision point, or crossroads, is presented
to the soul. In life, "good" would be equated with
compatible, harmonious actions and thoughts which
consider the needs and desires of others, along
with self's needs and desires. "Evil" would be equated
with actions and thoughts that are motivated by
a self-orientation that pays little or no attention
to the needs and desires of others and the Whole.
Metaphysically speaking, good results in oneness,
and evil results in a sense of separation. Decisions
in one's life could be approached by evaluating
which choices promote greater oneness and which
promote separation.
One must meet every bit
of one's karma. However, there is a way that it
can be modified, softened, even ameliorated. If
a soul, knowing another soul has wronged it, forgives
that soul and holds no lingering resentment perhaps
has even forgotten the wrong in the depths of its
forgiveness and understanding then it begins to
take hold of the power of forgiveness. The more
it forgives, the more it perceives and understands
forgiveness. Then, when it approaches the Universal
Consciousness and realizes it possesses memories
that are incompatible with It, forgiveness is much
more viable, removing the barrier of separation.
The law is so precise (what one gives one receives;
no exceptions) that if one begins having mercy on
and forgiveness of others, one begins to receive
mercy and forgiveness upon oneself. Unless, of course,
one refuses to forgive oneself.
All of one's karma has
to be met. And yet, no soul is given more than it
can bear to carry this is the paradoxical blessing
hidden in the limitations of time and space. A soul
is given the time it needs to turn away from its
selfish ways and, like the prodigal son, return
home to a feast of joy and welcome from our Creator.
Reincarnation
is not a way to avoid judgment and responsibility;
it is a way to allow the soul enough time to correct
its mistakes and develop itself.
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