Can we meet our beloved ones?

[Guest guest]

NDE's have not been proved to be exactly what they are ie.... NDE!! They could be just dreams or an altered state of deceptive consciousness which one concludes as the real thing. It could be done by exciting a certain area of the brain.

 

Also please dont quote Jesus for he never existed!!

[Guest guest]

near-death.com

 

good site to read thousands of NDEs. NDEs are real. People have been turned from atheists into believers in God after an Near-Death-experience. NDE will give the most hardened atheist the realization they are not this body, and soul and God are real..

[gHari]

I wish guests would put an X or something on their posts - some sort of etiquette - so we could disregard every word coming from that anti-Jesus clown. Where do we get these guys? What interest could they possibly have in our discussions, except to harrass the suras?

 

Guests, if you don't want to be considered the shameful one, then mark your posts somehow - like "Love and kisses, Poster108". As for me, unnamed Guests no longer exist on this forum. That was just too demoniac to tolerate ever again.

[Guest guest]

I do hope that Pitraloka is a plane of no return . I just do not want to come

back to this awful material worl ever again . Unfortunately,in all religions (except Islam) suicide is a sin and that is a major stumblinh block to spiritual people who just want out of this ugly planet.

 

Is Pitraloka mentioned anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatham?

[Guest guest]

 

I wish guests would put an X or something on their posts - some sort of etiquette - so we could disregard every word coming from that anti-Jesus clown. Where do we get these guys? What interest could they possibly have in our discussions, except to harrass the suras?

 

Guests, if you don't want to be considered the shameful one, then mark your posts somehow - like "Love and kisses, Poster108". As for me, unnamed Guests no longer exist on this forum. That was just too demoniac to tolerate ever again.

 

Totally agree, wonder why noone has mentioned this before? I always wonder if the "guest" who wrote one post, is the one who wrote another in the same thread?

 

Yes, please as guests, put your mark on your posts, to identify yourself...but thinking about it , that is open to abuse, one can post as another....

 

Maybe the best thing is to be member only

[Guest guest]

Please don't kill yourself. Know that the departed souls are 7 times more clairvoyant and clairaudient than they were than they are alive. They can clearly hear and see you.

 

I know how you feel for about 2-3 years I daily wanted to kill myself over separation from a near and dear one.

 

What worked for me is this: get as good darshan as you can of sants and sadhus while you are in this state. The frame of mind you are in you can

be more open to the mystical truth of life. You are closer to prapatti or full surrender than you ever are going to be.

 

Two find a support group or person(s) of people who have experienced loss as they can be very understanding and supportive and help you through the days that you think you should just end it all.

 

Three read and study as much as you can whatever scriptures of the world or wise books you can while you are in this crisis mode. When I lost two dear ones one right after another I immersed myself in reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche every day for two years.

 

I learned some very good techniques from that book like when you miss your loved one it is because they miss you too. So in honor of your friend do some good deed in his/her name and dedicate the merit to your friend.

 

By not being selfish and hoarding the merit all to yourself then you get twice the merit actually. Then because your friend inspired you to do whatever good deeds then wherever they are they are given a first class upgrade

in whatever loka or realm they are in.

 

Because you gave your friend a first class upgrade by dedicating the merit then in turn they become like a guardian angel to you. Then eternally you and your friend can reciprocate and help be guardian angels to each other,

even helping each other to advance spiritually.

 

By dedicating the merit you might even help your friend make a very significant spiritual breakthrough. Say by your personality and inclinations you can only amass so much merit due to you past life punya and sukritya. However if your friend has a slightly different psychology than you, and dedicates the merit of his/her good deeds to you, then your friend "covers your back" from all angles so to speak.

 

Some activities that bring merit would be to sponsor a feast, feed the poor, donate food or clothes or money to children, distribute knowledge , sponsor education, go on a pilgrimmage such as Braj Mandala parikrama, volunteer at a temple, and so on.

 

Please let me know whether you read this. Yes I have seen my loved one many times and also I am a sensitive, many times those who have passed on give me messages for the living. A Christian-Jewish magazine that sometimes has stories about this is called Guideposts. This month's issue has a beautiful story about a boy in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

 

His mother was sent to the women/ children/ elderly/ sick people's camp to die and when he was in the camp of the boys and men who could still work. his job was to shovel bodies to be cremated. One day he had a vision of his mother and she sadi, "I am sending you an angel."

 

A few days later he met a girl at the edge of the camp daily she would throw apples and bread to him for six months. Then he was transferred to anotehr camp. Fifteen years later he survived the camps [the camp was liberated by the Russians on the day he was to be executed] and he found himself living

in United States.

 

His friend told him, "Go on double date, blind date with me." He went on blind date and the date they picked for him the girl was the girl who had thrown apples to him when he was eleven years old. He married her and 50 years later still going strong with children and grandchildren.

 

Please do not ever think that you are separated from your loved ones. How can you be, they are part of the Lord? Your loved ones will look after you with so much love and devotion like this man's mother did for her son by sending him an angel. No one's suffering is ever in vain, because the mother

was wrongly executed she had huge store of punya and sukritya, good deeds

 

which she transferred to her son. When the asuras try to harm you and you are innocent only your spiritual power becomes even stronger. Please let me know if you are okay and keep on doing good deeds and dedicate the merit to your loved ones. Then they help you and it creates a beautiful eternal circle of love that can never be broken.

 

Aum Shanti Shanti Aum

[Guest guest]

sounds like lobsang rampa stuff, which I read way way back in the 60's. Cool

at the time, esp with all the astral travel stuff, but.... just doesn't jive with

pure bhakti yoga. I'm sure lobsang was advanced and all, as his books did

inspire me, but ya know, Srila Prabhupada never advocated astral travel or

mysticism, nor did his previous acaryas.

 

As a favor to me, and perhaps to others, could you at least please assign a handle to your posts, so that we know that you are the proponent of astral

projection and such? Not that there's anything wrong in astral travel per se, but at least we can know a little about where you stand, philosophically, whenever you post. Thanks. No offense intended. I was studying and attempting to practice astral projection way back in the 60's, a little success, but I rejected that path after discovering Bhakti Yoga. Hari bol.

[Guest guest]

 

What worked for me is this: get as good darshan as you can of sants and sadhus while you are in this state. The frame of mind you are in you can

be more open to the mystical truth of life. You are closer to prapatti or full surrender than you ever are going to be.

 

 

I am the original poster. Thanks for the lovely piece of advice and the extremely touching tale. Yes, It is unfair for God to take away our loved ones.Sometimes I feel there is no happiness in this world. Yes, I have now immersed myself in spirituality. I think of Sri Krishna all the time but the memories refuse to go away. Especially,they come back to haunt me early in the morning when everything is calm.Thats when i realise the emptiness in my life. I hope in due course every one of us will be liberated from this terrible world never tio suffer again!!

[Guest guest]

JJ, I am not the Guest who spoke about astral travel above, just so you know. Just wanted to say though, that it seems you have a very limited understanding of astral travel.

 

We each visit the Astral Plane every single night when we sleep. Astral travel is a very natural thing that everyone does every night, it's just that we normally do not remember our experiences on the astral plane. But yogis do and metaphysicians who project consciously are able to remember their experiences. Many adepts will use their Astral Travel ability to meet with other people around the world.

 

 

Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami writes:

 

 

The astral plane is within this world as its etheric counterpart, and when you drop off the physical body, you are in it. You are in it now but are not aware of it as yet. It is a world just like this one. You can travel from country to country on the astral plane. While I was studying in Sri Lanka in 1948, my teacher living in America used to come and visit me in the astral body. When I returned to America, people from Sri Lanka used to come on the astral plane and visit me in America, and I would see them in their astral bodies. While I was in Sri Lanka, I introduced a yogi from the Himalayas to my teacher in America, and they met on the astral plane. The next day, the yogi came back and described my teacher perfectly and told me of their conversation. After I returned to America, one day my teacher asked, "Who was that yogi that I met on the astral plane?" and then described him perfectly, and told of the same conversation as well.

 

I also want to state, do not think everyone on this forum is a Hare Krishna. That's just not so. There are Saivites, Shaktas, and Smartas here as well. So don't automatically assume that Srila Prabhupada is every poster's Guru on this forum.

 

This forum is listed on big-boards.com directory as Forum for followers of all Vedic sects. You'll notice that this forum has 3 special sections for Shakta email lists, 2 of which are for devotees of Ammachi and Shree Maa; as well as general sections for all Hindus. So many browsers and posters on this forum are not Gaudiyas, and they may have differing views than your own on these matters. Just something to keep in mind.

[Guest guest]

Practicing "Tonglen" is the art of dedicating spiritual merit generated by love for another person such as one of our loved ones.

 

In The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying it is very clearly explained by Sogyal Rinpoche on pages 198- 208.

 

The art of loving someone so strongly that we feel maitri and karuna towards them, loving-kindness and compassion, then dedicating the merit of any spiritual activity is an intrinsic part of Vedic culture and was taught to me by Srila Prabhuapada.

 

Perhaps he did not teach it to you but he taught it to me. Therefore I feel comfortable sharing it on a Gaudiya Vaisnava forum. Here are some examples of how Tonglen, giving and receiving, is practiced in Vedic culture.

 

When someone dies in Vedic culture we do the Antyestha ceremony for them. This generates merit for the person. It is a practice we do on their behalf motivated by our love for them.

 

This helps the deceased person and it also helps us. So it is a circle of love.

Then in Vedic culture we do not go to the Temple for 31 days after a family member dies. This is because the doors to the other world are so wide open that we want to keep the metaphysical action within the family.

 

We do not go to a public temple during this time as part of Vedic culture because the deceased is trying to contact us and we are very open to the deceased: nine times more than ordinary. If we go to a temple, any person off the street can go there including any crazy person who might be ghostly haunted.

 

Therefore in Vedic culture we remain within our own shrine room at home

doing practices called Tonglen in Tibet but have other names in Vedic culture. For example we feed the priests and the brahmanas, we distribute alms to the poor all in the name of the deceased.

 

We do these acts of dana or charity as part of Vedic culture motivated by love to benefit our loved one. Our loved one's journey is helped and we are helped also. Thus there is a circle of love.

 

In Vedic culture we can obtain siddhis by diligently practicing bhakti yoga. We don't wish for these siddhis but they come unbidden. There are 1008 siddhis in all we can obtain by doing bhakti yoga.

 

Any devout person in any tradition can obtain the siddhi of hearing and seeing their beloved departed. This is called Sanatana Dharma or Universal Concepts.

 

Many Sanskrit and Vedic texts were smuggled into Tibet when the Muslims took over and ransacked temples. Therefore I happily adopt practices to augment my sadhana wherever they appear in the world by whatever name that are part of Vedic culture of Tonglen, giving and receiving, practicing maitri and karuna.

 

A friend went on Braj Mandala Parikrama and dedicated all of the merit to me

as well as other friends and loved ones. As a result of this dedication of merit, I was having the most incredible and beautiful visions of Radha and Krishna daily. The Gaudiya Vaisnava swami leading the parikrama told everyone it is customary in fact to practice Tonglen or dedicate the merit of any pious activitity to help a loved one.

 

So while you may not have learned this, that doesn't mean it isn't part of Vedic culture. It just means that you were not aware that this is a beautiful type of Vaisnava sharing between souls. Hare Krishna, Jaya Sri Radhe.

[Guest guest]

 

Just wanted to say though, that it seems you have a very limited understanding of astral travel.

 

You might be surprised. Thus far, nothing I've read here is news to me. I'm well aware that we travel every night, consciously or otherwise. I know about the various dimensions, spirit guides, as well as the Akashic Records, which the astral traveller can visit as he progresses. I was quite fascinated with this at one time and read a lot, and knew several devotees who were adepts of varying degrees who shared their experiences. However, they did acknowledge that astral travel has very little to do with Bhakti. It was something that they had learned before they became devotees.

 

 

I also want to state, do not think everyone on this forum is a Hare Krishna. That's just not so. There are Saivites, Shaktas, and Smartas here as well. So don't automatically assume that Srila Prabhupada is every poster's Guru on this forum.

 

Okay, I respect that, and I apologize if I came on too strong. But what I've been seeing here as of late is someone (obviously not your good self) practicing mysticism/astral travel and advising bhakti yogis in a seemingly absolute manner, as if those who aren't adepts at astral travel are inferior and less advanced. I'm not suggesting that this person has to accept Srila Prabhupada. That was never my intention. Just that he/she not pretend to represent Srila Prabhupada, or Gaudiya Vaishnavas, by dint of his/her advancement in this area. Lord Caitanya recommended the chanting of the Maha Mantra as the process of purification and deliverance for this Age, not mysticism or astral travel.

 

Again, I humbly apologize for making assumptions about you.

[Guest guest]

Dear Spirit Soul,

 

May Supreme Goddess bless you. May Radha-Krsna Conjugal bestow on you every blessing.

 

You are a wonderful being with a special mission to fulfill. The kind of deep anguish you are feeling in time will fade. It is now five years since my biggest loss and I can tell you this with confidence.

 

Five years ago I lost the most dear person to me on this earth. At the same time I had two other losses of a different nature. Everyday I was just thinking what is the easiest way to kill myself that would be somewhat natural and devotional in nature.

 

By the grace of Sri Krsna every day that I was just about to kill myself then something would happen that showed me someone cared whether I lived or died. I did not know how in the world I could possibly keep on living.

 

I am so happy to hear you have a spiritual practice you can draw from. I must tell you that when you are full-on in grief like that it is a very very special blessing. At the risk of getting razzed again for mentioning the word Tibet [gasp!], what I learned from Tibetan culture is there are six states in this life where we are as close as we are ever going to be to enlightened state.

 

One is when we are crazy with grief. You are really seeing the world for what it is most clearly in that crazy with grief state. In time as you move on you will be able to laugh again as it is almost impossible to live in such an acute state of agony continuously unless you are some kind of an independently wealthy heir/ess.

 

In the mean time that state of grief is one of the very best states possible to go and get the association of a saintly person. The usual ego we ahve that we need to survive has been blown out of the water. In such a state as you are now, you are open to many, many blessings from darshan of the Deities, the sants and sadhus, the sacred scriptures of the world.

 

That is the gift that the person I lost gave to me. That is one gift that intense grief and loss gives you: the ability to receive very special subtle blessings in darshan. I cannot emphasize enough how fortunate you are to

be in this vulnerable state if you can also dive into your spiritual practices.

 

For example, in Victor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning" he describes being in Auschwitz and he was so put into an altered state from his suffering that he was able to understand and communicate with a tree. This is a very special time so do all you can to maximize it and "make the best use out of a bad bargain."

 

Another practice from Tibet is when you are suffering then when you are crying from the core of your heart, you can silently dedicate the merit of your suffering to all living beings. "By this suffering, may all sentient beings become free from sorrow."

 

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is filled with testimonies of how people who were suffering with seemingly pointless tortures used this prayer to transform their suffering into at least something that seemed useful and constructive.

 

The consensus was that is the most disheartening thing, when we think that our suffering is in vain and that God/dess does not hear our prayers. However to do a prayer such as the Boddhisattva vow then at least you feel as though your suffering is a powerful tool for change.

 

Some of the Vaisnavas who had this prayer were Prahlad Maharaja. he suffered repeated tortures and when he was asked for a benediction from the Lord, he only asked that all being be liberated. In Chaitanya lila there was a

Vaisnava who had this prayer also. So it is not an apasiddhanta mindset to

use suffering as a catalyst for compassion.

 

Another thing that you might find comforting is the idea of soulmates and soul families. One Hindu rite that is found all throughout Asia also is the idea

of Shraddha. On the anniversary of the loved ones passing we offer food and gifts to the loved one as well as a puja/archana. The reason this is done is to invite the person to reincarnate back into our family or with us somehow or other on the path.

 

There is much evidence for reincarnating soulmates from not only the film "Little Buddha" in which we see a trio of reincarnating souls to the Vaisnava tradition. One swami Indradyumna Swami who writes a journal

"Diary of A Travelling Preacher" has stated that he felt that his soulmate

is his best friend a prabhu called Sri Prahlad.

 

He feels like they have incarnated through time and space together. Also in the lila of Srila Prabhupada there were two souls at least who some people feel that reincarnated with His Divine Grace on purpose: Jayananda and Visnujana. That would be another incarnating trio through time and space.

 

So on a positive note if you very sincerely wish from the core of yoru heart to be with and see your loved ones again, the evidence is there that it can keep on happening again and again and again. And do as much purification as you can so that you can obtain the siddhis to recognize them when you meet them again.

 

In the film Little Buddha the phrase went, "I am so very happy to meet you again" when meeting a person dear to you reincarnating through space and time together. I can tell you that definitely if you want to see these people again you will somehow or other. And when it happens it will be as if no time went by at all.

 

I hope this helped a little bit and let us all know is there is anything else we can do to serve you. In at least one Hindu sect the leader has written about how the members of his church reincarnate over and over again to be together serving the Lord.

 

Another thing that I learned from the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is that any ordinary person with love for another person, that love is stronger than any temple priest can summon within himself. That love can work miracles

like it says in every corny song about love.

 

I read the same thing by a Hindu leader, "Love and dedication and the outpouring from the highest chakras of spiritual energies of the lay devotee are often greater than any professional priest could summon within himself. Devotees of this caliber have come up through Hindu society throughout the ages with natural powers to invoke the Gods and manifest in the lives of the Temple devotees many wondrous miracles."

 

Lastly I want to salute you on your resolve to never want to take birth in this world again. That is another gift that your loved one has given you. In my case before I had my huge loss I was not that diligent on the path, but now it is very hard for anyone to dissuade me from what I know to be right.

 

This is a gift from our departed loved ones: that resolve. Then with that resolve we can donate the merit of all of our good activities of our body, mind, and speech to secure the best possible reunion with our loved one.

 

One last thought, "We make very little progress when we strive to conquer the baser instincts in a good mood. However vast strides are possible when we are miserable and work within ourselves. Therefore if you ever are disappointed or discouraged, count it as a blessing, for you then have the opportunity to conquer the instinctive nature and really stabilzie yourself dynamically on the spiritual path."

 

Your Istha Devata will fulfill all of your desires so if you desire to see your loved one again then start planning out now exactly how you want it to be, just like having a long-distance relationship and planning for the day you can retire and travel together. Plan now by thinking what relationship you want with this person when you reincarnate, or think of what abode of the Lord you wish to transfer to with your friend.

 

Remember by dint of good merit when Dhruva Maharaja was transferred to higher planetary system his mother went with him in vimana side by side with him. When you become liberated soul you liberate so many generations of your ancestors before and after you.

 

So how wonderful is that?!!! I mean that is so sweet. I feel confident that your loved one is thinking of you as much as you are thinking of him/her. I also feel that your loved one is praying for you to have peace and is also arranging for a friend to be sent to you to help you.

 

Look for this friend, that is what happened to me. I prayed for my friend and I did as many austerities and penances as I could dedicating the merit to my friend that I lost. And I am a self-indulgent lazy bones so it was very uncharacteristic of me to be so pious as I was in my grief period.

 

Then by those austerities things lightened up enough and I felt strongly also my friend was working pulling strings with God/dess to send me a friend to help me also. Take good care of yourself and let us know how you are doing

all of your realizations. You are in a special period of transition called the Bardo in Tibet: any transition period of change and loss they view it as a dress rehearsal for death.

 

I feel you are doing the right thing from what you describe, so keep on trusting your inner wisdom. We will all keep you in our prayers. Aum Aum.

[theist]

 

I wish guests would put an X or something on their posts - some sort of etiquette - so we could disregard every word coming from that anti-Jesus clown. Where do we get these guys? What interest could they possibly have in our discussions, except to harrass the suras?

 

Guests, if you don't want to be considered the shameful one, then mark your posts somehow - like "Love and kisses, Poster108". As for me, unnamed Guests no longer exist on this forum. That was just too demoniac to tolerate ever again.

 

Year after year we are totured with this garbage talk by anonymous guests. Year after year the regulars complain. Year after year nothing ever changes. It's very disheartening.

[Vayuji]

>>>Actually, no Vedic sects believe in hell, except the Madhva-sect. Hell is an old English word for a place of eternal damnation.<<<

 

Wrong! Hell/Hel is the Old English, Old Norse, and Old Germanic word for the ancestral halls of the afterlife. It is exactly like Pitrloka and there is no such thing as eternal damnation since the pre-christian Germanic folk believed in reincarnation. Learn your stuff before you post.

 

Vayuji

[tackleberry]

 

Dear Spirit Soul,

 

I feel you are doing the right thing from what you describe, so keep on trusting your inner wisdom. We will all keep you in our prayers. Aum Aum.

 

 

That was immensely sweet. Thanks a million ,I so SO want to meet you.Perhaps we could become soulmates. I was never ever interested in this

rotten materialistic life. Lord Sri Krishna ,family and friends like you is all that i desire. I am the original poster,I did not want to reveal my identity initially.

Please give me your email address or phone number. I have become very sentimental of late.