THE
FINAL WORD: THE BOOK THAT TELLS ALL!!!
I
saved the Newton review for last because it is the most complete and delicious
serving of after-life insight of all the books I have read.
NEWTON's EXHAUSTIVE DESCRIPTION OF
SOUL-LIFE
The book is by Michael Newton, and is
called "Destiny of Souls, New case Studies of Life between Lives," (Llewellyn
Publications, St. Paul, MN 2000). Now I really like this book, but I am
very glad to have already read Moody's advice to see these types of books
as nonsense, but to study the message nevertheless. Patricia Kirmond's
book warned against unreliability in accounts using hypnosis, and the author
of this book is a hypnotherapist who has brought many, many people into
the spaces between lives.
His account is extremely detailed and
sounds very authoritative. For example, right at the start on page 2 it
is declared that he has never, in his many years' experience had someone
report that they were visited by Jesus or Buddha upon a death, but that
guides did represent the loving essences of these masters. On that page
it is also explained that you may see your mother upon dying, even though
she is currently reincarnated already, because souls are able to divide
into identical parts and reside two places at once, and in any case, a
part of the light energy that is us always stays resident in the spirit
world. The soul has a majesty beyond description.
Before I launch into a page by page extracting
of what I considered important and interesting, which may not be what you
would find either, I want to call out one special topic for a more detailed
treatment: the birthing of souls! So, the discussion is divided into two
pieces: general information about the afterlife, or the life between lives
for most of us, and then a special look at the birthing of souls.
GENERAL FACTS ABOUT LIFE AND LIFE BETWEEN
LIVES
Pages 2 and 3 speak of the orientation
with a guide upon dying, a meeting with a duration that depends on the
type of life lived. There is no hell except "perhaps" on earth, but deeply
evil persons can spend a long time in a solitary place, and less evil persons
may be put into an intensive care unit and quickly sent back into life
on earth. Karma is real and karmic issues have to be dealt with. After
orientation with guides we return to our soul group, a family of sorts,
to a warm welcome home celebration usually.
The author, as do I, has a problem with
the hierarchical ordering of the afterlife, but assures us that although
there is hierarchy, there is no hierarchical ambiance, and free will is
respected (pp. 6-7). Page 8 speaks of "Most Sacred Ones" that may be met
by very advanced souls, with whom there is a divine "Presence," but describe
a life review process for most of us that is also attended to a degree
by this Presence, involving a council of elders who will help us pick the
right body and life to help us progress through another incarnation. Souls
seem to enter a womb after the third month of pregnancy, so they will have
a well developed brain to help them through the transition that includes
an amnesiac memory block.
Page 10 says that how we live and treat
others is what is important to our progression. Page 10 also suggests to
the reader, and this is important,
. . . what I have to say are my truths about our spiritual life. There are many doorways to the truth. My truths come from a cumulation of great wisdom from multitudes of people who have graced my life as clients over many years. If I make statements that go against your preconceptions, faith, or personal philosophy, please take what fits well for you and discard the rest.
I think that is good advice. Same
goes for this review and anything I have ever written.
The next radical insight, to me, was on
pages 38 and 39 where it is categorically stated that the angels of Catholic
and Protestant Christian faiths do not exist. Case stories are cited to
back up most of these types of statements, and in that respect, the woman
who confused the vision of her husband first with Jesus, then with an angel,
is instructive (p. 41). To me it suggests that one sees what one expects
to see. Guides there are, and are often labeled as angels.
The healing process on entry into the
spirit world is likened to a deprogramming on page 43, and is followed
by a discussion of a nostalgia for earth life that is:
. . . tempered by a state of blissful omniscience and such a heightened sense of well-being that souls feel more alive than when they were on Earth.
There may be a sadness in a soul,
however, either from karmic guilt over having made poor choices, or that
it may be related to a soul's desire to merge with its Source, a desire
that propels it onward to seek perfection, presumable through living more
and better lives (pp. 43-44).
Page 75 contains another startling factoid:
there are no malevolent spirit beings such as a devil, demons, and there
is no such thing as either soul possession or hell! This is good news but
of course contradicts what some others have just as authoritatively written.
Pages 76 and 77 continue on this important
topic of evil, and restate more comprehensively what was said on page 75,
but also add that there is no evil in genes, evil tendencies are not transmitted
from parent to child, although modeling of attitudes and behaviors certainly
can affect a child of evil parents. As was already mentioned on page 75,
abused children may expect to see demons in the afterlife, and page 77
adds that abuse contaminates a child's soul. But it also says that a particularly
difficult life may have been deliberately chosen for the lessons needed
by a soul.
There is interesting insight into the
length of time it takes for a soul to fully synchronize itself with a new
host body's brain. Even when a soul leaves a body it leaves behind some
energy so that there is no opportunity for demonic beings to sneak in and
occupy a body while the soul is traveling. This is more unfounded superstition,
according to page 79.
The recovery and healing of severely damaged
souls is described on pages 94 and 95. The healing of the soul is called
its resurrection, and there is a loss of painful memories in that process,
a merciful process. The healing is actually a remodeling and reshaping
of energy. Good news for earth-dwellers, those souls too heinously into
evil are not sent back to earth. This is, of course, contrary to other
experts' assessments of the treatment of such souls.
There are not only other worlds inhabited
by beings, but some souls among us are hybrids. It is not unheard of to
incarnate on other worlds, therefore, although it is unusual. Statistically
about a fourth of the author's informants have visited other worlds, very
few have been incarnated on other worlds and are hybrid souls. (P. 100)
It is apparently a tricky thing to judge
exactly how much of our personal energy we can bring into a body with us.
There is a tendency to overestimate how much of us a body can take. But
to put in less is merciful, it makes memory loss more complete allowing
us greater freedom to see situations as new and set up new approaches to
them. Otherwise we could be hampered by memory of past failures, in past
lives, according to page 117.
Pages 136 and 137 categorically say that
the DNA-memory explanation of "past-lives" is bunk. Reincarnation is real.
This is in direct contradiction to what Bettie J. Eadie says on the topic,
but most other sources agree that reincarnation is real. Crowther's book
never mentions past lives, only a life in a spirit world as does Eadie.
Newton is as bothered as I am about the
physical plant of heaven and its descriptions. On page 134 he says he answers
questions from his clients who are bothered by recalling "schoolrooms,
libraries and temples" in the spirit world in this fashion:
I address these questions by explaining that past observational memory is metaphoric as a current perspective. Original scenes from all our lives never leave our memory as souls. In the spirit world, seeing a temple is not a literal record of stone blocks but rather a visualization of the meaning the temple has to that soul. . . . All client memory retrieval is based upon observations of the soul mind processing information through a human mind. Regardless of the visual structures of spiritual settings, I always look to the functional aspects of what a subject is doing in them.
I really liked and appreciated this
insight. Nothing bothered me quite as much as the accounts of the physical
plant of heaven in some of the books I have read. I was particularly bothered
by the art and architecture of heaven illustrated in Browne's book. Newton
does acknowledge the predominance of Greek-styled architecture in the accounts
by his clients, and ascribes it as a handy metaphor to so many having lived
through those times. In fairness, Browne also explains the classic arts
showing up in heaven, but in a very different way: the prototypes of all
these artful building were in heaven before their less than perfect earthly
counterparts were built based on memories of the world of spirits. Very
different explanations of a phenomenon these two books obviously have in
common: classic Greek architecture in visions of the afterlife, but both
agree that most meetings described take place in buildings, even classrooms
(see Newton's page 144).
Several accounts I have read for this survey also report libraries with life books or books of life. Newton is not an exception, but on page 150 he brings back in the metaphoric nature of some of these seemingly factual accounts of a physical setting for what the soul has experienced. He writes:
The people who describe earthly structures in their spiritual home also include the library, and descriptions of this setting are quite consistent. On Earth, a library represents a systematic collection of books arranged by subjects and names which provide information. The titles of Spiritual Life books may have my client's names on them. This may seem odd, but if I were working with an intelligent aquatic being from Planet X who had never been to Earth and whose place of study was an ocean tide pool, I'm sure that is what this entity would report seeing in the spirit world.
I found this quite profound and like
it as an operative statement of caution: do not take accounts of physical
structures too literally but look to functionality. This is, in a way,
parallel to Moody's advice to not take claims of authority too serious,
they may be nonsense, but to judge the content of the message which may,
indeed, bring new knowledge into the world!
Newton goes on to describe in some detail
some of the physical structures often mentioned by his clients, and notes
how very similar these accounts are, even drawing a picture of the library
complete with desks and tables and bookshelves and who sits where to do
what! My question as I read this was if there has been or is cross-fertilization/contamination
between his clients. This could set up expectations that will be faithfully
reflected in the next person's experience. Since the soul-mind is trying
to convey the ineffable to a human mind, as Newton previously explained,
perhaps it will use the metaphorical tools that are already resident in
that person's mind, in other words. The reason I speculate this way is
because in the last section of this review, it is the conclusion I come
to about the two very close accounts, only to be found in Newton's book,
of the birthing of souls!
The next startling tidbit, for me, was
the discussion on pages 168-169 of the ability to look into future lives
in this library. One informant's statement of the possibility to look into
future lives was accompanied by a caution: future lives, because of free
determination, are not explorable in great detail, and these archives are
not where you go to plan your next life. Newton then launches into a discussion
of parallel universes or alternate realities, but comes back to Earth,
s it were, by noting that his informants seem to move quite linearly through
time, forwards or backwards and not sideways. In classrooms, rather than
the library, there are tools for getting a closer look at, and thus help
plan, a future life. On page 169, seemingly -to me- out of left field,
Newton asks if our perceived realities are all an illusion (as is taught
in some esoteric philosophies and religions). His conclusion is maybe,
but . . .
Even if we believe that everything we think is real is an illusion, life is anything but meaningless.
Amen to that one!
Because of my years as a Mormon, I found
the description of there being real soul names given to us interesting.
Apparently they tend to be quite unpronounceable, and there is a reticence
to let someone in this life know their true soul name. This is interesting
to me because of the Mormon idea that there is a new name (as in the Bible's
Book of Revelation) that only you should know, by which you will be called
for very specific ritual purposes in the afterlife.
Newton's description of the council of
Elders that helps us review our lives is astonishingly similar in terms
of function to the councils described for the same purpose by some others,
but is also astonishingly different in physical description.
As we have seen, Eadie says the council is men only, leaders are men only, and when challenged she repeats this with adamance in a follow-on book: male leadership is the order of Heaven, of God! Very Mormon indeed. Newton, on the other hand, says the Elders are males as well as females, their number varies from case to case, and there are many councils. Also, spirit guides can be either male or female, there is no sex stereotyping among spirits. The councils are discussed in considerable detail on pages 204 through 214. If you want to know what they do and how they do it, please see these pages, but they basically help a soul plan properly for their next journey among us.
Newton makes it very clear that council members can include his clients,
people like us, and thus have been through incarnations and may yet
incarnate again! This is, of course, contrary to what was asserted
by our witnesses in the previous episode in this series.
The councils are aided in their work by
the "Presence" -and council meetings are as close as we get to that immanent
manifestation of the Divine. The Presence is a help to the council, and
this is described on pages 243-244. On pages 247 through 249 there is more
on this mysterious Presence, and it is called the Oversoul, and likened
to a mother by some informants, but as newton explains on pages 250 and
251, the definition of the Presence, of God and the Divine-influence hierarchy,
eludes us in spite of much useful insights from clients. Pages 251-252
contain some thoughtful speculation about the changing views of God over
time and the nature of the creative process, but nothing that I want to
repeat here because it is properly labeled as speculation. Interesting,
but not claimed to be revealed by hypnotherapy clients.
If you are interested in soulmates and
the group dynamics of souls, pages 259-274 are for you. I found the section
reasonable, meaning it reflected my prejudices. Pages 274-277 are all about
soul-genealogy, and the discussion begins by Newton restating his objection
to DNA-based reincarnation views.
Soul group dynamics include recreational
activities (p. 290) and hide and seek seems to be a significant pastime
for some stages of soul development (pp. 314-315). This, I note, has been
reported by others. Newton has a very different take on the existence of
animal souls among humans. Some say the crowd of former pets that meets
you as you enter the spirit world is almost funny because they compete
with the spirits of human loved ones to get to you. Newton says that the
souls of animals are different and they are grouped together, by kinds,
and not among humans. Some humans are called as caretakers of animal souls,
however. This is discussed on pages 296-302.
Serious preparations are made for future
lives, using movies of potential futures, involving body choices, with
an opportunity to try out some future scenarios. This is described on pages
355-364 especially. What I found of interest is the idea of the covenant,
on page 363, also called a life contract, apparently an agreement with
ones council. This agreement may include such trials as taking on a homosexual
body for a lifetime, leading to a need to swim upstream against the main
current of a human society, for whatever purposes that might serve a soul.
Pages 367 to 369 caught my eye because
they speak of time-manipulation (slowing it and speeding it, not time travel)
and of a planet, a world without intelligent life now, but that was once
populated by a species that would make a good monster movie. Interplanetary
travel led to their demise.
No soul enters a body in the first trimester,
so abortion early on is not as serious as later. There is much spiritual
concern and help provided to a mother who aborts and to the child aborted.
Usually, if a mother loses a baby for whatever reason, that same baby will
be the one born to her when she does succeed in carrying a baby to term.
If she never does, the child will likely go to a close relative, to stay
as near as possible within the outlines of the life plan (pp. 382-383).
The mix of a spirt's temperament and the choice of bod combines to make
for variations in personality (p. 388).
Newton on pages 395-396 says the idea
of a resurrection into an eternal kingdom of bliss, like the legend of
Atlantis, and like other Utopian myths. They probably are reflections of
our longing for the ideal society we experience in the spirt world between
lives, or at least that is my reading of what Newton says over a long stretch
of words. And apparently Newton believes, and I agree, that times are improving
as the human society on Earth progresses (p. 397). Just compare the life
of a peasant in Europe in the Middle Ages to a peasant in the same locale
today. But there are pockets of extremely harsh and cruel conditions in
which people live, conditions that may be either naturally or politically
harsh, or both. In this vein, the call is to be helpful to others (p. 399)
and to appreciate the importance of our actions in this life:
You are entrusted with your body to be
an active participant in life, not a bystander. We must not lose sight
of the idea that we accepted this sacred contract of life and this means
the roles we play on Earth are actually greater than ourselves.
Newton's final remarks on life and its
purpose are very good, I think. On pages 400 and 401 he says that discovering
the "fragment of divinity" inside of us is like falling in love that leads
through a flirtatious self-discovery into a "marriage of fidelity to one's
Self." Newton urges us away from an externalist view and toward an internalist
view of our relation with our Creator:
The spiritual externalist waits for reunification
with a Creator after death, while the internalist feels part of a Oneness
each day. Spiritual insight comes to us in quiet, introspective, subtle
moments which are manifested by the power of a single thought.
A near-final word from Newton reflects
the whole purpose for reading a book such as this one (p. 401):
To uplift the human mind from feelings of disenchantment, we must expand our consciousness while forgiving ourselves for our mistakes. I believe it is vital to our mental health that we laugh at ourselves and the foolish predicaments we get into along the road. Life is full of conflicts and the struggle, pain, and happiness we experience are all reasons for our being here. Each day is a new beginning.
In case I failed to mention it, this
book was a great read, I liked it a lot for its thoughtful and cautious
insight and its new ideas. One of those new ideas I have saved for its
very own section:
THE BIRTHING OF SOULS!
Pages 125 through 134 contain the most
astounding thing I have ever read, an account of the birthing process that
bring forth new souls! I will cite a client's statement to newton that
occurs on pages 125 and 126 in its entirety to show why this was startlingly
new material to me:
My soul was created out of a great irregular cloudy mass. I was expelled as a tiny particle of energy from this intense, pulsating bluish, yellow and white light. The pulsations send out hailstorms of soul matter. Some fall back and are reabsorbed but I continued outward and was being carried along in a stream with others like me. The next thing I knew, I was in a bright enclosed area with very loving beings taking care of me.I remember being in a nursery of some sort where we were like unhatched eggs in a beehive. When I acquired more awareness I learned I was in the nursery world of Uras. I don't know how I got there. I was like an egg in embryonic fluid waiting to be fertilized and I sensed there were many other cells of young lights who were coming awake with me. There was a group of mothers, beautiful and loving, who . . . pierced our membrane sacs and opened us. There were swirling currents of intense, nurturing lights around us and I could hear music. My awareness began with curiosity. Soon I was taken from Uras and joined other children in a different setting.
But in major items of physical description they are so close to each
other and to the account above that either they are real descriptions of
a real, physical process, or they have been cross-influenced and we need
to remind ourselves of the discussion on page 134. That discussion suggested
that the ineffable realities of the spirit world may be interpreted into
symbols and structures available in the human mind through which the soul
has to express its knowledge. So this is not to say that there is not a
soul-birthing and nurturing process. It is just to say we should not get
hung up on the literalness of the physical descriptions, and the fact they
are alike in some major ways may just reflect that these minds were made
aware of the images used by one, and thus seized upon the same images to
convey the same undescribable ideas.
Newton says this sort of memory is
rare in older souls. He says he has had as clients those who have served
as Incubator Mothers, a calling of an exceptionally high level, however.
Pages 126 through 133 are accounts of interviews with several who can report
on their experiences in this high calling. I am not going to violate the
intent of copyright law and cite them here, needless to say they add detail
to what was cited above.
The Mother does a "sparking" that helps
the new soul's energy come into an awareness of its own existence, and
she also merges her energy with the infant to give it sustenance (p. 129).
Newton really pushes his clients to dig for knowledge: what role is played
by the Creator, the Source? Are the souls perfect or do they need help?
Are they complete or do they need additional substance to be added to them
to acquire enlightenment? This continues for several pages with little
information, in my estimation, coming back. Newton tries to pull what he
has learned together into a coherent picture on pages 132 and 133. Again,
I do not want to steal his thunder, but in essence he sees four different
types of soul products (my term, and it may be rude I know) from this birthing
process, only one of which is capable of becoming as we are. The roles
of the others are described, and one includes the type of soul that can
only be found living in an non-embodied state on something Newton calls
"mental worlds." All these soul-types serve functions in the structure
of the universe, however.
Finally, a soul-child reports on learning
in a Utopian atmosphere. He knew this was a temporary state, and he would
soon enter into a physical life experience. This is on page 133, and is
a good place to end since the previous section ended on a reference to
the inspiration for societal improvement that seems to be stirred by a
Utopian memory.
What do I make of this information about
soul birthing and nurturing? I find it absolutely fascinating, and do not
know what exactly to make of it. Again, from my years as a Mormon believer,
I have some acquaintance with the idea of spirits being created through
a birthing process. The role of mothers in bringing forth spirits is even
mentioned in Mormon scripture. But the process described by Newton does
not easily fall into the thought pattern that my Mormon years developed.
I think if Newton asked again, he could get his clients to reveal that
Incubator Mothers are not necessarily female. As one client answered when
pressed very hard for a description of that elusive Presence, which the
book apparently sees as the elusive ultimate God, the description was this
(p. 248):
A mother . . . full of love . . . singing to her child.
WHAT
DOES IT ALL MEAN?
I
still don't know, intellectually. I'll keep reading. The reading has fed
my intuitive side and enthused it several times, giving me a strong feeling
there is truth in some of what I have read. The one thing that every one
of these accounts agree on is that Love is real and to give and receive
love is very important in living a life. I knew that, intuitively, and
can even acknowledge that intellectually as probably being quite useful
in living a meaningful life, and maybe even true!
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