Death and meditation, part 1, dying to oneself
Death and meditation, part 2, NDE revelations
Death and meditation, part 3, consciousness: heart or brain?
Death and meditation, part 1, dying to oneself
– Some people say that with meditation, “we die before dying”, “we die to ourselves”. Would you mind telling me what it means? asks Theophile the Younger.
– That is a vast subject, let’s start instead by an experiment, if you do not mind.
Sit very comfortably,
Plunge inside your heart,
Let you be absorbed by the light,
Get lost in it.
What can you see?
– The light lost its whole luminosity. It is a lightless light. I go on absorbing myself in heart deeper and deeper again. I can describe no more. Actually, I am drawn in a peaceful vacuum, there are no reference points anymore. Everything is still. It is a no movement move.
– Relax now, we shall speak together again after your meditation.
One hour has passed, Theophile the Elder says: “That’s all.”
Theophile the Younger very gently ends his meditation, such as the Elder taught him. His consciousness emerges again in him. He lets it unfold in his inner space. He slowly comes up to the surface, step by step, gaining again his body, his feeling. Then he turns his attention outward and he notices the smiling old man facing him.
– How long do you think having meditated? asks the old man.
– Such as usual in my meditative experiences, I have the feeling that it longs a few minutes, but this time, I lost any awareness. I came back before you said “that’s all”.
– Remind the state of extreme depth. What do you remember?
– A tiny conscience remained. I existed without existing. Actually, something remained, but the notion of self was lost. I understand: I think that is was the higher Self.
– The meditation longed one hour, replies Theophile the Elder.
– One hour! exclaimed the young man, it seemed so brief !
– For one hour, you “died to yourself” though you were alive, the Elder goes on. That is one of the highest levels of consciousness, the following one is the sahaj-samadhi, when your consciousness is at the same time inside the depth of the Self and fully present towards life, towards the others.
– Does a link exist between this and NDE (Near Death Experiment)?
– There are similarities, we consciously experiment this within meditation despite people living a NDE often live it during a surgical operation, during a cardiac arrest. They have a flat line electroencephalogram: they are clinically dead, but come back to consciousness. The experience is so strong that they remember it long after it happened. Very often, this radically changes their life.
– Would you mind explaining to me what happened during meditation?
– With the meditation posture, body relaxation and heartfulness, Theophile the Elder explains, you left the awareness of your body, then the awareness of the heart region, followed by the one of the cosmic region. In it draws the so-called intuitive conscience. It is the space/place of the universal consciousness, of the universal mind where can be found inspiration, intuition, premonitory dreams and even revelation, either spiritual or scientific ones.
– Do you think that great discoveries are coming from this dimension?
– Yes, didn’t you notice that great discoveries are simultaneously made from all four corners of the world?
– Do you mean I could willingly pick information up from cosmic level?
– That should be, but such as for our talks, one should ask the right question. A certain level of conscience and knowledge. It is such as in the canonical book of Chinese Medecine, the Huangdi Nei Jing, Emperor Wuang Ti (the Yellow Emperor) knows how to ask the right askings to his prefect Qi Pa. Knowledge protects itself from itself. It is reachable only under certain conditions, but this is another story.
– Such as you made me notice it, is not a purification and enlightenment of the 5 points of the heart necessary? And maybe those of the five following points?
The old man silently approves.
Death and meditation, part 2, NDE revelations
The Elder asked Theophile the Younger:
– What have you learned from what you have read about Near Death Experience (NDE)?
Theo. – I’ve discovered that many different aspects have to be considered.
Medically speaking, NDEs definitely aren’t hallucinations, since the flat line on the ECG shows there is no more activity of the heart. But what I find interesting is the fact the persons can leave their bodies and be in two worlds at once, thus being able to give a faithful description of not only the surgery they have been undergoing but also of the dialogue between physicians and nurses during the operation. One of the patients even said to his surgeon that, during his NDE, he had been able to read the inscription on the metal plate located under the surgery table. The surgeon ignored there was a plate. He checked and confirmed it was there indeed, which comforted the experiencer who, consequently, could conclude that the beautiful light he had also seen was absolutely real, and not simply a figment of his imagination.
Couldn’t we have astral projections, out of body experiences, just for fun?
The Elder – I used to, when I was young, but my spiritual guide advised me to stop.
Theo. – Why?
The Elder – He said it could damage my nervous system. Being connected to the astral body, the latter might be damaged, particularly if re-entering the body proves to be difficult. Later, I understood that travelling to the Infinite should start inwardly, via the dimensions of the heart. Your heart will protect and integrate all the plans of the being.
Theo. – All the persons who have lived an NDE enjoyed it. It gave a new meaning to their lives. They came out with a feeling of love and peace. How to explain they all shared that feeling?
The five points of the heart.
The Elder – It means that they have been in touch with the Point of the light of the soul, the point of the Christ love dimension (Point n°2 in the heart region), the point that lets us feel love for other people. Such persons will no longer fear death. They have an intense love and respect for life. Any form of life has become sacred for them. They have developed empathy and compassion for all, which matches what we are recommended in our spiritual approach.
Like any major event in our lives, a NDE is one of our soul’s choices. The soul determines its own destiny before incarnating. Chariji told me once that, before coming down on earth, every single soul had chosen the moment and circumstances of its death. So, why should we worry about it? We’d better live our lives intensely, fearing nothing at all, and being in perfect harmony with our souls.
Theo. – Is that what freewill means? And is it prenatal, then?
The Elder – It remains post–natal too, as we have decisive choices to make all along our existence.
Theo. – What choices?
The Elder – Either we’ll follow our soul and its destiny… or we’d rather loiter on the way.
As I already told you, neither Love nor God can put you under any constraint. We are all free to choose, but we do bear responsibility for the consequences.
Now, let us come back to our description: the experience and the revelations gained during a NDE usually make the persons feel peaceful, aspire to deeper knowledge and spirituality, and it makes them live their lives with an intense joy. The precious teachings they have received have completely transformed their understanding of what being on earth means. Now they have access to a greater sensibility and can at times aspire to the Divine through prayer, contemplation and meditation. They have had a direct vision of the Divine. Such persons can no longer be satisfied with this or that creed. They want to revive, to extend the spiritual experience they had of the ineffable light, of the spheres’ music, and of such extraordinary colours. It even occurred to some of these persons that they met spiritual entities and were taught by them. They sometimes came out with intuitive capacities or even developed mediumistic gifts.
Theo. – How is that possible? Sometimes, it all develops during the few seconds a heart attack, or a stroke, or an operation may last, doesn’t it?
The Elder – Time for them to pass through into another time dimension.
Theo. – And these few instants let them see their entire lives unroll, all details included, as if it were a film.
The Elder – Exactly! Then, Time or Space won’t exist any more. The story of Arjuna and Lord Krishna, in the Mahabharat, is a good example: a short moment, just before battle is engaged, is enough for Krishna to tell and transmit the Bagavad Gita to his disciple and friend Arjuna. A single and unique moment …
Death and meditation, part 3, consciousness: heart or brain?
Theo. – We have seen that during a NDE (Near Death Experience) consciousness endured, whereas the brain, as well as the heart, had ceased functioning. Doesn’t that show that the Being sustains beyond Death? After all, the brain is not that important, is it?
The Elder – Everything matters, in a human being, and each part of it has to be appraised in its right place. Consequently, we must understand that the human being is a spirit that came to experiment a body and a lifetime on the Earth. The body is a vehicle that will grow, mature, deteriorate and die.
The brain is a royal organ, but it remains an organ meant for giving orders to the spirit, whose control center is the heart.
Theo. – Do you mean that the heart should control the brain?
The Elder – The heart controls everything. Chinese medicine calls it Shen, the organizing power. It is different from the organ called Xin. Though Shen directly influences the brain, it is directly and energetically connected to all the organs. Researchers have recently observed in the heart the presence of neurons, and of neuro–hormonal connections with the brain.
Theo. – It is fantastic, I think, that researchers have been able to show the presence of consciousness during a cardiac arrest, even though the EEG shows a flat line! Have they realized then that they were just proving that the being continues to exist after death?
The Elder – It shows much progress indeed, but a big step remains to be taken before the existence of the soul is attested.
Theo. – However, since the brain is no longer active, they cannot possibly consider it is a hallucination, a dream or mere responses to neurotransmitters. Vital functions are totally blacked out, when a person is living a near death experience, and yet, during that out-of-body phase, he or she can see the operation being performed, hear personal conversations in the operating room an precisely report on them afterwards. Consciousness does not depend on corporeality. The person still exists; so, what else do they need?
The Elder – A personal experience of it! Scientists claim their objectivity, their practice of doubt, of skepticism. All this is partly due to religions imposing dogmas such as: ‘The earth is flat’ or ‘Man is 5,000 years old’. Many scientists do the same thing, establishing scientific dogmas based on hypotheses and prejudices.
Theo. – With Quantum Physics, science has made significant progress, so that thinking has soared and is gradually joining a high spirituality.
The Elder – Yes, but I am still convinced that awareness is a personal affair and that it must be based on inner experience. Can you imagine that, 5,000 years ago, yogis could describe the inner vision they had of the structure of the atom or of the Mayan People who lived on a continent that would be discovered centuries later? Babuji has given us a description of the far side of the moon even before an astronaut had stepped onto it. The human being has extensive capabilities. We’ve seen only the beginning of it, and scientists’ skepticism as well as religious prejudices all show that man is only at the beginning of an evolution. Large parts of knowledge have yet to be discovered, and that will only be possible through spiritual science, as the raja–yogis have always done in the course of ages.
Theo. (jokingly)
– A friend of mine has created an association for students. She called it ‘Homo Universalis’. Can you see in it any hope for the ‘homo erectus stupidus’?
The Elder – The human beings must turn their senses towards themselves, and there discover great truths that will change the face of the world. At the moment, all their senses are externally–oriented, looking for pleasure through unrestrained consumption, in search of artificial and illusory paradises. They must leave childhood and become what they really are, ‘universal men’. There are numerous levels of consciousness, having each their own operating rules. They are connected to one another. In order to be complete, a human being must have access to all of them and integrate them.
Theo. – By analogy, would you say that we are still at a primary school level?
The Elder – That’s right. Just observe the people who are governing: they are well trained, sometimes highly skilled, but they use their skills to pursue egocentric purposes. They are driven by ambition, by the lure of power. Many of them have forgotten that benevolence, altruism, should be their primary motivation.
Human beings are still in the primitive world of violence, a violence committed against the people, against individuals and their families, and ultimately against themselves.
Theo. – What do you mean?
The Elder – Let’s have an experience, shall we?
We are going to offer the 9 p.m. prayer for the upliftment of all mankind.Both friends focused inwardly.
They prayed for ten minutes, then The Elder asked:
– What do you feel?
Theo. – A benevolent vibratory field surrounds the planet. It is a cosmic blue colour, like Lord Krishna’s one.
At a subtle level, all the hearts are linked.
A same network exists down on Earth, but it shows several breakages.
The loving prayer reconstitutes the stream of light.
The threads weave and break. It is a light-and-shadow game.
At key points, there are some beings of light. Around them, there is nothing but light. In their auras, shadow cannot reconstitute.
Thousands of small luminous spots are connected to these great beings. They relay their vibration.
A network within the network has been established. It is pristine.
It is beautiful!
The Elder – You have seen three levels: the level of the beings of light, who are a ceaseless blessing for humankind, and beacons in time and space. Then there was the level of the light-and-shadow game, a game that has been on since the beginning of times. The last level is made of the new fabric that is being woven. It prepares the arrival of a new era for humanity. Human beings will mute from their spiritual dimension.
But we shall speak about prayer and its power very soon.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s initiation