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ASCENT
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SPIRITUAL ANTHOLOGY
Dedicated to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Who continues to be my Guiding Light
“You are a child of God, and it is your God-given role to help others to remember that they are also children of God”
[Divine decree received 2010]
‘Energy cannot be created or destroyed;
It can only be changed from one form to another.
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Match the frequency of the reality you want,
And you cannot help but get that reality.
It can be no other way.
This is not philosophy;
This is physics’
[Albert Einstein]
Why these Writings?
On completion of the Labyrinth here at Jacaranda Haven in 2010, I walked it on my own for the first time and then stood – silent and empty- in the centre. A loud voice spoke telepathically to me:
“You are a child of God, and it is your God-given role to help others to remember that they are also children of God”
Sai Baba had gifted me a pen and vibhuti (sacred ash) whilst leaving Puttaparthi in 1999, renowned psychic Joan Moylan had told me in 1998 to write, and psychic Jennifer Starlight conveyed to me from Spirit in early 2022 that I was meant to write…but what ?
And then I realised that all I could write about to assist others on their paths was my own experiences, teachings and learnings in order to “…help others to remember that they are also children of God”. Hence these autobiographical writings…
Modules
This is but one ‘module’ in this collection of autobiographical writings that I choose to call ‘modules’. Each one stands alone, but some cross-reference others. A completed book is a static thing once finished: however, these modules are flexible in that I can add to them at any time should new experiences/information comes to hand, and the reader can pick & choose which particular modules attract them. The collection of modules thereby constitutes an’ anthology’.
The intent of writing these is to share experiences and teachings that I have been blessed with along the way of a human incarnation – the ascent of consciousness – such that the reader may also benefit to illumine their own path/ascent to the ultimate inevitable goal for all humans: that of ‘self-realisation’.
Belief vs Truth
As a precursor to reading any of these Modules, there is a need to clarify the difference between ‘Belief’ and ‘Truth’: one may ‘believe’ eg it is raining outside by the sound on the roof, but when you actually see the rain falling/walk out and get wet, you actually then ‘know’ it is so – ie it is ‘true’, and so ‘belief’ about that instantly ceases.
Many go through life accumulating fixed ‘beliefs’ about people/things, and, as Krishnamurti taught:”… the moment you arrive at a conclusion/form an opinion/a belief, you block the possibility of further enquiry and discovery”.
So, a hot air balloon called ‘Ascent’ awaits: I invite you to climb into its basket with me, throw overboard the ballast of all those accumulated ‘beliefs/opinions’ you have acquired to feel safe, and therefore allow this balloon to rise free and drift to destinations unknown.
Because, otherwise, some of what you read herein may sorely challenge your accumulated beliefs…
Everything recounted within the Anthology is absolutely true, unless I have qualified otherwise.
John Stephen Butterworth
DEATH AND DYING
The one certainty for all human lives is that everyone’s physical body will eventually die.
And for many /most, this inevitability is something to be feared…
So whilst there is the natural biological reflex to avoid physical injury, there would seem to be, for many, a deep-set fear that plagues their lives of that inevitability with so much energy directed at prolonging physical life and much discussion, especially amongst older people, about who’s dying/has died/diseases/illnesses, and marvelling at those that are still in good physical & mental health at an ‘advanced ‘age…
So what actually is it that dies?
The ancient spiritual teachings declare that each of us is actually a soul – that has always been, and always will exist – indestructibly…
And that we are here as spirit in a human body as “…spiritual beings having a human incarnation”.
Please stay with me as we explore further – as surely, a true understanding of what a human life is, is essential to one’s spiritual path – which is what deeply concerns me.
Sai Baba has stated that we are all star seeds that have come from regions that humanity knows little, or nothing, of (p.116 and following, Vol 111 ‘Higher Consciousness, There is Only One Universal Consciousness: I AM THAT ONE’ Irene Margaret Watson 2018), that we are here to work through our individual karma, and to focus unwaveringly on God/unconditional Love on the path to full self-realisation/moksha/enlightenment.
For one who is truly focussed on ‘Loving All, Serving All’(one of Sai Baba’s most famous cryptic sayings), life is lived as an act of joy and delight in the moment – not projecting as to what may/may not happen in the future.
Which raises the question: “What is love?”
Love is surely total surrender to attending to the needs of others ie a total absence of self being the accumulation of wishes/wants/ego…
To illustrate a little further, I was working on my own one day some years ago on our farm when suddenly a question arose within me and I stood up and, heartfelt, called to the sky:
“Who am I?”
Instantly, a clear strong voice replied to me telepathically:
“You are a collection of thoughts, feelings and opinions!”
And that was it.
Short and concise.
In other words, the persona/person that I might believe myself to be is just only that: a collection of thoughts, feelings and opinions. All in the basket of ‘ego’.
But when I am acting in a moment totally responsive to the needs of another/a situation, there is just pure selfless action – devoid of any ‘thoughts/feelings/opinions’ – until re-action may kick in stimulated by my storehouse of ‘thoughts, feelings, opinions’.
If you are walking down the street, and someone near you trips, you naturally spring to their aid – as an act of love – uncontaminated by thinking…when you see eg dogs playing together, you may have a sense of joy, or from a spontaneous smile in the street from a passer by…
In a discourse/satsang in Singapore in July 2023, Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai explained to a questioner that, when the physical body dies, the spirit leaves it taking with it all (my words now) “…the thoughts, feelings, opinions accumulated within that physical life”.
I, for one, would dearly like to leave this physical body (when the time comes), devoid of any inauspicious accumulation that karmically has yet to be dealt with in future life/lives.
So that demands that I have fully dealt with all forgiveness (please see separate modules: ‘Forgiveness’ and ‘Karma’), continue to devote my life to loving & serving all, having only the purest thoughts & intents, living fully in the present and always focussed on God…
Hence, whilst living vitally & fully, what I wish to die to is what Sai Baba used to playfully, but purposefully, call “monkey mind” which can ,unconsciously, skip from thought/reaction to thought/reaction like a monkey jumping around…
The physical body is destined to die from the time it is born; it is up to each individual whether they are prepared to allow their chattering minds die…
Sai Baba emphasises how critically important it is just what the mind is focussed on at the point of leaving the body, and how challenging this can be.
To illustrate, Samuel Sandweiss in his book ‘Sai Baba:The Holy Man and the Psychiatrist’, recounts Sai Baba telling the story once about a shopkeeper who, fully aware of this, named each of his 6 sons after Indian ‘gods’: Krishna, Shiva etc – so that when he eventually crossed over, he would be calling out their names and hence be guaranteed of an auspicious next life… years later, as he was about to die, his sons were filing into the room until all were present…when he suddenly thought :
“But who is minding the shop?” and left his body with that worry in mind, and NOT any of the names of his sons…
Preparing for death
When I look back over my life and recall death events that I’ve witnessed/been connected to, the conventional pre-occupation of those around them was on medically prolonging life and as pain-free as possible, and of the understandable upset of close relatives…
But there is so much more that can, and should be done to assist and guide the patient through the process of crossing over – to embark on “…The Great Adventure” as a spiritually-advanced friend calls it …
Remembering that these writings are autobiographical, I am selecting the following actual dying events that I have witnessed/been connected to, to illustrate:
My Father Tom
Following the failure of his textile businesses, and being forced to become an employee again in mid-life, he gradually lost the will to live, became bedridden, deteriorated and eventually died in early 1971 aged 57 in an open ward of the old Mater Hospital in Crows Nest shortly after admission. I was only able to visit him only once and was appalled at the ward that looked to me like something out of the Crimean War…I then got the phone call one morning at work that he had passed.
We hired an undertaker and I accompanied my mother Bertha to the funeral at the Crematorium but they had not explained to us/her what was to ensue…
At the conclusion of the service, suddenly curtains opened and the coffin rolled out of sight whilst the curtains closed – and my mother ‘lost it’ and collapsed, sobbing hysterically: the shock of the unannounced cheap theatricality (as I saw it) devastated her, and I felt huge anger towards the undertakers for not forewarning her…in a session with a medium some years later, my reaction was brought up that I had not handled the situation well at all. Now, approximately 50+ years later, I can see that it was just another funeral and cremation for the undertakers and Crematorium, who performed the same routine day after day…
My Mother Bertha
Thereafter, my mother became increasingly housebound – not wanting to go out, and sitting for hours reading or watching TV. Tragically, this lead to her ultimately having both legs amputated at the knee and being moved to a nursing home where I would visit her at least on weekends, taking her out in her wheelchair to look at flowers/gardens/dogs playing in the park.
As she went into a coma in 2003 and was on morphine in her final days, I would sit by her bed – praying, singing bhajans, calling on the angels & archangels etc and generally doing my best to prepare her for a smooth, auspicious crossing over – as I had learned so much more by then, and was determined to assist her Spirit passing in every way possible – knowing that the staff were focussed exclusively/primarily on her physical condition…and my sister was likewise regularly visiting and praying…
I then got the inevitable phone call one day at work from the nursing home to say she had passed and would I please come by after work to collect her personal items…
Nothing had prepared me for the sight that greeted me on entering her room…
There her corpse lay totally devoid of life – looking nothing like her, the dear mother I had known and loved so much – and reminding me of a cicada’s empty shell: it was the first time in this life I had ever been with a dead body. The face was gaunt and stretched… but a very powerful lesson that the human body is just a temporary vehicle – to be lovingly cared for whilst occupied by Spirit but then discarded afterwards like a cicada shell or snake skin…
Aware that she probably was present in Spirit, watching me, I prayed – exhorting her to seek and then go to the Light.
I then collected up her few possessions and left – knowing full well that the nursing home would have someone else in that bed/room the very next day as soon as the undertakers had removed my mother’s body…death is an ever-present fact of life in nursing homes, and there are always others waiting…
And so I was far more aware and present at her cremation funeral service…and to this day, I pray and give thanks every morning to my parents for all they did for my sister and I – wishing them well on their souls’ journeys… Vale Tom and Bertha, and thank you yet again for coming to this wonderful country Australia.
Rosemary’s mother Hazel
Hazel ended up in a nursing home also, and Rosemary, her son Peter and (ex-wife) Sophia and myself were visiting her on the afternoon of Easter Monday 2006 there in Chatswood when she passed.
She was very hot, almost irritated, and pushed my hand away as I tried to wipe her brow with a wet flannel. A nurse asked us to step out whilst she had to do something…I looked back down the short corridor to her in bed and suddenly (and apparently knowingly) said to the others:” She’s gone”
We hurried back to her bedside and found that she had indeed passed.
She, in turn, was cremated and I was by now far better prepared for the ceremony.
She periodically comes to Rosemary etherically to tell her things to help her and to re-assure her which is most comforting for her (more of this phenomenon later).
My ex-wife Yvonne
Whilst I was not present for her passing from cancer in the mid-2000’s (we had separated in 1980/81), I did attend her cremation ceremony initially calmly, but,as everyone left the room at its conclusion , I suddenly and involuntarily was stopped in my tracks, looking at her coffin and was overwhelmed with momentary grief: I turned to the only person left standing behind me and blurted something like: ”She’s really gone!” to which he quietly replied:
“Yes. We both loved her”. It was a man who’d been Yvonne’s best friend for many years. And then we walked out to the reception next door together.
And then I learned something that deeply impressed me, and helped me even further in the fuller understanding of the impermanence of the human body.
I was told that Yvonne had signed an Organ Donor’s Consent that had allowed (at least) her eyes to be removed and used by surgeons for someone in need.
I therefore posthumously thank her for inspiring me to immediately do likewise.
John S. – A Near Death Experience
Initially I only knew this man as a professional colleague who had a medium-sizes architectural practice (when I practised as a landscape architect). Then I attended a social gathering at a friend’s house one night and, to my surprise, found him there where he got to share his story.
He recounted that the pressure of running his own architectural practice had eventually ‘taken its toll’ and had suffered a massive heart attack.
He said that he experienced drifting upwards out of his physical body where he was gathered up by angels/angelic beings who carried him right around the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth at a great height able to look downwards all the time.
Suddenly, he said that he realised that his family were down there and that he had not yet completed the work of this incarnation and found himself instantly back in his physical body.
He shared that the joy and bliss of that state had (not surprisingly) left him totally unafraid of physical death and caused him to seek deeply into the purpose of his present incarnation – hence now focussing on his spiritual path. [This is consistent with others who I have heard of over the years who ,for example, have had a ‘miraculous’ healing from a conventionally-described ‘terminal illness’ and have thereafter focussed on their spiritual purpose of their current incarnation: it’s as though they had to have a life-threatening ’jolt’ to put them on/bring them back to, their true spiritual purpose].[Also refer to the large amount of material and research accessible via the Internet about ‘near death experiences].
Anna R. death and beyond
My wife Rosemary had a regular client Anna (real name) who she counselled for many years about her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which she freely admitted to – as she was continually looking for something to worry about – whether her daughter missing the school bus or whether to have 2 or 3 steps at the back door to their new house extension (truly). Like so many, she never felt totally safe…
Rosemary warned her openly of the possible consequences this state of mind & emotion of constant anxiety could have on her physical wellbeing – but to no avail, as she then developed cancer. In her final weeks, I also contributed by sitting by her curled up under a rug one night for an hour a week whilst I intensively invoked Tonglen healing (a Tibetan Buddhist practice I learned via the writings of Sogyal Rinpoche: check the Internet, plus separate module:’ Healing’).
But then she passed.
We attended the Catholic funeral at Concord(Sydney) and witnessed the coffin being finally carried to the hearse to be driven away for burial at Rookwood Cemetery in the Catholic tradition…
Well that was her physical remains…but there’s much more to this…
The following day or so, Anna appeared etherically before Rosemary (clairvoyant, clairaudient & clairsentient) in our rental house in North Willoughby (Sydney) and demanded to know what was going on as she had been going room-to-room at her family home speaking to the family members who she said totally ignored her…
Rosemary told me that she explained to Anna that her physical body had ‘died’ and that it was now time for her, in Spirit, to seek and go to the Light.
And so she did…
Some weeks/months later, Anna (etherically) re-appeared before Rosemary to share her joy at what she had been experiencing: she said that she attended teaching sessions in an exquisite white Grecian-style temple building where no words were spoken: all communication was by other kinds of sounds (if I understand correctly) and that she was blissfully happy…
She also told Rosemary that she had learned that it was not the emotion that had caused the cancer but the complaining sound of her voice…
Michael W. – death and beyond
Michael (real name) was a friend of mine via the wonderful world of sound.
I heard him one night singing kaggirya and siggit style harmonic/overtone chanting in the Tuvan tradition (the former being below the range of the human voice – and as performed by eg Tibetan monks when they chant).
I was astounded to hear a Westerner able to do so and realised that the ability was probably carried over from a former life- as he had not knowingly had it transmitted to him in this life.
Along with others, we performed together on and off for several years.
He worked for at least 10 years as a guide on ‘Bridgeclimb’ on Sydney Harbour Bridge which required him to wear a wireless headset for communication with their base office during climbs.
When he left that job, he took a job as a busdriver and guide for tours to & from The Hunter Valley vineyards for a number of years – which also required him to wear a wireless headset…
He was diagnosed with brain cancer and eventually died… On reflection, is it possible that The Sydney Harbour Bridge as a massive steel structure (possibly with aerials/transmitter dishes on top?) concentrates electromagnetic radiation – like a giant Faraday cage..?
I attended the Catholic funeral at Ryde /Monash Park (Sydney) and watched as the coffin was loaded into the hearse and driven away.
Being by then later in the afternoon, I drove back some 20+ minutes to our North Willoughby rented home to be met by Rosemary telling me that whilst I was attending Michael’s ‘physical’ funeral at Ryde, Michael had etherically appeared to her in the hallway, confused, lost, demanding to know what was going on …
Like she had done for Anna, she gently explained to him that his physical body had died and that it was now time for him to seek and go to the Light.
Peter Klein
The story of Peter with AIDS and how Rosemary was guided to fly to New York from Sydney in the early 1990’s based on ‘intuition’, to perform healing on this man she’d never met before, his subsequent recovery, then later guided passing over is fully recounted in the separate module: ’Rosemary’ elsewhere.
Two key matters from this wonderful story warrant recounting here.
One is that on the day that Peter passed, Rosemary received guidance in morning meditation in Sydney that he was about to pass that day and that it was essential that he left his physical body via the heart in order to ensure that his spirit went directly to higher realms. This she conveyed by phone to her friend Debra Netkin in New York who went directly to the hospital to tell Peter. Debra recounts that Peter (her soulmate) looked her intensely in the eyes and challenged her to do likewise when her time came.
Rosemary also got Debra to tell him he Peter would do a lot of important work ‘on the other side’ counselling the spirit of others who had died from AIDS as anyone with that disease in those days was generally reviled by society.
He then passed.
Luke Whitfield
Luke was Rosemary’s grandson (hence, my step-grandson) who developed cerebral palsy shortly after birth. He passed just recently (June 2023) in London aged 31 after an incredibly challenging incarnation (supported unstintingly by his wonderful family, carers and health professionals) unable to move anything more really than his head and unable to speak.
As was illustrated so graphically at his funeral (especially by his father Peter’s wonderful & comprehensive eulogy and photos), he touched the hearts of vast numbers of people and had interests including sport and cooking.
In his final months, he was in Intensive Care in hospital for over 2 months –suffering terribly- with specialists doing their very best to keep him alive and reduce his suffering, whilst accompanied by family members & friends.
He then passed surrounded by his parents and siblings.
A couple of days later, Rosemary’s late mother Hazel (passed 2006) came etherically to her to say that Luke’s soul was now receiving healing and that she was assisting. She explained that, with all the understandably-concentrated allopathic physical medical focus on keeping him alive, pain-free and comfortable in his final weeks, his soul had not possibly received as much attention as those vital medical procedures – hence the need to now rectify such.
There was absolutely no criticism in this: just a loving relay of factual information from Hazel ‘on the other side’.
Some days later, she came to Rosemary again saying that Luke was now restored and happy.
When he passed, I felt the joy for him of release from the constraints of that limited physical body and was given a brief glimpse of his freed spirit soaring upwards.
Sudden Deaths
There are those that die without any time to prepare for crossing over eg in war, terrorism, crime, accidents…
Whilst in Honolulu in 1983, an older woman walked past me one day in a public place ranting out loud and unceasingly about what I quickly realised was the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941. She had obviously been there and became traumatised by the shock and horror of it all…
In the early 1990’s, I used to get to read a magazine published by US futurist Gordon Michael Scallion. In more than one issue, he described seeing etherically thousands of discarnate people on eg US Civil War battle fields who had died without warning and were lost on the astral plane.
When I returned to Honolulu in 1996 on my way to mainland USA, the memory of that traumatised woman in 1983 and Scallion’s writings inspired me to visit Pearl Harbour where, instead of going into the war memorial or on the boat trip out into the harbour to view sunken ships, I slipped off to the right into a garden area. I concealed myself behind dense shrubbery and offered up prayers and chanting to any discarnate beings who might still be trapped on the astral plan exhorting them to seek & go to the Light. And then I left.
Rosemary’s Experience with the Departed
Being born clairvoyant, clairsentient, and clairaudient (following both her mother & grandmother being mediums before her), it is not surprising that Rosemary on occasions has communication with departed beings who obviously know that she has these extrasensory abilities and may utilise such where appropriate.
After nearly 30 years with her in this life, I can categorise these occurrences into 3 types:
- At funerals
- In one-on-one counselling sessions with a newly bereaved client.
- Encounters in society/everyday life with a recently bereaved person.
As Rosemary has so often said: the departed almost always shows/reveals something to confirm beyond doubt that it is indeed them to the bereaved. And always something private/personal which Rosemary could not have possibly known beforehand. This therefore instantly gains the bereaved’s confidence that Rosemary is genuine.
Funeral Examples
A young acting teacher Nell Hourn who we knew well passed in the late 1990’s and we attended her funeral in a church in Sydney. As we sat down, Rosemary whispered to me that Nell was sitting on the coffin up on the ‘stage’ looking at us all – very youthful and happy.
Rosemary has told me of seeing a departed man at his funeral some decades ago wearing an extraordinary combination of clothing colours and holding a bunch of yellow roses (I think he had eg a purple tie with a check shirt, maybe a brown suit). She mentioned it quietly to her companion seated in the pew next to her. At the wake, that companion brought the widow to Rosemary – asking that she share what she had seen. She shyly described the highly unlikely clothing and flowers – to which the widow (probably tearfully) confirmed that was exactly what he was wearing and carrying when she opened the front door to him on their first date.
If I recall correctly, the yellow roses were highly romantically significant to them both…
One-on-one Counselling Sessions Examples
The partner of a lady from the NSW Southern Highlands passed unexpectedly in mid-age and she sought guidance by ‘phone from Rosemary. At the first, and each subsequent session, he would come through Rosemary and converse/communicate with his bereaved partner – providing guidance and encouragement about her life path ahead. At each session, he would say a key phrase:” Tell her that I love her completely” which the bereaved lady confirmed was exactly what he had said to her consistently since their relationship first began. Again the confirmation.
The departed father of a lady who Rosemary has been guiding & counselling for about 25 years to date chose to come through for a couple of sessions when the client was in crisis and once again provided incontrovertible evidence that it was indeed him prior to advising her about her difficult situation.
Examples of encounters in everyday life
Around 2005, we went to Tasmania for a holiday and ended up in a cottage on the wonderful Freshwater Point estate just north of Launceston.
As we were settling in, there was a knock at the door and Rosemary was greeted by the manageress Michelle (real name) with a loaf of freshly baked bread. Behind her, Rosemary could etherically see a teenage boy standing – indicating urgently that he wished to communicate with Michelle via Rosemary (as medium).
Rosemary blurted out:
“Hello Michelle ! I’m Rosemary… and I’m a medium” still looking at the young man… .
To defuse Michelle’s stunned silence, I quickly stepped forward and repeated a line I’d heard before:
“And I’m John, and I’m an extra large”. Some awkward laughter as Rosemary gently steered Michelle across to a garden bench seat to explain what was going on. (Incidentally, my’ joke’ borrowed from the late Valerie Barrow’s son in a similar circumstance).
It turned out that this was Michelle’s son who had been killed in a car accident recently wherein the car was being driven by his best friend. Her son had come to tell Michelle and her husband Rob via Rosemary not to hold bad thoughts towards the driver and to forgive him, as indeed he did himself .
For the duration we were there plus on a return visit the following year, Rosemary was able to counsel them periodically as needed.
Then the property got sold (I believe) and Michelle & Rob moved to Victoria where they were reportedly instrumental in setting up a support group for parents/families finding themselves in similar circumstances. So that was a wonderful outcome…
The other example I’d like to share was similar where Rosemary was serving a lady & her daughter in a perfumery shop in Mosman (Sydney) in the early 1990’s and realised that there was a young man etherically standing behind them indicating that he wanted to convey a message.
Rosemary says that she managed to draw the daughter on her own to another part of the shop to tell her what was going on and that the young man was her brother who wished to apologise to his family for the grief he had caused them by committing suicide.
The couple then left the shop and nothing more happened until the mother saw Rosemary in the street one day some time later and thanked her so much for conveying this to her and her family as it assisted their grieving process.
Sai Baba on Death
In Dr Samuel Sandleweiss’s book:’Sai Baba – The Holy Man & the Psychiatrist’ p.167 and ff:
The moment of death is perhaps the highest point of our existence on Earth, the culmination of our life’s work and a moment of crucial importance for us. Baba has said that what becomes of us after death is determined by what we think at the moment of dying, and that we should prepare for it throughout our life.
If our thoughts and our heart – our being – have been with God throughout our life, and our most basic yearning has been for contact with God…then this is precisely where we will go…if we’ve been caught up in competition, pride or lust… then we will make the transition to that level of consciousness (instead).
(p.169) Death is considered a something to be afraid of, something that should not be spoken of in happy circumstances. But death is neither good nor bad. You have no choice in the matter…it is a consummation which is inevitable.
Death is but a passage from this life to the next. It is a change from old clothes to new (as the Gita says).
Remember death. The body is the car you are riding to death…(do not) waste time in idle talk or vain pursuits, wanton mischief or vulgar entertainment. Travel in the car carefully, slowly and with due regard for the needs of others…know the limitations of your vehicle and the road. Then you will not meet with any accident. Your journey will be a happy experience for you and the rest of the people…
It is no mean achievement to get the name of the Lord on one’s tongue at the last moment. It needs the practice of many years, based on a deep-rooted faith and a strong character without hatred or malice.
Moreover, how do you know which is the last moment? God of death does not give notice of his arrival to take hold of you.
OVERVIEW
So what can be learned from the passing of beings into the world of Spirit wherein there is (reportedly) healing, teaching, learning from the experiences of former incarnations, before incarnating again?
The following (to me, at least) is obvious:
- Each of us is a soul which always has been and always will be – on its journey back to re-merging with God.
- We are undeniably (to quote the common statement) “…spiritual beings having a human experience”.
- Karma just is, as a fact of Creation – and is generated, from minute to minute, by every thought, word and deed – be it auspicious or otherwise. The sum total of that karma transitions with spirit upon death. Sai Baba once said it all:”Karma is karma”.
- ‘Death’ is only the dying of the physical body: the spirit moves on. To the ‘Great Adventure’ as a wise friend has called it.
- Re-incarnation is an undeniable fact – except possibly for those attaining full self-realisation. (? Don’t believe: listen eg to the 14th Dalai Lama recounting his transition into his present life on CD – as available to borrow from the Public Library system in NSW at least – and you’ll never doubt again!).
- The spirit of those experiencing a sudden/unexpected death can be left in limbo – lost, possibly unaware that death has occurred, and ‘stuck on the astral plane’ (as some so describe).
- Where death can be prepared for, it is important to “… nourish the soul” up to the time of passing (whilst attending to physical pain relief/comfort, the ‘comfort of the soul’ needs equal attention with prayers, sacred chanting, perfume, soft lighting, gentle sounds/music).
- There needs to be a diminution of fear of dying: rather a surrender & acceptance by those passing of the imminent ‘Great Adventure’ in peace and focus on God as “…Thy will be done”.
I’ve grown up in a Western society characterised by a deep fear & loathing about death and, frankly, appalling ignorance.
Here I am at 78 years of age in this incarnation having been taught none of this by parents (who likewise knew no different), church, schools, technical colleges or universities. Whereby ‘education’ was solely specialised focus on specialised areas of academia.
What I have learned has been by personal observation, experience, and reading and teachings by others outside of that limited sphere of beliefs.
Great teachers including Jiddu Krishnamurti, Sathya Sai Baba, Paramahansa Yogananda, Zen Buddhist scholars, Sogyal Rinpoche and so many, many others – too numerous to list.
What is clearly needed is a more enlightened, aware and balanced education throughout Western society (at least) about the true meaning & purpose of a human life, and of its transition to its next life upon death of its physical vehicle ie body.
To that end, I’d like to share a couple of possible approaches:
Therese Schroeder Sheker: Musical Thanatology
Therese was originally a gifted USA harpist who (as I read many years ago) was walking along a hospital corridor one day when she heard a man gasping for breath, propped up on pillows, in a room. She recounted that she went in and spontaneously climbed into the bed behind him and held him in her arms where she started to softly sing soothing melodies & lyrics whilst lovingly embracing him. She reported that he gradually relaxed, becoming more and more peaceful – and finally left his body as she held him.
I can’t recall whether I read this story on the liner notes of a CD of her harp playing (Rosa Mystica) or heard her (in the mid-1990’s) tell it on Jeff Volk’s wonderful documentary film about the therapeutic, and consciousness-expanding powers of sound called ‘Of Sound, Mind & Body’ (which I can highly recommend), but it made a profound impression on me…
As can be read on the Internet, she went on to offer those dying the opportunity to do so accompanied by the gentle soothing sounds of harp and voice at least which she named ‘musical thanatology’.
A dictionary definition of ‘thanatology’ is:’ the scientific study of death and the practices associated with it, including the study of the needs of the terminally – ill and their families’.
In the Abstract of an article she wrote in 1994 for the Journal of Holistic Nursing, Schroeder-Sheker summarised musical thanatology as:
“… a palliative medical modality employing prescriptive music to tend the complex physical and spiritual needs of the dying” and notes that it was utilised in 11th century France monastic medicine, going on to state that:
“…it is concerned with the possibility of a blessed death and the gift that conscious dying can bring to the fullness of life.”
Venues include home, hospital, and hospice settings:
“… with great effectiveness in oncology, respiratory illnesses, the slow degenerative diseases and AIDS.”
Schroeder – Sheker is a musician, educator, clinician, and academic dean of The School of Music-Thanatology which was housed at St Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana USA from 1992 to 2002. She was honoured in 1997 by The New York Open Center for her ‘Music Thanatology’.
At time of writing this (2023), the Internet reports that there is only 1 practising music thanatologist in Australia – namely Peter Roberts who is part of the pastoral team at St John of God Hospital in Geelong Victoria and who, it appears, trained with Schroeder-Sheker at that Montana site.
I am frankly astonished that there are not others practising in Australia- even part-time/casually (at least) – due to the obvious need and proven benefits.
This is emphasised for me by the recent passing of my cerebral palsy step-grandson Luke in London who reportedly suffered greatly in his final months: his father would Facetime phone his mother & I in Australia from London at time almost in tears witnessing his son’s suffering from the constant and protracted pain week after week in Intensive Care where the very best available allopathic medical support continually attempted to both relieve his pain and prolong his life …
It was then even emphasised further by Rosemary’s mother Hazel (ie Luke’s great-grandmother) speaking etherically to Rosemary just after his passing – reporting that Luke’s soul was undergoing healing that she was assisting with ‘on the other side’ – as I described earlier in this Module.
With the global elevation in consciousness, may many others be drawn to undertake this service of music thanatology.
Now, whilst Schroeder-Sheker is a harpist & singer, there are obviously other means of delivering the same service of therapeutic sound.
For example, a dear friend of ours sings sweetly & gently like an angel with so much love and compassion (singing spontaneously what she & other term ‘light language’) whilst she may accompany herself playing eg the Rav Vast with soft mallets, or Koshi chimes. (I highly recommend listening to Rav Vast on the Internet, if you are not familiar with this wonderful instrument).
After a recent ‘performance’ by her at a gathering of like-minded souls here at our place, I told her that I would love her to play & sing whilst I am crossing over when my time comes…
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
The other approach I wish to touch on is the traditional way of handling the dying/crossing – over process in Tibet, and am indebted in this regard to Sogyal Rinpoche for his great work:
‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’ (Rider/Harper/Random House 1992).
He makes a very strong case in a chapter entitled ‘Towards a Peaceful Death’ (pp 185-86) for ensuring that a dying person be allowed to do so at home, and in peace and serenity – free of any invasive testing/injections/noisy activity. Hence, whilst intensive care at hospital may be beneficial at a critical stage to preserve/prolong life in good health and enjoyment, once it is known that it is someone’s time to die, such disturbances should cease as far as humanely appropriate. If not able to take the person back home, he advises that they be relocated into a private room to ensure as much peace and privacy as possible.
And, what’s more, Tibetan spiritual tradition is that the body should be left undisturbed for 3 days after ‘death’.
He concludes this chapter:
“…Peaceful death is really an essential human right…on which, all religious traditions tell us, a great deal depends for the well-being and spiritual future of the dying person.
There is no greater gift of charity you can give than helping a person to die well.”
His book is so authoritatively comprehensive and detailed as to pre-death, dying, death and post-death processes (from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective) that it would be absurdly presumptuous of me to attempt any summarisation other than what I have respectfully attempted below.
Hence, in addition to the advice just preceding, I shall only make mention of some simple advices/recommendations from Sogyal should you be unable to get to read the entire book.
If you are going to sit with someone who is dying, he recommends that you firstly prepare yourself with deep prayer and spiritual invocation, and then allow the dying person to talk freely about whatever they need/wish to – whilst silently engaging in powerful prayer and invocation that they cross over auspiciously.
A key issue that may well come up is that of forgiveness: encourage them to both seek forgiveness by absolutely sincere/heartfelt intent plus forgive themselves for any matter unresolved in their minds at that point of time.
If the dying person has a spiritual practice, encourage them to engage in that in preparation for crossing over.
Phowa
As a spiritual practice, he recommends the Tibetan practice of ‘phowa’ (pronounced ‘ po-wa’) which means transference of consciousness’ and offers 3 methods of doing so – one being a longer version and the 3rd being a very condensed version. He explains that one can undertake phowa either as one is dying oneself or in assisting another to die auspiciously.
He writes that the most essential way to do the practice is to :
‘…Simply merge your mind with the wisdom mind of the pure presence.’ Consider: “My mind and the mind of the Buddha are one” ‘… ‘praying that
“ May all my negative karma, destructive emotions, obscurations and blockages be purified and removed”…including total forgiveness.
I encourage you to either read the book or research further.
Dying Position
He also recommends that the dying person lie on their right side in the ‘sleeping lion ‘pose with the right hand under the head & small finger closing off the right nostril with legs slightly bent. His book explains the reasons why this pose is recommended.
After Death
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is taught that the consciousness of the deceased person is acutely clairvoyant after it has shed the physical body and remains so for up to 7 weeks thereafter. Hence, it is able to read the thoughts of the bereaved living and so it is essential that the latter focus on prayer and love for the departed one for at least that period – and not engage in any negativity eg squabbling over inherited possessions etc.
It is further taught in the Tibetan tradition that the deceased’s mental body experiences the death process on the same day each week that it ‘crossed over’ for up to 7 weeks.
It is hence recommended that prayers are undertaken weekly for those 7 weeks on the same day of the week that they crossed over eg if they passed on a Wednesday, then to do so on each of the subsequent 7 Wednesdays.
It is stressed that this is very important in assisting the deceased to gain an auspicious re-birth, noting that the contrary situation can result if eg there is negativity expressed about the deceased/their estate etc by the bereaved and others.
In summary, the Tibetan teachings offer a radically different and, dare I suggest, a more spiritually-mature & enlightened approach to death and dying than the traditional Western society customs.
Near-Death Experiences (NDE’s)
In ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’, Sogyal Rinpoche writes extensively about near-death experiences and the research of others into this fascinating phenomenon which I can highly recommend reading.
For myself, I’ve had 2 direct involvements with such:
I wish to share a remarkable experience. [Also in module’1945-1992’)
Probably around the mid-1990’s, I was invited to be a presenter of the therapeutic potential of vocal & instrumental sound at a weekend retreat at The Theosophical Society Retreat Centre at Springbrook in South East Queensland. I accepted and flew up there from Sydney with a selection of my sacred bowls, bells, gongs etc.
I mounted an afternoon segment, and then was asked to facilitate a Sacred Sound Healing Meditation for all dining after Saturday night joint meal.
Now it just so happened that the same lady who owned ‘Surya’ back at Warriewood Beach was also at this retreat (with a lady friend from that same group)(Refer separate module:’1945 -1990’s”).. The petite lady sat opposite me at dinner as we were good friends. The vegetarian meal was excellent, and then they offered dessert a wine trifle (comprising cream, ice cream, jelly, cake, etc). I accepted a serving, and seeing mine, she just could not resist…keeping in mind that she was tiny and had already had a substantial main meal…
Once tea & coffee had been served, everyone brought their chairs into a large circle, closed their eyes, and I was asked to commence…
After briefly telling them to simply surrender to the sounds and not try to analyse/think, I started with soft, gentle instrumental sounds whilst walking around the circle, gradually increasing in energy and then culminating/climaxing with my ‘tam tam’ gong (which is a flattish circular gong with a splash acoustic effect) [as I did not acquire my larger lipped Paiste gong until 2000].
Suddenly, my petite friend vomited profusely all over her lap and floor… and collapsed.
She was immediately carried into an adjacent room and laid on a bed where others carried out reflexology on both her hands and feet.
However, the centre manager (who turned out to be a medical doctor) pronounced her ‘dead’.
No pulse. No breathing.
Whilst others were verging on hysteria/anger, I recall being relatively calm and centred. One man abused me for using the ‘tam tam’ gong due to its effect in his opinion.
I sat by her body looking at her face and (I think) held her hand whilst the reflexology on feet and other hand continued…and then she opened her eyes, saw it was me, and smiled and said (something like):
“You told us not to try to think or analyse whilst you were playing…I started to see beautiful coloured mandalas/sacred geometric patterns and shapes/exquisite colours, and kept reminding myself that you said not to think/analyse: just surrender, but (as you well know) my busy analytic brain wouldn’t and I had this mental battle going on… AND I obviously should NOT have tried to eat that trifle!!!”
“ I can’t ever thank you enough for this wonderful sacred experience I’ve just had” obviously oblivious to having just had a ‘near-death experience’ (which I assume others then told her of later, and the beauty of which was that she would never be fearful of dying).
How long was she ‘dead’ for, I hear you ask? I have no memory, but perhaps 20-30 minutes?
I have lost contact with her since that time and believe that, by now, she may well have passed – as I’m now 78 and she was probably, say, 25(?) years or so older than me. So I send my love and best wishes to her on her sacred journey – being all the richer for having known her and the others of our Krishnamurti group.
The other (probable) NDE experience I have recounted in the ‘Sai Baba’ module, but briefly recount it here for the reader’s convenience.
A lady called (at that time) Beverley(who Sai Baba years later came into our house to tell me had been a sibling in a former life wherein we had undertaken to always look out for each other) appeared to me one night in sleep in about 2010. I had not seen her since 1987, but instantly knew who she was.
She was dressed in a simple white dress and was standing facing me with her hands clasped in front of her. As I looked at her, she started to become smaller and smaller as though being invisibly drawn into a black tunnel…
I awoke the next morning with this vivid memory etched on my mind and concluded she had probably died and had come to say farewell. I then searched the funeral notices in the Sydney press for a couple of weeks to no avail until it occurred to me that I simply didn’t know where she would have been physically…and so stopped searching…
Then she turned up in Sydney very much alive about 5 years later on a tour promoting Braco and the ‘gazing’ phenomenon. (check the Internet). In the few minutes I got to speak with her, she said she knew nothing about what I’d experienced…
About 2019, she sent me a copy of her spiritual autobiography complete up to a few years prior in which I discovered what I now believe happened at the time of my ‘dream’.
In 2010, she had been in Peru and went down with both altitude sickness and an infection and , gravely ill, had to be moved to an American hospital there. I therefore concluded that whilst unconscious, she had ‘died’ and had come to show me in my sleep state having left her body but then obviously re-entered her body/came back to life – possibly having realised that she had unfinished work on Earth – as had happened with my architect friend ‘John S’ as I have described elsewhere.
[Last Edited 18 March 2024]