User:Nobody60/Nils/Paradise

Type classification: this is an essay resource.

The Afterworld

The other side (in the spirit world) consists of many regions. The more closely one looks into it, the more energy levels (or consciousness dimensions) can be seen. One could divide this spirit world int a thousand, into fourteen, into seven, three, or even one area (heaven).

In Christianity, heaven is often spoken of. Paul the Apostle saw three Heavens in the course of his trip to the Afterlife. In Yoga, it is said that there are a thousand levels of enlightenment. Mainly, three worlds are considered (material cosmos, Bhur), the astral world (the energy world, the world of spirit, Bhuva), and the world of light (heaven, the dimension of enlightenment, Svarloka).

In the West, the most well-known concept of heaven is that of seven heavens. Everyone knows the saying “I feel like I’m in seventh heaven.” Connected with this saying is the concept of the biggest sense of happiness. According to this teaching, seventh heaven is where the most all-encompassing happiness to be found, and under this level the six smaller heavens have slightly less.

The Four Astral Worlds

Let’s say there are seven energy regions. When we die, we first come to the lower astral world. In Yoga, this is considered part of the earth and named Bhurloka. The lower astral world (the ether world) is part of the earth and is around the earth. This is the energy level next to the material world. We leave the body with our spirit and find ourselves suddenly next to our bodies. We our now composed of consciousness energy. We can see our bodies and the people in the material world, but they cannot see us.

The lower astral world is the world of spirits. Spirits are beings with slightly developed consciousness. They are possessed of seven emotions: rage, fear, sadness, dullness, addiction, jealousy, and pride. The most dominating of these emotions in the lower astral world is that of addiction. The beings in the lower astral world are mainly hunger ghosts (Pretas). They always want something and never get enough. They are never content. All people with a tendency towards addiction land in this world after they die. They live according to this temperament after they die.

The hunger ghosts do not realize they only need to change their consciousness. One only needs to orient oneself to inner happiness. These spirits only need to leave their search towards outer things and concentrate on happiness within. The characteristics of frugality, humility, temperance, positivity, and all-encompassing love as well as inner peace should be exercised. Then the soul becomes free and rises to the next highest consciousness level.

The lower astral world is already a sort of heaven. The all-around happiness of the soul is somewhat higher than that on earth. The souls there do not possess bodies and are therefore free of all bodily suffering. They are closer to God than the beings on earth, if only a bit closer.

The really tragic aspect of the lower astral world is the reality that a much higher level of happiness is possible. The souls there only needed to concentrate more on the way of inner happiness during their time on earth. They should have exercised positive thinking more, and they would have gained so much from that. They only need to be a bit happier during their lives. Those who devote just five minutes per day towards a spiritual life and a positive life can go so much further in the afterlife.

The second heaven is the middle astral world. This exists to the very edge of the cosmos. The souls in the middle astral world are not so attracted to life on the earth and the forms of enjoyment to be found there. They can therefore move about the entire cosmos. They can go to the region of stars. Every star has a different sort of energy, and every soul can settle itself in the realm of a star and stay there as long as it likes. They can meet similar souls in this region.

The level of happiness in the middle astral world is already larger than that of the lower astral world. The level of happiness is even higher in the upper astral world, the third heaven. The souls there administer the cosmos, the stars, and the earth, but their concentration is elsewhere. They do not focus on material things, rather, on positive ideas. Every soul in the third heaven has a task in life that makes he or she happy.

The fourth heaven is the world of positive souls. They have a positive system of beliefs. They follow love, peace, and truth. They are not totally enlightened in that they still have strong egos. They can control the negative tendencies of their spirits and concentrate on positive. All souls who are positive with one another can therefore establish a positive world.

A positive belief system could be established by a loving Christianity, a tolerant Islam, a peaceful Hinduism, or a loving Buddhism. An Atheist Humanist could also land here after death. Because consciousness after death is the consciousness before death, all positive people can continue to be so after death. They create forms of life with their consciousness. They move friends and relatives into this afterworld with whom they would like to work with further.

Three Worlds of Light

The fifth heaven is the first world of light. This light world is a paradise. This paradise cannot be described with human words. In paradise, souls live in a state of enlightenment. Just as enlightenment cannot be described in words, this paradise is equally indescribable. One can only begin to touch upon the surface using words as symbols, but it is only a basic understanding that can be reached under such terms.

The first important statement regarding this paradise is that enlightenment and this paradise are two sides of the same coin. One side has one image on it, perhaps a head. The other has another image, perhaps a number on it. The essence of the coin is the gold it is composed of. The gold here is compared to God, the life in light. The head is the happiness, the enlightenment, and the number is the happiness in and around us, the outer richness of this state.

Enlightenment is to really be aware of the light and the happiness within oneself. Paradise is to recognize the bliss in the world around oneself. Both are therefore connected because only a happy person can really see the positive aspects of the world. Only those who think positively can see the positive in the world, and only those who are positive with the world around themselves can really be happy.

The souls in paradise (the world of light) are happy within themselves and are also happy with the world around them. One can only get to this paradise by being happy with oneself. It is helpful to exercise spiritual practices such as yoga and meditation.

The main technique for entrance into the world of light is the disintegration of the ego. The souls in paradise live in a state of love and the giving of love. They consider other souls to be more important. They are not egoistic, rather altruistic.

The dissolving of the exaggerated „I“ consciousness is the central point of enlightenment. It is also the central element of life in paradise. Those who wish to end up in paradise must work towards dissolving the ego. They need to develop such characteristics as inner peace, all-encompassing love, and truth. One needs to live more for others than for oneself. God (inner happiness) must be the main point of life. Those who grow spiritually during their lives can end up in this world of light after death.

The first world of light (the fifth heaven) is the region of the smaller enlightened souls. These souls are considered the blessed within Christianity. The first light world can be described symbolically as a world of flowers. It is a world of plenty. In Christianity, this paradise is a garden full of fruit, such as the Garden of Eden. In Islam, it is seen as a world of springtime full of beautiful people. In Yoga, it is a mountain landscape with lots of flowers and a pleasant temperature. All beings there live with one another positively. It is a world full of love, flowers, and sunshine.

The portrayals of paradise in the various religions differ widely. It must be understood that these portrayals are merely symbolic. These afterworlds are described in such a way that we people in various cultures can understand them. When we imagine a lovely vacation land where all the people are happy, we have some idea of paradise. The various forms of paradise on earth are limited. The paradise in heaven is eternal, and we can be happy there forever.

In Buddhism, there are many understandings of paradise. Buddha concentrated on the life in light (Nirvana, the highest paradise). The Amitabhabuddhismus (the teachings of the pure land) is portrayed as having bright flowers and happy people. In Tibetan Buddhism, this paradise is considered to have mountains with flowing springs, trees with crystals, and joyful birds.

Everyone can imagine these forms of paradise in his or her own way. The only important point is that this heaven is a world of love, peace, happiness, and light.

In the fifth heaven there is a place where one can live with relatives and acquaintances happily. This is called Pitr Loka in Yoga. There are also places where one can exercise oneself spiritually. This place is called Sadhana Loka. There is a place to exercise for Karma Yogis, who are Yogis concerned with helping others, and for Hatha yogis, who are concerned with bodily exercise and meditation. In Christianity, the world of angels is the most commonly considered place for spiritual practice, for spiritual cultivation. The angels praise God, pray, sing, and develop further in the light.

The sixth heaven is the world of the holy. The holy are closer to God than the blessed. Their happiness is slightly higher than that of the souls in the first paradise. Each holy individual has let go of the ego and lives in essence and light, and feels to be of light (of happiness energy), rather than to be a person. This type of soul lives in love, peace, and in happiness and has a highly developed cosmic consciousness.

The holy souls in the sixth heaven are still beings which can deal and administer. They can send their fellow souls light and facilitate spiritual practices. They live from their point of being and act positively, at times, for the world. On the other side, it is generally the case that souls on higher planes can visit souls on the lower planes. The enlightened souls can therefore go to all other souls in the lower heavens and make contact on earth. They can send positive thoughts and power.

Symbolically, we can imagine the fifth heaven as being full of happy people and the sixth heaven as a place full of wise men and women. The wise women and men beam with peace, calmness, and love that streams from them. They are seen as inner happiness and holiness. One can sense the holy energy that emanates from these souls. They are an expression, an extension of God.

The holy women and men have the chance to go into the light, at which point they must dissolve fully of their individual egos.

There are three ways to evolve spiritually. We can go the way of love, power, or happiness. The way of love means to see all other beings as love and we visualize them as gods or holy beings, and this way we ourselves become such. The way of wisdom consists of imagining the unity of the cosmos and identifying the cosmos according to our spiritual example.

The way of power can be brought on with spiritual practice, such as with mantras, breath exercises, and bodily exercise. We let our happiness energy flow, and our entire thoughts are stopped and we rest for a time. This triggers an inner change. From this emptiness and lack of striving, we can let the light of God come in. Happiness, peace, and love, as well as the wisdom of God flow within. Then we are in the seventh heaven.

In the seventh heaven, duality ceases to be. The soul rests still within God. Love, happiness, and peace in the seventh heaven are so big that there is no more room for movement. The holy beings here are simply enjoy their rest within God. They can, however, get active again. They can return to the sixth heaven and so work for the happiness of all other beings.

In the seventh heaven, all outer forms cease to be. The soul takes only energy, love, and light to be true. However, this energy is still an individual consciousness within God. The soul does not cease to exist. Souls can unite into one at the end of the time, and then divide again. According to Hindu philosophy, the cosmos is a system of eternal coming and going.

The seventh heaven (the third world of light) is the absolute highest level of happiness within the cosmos. It is God himself. This is rest within God. We could describe this area as a large sun. The sun consists of strong light. This consists of happiness, love, and vast peace. Only spiritually developed souls can reach this region. We have to be strong enough to keep the energy of God within.

When we are one with God, there is nothing left to be achieved. We have realized our goal as souls. We have achieved our full selves and we have reached utter contentment. Teresa von Avila explains that “God alone is enough”. In God we have an end to all our wishes. Before we can reach this life in God, we can never be truly satisfied. People are geared towards this search for God, and through God the sense of life is achieved.

The Eighth Heaven

The eighth heaven is found above the seven heavens. It is everything in one, the connection of light and love in one dynamic, unified entity. It is life in light and the ability to affect in the lower worlds (earth and the astral world).

When we allow our happiness and enlightened bliss to permeate beyond the world of light, the happiness grows. The further we succeed in dissolving the ego, the more expansive is our level of happiness. If we live for the happiness of others, rather than our own happiness, we then become a kind of cosmic mother or father of all beings. God exists in essence as a mother and a father of all beings. He or she wants all beings to come to live in happiness and to come to the seventh heaven one day.

This ist the way of a spiritual master. A spiritual master devotes his or her life to the service of others.

Who wants to live as a spiritual master, should first of all even walk the spiritual path to the destination. Or he should practice a dual path. He should make himself spiritually to the target and simultaneously take all of his fellow men. Both ways are possible in yoga. One can live many years as a yogi first and then return after his enlightenment in the world in order to help his fellow human beings. Or you live simultaneously as a yogi and a Karma-yogi (spiritual teacher).

Who lives in the eighth heaven, lives in the ultimate double happiness. One lives in the light (in God) and additionally in the dimension of true love (in the heart of their followers). But this way is to go even harder than the normal spiritual path. It requires much wisdom, if you want to help the many souls in the cosmos. One often has to take grief into account, in order to lead his fellows well on the way into the light.

A spiritual master takes it into stride by bringing all the elements into balance within. The inner calm is achieved through outer peace in the form of time for oneself, spiritual exercises and trust in God. He deliveres essentially the leadership of the great masters and the spontaneous activity of life.

The path of love is a mystery. He feels like a way of sacrifice and ends in the overall happiness. One day, suddenly starts to flow the inner happiness and fills the whole world.

Paradise Meditation

With this meditation, we purify our mind of stress. We learn something about the way to Paradise. We get into a life in the light. We realize happiness in our life. We become a master of life and awaken our enlightenment energy.

The Body

We concentrate on our bodies and through this process bring the spirit into a state of peace. We sense this through our legs and feet as we let the light circulate through our lower limbs. We think of the word “light” as our mantra. We let the light then circulate through our arms and hands while envisioning the word “light”. We then wrap our entire bodies in a vision of light and think of the word at the same time. Then we relax.

Energy Cloud

We begin our ascent to heaven. First we enter the astral world. We become a soul. We then visualize a cloud composed of very fine energy which encircles the body. We are this cloud. We concentrate on the cloud and not our bodies. We leave the body and think of the mantra “I am a cloud. I am a soul. I am independent from my body.” We think of this mantra until we can feel this cloud.

Stars

We visualize the entire cosmos around us as full of stars. Our souls can travel anywhere they so desire. We meditate on the cosmos. We think of the mantra “stars”. We make large circles with the arms until we feel at one with the cosmos. We feel secure with our place in the world, we are at one with the world.

The World of Positive Souls

We land in the upper astral world, beyond the material cosmos. This is the world of positive souls. We become positive unto ourselves. We consider the positive points in our lives. We think of the mantra “Positive in my life is...” We count as many positive things as possible, until the soul is glowing with positivity.

The World of Happy Souls

Over the positive souls are the blessed souls. We are now in paradise. We imagine that all our wishes have been fulfilled. What do you wish? Fulfill them or let go of them here. Define the point where you have reached enough. Create contentment with your life. “My way to contentment is...”

The World of the Holy

Above the world of the happy souls lies the world of the enlightened. We become sons and daughters of God, Gods and Goddesses, enlightened Buddhas. We wish for a happy world. We envision the following: “I send light to... May all people be happy. May the world be a happy world.”

The Great Transformation

We move our hand to bless the entire cosmos with love and light. We move light into all areas of suffering. We send all suffering beings light. We surround them with light and think of the mantra “I send light to all suffering beings”. We think of all the problems in our lives and surround these problems with light. We integrate our problems into our life. We become masters of our lives. We surround all our life’s situations with light.

Seventh Heaven

We come to the seventh heaven. We visualize a sun with strong energy composed of peace, love and happiness. The hands lay relaxed in the lap. We think of the mantra, “Om sun, peace, love, happiness, living in the light.“ We fill our souls with peace, love, happiness and light, and rest in the light of God (in bliss, in the enlightenment energy).

Enlightened Masters

We connect ourselves with the enlightened masters. We rub the palms of our hands in front of the heart chakra and think, "Om all enlightened masters. Om inner wisdom. Please guide me and help me on my way.” We feel how the energy flows with the mantra into us.

Return

We move our feet slowly, then stretch and wiggle a bit. We then return to earth and our daily lifes. We are filled with peace, love and optimism.

Meditation Music

Search for Garden of Eden on Wikipedia.

Search for Heaven on Wikipedia.

Open with a right click in a new tab and listen while meditating:

External links

A guided meditation "OPENING TO PARADISE" (8 min.)

Search for Valhalla on Wikipedia.