The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 151 -
The Lord's explanation of the state of the victims' soul in the afterlife.
1
(Mathael:) "This were the two histories which I have experienced. What happened further with those two in the spirit kingdom, I surely don't know; and even despite Your earlier explanation I also do not understand what the two bats mean when the boy was falling down the tree, who later melted together into a monkey figure, and why the soul of the self-murderer appeared to me as a complete skeleton floating around the surface of the water. From where came the ten black ducks and why did they tease the skeleton? How could the still monkey-like figure of the boy become the master of the birds? What does the dresses mean, from where was it coming, and what was its effect on the two different souls?
2
Yes, there would be other things, for asking a lot of questions; but for me especially these points, about which I have made known my lack of knowledge through the questions, are of a particular interest, and about which a merciful explanation would be quite appreciated. If somebody else from us also wants an explanation of any trifle matter, will surely be allowed to ask about it?!"
3
Said Cyrenius: "Friend, during those your stories I felt quite strange! The human life appears to me like stream on top of a plateau flowing quietly and harmlessly. But at the end of the plateau, the former so quiet stream dives with a thundering roaring and a most awful seriousness into an unpredictable depth and drills itself a dreadfully deep bed, - but does not find any rest! Since it own falling power drives it further and further away from its rest with great force, and it must flee and flee, until somewhere it is consumed by the omnipotence and unmeasurable depth of the sea.
4
O Lord, for our consolation explain to us such frightening moments of the otherwise beautiful life! Just take the person, according to the story of our brother Mathael, who jumped into the pond, with which I'm quite familiar with, to end his life full of desperation. What frightening change immediately after he jumped! What uncertainty, what misery! Therefore, o Lord and Master, give us a comforting explanation about everything that brother Mathael has told us in such dreadfully faithful manner!"
5
Says I: "Yes, of course we here see some terrible sad looking moments of life, which surely are full of seriousness. But what do you want to do, to rescue a life which has been totally shredded by the influence of the world and its hellish cravings, and with time put the life back on the right path again, so that it doesn't melt away completely? Must such life not be seized with all seriousness?
6
Yes, it is true, this moment of seizure really is highly disgusting for the spectator! The transition through a most narrow opening is of course not so pleasant to look at, as at the face of a completely healthy maiden bride; but it guides the actual person into life, namely into a true and forever undestroyable life! And for that reason such a serious moment of life, finally is for him who understands it, more comforting than the smiling spring face of a maiden bride. - But now we will go over to the explanation of that what we have heard from Mathael!
7
Even before, Mathael saw two big bats, flying around the boy when he fell from the tree and immediately lying dead on the ground. First, the boy was a pure descendant from this earth. However, the pure earth children, as you have heard by many of My explanations and also clearly comprehended, are according to soul and body composed from the entire organic creation of this earth. Proof for this are the most widely different types of food for the body consumed by humans, while the choice of food for animals is very limited. In order for man to feed all intelligence particles of which his soul is composed, with the corresponding soul food from the natural nutrients he consumes, he is able to take in such a wide variety of food parts from the animal-, plant- and also mineral kingdom; since the substantial form body of the soul is fed and ripened, just like the flesh body, by the consumed natural foods.
8
Now it also depends from which preceding creature sphere, according to climbing levels, a purely earthly person has received his soul. And it is then, especially with children, one has to consider the circumstances, that their souls still carry traces of those pre-creature types in them, from which the human form initially was composed. If a child is brought up properly right from the beginning, the pre-creature form is soon transformed into a human form and more and more hardens in it. However, if the upbringing of a child is neglected, the pre-creature form in the soul comes more and more to the foreground and even draws the firmly formed body to the said pre-creature form, and with some raw people it is quite easy to recognise which form undoubtedly predominates their soul.
9
When I thus said earlier that the boy according to soul and body purely originates from this earth, you will understand with regard to his neglected upbringing, why his soul, when still on the tree before falling down, was in that moment visible as two bats, because he lapsed into a convulsive unconsciousness partly due to too strenuous holding on to the tree and partly by suffocating by the thick smoke, which kept him for a while in the tree, although by himself already not knowing what was going on.
10
Since as long a soul during the moment of dying, is not completely separated from its body, for as long is it completely without consciousness, due to frightening perturbation. It feels like someone who is bound face upwards on a spindle, which rotates with extreme speed. He can look as much as he wants to, he will still not be able to see anything; he only might be seeing a matt-coloured misty circle around him, which by increasing rotational speed and thereby increasing unsteadiness of the visual organ turns into a complete night.
11
But just like the visual organ must have rest to look at an object to see what it is, the soul equally requires a certain inner rest, to obtain a steady and bright consciousness of itself. The more the soul is disturbed in itself, the more its clear selfconsciousness vanishes; and once the soul is placed in a state of highest possible unrest, then it does not know anything about itself anymore, until it has returned to a state of rest again. And this moment happens to dying people in a more severe state, the more the soul was standing on a lower life development level. Ah, with a life perfected soul this somewhat sad looking state does of course not take place, as Mathael has seen this quite clearly during the dying moment of the old Lazarus, since his soul was never in any kind of unrest.
12
The boy on the tree was for about an quarter of an hour bodily nearly completely dead and did not know anything about himself; his soul as well as his body were therefore surrounded by the most dense darkness. And a soul which gets to a state of too much unrest, starts to properly divide itself into the former, smaller and imperfect pre-life creatures; therefore the two bats were visible. Only after the boy by the smashing of his brain lost all bonds with his soul, came soon more rest into the destroyed soul, the two pre-creatures seized each other, and soon a monkey as the last pre-creature became visible; but it required a longer rest to a complete seizing itself, and even more rest until recognizing itself again and gaining its self-consciousness. This is why it crouched for a while at the place where its body fell from the tree, more according to instinct than knowing what has happened.
13
Gradually, consciousness and self-awareness returned, and the monkey, looking more and more human, began to raise itself up. Its constantly expanding outer life-sphere enabled it to perceive the nearness of the soul of his perished earthly father. He left the spot where he was crouching and, following his inner promptings, moved over to the pond and now fully recognized the soul of his father, burdened and tormented by a tenfold human curse.
14
At that moment, the filial love awakened in him and with it also the question about God and His true justice. Moreover, there awakened in him also a just anger against the curse which men in their boundless pride dare to fling at their poor, but actually much better, fellowmen. With this, the now much more perfected monkey-man became aware of his own strength to take it up with the ten curse-devils which in the form of black ducks tormented his father's soul unduly.
15
With this increased self-awareness the monkey-man leaps into the pond and, driven by the love for his father, begins to play havoc among the ten curse-devils. In a few moments they are destroyed, and by that action the monkey-man now looks almost completely human.
16
Now his love also begins to take new roots in the dead soul of his father. This fills the son with even more love and strength with which he pulls his father away from his place of destruction and perdition and onto dry land where, through the son's love, a solid resting-ground for the father's future existence forms and is found. However, as the son's love is growing, also his light keeps growing. Out of this light, he recognizes the limitation of his own strength and now properly turns to God, asking Him to help his father. And help is not long in coming; clothing is provided and the strength to move on to a better and more perfect life-sphere. There, the father's soul is nourished by the son's ever growing love, attains once more a spiritual flesh and blood and, finally, becomes able to recognize God and enter into His order, - which is always exceedingly difficult in cases of suicide."