We are not separate from them. We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. Jensen: In your opinion, why do you think the early Brethren taught so much about the spirit world?
Did they talk about it more than we do today in the Church? Top: I am not sure that the early Brethren spoke more often or more extensively on the subject than leaders today, but clearly there are some very fascinating teachings by Brigham Young, Heber C. I am convinced, as are some other scholars, that Brigham Young had near-death experiences, one of which happened right before the Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley in July of That may be one of the reasons he talked so much about the spirit world.
I think you see evidence of his personal encounter with the spirit world in this particular statement:. I can say with regard to parting with our friends, and going ourselves, that I have been near enough to understand eternity so that I have had to exercise a great deal more faith to desire to live than I ever exercised in my whole life to live. The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible. It is not encumbered with this clog of dirt we are carrying around here so that when we advance in years we have to be stubbing along and to be careful lest we fall down.
But yonder, how different! Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds,. There is another very well-documented near-death experience of an early LDS Apostle that was also an important contribution to the doctrinal teachings regarding the spirit world.
It is the experience of Jedediah M. Grant, counselor to President Brigham Young. It was recounted by President Heber C. President Grant spoke of the incredible light and love he experienced in the spirit world. There are a couple of passages in the Doctrine and Covenants that I think are profound in helping us to understand what the spirit world is like and how it compares to our mortal existence.
The first is found in section Spirits will be familiar with spirits in the spirit world—will converse, behold, and exercise every variety of communication one with another as familiarly and naturally as while here in tabernacles. There, as here, all things will be natural, and you will understand them as you now understand natural things. Some may think that all spirits do in the spirit world is float around on clouds, playing harps. Others may think that the only thing that goes on there is missionary work.
We will be teaching and being taught, serving and being served—just like here. That leads me to the other scriptural passage that is so vital to our understanding of the doctrine of the spirit world and the activities that go on there. While he was speaking specifically of life after the Resurrection, I believe this applies in some measure to life in the spirit world. There we will converse, laugh and cry, and engage ourselves in meaningful and productive activities—just like here.
I jokingly say that earthly life might be compared to regular television as it was first invented by Philo Farnsworth, and the spirit world is more like high-definition television, enhanced with incredible resolution and beautiful detail.
Righteous spirits, at least, will possess a level of glory that provides capacities and allows experiences that we cannot have in quite the same way in this fallen world with mortal, physical bodies. That explains some of the most remarkable teachings of the early Brethren. When we pass into the spirit world we shall possess a measure of this power. Elder Orson Pratt spoke extensively of the mode of communication in the spirit world.
Instead, we communicate mind to mind, spirit to spirit. In my research I came across many accounts of non-LDS near-death experiencers who spoke of this telepathic communication. There is another aspect of this enhanced capacity of righteous spirits in the spirit world that I really look forward to—increased ability to learn and retain knowledge.
These are but a few of the teachings of prophets and apostles about the spirit world. They are like snowflakes on the tip-top of the iceberg.
Jensen: In your books you also cite many sources and experiences of people who are not of the LDS faith. One in particular you quote often is Emanuel Swedenborg. Who is he, and what can we learn from him? Top: Swedenborg was an eighteenth-century Swedish scientist, engineer, and religious philosopher who was also a faithful, Bible-believing Christian.
He described what he saw and learned from those experiences in his classic work, Heaven and Hell , which was first published in Latin in and in English in Using the Spirit to discern truth, we can learn from others, and apply the truths we learn from them.
I love this statement from President Howard W. God operates among his children in all nations, and those who seek God are entitled to further light and knowledge, regardless of their race, nationality, or cultural traditions. There is no truth but what belongs to the gospel. He gives experiences and insights and revelation to all kinds of people. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals. We should rejoice that the Lord gives them a portion of his truth regarding the world beyond.
Emanuel Swedenborg, in my estimation, was one of many whom the Lord helped to know greater truths about the gospel. He was a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the term. Did he get some things wrong? But he also got a lot of things right, and I am convinced that the Lord inspired him and helped him to understand things within the context of the world in which he was living, which was long before the gospel was restored.
In a way reminiscent of C. Lewis who is so often quoted by Latter-day Saints , Swedenborg has a unique way of saying things that illuminate and inform our understanding of doctrine. They merely describe their near-death experience. I just wanted them to describe their experiences.
Such narratives allow us to look at the experience and ask, how does this correspond to what we know by revelation and by the standard works? Jensen: My grandfather had a near-death experience, and he said that he was given the opportunity to choose to return to his family or stay in the spirit world.
Is that a common thing in the accounts you have read? Top: Yes, it is quite common in the near-death experience literature. Probably every one of us has an ancestor, relative, friend, or acquaintance that has had a near-death experience or some sort of glimpse beyond the veil. In our LDS culture, some would view such as experiences as too sacred or personal to speak of casually. At the other end of the continuum, others who have these kinds of experiences may think they are crazy or have been told by doctors or others that what they experienced were hallucinations or reactions to medications although true near-death experiences are dramatically different from those.
A Gallup poll conducted many years ago found that one in eighteen people in the United States had had a near-death experience. That tells me that they are far more common than we would think. If these statistics are even somewhat accurate, that would mean that well over a half-million members of the Church have had such an encounter with the afterlife. That is a staggering thought! My own father-in-law had such an experience before his death. But I find that concept fascinating because it is often stated that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that we have an appointed time for our death and that no righteous man dies before his time.
Jensen: What would you say are the two or three most important things that you have learned from your years of research on the spirit world and related doctrines? Top: That is hard—like asking me which of my grandchildren is my favorite. The more I study and learn about the spirit world, the more it enriches my life. Our knowledge of what it will be like then and there helps us to know what we should be like here and now.
Gospel insights about dying teach us a great deal about living. Some people may think that studying death and spirit world is morbid, but in reality, it is so inspiring. Then wilt thou never think a mean thought, nor covet anything beyond measure. Remembering that we will all someday cross over the threshold of death and make an accounting for our lives helps keep us focused on eternity and those things that matter most.
Elder Orson Pratt perhaps said it best. And do not forget to look forward to those joys ahead, if we do, we will become careless, dormant, and sluggish, and we will think we do not see much ahead to be anticipated, but if we keep our minds upon the prize that lays ahead—upon the vast fields of knowledge to be poured out upon the righteous, and the glories that are to be revealed, and the heavenly things in the future state, we shall be continually upon the alert; we are beings that are only to live here for a moment, as it were.
Let these things sink down in our minds continually, and they will make us joyful, and careful to do unto our neighbors as we would they should do unto us. Lest we should come short of some of these things is the reason I have touched upon the future state of man the two Sabbaths past, to stir up the pure minds of the Saints that we may prepare for the things that are not far ahead, and let all the actions of our lives have a bearing in relation to the future.
Another one of my favorite discoveries from my research is related to that. It is the concept of a life review. One of the most common observations of people who have had a near-death experience, or an encounter with the spirit world in some way, is that they talk about how their life passed before their eyes—that they undergo some type of a judgment.
I find this very fascinating in light of the scriptures and doctrine that we have. Many non—Latter-day Saint experiencers not only relive their lives and see specific events, but they also actually experience the implications of the choices they have made, which sometimes includes seeing how their choices affected the lives of other people.
When I die, not only will I see my life but I will experience what impact, whether good or bad, my life and my choices had on other people. That is very interesting to me—especially in light of Alma 41, where Alma teaches his son about the doctrine of restoration.
If you have done evil, how will evil be restored unto you? If you have done good, how will good be restored unto you? The Apostle Paul calls it the law of the harvest—that which you sow, you will eventually reap see Galatians , 9.
We see how this works in life to a limited degree. But in the spirit world, this facet of the law of restoration is an absolutely perfect and just return for our actions in life. Why not her mother or close friend who had passed There were sooooo many quoted writings and a whole lot of fluff.
I think her actual story could have been written in 2 chapters, but in order to publish she had to make it longer, hence all the quotes. Sabrina Rutter. I read all the way to page 91 before I decided I had all I could take of this new-age dogma.
This lady claims to have made contact with spiritual teachers during a meditation and then during her NDE she meets up with one of those teachers in the place where all your questions are answered. Then she claims to have seen a friend sitting in her spirit form on her death bed smiling. It was all just to much and I like to read about peoples NDE's. This book seemed more aimed at giving you another spiritual beleife rather than the telling of a NDE. For a believer in the afterlife, this memoir was so reassuring to me.
I heard that Steve Job's last words were, "Wow, Wow! I hope he was seeing what Jan Price experienced in her near death experience. Her descriptions of the beautiful colors, the meaning of time, and our agelessness confirmed my thoughts of heaven. For those who experience traumatic physical exits, prolonged processes of transcending, or mental loss, the Spirit tends to leave the body or comes in and out of the body before the release from the physical body.
In fact, many deceased loved ones who see you are suffering at the thought of their suffering have come back to say,. I actually left my body right before things changed, and I was right there with you, by your side. A space immediately after crossing over, and is often on a level within the spiritual realm, but right before entry is available for all. Some people call this a holding place, but it really isn't. It's a place where the Spirit can go to rest and recuperate from their life on Earth and from their process of dying.
Being in the rest space does not mean they are stuck and not crossing over, it simply means they are resting and will transition fully when they are ready. Usually, what happens here is other Healing Spirits work on their soul before they fully transcend.
They release any pain bodies the Spirit is holding onto before being freed from it all. When a loved one completes the transition of death, and after they rest from their journey, the Spirit now takes time to reflect and review their time on Earth. This period of reflection can take a few weeks to years, with the average Spirit spending six months to one year in reflection of their life on Earth.
This period is called the life review and is essential to the crossing over process. During this time, your loved one is surrounded by Spirit Guides and Angels usually 3 to 7 of them and begins to review their life and the lessons they were meant to learn while on Earth.
They are shown all the positive impacts they made on Earth first. Starting from birth and extending to death, the recently deceased will see everything playback to them as though on a giant movie screen, projector, or film strip. They usually show this to me as a small, personal movie theater. They see all their experiences through their own perspective, they also see their experiences through the lens of every other being that was involved.
So if someone was hurt, they gain a new understanding of this as well. That is all it is — a review of Earth and your experiences. You simply learn and appreciate your life more. When complete, your deceased loved one will have a lot of perspective about those they knew and of their own actions while on Earth, often they come back to share these perspectives in readings. Learn more about the Life Review here.
Once the life review is complete — usually between six months to one year, the soul transitions fully into Spirit. The Spirit is now free to explore, visit, and take on jobs if they want to.
This often involves visiting, helping you out with favors and creating positive outcomes in your life. Deceased loved ones will enjoy coming to readings and mention strings they pulled and how they are visiting you. Some deceased loved ones become Spirit Guides for those in your family or others who they can help with their expertise. Other deceased loved ones have discussed becoming guardian angel figures, to help those who are going through difficult times in their lives.
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