Soul Connections
Love comes and goes. Ostensibly, in this world at least, we meet people, partners, friends and foes, only to part later on. Whether in this life or beyond, what happens to all the unresolved issues we've left behind? In different circums-tances enemies could have been friends, so could there be a scope for making up with them?
For atheists death is nothing more than the end of them, full stop, The body goes back to the dust it came from, as ashes or in a coffin. For such persons relationships, harmonious or conflictual, are interrupted at death, once and for all. For their loved ones who stay alive in mourning, things are likely to be more complicated. They may go on talking to the deceased in case ---and in hopes---- (s)he is still existing somewhere, capable of hearing prayers and getting messages.
Recent testimonies of NDEs claim that the prayers of kins and friends are heard loud and clear ---often telepathically--- by the departed from the other side. It's their own attemps to communicate back that has suddenly become impossible. Someone said it's like being on the phone with someone and there's a sudden loss of connection. You're saying, "Hello, I'm here, can you hear me?" Deceased people can no longer be heard from this side but they can hear you alright. Does this mean your relationship is broken? Communication may be broken on one side, yes...But it can be resumed once your time has come to depart. At least this one belief is agreed by nearly all religions for once.
Reunion with deseased loved ones used to be seen as wishful thinking on the part of credulous people who couldn't do their mourning, or let go of a sentimental attachment. Yes, even before NDEs became a focus of attention, Chico Xavier, a saintly Brazilian man widely known as one of the greatest mediums of all times, authored "Nosso Lar", a global best seller made to film. He channeled a series of thirteen books purported to be directly transcribed messages from a certain Andre Luiz. The books' narratives depict the life of departed souls in the hereafter. We included a summary of Nosso Lar in our "Pioneers" section under "Chico Xavier", which offers a vivid account of how unresolved conflicts can evolve in the afterlife as per the law of karma.
Stories of believers turning away from God abound. So do stories of atheists turning to faith. Others remain adamant nonbelievers till the bitter end. According to Blaise Pascal's famous "bet", those wagering for the non-existence of God would be dammed. Recent NDE studies suggest that such is not the case. As much as your profession of faith matters, the quality of your life, which would include altruism, tolerance, compassion, generosity, etc., could still matter more to your afterlife than your religious belief or disbelief. Numerous testimonies of NDE experiencers who were atheists or strong skeptics show that they were bound to a fairly bright destination at the time of their dying. And for nearly all of them the direct effect of their NDE was that they turned into believers for the rest of their lives. The point here is not whether NDEs are real or not, let that be what it may. The point is that faithless people, religious or not, are liable to being converted in an instant. Call it grace if you like, but you'll have to agree that grace seems to touch a rather large number of people nowadays through the medium of NDE. Call these people good natured or deep down predestined souls; we'd have to establish statistics for how many good versus bad atheists get to turn to God after an NDE. Get prepared for the possibility of bad people being eligible.
By way of reaching a conclusion on whether relationships continue beyond this life, we propose two outcomes based on recent studies of NDE as outlined above:
1. That Soul connextions between ordinary people can continue in some form after the demise of one or more of them.
2. That following a life-changing event such as an NDE *, non-believers can either begin or revive a relationship with the Divine.
* Other events have been the subject of serious research into paranormal realities, including Out of Body Experiences (OBEs), Mediumship with departed spirits, Extrasensory Perception (ESP), etc. As these themes may not directly relate to our subjet of relationships continuing after this life, we propose to look at some of them in a different article.
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