The following is a brief synopsis of my synthesis of all of
the teachings I've studied, of all of my personal experiences, and of all the
experiences that others have shared with me concerning death, life after death,
and rebirth. Remember that when trying to comprehend the higher dimensions from
the lower dimensions, we can never get it all right. As we grow, we learn more,
but the finite can never completely comprehend the infinite.
In most Wisdom Traditions and tribal or aboriginal religions,
the newly deceased individual remains in the etheric plane (the higher
dimensions of the dense or physical plane (the etheric double)) and the lower
astral planes for a while from which they can view, communicate, and influence
the physical plane.
Most people leave the etheric plane after their funeral. A
few get stuck there due to various types of problems. A few people reincarnate
within 10 years or so after their physical death if they died young and have
some very important business or strong ties to certain loved ones.
The average person or soul remains in the various astral
planes for hundreds or even thousands of years. Once they complete what they
need to do there, they experience the second death and move on to the mental
planes. Buddha reportedly experienced 39 planes, but most traditions stick to
seven planes with seven possible subplanes in this particular universe.
Despite all this “fragmentation” we are always connected to everything in and out of the universe. We may become aware of these connections in many different ways and to many different degrees. No matter where someone is among the higher planes, they are
forever attached to their loved ones or certain situations either by cords of
energy (modern Western occult teachings) or “dents” (samskaras) in their being
(Major Indian religions).
In time the deceased dies on the lower mental planes. The Self rests on the higher mental plane called the causal plane. Eventually, the causal self or causal body creates on new
mental body, astral body, and physical body (The etheric body is part of the
physical body) that carries on accumulated characteristics of the deceased.
These new bodies are the reincarnation of the deceased and they carry on where
he left off.
Most people do not change much after death. Therefore, they
have many similarities to their previous lives. They do not become worms or
other lower forms of life. They can only become what they carried with them.
The changes between lives are miniscule. Some animal souls who have
demonstrated higher qualities may move on to human form.
Spiritualism, Spiritism, Swedenborgism, and recent teachings
talk about how higher intelligences on these planes guide us and help us
prepare for reincarnation. These guides and teachers may continue to be with us
in various forms after birth.
Not everyone reincarnates. They may be ready to move on to
some higher plane in some higher form. Moving up is a gradual process like any
other change on all planes.
Also, the causal self may create other persons on the
physical plane that may or may not be carrying on the spiritual or karmic
influences of the deceased. They may create personalities in other time frames,
both the past and the future.
And the causal self is part of a higher self (the
Buddhic/Christ/Krishna body/plane or level of the Master). Each Buddhic Self
gives rise to many other causal bodies. The Buddhic Selves are connected to the
Atma, which is connected to the Monad, which is connected to the Adi -- the
First, the Infinite, or God.
