|
Spirits of the Departed
Souls who have passed on do not really leave us. They remain with us as more than mere memories. The souls of people whom we loved on earth continue to seek our welfare us much as they are able. The souls of people we wronged on earth harbor resentment against us and would avenge themselves if given the chance. Thus, the dead are not really dead. They may be living with us. Sometimes sensitive people can call them down to earth, as in the Bible when Saul employed a medium to call up the ghost of the prophet Samuel.
Most people are ignorant of spiritual influences on the living, yet they are real. The philosopher Immanuel Kant once said, “The human soul stands even in this life in indissoluble connection with all immaterial natures in the spirit world, that it reciprocally acts upon these and receives impressions and help from them.” They include not only spirits of the dead, but also nature spirits-sprites, fairies and their ilk. The first peoples know them well, and their shamans are trained to sense their presence and employ them for human benefit. Their influence can be benign, or it can be beneficial, as the muse that inspires great art or the sudden insight that begets scientific discovery and invention. Spiritual influence can also be terribly destructive; for example, the passions that inflame age-old conflicts into modern-day ethnic violence.
Intercourse between heaven and earth works both ways. Spirits can be mobilized to assist earthly people for a righteous cause; conversely spirits need help from earthly people to resolve their own difficulties. Many religions promote the idea that the living should make offerings to benefit the dead; the Latter-Day Saints even promote baptism for the dead as a way to bring them closer to the perfection of the end-times. In this regard, Father Moon teaches a doctrine of “returning resurrection,” by which spirits descend to assist the living, and the living in turn assist the dead by shouldering the burden of their unfinished business and resolving it.
1. Spirits among Us
World Scripture
Do not say, “They are dead!” about anyone who is killed for God’s sake. Rather they are living, even though you do not notice it. Qur’an 2.154
The scent of the sakaki leaves is fragrant;32 Drawing near, I see countless kinsmen Assembled all around, Assembled all around. Kagura-Uta (Shinto)
The light which these souls [of departed saints] radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like leaven which leavens the world of being, and constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest… These souls and symbols of detachment have provided, and will continue to provide, the supreme moving impulse in the world of being. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 81 (Baha’i Faith)
Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.”
The king said to her, “Have no fear; what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up; and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” 1 Samuel 28.11-15
Those who are dead are never gone: they are there in the thickening shadow. The dead are not under the earth: they are there in the tree that rustles, they are in the wood that groans, they are in the water that runs, they are in the water that sleeps, they are in the hut, they are in the crowd, the dead are not dead.
Those who are dead are never gone: they are in the breast of the woman, they are in the child who is wailing, and in the firebrand that flames. The dead are not under the earth: they are in the fire that is dying, they are in the grasses that weep, they are in the whimpering rocks, they are in the forest, they are in the house, the dead are not dead. Birago Diop (African Traditional Religions)
“The path of the hekura is visible, luminous; there arises from it something like a fiery breath that makes the air heavy and almost unbreathable. One does not see the hekura, one feels the wind they raise when they move. During the hunt from which I just returned, I scattered the hekura who were in me.”
“Ordinary men are unable to recognize them. Yet the wind tells us that they are there.” “I see them only at night, when I close my eyes.” “One can see them only then.” “Their paths become luminous for me. I am sleeping; they approach and summon me to answer them. They suddenly wake me by shaking my arm or pulling on my ankle.”
“Those who are not truly shamans do not hear them. He who is really a shaman hears a kind of buzzing, ‘bouu…’ during his sleep, and this song echoes, rebounding off the celestial vault. He opens his eyes and says to himself, ‘I am going to see them now!’ The parrotlets sing, ‘bre, bre, bre,’ he knows that it is they. A cool breeze then glides along his legs…” “I saw the hekura walk on a rotten branch; I was passing right underneath.”
“Indeed, it was they; but they were not friendly toward you. The strong odors of the smoking grill, the smell of singed hair, of scorched meat near the fire, all this drives them off. Yet they did seem inclined to approach you.” “They give off a heady perfume; it comes from the dyes and the magic plants they carry with them. Suddenly, I stopped smelling these aromas, my nostrils no longer perceived them.”
“Therefore when one is at the end of the initiation, it is advisable not to hunt. If a flock of toucans takes flight and one of them lands near you, then all the others immediately follow suit. Be sure not to frighten them: stare at them fixedly and continue on your way; you be sure that they are hekura. Of course, there are those you drove away during the hunt; but don’t be overly concerned, I foresee that those were not the good ones. The others remain, who came into your breast while you were lying in your hammock. Those are truly yours, they are in you.” Yanomami Shaman’s Instruction (Native American Religion)
And when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth among the white men, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children’s children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone. Chief Seattle34 (Native American Religion)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
You are ignorant of the original life of God’s creation. You are unable to speak with confidence in the presence of the Creator, the spirits in heaven and all things on earth. Yet even at this hour, God and some spirits in heaven and on earth are helping you. (8:43, November 1, 1959)
At the peak of your spirituality, if you resolve and act upon your resolution for God, good spirits will descend from the spirit world and assist you. However, if your spiritual level drops, those spirits that had been assisting you will begin to leave, one by one. As they depart they are sorrowful, mournfully thinking that they might never again descend to the earth and assist earthly people. Indeed, once they leave you, it is hard for them to return. Act, therefore, to increase the number of spirits who can assist you. Then your work will make smooth and rapid progress, and heavenly fortune will be with you. (161:273-74, February 26, 1987)
Spirit people cannot come here and work just as they wish; their way is blocked. Only a few particular spirits can return to earth, unless earthly people through their religious life build a bridge enabling more to cross. (102:29, November 19, 1978)
When our ancestors entered the spirit world, they were judged guilty. Unable to make progress in the spirit world, they should again descend to earth and make restitution. It would be better for you not to follow the same path. (146:224, July 1, 1986)
In the past, a person who prayed and made numerous conditions of devotion could meet the deceased founder of his religion for a short time, but then they had to separate, because the religious leader had to return to the spirit world. However, now is the time when all spirits can descend to earth, to people of their respective religions. (161:199-200, February 3, 1987)
|