41. Departed

Uncomprehendingly, stands a lonely soul in the death room. Uncomprehendingly, because the man, who lay on the bed, refused in his life on earth to believe that he lives on after he laid down his gross material body, therefore never gave serious thought about it and ridiculed all those who spoke of it. Confused, he looks around. He sees himself on his deathbed, he sees people with whom he is acquainted standing around it weeping, he hears the words they speak, and also feels the pain that they feel in lamenting that he has now died. He wants to laugh and shout that he is, in fact, still alive! He shouts! And he is surprised to see that they do not hear him. Again and again he shouts loudly and ever louder. The people do not listen, they continue to lament. Fear begins to rise in him. He hears his own voice quite clearly also feels his body distinctly. Once again he screams in anguish. No one pays any attention to him. Sobbingly they viewed his still body, which he recognizes as his own, but which he suddenly sees as something alien that no longer belongs to him; for he is standing beside his own body, free from any pain he has felt up till now.
 
With love he now calls the name of his wife, who is kneeling at his previous bed. But the crying does not stop, no word, no motion to show that she has heard him. In desperation he steps up to her and shakes her shoulder roughly. She does not notice. He does not know that he is touching and shaking the ethereal body of his wife, not the gross material body, and that the woman, who like him never thought that there is more than the earthly body, cannot feel his touch on her ethereal body either.
 
An unspeakable feeling of dread makes him shiver. The weakness of abandonment presses him to the ground, his consciousness fades.
 
He slowly wakes up again to a voice he recognized. He sees the body that he wore on the earth lying in the midst of flowers. He wants to leave, but it is impossible for him to get away from this still, cold body. He clearly feels that he is still connected to it. But then sounds that voice again that woke him from slumber. It is his friend speaking to someone. They have both brought a wreath and as they lay down this wreath they speak together. Nobody else is with him. The friend! He wants to make himself noticeable to him and to the other person, who with his friend was often his dear guest! He must tell them that, strangely enough, life is still within him, that he can still hear what these people are saying. He calls out! But his friend calmly turns towards his companion and continues to speak. But what he says goes through his limbs like a shock. This is his friend! So this is how he speaks of him now. He eavesdropped, frozen to the words of these people with whom he so often caroused, laughed, who have said nothing but good things to him while they sat at his table and socialized in his hospitable house.
 
They left, others came replaced them. How he could now discern most of the people! So many of those he had held in high esteem now aroused disgust in him and anger and there some, with whom he would be grateful to shake hands, he had never noticed. But they didn’t hear him, they didn’t feel him, even though he raged, shouted, in order to prove that he was alive! __
 
In a huge procession the body was then driven to the grave. He sat astride his coffin. Bitter and desperate, all he could do now was laugh, laugh! But the laughter gave way again to the deepest despondency, and great loneliness came over him. He became tired and slept. __
 
When he woke up, it was dark around him. How long he had slept he did not know. But he felt that he could no longer be connected to his earthly body as before; for he was free. Free in the darkness, which weighed strangely heavily on him.
 
He called out. Not a sound. He could not hear his own voice. Groaning, he sank back. But he hit his head hard on a sharp stone. When he awoke again after a long time, there was still the same darkness, the same ominous silence. He wanted to jump up, but his limbs were heavy, they refused to be of service to him. With all the strength of the most fearful despair, he pulled himself up and swayed awkwardly side to side. Often he fell to the ground, banging himself sore, bumping into corners and edges on the right and left, but he couldn’t be bothered to stop, for a strong urge drove him to keep groping and searching. Searching! But for what? His thoughts were confused, weary and hopeless. He was searching for something he did not understand. Searching!
  
Out, out of this darkness! The wish became an impetuous urge which gave rise to longing. Longing, however, is the purer intuition that arises from the coarser urge, and in the longing a prayer grew up, quite timidly. This prayer of longing finally gushed out of him like a spring and calm, soothing peace, humility and devotion entered his soul. But when he rose, in order to continue his wanderings, a hot current of experience ran through his body; for twilight now surrounded him, he could suddenly see! Far, far away, he detected a light, like a torch, which greeted him. Jubilantly he stretched out his arms towards it, and then he sank down again, full of deep happiness, and with an overflowing heart he thanked the One who had given him the light! With renewed strength he then walked towards that light, which came no nearer to him, but which, after what he had experienced, he still hoped to reach, even if it should take centuries. What had happened to him now could happen again and finally lead him out of the rock masses into warmer and more light-filled land, if he humbly asked for it.
 
“My God, help me to do this!” he squeezed from his breast, filled with hope. And, what joy, he heard his voice again! Even if only faintly at first, but he heard it! The happiness of this gave him new strength and hope, going forward again. __
 
Such is the original story of a soul in the Ethereal World. The soul could not be called bad. On earth he was even considered very good. A industrial magnate, busy, faithfully obeying all the earthly laws. __
 
Now another explanation of this process: The man who in his life on earth does not want to know that there is also the afterlife and who is forced to take responsibility for all his actions and omissions, in his way, which is not in harmony with the earthly view today, is blind and deaf in the Ethereal World as soon as he once has to cross over. Only while he remains connected with his discarded gross material body, for days or weeks, is he able at times to perceive what is happening around him.
 
But when he is then free from the dissolving gross material body, this possibility is lost to him. He hears and sees nothing more. But this is not a punishment, it is quite natural, because he did not want to hear and see anything of the Ethereal World. His own will, which can quickly shape the ethereal accordingly, prevents this ethereal body from seeing and also hearing. Unless a change slowly occurs in this soul. Whether this takes years or decades, perhaps centuries, is up to each individual. His will is entirely up to him. Help, also, only comes to him when he himself longs for it. Not before. It is never forced upon him.
 
The light that this soul greeted with such great joy when looking at it was always there. It just could not see it before. It is also clearer, stronger, than the blind soul sees it at first. How it sees it, whether strongly or weakly, is again entirely up to it. It does not come a step closer towards it, but it is there! It can enjoy it at any time, if it seriously and humbly wants to.
 
But understand, what I am explaining only applies to this one type of human soul. Not for others. In the darkness itself and its planes there is no light. There it is not true that he who advances within himself can suddenly see the light, but that he must first be led away from the environment which holds him.
 
Certainly, the current state of a soul seen here can be described as agonizing, especially as it is filled with great fear and has no hope within itself, but it did not want it any other way. It only receives what it has forced upon itself. It did not want to know anything about conscious life after leaving the earth. The soul cannot thus end Its own survival; for it is not allowed to take it upon itself, because it builds itself a barren ethereal plane, paralyses the sense organs of the ethereal body, so that it cannot see or hear ethereally, not until....the soul itself finally reflects on something else.
 
These are the souls, millions of whom can be seen on earth today, who, apart from not wanting to know anything about eternity or God, can still be called decent. Of course, it is naturally worse for the evildoers, but we are not talking about them here, only about the so-called decent people. __
 
Now when it is said that God stretches out His hand to help, it is in the Word, which He sends to men, in which He shows them how to free themselves from the errors in which they have become entangled. And His Grace lies from the very beginning in all the great possibilities that are given to the human spirit in Creation to use. This is so vast that the man of today cannot conceive of it, for he has never occupied himself with it, not seriously enough; for wherever it has been done, it has so far only been in a playful way, or for the purpose of vain self-exaltation!
 
But as soon as the human spirits recognize the right value in the Word of God, its profound seriousness, they will achieve great things in the whole of Creation! Up to now they have always preferred their own knowledge primarily and therefore all patchwork of the lowest degree in relation to the contents of the Word of God, which even today they still want to cast aside unrecognized, for no man knows of the true value of the Grail Message. No one on earth. Even if he thinks he knows the meaning, even if he already feels spiritually the advantages he has acquired in the partial recognition.... he does not know it, the real value, he has not yet grasped it in the hundredth part! So say I Who brings this Message. You do not know what you hold in your hands!
 
It is the Way, the Gate and also the Key that leads you to Life. To Life, which cannot be valued, cannot be bought with all the treasures of this earth, with all the treasures of the entire Universe! Now draw from the Message that is given to you. Take from it the good, the most precious things that you can find. Take it as it is, but do not search and question it. Searching and questioning it brings no value. It is not this Message that you should make comprehensible to yourself, but your task is simply to make room for it in the centre of your soul. It is there you ought to search, to question, in order to find what does not help to decorate the space when this Message finds its way into you! You should discover what in this space, which within you must become a temple, still disturbs you. Build this temple within you without touching My Message, and all who do will also be helped! __