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THE DOGS MAY BARK  
BUT THE CARAVAN MOVES ON

### The Spirit Realm And I

### Raja Arasa RATNAM

Evidence of higher beings

In the spirit realm

Shaping my Earthly life

Copyright © 2019 by Raja Arasa Ratnam  
**Smashwords Edition**  
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof  
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever  
without the express written permission of the publisher  
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

THERE IS EVIDENCE OF SOULS

TAKING

BOTH MIND AND MEMORIES

TO THE AFTERLIFE

FOR SOULS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE EARTHLY FACILITIES TO THE AFTERLIFE,

SOUL, MIND AND MEMORIES

NEED TO BE OUTSIDE THE EARTHLY BODY.

ATTACHMENT TO CONSCIOUSNESS – WHICH ENVELOPS, WHILE ALSO

PERVADING, ALL EXISTENCE – WOULD EXPLAIN THIS CAPABILITY

MY SOUL SEEMS TO HAVE GIVEN ME GLIMPSES OF PAST LIVES.

WHY?

TO LINK KEY FEATURES OF MY PAST TO MY FUTURE

MOST OF WHICH MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN LAID DOWN?

AH, THE MYSTERY OF EXISTENCE!

### Contents

An Imported "Black" in "White" Australia

What Shaped My Perspective?

A Dragon's Welcome

A Yogi ensured my exile (Part 1)

A yogi ensured my exile (Part 2)

A yogi ensured my exile (Part 3)

A yogi ensured my exile (Part 4)

The determinants of personal destinies (Part 1)

The determinants of personal destinies (Part 2)

The determinants of personal destinies (Part 3)

The spirit realm and I (Part 1)

The spirit realm and I (Part 2)

The spirit realm and I (Part 3)

The spirit realm and I (Part 4)

The spirit realm and I (Part 5)

The spirit realm and I (Part 6)

Other clairvoyants and I (Part 1)

Other clairvoyants and I (Part 2)

Other clairvoyants and I (Part 3)

Profoundly penetrating perceptions (Part 1)

Profoundly penetrating perceptions (Part 2)

The alluring mystery of psychic vision (Part 1)

The alluring mystery of psychic vision (Part2)

Fortune-tellers galore

A personal destiny-path (Part 1)

A personal destiny-path (Part 2)

A personal destiny-path (Part 3)

A personal destiny-path (Part 4)

On one's ship being scuppered

My foretold destruction came to pass

Becoming that slug in the well

From the doldrums to sighting blue sky

How persuasive are past life actions?

A programmed path of a personal destiny?

Automaton or possessing free will?

What of the soul-path?

The Upanishads and reincarnation

The soul and the individual self

Does the Self have a role in human lives?

Subliminal processes in the human being?

A manifesting spirit displays inexplicable capabilities

A nearby residence for our souls?

Farewells on the way to, or from, the Afterlife

Contact with spirits

Speculating about the Afterlife (Part 1)

Speculating about the Afterlife (Part 2)

The Afterlife – a necessary resting place?

What will I take with me when I die?

Memory storage and the mind

The soul bridges Earth and the Afterlife

The transfer of human faculties (Part 1)

The transfer of human faculties (Part 2)

The rationale of reincarnation

The nature of spirits (Part 1)

The nature of spirits (Part 2)

What of our Creator? (Part 1)

What of our Creator? (Part 2)

What of our Creator? (Part 3)

Creating the Creator

Destiny and the Spirit Realm

Is my mind influenced by my soul? (Part 1)

Is my mind influenced by my soul? (Part 2)

The mystery of Consciousness (Part 1)

The mystery of Consciousness (Part 2)

Is everything on Earth conscious?

Consciousness, Brahman and the aether

The reality of an ephemeral Cosmos

How we arrived in the Cosmos

Do souls bubble into existence?

Are we humans programmed for spiritual experiences?

Could all religions lead to the Ocean of Consciousness?

A spiritually inspiring poem

A bobbing nothing in infinite space

Evidence supporting reincarnation

An encouraging vista: the 'Ocean' of Consciousness

A non-material Ocean of Consciousness

My belief in Hinduism (Part 1)

My belief in Hinduism (Part 2)

My belief in Hinduism (Part 3)

My belief in Hinduism (Part 4)

My belief in Hinduism (Part 5)

My belief in Hinduism (Part 6)

Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 1)

Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 2)

Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 3)

Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 4)

Tributes to Hinduism – by prominent Indians

A useful guide to Reality

Yogananda's experience of cosmic consciousness

Aurobindo on Hinduism

Insights into the Afterlife

Hindu influence on Greek philosophy

Hinduism's impact on Indonesia

Hinduism in Southeast Asia (Part 1)

Hinduism in Southeast Asia (Part 2)

Hinduism's impact on the West

My exposure to Hinduism in Bali

Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 1)

Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 2)

Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 3)

Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 4)

Mind, memory and brain (Part 1)

Mind, memory and brain (Part 2)

Mind, memory and brain (Part 3)

Hindu philosophy compared (Part 1)

Hindu philosophy compared (Part 2)

The influence of a past life (Part 1)

The influence of a past life (Part 2)

The influence of a past life (Part 3)

Persuaded by past lives

Past-life regressions – how credible?

Perceiving reality – some thoughts

The origin of the Cosmos: Rig Veda insight

The origin of souls

Swami Vivekhananda quotes (Part 1)

Swami Vivekhananda quotes (Part 2)

Finding God

Communicating with spirits

Thoughts on re-birth

3 quotes from the Upanishads

Quotes by Rabindranath Tagore

On religion – a Seeker's personal path

On religion – Achieving control

On religion – it is a way of life!

On religion – its place in society

Origin of the Universe?

Probable origin of religious beliefs

Guidance from past-life memories (Part 1)

Guidance from past-life memories (Part 2)

Guidance from past-life memories (Part 3)

Hindu cosmology – views of some Western scholars

Am I fully responsible for my destiny?

Earthling – Spirit communication

Do out-of-body experiences indicate life after death?

The value of a religion

A Seeker wanders and wonders – A spiritual experience

A Seeker wanders and wonders – cremation and compassion

A Seeker wanders and wonders – The destination

A Seeker wanders and wonders – The pathway

Advanced concepts found in Hindu writings

A theory of consciousness (Part 1)

A theory of consciousness (Part 2)

A theory of consciousness (Part 3)

A theory of Consciousness (Part 4)

An alternative view of reality

An ethereal life in the 'Hereafter'

An image of God

An interventionist God?

Analysing religions

Do religions have to compete?

Do religious dogmas have to be divisive?

Divisive institutional schisms serving a sole Creator

Human rights constrained by religious sects

Are authoritarian religions intolerant?

Special circuits in human brains for spiritual experiences?

The mystery of death

Wisdom on death

Death: quotes from Buddhism

Death – more notable quotes

Death – yet more notable quotes

Do institutional religions benefit mankind?

A true measure of the value of a religion

Evolved and modified uncreated humans

Does cosmic radiation mutate humans?

A Seeker's approach to understanding Reality

The soul and Consciousness

On suffering – and its containment

Only 3 issues matter to human Seekers

A Hindu Tamil in White Australia

The value of individual souls

Aether-like Brahman as Consciousness

RAJA ARASA RATNAM – the man

"You people are always......"

From exile to fruition (Part 1)

From exile to fruition (Part 2)

From exile to fruition (Part 3)

From exile to fruition (Part 4)

From exile to fruition (Part 5)

From exile to fruition (Part 6)

From exile to fruition (Part 7)

From exile to fruition (Part 8)

Linking the past to the future

In retrospect (Part 1): Where resides my soul?

In retrospect (Part 2) – How do souls retain mind and memories?

In retrospect (Part 3) – Where resides the Creator within me?

In retrospect (Part 4) – Does Consciousness explain Reality?

In retrospect (Part 5) – Life after Earthly death

In retrospect (Part 6) – What of the Afterlife? (1)

In retrospect (Part 7) – What of the Afterlife (2)

Flying home – temporarily!

The 'Afterlife' – My ponderings (1)

The 'Afterlife' – My ponderings (2)

The 'Afterlife' – My ponderings (3)

The 'Afterlife' – My hopes

About the Author

###  An Imported "Black" in "White" Australia

When I arrived in whiter-than-white Australia in 1948, in spite of my honey-coloured skin, I was frequently addressed as a 'black bastard' in public spaces, and generally described as black. Colour prejudice was rife. It was displayed in my direction through looks (often aggressive), and in insulting utterances (full of disdain). Acts of discrimination (such as being the last to be served in shops) were common.

How so? Why did the hoi polloi (the common urban Aussie) behave in such a hoity-toity fashion? Through the protective aura of the vicious White Australia policy; and by an apparently osmotic absorption of colonial attitudes. Had not their British ancestors confirmed their innate genetic superiority by invading the imagined terra nullius Australia, killing and driving away the indigenes, and destroying their ancient cultures and economic base? Accepting the Aborigines as First Nation Peoples is even now beyond the tolerance level of the movers and shakers of this relatively new nation.

Significant culture shocks were generated by the entry of fee-paying, educated, well-dressed, well-behaved, confident, young but coloured university students speaking clear English, and who were buttressed by the ethos of Asian communalism and their civilisational heritage. Since Australia was originally intended for white British people exclusively, these shocks were bilateral.

Habituation and some socialisation, and ignoring the ignorant Aussie, built necessary bridges. The displayed ability of some of us to drink lots of beer at Aussie barbecues also helped. Then, shared education and the guiding influence of teachers added to cement relations within the next generation for those of us who married white Aussie women, and remained in Australia, and produced a new model of Aussie.

By then, pressure from the newly-independent Asian nations had weakened the colour bar. By initially favouring the lighter-coloured East Asians, preferably Christian, the government was able to fully open the immigration door to darker Asians (preferably Christian) by the end of the 20th century.

For a nation which was disgustingly racist, this is a tremendous achievement. We are now officially colour-blind, except for the unavoidable (the 'ignoramus') social yobbo. Whether dark non-Christians can rise to the top of the totem-pole is moot. Time will tell. Yet, it seems timely for me to present to the reformed Australia and to the world at large a snapshot of early post-war Australia, the incredibly racist and religiously bigoted nation that I entered 70 years ago. Why? Because very few Anglo-Aussies alive today could possibly know anything about White Australia, the land of their forebears. They would have been born after World War Two, and not exposed to the dark side of their nation.

They would also begin to understand why our government keeps chortling about Australia being ever so multicultural, even as control of the nation has not changed at all.

It is against this background that I offer my experiences, with appropriate commentary, reflecting 70 years of objective observation of the Western nation to which the spirit realm had exiled me. Yes, this is true, as I will explain in due course.

My experiences are set out in 4 books on immigrant integration, details of which are set out in the following pages. **I am not aware of any other Asian-Australian who had written about Australia and its evolution since World War Two**. There are not many people alive, white, black or brindle, who have experienced this country as I have (refer my book The Dance of Destiny). The reviewers of my books have found my recorded thoughts both challenging and provocative, but not factually incorrect.

I have also published 2 other books: one on Australian society, the other is bicultural fiction.

###  What Shaped My Perspective?

_Would I not be an opinionated fool were I to attempt to answer this curly question in an apparently factual fashion?_ The determinants of a human life, both genetic and social; the contributory causes of a personal destiny on Earth (including past lives); the variable behavioural-personalities surrounding a core-personality which is probably inherently imperceptible; a learned ability to transcend the limits of perception of matters substantial in order to intuit (perhaps through one's 'third eye') phenomena in the ephemeral (or spiritual) realm: are these subject to dissection and analysis? _Does one vivisect a songbird to trace the thrill of its trill?_

What of the highly probable **role of my Spirit Guide**? I have been assured of his involvement in my life by a clairvoyant _who saw him_ when he complained to her that I had not been listening to him.

There is also that ecstatic experience I had when I spent a week in an Australian ashram about 25 years ago. **During a deep meditation, I felt a physical merger with an image of Lord Ganesha** ; it was an incredible feeling! During my boyhood, I had attended a Pilleyar (Ganesha) temple very frequently. _Is it not significant that I began to write after that experience?_

That represented a confluence of the spirit realm and a spiritual experience. As well, it was **the spirit of my favourite uncle, sent by 'higher beings' to offer me advice about my spiritual growth** , who had suggested that I " _contribute to building a bridge from where you came to where to are now._ " As I was somewhat knowledgeable about matters relating to successful immigrant integration, I wrote my first 4 books.

As a boy, I wanted to know the 'what' and the 'why' about almost everything. Indeed, one question has remained with me all my life: where did the universe come from? I was then 8 years old.

I began to read about religion (and religions) at 24. I also began the study of psychology and economics then – to understand human behaviour. A professor in each of 3 academic disciplines noted that I tend to think ' _outside the box_.' Why do I do that? I have no idea. But it is interesting to speculate on how (and why) I do not automatically toe an official line (unless I have to).

I observe, seek patterns, and speculate. These days, _I cast my tentative views into cloudland, so that others may contemplate them_. Thus, my books offer experiences and commentary – because that is what I do. _Let the Cosmos do what it will with my speculations_.

Like Socrates, I (really) know nothing (but would prefer to avoid his fate). _Understanding is more important than knowledge._

###  A Dragon's Welcome

After 70 years of a highly interactive and contributory life in Australia as an adult, including holding leadership positions in civil society, and now living as a recluse in a beach-side village, I continue my life-long search for understanding of matters both material and ethereal, with a spiritual intent. **My reality covers the physical, the mental, and the spiritual domains – through experience**. Significantly, twice in primary school, I wrote in my essays that I wished to live and die by the sea.

_My capacity for intuition appears to be developing_. Perhaps this reflects my progress, over possibly thousands of lifetimes on Earth, through the allegedly ascending pathway of my chakras. As a metaphysical (post-ritual) Hindu in this life, I am pleased to learn from this faith that there is meaning in Earthly existence through repeated reincarnations.

_Strangely, I have had strong intimations, through 3 pathways, of my immediate past life as a Muslim warrior_. This has led me to an understanding of the lessons I had to undergo (and suffer) in this life. Being a coloured entrant of a foreign faith into a white man's land, which denied me equal opportunity in employment (contrary to the nation's fabled ethos of a 'fair-go'), taught me how a personal Destiny operates. Being positive, and contributing to my new home me led to onto my spiritual path.

Such understanding, when enabled by necessary fortitude and resilience, strengthens one's psyche. **As fire strengthens steel, so suffering strengthens the human soul**.

In my 90th year, before I leave Earth as empty-handed as I was when I was born, I offer my unusual experiences in the land of my exile, some of my speculations arising therefrom, and some interesting memories. I remain positive in my perspective. Why? **Because I am a 'dragon'** ; that is, one born in the (Chinese) Year of the Dragon.

We dragons soar into the sky of solitude, while we simultaneously sink into the sea of humanity, as we sing the songs of significance about our true home, that Ocean of Consciousness which unites all existence and non-existence.

###  A Yogi ensured my exile (Part 1)

Why would a yogi leave his meditation cave in the Himalayas to knock on the front door of a small home in British Malaya? He asked the recently widowed mother and her 18-year old son if he could come in, explaining that he was a yogi; and that, every 3 years, he was required to mix with people. He did not offer, and neither was he asked for, an explanation as to why he had sought us. As Hindus, we accepted him.

I was surprised that my mother had allowed entry to a total stranger. Yet, there was something about him that engendered trust. He was certainly unlike the sunyasins, wearing appropriate robes, who sought food or money. Indeed, his features, demeanour and clothing somehow led us to trust him.

He sat on the chair indicated by my mother, then asked me to sit next to him, and suggested that my mother sit opposite us. He then took my right hand, looked into my eyes, and spoke.

What he said to us in an apparently casual conversation led eventually, osmotically, to my destruction, to tragedy for my mother, with flow-on deleterious effects for my sisters.

###  A yogi ensured my exile (Part 2)

Holding my right hand, almost feeling it, while looking into my eyes, the yogi (who had invited himself into our home) told my recently widowed mother and I about my personality, and what had happened in my life. It was remarkably accurate.

Already a sceptic, I suspected that he had been talking to my aunt, who lived down the street. I knew that I was her favourite nephew; but that might have been because I was the first-born offspring in our extended and close family.

Every statement he made was correct. That led to my mother asking him about my future. Did she wonder why a yogi had suddenly appeared at our door? To our great surprise, he said that I would travel south to study.

No one in British Malaya was known to go south for their tertiary studies. The British government did send to Britain students selected to become engineers, teachers, physiotherapists, and so on; as part of an official plan to build up a necessary infrastructure of skills.

These were not, however, preferred careers for ambitious families in our clan with 'bright' sons. These would study medicine in Singapore, Dublin (a focal point for colonial students), Hong Kong, or India. Even dentistry was not respected. Of course, producing doctors was then seemingly a shared ambition by families in almost every culture in the world.

I was required to become a doctor. My ridiculous capacity for memory endorsed that decision by my parents. I was to bring status and wealth to the family. I could have no thoughts about my career. Would my 'stars' have a say?

###  A yogi ensured my exile (Part 3)

My mother's willingness to converse with the yogi who had invited himself into our home was not surprising. Our cultural tradition was to seek information about the future from those who seemed to be able to so advise us. We had faith in fortune tellers; those who were apparently able to speak about each of our futures by charting the path of the planets from the date of birth; and wandering gurus. An immigrant's life was far more perilous than that of one who stayed at home.

My mother's next question to the yogi was strange. I was to go south (to study medicine over six years). Yet, she asked _when_ I would return. Late in life, I speculated whether there are subliminal influences from beyond the material realm to take us humans onto pathways which lead to quagmires.

The yogi's unexpected reply was – 4 years! When she then asked whether I would be a doctor by then (such, unfortunately, was her ambition), the yogi shook his head in the negative. Almost immediately he added that I would be overseas much of the time. Would that be because of my work, she asked. He nodded.

Soon after, he left. Only he knew the disasters to befall us. We had been warned (foretold), but the message was obviously not clear. How could mere mortals grasp the import of what had been foretold, and how it had been told?

His role was clearly to have me sent to Australia. What was so important about that to warrant the 'despatch' of a yogi from the Himalayas to Malaya?

###  A yogi ensured my exile (Part 4)

What was foretold by the yogi was disaster upon disaster – for the whole family. While seemingly born gifted (evidenced by exam results and musical talent), I was to be destroyed. Looking back after a considerable period, I wondered why I had been selected.

I would lose my confidence academically. I would be a failure with no future. The whole Jaffna Tamil tribe in Malaya would look down, not only at me, but also at my mother's plight. I was abused on a bus. Even when I was 70 years of age, it was made clear to me in a social gathering that I remained a pariah.

Senior relatives ignored my plea for help when I needed a job immediately after my downfall. I obviously must have chosen to fail. For the next 25 years I suffered nightmares for letting down my poor mother and sisters; I did not dare show my face to my people.

Why had the yogi come to us all the way from the Himalayas? Was it only for me to be sent to Australia? To what end? Who or what powers had sent him to do that? Why did I have to go to Australia?

Was the yogi sent to ensure that my personal destiny path (shaped by my previous lives) would be implemented? Had the spirit realm been responsible for his role?

As foretold, I went south, came home a failure after 4 years. Then strangely, I went back to Australia, to stay! (I was "overseas much of the time," as spoken by the yogi.) What was expected of me?

Long after retirement, I intuited the pattern set for my personal destiny. I was only a tool.

###  The determinants of personal destinies (Part 1)

The personality of a child is influenced by inherited genes; at least initially. Later, socialisation and life experiences will modify that inherited pattern. Strangely, as I have observed, a child may display, undeniably, a certain personality characteristic of an uncle or aunt – although the genetic pathway cannot be traced.

There may well be a non-genetic inheritance pathway (epigenetic) – akin to the inheritance of _acquired_ characteristics or attributes. (Refer Lysenko, whose theory is reportedly acceptable to Russian scientists.)

Those of us who travel on one of the tributaries of the great river of Hinduism (comparable perhaps to the River Indus) believe – or even know – of the accumulated impact of past lives contained within our soul. Past-life memories of children aged 3 to about 6 all over the globe attest to the reality of the reincarnation process.

It is my serious belief, after nearly 90 years of a questing Earthly life, that my soul has permitted me, through my evolving intuition, to obtain an inkling – from time to time – of not only my immediate past life, but also of a few other past lives.

My personality, my reaction potential, and my perspective of life on Earth (and elsewhere) was thereby changed.

###  The determinants of personal destinies (Part 2)

Intimations of my immediate past life came initially from a certain instinct _(the feel of a scimitar in my right hand_ ) whenever I experienced an unwarranted and unfair racial or religious discrimination. During my 70 years of a highly interactive and contributory life in Australia, beginning from the racist White Australia period, I have had to cope with uncivilised behaviour.

Combined with certain other insights, and a vision by a reliable clairvoyant, I am now satisfied that _I was a Muslim warrior in my last past life._ What a jolt for a Seeker of understanding, who is now a metaphysical Hindu. The lesson for me in this life has been clear!

I had taken early retirement to avoid any further discrimination _(based on me not belonging to 'the faith' – Catholicism)_. During the following period of great stress, I found myself able to meditate – and thereby achieve mental peace in time. Spiritual peace would come later.

I then tried auto-hypnosis in order to 'peer' into my past lives. Lo and behold, repeatedly there appeared scenes of red sand. Digressing a little, from early boyhood, I had repeatedly studied the atlas, examining the topography of Central Asia. Later, I sought its history. For example, was the Gobi Desert once a massive ocean? Did the Universal Flood, attested to by more than 90 global cultures, empty it? I can understand how all that happened.

I now believe that the red sand of my subconscious is around the Aral Sea. I have another subconscious experience to support that belief. Yet, I am known to be an instinctive sceptic.

My interest in Central Asia may have been through _my soul throwing a little light into where I have been._ _S_ uch knowledge guides both behaviour and upheld values in one's current life.

###  The determinants of personal destinies (Part 3)

In one of my 'visions' under auto-hypnosis, I was in an underground room cut into rock, with a grating above allowing light and air to enter. Was that in Palestine? Strangely, after that experience, I lost my anxiety about being closed into a limited space. A past life-originating fear dispelled?

Or, did this reflect a link with the Jewish people while living in their terrain? Would this experience explain my close friendships with Jewish people in Australia? Was not the first girl to befriend me in campus in Australia Jewish? She had, as she told me, experienced life in a Nazi concentration camp. A couple of years later, did I not go out for more than a year with another Jewish fellow-student who had a number on her arm?

Was it similarly significant that I had been born into the land of peaceful and tolerant Muslim Malays? That is, were past lives surfacing? Only my soul could do that.

Comparably, could this explain why I am comfortable with the Christians of Australia? And that, while I am anti-colonial, many of my friends are English immigrants? Indeed, my blood-sister (now deceased) was an English girl. We met when we were in our early twenties. For the record, another 'vision' under auto-hypnosis depicted this lass as my twin brother in (obviously) a past life. We supported each other the rest of our troubled lives.

My troubled life began when I was 14, but I have adapted; and done so by being stoic. A propensity for fortitude and resilience can be useful. What has to happen will happen, will it not?

I have achieved spiritual peace through my exposure to the spirit realm. That has led to a deeper understanding of humanity, and its strengths and foibles. Meaningful patterns of significance may be discerned through perusing the complex mesh of inter-twined destinies.

My reality now involves 3 dimensions: the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. While the mental can throw light upon the physical, it is the spiritual, the ephemeral, the ethereal realm which illuminates the totality of existence.

###  The spirit realm and I (Part 1)

A mattress, with a man lying on it, had risen about 5 feet behind a curtain held up by 4 men, each holding a pole. I did not see the mattress rise. This act was accomplished by the rhythmic beat of a drum and the beguiling wail of a clarinet. I had experienced the grip of this 'combo' on a number of occasions in one of the temples my family attended. While this act of levitation did not implicate the spirit realm, it certainly challenged normal human understanding of the material realm.

Observing some devotees of yoga bouncing across the stage in a circle while sitting cross-legged, in a large town hall filled with followers and observers, is an example of the mental realm overcoming the normal limitations of the physical realm, is it not?

Then there was an experience I do not want replicated. At age 18, I had a dream. In my dream, my father, aged only 47, was dead. His body had been laid out with his hands crossed across his chest, with a sheet covering him. Six days later, he died. The next day he was laid out exactly as I had seen him in my dream.

Only the spirit realm could have brought me that vision. Why did I need to have advance notice of such a disastrous event? This was my first preview of a life-changing development portending my destruction; the second preview was the somewhat oblique message from the yogi ensuring that destruction, and my exile to the unwelcoming land of white supremacists.

###  The spirit realm and I (Part 2)

A couple of months after throwing an earthen-ware pot holding my father's ashes into the sea, I developed dengue fever. This is a bone-crushing disease which could lead to death. Over about 4 days my conditioned worsened. My mother could not touch the mattress when giving me a drink, as my pain was excruciating. In between bouts of fever I worried about my mother. Having lost her husband, would she lose her son too, I worried.

She had lost her mother when she was a young child, and been treated badly by her step-mother. I was told that most reliably by an elder at my mother's funeral. I had flown from Australia to participate in her funeral. I recall that, at the end of the funeral ceremony, I went outside and faced the sun. With my hands in prayer mode, I told the sun that I had done everything necessary for my mother's soul to move on. As I said that, I was most keenly aware that she had experienced a most difficult life. Her destiny had not been kind to her.

Returning to my fever: during a deep sleep when I was (I suspected later) at death's door, I found myself hovering horizontally near the ceiling. Below me were two beds. One held my father's body. His presentation was exactly as it had happened. The other bed held me – equally dead, and presented in the same manner. Was that a near-death experience, or a nightmare with out-of-body features?

I work up in fright, broke out in a flood of sweat which soaked the bed-sheet; and recovered. Years later, I deeply regretted my survival. By sending me to Australia, my mother was to lose her son too. My death would have been a better outcome. However, did she have to be collateral damage to ensure my exile to an unwelcoming nation? What happened to justice?

###  The spirit realm and I (Part 3)

After retirement, I began to read more voraciously than before. I spent 3 years comparing the cosmology of modern science (as much as I could understand) and the cosmology of the principal religions. _Only Hinduism offers a cosmology._

And what a fascinating cosmology! How complex, and yet so simple. I then discovered that some modern speculative physicists used language redolent of the language of Hindu commentators of renown. Were these physicists reading the wisdom of Hinduism?

I then read about psychic phenomena. So much of these remain inexplicable. I then sought a clairvoyant with a sound reputation – to understand how clairvoyants go about their business.

At the inner door of his consultancy, the clairvoyant greeted me thus: _"I have the spirit of your uncle with me. Will you accept him?"_ At that point I had no idea that the spirit realm existed; and that spirits could manifest themselves to talk (communicate silently) with Earth-bound humans. I felt lost, yet intrigued.

On a later occasion, the clairvoyant (hereafter referred to as C) did explain to me that it was his practice to ask, through his own Spirit Guide, the spirit realm for advice about his clients. He was then better able to guide his clients. How strange! How did he contact his Spirit Guide?

Since I had not old C, when I had asked for an appointment, why I had sought to consult him, why did he ask the spirit realm about me?

My experience with C changed my life. I became a writer to follow the advice given me by my uncle. I also visited the yoga ashram 6 hours away by car before I began to write. "Go north to learn" my uncle had advised, "taking only that small brown bag." He had never seen that bag (a cabin bag) when he lived on Earth.

###  The spirit realm and I (Part 4)

When C (the clairvoyant) told me that the spirit of my uncle had manifested himself, my response was "I had 3 uncles. Can you see him?" "Yes" was his wondrous reply, since I could see no one else in the room. "Please describe him." It was my no.1 uncle, the second-most important man in my life (after my father).

The gist of my uncle's message was, transmitted psychically through C, was that _"higher beings" had sent him to guide me_ in developing my spirituality; and that "they knew" that he was the only one I was "likely to accept." How true! My father would have been incarnated by then.

My uncle's advice to me was two-fold. Go north to learn. C interpreted that as referring to the yoga ashram at Mangrove Mountain, north of Sydney. **The second message was that I "could seek to contribute to building a bridge" from where I came to where I am.** I had no idea what that meant.

Two years later, I realised that I was, at that time, the only person in Australia who knew intimately (through my work in the then Department of Immigration & Ethnic Affairs) about every government program (including their history and their implications) directed to the successful settlement (integration) of immigrants.

My own settlement experience as an immigrant was also pertinent. As well, I was keenly sensitive to my father's experience as an immigrant in British Malaya from Ceylon. Immigrants are adventurous by nature, and need to be resilient in adapting to the stresses in their new home.

###  The spirit realm and I (Part 5)

The most significant statement made by the spirit of my uncle to C (my clairvoyant) – and to be conveyed to me – was that the spirit realm had experienced great difficulty in getting me to Australia. I presumed that these words were C's interpretation of uncle's message. Remembering the yogi who had triggered my initial move to Australia (and for which I was certainly not grateful), I thought "Here we go again."

As a qualified research psychologist (from Melbourne University), a father and grandfather, I had considered most seriously this question: What determines the trajectory of human lives? My understanding of Hinduism (the faith of my birth) is that a current Earthly life is substantially predicated through, not only an immediate past life, but also on the cumulative impacts of all past lives.

I say this, in part, through drawing upon my intuitive faculty. I have also received intimations of a few of my past-life experiences; _I presume that my soul (the real me) has enabled these intimations to be available to its current corporeal Earth-bound carrier._

Why then would the spirit realm intrude into an individual destiny-path, shaped (perhaps) in broad outlines through past lives, during the normal flow of that river of destiny? **Do higher beings in the spirit realm have a role in nudging this or that society in desired directions, through moving individuals on Earth (like chess pieces), and influencing their action-paths?**

Was I (and probably a number of others of like natures) sent to Australia in order to influence the Australians with their racist White Australia Policy to eventually become colour-blind, and thus to join the Family of Man?

###  The spirit realm and I (Part 6)

The spirit of my uncle, in silent communication with C (the clairvoyant), indulged in a few reminiscences. These included reference to my mother, his sister; and his knowledge of key events on Earth after his demise. Thus: "Now that all the goods in your godown" (a godown is a warehouse at a port) "have been burnt down......", which referred correctly to my plight at that stage. That was the prelude to his advice about my spiritual development (see Part 4).

Then, when I said something to C, it was my uncle who responded. _That meant that he could hear me! Could he see me too?_ Surprisingly, he said, as he began to fade, "You can be a guru in this life." Well...... I had indeed wondered whether I could aspire to become a guru in my next life through an intensive effort to learn while recuperating in the Afterlife. Wow!

Without a body containing a brain, how was uncle able to communicate with C? Without ears, how could he hear me? Where were his memories located? Since memories are believed to be accessed through the mind, how does an insubstantial entity, a spirit, have access to his Earthly mind, which now surely is equally insubstantial? Where was uncle's mind located or stored?

###  Other clairvoyants and I (Part 1)

My initial intellectual curiosity about how clairvoyants accepted by intelligent and reasonably sceptical friends operated, led to the opening of my mind. I became aware of the reality of the spirit realm, and its probable role in shaping some (or certain) Earthly lives. I thereby accepted the rare opportunities available to meet other clairvoyants of good repute.

While enjoying morning tea with a spirit healer in the company of a friend who had vouched for the healer's ability, the healer suddenly looked into the distance, while appearing not to be with us. _After a while, she looked at me and said "I have been told to advise you to do something with your name."_ Now, I had two suggestions from the spirit realm to follow. But I had no idea as to what the new suggestion involved.

I then accepted the experience of a healing session. While I was lying down on the consultation couch, the healer's husband, with a crystal hanging from his hand, allegedly drove out any spirits who had attached themselves to my aura. Seeing no plausible reason why spirits (the souls of former Earth-bound humans) should hang around my aura, I ignored him. Kirlian photography has shown that auras are real.

However, my experience with this healer was mind-opening.

###  Other clairvoyants and I (Part 2)

The spirit healer (the one who had been advised to tell me to do something with my name) began her healing by placing her hand on my body. She then looked into the distance in what seemed to me to be in a meditative mode. Turning to me, she said, "I will now tell you about one of your past lives, which will explain your neck pain." _I had not told her about this ongoing pain._

I challenged her ability to read any of my past lives, saying that the record is surely and exclusively with my soul. It should be accessible only to me, possibly for guidance in a current life. "No," she replied. _"My Spirit Healer Guide tells me that he has access to all your past lives."_ I shut up and listened.

"In the past life when your neck was severely damaged, you were a white man. **I see you** dragged through a sandy desert by a camel. You were dragged by the neck while on your knees. The men responsible were brown-skinned. She then went through her healing process, at the end of which she suggested that I would be troubled less by my neck pain. _Apparently, knowledge of a past-life trauma can reduce, even eliminate, the pain caused by that trauma._ However, my neck pain was not assuaged.

During the next consultation (I was still curious), the spirit healer told me about my past life as a bitterly unhappy little child. I was unable to walk because my beggar parents had tied my legs together, and they had atrophied – thus enhancing their 'earning' opportunities. That explains the pains in your legs, she explained.

**I had never told anyone about that pain!** _Yet, after that consultation, my leg-pain vanished._ I was grateful that the Spirit Healer Guide could read my past lives; and for my spirit healer's ability to educate me about matters beyond the material and mental.

###  Other clairvoyants and I (Part 3)

The committee meeting (with coffee) in an open plaza had ended. A stranger (to me) came to our table, and addressed the Anglo-Aussie as a friend. I pulled out a chair for her. She then began to chat with the Scottish immigrant member of my committee to whom she was now introduced. _When the latter said she felt called to Australia, the stranger (hitherto referred to as S) told her that she had to return to Australia; she had been a part- Aborigine in a past life._

For no reason at all, I said "No one called me." To that, S turned to me and said "You don't listen." When I stared at her, she repeated "You don't listen" a few times, with her voice rising each time. I was embarrassed. Yet, I noticed that she kept looking over my left shoulder.

To my request for an explanation, **S said "Your Spirit Guide says that he has tried to contact you, but you do not listen."** Since she continued to look over my shoulder, _I asked "Can you see him?" "Yes." What a surprise that was to me. "Can you describe him" I asked. She did._ My Spirit Guide is of my size, and of my colour, and was then wearing a red wrap-around turban. That ended our dialogue. But I was confused.

Later that day, _I asked her how I was to listen to my Spirit Guide_ , since I live in a very quiet environment, and the only sounds I hear are the sea, and a variety of birds disporting on my trees or sauntering through my garden. There is little or no traffic using my road. **"Listen to your subconscious" was S's advice. Sound advice! I now wake up at about 2 am occasionally, with new thoughts and insights. These are reflected in my writing.**

###  Profoundly penetrating perceptions (Part 1)

When my fist clairvoyant C said, during my one and only consultation with him (the other meetings were purely social), that _he could see me addressing a group of young people,_ it did not make sense.

Four years later, I published _my first book – "Destiny Will Out: the experiences of a multicultural Malayan in White Australia."_ It was my first memoir. It included the bilateral initial culture shocks caused by the entry of educated middle-class Asian students, proud of our civilisational heritages, from the British colonial territories of India, Ceylon, and Malaya into a racist white nation.

**Eight years after this book was published, I did address first-year students of Australian history at Wollongong University about these cultural shocks.** They had read my book as part of their studies. How could C read the future so far ahead? Had he been assisted by his Spirit Guide? _Is the future then laid out? Would that suggest that all intervening events are already predicated, or at least facilitative?_

What does this mean for those who pray for their suffering to be alleviated? Do gods, deities, or saints intervene in human lives? Why did the yogi and the spirit of my uncle speak to influence the trajectory of my seemingly pre-programmed life?

Or, is it the case that only some (certain) events are set in train by preceding events, such as current destiny-paths being established (in the main) during past lives? And that other events of lesser magnitude are not predicated to a comparable extent?

Could the confluence of cosmic forces, societal impacts, and the behaviour of individuals, viewed as a coherent package of energies affecting the future, be comparable with the impacts of the tides of the oceans, the wind, and climate, as well as the rotation of Earth? _Note the apparent stability found within perceivable chaos in the heavens and on Earth._

###  Profoundly penetrating perceptions (Part 2)

_The stranger S_ who began to shout at me for not listening to my Spirit Guide has since displayed to me _her propensity to have visions of both the future and the past._

I now realise that my Guide had used S's ability to convey his message to me; and that he must have manipulated the situation for S and I to meet – and through the presence of the Scottish immigrant (the reincarnated part-Aborigine), to enable me to obtain an understanding of the _influence of the spirit realm on human lives_ (perhaps affecting only some of us). Are those affected randomly impacted?

The most recent psychic vision presented to me was by S. I cannot understate the significance of this vision, as it confirmed _my 'gut feeling' about my immediate past life – as a Muslim warrior!_ What S said, out of the blue (that is, without any precursory dialogue) was this. **"I see you on a black stallion, dressed in a long white robe, and holding a long, curved sword."** "Was it a Middle Eastern scimitar?" I asked. "Yes."

My wife had noticed years ago my keen interest in the scimitar. I had not, however, told her that, **when experiencing overt discrimination, my right palm had itched for the feel of a scimitar.** I had also never spoken of my need to ride a horse when I arrived in Australia; which I then did.

I now know why I have spent most of my life working quietly for justice for my communities. Although I am the son of my father, and thereby have a controlled fire in my belly, _I now rely on the Cosmic Court of Justice to bring about necessary change, but without involving vengeance._

Fallible humans need guidance, and re-calibration of their destiny-paths!

###  The alluring mystery of psychic vision (Part 1)

Clairvoyant C and seer S, both of whom I had grown to know, could not tell me how they are able to call upon their respective Spirit Guides; and how they became able to have psychic vision. In casual conversation, they have surprised me with their unsolicited utterances.

For instance, during an afternoon tea, C said to my wife "I sense the spirits of twin girls. What happened to them?" My wife had lost, years before, twin girls during the fifth month of her pregnancy. **Strikingly significant is that, even in the uterus, the unborn babies must have possessed souls! Equally significantly, they must have left an essence of their souls attached to their mother.**

As well, the psychic healer (the one I had not named in these posts), the one with her Spirit Healer, said to my wife during a consultation "I sense the spirit of a baby boy." Our first son had died on the day he was born. Since his soul, and those of his unborn sisters, could have had no reason to remain attached to Earth, had C and the healer been guided by their own Spirit Guides to this information? _I prefer to believe that the departing souls had left an 'imprint' of themselves on their mother for posterity._

Could it be that these souls had left their auras with us, their parents; and that these auras are inextricably bound forever to our memories? This has _implications for my experienced reality of my uncle taking his memories with him as he departed life on Earth._

Incidentally, I remember C telling me that I would take my learning with me into what I refer to as the Afterlife; and that I could continue learning there.  
I look forward to that. I would not have lived in exile in vain.

###  The alluring mystery of psychic vision (Part2)

Seer S continues to confound me with her vision-inspired statements. She is only a casual clairvoyant, and her comments could be made over the 'phone, or on the street as well. For instance, she once told me that my fourth book would be published at the end of the year.

That was encouraging. Australian publishers have not been interested in my writing, although _a well-credentialed professor of history and politics in a well-regarded university had commended my work thus_. **"Challenging and provocative." "Comparable to the work of Donald Horne and Chris Conway" (two Australian social commentators of renown). "Represents a sliver of Australia's early post-war history." Senior academics of diverse disciplines had also favourably reviewed or provided pre-publication endorsements for my books.**

Yet, a small publisher, who had described my first memoir 'Destiny Will Out' (published in Britain) as "interesting and well-written," told me, when I had presented him with the draft of 'The Karma of Culture,' that "the Australian public would not want to read about their country from the point of view of a foreigner."

By that time, I had had a highly interactive and contributory life (including holding leadership positions in civil society and in the federal public service) in my adopted nation for a total of 50 years.

In January the next year, S and I crossed paths in the centre of town. I told her that 'The Dance of Destiny' had just been published; and that I had added to the book she read in draft with yet another book. _To my surprise, she said (as she moved on) "They go together, don't they?" How could she know that? I had not mentioned the new book to her._

I had put the 2 books together as book 4, my second memoir, because Part 1 was titled _'Of wheels falling off'_ (my life-chances cart). Part 2 was titled _'Falling into holes which were not there'_ (my apparent destiny). Hence the title 'The Dance of Destiny.'

###  Fortune-tellers galore

In under-developed countries (now referred to as emerging nations), there can be a plethora of people offering to read your future. They were collectively known as fortune-tellers in my early days. Some read one's right-hand palm; others used one's date of birth to calculate, using planetary positions and subsequent movement, to identify 'milestones' in one's future. Unlike the specificity of palm-reading, these 'milestones' were more like weather forecasts; eg. a strong probability of marriage, and such-like.

Seers offered visions identifying, for example, the location of a lost piece of jewellery; whether one's family would change homes; and so on. _My family's experience was of positive readings using the above modes. I also witnessed a relative being cured of certain bodily pains just by sipping a spoonful of milk used to wash the statue of a Hindu deity, Pilleyar (Ganesh)._

Naturally, there were charlatans galore. For a fee, they would tell you about the good things which would happen in your life. Then, there were perambulating 'gurus' (of unknown provenance) who offered Hinduistic insight into the human condition. I heard the word 'karma' tossed about freely by them. Regrettably, instead of an input of chance or 'bad luck,' _'karma' was often used to place the blame for an adverse event in one's life on one's past-life actions._

Could this approach lead to the view, sincerely held, that since you have earned your suffering, nothing needs to be done to help you?

In Australia, in the recent past, businesses and individuals offered computerised future-reading based on one's date of birth (and presumably on the positions and paths of the planets). I paid for 3 such readings. They were almost identical in their analysis, and offered little about my future. Did they rely on the same software?

I do wonder – are there no likely influences from further out in space?

###  A personal destiny-path (Part 1)

There I was, like a slug sloshing slothfully in the slush at the bottom of a deep well, denied even a skerrick of sunlight; and with no perceivable scope or opportunity to rise to a more salubrious situation.

Although I remained a human being, my mind and senses had closed down. Even my stomach was closing down through a deficit of nourishment. As I was descending into that metaphorical well, _I had waved a fist in the direction of the sky and said, sotto voce, "To hell with you."_ I have always been a quiet fellow.

Born gifted, with a sound scholastic record and musical and sporting competence, and praying at the Pilleyar (Ganesha) temple frequently (supplemented by nightly prayer to the deities of relevance), my future seemed secure. _The Japanese Military Occupation of Malaya, however, ended my boyhood. From then on, I subliminally slid down the slope of life-chances without anyone becoming aware. Misdirected parental ambition provided the lubricant for my slide._

Although I had completed only primary school, for more than 3 years of the Japanese Occupation **(while feeling half-starved of food, and almost fully starved of supportive social contact)** , _I competed successfully academically at the technical college with students who had completed at least 2 years of high school_ (and for whose company I was too young and thereby conversationally immature).

_When the British returned, I was rushed through high school in only 15 months!_ Although **I had never been in a science laboratory,** I matriculated from London University. My pass was not as high as I could have achieved had I not suffered from malaria for 4 months during my last year. _Bad luck or the imperatives of my personal destiny-path?_ I was rejected by the Singapore Medical College because I was socially immature.

Thus, with my path lit by that yogi, I went to racist White Australia **to participate in the total demolition of my life-chances.**

###  A personal destiny-path (Part 2)

Australia was a culture shock, especially for those of us who had experienced glancing contacts with friendly Australians who had arrived in British Malaya to defend us from the Japanese. From the late 1940s (when I landed in Australia) to the late 1960s, the ethos of the White Australia policy (which had kept out – and also deported – coloured immigrants) led to the _hoi polloi_ (the commoners) **uttering words indicating their displeasure at foreign coloured people like me entering their white space.**

Their indigenous black people had been ideationally demoralised and societally marginalised; and thereby not seen in civilised environs. _It may also have been hurtful for the poorer segments of white society to observe and to deal with educated, well-dressed, and socially comfortable 'black' people from non-Christian countries_ (the term 'coloured' not being part of the Aussie lexicon). The descendants of the Chinese, Indian, and South Sea Islanders who had been in Australia for a few generations led a marginalised life in the suburbs: _that is what I was told by some of them._

As well, most of the coloured people given succour during the war had been illegally deported; except for the O'Keefe family. _Mrs. O'Keefe, an Ambonese, and her children had arrived in Australia as refugees; her husband died fighting the Japanese. When she already had a white Anglo-Aussie husband with whom she had a beautiful baby (whose toes I had tickled), the government tried unsuccessfully to deport her._ As their neighbour at that time, I had come to know, and like, this family.

In the light of their government's ferocity in keeping their country of the right skin colour, would it not have been expected that some Australians, irrespective of social class or education, would actively discriminate against coloured people, even fee-paying students on temporary visas?

_Displayed petty prejudice_ (there was plenty of that) can be ignored. However, **serious acts of discrimination,** whether based on skin colour, religion, a threat of strong competition, or just being foreign, are both morally unacceptable and seriously damaging.

**I experienced discrimination on all four grounds.** It was only when the oldest generation joined their Maker (or went elsewhere) that our lives began to improve.

###  A personal destiny-path (Part 3)

_I was denied appointment as a psychologist,_ in spite of my training as a research psychologist (with a good understanding of the scientific method) from Australia's top university for psychology. _I was later denied employment with major corporations in the private sector as an economist._

**In both cases, the reason given to me (confirmed by witnesses) was spurious (ie. 'They' won't accept you).** How could I benefit the nation or me by remaining a clerk for life? This is the question which I addressed to those in the spirit realm who had exiled me.

Only a few years ago did I come to an illuminating scenario as to why I was hijacked to Australia. I had examined the contents of my memory bank (which had been emptied to enable me to write my 5 non-fiction books); re-traced the events and observations of my life (having the memory of an elephant); and re-calibrated, in an impersonal way, likely explanations for my exile and trials.

_It is now plausible that higher beings in the spirit realm had influenced a particular category of English-speaking young Asian men from the former British colonies to attend university in Australia._ They had to be morally strong, and spiritually tough, with a proven capacity for resilience and fortitude; and not tribally bound.

Initially, we would shrug off, not only the petty slights of white supremacy, but also experienced discrimination. By our example, displaying maturity and tolerance, **we (mainly) Hindu Asians – from India, Ceylon and Malaya – as well as a few Thais and other Malayans, would moderate, in time, the silly superiority of the oldest generation of Anglo-Australians;** and nudge Australia to qualify for membership of the Family of Man.

_We would marry Australian girls, and produce an improved version of Australian._ With an enlightened younger generation of Australians, including the European immigrants (who clearly respected Asia's cultures) and their Australia-born offspring, we would become colour-blind, and accept multi-ethnicity as the norm.

That is how it is in the real out there.

###  A personal destiny-path (Part 4)

My search for understanding the currents underlying the colouring of Australia to an improved shade (copper-tinged white being ever so bland), has given me _an insight into my personal destiny-path._

By being denied a professional career with associated status and wealth; and being denied my hoped-for elevation into the upper echelons of the public sector, _I found myself drawn into civil society. In sundry community organisations, I made a sufficient contribution to be given leadership._

By moving jobs and agencies, I also diversified my operational skills. I realised that, not only had I not lost the gifts of my birth, but I had reached a level of considerable competence in many areas of endeavour. **To what end?**

While I had initially relied on my memory to appear clever, _from age 24 I learnt how to learn._ I have been reading widely, especially after retirement. In one year recently, I borrowed 20 books on a range of subjects from libraries in the state of New South Wales.

It is now my belief that while higher beings in the spirit realm had been painting a broad canvas on Earth, viz. inducing Australia to join the multi-ethnic and cross-cultural Family of Man, **someone in that spirit realm wanted me to spend this life acquiring learning –** and ultimately to garner an understanding of what has been, what is, and what might be.

I do like that, especially if it enables me to glimpse the gossamer link between the ethereal realm and human existence. _I do need to know!_

**I believe that my personal river of destiny enabled me to achieve both mental and spiritual peace,** through understanding the imperatives of the wheels of my life-chances cart falling off from time to time, and my falling into holes which were not there. My memoir 'The Dance of Destiny' identifies the ant-trail of my life.

###   
On one's ship being scuppered

On the ball of rock named Earth which, like other objects in infinite space, will have a use-by date, human life is subject, preternaturally, to disasters. These range from cosmic cataclysms, which can smash and/or drown whole civilisations, to devastations of a personal nature. There is plenty of evidence of such disasters all over the globe throughout history; not that personal destruction has significant import.

During the Japanese Occupation of British Malaya, when I was always hungry (and lonely), _I saw emaciated people dying – over months – while lying on the ground next to the shops._ As well, I saw evidence of poverty and hardship, and of abuse and exploitation, during my 19 years as a resident of Malaya. Within my soul, I could not but be sadly aware of the injustice of all that. Those who were better off probably became inured to this reality, since there was nothing they could do; except to offer some charity whenever they could (as did my parents).

This real-time background may explain why _I have never reacted emotionally to my travails: never been upset or angry._ This occurred in spite of the simple fact that I am the only one in my large extended family to have the ship taking one into the future to be totally scuppered.

Somewhere in my being, I knew that terrible personal disasters do occur seemingly unjustifiably; and that _there is no purpose in blaming God, or another being._ Was I to blame? What had I done in my recent past life? Was there a lesson to be learnt? What would that be? Why was I born with usable talents, thus misleading my poor prematurely-widowed mother?

What indeed determines Earthly human lives?

###  My foretold destruction came to pass

When I began to _write, from a cross-cultural perspective_ (as subsequently described by a professor of sociology in her review of my first memoir 'Destiny Will Out'), _about my initial observations and experience of Australian society,_ I opened my memory bank. Since I was responding to advice from the spirit of my favourite uncle, (and possibly the higher beings he had referred to), I had to be accurate about historical matters.

While sorting out relevant contents from my memory, I also sought to understand how I had failed. _I mean, how could I fail? But I did._ The unavoidable conclusion, very late in my life, was that I had experienced a mental block of some kind. How so? **Did the spirit realm endorse the yogi's glimpse into my future?** How was it that no one noticed?

My tentative and intuitive conclusion now is that _there had been a confluence of the following contributory factors:_ grief at the loss of my father when he was only 47; about my young mother's plight (and the injustice of her previous life experiences); my failure in one subject during my first year (because I had never been in a science laboratory in Malaya); my consequent shame and loss of confidence; the surfacing of a concealed anger at my wartime isolation, because life in Australia was also isolating and thereby very lonely; and a mini-stroke (never recognised as such) which made me unable to remember what I had learned. I read about mini-strokes, their symptoms, and their effects only when I was about 70.

**I now question the wisdom of that yogi** in telling me (even indirectly) that I was to be a failure, to be exiled from my family, and to be viewed as a pariah by the tribe forever. Did that influence me subliminally?

Or, is it the case that what must be will unavoidably be? So much for free will then! **So, the current of my river of personal destiny will roll along until the spirit realm intervenes. I now do believe that this has happened.**

###  Becoming that slug in the well

When I withdrew formally from my initial university course, and my mother had promptly cut me off financially, I found casual jobs and temporary accommodation. One weekend, when I had only a single penny left, I walked all the way to my distant home. I did not eat for 2 days and more. On the Monday, I borrowed some money (repaid soon) from a couple fellow-Asian students; and life continued on a relatively even keel.

Since we apprehend reality through our 5 senses and their processor the brain, access to the whole caboodle being through the mind, _I suspect that I had successfully closed my mind. Being relatively unaware of my plight by closing off all thought, I chugged along on the tracks on which I had been placed._ My awareness was restricted to enabling me to keep on the tracks, and thus to survive.

Looking back, it was indeed strange to be operationally functional, but without any thought about my present predicament or about any possible future. _Was this how the millions of dispossessed fellow humans on this globe, living in stringent hardship, with no perceivable future, survived?_

A few years later, when I began to study psychology and economics (as a precursor to becoming a sociologist researching multiculturalism), and read a little on anthropology and ancient history, _I realised the value of all my stressful experiences. These were atypically broad, and of some depth._

It was only when I allowed myself a peep into my predicament that I keenly felt like that imagined slug. _There was no way up and out of that deep well which denied even a skerrick of sunlight to each the bottom. So, I slumbered psychically_ – as must a couple of billion impoverished inhabitants of Earth at any time. **Is this privilege available to the babies who are born only to suffer and subsequently to die? (Yes, this keen concern probably reflects a past life of mine.)**

###  From the doldrums to sighting blue sky

Unlike so many of my fellow-humans who can have no hope of bettering their lives, I was, either by chance or by cosmic processes, lifted out of that deep metaphorical well. **That event, and each of subsequent (but not comparable) major events in my life, involved a key individual entering my life. My life-path would then, and thereby, be altered for the better.**

It was only during an in-depth analysis – repeated from time to time – of past events, their causes (whether known or intuited), and their consequences, that _I identified a number of such individuals unrelated to me, who gave me psychological support when I needed it, or changed the direction of my life._ As well, on the periphery of my existence, there appeared people who offered necessary information – such as where to seek employment or accommodation.

_Such support was instrumental in my survival. These supporters subsequently moved away from me. It was as if they had been performing a given role._ These in-depth analyses occurred through my persistent efforts to explain to myself what had happened in my strange life. After all, it is surely rare for the wheels of one's life-chances cart to roll away without warning, again and again, and for no perceivable reason. How often does lightning strike the same spot?

Then, there was the strange propensity on my part to fall – seemingly into holes which I feel were not there. I became quite proficient in climbing out of such holes; and putting back the wheels I needed.

There was a lesson to be learnt from each of my debacles. I accepted that failure was often a necessary stepping stone to progress, even success. Indeed, I now realise that I had been carried down the river of my personal destiny in what seems to have been a programmed sequence.

###  How persuasive are past life actions?

My understanding of Hinduism led me to **accept the reincarnation process as real.** What I had been taught by my family made sense. My reading, from age 24, of the research by Dr. Rhine of Duke University of the USA into past life memories of little children endorsed my belief. More recent research confirms the earlier findings.

Then, _the law of cause and effect_ , presumed logically to apply even at a cosmic level, implies that our actions and related events in each Earthly life can be expected to have an impact upon, or influence, the reincarnated next life.

My question today is this. In the light of the multifarious influences to which a human being is exposed, _how much scope can be available for past-life episodes?_ The plethora of these influences include, at minimum, genetic inheritance; life experiences through participation in the mesh of personal destinies known as society; chance events such as accidents; and possibly the influence of agents of the spirit realm (eg. the spirit of my uncle changing my life). One cannot also rule out the emanations from the planets or, for that matter, radiation from interstellar space containing a multitude of highly motile and volatile objects.

**In the event, could an incarnating soul bring with it a slate containing a record of all past lives?** Could such a record reflect the more significant of the influences listed above?

During a current life, would one's soul release traces of such influences? **My intuition leads me to believe that one's soul actively participates in one's current life-path!**

###  A programmed path of a personal destiny?

My deep and (hopefully) meaningful analyses of the more significant events of my life – not all of which were painful – lead to the inevitable (yet necessarily tentative) conclusion **that the strange (quaint?) experiences I have undergone had some meaning.** That is, that my life-path is comparable to an ant-trail.

An ant-trail seems to be a route laid initially by a single ant (to be followed by many others) which is only sensed (but not seen), but which leads to a point of great significance; viz. nourishment. _In my case, the destination may offer sustenance for my soul._

Yet, I have great difficulty in believing that an individual, on his own personal pathway, could be sailing on the rough and unpredictable seas of Earthly life, buffeted (and battered at times) by winds raised by the multifarious influences on human lives. There has to be surely lots of scope for chance impacts.

Against that scepticism, **I remind myself that the future is available to be read by those appropriately gifted, viz. clairvoyants and their ilk. How much scope could there be for chance events?** The impacts of chance on human lives may have been overblown.

Could that mean that my propensity to tumble into imaginary holes or to have wheels fall off my transport through life (as actually happened in real life once) were related to an 'ant-trail' being laid by me? Is not the first ant, the trail-blazer, subject to unimagined risk?

What a conundrum! **Could a human trail-blazer yet be on a programmed path, since the future is already laid out? What happened to free will? There (hopefully) has to be scope for that!**

###  Automaton or possessing free will?

For the reincarnation process to be credible, it has to offer progressive betterment – through repeated rebirths – of the soul. For, **it is the soul which is reincarnated.** _Betterment would be displayed through the quality of the personality and the morality of the individual during successive Earthly lives._

Is there any point in asking how this process came about? Is it not part of the mystery of existence? It is easier to understand why the process is beneficial to mankind. Are we not genetically only about 4% different from our imputed faunal ancestor, the chimpanzee? The greed and aggression displayed by alpha human males leading their tribes and nations; as well as the cunning manifest in, say, commercial or other material-related transactions: these complement the evidence provided by anthropology and biology.

**We remain beholden to our inheritance** , _whether obtained through the yet unproven Theory of Evolution_ espoused by Darwin, _or through 'the Adam' (refer the Christian Bible) allegedly created on Earth by the Anunnaki_ (the giants from the planet Nibiru). According to scholar Sitchin, the Nibiru fused DNA from Nibiru and the DNA of an Earth-bound species.

Mankind is clearly in sore need of an upgrade of its morality, is it not? **What then of the 223 genes we are said to possess, which are not found anywhere on Earth?** These are allegedly extra-territorial in origin. (Refer Zacharia Sitchin). These genes may be influential in those who subconsciously seek a higher morality for mankind.

Most essentially, for the reincarnation process to offer moral betterment Earthly life by Earthly life, _we do need a degree of free will – to utilise any scope available to upgrade our souls._ Those of us who are not assiduous in applying our free will to this end may only be affecting the timeline of our moral progress; that is, delaying that which needs to be achieved.

###  What of the soul-path?

Once upon a time – that is, a long time ago – I read about a spirit named White Feather. He had been 'channelled' by a member of a British spiritual group. During her apparent sleep, the medium would receive messages from White Feather; these were recorded and discussed.

_White Feather, apparently an old soul, described reincarnation as akin to facets of a large 'stone' being sent to be polished;_ and then returned. He did, however, say that, in his explanations he had regard for the level of understanding of those to whom he spoke.

**My reading of Hinduism, the religion of my current Earth-life, is that, after many, many rebirths, my soul would return to the Ocean of Consciousness from which I had once arisen; and for that to happen, I (my soul) would need to have been purified.** White Feather, a nominal 'Red Indian' of North America, and my understanding of my faith, coincide.

Yet, this inveterate sceptic (recognised as such by the "higher beings" who had sent my uncle to offer me advice) wants to know how Consciousness, a boundless 'Ocean,' an ever-existing all-pervasive essence, could throw up a 'fragment' from within itself into a human Earth-bound body; and thence for that fragment to be transferred from body to body until its return home.

Another unsolvable mystery!

###  The Upanishads and reincarnation

The Upanishads do not mention the soul – not in the translation of 11 major and 4 'minor' Upanishads by Ecknath Easwaran, a Hindu Indian academic in the USA. In his book (published 2007) 'The Upanishads,' he sets the stage thus:

"Brahman is the irreducible ground of existence, the essence of everything"  
"In all persons, all creatures, the Self is the innermost essence. And it is identical with Brahman."  
"... the individual self is constantly evolving, growing life after life toward a fully human nature. The goal is realisation of one's true nature... the uncreated Self"  
"... our real Self is not different from the ultimate Reality called God"

"The world is the wheel of God, turning round

And round with all living creatures upon its rim.  
The world is the river of God,  
Flowing from him and back to him.  
On this ever-revolving wheel of being  
The individual goes round and round  
To be a separate creature, until  
It seeks its identity with the Lord of Love  
And attains immortality in the indivisible whole."  
(Shvetashvatara 1.4-6)

Then, "... When a person dies, it is only the physical body that dies; that person lives on in a non-physical body, which carries the impressions of his past life. It is these impressions that determine his next life... "(Brihadaranyaka iv.9)

(Comment: Is not the 'individual self' or 'that person' the soul?)

###  The soul and the individual self

This question is fascinating; and confusing! Easwaran's translation of 15 key Upanishads indicates that _our ultimate creator Brahman (as an all-pervasive ever-existing essence) is represented within each human as the Self (or Atman)._ The latter is said to remain unaffected by the reported re-births of the 'individual'; ie. 'that person'. (Refer my previous post.)

At the death of the Earth-bound individual, the impressions (memories?) of the recent past are said to be carried forward in a non-physical body (the spirit or soul?). And accompanied by the Self?

However, I remain confused. Is the soul, as I and many others conceive it, Easwaran's 'individual self', constantly evolving (Shvetasvatara)? Or, 'the separate ego' (Katha)? Or, 'the separate creature' (Shvetasvatara)? Or, Aurobindo's 'personality'?

_Would it be correct to consider the non-physical body as the soul (spirit) of that individual?_ As well, when Easwaran says that "the individual self is constantly evolving, growing life after life toward a fully human nature" (refer my previous post), does this not imply a temporarily shared identity of that non-physical body (the spirit, which appears at death) and the embodied physical self, 'the individual', whose home is Earth?

**Then there is the Self apparently operating as the Watcher within each of us.** As the Katha (11.2.9) says "... So does the one Self take the shape of every creature in whom he is present." _As I now recall, during a course at a yoga ashram, we were asked "Who is the Watcher?"_

_I suspect that I had been made aware of 'my' Watcher_ when someone close to me threatened "I am going to kill myself", and I had replied "Let me help you. **" What if the Self's role is indeed as a Watcher?** And that its duty is to jog the human mind when the associated soul (or 'personality' or 'individual') is at risk of being devalued, diminished or damaged?

Semantics do confuse translation of a complex philosophy.

###  Does the Self have a role in human lives?

The meditation leader at the yoga ashram I attended repeatedly asked us (all white except me) **"Who is the Watcher?"** while telling us about the philosophy underpinning Yoga. Strangely, I do not remember him explaining this concept of a watcher within us.

However, since I was there to learn about intensive meditation, I may not have paid adequate attention to him when he implied that Yoga – as espoused by him – is not Hinduism. Yet, he had mentioned Rama, Krishna, and other key characters in Hinduism. And I had by then read Yogananda, Vivekhananda, Aurobindo, and other notable commentators on Hinduism; as well as the Upanishads, with its reference to the Self.

I had thereby reached the satisfying **conclusion that the wondrous river of Hinduism is fed by powerful tributaries of varying thought and insight of great depth. And what a cosmology does this religion offer uniquely?** Thus: _through diversity to unity!_ That is also my approach in my various writings about a society based on substantial immigration, such as my adopted nation, Australia.

Moving on: influenced by the Upanishads of the identity and nature of the Self, and its seemingly non-interventionist role in our lives, _I have assumed that the Watcher of Yoga is the Self._ Further, most recently, I have wondered whether I have had direct experience, subconsciously, of the Watcher within me.

When I had replied "Let me help you" to the statement made to me "I am going to kill myself," I was clearly angry (a rare condition for me). My emotional reaction was leading me to physical action. _Just then "What are you doing, stupid?" surfaced in my mind. How so? Was there a third part of me (beyond the emotional and physical) involved in this play?_ My emotional storm immediately dissipated.

I wondered later whether my _intellect_ had overtaken my emotive physical reaction. Or, was there another level of my personality operating, possibly my _subconscious_? Even later, there came this thought: could the **Self, as my Watcher, have intervened? If not, then my soul (the real me) had spoken!**

###  Subliminal processes in the human being?

**We humans seem to be far more complex than might be expected from our animal origins.** We are accepted as only 4 % different genetically from our nearest faunal ancestor, the chimpanzee. Yet, in terms of functional or operational skills, mental and conceptual capabilities, and spiritual aspirations, **we are light years ahead as an Earth-bound species.**

_Our probable acquisition of the 223 genes in humans not found in any other species on Earth (refer Sitchin) from an extra-terrestrial source may go some way to explain our superior position on Earth._ Extra-terrestrial input may also explain the cosmology of Hinduism, with its cycles of existence and non-existence lasting 3.11 trillion years in an ultimate cycle (which is then repeated forever). "We were taught that" was reportedly the advice from a Hindu elder.

There is also the claim that _visitors from a planet in the Sirius star complex_ were involved with the construction of the Sphinx in Egypt. The unexplained construction of the monoliths in various parts of the world, built of blocks of stone of massive size weighing up to about 20 tons each, also suggest an extra-terrestrial involvement. _Like the never-to-be-avoided cosmic catastrophes on Earth, the probable role of advanced 'spacemen' (including giants from the planet Nibiru) in developing planet Earth for human occupation, or the creation of early Man, are not discussed in polite circles._

What is singularly significant about humans are processes, which are imputed, but not explained. Some of these processes have been manifest in unchallengeable and undeniable experiences which some of us have had in relation to _visitors from the (assumed) spirit realm._ In my experience, my visitor displayed incredible non-material capabilities. The possible explanations for these imply subterranean processes.

These processes seem beyond our explanatory competence, especially through the die-in-the-ditch defence by the protectors of prevailing paradigms in the relevant disciplines; with some of their tentative hypotheses soon held to be facts, while not scientifically proven.

###  A manifesting spirit displays inexplicable capabilities

How does an insubstantial spirit, a former Earth-bound human being:  
(1) manifest himself on Earth to a clairvoyant; (2) then have a psychic (unspoken) communication with the clairvoyant; (3) reminisce about his life on Earth, referring in particular to my mother, his sister; (4) display knowledge about my life-events, which had occurred after his demise; (5) hear what I said to the clairvoyant, and respond to what I had said via the clairvoyant; (6) offer me advice about visiting an ashram in Australia (a country he had never visited); (7) refer to the "higher beings" who had sent him to offer me advice about my spiritual growth; (8) indicate that these higher beings know me to be a sceptic; and (9) also leave me with a suggestion about "building a bridge" from where I came to where I am (I did not understand how until 2 years later – then I began to write about successful migrant integration).

This spirit was my favourite uncle, the second-most influential man in my life (after my father). Without a body, a brain, eyes, and ears of substance, how could he communicate, see, hear, respond to what was spoken by me, and offer me advice pertaining to the future (thereby indicating his capacity for thought)?

_How were his Earthly memories transferred by him at his death? Where is he holding them now?_ These are the two most crucial questions arising from my experience with him.

Related questions are: _where are our memories stored during our lives on Earth, so that we (our spirits) have access to them on departure to the Afterlife? What is the mode of transfer?_

###  A nearby residence for our souls?

For a few nights, as I was falling asleep, _I felt the presence of my dead father._ That was comforting. At age 18, I was not inclined to deep and meaningful thoughts about human existence. I was, however, curious about such matters as where the universe had come from, where God lived, what caused the waves at sea, etc. I just accepted that my father's soul had gone to where we go before being reincarnated.

From about age 24, when _I began to read about the nature of religion, its origins, and its role in our lives_ – as well as about the major religions (in a huge tome published by the University of Sussex of the UK), I suspected that what I now term **the Afterlife has to be close to Earth. The Afterlife must therefore be in another dimension, and which intersects the universe in which we live.**

Modern scientists, in studying the structure of the universe, came up with the concept of uni-dimensional looped 'strings' operating within, initially 27 dimensions, now about 9 to 11 dimensions. Hindu philosophers also refer to dimensions in their cosmology. I find it easier to understand Hinduism's conceptualised dimensions than the mathematically endorsed dimensions. _I am somewhat sceptical about reality being represented mathematically,_ and conclusions about nature being drawn from the calculated conclusions. Free-ranging speculations may need deeper exploration – if that is possible.

_My more recent message from the spirit (or soul)_ of a very close friend in her new home confirms the proximity of the Afterlife. _My father's soul staying close to me for a few nights after his demise,_ and – later, _the appearance of my uncle's spirit to offer me advice_ – both **lead me to accept a proximate dimension as the temporary home of my near-future.**

I am looking forward to this new residence – but have a few questions about _the nature of a home for insubstantial entities._ I would very much like to know, now!

###  Farewells on the way to, or from, the Afterlife

When my favourite aunt died, _she had presented herself to me as I was falling asleep._ She looked exactly as she had before the Second World War. She had supplemented my mother's guidance during my boyhood. I knew her to be a wise woman.

A few years later, again as I was falling asleep, _I felt (through my closed eyes) a spot of light slowly sailing through space above me. I somehow knew that it was the very close friend_ who had kept me grounded when I was on my way to destruction (and that deep well). Another farewell!

Then, one evening, I came home to find that a small mirror which had been adhered to the wall on one side of the fridge was now placed on a bench on the other side of the fridge. _Only a spirit could have been responsible for moving the mirror – but who?_ A few weeks later, when my house cleaner was leaving, we saw a _photo – which had been adhered on a bedroom wall, together with many others – now sited between the slats of the vertical blind at that window._ The cleaner became frightened, saying "I just dusted that window; the picture was not there."

That photo had been taken by me in the company of another close friend. She had died recently, after a decade without contact with me. I knew that she was telling me about her departure from Earth.

On another occasion, when I was having dinner, _the sound of a large beetle arose from the ceiling_ of my lounge, passed over my dining table, entered the kitchen, and died in a corner of that ceiling. _My reading suggests a message from a spirit; but who was it?_ **Probably another soul on the way home!**

I consider myself fortunate to be able to receive such messages. It is clear that our spirits are able to reach out to us in a non-verbal manner. Apart from the clairvoyants and seers of my experience, **we humans are unable to reach out to any spirit. I wish that it were otherwise!**

###  Contact with spirits

I was flabbergasted when my first clairvoyant C told me that he had the spirit of my uncle with him. Later, he told me that he often got in touch with the spirit realm about a client – to receive advice which would help the client. _Yet, I had not told him why I had sought a consultation._

Again, I was flummoxed when Seer S told me that her Spirit Healer Guide could read all my past lives.

Later, when my 'casual' clairvoyant chastised me for not listening to my Spirit Guide (when I did not know that I had one), I was intrigued that _she could see him, and describe him (as clairvoyant C had been able to describe my uncle – who was not visible to me)._

I am now inclined to believe that those in the spirit realm who were brought to my notice had initiated my awareness of them. **Their reasons are not opaque.**

When I asked all 3 clairvoyants how they reached the spirit realm, their responses were similar; _they went into a meditative mode, and asked for help from the spirits._ As to how they had commenced their connection is not clear to me; but that surely is a private matter.

When I asked how I could reach out to my Spirit Guide, essentially to learn about the home of our spirits, and about their lives (since I hoped to join them soon), and also how I could receive messages from him, the 'casual' clairvoyant (CC), who had told me about him, effectively said that **it is for my Guide to make contact. How could that happen, I asked. "Listen to your subconscious."**

Living as a total recluse, relatively isolated in space and in terms of human contact, with only bird calls and the sound of the sea reaching my ears, I am now aware of new ideas entering my mind. These arrive often after about 4 hours of deep sleep, or as I am in the process of writing. _My subconscious seems to be receptive._

While I await my 'wings' in my cheap 'retirement cave' (warmer than a cave in the Himalayas), **I am grateful for having been sent to live a solitary life and without Earthly material or human support, in order to learn, ponder and write.** In my writing, I share my thoughts and some tentative conclusions about matters pertinent to human existence.

My tumultuous experiences, often painful, offer meaning – at last!

###  Speculating about the Afterlife (Part 1)

At age 63, when I was told by a clairvoyant that I would live until age 82 or 83, I was discomfited. My family history suggested an end-point of about 68; and I had tidied up my life to move onto the Afterlife at about that time. _As a Hindu, I was looking forward to that progression to a period of learning, surrounded by peace_. This clairvoyant was astoundingly accurate about her other foresights.

Yet, at 84, my second heart-attack stopped in 'midstream' when I suddenly vomited. Most significantly, I never vomit. I have a cast-iron gut!

_I thereby felt that I was being kept alive_. My doctor suggested that I might not have finished my work on Earth. At 84? The use-by date for Australian men was then 78. Tamils of Ceylonese stock seem to live longer. Centuries of a hard life in a harsh environment may have resulted epigenetically in durable people.

Since I expect to soon hear (because I am almost 90 years old) the whisper of my 'wings' arriving to take me to my next home, I ponder about this home. For instance, _why would an insubstantial entity, a soul (or spirit), need a home of apparent substance? But, could one have a home of insubstantiality?_

In thinking about a location, I think of as the Afterlife (certainly not 'Heaven'), I am influenced by clairvoyant C who, on his way to my dining table, suddenly said "Don't be in a hurry to get there! _(I was)_ It is not very different from here. _(What a terrible thought!_ ) But you can continue with your learning." I had not said anything about my ongoing need to learn; but I was delighted to know that.

Like millions of other humans, I must have experienced, many, many times, an existence as a spirit in the Afterlife. Like almost all of my past in both space and time _, I am obviously not permitted to remember_ where I have been, what it was like, and what I did. _The notable exceptions to this embargo, applicable to all humans, are little children – from about age 3 up to age7 or 8 – who remember an immediate past life; who then lose that memory._ What a wondrous mechanism!

But why do they remember? Is it not enough for those with artistic or academic competence at a high level in an immediate past life to display, from an early age during the next life, that competence instinctively?

Strangely, my soul seems to have permitted me an intuitive glimpse of my past life (in stages), and a firefly-flash hint of other past lives through auto-hypnosis.

###  Speculating about the Afterlife (Part 2)

_Why am I keen to have some idea about my next home?_ I suspect that, were I to acquire an insight now, _it would be part of the significant memories which I will take with me – not only to my next life, but also to subsequent lives._ Isn't all learning accumulative, and retained as understanding? Doesn't understanding operate at an intuitive level? Doesn't that implicate Consciousness, which is within, and yet surrounds, the human brain and mind?

**Learning to understand, not just to know, has been driving my life.** For example, I remember that, at age 8 (an age when a child begins to want to learn – ask any perceptive teacher or child psychologist), I wanted to know how the universe happened. Then, for years and years, I have wanted to know how we know what we think we know.

_I have sought patterns_ in events, happenings, and occurrences, in order to perceive and to understand the totality of the big picture. Or, **if necessary, I make patterns, especially about matters which may happen, and which could have significance for us.** For example, I foresee the probability of a tripartite global governance agreement between the eagle, the bear and the dragon; thereby reducing, even eliminating, multi-faceted wars, and their horribly tragic consequences for mankind.

_Auto-hypnosis failed me in my effort to obtain an intuitive glimpse of my next abode. Then, wonder of wonders, recently I had a dream._ In this dream, I was high up a mountain slope in lush surroundings, with a fast-flowing river, both visible and audible. I could also look down at a rocky shore, with an adjacent powerful sea. I heard voices, but no one appeared – which pleased me. I was very much at peace.

Then to my great surprise, I read that, at death, each of us will move to a residential site which we had imagined. I wish! How then will I achieve my learning there?

###  The Afterlife – a necessary resting place?

_To me, life on Earth (until recently) was broadly equivalent to the experience that one would expect in the Hell imagined by some religions._ Quaintly, some Hindu commentators, presumably influenced by Christian missionaries rampaging all over India during the disastrous British colonial era, also offer hell. **(With reincarnation there is no need for hell.)**

Their bed-fellows include Indian writers who maintain the myth of an Aryan invasion of the Indian sub-continent. _Scholarly conditioning is more insidious than cultural conditioning._

**Human suffering may have nothing to do with the concept of karma touted by those who suggest that one deserves any suffering that one endures.** Would anyone dare to say that to the little children born all over the globe who are born to suffer, only to die of starvation or cruelty; or denied any comfort or security, or any kind of future while being bombed or blown up by regime-changers and their acquisitive brethren?

_This is not to deny the probability of the law of cause-and-effect contributing to the parameters of individual (personal) rivers of destiny._ The complexity of the material realm continues to defeat us, while the mystery of the ethereal realm is seemingly beyond our mortal mental competence.

In the event, **we do need a rest between Earthly lives.** Better still, my exposure to my uncle's spirit, and his reference to higher beings (all of whom are surely former human beings), implies **a spiritual domain of benefit to us.**

Could one hope, through successive rest-periods, to begin to understand how everything in the Cosmos is interwoven into a composite and interactive whole?

###  What will I take with me when I die?

At the grand old age of 89.9, long past my statistical use-by date, I do not expect (thankfully) to live much longer. Indeed, my family history implied a premature departure. My father died at47, and my maternal uncles died in their mid-sixties. Tribal heritage, however, posits an expiry date in the eighties.

Clairvoyant C said that I can take my learning (fragmented as it is) with me. As well, _memories of loved ones seem to accompany both departing and departed souls._ My aunt and a very close friend let me know as they were departing Earth. Another close friend reached out to me within my home long after her demise; she thus displayed her retained memory of me and my home. The spirit of my uncle displayed his Earthly memories to clairvoyant C – some of which I could confirm.

_More impressively, my uncle's spirit displayed his ability to see, hear, and communicate. He also displayed an ability to observe events on Earth while in the Afterlife, and retain memories of these observations._ Thus, the soul of a former resident on Earth did demonstrate to me his apparent possession of human senses and their precursor, the brain – _even as he displayed his insubstantiality._ Refer my earlier posts.

**Will I take comparable capabilities with me when I pass over? I expect I will. But – how will I be able to do that?** _What mechanisms will be involved?_

###  Memory storage and the mind

As I sit at my desk, pondering about what I will write, I hear a somewhat muffled sound in the distance. _My memory_ tells me that it is the sound of softly-breaking waves about a kilometre away (as the seagull flies).

I also believe that my memory is located _within my brain._ How so? When I had my heart attack some years ago (an extended-family heritage), **I lost the memory of quite a few faces – of people I had known well**. Radiology showed that a segment of my heart had died through the heart attack. Presumably, that segment had stored the lost memories.

**Then, over time, my memory of these faces returned – in dribs and drabs.** How so? _Had I only lost temporarily the connection between my search through my mind and the repository in the physical brain of those memories?_ My casual reading about the human brain is that different parts of the brain are involved in the diverse activities we indulge in: I cite the optical cortex at the back of the brain as involved in our sight. On the other hand, a search for a memory triggered by my mind reportedly involves the whole brain.

**So, which part of me was responsible for my experience – my brain or my mind?** What is this mind of mine? Where is it located? Does it need an anchoring site or location? If not, where does it 'hang out'?

In this context, I am mindful of the alleged Akashic Record postulated by the 'New Agers' of Western nations; they have 'piggy-backed' their action-based guidance for living on relevant features of Hinduism. Apparently, every relevant utterance by human beings is recorded – presumably in 'cloudland': just like the world-wide web, also in this cloudland.

Regrettably, reports of experiences of the Akasha are neither verifiable nor credible: but that does not invalidate them – as with all psychic experiences or exposures. Yet, I have difficulty with _personal_ reports of abductions by aliens or visions when under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs which claim that they have _seen_ the Akashic Record.

I prefer an _impersonal_ faculty facilitating the 'storage' of my more significant memories, in association with my brain. **How realistic is this approach in explaining the transfer of Earthly memories by departing souls?**

###  The soul bridges Earth and the Afterlife

I cannot deny the role of my brain as the depository of my memories. I know that the temporary deprivation of blood to my brain caused by my heart attack had resulted in the loss of some memories. However, _the realisation that I subsequently recovered these memories confuses me about the way my brain operates, and the connection between my brain and my mind._

What of my mind? Do I need my mind to search my brain? Does not the brain project, autonomously, memories and thoughts from one's past? Does it not 'screen' within a sleeping mind random scenarios of no significance? Does it not also bring forth solutions to crossword clues even before one begins to search one's memory? **The brain and mind seem at times a duo, working in collaboration.**

_What if I lost my mind totally?_ Would I not lose my ability to be aware, and to be self-conscious? In the event, what would be left of me? Would I be only a body, functioning through the availability of my 5 senses, but without a sense of direction or thought?

In these circumstances, as a metaphysical Hindu, I would expect _the Self or Atman_ (of the Upanishads) or _the Watcher_ (of Yoga) to remain untouched and uninvolved with the living body. _What of my soul, Easwaran's 'personality'?_ Would it not also remain attached until death? It is, after all, the essential ME, is it not, residing within my body, that temporary shell for use on Earth?

**At death, in the light of my experience of the spirit realm, I would expect each human soul, even of a person brain-dead (that is, one who had lost his mind) to take to the Afterlife all the faculties demonstrated by the spirit of my uncle.** Indeed, why not?

How then would this transfer be enabled? What processes could be involved? That is the mystery of Earthly departure.

###  The transfer of human faculties (Part 1)

**I find it fascinating, utterly fascinating, that a spirit from (presumably) the Afterlife is able to enter my home unseen.** A former very close friend re-located, initially, a mirror and, later, a photo.

My aunt projected herself into my mind, as I was falling asleep, an image of how she looked during my boyhood, when she influenced me with her wisdom and love.

My uncle manifested himself to clairvoyant C in order for me to accept his advice, possibly under the guidance of the higher beings he said had sent him.

**Do not these experiences display both determination and powers not available to Earth-bound humans but clearly possessed by these spirits?** Yet, spirits seem to be denied the freedom to converse with us in normal circumstances: the abilities of my clairvoyants and Seer excepted.

Did not my Spirit Guide demonstrate his psychic powers when he had the lady I describe as my casual clairvoyant CC (a stranger to me then) chastise me for not listening to him? Indubitably these souls were free spirits. Would I too become a similar free spirit when I pass over?

Continuing to assume that the souls of former Earth-bound humans reside as insubstantial spirits in another, but close-by, intersecting domain (as yet indefinable), would not souls departing Earth after vacating their physical bodies need a **medium** through which they would travel? Comparably, fishes and other normal occupants of the seas and oceans need water; and humans, other members of the animal kingdom, and birds need air, in order to be motile.

What could this medium be?

###  The transfer of human faculties (Part 2)

**I conceive the medium required for the transit of human souls from Earth to the Afterlife to be Consciousness.** As I understand this Hindu concept, it is an ever-existing, all-pervasive, essence from which our universe arose. Yet, this concept is not as Hinduistic as it may appear. _Many modern scientists offer the aether as this essence._

An eminent scientific researcher, David Bohm, researching plasma, found that _the subatomic sea he created was conscious!_ He claims that matter is a part of space; that space is filled with highly concentrated conscious energy; and that everything in existence is inter-connected.

For the soul, as spirit, departing from its Earth-bound body (now inanimate), to take with it its human body-associated faculties, its memories need to be available outside the brain, while yet stored in the brain. How? As Consciousness!

Memories need to be in cloudland (Consciousness) while also available through the brain. Since I am functionally and essentially my memories, of which I am aware – that is, conscious – when I, as soul, take off, I should take with me my memories.

For, **we are, at core, insubstantial essences, all part of cosmic consciousness.** Would this transit be any different from that of the imputed Self (Atman), also moving with my spirit?

###  The rationale of reincarnation

Once upon a time (no, this is not a fairy tale), _most known cultures on the globe were held to have had some sort of belief in an Afterlife_. Life after death may have been restricted to certain rulers (because of their descent from the gods).

The commencement of civilisation is related not to technical or even artistic competence, but to beliefs about the respect due to human beings, and then to the souls contained therein. While there may have been great human civilisations before the Universal Flood of about 13,000 BC, reliable information about human societies appertains to more recent times.

In the recent world dominated by Western thought, **the early leaders of Christianity, an offshoot of Judaism, seemingly decided that they would directly guide their followers; it would not do for the cause-and-effect imperatives of reincarnation to influence the behaviour of their followers**. Today, Christians cannot agree with the believers of the 'forest' religions of the Indian subcontinent about reincarnation: the followers of the 'desert' religions collectively appear to be left relatively high and dry about their destination after Earthly death.

_Hinduism, the oldest of mankind's religions, offers a comprehensive cosmology and, through the Upanishads, a high-level guidance for life._ Yet, I find the absence of any reference to the human soul in Easwaran's translations confusing. The Self (Atman), by definition, is not in need of improvement through reincarnation.

**Hence, I am separating Self/Atman from my soul/spirit: the latter is me! I am the one offered moral improvement, life by life.** The logic of the reincarnation process is sustainable only if human souls are offered Self-realisation: to reach a level of spiritual purity which will enable them to return to their origin.

**If, as demonstrated by my uncle, one's senses also accompany the spirit, then my senses must also be reflections or attributes of Consciousness (refer preceding post) existing both within and outside my body simultaneously.** Scientific research endorses the non-locality of both matter and non-matter.

Thus, is not space, as we know it, an unbound Ocean of Consciousness?

###  The nature of spirits (Part 1)

During my youth in British Malaya, we would occasionally be told about a Malay running amok: running in fear through his kampong, shouting 'Hantu.' The explanation was that _he had seen a ghost._

English writers have mentioned fragmentary sightings of ghosts and apparitions; and of people being affected by fear in reportedly haunted rooms and buildings. Some of these fleeting sightings allegedly demonstrated the influence of an assumed poltergeist. _Sightings seem to have invariably caused fear._

**Sightings by people I knew did not inspire fear.** A relative woke up to find a woman by her bed. The spirit said "Look after my son" before de-materialising. This event occurred just before my relative's marriage. A friend also woke up to find a woman, her mother, sitting at the end of her bed. This spirit remained silent, then faded. The daughter had not spoken to her mother since the latter had run away with her Aboriginal lover.

Why do sightings of spirits, or sensing spirits, cause fear? Since anxiety is a basal emotional condition for humans (and animals with awareness), a heightened level of anxiety, associated with keen uncertainty, could arouse fear. But, _why blame spirits for causing such a fear, simply because of their presence?_

Would we fear spacemen from afar? Would those who fear spirits also fear foreigners to some extent? **Should we not readily accept spirits as just former human beings?** Perhaps those spirits who had manifested themselves were only trying to tell us something!

###  The nature of spirits (Part 2)

The spirits of relevance to humanity are surely not the imagined hobgoblins who build nests under our beds. Neither are the spirits of the forest, or the sirens of the sea.

_Our spirits are the souls of former humans._ **Our souls are the repository of the totality of our Earth-bound experiences.** I have assumed, on the basis of my experiences with the spirit realm (especially the behaviour of the spirit of my uncle), that _departing souls take with them, as spirits, their more significant memories and their bodily senses._

**I do not believe that spirits in the Afterlife can have, or display, any evil intent.** I am, after a long life which has exposed me to people in all walks of life (such was my personal destiny), not inclined to believe that any of us are evil by nature. I believe that acts of evil are aberrations in our lives.

_My question here is this: why would memories transferred to the Afterlife by spirits include any emotions normally felt while on Earth?_ An emotion is a very human reaction to an event, unlike our senses, which are necessary tools of survival, or just existence.

Is there such a thing (in abstract form) as evil? Could a baby be born with evil intent? Could a past-life memory include one's evil intents in that life? _Do not emotions arise in the body's limbic system, which we inherited from our primeval animal ancestors?_ In these circumstances, I do not accept that evil intent exists outside the body, to be transferred to the Afterlife.

I do not see any role for evil in Consciousness, the essence of high-moral existence.

###  What of our Creator? (Part 1)

As a fair-minded person, after a few years of concentrated study and further wide reading, I reached the conclusion that, LOGICALLY, there HAD _to be a Creator of all that is._

**Not everything on, and in, Earth needed to be created;** only the fundamental superstructure and necessary connections between working parts – so to speak. I am a speculator, a thinker: not an engineer or a creationist of the traditional kind. **Evolution** (a built-in drive for betterment, like trees in a tropical jungle fighting one another to reach to the sunlight) **has to be a core feature of the working parts.**

_My conclusion was, significantly, a reversal of my former position._ To explain. I was born into a religious family. _Our faith was reflected in the rituals of Hinduism._ We are Shaivites (not that it makes any real difference in any facet of our lives). We offered prayers and thanks to God through a few of the relevant deities, daily. We attended our temples, the principle one being the Pilleyar (Ganesha) temple, frequently. As I seemed to be gifted with an active searching mind, _it was natural to give thanks to God._ And for my mother to have me read the 'Thevarams.'

However, _when the boat taking me to an expected career was scuppered,_ and I fell into rough seas (all no doubt predicated, and also foretold by that yogi – but into ears which did not understand the tragedy to come), I fell into that deep well (into which not a single beam of light could possibly fall). _I do recall saying sotto voce "To hell with you," as I waved a puny fist towards the sky._

However, I very much doubt if anyone up there (or anywhere) paid any attention. While **I am emotionally cold-blooded in my reactions to experienced disasters (a cosmic gift to enable me to survive the totality of lifetime upheavals and rejections?),** I did feel let down.

_To then re-discover God_ , through in-depth reading in a number of related subjects (especially religion and the principal religions) was a 180 degree turn in my mind. Logic, not faith, led me there. _Was I led there?_

###  What of our Creator? (Part 2)

The study of psychology and economics casts light on individual and collective motivations and behaviour. Anthropology and some relevant ancient history help an understanding of the evolution of mankind, and the origins of belief in the supernatural. An examination of religion and the principal religions explains the faith and hope which provides some meaning to an otherwise harsh existence for most of us.

However, a scan of the natural sciences baffles the human mind, through realising how little we know about what sustains us; we survive without knowing with any certitude how or why.

My reasons for accepting that there had to be a Creator to explain the Cosmos was: its wondrous beauty, and the incredibly intricate beauty of nature; the inter-connectedness of the physical, mental, and spiritual realms of human existence; and the inter-dependence of all forms of life, whether motile or grounded. All these led me to conclude, intellectually, that these could not have occurred by chance. The mind and soul of an intelligent Creator had to be involved.

All that the Creator had to do was to enable the structure and necessary inter- relationships of the Cosmos to be established, and thence to evolve. The principle of Occam's Razor applies. Yet, mystery will prevail.

As we are carried forward by our personal destinies through time, our souls remain seemingly silent, and the Watcher within will no doubt continue to observe. Most of us will pray for needed succour, with hope that God will care.

###  What of our Creator? (Part 3)

**I do not believe in an interventionist Creator.** In saying that, I am not being influenced by the lack of intervention when a most sincere devotee needed some guidance, even protection. This is an impersonal judgement.

_Why would a hands-off Creator intervene in what is effectively an automatic process, the outcomes of which cannot be, or may not be, predictable?_ Occupants of the Afterlife, which we know exists, are surely free to intervene in their role as advanced souls. Indeed, my own experience indicates an active participation by members of the spirit realm in Earthly affairs.

As well, we do know that we remain part of the animal kingdom from which we clearly arose. The behaviour of a multitude of humans confirms that. _Our higher selves probably reflect input from extra-terrestrial sources._

Whether the Creator has form and substance, or is an ever-existing all-pervasive essence, is irrelevant. I doubt that we, as fallible and spiritually incomplete humans, will ever know. We paddle our frail craft as best we can on the rough seas of our personal destiny, until death gives us a modicum of temporary relief.

Some of us will leave footprints in the sand, or on rocks, or in cloudland, depending on the level of spiritual advancement achieved. Destiny paths may provide the trails to be followed.

Whether one is exposed to suffering, or be spiritually uplifted, may reflect a judicious _input in previous past lives, through free well, of behaviour of a higher morality._ I am intuitively aware of some of the terrible travails during my past lives, even as I now strive seriously to uplift myself spiritually.

Neither 'God's Will' nor destiny paths are totally predictive or binding. Neither can be explained fully as long as free will is available.

We do need to paddle on the perilous seas of Earthly existence with undiminished faith. **Faith is all! But keep in mind your destination – your merging with the Divine, our Creator.**

###  Creating the Creator

Those who believe that there has to be a Creator of the Cosmos –because of the complexity of all that is, their inter-relationships, and the beauty of it all – can be challenged by some as to who created the Creator. To me, this is a semantically meaningless question. _Would we then be looking for a creator of a creator of a creator, ad infinitum?_

To me, **the Creator is a pre-existing, ever-existing essence (but not an entity), from which everything arises, flows, materialises, effervesces, distils, is projected, and so on.** This concept had nothing to do with Creationism (as traditionally expounded); one cannot also seek to specify whether what was created was in its final form or capable of evolution from simpler structures (self-improvement). So, accept – or reject!

_Dispensing with the concept of a Creator could lead us to a belief that everything that we know exists, or has existed, without being created._ **Things just happen – then change – and then vacate the scene.** There would then be no point in looking for meaning in existence, especially human existence, would there?

While Stephen Hawking has recently stated that there is no _need_ for God, because everything has been explained; and there are other operational scientists seeking a Theory of Everything, we cannot explain black matter/black energy, and the mental and ephemeral realms. **Our knowledge is restricted to the** _material_ **realm operating in a** _mechanistic_ **manner.**

**Yet, even if the material realm is only a projection from an ethereal realm, the latter can be construed to have existed beyond all time, without having been created.** Is this any more than the other mysteries of existence?

Is this to suggest that we will never know about origins – ours and that of everything else in existence?

###  Destiny and the Spirit Realm

" **What was to happen to me, and thus to my family, was actually foretold to my mother and me soon after my father's demise, but in an indirect and somewhat casual manner by a visiting yogi. But, his message or warning had not registered with us. Thus, we had to perform the dance of Destiny as laid out for us. So, why was he sent to alert us?"**

"My present understanding of Destiny is that we are indeed marionettes, the puppet master being a set of circumstances set up by ourselves. That is, we have free will, exercised both autonomously and reactively. _By our actions and thoughts, we set in train the Cosmic Law of Cause and Effect; that is, the Law of Cosmic Justice (or Karma, as the Hindus term it)._

We, in each life on Earth, carve out the banks and the rocky impediments through and over which will flow the river of our personal destiny in the next life, even as we obey the imperatives of Destiny in our current life. The latter would have been carved out in previous existences. Just as there are scientific laws which govern our physical lives, so _there seem to be cosmic laws which govern our existence from birth to death, and thereafter._

Thus, in each life, I will paddle on the river of my personal Destiny. My trajectory will be within the walls of the canyon and over those rocky impediments I had carved out during my past life. As I paddle, relate to others, and respond to circumstances reflecting both the Law of Chance and the cosmic unavoidables (exercising what free will seems available), _I will be carving out the framework for my next life, paying off my cosmic debt, and improving myself spiritually (if that is what I want)._

Seems reasonable, does it not? Thus, I reached the conclusion, as said by some guru, that karma, like shadows, follows one everywhere. I also felt that chance must have an independent role in the circumstances of my life. _So where is God in all this?_ All that is required from the one and only Creator is to set up the mechanisms underpinning our lives and relationships, let them evolve as appropriate, and allow us to choose our own path and bed. In some circumstances, _He/She might choose to intervene in our lives._

But then, why not leave that work to the higher beings in the spirit world? They certainly seem to have been active in my life. Indeed, I can testify that I have received the odd message – and in a timely manner!

In so doing, were my spirit guides acting on their own? Or, were they only instruments of Destiny? If the latter, were they guiding me to optimise the opportunities available in my path of Destiny to improve my life-chances in both my current and future lives? Or, were they acting at the behest of God, who had chosen to intervene in my life?"

(Comment: These are extracts from my second memoir (and a very personal one) titled 'The Dance of Destiny'. Like 'The Karma of Culture,' 'Hidden Footprints of Unity,' and 'Musings at death's door,' it was Recommended by the US Review of Books.)

###  Is my mind influenced by my soul? (Part 1)

_The soul is believed to be a living entity whose existence transcends time; where time is a record of a sequence of events._ The soul would be the etheric, essential core of each human being, said by Hinduism to reside within the heart of each of its embodiments on Earth; and to leave each body at death.

_The mind is (in my limited experience) an integral component of a single Earthly life of a human being._ After bodily death, together with the memories it had accumulated during that life, _it seems to be carried into the After-life with the insubstantial spirit of the former human being, but not into the next Earthly life._

Can (or does) the soul, with its accumulated memories of multiple lifetimes (or a record of the pathway traversed) communicate with the mind of its current incarnation during the life of that embodiment?

The above concept of soul is held by, at least, the forest religions of Asia and their adherents; as well as by independent thinkers who accept that a continuity of human existence on Earth (or possibly elsewhere) is more meaningful than a single life with neither history nor future.

As for the mind, the spirit of my uncle (sent by 'higher beings' to guide me spiritually – refer my earlier posts) demonstrated both the ability to communicate silently with a clairvoyant (a transaction between minds), and the retention of his Earthly memory – all without a brain as we know it.

As well, at re-birth, human beings do not remember their experiences and memories of the preceding Earthly existence. A few children who remember (up to age 6 or thereabouts) some aspects of a previous life are exceptions – which also validate the reincarnation process.

To add further depth to the concept of mind, _Hinduism advises that the human mind is only an instrument of Consciousness;_ and that Consciousness is the source of all that is in the Cosmos, and which pervades all existence ephemerally.

###  Is my mind influenced by my soul? (Part 2)

**Consciousness as the source of all existence makes sense.** Is Consciousness then that which links all existence insubstantially, enabling connections to be sensed by the components of life?

**Would this enable my soul to guide me in each embodied life, were I to seek such an input?** After all, my soul is indeed the essential ME, with my current body of form and substance a temporary Earthly extension; and in need of guidance.

_Fragmentary glimpses of a past life have arisen through my efforts, via auto-hypnosis, to view where I have been and what I did._ Significantly, 2 clairvoyants, claiming to be able to perceive a couple of my past lives, with help from their spirit guides, have confirmed at least one of my past lives. This is supported by a sort of 'gut feeling' I have about that life.

**Did my soul participate in this matter?** That raises 2 important issues. During a course at a yoga ashram on meditation, we were repeatedly asked _"Who is the Watcher?"_ This is a profoundly interesting concept; that behind our thoughts and actions stands a part of us which is aware of what is happening. _This seems to be close to conscience, whose origin may not all be learned._

Strangely, on the 2 occasions during my life when I displayed great anger, another part of me clearly said "What are you doing?" For that to happen, _there has to be a third part of me viewing this play._

Another reason for somehow becoming aware of a past life would be to outgrow certain attitudes which may have been appropriate in that life, but which need to be discarded to enable progress morally. For example, _if I have_ _fought_ _for justice in my previous life, I would now have to learn to_ _work_ _for justice._

As Dr. Radhakrishnan, a former President of India, said, "We are born, not to enjoy life, but to learn." Why not combine the two?

###  The mystery of Consciousness (Part 1)

**Consciousness in humans is awareness.** Seems right, does it not? Can I say anything comparable about animals and plants? Kirlian photography suggests a level of sensitivity in plants to being cut or burnt; _some plants have reportedly shown such sensitivity even when a neighbouring plant is adversely treated._

This is not good news for us, especially vegetarians. _Is sensitivity equal to awareness?_ (Semantics can be a nuisance, can't it?) As for animals, judging by family pets, do they not display both awareness and sensitivity (as human do)?

Examining consciousness further: **Are we conscious in deep sleep?** _Or, is there something we refer to as the subconscious which alerts us to possibly-threatening sounds?_ What about warning smells? Or, a dream which effectively warns about safety or security?

One night, in deep sleep in a strange room, I had what felt like a dream. My 'dream' was that my bed was collapsing while also tilting sideways? I jumped out of the bed, not quite awake, and switched on the light. What I saw was a big-framed picture, which had been hanging on the wall adjacent to the bed, had now slid to the ground with a crash, in the small space between the bed and the wall.

**Was this the sequence of events? Sound of sliding, falling picture. I hear this in my sleep. My mind generates a warning in dream form.** This led to my flight out of the bed.

Was that evidence of consciousness during deep sleep?

###  The mystery of Consciousness (Part 2)

_Curiously, Eknath Easwaran, in his book 'The Upanishads', refers to the 'states of mind' of waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep as representing "layers of awareness, concurrent strata lying at different depths in the conscious and unconscious mind"._ Awareness existing in layers? **Awareness in the unconscious mind?**

_He also refers to 'states of consciousness': and challengingly asks – "In the constantly changing flow of thought, is there an observer who remains the same?"_ The idea of an uninvolved observer within us represents the core of Upanishadic Hinduism. However, **I can cite an experience which is suggestive of an internal observer.**

As a young man, I once lost my temper (never before, never again). It was a highly-charged emotional reaction. Then followed a physical development: I was about to cause terrible harm to a fellow human. Suddenly, from somewhere in my mind came a thought: "What are doing, stupid?" (It was a very clear thought.) As a consequence, no harm occurred. On reflection – _I seem to have been operating at 3 levels of consciousness._

Consciousness at a normal, operational, human level is certainly confusing. The following extract from Easwaran then takes consciousness from the Earthly level to the cosmic level. Relying on one of the Upanishads, _he states "... the powers of the mind have no life of their own. The mind is not conscious; it is only an instrument of Consciousness."_

So, what is Consciousness at the cosmic level? In a recent post, I asked "Does Consciousness explain Reality?" What a wonderful mystery.

###  Is everything on Earth conscious?

**We talk about the subconscious; but, has anyone seen one?** Where is it located? In the brain? If not, how is it connected to our thoughts?  
The assumed subconscious is derived from the felt Consciousness. Here, _we can thank the ancient Hindus for offering mankind a coherent view of what it seems to be. (Refer my recent posts)_

**Ever-existing, all-pervasive, infusing (human) body and soul, and manifesting (as appropriate) through our minds;** what a glorious vista! Yet, _are we conscious of our place in the Infinite, as implied by this scenario?_

In spite of the overwhelming venality of mankind, with many rulers riding on religion or tribal rights (as on God-given chariots) to power, pomp, and unearned profits, in this epoch of moral degeneration (dominated by Kali, the destroyer), humanity – derived from stardust and destined to return to stardust – must continue to participate in the universal process of conveying (relevant) information from the past to the present. Some would claim that information from the future – incredible as this sounds – can also be made available to the present.

**How could any information be transferred through time? Through the Ocean of Consciousness, obviously.** This is akin to accepting that waves need a medium, like light waves flowing through the aether.

I look, again, at my personal experiences to see if information about the future can be made available in the present. If this can happen, then obviously information about my past can be available through the same medium.

**My future was presented to me through the following events:**  
(1) Seeing in a dream my father's body laid out on a bed 6 days before his death; (2) A yogi foretelling the destruction of my material prospects and my 'exile' from my people; (3) A casual clairvoyant anticipating my temporary return to the land of my birth, identifying the precise month; (4) A professional clairvoyant foretelling 12 years ahead, that I would be addressing some young people. I did give a talk to students at a university about my first book 'Destiny Will Out,' and the bilateral culture shocks when educated young Asian students entered an unwelcoming White Australia; and (5) Another casual clairvoyant (the one who could see my spirit guide) telling me when my fourth book 'The Dance of Destiny' would be published.

**Since real experiences cannot be denied** (especially by professional infallible sceptics), _I accept that the future is accessible._ How an event which has not occurred can be 'read' in advance raises the conundrum of the extent of free will available to us.

_That the past can be 'read' is more credible_ , but not where some of this information is claimed to be available: water, stones, etc. **Yet, is it possible that everything in the Cosmos is conscious?**

###  Consciousness, Brahman and the aether

Here is Hinduism's connection between Consciousness and the aether-like Brahman.

_Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many._  
_Brahman is the unborn (aja) in whom all existing things abide. The One manifests as the many, the formless putting on forms._ (Rig Veda)

_The word Brahman means growth and is suggestive of life, motion, progress._ (Radhakrishnan).

_The Universe is Brahman, the One that underlies and make possible all the multiplicity; the universal consciousness that is the soul of all existence. It is the primordial no-thingness from which all things arise, the one reality whose oneness is all-inclusive; and includes all that is, or shall be. It is Brahman; the source of the entire cosmos and all cosmic activities relating to the emergence, existence and dissolution of the terrestrial phenomena that form the cosmic rhythm. And this ultimate reality is One- absolute and indeterminable._ (Sudhakar S.D. I am All, 1998)

... _the problem of the one and the many in metaphysics and theology is insoluble: 'The history of philosophy in India as well as in Europe has been one long illustration of the inability of the human mind to solve the mystery of the relation of God to the world.' We have the universe of individuals which is not self-sufficient and in some sense rests on Brahman, but the exact nature of the relation between them is a mystery._ (Radhakrishnan)

###  The reality of an ephemeral Cosmos

**I prefer the material realm of the universe we occupy to be a projection of an ethereal realm.** The latter realm is effectively unknown. It is also an inexplicable dimension of existence. Yet, reality also seems to me to be more ethereal than material. Why do I say that?

Because almost everything in the material realm is subject to change. Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics, of entropy, goes even further. Nothing of substance seems to be durable. _While the material realm also cannot explain the ethereal realm, the latter may contain the templates (see Plato's 'real') for transient materiality._

When Heraclitus (a Greek philosopher of yore) quoted a typically unrecognised Hindu thinker of centuries before him, saying "All is fire," he was referring to the firmament which surrounds us. All my life, I have been enchanted by the apparently infinite number of balls of fire which we see as stars.

**Recently, my mind's-eye developed this scenario.** _The invisible 'smoke' from these fires could represent an integrated 'mesh,' the ephemeral realm of the Universe; and the 'ashes' and other disgorgements from each sun which fall upon their respective planets (such as Earth) could represent the material from which life forms eventually oozed or erupted. Does this vision make possible sense?_

Then, there is the _material realm_ of which we are part; that is, we are substantially matter. _We are part of the 4% of the totality of matter estimated to exist in the Universe to be visible._

_What of invisible matter?_ Two-thirds is said to be dark matter; one third is apparently dark energy. Was the latter transmuted from dark matter, or vice versa? However, since we cannot see either, could they actually exist? Of course they can, since bees and some animals are apparently able to use certain alternative strands of the electromagnetic spectrum to go about their business.

As well, there was my first clairvoyant who could see, and describe accurately, the spirit of my uncle who had manifested himself to him. That is, _invisible cosmic matter may become visible under appropriate conditions; and invisible energy may be identifiable through its material impacts._

In the event, what is the point of all the fuss we make about the minuscule amount of visible matter in the Universe, including our human material selves? **Are we not a lot more than our material bodies?** The essence of each human being is of far more significance than the outer shell.

Should we not be investigating non-visible matter and energy in their role in shaping humanity, in order to understand our place in the ephemeral realm?

Ultimate reality seems to be beyond the visible, tangible, cupidity, crudity, and crassness of much of Earthly human existence.

###  How we arrived in the Cosmos

**How soul-satisfying is the beauty of the Universe at all times, and which we are also made aware of in other ways.** The majesty of the mountains which tower over all; the sibilance of the sea at rest; the scintillating sensual sunsets; the joyful bombasts of birdcalls; and the soothing scenery surrounding unprepossessing man-made constructions; are only some of the sights and sounds which uplift our spirits.

**How incredibly complex is this Universe and its components.** The miracle of birth; the very visible and innate love between the young – animal to animal (or bird), and between human and animal (and bird); the structure and functioning of our solar system which affect our lives insidiously; the strange balance between animate and inanimate life on Earth; the mostly unconscious bond between humans of all varieties; and an unavoidable instinctive yearning by many of us for merging with what we conceive of as the Divine; and the unbelievably complex arrangements within our bodies, such as the provision of energy by our cellular structure, which represents life; these are key features of Cosmic complexity.

These, and the _totality of the inter-relationships discovered in the Universe,_ have led me to believe – and to accept – that _logically there has to be a Creator of all that is. How and why are questions beyond our comprehension._

As one who was introduced to the scientific method, I follow 'Occam's Razor,' the principle which says that that _the simplest adequate explanation is best. Yes, it has to be minimally adequate._

Such an explanation of the origin, structure, and operation of the Universe and its components can be thus: **An arm's-length Creator set up a simple core 'machinery,' imbued it with a capacity for continuous change, with an associated sense of 'purpose,' and allowing evolution (change reflecting improvement or betterment) to occur.**

Purpose (including human free will) can explain, in part, where we are now; possibly aided in our formation by ubiquitous bacteria, and by (Sitchin's) 223 extraterrestrial genes (not found anywhere else on Earth) during our development. Chance and radiation/bombardment from distant space, as well as solar bursts, would also have had significant impacts on our path to the present.

**No Earthly mind can prove – or disprove – this attempted explanation.** No one can be blamed or receive credit for what has eventuated. Adding additional complexity may reflect only egoism.

What is postulated is an autonomous process, operating post-creation.

###  Do souls bubble into existence?

In the field or workplace of scientists, **the concept of an aether,** an amorphous ephemeral atmospheric all-pervasive essence enveloping the whole Cosmos has not been disproven; probably never will be. The Michelson-Morley experiment was apparently faulty; but it would have suited the supporters of the prevailing paradigm of cosmology to claim that there is no evidence of this aether.

Denying the existence of the aether will be akin to claiming that there is no God. How would anyone know that? Or prove it? **Can anyone prove the non-existence of anything?** Or that fairies or leprechauns do not exist? My little granddaughter and her other grandpa were not able to prove that these entities were not there when I claimed that I could see them (at different times) in a particular clump of shrubs.

**Proof is what we need. Faith cannot prove or disprove belief.** An agnostic tentative acceptance may, if based (perhaps) on probability (as well as on mythology from probable, advanced civilisations from our past) enable further investigation of matters pertinent.

There seems to be a lot of scientific research on the aether. It is, however, easier to believe in an improbable Big Bang cosmogony than in the aether. A cynic may enjoy the thought that an all-enveloping aether which is also (probably) within all of us is being rejected as not having been proven.

**Assuming (why not?) that the aether is real, why should not souls (as we conceive them) bubble up from it; sort of self-create?** It is difficult to imagine; like bubbles forming within a thin cloud. Some of the bubbles may settle back into the Void from which they arose. A few may be projected to slide, through a multitude of progressive steps, into human babies. There would be no point in a soul attaching itself to a zygote, or to some un-differentiated clump of cells, is there?

**New souls have a task ahead of them; they thereby need viable babies.** However, power-hungry theologians may claim otherwise; or that their God ordained this or that! But to what positive end in relation to understanding the place of humanity in the Cosmos?

Way back in time, some Hindu thinkers (or their extraterrestrial teachers) came up with an aether-like Brahman; and held that Brahman is Consciousness, the ocean from which we humans arose. An extensive cosmology followed. This also placed mankind in the Cosmos. Like it or not, this cosmology is mighty impressive.

The mystery of soul-creation over-rides anthropomorphic theology. Regrettably, Man's ego stands in the way of cosmic understanding. But _the Ocean of Consciousness will, I suspect, bubble on forever and ever._

###  Are we humans programmed for spiritual experiences?

I had a spiritual experience in a Yoga Ashram. It was an incredibly emotional experience when I was in deep meditation. It was personal.

On the contrary, _Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual exposure was about the underlying processes of the Universe._ His description of the event – in a dream? – was inspiring, possibly unbelievable. It cannot, however, be discounted. A real experience cannot be sneered away by professional sceptics. **We know very little about ourselves and our Earthly home.**

Is there a facility in the human brain (and psyche) which enables some of us to have religious or spiritual experiences?

Many years ago, I read that some scientist had made the following discovery. When an electrical probe touched a particular part of the brain, the patient reported sensations which seemed to be, or were interpreted as, of a religious nature. What staggered me was the suggestion that the origin of religious experiences had now been found.

As I wrote in one of my books, this is akin to saying that the music, scenes, etc. we experience through radio or television actually originate in these machines!

However, I realised that a specific area of the human brain may be 'programmed' (by evolution?) to receive signals which we interpret as religious or spiritual. Surely, we have all been emotionally influenced by beautiful sights, inspiring music, religious chants, and suchlike – up to a level akin to ecstasy.

_Neuroscientist Prof. V.S. Ramachandran_ said "... with the lie detector we were able to show that the human brain apparently responds particularly strongly to religious ideas... we concluded that **evolution might have equipped the human brain with special circuits for spiritual experiences.** _That would explain why all people have a religion._... these are highly speculative ideas... "(Refer Ramachandran's article on Consciousness 'In the Hall of Illusions' in Stefan Klein's 'We are all stardust,' – a most interesting book.)

In my view, it pays to have an open mind to achieve a glimpse of reality. **Could Hinduism's Atman be the explanation?**

###  Could all religions lead to the Ocean of Consciousness?

I became deeply interested in religion – in the feeling, its probable causes, and its expression – at age 24. I began to read about these issues while I was also studying psychology. A not unconnected trigger for my interest was my waving a fist in the direction of the sky, saying "To hell with you" about 3 years earlier. That was because my life-chances had been scuttled by then, forever.

Yet, by age 30, I had decided that, logically, there had to be a Creator for all that is. By 40, after repeatedly dipping into books on religion (especially a massive tome published by the University of Essex), I decided that all the major religions are equal in their potential; provided that the detritus of divisive dogma was discarded.

This would leave only the 2 core beliefs shared by them; these being: There is a Creator ultimately responsible for the Universe; and that, as we humans are co-created, we are bonded to one another.

_By age 50, I realised that only Hinduism offered a cosmology – and what a vista!_ By age 60, having discovered Easwaran's 'The Upanishads,' I began to obtain a glimpse of mankind's place in the Universe.

_I then contrasted the cosmology of Western science with that of the Hindus._ Strangely, there was a broad congruence between the concepts used by some modern speculative scientists and the language (and concepts) of Hinduism. **These scientists may have read Hindu metaphysics**. The reflection by the latter philosophy of the ancient Vedas also seems warranted by _planetary configurations mentioned in the Vedas having reportedly been confirmed, all the way back to 9,000 years ago._

Reading Vivekhananda, Yogananda, and Aurobindo in some detail by age 70, I realised that, in the absence of Good Books of the kind available to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, able Hindu commentators such as these, as well as that great epic the Mahabharatha, had contributed to those vibrant but diverse rivers pouring into the vast lake of Hinduism. There are other lakes of religious belief, large or small, fed by other faith rivers throughout the globe.

In the way that most rivers on Earth flow into their respective seas, all of which are part of a single global ocean surrounding raised lands, **there is now a great need for all the lakes of religious belief to have access (for the benefit of their adherents) to that Ocean of Consciousness from which we humans are believed to have risen; and to which we are expected to return eventually.**

With a parallel thought, my advice to a few individuals claiming a superior (and exclusive) faith is this. "When you reach that single door to the Celestial Abode, you can expect to find yourself shaking hands with followers of other faiths."

All strands of existence, whether material or ephemeral, should surely be coming together, all inter-mingled, on an on-going flow through time, just as the waters of Earth's rivers eventually reach a single global ocean of Earth.

###  A spiritually inspiring poem

MY LAW - Tieme Ranipiri

The sun may be clouded, yet ever the sun  
Will sweep on its course till the Cycle is run  
And when into chaos the system is hurled,  
Again shall the builder reshape a new world.

Your path may be clouded, uncertain your goal,  
Move on—for your orbit is fixed in your soul,  
And though it may lead into darkness of night,  
The torch of the builder shall give it new light.

You were! You will be! Know this while you are;  
Your spirit has travelled both long and afar.  
It came from the Source. To the Source it returns—  
The Spark which was lighted, eternally burns.

It slept in a jewel, it leaped in a wave,  
It roamed in the forest. It rose from the grave.  
It took on strange garbs for long aeons of years,  
And now in the soul of yourself it appears.

From body to body, your spirit speeds on.  
It seeks a new form when the old one has gone  
And the form that it finds, is the fabric you wrought  
On the loom of the mind, from the fibre of thought.

As dew is drawn upwards, In rain to descend,  
Your thoughts drift away and in destiny blend.  
You cannot escape them, for petty or great,  
Or evil or noble, they fashion your fate.

Somewhere on some planet, sometime and somehow,  
Your life will reflect the thoughts of your Now.  
My law is unerring no blood can atone—–  
The structure you built, you will live in —-Alone.

From cycle to cycle, through time and through space  
Your lives, with your longings, will ever keep pace.

(Comment: What a fine poem and such wisdom. It resonates with my understanding of Hinduism.)

###  A bobbing nothing in infinite space

_I am nothing, a nobody. Yet, I am a thing, an object, floating on the tide, the tide of time._ But, I may be mistaken. I am, perhaps, being carried on my personal river of destiny, which takes me to where it must. So, _is time a river or a tide?_

It has, however, nothing to do with _space._ Hence, _space-time_ is fundamentally, ie. operationally, a misnomer – with no meaning. Everything beyond me is space, even as it contains all sorts of beings and objects. _Time_ is just a yardstick of where I have been, or what I have experienced, sequentially. Mathematical equations do not necessarily reflect reality; like that clever fellow who 'demonstrated' that 2×2 is not necessarily 4!

To avoid further digression, **I accept that my 'river' of destiny is necessarily a strand in a mesh of destinies, of implicit pathways.** This mesh will, again necessarily, begin with the destinies of my human Significant Others; then, the destinies of those with whom I would interact – by planning on someone's part, mine included, or by chance, or by unseen but unavoidable intersects. _These could arise from the past (including past lives), the present, or the future. How would we know?_

At a more macro level, the mesh would include a nation – or even the globe on which humans scrabble for a living; but with about 1 to 10% of us temporarily 'owning' material wealth (which would need to be left behind eventually). _A larger proportion is likely to possess that insubstantial, intangible, and more valuable spiritual wealth_ – with or without the guidance of religious teachers.

_Am I flotsam or jetsam?_ Or, as some people ridiculously believe, were we puny humans created – or allowed to evolve – to occupy a special niche on a totally insignificant molten rock, in infinite space filled with blobs of burning gas everywhere – even as all of it keeps spinning and rushing around – for no purposive outcome?

Just like human objects bobbing up and down in space on the tide of time!

###  Evidence supporting reincarnation

_Many sceptics claim that there is no reliable evidence for the reincarnation process. However, there are many real experiences which say otherwise._ One strand comes from reliable professional research on volunteered (that is, spontaneously uttered) past-life memories of very young children – usually aged between 3 and 5 (up to 7). Then there are my experiences; these I am unable to deny, although I tend to be a sceptic by nature. (I am not gullible.)

As well, there are **tribal beliefs in every continent** _which accept the reincarnation process in one form or another._ Most of the major Western religions also seem implicitly to accept the possibility of reincarnation (refer the New Testament); whereas the Eastern (Asian) religions accept reincarnation. The oldest version – in Hinduism – is based on the soul going through many Earthly lives on a path of moral purification.

_The scientific method_ (based on the null hypothesis), has no role to play in this matter. How could it be applied? _Any institutional religion based on authority and rigid control can have little credibility on this issue_. I have read that, against the prevailing background of many cultures in the world holding a belief of some sort in reincarnation, _the early Christian Church decided that control of the lives of its followers necessitated the rejection of reincarnation._

Indeed, **reincarnation, with its cause-and-effect trajectory, can** , according to Colin Wilson (a renowned writer on paranormal phenomena), be **seen as reflecting free will.** During each life, through free will, one could shape one's future life. Otherwise, the reincarnation process is meaningless; that is, without purpose or direction. Unlike the early Church's intention to interpret God's Will, human free will may be less dependent on the Will of God or spirits.

Colin Wilson also refers to Hans TenDam's book 'Exploring Reincarnation' as the great definite work on reincarnation. "... he has written, not as a believer, but as a detached observer..." The back cover of the book (1990) states " _Unlike some writers in the field, Hans TenDam examines, freely and frankly, the range of explanations of past-life recall – the many different hypotheses about body and soul. None fits the evidence, he concludes, as well as reincarnation."_

The most persuasive of the evidence for the reality of reincarnation comes from the extended and substantial work of Dr. Ian Stevenson about the many **confirmed memories of young children about their past lives.** According to the great debunker Ian Wilson (refer 'The After-Death Experience'), _"Dr. Stevenson's reports... are prodigiously detailed and, as such, undeniably represent the most authoritative and scientific approach supportive of belief in reincarnation available in any language."_

Not surprisingly, some of the professional debunkers did embark upon some strange means of studying the issue. One approach was to weigh a body before and after death to see if the alleged soul had weight! I am reminded of those scientists who measured the skulls and weighed the brains of Australia's Aborigines: was that to see if they were fauna?

There will also be researchers who, being human and thereby holding religious views, cannot accept explanations arising from studies which challenge that religious position.

Here is what TenDam has to say in his extraordinary book.  
"So a great many people belief in reincarnation. Why? The majority undoubtedly because they have been brought up to believe in it. But in the final analysis, **belief is based on experiences, reflections, and arguments that convince people of its plausibility."**

"People having apparent memories of their own past lives is an area of experience like any other. We need neither doubt that these experiences are what they profess to be, nor believe that they are beyond sober analysis and criticism. _I can easily accept past-life recall, because I have had such experiences myself,_ and have hundreds of times observed other people having them, but I don't take them for gospel."

**I too have had intimations of an immediate past life, supported by a spontaneous vision by a seer;** yet, I am far from convinced. But I have no doubt that life continues after Earthly death; the spirit realm provided the evidence.

###  An encouraging vista: the 'Ocean' of Consciousness

**I have read, again and again, that each human soul had arisen from the Ocean of Consciousness (refer Hinduism)**. If this concept about origins is to have full acceptance, then _the idea that we came out of an 'ocean' has to be rejected._ Why? Because an ocean has borders. Even the single ocean which connects all the named oceans on Earth has a boundary.

**Consciousness has to be boundless.** _It has to be ever-existing, all-pervasive. It was not created. Yet, it can be held as the Creator, the ultimate source of everything known, and to be known, in the Cosmos._

There are clever scientists working on this concept of creation. They refer to the mother-lode as the aether. In the light of the brain-lock applied by the _scientific method_ , and which _reflects the_ _mechanistic material_ _paradigm of the physical sciences,_ the imputed aether will remain out of bounds for a little longer.

_Were mythology to reflect reality, then the aether and (Hinduism's) Consciousness may differ only in terminology._ Better still, Consciousness, as that which spawns life, and yet sustains it by pervading it, enables the ephemeral (the ethereal) to connect with the substantial (the material), there being no impermeable barrier between the two realms (or states) of existence.

The relationship between the human brain, the mind, and memories also becomes explicable. As demonstrated by the spirit of my uncle, after death, the mind and its memories can exist outside the brain (now dead, cremated, and returned to stardust).

That my soul (the time-transcending ME) will ultimately return home with a higher level of morality is encouraging. Presumably, Consciousness itself will thereby be purified. What an encouraging vista!

###  A non-material Ocean of Consciousness

An ocean normally rests on the ground, with an atmosphere of air above it. **How then does one think of an ocean of consciousness which is all-encompassing, all-pervasive; that is, an ocean representing all of existence, something that is just there,** _with nothing outside it or beyond it?_

As well, how does one think of this ever-existing ocean as THE CREATOR _of all that is?_ The latter would need to include the material as well as the ephemeral. It is the material which would be the problem here.

Hindu cosmology, as I understand it, cleverly posits a Creator arising from the Ocean (which is Consciousness itself). This Creator does what it has to, creating everything. This is done in the form of cycles of activity over time. At the end of the largest cycle, extending 3.11 trillion years, everything collapses. This includes the Creator as well.

After a long break, another Creator appears (is projected), who fashions the Cosmos afresh; the cycle repeating itself. Then another Creator, another Cosmos – forever and ever. Time is infinite, no?

However, **what if the Ocean of Consciousness itself is the creator of all?** That is, it enables all creation to occur within itself, without an intermediary.

Multi-disciplinary scientist La Violette offers the concept of _continuous creation of matter from within the aether._ The aether seems to be directly comparable to Hinduism's Ocean of Consciousness. Thought-provoking scientist David Bohm has already suggested that _matter is conscious._

Bypassing the current mechanistic material paradigm seeing to explain the realm of substance, could there develop a paradigm enabling the ethereal, the ephemeral, to be explained as well?

**Could the substantial, the material, possibly be just a projection from the ephemeral, as has been proposed by eminent scientists?** In this context, the scientific method cannot be asked to do what it is not competent to deal with.

Such a paradigm may draw upon the concepts underpinning Hinduism's Ocean of Consciousness, and those surfacing from attempted explanations of the aether. Both represent **ever-existing energies enabling self-creation.**

Should we not seek to bring the mystical from outside the tent to the inside?

###  My belief in Hinduism (Part 1)

This series of 6 posts summarises my understanding of the contribution made by Hindu metaphysics to an understanding of the place of Mankind in the Cosmos.

Studying the belief systems of the simpler societies at my university, and dipping into some anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the major religions, **I realised that there has been, and is, an innate need in many, if not most, of us to understand what we humans are, and our place in the Cosmos.**

I realised further that: the complexity and beauty, as well as the observable but inadequately explicable aspects of the experienced world; the exceedingly complex patterns of inter-linked cause and effect, action and reaction, and the inter-dependencies of the physical, chemical and electromagnetic forces affecting us; the uniformity, the invariability, the predictive capacity of the laws of nature; the ecological balance between mobile and fixed forms of life; the intuitive yearning by sensitive souls for communion with sublime or higher forces not clearly understood; and the inferred influence of the spirit world, all of which affect our lives, **could not have occurred purely by chance.**

**Instead, they might, I felt, reflect the mind and soul of a Creator.** How else could all that have occurred?

I did conclude, **logically,** that there had to be a Creator of all that exists. I then noted, with great interest, that _an academic and confirmed atheist had reached the same conclusion after a lifetime of non-belief in a Creator, for exactly the same reasons._ There has to be a Creator, he now accepts, thereby upsetting most severely his former fellow-believers in that causal mechanism named Chance.

Like me, he doesn't claim to know; only that a creator god makes (unverifiable) sense.

###  My belief in Hinduism (Part 2)

There seems to be clear evidence, comparable to the stability of patterns found within chaos, of purpose within the complexity and apparent unpredictability of life, and of a uni-directional path of species evolution, and the personal development of many individual humans.

In the event, all that a Cosmic Creator had to do was to set up a mechanism capable of evolving by itself, even as it related to the sentient forms within creation; these forms too would evolve. _An arm's-length Creator, not an interventionist god of the kind who baffles supplicants and frustrates the priesthood, makes good sense._

Such an objective analytic approach would fit life as experienced. _There seem to be trajectories for the universe we think we know,_ for the observable galaxies, individual suns, and planets, and for us occupants on planet Earth.

How else could the future be read? My future was first foretold by a yogi; the tragedies which eventuated were exactly as advised. There have been other readings of events in my future life which also turned to be true.

The pattern of an individual's existence and the associated path of any personal development reflect, in my view, what might be termed as **personal destiny.** This is not fate, not something unavoidable. _It is a pathway for one's current life created by each of us for ourselves, both reactively and through free will, during past lives._ With free will, one can also choose, during each life, to obey the imperatives of one's own self-crafted destiny or respond in some other manner, much in the way a motorist might behave in a well-policed crowded city.

There is no need for the modified Hinduism of the _New Age_ theorists of the Western world. New Agers like the idea of a reincarnating soul choosing (often in a dialogue with appropriate others) the life to be led. This deterministic Western approach (I can choose to be whatever I want to be) _denies the concept of karma as an automatic and autonomous mechanism._ Worse still, the millions of babies born into a life of suffering in under-developed nations can be held by the New Agers to have chosen that suffering!

Unfortunately, there are Hindu gurus whose lack of understanding of karma also allows them to ignore the suffering of fellow Hindus as something deserved!!

###  My belief in Hinduism (Part 3)

**How do I see karma?** In the Hindu framework I have set out above, it reflects **the confluence of reincarnation and the law of cause and effect.** As we paddle as best we can on our personal rivers of life, we exercise our free will to pay our personal cosmic debts, to access any opportunities to learn whatever we need to learn for our personal development, and to prepare for the next life.

_We thus effectively create, as a consequence of bumbling through life as best as possible, the cliffs through which our river of life will flow during our next sojourn on Earth, and the rocky impediments and chasms we will find on the way._ How we deal with these, and the cross-currents created by other personal destinies (as well as other influences, including chance) will determine our future lives. No gods, saints, or spirits are therefore necessary as determinants. However, they may be able to intrude, to help, if they choose to; presumably they too have free will.

_Since each of us is an integral part of a number of collectives, there will result a complex network of personal destinies._ **The expected web, and possibly nested mesh, of personal destinies** would presumably be reflected ultimately in tribal and possibly national destinies. These might influence species development, although a major contributor might also be genetic mutations, which are truly accidents of nature.

_I am satisfied, by a process of observation, reading, experience and logic, with the tentative conclusions I have reached about the equality of all humans and how we fit into the Cosmos._ I am therefore at peace mentally and spiritually. I envisage the universal Creator or God as an amorphous essence beyond all creation, and who is responsible for all that has been created.

Who is the Creator, why was creation undertaken, and what is the rationale for the product? These are meaningless questions. There seems however to be purpose and meaning in our lives, on Earth or elsewhere.

I believe that each one of us has free will to create our personal destiny in future lives, and to overcome innate fear and taught prejudice to seek our original home, that Ocean of Consciousness. _In such a search, we are more likely to reach out to fellow humans on the road, offering respect and support, knowing that it is also the journey, not just the destination, which matters!_

###  My belief in Hinduism (Part 4)

**I then sought to compare what the modern physicists were offering as new explanations of the Cosmos, with the Hindu perspective as I understand it.** Surprise! Surprise! The concepts being presented by speculative cosmologists read as if they might have been coined by the Hindu philosophers of old.

What wondrous phrases came from the writings of some of the notable speculative cosmologists: _a super mind; a cosmic mind; a universal mind; the collective conscious._

Or, operating beyond the limits of space-time, _an intelligent system of energy (or super-consciousness)_ can affect mankind's space-time in such a free manner as to allow almost anything to happen!

Or, _consciousness_ may distort space and time by knocking 'black holes' in the bio-gravitational field that organises matter.

Or, _a single super-force_ could have brought the universe into being and equipped it with matter/energy, etc.

What fascinating concepts were being coined by these scientists: a cosmic, super, or universal mind; an intelligent system of energy; consciousness; a super-force. _Where and how could these motive forces or influences have originated? But the concepts remain as speculative as do the propositions of Hinduism._ Who were these Hindu philosophers? Extraterrestrial beings?

The _Chandogya Upanishad_ says that the universe came forth from the unknowable Brahman, and will return to Brahman. Brahman is held to be the essence of all existence. Brahman is ever-existing, from whom everything emanates, and to whom everything returns. Brahman is Consciousness, immanent in all that is created; yet transient.

It is out of this essence or Consciousness or Godhead that _the Creator god Brahma, the one who experiences that day and night of existence, is said to have arisen._ Brahma, the first of the Hindu gods, is thus merely a projection of Brahman. In terms of the cosmology, the other gods are not that significant, all the gods being manifestations of that universal cosmic essence, the unknowable Brahman.

The nuts and bolts of this cosmology is that something tangible (the Cosmos) is said to have come forth from something intangible, an essence or force beyond our descriptive capabilities. A repeating 'Big Bang' now sounds quite credible (pity about the 'Big Crunch'). _Brahma, the Hindu Creator, also seems equivalent to the super-force or super-mind proposed by some modern speculative cosmologists._

Since I am a metaphysical (non-ritualistic) Hindu in my current life, I naturally find this confluence of insightful perceptions by modern cosmologists and ancient Hindus satisfying. Of course, neither view validates the other. But each may light the way for the other.

###  My belief in Hinduism (Part 5)

It would seem that, ultimately, a seeker must experience (in Hindu metaphysical terms, Self-Realise) or apprehend, through deep meditation, a Reality beyond Earthly knowing, a Reality which cannot be described. It is beyond words. The ultimate reality is said to be Brahman.

The alternative to knowing what Earthly life is all about and our place in the universe, the methodology of science, is however clearly limited. It does offer a tentative or temporary certainty. Yet, with only five senses, their processor (the human brain) may not be able, ever, to perceive through the scientific method the deeper and exceedingly complex reality of the physical universe which cosmologists have conceived. In science, verifiability is essential. Where then?

Contradictorily, the Upanishads claim that the human mind is not conscious. It is only an instrument of Consciousness, a seemingly all-pervasive phenomenon or facility. If so, _could this amorphous Consciousness enable some rare human minds to perceive the reality of the physical universe correctly, in spite of being unable to communicate this vision in a verifiable way?_

Borrowing from concepts derived from attempts to achieve a grand unified theory in physics to explain the totality of the universe, especially the concept of 'nested' fields of force surrounding the smallest particles to the largest objects which interact with one another, **could Consciousness be seen as akin to a massive field of force comparable (say) to an electro-magnetic field?**

I like the idea of a few evolved minds able to 'perceive' the Cosmos as it is, even if they are unable to tell us. _I can believe that a Creator_ (not an anthropomorphic one shaped in the image of Man but perhaps an amorphous intelligence) _did put out some form of energy, drawn from the Ocean of Consciousness, and that this had the capacity to evolve and to form extensions, forces, facilities, fields or what-have-you, all capable of evolving in their own respective ways – the process of evolution being variable too._

I can imagine the physicists' nested fields of force having arisen from an Ocean of Consciousness; that Brahma (the Creator god) and we humans also arose from that Ocean; and that Brahman, the permeating essence of all existence, that basal amorphous intelligence, is that Ocean. I have obviously drawn this perception from my reading of the Upanishads.

And it comforts me because, while it seems complex, it is yet so simple. It makes sense to me. What I like best is that, within this framework, the major determinant of individual human life is free will. There is no need for an interventionist god who invariably fails to meet our expectations or hopes. And I like the view that Brahman is not knowable ordinarily, but can be experienced only through deep meditation.

Since Brahman is believed to be immanent in all creation, we need to look no further than inward (that is, within ourselves) for that experience. I need to be very, very patient through quite a few Earthly lives.

If Brahman, the essence of all that exists is within us, we humans are obviously bonded to one another. Ethical imperatives flow from this. One would then have to accept that sentient and other cosmic creations are also bonded to one another and to us.

###  My belief in Hinduism (Part 6)

While the cosmic creation of humans is credible, it would be meaningless to ask about the origin of the Ocean of Consciousness and why it exists. Ultimately, any views about origins and the geometry and architecture of the Cosmos should have _no impact on human life. For, we seem to be on our own trajectory of existence._

_Technologically clever humans may, in time, move home from one planet to another,_ probably by necessity. But could they, as a species, eventually avoid the 'Big Crunch' or a 'night of Brahma,' assuming that these are highly probable, although unsupported by evidence?

If not, _is it not probable that the 'human' shells containing recycled souls might take different forms to suit the physical conditions prevailing in each new 'day of Brahma'?_ Indeed, were each 'day of Brahma' to diverge from its predecessors because of the probable evolution of matter, _would the human shells or bodies be constructed of substances varying from the substances prevailing in earlier 'days of Brahma'?_ I find such wacky speculations fascinating.

Viewed realistically, **the moral progress of human souls through the eons of time that would seem to be involved should not be impacted by the structure, shape and substance of the container, the human body.** The panorama of this envisaged pathway of progress to our ultimate home makes a mockery of the doctrinal fluff upheld in vain by those who claim to guide us to an imagined Heaven.

There would seem to be a long road ahead for us. I hope to enjoy the journey, learning, learning, ultimately understanding what being a part of the Cosmos is all about.

The issue of the structure, shape, and substance of human bodies raises a challenging question. Should we concede that life forms occupying other planets in the universe that we are aware of are equivalent to modern man on Earth? _Should we not see these extra-terrestrials as co-created with us? Are we then bonded to these although we have not met them as yet?_ Or, are some of them already with us? Could they be the wise men and women amongst us who have sought to guide us to a moral life?

All the above references to the Cosmos may apply only to the universe we know. Are there other universes? But, what can one say about anything one doesn't even know exists? That is **the problem of knowledge. It is difficult enough to understand the nature of knowledge, and how one knows what one knows, a problem I have had since my boyhood. How then does one know what one does not know?**

###  Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 1)

**Henry David Thoreau:**  
"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny."  
"What extracts from the Vedas I have read fall on me like the light of a higher and purer luminary, which describes a loftier course through purer stratum. It rises on me like the full moon after the stars have come out, wading through some far stratum in the sky."

**Arthur Schopenhauer:**  
"In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life — it will be the solace of my death."

**Ralph Waldo Emerson said this about the Gita:**  
"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us." The famous poem "Brahma" is an example of his Vedanta ecstasy.

###  Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 2)

**Wilhelm von Humboldt** pronounced the Gita as:  
"The most beautiful, perhaps the only true philosophical song existing in any known tongue...perhaps the deepest and loftiest thing the world has to show."

**Lord Warren Hastings,** the Governor General, was very much impressed with Hindu philosophy:  
"The writers of the Indian philosophies will survive, when the British dominion in India shall long have ceased to exist, and when the sources which it yielded of wealth and power are lost to remembrances."

**Mark Twain:**  
"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."

"Land of religions, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, grandmother of legend, great grandmother of tradition. The land that all men desire to see and having seen once even by a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of the rest of the globe combined."

###  Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 3)

**Rudyard Kipling** to Fundamental Christian Missionaries :  
"Now it is not good for the Christian's health to hustle the Hindu brown for the Christian riles and the Hindu smiles and weareth the Christian down and the end of the fight is a tombstone while with the name of the late deceased and the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here who tried to hustle the east."

**Jules Michelet** , a French historian, said:  
"At its starting point in India, the birthplace of races and religions, the womb of the world."  
This is what he said of the Ramayana in 1864: "Whoever has done or willed too much let him drink from this deep cup a long draught of life and youth......Everything is narrow in the West – Greece is small and I stifle; Judea is dry and I pant. Let me look toward lofty Asia, and the profound East for a little while. There lies my great poem, as vast as the Indian Ocean, blessed, gilded with the sun, the book of divine harmony wherein is no dissonance. A serene peace reigns there, and in the midst of conflict an infinite sweetness, a boundless fraternity, which spreads over all living things, an ocean (without bottom or bound) of love, of pity, of clemency."

**Will Durant** would like the West to learn from India, tolerance and gentleness and love for all living things:  
"Perhaps in return for conquest, arrogance and spoliation, India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, a pacifying love for all living things."

###  Tributes to Hinduism – by the West (Part 4)

**Joseph Campbell:**  
"It is ironic that our great western civilization, which has opened to the minds of all mankind the infinite wonders of a universe of untold billions of galaxies should be saddled with the tightest little cosmological image known to mankind?

_The Hindus with their grandiose Kalpas and their ideas of the divine power which is beyond all human category (male or female). Not so alien to the imagery of modern science_ that it could not have been put to acceptable use."

"There is an important difference between the Hindu and the Western ideas. In the Biblical tradition, God creates man, but man cannot say that he is divine in the same sense that the Creator is, where as in Hinduism, all things are incarnations of that power.

_We are the sparks from a single fire. And we are all fire. Hinduism believes in the omnipresence of the Supreme God in every individual._ There is no "fall". Man is not cut off from the divine. He requires only to bring the spontaneous activity of his mind stuff to a state of stillness and he will experience that divine principle with him."

**Sir Monier-Williams:**  
"The Hindus, according to him, were Spinozists more than 2,000 years before the advent of Spinoza, and Darwinians many centuries before Darwin and Evolutionists many centuries before the doctrine of Evolution was accepted by scientists of the present age."

###  Tributes to Hinduism – by prominent Indians

**Mahatma Gandhi:**  
"Hinduism has made marvellous discoveries in things of religion, of the spirit, of the soul. We have no eye for these great and fine discoveries. We are dazzled by the material progress that western science has made. _Ancient India has survived because Hinduism was not developed along material but spiritual lines."_  
"India is to me the dearest country in the world, because I have discovered goodness in it. It has been subject to foreign rule, it is true. But the status of a slave is preferable to that of a slave holder."

**Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,** a professor of Eastern Religions at Oxford and later President of India:  
_"Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that cannot be defined but is only to be experienced._ Evil and error are not ultimate. There is no Hell, for that means there is a place where God is not, and there are sins, which exceed his love."

**Sri Aurobindo:**  
"Hinduism...gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up no single narrow path or gate of salvation; it was less a creed or cult than a continuously enlarging tradition of the Godward endeavour of the human spirit. _An immense many-sided and many staged provision for a spiritual self-building and self-finding,_ it had some right to speak of itself by the only name it knew, the eternal religion, santana dharma...."

###  A useful guide to Reality

I recommend the Hindus' Upanishads as a useful guide to Reality. The Upanishads proclaim (according to Easwaran) that "There is a Reality underlying life". "... _this Reality is the essence of every created thing, and the same Reality is our real Self, so that each of us is one with the power that created and sustains the universe"._ That is, the Creator is both transcendent and immanent.

**Easwaran goes on to say that this Reality or oneness "...can be realised directly, without the mediation of priests or rituals or any of the structures of organised religion, not after death but in this life, and that this is the purpose for which each of us has been born and the goal towards which evolution moves."** Complex, yet simple. Is it not inspiring and therefore attractive to those who love freedom? I believe it is.

And the yoga schools in Australia are indeed introducing this perspective to seekers of a better path to spiritual fulfilment. The goal of evolution may thus be said to be the realisation of One-ness. This is also the purpose of repeated human re-birth, where life between lives is a mere staging house.

The path to spiritual fulfilment is lit thus: since "... there is in each of us an inalienable Self that is divine", mankind is "... in a compassionate universe, where nothing is other than ourselves..." Mankind is thus urged "... to treat the universe with reverence."

Thus, man's innermost essence, the Self (or Atman), is not different from God, the ultimate Reality. This Reality (or Brahman) is "... the irreducible ground of existence, the essence of everything — of the earth and sun and all creatures, of gods and human beings, of every power of life." _This equivalence of the ground of one's being (the Self) and the essence of everything (Reality) is encapsulated in the phrase "Thou art That."_

Thus, metaphysics and morals merge in that simple summary.... A close friend of mine, of European origin, and a staunch churchgoing Catholic, found the teaching of the Upanishads most agreeable!

(The above are extracts from 'On the Cosmos' from my book 'Hidden Footprints of Unity.')

###  Yogananda's experience of cosmic consciousness

The following is an extract from 'The physicist as mystic' by David Lewis in 'Forbidden History,' edited by Douglas Kenyon.

"... **the great yogi Paramahansa Yogananda... experienced his own awareness merged with cosmic consciousness..."** In his famous autography, Yogananda describes his experience.

' _My sense of identity was no longer confined to a body,'_ he says, _'but embraced the circumambient atoms... My ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive... all melted into a luminescent sea. The unifying light alternated with materialization of form.'_

After describing a state of ecstatic joy, the renowned yogi goes on to say _'_ _A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes... The entire cosmos... glittered within the infinitude of my being.'_

In the jargon of modern physics, this experience might be described as Non-Locality in the electron sea. In the jargon of Yoga, it is called Oneness with Supreme Consciousness, Ultimate Being, or God.

Like sages before him for thousands of years, Yogananda describes the universe beyond matter as being composed of indescribably subtle Light. He describes the material universe as being composed of the same essence but in a grosser form, a principle echoed throughout the world's mystical traditions and now in modern physics.

Regarding the source of this Light, Yogananda says _, 'The divine dispersion of rays poured from an eternal source, blazing into galaxies transfigured with ineffable auras. Again and again I saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve into sheets of transparent flame. By rhythmic reversion, sextillion worlds passed into diaphanous luster, then fire became firmament.'_

Perhaps more significant, the sage tells us his experience of the centre of all light and creation poured from a point of intuitive perception in his heart, not from his intellect..."

(Comment: How does a rational, reasonably sceptical Seeker of understanding of Reality respond to this incredible experience?)

###  Aurobindo on Hinduism

"To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs.

That which we call the Hindu religion is really the Eternal religion because it embraces all others.

India is the meeting place of the religions and among these Hinduism alone is by itself a vast and complex thing, not so much a religion as a great diversified and yet subtly unified mass of spiritual thought, realization and aspiration.

Metaphysical thinking will always no doubt be a strong element in her mentality, and it is to be hoped that she will never lose her great, her sovereign powers in that direction.

She saw the myriad gods, and beyond God his own ineffable eternity; she saw that there were ranges of life beyond our present life, ranges of mind beyond our present mind and above these she saw the splendours of the spirit.

Hidden nature is secret God."

_(Comment: Typically, a great commentator about Hinduism makes it clear that,_ unlike _the 'desert' religions, the 'forest' religions of India and its surrounds are not competitive. What advantage is there in claiming to offer the only path to God? As co-created, we humans are bonded to one another morally, are we not? What does that imply?_ )

###  Insights into the Afterlife

_I had a dream recently. I woke up at the conclusion of the dream, wondering whether it followed my recent speculations about the Afterlife._ As a metaphysical Hindu, through some in-depth reading and careful analysis, I accept the probability of the existence of my soul, the reincarnation process, and a re-charging domain I conceive as the Afterlife.

**The concept of an Afterlife is very challenging. Would insubstantial soul-entities, the spirits of former Earthlings, need a home of substance? But then I cannot conceive of an insubstantial place where a goodly number of soul-entities could sojourn.** However, I realise that at age 89 I can expect to have my curiosity satisfied very soon.

Since I had been advised by a casual clairvoyant (or seer) to listen to my subconscious for messages from my Spirit Guide, I wonder if my dream was more than wishful thinking. Living in a flat country whose highest mountain is a mere pimple, whose rivers do not seem to flow like those in New Zealand, and whose dry terrain does not attract much rain (except for sudden troubling downpours occasionally), my subconscious may be seeking to compensate for this deprivation by Nature.

_In my dream, I was on a lush mountain top, with a raging river below on one side and a cliff on the other – which allowed me to see the distant sea and a rocky shore. It was raining, but I do not remember getting wet. I heard voices, yet neither saw nor met anyone. It was as if we were all avoiding one another._ In the morning, I again remembered this compensatory dream. After all, had I not been born and bred in a lush tropical terrain? Had I not enjoyed the years I had lived there?

Then, much to my great surprise, **during my sleep a few nights later, I had a thought flitting through my mind. Intuitively, I felt that spirits created their own personal environments in the Afterlife.** Was that message from my Spirit Guide? As a recluse of many years, I am attracted to this possibility.

Indubitably, the conceptual vista of my soul as a time-traveller, traversing countries and cultures through the occupation of a long series of human bodies, and living (with all its pains and pleasures), and learning while necessarily adapting to a new home, and ultimately returning to The Source morally purified is spiritually satisfying. _As ever, it is the journey (in spite of great suffering on the way) which matters, not the arrival Home._

###  Hindu influence on Greek philosophy

**This influence is accepted as a probability i** n the book ' _Hindu Influence on Greek Philosophy'_ by Timothy Lomperis, academic, _"of Greek heritage and years in India."_ I offer the following thoughts. Extracts are shown with quotation marks.

(1) The author displays a tendency to see 'revolt' by Buddha and Mahavira against Hinduism; and refers to 'invasion' and 'occupation' by non-existent 'white' Aryans; and 'dictatorship' by Brahmin priests. Was the author influenced by the competition between the 3 'desert' religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; theological control within sectarian Christianity; and Eurocentric historiography?

(2) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, described by Lomperis as free India's first Minister of Education and a philosopher, wrote _"In Greece, elements of religion acquired the characteristics of philosophy; in India, philosophy itself was turned into a religion."_

(3) Indian author A.R. Wadia wrote: _"Like the Greeks generally, Plato was intent on making the best of his life."_ "The greatest aim of Plato was to bring into being an ideal state." _"The Upanishadic seers were not interested in developing an ideal society or state."_

(4) Plato "never committed his deepest thoughts in writing."

(5) _"The task of distilling Hindu thought to anything like a united body of teaching is even more difficult."_ Comparing the diverse philosophies spread loosely throughout a huge subcontinent in Asia over a long period of time, with the incompletely-articulated philosophies of a small peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean within a short historical period may be questionable.

(6) Plato and the Hindus share a concept of the soul and its reincarnation. However, many cultures held comparable views until the leaders of Christianity decided against it, in favour of priestly control of behaviour.

(7) **The author admits to a significant difference between Hinduism and Plato.** _"Mainstream Hinduism" views the empirical world as "an inconsequential illusion." Plato "saw truth located in the world of ideas."_

(8) Being unable to unify Athenian philosophers in the sixth to fourth centuries BC into a Greek philosophy, Lomperis seems yet able to find a unified main channel within the highly diffuse philosophies in the wide-spread tribo-lingual cultures of India!

(9) **"In the case of philosophy," the direction of influence "seems quite clearly to be from India to Greece."** _The flow of fables was also from the East to Europe (as previously proven)._ How else could it be when Indian philosophies and cultures were not known to the Greeks? The then prevailing view of Asia was of 'barbarians' and 'Ethiopians.' As well, did not Aristotle express racist views?

Throughout the globe, in the history of mankind, a large number of cultures would have produced thinkers seeking to understand the Cosmos and the place of Man in it. Without physical contact between cultures, comparable perceptions could surely have arisen over time.

Without cultural competition seeking antecedence (as in theological contests), _mankind will surely create diverse paths to understanding the meaning of existence._

###  Hinduism's impact on Indonesia

_In front of the Indonesian Embassy (on Embassy Row, Washington)_ , one would have expected to see the statue of Sukarno, the founding father of Indonesia. But no; **there is the Hindu Goddess of learning, Saraswati,** glowing white and gold, with her four arms upraised. At her feet are three students – young Barack Obama and his classmates while he was in grade school in Indonesia.

The goddess' statue, on top of a lotus, stands tall a block away from the Indian Embassy in front of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Why would Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, with Hindus accounting for a mere 1.7 per cent, choose a Hindu goddess as its embassy's symbol?

It speaks volumes about the nation's respect for religious freedom. Indonesia is a secular nation and its constitution is planked on the philosophy of "Pancasila" which is pluralistic in its outlook. The constitution refers not to "Allah" but "Tuhan" so as to ensure that the minorities feel fully integrated.

Indonesia has the fourth largest Hindu population and the highest number of Hindus outside the Indian subcontinent (after Nepal and Bangladesh). Most Indonesian Hindus are Balinese.

**Hinduism's manifestations in myriad forms are on display in every sphere of Indonesian life.** The Hindu influence is immediately brought home when a traveler boards _the national airline bearing the name from Hindu mythology – Garuda, the bird and vehicle of Vishnu. The national emblem of Indonesia is Garuda Pancasila. Hanuman is the official mascot of Indonesia's military intelligence. At the 1997 South-East Asian Games at Jakarta, the official mascot was Hanuman._

Ganesh, the God of wisdom, is inscribed on the 20,000-rupiah currency note. The logo of Institut Teknologi Bandung – Indonesia's premier engineering institute – is also Ganesh.

The dwarpal statue is placed outside hotels, shops, public offices. He sits with the right knee on the ground and holds a formidable mace in the right hand as a protector of the establishment. Even the Bank of Indonesia in Yogyakarta is guarded by, not one, but two dwarpals.

_Indonesia has issued many stamps on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata_ featuring Arjun, Krishan, Hanuman and scenes from the epics. Depiction of epics in the form of folk painting, shadow puppets, dramatic characters and sculpture are found across the length and breadth of the country.

Sukarno himself was named after the Mahabharata character, Karna. Sukarno's father, fascinated by his characterisation but equally disapproving of his support to the wrong side in the war, named him Su (good) Karna. Sukarno's daughter was named Megawati Sukarnoputri and was the president of the country from 2001 to 2004.

The language of India is Bahasa which in Sanskrit means language (Bhasha). _Thousands of Tamil and Sanskrit names are found in Indonesia, many of them in their corrupted form due to the passage of time._

_The National flag of Indonesia,_ called the "Sang Saka Merah-Putih" (The Sacred Red and White) _has been influenced by the banner of the Majapahit Empire, which during the 13th century was one of the largest empires of the region._ Hinduism and Buddhism were the dominant religions in the Majapahit Empire.

(Extract from Ajay Mankota's "What India can learn from Indonesia on religious tolerance?" From the Internet.)

###  Hinduism in Southeast Asia (Part 1)

**Hinduism in Southeast Asia has a profound impact on the region's cultural development and its history.** As the indic scripts were introduced from India, people of Southeast Asia entered the historical period by producing their earliest inscriptions around the 1st to 5th century CE.

**Hindu civilization also transformed and shaped the social construct and statehood of Southeast Asian regional polity.** Through the formation of Indianized kingdoms, small indigenous polities led by petty chieftain were transformed into major kingdoms and empires led by a maharaja with statecraft concept akin to those in India.

It gave birth to the former Champa civilisation in southern parts of Central Vietnam, Funan in Cambodia, the Khmer Empire in Indochina, Langkasuka Kingdom and Old Kedah in the Malay Peninsula, the Sriwijayan kingdom on Sumatra, the Medang kingdom, Singhasari and the Majapahit Empire based in Java, Bali, and parts of the Philippine archipelago. _The civilisation of India influenced the languages, scripts, written tradition, literatures, calendars, beliefs system and artistic aspects of these peoples and nations_.

Expansion of Hinduism in Southeast Asia

Indian scholars wrote about the Dwipantara or Jawa Dwipa Hindu kingdom in Java and Sumatra around 200 BC. "Yawadvipa" is mentioned in India's earliest epic, the Ramayana. Sugriva, the chief of Rama's army dispatched his men to Yawadvipa, the island of Java, in search of Sita. It was hence referred to in Indian by the Sanskrit name "yāvaka dvīpa" (dvīpa = island). Southeast Asia was frequented by traders from eastern India, particularly Kalinga, as well as from the kingdoms of South India.

The Indianised Tarumanagara kingdom was established in West Java around 400s, produced among the earliest inscriptions in Indonesian history. There was a marked Buddhist influence starting about 425 in the region. Around the 6th century, Kalingga Indianized kingdom was established in norther coast of Central Java. The kingdom name was derived from Kalinga east coast of India.

These Southeast Asian seafaring peoples engaged in extensive trade with India and China. Which attracted the attention of the Mongols, Chinese and Japanese, as well as Islamic traders, who reached the Aceh area of Sumatra in the 12th century.

Some scholars have pointed out that the legends of Ikshvaku and Sumati may have their origin in the Southeast-Asian myth of the birth of humanity from a bitter gourd. The legend of Sumati, the wife of King Sagar, tells that she produced offspring with the aid of a bitter gourd. _(From Wikipedia)_

###  Hinduism in Southeast Asia (Part 2)

Today, vibrant Hindu communities remain in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Medan city of Indonesia and the Philippines mainly due to the presence of _Indians, such as Tamil people,_ who migrated from the Indian sub-continent to Southeast Asia in past centuries.

One notably Southeast Asian aspect of _Tamil Hinduism_ is the festival of _Thaipusam_ , while other Hindu religious festivals such as _Diwali_ (Theepavali) are also well-observed by Hindus in the region. In Thailand and Cambodia, Thai and Khmer people practised Hindu rituals and traditions along with their Buddhist faith, and Hindu gods such as Brahma are still widely revered.

_In Indonesia, it is not only people of Indian descent who practice Hinduism; Hinduism still survives as the major religion in Bali,_ where native Indonesians, the Balinese people, adhere to Agama Hindu Dharma, a variant of Hinduism derived from ancient Java-Bali Hindu traditions developed in the island for almost two millennia that often incorporates native spiritual elements.

Other than the Balinese, a small enclave of _Javanese Hindu minorities_ are also can be found in Java, such as around Tengger mountain ranges near Bromo and Semeru volcanoes, Karanganyar Regency in Central Java, and near Prambanan, Yogyakarta.

Similarly, _Hinduism is also found among the Cham minority in Southern Vietnam and Cambodia_ : just like the Javanese, the majority of them are Muslims but a minority are Hindu. In other parts of Indonesia, the term Hindu Dharma is often loosely used as umbrella category to identify native spiritual beliefs and indigenous religions such as Hindu Kaharingan professed by Dayak of Kalimantan.

_The resurgence of Hinduism in Indonesia_ is occurring in all parts of the country. In the early 1970s, the Toraja people of Sulawesi were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977 and the Ngaju Dayak of Kalimantan in 1980. In an unpublished report in 1999, the National Indonesian Bureau of Statistics admitted that around 100,000 had officially _converted or 'reconverted' from Islam to Hinduism o_ ver the previous two decades. The Ministry of Religious Affairs, as of 2007 estimates there to be at least 10 million Hindus in Indonesia.

_The growth of Hinduism_ has been driven also by the famous Javanese prophesies of Sabdapalon and Jayabaya. Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of Sukarno's PNI, and now support Megawati Sukarnoputri. This return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) is a matter of nationalist pride.

Next to Indonesian Balinese, today, the Balamon Cham are the only surviving native (non-Indic) Hindus in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam there are roughly 160,000 members of the Cham ethnic minority, majority of them are Hindus while some are Muslims. After centuries being dominated by Kinh (Vietnamese), today there are some efforts to revive Cham culture.

###  Hinduism's impact on the West

"From the beginning of her history, _India has adored and idealized,_ not soldiers and statesmen, not men of science and leaders of industry, not even poets and philosophers, who influence the world by their deeds or by their words, but _those rarer and more chastened spirits, whose greatness lies in what they are and not in what they do;_ men who have stamped infinity on the thought and life of the country. To a world given over to the pursuit of power and pleasure, wealth and glory, **they declared the reality of the unseen world and the call of the spiritual life."**

"Commenting on the teachings of Christian missionaries as Plotinus, Clement, Gregory, Augustine and the like, _Dean Inge_ observes: "They are the ancient religion of the Brahmins masquerading in the clothes borrowed from the Jewish, Gnostic, Manichaen and Neo-Platonic allegories. That is why _Mahatma Gandhi told_ Romain Rolland in Switzerland on his way back to India from the Round Table Conference (1911) _that Christianity is an echo of the Indian religion and Islam is the re-echo of that echo."_ (Ancient rishis' path to Hinduism)

"India is not only the heir of her own religious traditions; she is also the residuary legatee of the Ancient Mediterranean World's religious traditions." "Religion cuts far deeper, and, _at the religious level, India has not been a recipient; she has been a giver. About half the total number of the living higher religions are of Indian origin."_  
(source: One World and India – By Arnold Toynbee)

"The commercial ties between India and Europe were more direct than they have ever been over the last ten centuries. _Indian monks and their disciples lived and taught for several hundred years in the Middle East_ and founded large monasteries, the traces of which can be seen mainly in Antioch and Alexandria."  
(source: The Genius of India – By Guy Sorman ('Le Genie de l'Inde')

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan has said: " _Buddhism which arose in India_ was an attempt to achieve a purer Hinduism. It may be called a reform within Hinduism. The formative years of Buddhism were spent in the Hindu religious environment. It shares in a large measure the basic pre suppositions of Hinduism. It _is a product of the Hindu religious ethos."_  
(source: Religion and Culture – By S. Radhakrishnan)

In an interview in Detroit in 1894, Vivekananda said, _"Our religion is older than most religions and the Christian creeds came directly from the Hindoo religion._ It is one of the great offshoots. The Catholic religion also takes all its forms from us, the confessional, the belief in saints and so on, and a Catholic priest who saw this absolute similarity and recognized the truth of the origin of the Catholic religion was dethroned from his position because he dared to publish a volume explaining all that he observed and was convinced of."  
(From Vivekananda, New Discoveries by Marie Louise Burke)

(COMMENT: The above extracts are from "Surya's Tapestry".)

###  My exposure to Hinduism in Bali

My tour guide in Bali was a Brahmin ( _a Balinese Brahmin_ ). His Indian ancestor had arrived in the 9th Century. When he discovered that I am a Hindu, he was delighted. **Everywhere we went, he introduced me as 'Indu'! The responses were most pleasing. I was one of them.**

We first observed a _cremation_. It was in the open – like the one for my father in Malaya. Whereas I and my relatives were required to turn away when the pyre was lit, here people watched. _The presiding priest_ then left. He did not walk. He _was carried on a palanquin by 4 men. As he passed me, our eyes met._ _He could have been one of my relatives_ _–_ by skin colour, shape and size of head. Was he a throwback to the first arrival?

On another day, we arrived at a _temple._ On one of the 2 pillars at the open gate, was a small basin with a little scoop. I was the only passenger who had exited the tourist bus with my guide. At the pillar, he took down the basin, filled the tiny scoop with the water in the basin _. I knew what to do._ I cupped my right hand over my left, and received about a teaspoon of the water. _As I sipped the water, I heard the collective gasp from the other occupants of the bus._ I then reversed the process. My guide sipped the water and sprinkled the surplus water over his forehead, just as I had done with my tiny surplus.

To me, the water was holy water. It could do me no harm. And it did not.

One afternoon, we witnessed _the Ramayana_ depicted in a hotel. It was similar to the display I had witnessed in Buddhist Thailand.

Then occurred that annual day when no Balinese worked or went out. The place was strangely peaceful. On another day, I witnessed the procession of women carrying baskets of fruit on their heads on their way to their temple. It was clear that the Balinese Hindus are as religious as are the Indians and Ceylonese of my experience.

After the re-invigoration of Hinduism by the great Shankara in the 8th Century, this faith seems to have absorbed Buddhism. This would mean that, as one looked up to God, one would also look laterally at co-created fellow-humans, and with compassion.

As one who feels, deep within his soul, that he has been a Muslim, and a Jew, and a Christian in many, many past lives, I am pleased to be a Hindu in this life. Hinduism is a useful religion in its concepts and cosmology. It is the only religion to offer a coherent view on cosmology. Strangely, many speculative scientific cosmologists seem to be in tune with Hindu philosophers.

Where next? The significance of reincarnation is to be offered learning, preferably understanding, of all that is. I look to my future with great hope.

###  Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 1)

Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 1)  
(By Shreyas Limaye, PhD)

_One of the common misconceptions about Hinduism is that it is an India-specific religion._ Indeed it is true that Hinduism and the Vedanta philosophy originated in India and even today a vast majority of the followers of the religion are Indians; emigration and migration in the last couple of centuries and the universal appeal of Vedanta have made people recognize the fact that _it is a global religion with a worldwide following._

**Even historically, Hinduism was never an India-specific religion. Ancient Hindu idols have been discovered in places as far as central Asia.** However, for a variety of reasons, Hinduism got erased from most of the places which lay to the west of India.

_But in Indonesia, where Hinduism flourished in style and in substance, it continues to maintain its presence even today_ – reminding us of its past glory and global appeal.

**How Hinduism was introduced in Indonesia:**  
Records of _foreign trade_ with Indonesia exist from the early AD centuries. Consequently, it was earlier thought that Hinduism was introduced to Indonesia through traders arriving from India.

However, recent discoveries of Sanskrit transcriptions in places like eastern Kalimantan, a considerable distance from the international trade route, and also in western Java have given rise to _a new theory that it was introduced to the Indonesian islands through rishis and their Indian and Indonesian disciples._

References in Balinese literature about Pura Pucak Raung (in the Eastern Javanese district of Glenmore), where Maharishi Markandeya is said to have visited and gathered followers, further bolster this claim.

**Local Influence:**  
But as is common with most of the religions, _Hinduism in Indonesia_ (known formally as "Agama Hindu Dharma" in Bahasa Indonesia) _got influenced with local beliefs, customs and traditions and developed a distinctly Indonesian flavor._

_It shares all the main beliefs of Hinduism_ like a belief that all of the Gods are manifestations of the Supreme Being, belief in the Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu (Wisnu), Mahesh (Ciwa) representing the creator, preserver and destroyer roles of the Supreme Being, belief in sacred texts of Vedas, Puranas and Itihaasas, etc.

However, it lacks the traditional Hindu emphasis on cycles of rebirth and reincarnation, but instead is greatly influenced by the Chinese and Eastern Asian concept of ancestral spirits. Brahmins are regarded as the prestigious class but instead of being affiliated with any temple, they act as spiritual leaders and advisers to individual families.

###  Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 2)

**Hindu Kingdoms:**  
_Being accepted as an Indonesian religion, Hinduism is reflected in early Indonesian polity as well._ Various Hindu kingdoms began to emerge in the main islands of Java and Sumatra. _Most notable amongst them are Srivijaya and Majapahit which flourished to become empires and influenced the events of the region._

**Srivijaya Kingdom:**  
Srivijaya kingdom was based in Palembang, in the island of Sumatra. Accounts of its origins vary from 200 AD to 500 AD. But mainly from 7th century AD, it appears in contemporary Chinese and other trade records as an important maritime Indonesian kingdom.

_Srivijaya established suzerainty over large areas of Sumatra, western Java and much of the Malay Peninsula._ Dominating the Malacca and Sunda straits, it controlled both the spice route traffic and local trade, charging a toll on passing ships. Serving as an entrepôt for Chinese, Malay, and Indian markets, the port of Palembang, accessible from the coast by way of a river, accumulated great wealth.

In 903 AD, a Muslim writer Ibn Rustah was so impressed with the wealth of Srivijaya's ruler that he declared one would not hear of a king who was richer, stronger or with more revenue. _Srivijaya also maintained close relations with the Pala Empire in Bengal_ and an 860 AD inscription records that the maharaja of Srivijaya dedicated a monastery at the Nalanda University in Pala territory.

**Fall of the Srivijaya Kingdom** : Relations with the Chola dynasty of southern India were initially friendly but deteriorated into actual warfare in the eleventh century. Although Srivijaya managed to survive Chola invasion and conquest, it got gravely weakened, lost its regional hegemony and gave rise to formation of small kingdoms. As the decline went further, Islam made its way to the Aceh region of Sumatra.

_In 13th century, the kingdom of Pasai in northern Sumatra converted to Islam,_ putting further pressure on Srivijaya. _In 1365 AD, Srivijaya was conquered by the Hindu Majapahit Empire from Java._ A rebellion in 1377 AD was squashed down by Majapahit, but left the area of Southern Sumatra in chaos and desolation giving further impetus to the growth of Islam.

By 1402 AD, _Parameswara,_ the last prince of Srivijaya who had fled Palembang after being defeated by Majapahits, married a Muslim princess of Pasai and _founded a kingdom on the Malay Peninsula_. In 1414 AD, at the age of 70 he himself converted to Islam declaring his kingdom as _the 'Sultanate of Malacca'._

**Other Hindu Kingdoms:** During the same time period _some other Hindu kingdoms like Sailendra and Singhasari_ existed on the island of Java. Some of the magnificent Hindu and Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia are built-in that time frame.

_The Borobudur temple complex, in honor of Mahayana Buddhism_ , contains 2,000,000 cubic feet of stone and includes 27,000 square feet of stone bas-relief. _Shiva's great temple is less than 50 miles away at Prambanan._

###  Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 3)

**Majapahit Empire:**  
Based in eastern Java in since 1293 AD, Majapahit was _the last Hindu empire in Indonesia._ It reached its height in the mid-14th century under King Hayam Wuruk (1350AD-89AD) and his Prime Minister Gajah Mada.

The New Year ceremony during the Majapahit era was a major religious ceremony which used to be attended by Indian scholars as well. Thus, _in one of the inscriptions, the poet asserts that the only famous countries in the world were Java and India because both contained many religious experts!_ However, after the death of Hayam Wuruk, the kingdom grew internally weaker due to family feuds and found itself unable to control the rising power of the Sultanate of Malacca.

Finally, in 1478, Brawijaya _the last Majapahit ruler converted to Islam._ The last remaining courtsmen of Majapahit were forced to withdraw eastward. _A large number of courtiers, artisans, priests, and Hindu members of the royalty moved east to the island of Bali at the end of Majapahit's existence;_ where they remained isolated before being colonized by the Dutch.

**Conversion to Islam:**  
In both Java and Sumatra, as the royalty converted to Islam, the citizens followed suit. And although many cultural aspects of the religion were preserved, _Hinduism ceased to exist as a major spiritual force after being the main Indonesian religion for centuries._

This is undoubtedly a major event in the history of Hinduism and should be studied and understood in great detail by all those who love this ancient continuous tradition. It would reveal the conditions and reasons behind the downfall of Hinduism from one of its strongholds and might prove as a guidance to avoid such circumstances elsewhere in the future.

**Hindus Renaissance and Challenges:**  
_Preserved by Balinese Hindus through their turbulent history, Hinduism is experiencing a revival in all parts of Indonesia in the recent times._ While many Javanese had retained aspects of their indigenous and Hindu traditions through the centuries of Islamic influence, under the banner of 'Javanist religion' (kejawen), no more than a few isolated communities upheld Hinduism as the primary mark of their public identity.

Even officially identifying their religion as _Hinduism was not a legal possibility for Indonesians until 1962 AD, when it became the fifth state-recognized religion._ This recognition was initially sought by Balinese religious organizations and granted for the sake of Bali, where the majority was Hindu.

The largest of these organizations, Parisada Hindu Dharma Bali, changed its name to P.H.D. Indonesia (PHDI) in 1964, reflecting subsequent _efforts to define Hinduism as a national rather than just a Balinese affair._ Religious identity became a life and death issue for many Indonesians around the same time as Hinduism gained recognition, namely in the wake of the violent anti-Communist purge of 1965-66.

Persons lacking affiliation with a state recognized-religion tended to be classed as atheists and hence as communist suspects. Despite the inherent disadvantages of joining a national religious minority, _a deep concern for the preservation of their traditional ancestral religious practices made Hinduism a more palatable option than Islam for several ethnic groups in the outer islands._

In the early seventies, the Toraja people of Sulawesi island were the first to realize this opportunity by seeking shelter for their indigenous religious practices under the broad umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977 and the Ngaju Dayak of Kalimantan in 1980. The rate of conversion (or re-conversion) to Hinduism accelerated dramatically during and after the collapse of former President Suharto's authoritarian regime in 1998.

_For some Indonesians this return to the 'religion of Majapahit' was a matter of nationalist pride._ PHDI, in an annual report claims the 'Hindu congregation' (umat hindu) of East Java province to have grown by 76,000 souls in 1999 alone.

###  Lost Hindu empires of Indonesia (Part 4)

**Temple Reconstruction:**  
Apart from political environment, socio-economic factors also contributed to this trend. In the last few decades, especially after being formally recognized as an official Indonesian religion, _some of the ancient Hindu temples are being revived in Indonesia with the generous donations from wealthy Balinese Hindus._

_Surge in the number of households proclaiming themselves as the followers of Hinduism has been seen around these revived temples._ Prominent among them include Pura (temple) Blambangan in the regency of Banyuwangi completed around 1978, Pura Mandaragiri Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt Sumeru, Java's highest mountain completed in 1992 and recently completed Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya in the village of Menang near Kediri and Pura Pucak Raung in the Eastern Javanese district of Glenmore.

Similar resurgence was observed around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu temple sites in Trowulan near Mojokerto. Economically, the newly built temples have brought new prosperity to local populations.

Apart from employment in the building, expansion, and repair of the temple itself, a steady stream of Balinese pilgrims to this now nationally recognized temple has led to the growth of a sizeable service industry. In the recent international environment, pondering on the secret to the economic success of their Balinese neighbors, several local inhabitants have also concluded that _Hindu culture may be more conducive to the development of an international tourism industry._

**What the future holds** : Contributed by all these factors, a slow yet certain revival of Hinduism in Indonesia is observed. However, it also should be noted that simultaneously, a steady increase in the number of Wahabi mosques funded by Saudi oil money has contributed to the increased radicalization of Southeast Asian Muslim populace. _It would be interesting to see how the Hindu revival movement proceeds under such circumstances in future._

(Shreyas Limaye is a PhD student in the Industrial Engineering department at University of Washington, Seattle)

**Related Articles**  
(1 ) New Book Traces The History of Indonesian Textiles (luxist.com)  
(2) Hinduism – Amalgam of Ethnic and Cultural Diversities (brighthub.com)  
(3) Julia Roberts Is a Hindu: Discusses Hinduism In Elle Magazine (nowpublic.com)  
(4) Review: A Long Parade of Cultures Leaves a Rich Trail in the Art of Sumatra (nytimes.com)  
(5) At Hindu ritual, 'we learn together' (theolympian.com)  
(6) Tibetan Yoga – hinduism – its doctrine and peace (badcreditdebtmanagement.com)

(A WordPress post from the Internet. With thanks to Shreyas Limaye for a learned presentation.)

###  Mind, memory and brain (Part 1)

The thought that my mind and my memories are not totally located or contained within my brain is challenging. How could that be? **Why do I suspect that, while (obviously) my mind and memories are based, linked, or associated with the brain, they may also have an independent existence? From my experience!**

However, the mechanistic material paradigm reflected in the scientific method that we know does not enable us to explain the immaterial (or insubstantial) phenomena in the realm of the ethereal. _The scientific method requires repeatability, to facilitate acceptance. With ephemeral events or phenomena, the winks of the firefly come to mind._

As well, recall what the physicists have found about particles which flit in and out of existence. Then think about dark matter and dark energy which together reportedly add up to 96% of allegedly known matter.

**How much of accepted science is no more than a collection of speculative theories; and which do not enable testing through the scientific method?** Space-time, expanding space, 'black holes', the 'Big Bang' theory of cosmogony, Darwin's theory of evolution relating to new species, the 'multiverse' (or many universes), and more, are not 'proven' by observation alone. They are maths-backed speculations – so they seem to me.

_Yet, so-called psychic phenomena, and alternative scenarios underlying existence, such as the aether or Consciousness, which do not fit into prevailing explanatory paradigms, are challenged or denied._ Whenever I read about some expert asking "Where is the evidence?", I wonder at the seemingly defensive posture.

###  Mind, memory and brain (Part 2)

When I was confused by **the presence of my favourite uncle in spirit form** about 25 years ago, I had to accept that:

(1) long after his Earthly death, my uncle had _materialised_ (through the medium of a clairvoyant) to offer me guidance on my spiritual progress.  
(2) while I could not see or hear him, _the clairvoyant could describe his appearance, and to communicate with him mentally._  
(3) my uncle, most surprisingly, responded to a comment I had made to the clairvoyant. That is, _he could hear what I said._  
(4) his advice to me (through the clairvoyant) indicated that _he had retained his Earthly memory, and that he knew about matters pertaining to me which had occurred after his demise_.  
(5) his advice concluded thus: **seek to contribute to building a bridge from where you came to where you are.**

It took me two years to digest this experience – for I had no knowledge that the spirit realm existed; and to realise that I was then (possibly) the only person to know (through work experience) all about the government's policies on migrant settlement (now integration). _So, I wrote 4 books based on my experience. That was my contribution to the 'bridge' mentioned by my uncle._

Much to my surprise, I learnt that a number of senior academics now considered me an expert in this field of policy. This is just to indicate _when_ I began to ponder about matters immaterial – like mind and memory.

What is of great import is that my uncle had displayed, without a material brain and ears, that he had retained his Earthly memories and his mind. They seem to go together. As well, what I refer to as the Afterlife (the home of spirits – former humans) clearly exists.

_Then, my experience:_  
(1) when I read a clue in a crossword puzzle, my brain often pops up with an answer even before I search my memory; and  
(2) when I had my heart attack, I lost my memory for quite a few faces, even those of significance. After a few years, I progressively recovered most of that memory. That suggests that I had lost the connection to the recorded memory.

###  Mind, memory and brain (Part 3)

**In general:**  
(1) while memories seem to be located in specific areas of the brain, it has been claimed recently that _the path to the memory bank may involve the whole brain._  
(2) _the brain is known to be plastic._ It adjusts, with or without conscious effort, to new experiences.  
(3) _with dementia,_ short-term memory is clearly affected. My experience with a neighbour showed that she was _not registering her questions and my sister's responses; but her long-term hates were durable._  
(4) recent research apparently shows that _the capacity to appreciate music or art is not lost through dementia._  
(5) could joy from _loving letters and interesting stories_ not be lost as well?  
(6) _Hinduism_ claims that the mind is an instrument of Consciousness. That is, _mind is not tied to the brain._ Yet, it taps into the brain.  
(7) when my uncle died with his mind and memories intact, and was thus able to display both after his brain had been cremated, _how much of any mind and its embedded long-term memories are reliably known to be lost through dementia (in its various forms)?_ Perhaps only the previous link has been suspended, not lost.  
(8) could _isolation from loved ones_ damage an individual with short-term memory problems? There is so little known as to what happens within the brain. Yet certain academics claim otherwise, but only in a speculative manner!

We humans are more complex than we know. And **Consciousness seems to explain us, whether dead or alive** – death providing a temporary respite to the soul from Earthly experiences. _And (probably) each soul remembering each bodily past: and occasionally allowing the prevailing mind in the current body to obtain a glimpse of a relevant past_ **(as has happened to me)**.

###  Hindu philosophy compared (Part 1)

"Philosophical thought in India in the sixth century B.C. had become quite mature. It had reached a stage which could have been arrived at only after long and arduous philosophical quest. Jainism and Buddhism, the latter enormously influential in Indian and neighboring cultures, had emerged by this time. But even before their advent, _the philosophical reflections of the early Upanishads (900-600 B.C.) had set forth the fundamental concepts of Hindu thought which have continued to dominate the Indian mind._

It is perhaps necessary to point out that there has often been a wide divergence between Indian and Western interpretations of Indian thought. Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy once even declared that **a true account to Hinduism may be given in a categorical denial of most of the interpretation that have been made by Westerners or Western-trained Indians."**

"...in the search for some reality behind the external world, various methods have been restored to, ranging from experimental to the purely speculative. It is the oldest philosophical tradition in the world to be traced in the ancient Vedas. _Although the religious and philosophical spirit of India emerges distinctly in the Rig Veda, the Upanishads are its most brilliant exposition,_ for the Vedic civilization was naturalistic and utilitarian, although it did not exclude the cosmological and religious speculation.

_Older than Plato or Confucius, the Upanishads are the most ancient philosophical works and contain the mature wisdom of India's intellectual and spiritual attainment._ They have inspired not only the orthodox system of Indian thought but also the so-called heterodox schools such as Buddhism. In profundity of thought and beauty of style, they have rarely been surpassed not only in Indian thought but in the Western and Chinese philosophical traditions as well."

(Source: Indian wisdom)

###  Hindu philosophy compared (Part 2)

Indian Inspiration of Pythagoras

"The similarity between the _theory of Thales, that water is the material cause of all things, and the Vedic idea of primeval waters as the origin of the universe,_ was first pointed out by Richard Garbe. The resemblances, too, between the teachings of Pythagoras (ca. 582-506 B.C.) and Indian philosophy are striking.

It was Sir William Jones, the founder of comparative philology, who first pointed out the pointed out the _similarities between Indian and Pythagorean beliefs._ Later, other scholars such as Colebrooke, Garbe, and Winternitz also testified to the Indian inspiration of Pythagoras.

Professor H. G. Rawlinson writes: "It is more likely that Pythagoras was influenced by India than by Egypt. _Almost all the theories, religions, philosophical and mathematical taught by the Pythagoreans, were known in India in the sixth century B.C.,_ and the Pythagoreans, like the Jains and the Buddhists, refrained from the destruction of life and eating meat and regarded certain vegetables such as beans as taboo." _"It seems that the so-called Pythagorean theorem of the quadrature of the hypotenuse was already known to the Indians in the older Vedic times, and thus before Pythagoras."_

Professor Maurice Winternitz is of the same opinion: _"As regards Pythagoras, it seems to me very probable that he became acquainted with Indian doctrines in Persia."_ (Visvabharati Quarterly Feb. 1937, p. 8).

_It is also the view of_ Sir William Jones (Works, iii. 236), Colebrooke (Miscellaneous Essays, i. 436 ff.), Schroeder (Pythagoras und die Inder), Garbe (Philosophy of Ancient India, pp. 39 ff), Hopkins (Religions of India, p. 559 and 560) and Macdonell (Sanskrit Literature, p. 422). (Source: 'Eastern Religions and Western Thought '- By Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan p. 143).

Ludwig von Schröder German philosopher, author of the book 'Pythagoras und die Inder '(Pythagoras and the Indians), published in 1884, argued _that Pythagoras had been influenced by the Samkhya school of thought,_ the most prominent branch of the Indic philosophy next to Vedanta.  
(source: 'In Search of The Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India - By Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak & David Frawley p. 252). Refer to 'The Passion of the Greeks: Christianity and the Rape of the Hellenes' – By Evaggelos G. Vallianatos – Reviewed by Christos C. Evangeliou – indianrealist.wordpress.com

(Source: Indian Wisdom)

###  The influence of a past life (Part 1)

**A cute 3-year old boy playing his violin on stage with Andre Rieu and his orchestra touched me. I was not the only one wiping away tears of joy – and amazement;** while I watched the performance on my computer.

For those of us not conditioned by religion to deny _the reality of the reincarnation process (for which there is much reliable evidence)_ , this child demonstrated the push of a past life. I do not know whether his parents are musicians. He was most likely born into a family of musicians, as there is a logic (usually concealed) in significant events of human lives.

**My intuition is that his past life memory would have led him to want to play the violin.** This thought is buttressed by what we have seen on the Internet: lots of young children playing musical instruments at a high level of competence (normally beyond the competence of their age-cohorts and most adults).

###  The influence of a past life (Part 2)

**That a past life can penetrate a current life is my own experience.** My wife repeatedly noted that I was attracted to the scimitar. It has a lovely curved blade. Eventually, _I admitted to her and to myself that I experience a demanding instinctive need to wield a scimitar when the discrimination I experienced (especially at work) got under my skin._

Consciously, I was not initially angry (a wasteful emotion). That was because, in the White Australia era, my cultural heritage gave me enough strength to ignore the ignorant. _However, my subconscious sought revenge_ **when, at the end of my career, I experienced tribal and religious discrimination.** But I had to keep my head down.

_My intuited past life – that of a Muslim warrior – could explain this itch in my palm._ **My past life was subsequently confirmed by a clairvoyant in relatively recent times.** If that is the truth, I must obviously accept it. And I obviously have to amend some of my emotional reactions, no matter how subconscious; as well as adjust some of my thought processes.

Life is for learning, is it not?

###  The influence of a past life (Part 3)

**There has to be a Cosmic reason for the existence of the past-life (reincarnation) process.** It has to involve moral progress through experiencing a sequence of Earthly lives.

_In a long chain of Earth-life experiences over time, each past-life lesson should have a role to play; to contribute to progressive learning._ In this life, I have learnt to forgive, a significant change for a former fighter. I do not seek the sound of someone's family jewels hitting the ground, with a little sliced help from me.

While it is probably beyond the competence of a normal human mind to obtain _an understanding of the place of mankind in the Cosmos_ (not just on Earth), it is the reincarnation process which suggests that there is an underlying pattern.

Perhaps it is best that we keep trekking on our individual paths of destiny (using our free will), and **let the Cosmos lead us individually and collectively to where it will.** We should find joy in the journey, without worrying about our destination.

###  Persuaded by past lives

When a little grandson struggled, while seated on his mother's hip, to reach me each time I visited my daughter, and then hung on to me, _I felt that this baby knew me. He had to be the son my wife and I lost 30 years before. My wife had a similar feeling._

Then I met a 6-month old baby relative who seemed to be angry or unhappy for no reason. He was supported by loving family and other relatives. At 3 years, he was still uncooperative and grumpy. By 7, he was a normal happy child. _I surmised that a past life had bothered him severely, initially._

_Reliable research shows that some young children, all over the world, do remember their most recent past life;_ and that, by about 7 years of age, that memory is totally lost.

I have seen videos of young children, clearly under 7, playing with great skill the piano, or the drums, or 'conducting' a musical program (in one instance playing with an orchestra). _Only inbuilt soul-memories of past-life skills could explain such proficiency, but without the child being necessarily conscious of anything unusual._

Yet, **I have had a frightening psychic 'flashback' of being buried alive.** It was a very real experience, which took me about 3 days to overcome; I was way over 60 years old then! _My then attempt to delve into my past lives, through auto-hypnosis, produced scenes involving red sand, again and again._

_My urge, when facing overt discrimination, to wield a scimitar, has implications,_ perhaps of a deliverer of steely justice in another life. Yet, I have never seen a scimitar, but do feel an attraction. My wife noted that, asking why. _Perhaps it is a past-life memory_ , I responded.

As well, _when I was sketching designs for fabric painting, my initial designs replicated the shape of the beautiful mosques of Central Asia. So, I discovered many years later._ Perhaps this is why, in spite of being a Ceylonese, I was born amongst a tolerant Muslim people, the Malays.

Then there was an English fellow-migrant. _She and I became blood-brother and sister soon after we met; there was a strong bond between us, discernible to others._ Another psychic flashback showed me that _we had been twin brothers; our skin colour was white._ We supported each other psychologically through turbulent times for both of us in this life, although separated by oceans for much of the time.

_A local psychic healer_ , assisted by her Spirit Healer, _told me about a couple of my past lives._ Her intention was to alleviate physical pains reflecting past-life trauma. She was successful.

**Another clairvoyant told me recently that she could see me in my scimitar-wielding past life.** This view coincided with my earlier views of Central Asia. Was she reading my mind? Or, _do clairvoyants, with assistance from the spirit realm, see scenes of relevance to the client?_ The psychic healer said so.

In any event, since past-life memories are no doubt attached to one's soul, could they not occasionally seep into one's conscious mind, or unconsciously affect one's thoughts? **Am I not my soul?** _With an accumulation of memories from many Earthly lives?_

###  Past-life regressions – how credible?

Unlike the spontaneous, volunteered claims by very young children (usually aged between 3 and about 6) about an immediate past life, _regressions under hypnosis by adults to past lives_ – especially multiple past lives – cannot be as easily accepted as credible; they _are not investigated by interrogating anyone alive for confirmation._

**My personal concern is of cryptomnesia (false memory).** _That could be triggered by the imagination and nature of the subject under hypnosis._ In all investigations of the paranormal, some corruption by a parent, or a certain extent of subconscious recall by adults of what had been read or heard of – and interpreted through imagination – could be expected. The human mind is fallible.

The great debunker Ian Wilson (refer his 'After Death Experience'), in asking "Is a genuine 'past life' coming through?" when examining past-life regressions under hypnosis, begins with the Bridey Murphy case. Lacking verifiable historical information, that case was left in limbo (so to speak). However, good 'deep trance' subjects have reported regressions to past lives over the years. Wilson accepts that "there is not the slightest evidence for deliberate, conscious fraud on the part of either hypnotist or the subject hypnotised."

Yet, "... _many of these run-of-the-mill regressions can show signs of the subject fantasizing, or drawing on present twentieth-century knowledge, rather than knowledge of the period appropriate to his or her 'past life.'_ " As well, while 'suggestion' by the hypnotist can, in fairness, be ruled out, subjects may be influenced by any 'expectations' expressed by a hypnotist; for example, that there is no 'no rest between one life and another.'

Credibly, Ian Wilson asks "... why we retain in our minds material that we cannot get access to without the aid of a hypnotist?... 'we', whatever 'we' might be, are something of rather more permanence than our physical bodies?" This is an encouraging conclusion by one who seems to have difficulty acknowledging the existence of human souls.

_Hans TenDam (refer 'Exploring Reincarnation') makes a sound distinction between adult recollection and past-life regression under hypnosis._ "Full regression, originally a hypnotic state, brings back memories, but more intense, more like reliving than remembering... we experience the situation just as it happened at that time." Would that make the reported regressed life more credible? Since "Hypnosis is a psychotic shift in consciousness, not a loss of will" (TenDam), the hypnotist needs to be trustworthy.

Hypnosis is subject to certain fears: that the subject is open to suggestion; losing control; given instructions contrary to one's beliefs; or psychologically damaging; and that **the subject's mind is, under hypnosis, free to be creative.**

TenDam concludes from his survey thus: "Apparently our soul registers every experience, conscious as well as unconscious. It stores all of our sensory impressions, all our beliefs and thoughts, all our semi-conscious and subconscious reactions."

I am not sure that I want to delve too deeply into my past lives. Yet, the most recent one intrigues me. And I have intimations of aspects of that life, and where on the globe that occurred. I find that fascinating. As well, I have clear evidence of life after death.

###  Perceiving reality – some thoughts

Is it possible for humans to perceive reality? That raises the issue: **what is reality? How will we recognise reality?**

I am reminded of my own question throughout my life: _how do I know what I know?_ Both Hinduism and Plato (representing one of the philosophical paradigms of the West) are not encouraging: reality is seemingly shrouded.

_Hinduism does, however, offer a pathway – deep meditation._ Yet, the report of Paramahansa Yogananda of his spiritual experience is confounding. Is a similar experience available to an ordinary person like me?

Drawing upon both my personal experiences with humanity, and a lot of reading, I am inclined to say that:

(1) we each have a unique perception of reality  
(2) our perceptions are influenced mainly by exposures during this life  
(3) these exposures would have a cumulative framework of reference  
(4) our interpretations or registers of such exposures probably (should?) reflect what our souls tell us (in some subtle way)  
(5) there may be an etheric veil between human perceptions and that which is perceived  
(6) that what we perceive may only be a projection of what is – if it is tangible  
(7) if reality is not material but ethereal, do we have the necessary facility to 'capture' it?  
(8) would it matter were conceptions of apparent reality to be variable within normal human relations?  
(9) material reality may require agreement for safety, sanity, scientific research, etc., leaving the ephemeral to those who could take us beyond the level of existence as we know it  
(10) perceptions of reality may require use of the 'third eye'  
(11) if that is successful, how does mankind or the individual benefit while on Earth?  
(12) if reincarnation is to allow us to purify our individual souls to enable us to return to the Ocean of Consciousness from which we arose, would that not be the aspect of reality that is relevant to us Earthlings?

Yet, the search for understanding of the meaning of existence must continue. There has to be an achievable link between the material and the insubstantial.

###  The origin of the Cosmos: Rig Veda insight

An ancient culture speculated a very long time ago about the origin of the Cosmos. What is impressive is that their approach is so agnostic. The reality is that we puny humans may never know how it all began.

Is the Cosmos ever-existing? Or, was it created? Or, did it somehow self-arise? Is a cyclical sequence of birth, growth and death, repeated and repeated forever, the explanation?

" _In the beginning there was neither existence nor non- existence; there was no atmosphere, no sky, and no realm beyond the sky. What power was there? Where was that power? Who was that power? Was it finite or infinite?_

There was neither death nor immortality. There was nothing to distinguish night from day. There was no wind or breath. God alone breathed by his own energy. Other than God there was nothing.

In the beginning darkness was swathed in darkness. All was liquid and formless. God was clothed in emptiness.

Then fire arose within God; and in the fire arose love. This was the seed of the soul. Sages have found this seed within their hearts; they have discovered that it is the bond between existence and non-existence.

Who really knows what happened? Who can describe it? How were things produced? Where was creation born? When the universe was created, the one became many. Who knows how this occurred?

Did creation happen at God's command, or did it happen without his command? He looks down upon creation from the highest heaven. Only he knows the answer – or perhaps he does not know."

Rig Veda

###  The origin of souls

**Does every human being have a soul?** Why not? Are souls created to match the increasing number of humans being born? Presumably so. **Are all human beings aware of the soul within?** Perhaps not. Why not? Who knows?

**How are human souls created?** Do they originate by themselves? We do not know; possibly cannot know. Yet...

Many years ago, _the spirit of a Native American_ (Red Indian to my generation), an advanced soul who was 'channelled' by an English woman, _explained_ to her group _that each soul is like a facet of an 'entity' sent to be 'polished' in the human realm (my words); and then to be returned._ Announcing himself as White Feather, he did point out that explanations given by the spirit world had regard to the level of understanding available within the enquiring audience.

The concept of 'entities' (however amorphous) within an ethereal ocean (of consciousness) is worrisome. _I envisage a structure-less, all-pervasive, plasma-like insubstantial, atmospheric 'motherland,' from which everything arose (the simplest concepts being best)._

White Feathers' explanation may be correct in terms of souls being embodied, but seems somewhat inconsistent otherwise. **Is there an alternative possible creative path for human souls?** The objective of improving souls by exposing them to the 'jungle' of human society is credible in terms of the reincarnation process.

Importantly, there is credible evidence for this process – through the memories of immediate past lives by a large number of young children in many parts of the world which have been proven to be correct.

Could human souls arise in a manner less structured as presented by White Feathers?

###  Swami Vivekhananda quotes (Part 1)

May He who is the Brahman of the Hindus, the Ahura-Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jehovah of the Jews, the Father-in-Heaven of the Christians give strength to you to carry out your noble idea.

Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin; to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

The Vedanta recognizes no sin; it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that.

Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.

The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him – that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

As different streams having different sources all mingle their waters in the sea, so different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to God.

(From Brainy Quote, with thanks. The keepers of competitive religions: please note the sound advice of this Swami!)

###  Swami Vivekhananda quotes (Part 2)

That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.

If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished.

If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.

External nature is only internal nature writ large.

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.

(Comment: Oneness, not separation with superiority. From Brainy quote, with thanks.)

###  Finding God

"God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.

You may say that there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should reply: Suppose there are. Every religion has errors.

Everyone thinks that his watch alone gives the correct time. It is enough to have yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him.

Don't you know that God is the Inner Guide? He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul.

Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him distinctly as "Baba" or "Papa", but the babies can at best call him "Ba" or "Pa". Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. All children are the same to the father.

Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on one Person only. God is one, but His names are many."

(I found the above in my hard-drive. Source not recorded. Wonderful guidance.)

###  Communicating with spirits

**It is clear that there is an effective barrier between the realm of spirits and the world of humans.** _Thus, my Spirit Guide was unable to have me 'listen' to him until my casual clairvoyant, B, advised me to listen to my subconscious. Presumably my Spirit Guide was able to communicate with her psychically. Could he reach her because she has clairvoyance skills when I do not?_

_My initial clairvoyant, C, told me that he is, through a meditative process, able to contact the spirit realm_. I presume that, through his clairvoyance skills, he can reach his Spirit Guide; and that the latter facilitates the contacts C needs to help his clients.

**How are clairvoyance skills achieved? Inborn? Or given?** _B says that messages come to her! I know that she has visions._ For example, she told me when my memoir 'The Dance of Destiny' would be published. More significantly, _she has "seen" me in a past life_ – _as a Muslim warrior with a "curved sword" in my hand and mounted on a black stallion_ (my horse-rider wife would have been entranced to know that).

When the racial discrimination I had to undergo during the White Australia era and the tribal discrimination at work during the last 5 years of my career became excessive, my right hand itched. Instinctively, I wanted to wield a scimitar again. Strangely, my wife discerned my unspoken interest in scimitars.

_My efforts to peer into my past lives through auto-hypnosis did bring me flashes of insight about scenes indicative of Central Asia._ As well, when I set out to design a stained-glass scene, the initial designs reflected the beautiful mosques of that region (so I discovered later). Learning throughout life is a slow progress as one's mind and inner eye become more focussed.

**A more intriguing issue is how a spirit can see, hear, remember the past on Earth, know about my life after his death, and despond to a comment he has heard, thus displaying a functioning mind.** All this was displayed by my uncle to clairvoyant C and to me while he was pertinently an insubstantial entity, his Earthly body with all its operating organs having been cremated.

Looking at the human mind on Earth, it appears to arise from the brain, with the latter the repository of memories. Yet, my mind also appears to be nomadic and adventurous; that is, not relying on my brain.

As a Seeker of understanding (not just knowledge), I speculate about _matters which are new to my brain,_ seeking patterns, even creating patterns. Refer my WordPress posts on my blog 'An octogenarian's final thoughts' (copied to Facebook and to my book pages – see author profile). That is, _my mind is a somewhat independent facility. I suspect that it is linked to Consciousness._

Perhaps it is a shared Consciousness which enables Earthling-Spirit communication.

###  Thoughts on re-birth

Karma brings us ever back to rebirth, binds us to the wheel of births and deaths. Good Karma drags us back as relentlessly as bad, and the chain which is wrought out of our virtues holds as firmly and as closely as that forged from our vices. _Annie Besant_

Assimilation of the fruits of each past life takes place before the spirit descends to rebirth, and consequently, the character generated is fully formed and readily expressed in the subtle, mobile mind-stuff of the Region of Concrete Thought, where the archetype of the coming dense body is built. _Max Heindel_

A rebirth out of spiritual adversity causes us to become new creatures. _James E. Faust_

One thing I want to make clear, as far as my own rebirth is concerned, the final authority is myself and no one else, and obviously not China's Communists. _Dalai Lama_

Everyone focuses on the earthly state, but how cool might death be? I believe in spiritual rebirth, and I can't wait to experience that. _Barry Zito_

"Tell a wise person, or else keep silent,  
because the mass man will mock it right away.  
I praise what is truly alive,  
what longs to be burned to death.

In the calm water of the love-nights,  
where you were begotten, where you have begotten,  
a strange feeling comes over you,  
when you see the silent candle burning.

Now you are no longer caught  
in the obsession with darkness,  
and a desire for higher love-making  
sweeps you upward.

Distance does not make you falter.  
Now, arriving in magic, flying,  
and finally, insane for the light,  
you are the butterfly and you are gone.

And so long as you haven't experienced  
this: to die and so to grow,  
you are only a troubled guest  
on the dark earth." — _Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

###  3 quotes from the Upanishads

All is change in the world of the senses,  
But changeless is the supreme Lord of Love.  
Meditate on him, be absorbed by him,  
Wake up from this dream of separateness.  
_(Shvetashvatara Upanishad)_

Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind. _(Mundaka Upanishad)_

To the seer, all things have verily become the Self: what delusion, what sorrow, can there be for him who beholds that oneness? _(Isa Upanishad)_

###  Quotes by Rabindranath Tagore

We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.

The dust receives insult and in return offers her flowers.

The artist is the lover of nature, therefore he is her slave and her master.

The false can never grow into truth by growing in power.

" _How far are you from me, O fruit?" "I am hidden in your heart, O flower."_

###  On religion – a Seeker's personal path

In my book the ' _Hidden Footprints of Unity,_ ' the following quotation heads the chapter 'Which way to the Cosmos':

" _Now, my own suspicion is that_  
_the universe is not only queerer_  
_than we suppose, but queerer than_  
_we can suppose."_  
– J.B.S.Haldane

Because of my own personal catastrophe early in my life, I became deeply interested in matters relating to faith and destiny. I remember lying on my back at the beach, with nothing to look up to except the sky. _I remember shaking my fist in the direction of the stars and saying to the gods up there, "To hell with you."_

I had prayed regularly and frequently, and broken enough coconuts to signify my devotion to God. Yet, there I was, _with no future (apparently pre-ordained)._ My existence was precarious, un-buttressed by family or friends. So, there was only one way to go — up.

As I struggled to climb up to a firm economic base, **I came to realise that there was a coherent current moving me along!** The unceasing and unpredictable buffeting was de-stabilising. _Yet, I remained afloat._ What was the significance of this? How did it all work? As I matured and began to eat well, I embarked upon a search into the various paths to the universal Creator.

It is this unending search which I touch upon below. The options available to a seeker are indeed wide. But is there a single track which might subsume all options? _Whilst I seek unity in diversity in all matters human and cosmic, like Mahatma Gandhi, "I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist and Confucian."_

That is, I am a freethinker. _I believe all faiths are equal in their potential._ The core belief in all faiths represents a yearning to rejoin the Creator — and offers much the same message. I just happened to have been born into the Hindu faith in this life. _It is the core metaphysics of this faith which holds me — because its explanation of the complexity of existence is comprehensive, yet simple._

**Why then am I happy about the value of other faiths?** _Because I suspect that I have experienced them subjectively in earlier lives on Earth._ I am comfortable with, and comforted by, them too — but at a different level. I refer only to that core of each faith, leaving aside the trappings and trimmings added by those who constitute the religious institution surrounding each faith.

Whilst each of us must find his path to the Creator in his own manner and time, I looked (in this book) at how the adherents of the major faiths in Australia uphold their beliefs; and whether these adherents are contributing to a unified people in the new Australian nation-state. That is, _how tolerant are the adherents of each faith of other faiths?_ Does each faith contribute to inter-communal acceptance? And to an understanding that we are all on different roads to the same destination?

My message is that we humans are co-created; we are thereby bonded to one another. We need to look both sideways and upwards while paddling as peacefully as possible on our respective rivers of destiny. Do not all major rivers flow into the sea; with the seas joined into a single ocean?

###  On religion – Achieving control

Institutional religions of the Western kind (the 'desert' religions) are authoritative; they involve control, unlike Hinduism and its derivative offshoots (the 'forest' religions). The following are extracts from my book _'Musings at Death's door: an ancient bicultural Asian-Australian ponders about Australian society'._

"What could have been more persuasive? The creation of a _hierarchy_ of gods, angels and other heavenly (or even satanic) intercessionists? A claimed devolution of heavenly (that is, godly) _authority_ , leading to _god-kings or their authoritarian priestly equivalents?_ A _created theology_ seemingly made available to the chosen by a process of _revelation_ from on-high?

Inherited authority allied to control of knowledge would have enabled the _exercise of power_ , enforced over time by the use of force by some. So says the history of religious institutions.

Were fragments of the faithful, the fearful, then hived off by the cleverer, the more power-hungry, priests through their _creation of theological schisms?_ Did then come the schismatic wars, some overt by fighting and killing in the name of some god, or by forced conversion?

Did the priests insidiously and persistently proselytise in order to claim a relative strength of their faith through numerical size? Even today, there are ordinary Christians continuing to _collect souls for Christ_ in Africa and Asia. To what end?

Later, did not many gods, most local or regional, give way to one god, resulting in supremacy sought by priesthoods on a wider geographical front? Did some priesthoods subsequently develop into _a hierarchy, a tower of authority composed entirely of men,_ enabling a lifestyle of considerable quality, while their flocks survived as best they could? What _grandeur_ these priests must have portrayed, with a _pageantry_ normally associated with god-kings! Indeed, some of them still do. Yet, there were other priesthoods which displayed a simpler lifestyle.

**Is this not how religious institutions achieved control and began to mislead the people, even while purporting to guide, lead and comfort?** Is this not why the more independent-minded people withdraw from participatory religious events and practices, to the extent that some go to the extreme stance of atheism?"

### On religion – it is a way of life!

Every religion offers a way of life. Each religious life stands on very firm bedrock. There, almost universally, is a belief in a Universal Creator, named God. **Each religion promulgates a moral code of conduct. The core of this code – shared by all religions – is: Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself.** _This code also recognises that we humans are co-created, and are thereby bonded to one another._

My feeling is that an essence of our Creator is impregnated within each of us; this is reflected in _what I have observed as a reaching out by many of us towards one another, while simultaneously yearning for an ultimate fusion with our Creator._ In saying this, I believe that I am, I believe, reflecting my experience of some of the major religions of mankind through many, many lifetimes.

The evidence? The huge number of people active in what is known as civil society. We work for the betterment of fellow humans wherever they are, and even fight for justice, irrespective of faith, ethnicity, or whatever other identifier may apply. I instance Rotary International and the Red Cross (or its equivalents).

Were each of us to live as guided by our religion, we would behave in similar ways, obviously! We are more similar than different.

As for divisive dogma, it is useful to **accept that dogma originated to bond each religious community more strongly.** Power-seekers in institutionalised religion have, however, misapplied dogma, resulting in unnecessary divisiveness – leading to war in some instances. A further misuse of power is when politicians misdirect their religious affiliations to inflict (yes, inflict) tribal injunctions onto a 'global' arena!

While institutionalised religions may not survive (because priestly control is anathema to those who choose to think for themselves, and to decide their way of life), _our innate and intuitive awareness of our Creator will sustain us through the vicissitudes of Earthly life!_

Our faith will thus guide us to an appropriate way of life.

###  On religion – its place in society

" **While increasing numbers of our younger generations do not see religious affiliation as relevant to their lives** , _the governments of a secular Australia permit the social values of an authoritarian Vatican to impose their values on non-Catholics._ By favouring Christian immigrants, especially from Asia and Africa, federal governments have sought to counter the progressive erosion of church affiliation. Strengthening the Catholic vote almost led to East Timor becoming a dependency of Australia. _Religion also interferes with our relations with our neighbours._

**Yet, I accept that religious belief can be beneficial.** The need is for mutual tolerance, with the power of divisive priests and their acolyte-politicians constrained. My musings follow.

_Almost all of those who profess to having, or believing in, a religion are born into it._ Is it not the religion or faith of the family? Some exchange their religion for another later in life: it would be a well-thought out shift of allegiance, reflecting a search for a more satisfying faith or religious community. There will be of course some who are born into a family without adherence to any religious belief, but who may subsequently join a religious sect by a considered choice.

_Then there are those who quietly disengage from religion, except possibly in matters relating to hatches, matches and despatches, viz. births, marriages and deaths._ The withdrawal may reflect a permanently full belly with security, or a seriously considered conclusion that the rituals and the priesthood of their former religion do not meet any ongoing need; or that there is a significant discontinuity between promise and outcomes; or that the behaviours of priest or congregation are not congruent with the asserted claim of that religion.

I have rejected rituals and priesthoods; but have developed a spiritual belief structure which I find acceptable. I also prefer to avoid a middleman."

(The above are extracts from my book 'Musings at death's door: an ancient bicultural Asian-Australian ponders about Australian society'.)

###  Origin of the Universe?

"The Chandogya Upanishad says that **the universe came forth from the unknowable Brahman, and will return to Brahman.** Brahman is held to be the essence of all existence. Brahman is ever-existing, from whom everything emanates, and to whom everything returns. _Brahman is Consciousness, immanent in all that is created; yet transient._

**It is out of this essence or Consciousness or Godhead that the Creator god Brahma, the one who experiences that day and night of existence, is said to have arisen.** Brahma, the first of the Hindu gods, is thus merely a projection of Brahman. In terms of the cosmology, the other gods are not that significant, _all the gods being manifestations of that universal cosmic essence, the unknowable Brahman._

The nuts and bolts of this cosmology is that something tangible (the Cosmos) is said to have come forth from something intangible, an essence or force beyond our descriptive capabilities."

"Contradictorily, the Upanishads claim that _the human mind_ is not conscious. It _is only an instrument of consciousness,_ a seemingly all-pervasive phenomenon or facility. If so, could this amorphous consciousness enable some rare human minds to perceive the reality of the physical universe correctly, in spite of being unable to communicate this vision in a verifiable way?"

"I like the idea of a few evolved minds able to 'perceive' the Cosmos as it is, even if they are unable to tell us. _I can believe that a Creator_ (not an anthropomorphic one shaped in the image of Man but perhaps an amorphous intelligence) _did put out some form of energy, drawn from the Ocean of Consciousness,_ and that this had the capacity to evolve and to form extensions, forces, facilities, fields or what-have-you, all capable of evolving in their own respective ways – the process of evolution being variable too."

"And I like the view that Brahman is not knowable ordinarily, but can be experienced only through deep meditation. _Since Brahman is believed to be immanent in all creation,_ we need to look no further than inward (that is, within ourselves) for that experience. I need to be very, very patient through quite a few Earthly lives."

These are extracts from my book 'Musings at death's door: an ancient bicultural Asian-Australian ponders about Australian society.'

Brahma is the Creator whose life span is 3.11 trillion years, to be replaced for yet another Creator and his creation lasting 3.11 years, ad infinitum. Refer Hindu cosmology about the many cycles of existence and non-existence (or suspension). It is both fascinating and incredible. Extraterrestrial input has been claimed. When? From where?

###  Probable origin of religious beliefs

"I have long wondered how a religious belief could have come about, looking way back into Man's social history. Before seeking an answer to that question, I had to _define what I consider to be religious belief._ My conclusion?

**A sense or feeling of awe about something or events so powerful, so beyond our control or understanding, so ubiquitous, more often than not very frightening, yet uplifting at times.** Since our primordial emotional state is anxiety, that is, uncertainty mixed with a degree of fear about what might happen, it is only natural that we would seek to reduce our sense of trepidation or fear.

Normally, when confronted by either an ethereal or a tangible source of anxiety, one either flees or fights. When thunder and lightning, torrential rain and floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, and such like, terrorised _primitive Man, did he conjure up or imagine spirits of indefinable form, with malevolent intent, as causing his terror?_ Indeed, are not beliefs of an animist nature still held in the more simple societies in the world?

**Did Early Man then also attempt to propitiate the unknown and unseen causes of his terror in some way?** Did he subsequently come to conclude that propitiation can at times be effective, especially after experiencing a period of relative peace?

Then did some opportunistic fellows set themselves up as competent intermediaries? That is, to intercede between the fearful and the feared – and perhaps for some small reward, price or benefit, which progressively led to control over the fearful? _Was this how the shamans, the witchdoctors, the 'brahmins', and all other priesthoods came into being?_

By interposing themselves as intermediaries able to reach fearsome spirits, and by appearing to appease them, as well as purporting to obtain guidance for the gullible, _did the intermediaries then extend their power_ by subtle threats against both unbelievers and competitors? Were _shrines_ then constructed as places for placation? Did _gifts,_ ostensibly to bribe the spirits (now possibly described as gods), then lead to the enrichment of the 'priests'?

Did the priests then begin to _conduct ceremonies_ of some kind to convey the dead to their resting places, to welcome the newborn to the living, and to join in marriage those wanting to create new life?

Did these clever intermediaries use _rituals they had devised;_ accompanied by allegedly _explanatory mumbo-jumbo_ they had also concocted, to _subjugate in superstition_ the fearful? Was this the process which engulfed not only primitive Man, but also the members of the simpler societies which subsequently developed?

Claiming to reach the Under-world, or the Over-world, or the mystical domains of those who allegedly have power over mankind must have been persuasive – especially if accompanied by some evidence of ill-luck for non-belief or non-compliance!"

The above are extracts from my book 'Musings at death's door: an ancient bicultural Asian-Australian ponders about Australian society'.

###  Guidance from past-life memories (Part 1)

**I was born into a Hindu family living among Muslim Malays. Is there significance in the environs of my birth?** I believe so. I found the Malays an incredibly tolerant people, especially with their rulers under the boot of colonial British; and with a great influx of fellow Asians from China, India, and Ceylon onto their land. I felt at peace with Islam as demonstrated by our host-people. _I was then not aware of my intuited link with Islam in my past life._

It was decades later, when I began to read about religion (and religions), and when the prejudice and discrimination of White Australia began to impact upon my life chances (but without conscious emotional effect), that _I was strangely drawn to the red sands of Central Asia._

Islamic architecture entranced me. Their designs and colours seemed familiar. Indeed, when I was drawing up designs for my stained-glass hobby, _I found myself sketching designs which, only much later, I discovered reflected the designs of mosques in Central Asia._ I found this incredible.

**So, this was where I had been a Muslim warrior.** My clairvoyant friend, in one of her spontaneous visions, saw me on a black stallion, wearing a long white cloak, and carrying a scimitar (which she described as a long sword).

So, I was re-born into a Hindu family but living in a Muslim environment. _There was thus some continuity in my passage through Earthly lives._

###  Guidance from past-life memories (Part 2)

**I do believe that where (geographically) one is born, and the family and culture into which one is born, have significance.** Chance, in my view, is not a determinant. For instance, _I already 'know' that I will be re-born as a constituent member of another culture._ There have been many strange intimations in my life which lead me to this conclusion.

As for my birth in this life into a Hindu religio-cultural milieu, my acculturation made me initially religious; later spiritual, as I was guided by the Upanishads. My on-going reading about religion then _led me to realise that all the main religions are equal in their potential,_ and I became a free-thinker. Growing up in a multicultural nation-in-the-making also helped to form this perspective.

**Without a prescriptive Good Book, Hinduism encourages free thinkers to explore the Cosmos ideationally and spiritually.** No authority structures abound. In my experience, the priests do not tell us what to do; they facilitate our reaching out to God – by praying to one or more of the deities (manifestations of God) available to us. _Insightful commentators are the lamp-lighters of this religion._ The many tributaries of Hinduism lead ultimately to the end we all seek.

I visualise these tributaries of spiritual insight flowing into that Ocean of Consciousness from which we are said to have arisen.

**I do believe that being born into a Hindu milieu in this life, after having been a Muslim, is part of my destiny path through Earthly existence.** What next? The path of Confucius?

###  Guidance from past-life memories (Part 3)

**I suspect that I have once belonged to the Jewish faith, Judaism; and also have been a Christian in Europe.** **I have reason to believe that I have been a Muslim in my immediate past life.** No, I am remarkably sane. Indeed, I am normally a sceptic.

_Yet, the intimations my mind receives – presumably from my soul – cannot be (should not be) ignored. My Spirit Guide, who has made me increasingly intuitive, may also be involved._ I also do not enjoy an ego. I am merely a Seeker. There are quite a few of us.

A Swiss friend of Jewish descent once told me that I had shown an affinity for the Jewish people in my first book ' _Destiny Will Out_.' Yes, I had strong Jewish friends; indeed, in my youth, I had been smitten by a lovely girl (a fellow student) who had a number on her arm. We went out together for about a year (when girls from an Anglo background would not).

Then, _when I sought to peer into my past lives through auto-hypnosis,_ twice I found myself in terrain which included a below-ground room cut into the rock. Where was this room? The Middle East?

In recent decades, I became a card-carrying Christian as well, because I was married to an Anglican, had my children baptised, and had earlier attended church services with my wife. _Hinduism allows me to support other religions._

**The push of my past lives is intuitively, subconsciously, persuasive;** that is, to make moral progress in my future lives, I now prefer to be a recluse in contemplation of my Creator, and to seek to understand the Cosmos and our place in it.

Should humanity destroy itself, or is demolished by a cosmic cataclysm, we will re-group, and move towards the Divine yet once more. The road is always uphill! _Our past lives will do the pushing_ – if we allow that.

###  Hindu cosmology – views of some Western scholars

"... **many of India's ancient theories about the universe are startlingly modern in scope** and _worthy of a people who are credited with_ the invention of the zero, as well as algebra and its application of astronomy and geometry; a people who so carefully observed the heavens that, in the opinion of Monier-Williams, they determined the moon's synodical revolution much more correctly than the Greeks...

The Indians, whose theory of time, is not linear like ours – that is, not proceeding consecutively from past to present to future – have always been able to accept, seemingly without anxiety, the notion of an alternately expanding and contracting universe, an idea recently advanced by certain Western scientists.

In Hindu cosmology, immutable Brahman, at fixed intervals, draws back into his beginningless, endless Being the whole substance of the living world. There then takes place the long "sleep" of Brahman from which, in course of countless aeons, there is an awakening, and another universe or "dream" emerges.

This notion of the sleeping and waking, or contracting and expanding, of the Life Force, so long a part of Hindu cosmology, has recently been expressed in relevant terms in an article written for a British scientific journal by _Professor Fred Hoyle_ , Britain's foremost astronomer. (Nancy Wilson Ross in 'A Tribute to Hinduism')

Their ancient philosophies have also influenced physicists, among them _Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg and J. Robert Oppenheimer,_ who read from the Bhagavad Gita at a memorial service for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In his landmark TV series Cosmos, Carl Sagan called **Hinduism the only religion whose time-scale for the universe matches the billions of years documented by modern science.** Sagan filmed that segment in a Hindu temple featuring _a statue of the god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, an image that now stands in the plaza of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva..._ (Philip Goldberg in 'Are Eastern religions more science friendly?')

"There is a lot of evidence that ancient Indian civilization was global and, as I mentioned, many were seafaring and using extremely accurate astronomical, heliocentric calculations for both Earth and celestial motions, indicating an understanding that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and that the Earth is round. Elliptical orbits were also calculated for all moving celestial bodies." _The findings are remarkable._

What India calculated thousands of years ago, for example the wobble of the Earth's axis, which creates the movement called precession of the equinoxes – the slowly changing motion that completes one cycle every 25,920 years – has only recently been validated by modern science...

**Was this knowledge given to them by divine beings as they claim?...** (Jeffrey Armstrong on the mysteries of Indian culture)

###  Am I fully responsible for my destiny?

My mind is challenged by the following: "If you hold others as fully responsible for their own destiny, you ennoble them by treating them as equals."

**How could we humans be held as fully responsible for our personal destinies?** _Yet, Hindu (and Buddhist) philosophy holds that, through the reincarnation process, we (_ _who are equals in the eyes of God)_ _shape our future lives._ Thus, we may find ourselves in each life paddling along our personal river of destiny sitting on a flimsy branch of a tree, or a solid log, or a frail sampan, or an oar-less boat. But we surely cannot be fully responsible for what happens during each Earthly life.

For example, consistent with the parameters of my destiny, I was given appropriate genes, parents, and teachers to cope with whatever may happen in my life. None of this was predictable. How could I have been responsible for the major events of my life? Much of it was quite painful. **Even if my past lives had influenced the trajectory of my present life, and the lessons I have to learn, both life experiences and logic imply that I cannot control external impacts in a complex inter-connected universe.** Then there is chance.

How others view me matters only if they have power over my life. _Examples of the truly powerless_ are slaves, the lower castes of India, minority tribes everywhere, women in patriarchal societies, feudal subjects, workers in under-developed countries, etc. etc. _Those caught within these categories cannot, in fairness, be held to be fully responsible for their current destiny paths._

**Therefore, does not reality overlay religious philosophy?** Yet, in day-to-day life, should we not view the materially dispossessed as our spiritual equals? And do what we can to lift their Earthly hopes? And thus for them to seek a better future life, while accepting and adapting to the vicissitudes of their current lives.

_The perennial question is – how does society (through its rulers) ameliorate the inordinate greed which exaggerates the inequalities of life?_ Those at the top of the politico-economic tree usually want more cake from everyone; while those near the base of the tree cannot but seek a slice of any bread earned by those some way up the tree.

For most of us, destiny is to be powerless, except in relation to matters of the spirit. Then we can soar.

###  Earthling – Spirit communication

It is clear that there is an effective barrier between the realm of spirits and the world of humans. Thus, **my Spirit Guide was unable to have me 'listen' to him until my casual clairvoyant, B, advised me to listen to my subconscious.** Presumably, my Spirit Guide was able to communicate with her psychically. Could he reach her because she has clairvoyance skills when I do not?

_My initial clairvoyant, C, told me that he is, through a meditative process, able to contact the spirit realm._ I presume that, through his clairvoyance skills, he can reach his Spirit Guide; and that the latter facilitates the contacts C needs to help his clients.

How are clairvoyance skills achieved? Inborn? Or, given? **B says that messages come to her! I know that she has visions.** For example, she told me when my memoir 'The Dance of Destiny' would be published. More significantly, _she has "seen" me in a past life_ – as a Muslim warrior with a "curved sword" in my hand and mounted on a black stallion (my horse-rider wife would have been entranced to know that).

_My efforts to peer into my past lives through auto-hypnosis_ **did bring me flashes of insight about scenes indicative of Central Asia.** As well, when I set out to design a stained-glass scene, the initial designs reflected the beautiful mosques of that region (so I discovered later). Learning throughout life is a slow progress as one's mind and inner eye become more focussed.

**A more intriguing issue is how a spirit can see, hear, remember the past on Earth, know about my life after his death, and despond to a comment he has heard, thus displaying a functioning mind.** All this was displayed by my uncle to clairvoyant C and to me while he was pertinently an insubstantial entity, his Earthly body with all its operating organs having been cremated.

Looking at the human mind on Earth, it appears to arise from the brain, with the latter the repository of memories. Yet, my mind also appears to be nomadic and adventurous; that is, not relying on my brain.

As a Seeker of understanding (not just knowledge), I speculate about matters which are new to my brain, seeking patterns, even creating patterns. Refer my WordPress posts on my blog 'An octogenarian's final thoughts' (copied to Facebook until recently, and to my book pages – see author profile): rajarasablog.wordpress.com

That is, my mind is a somewhat independent facility. I suspect that it is linked to Consciousness. Perhaps it is a shared Consciousness which enables Earthling-Spirit communication.

###  Do out-of-body experiences indicate life after death?

**Is there a realm in which previously-human beings reside? Do out-of-body experiences provide necessary evidence?** There has been an avalanche of such experiences. These involve a place surrounded by light, with people (including a relative in some cases) advising return to Earth. Many have been investigated thoroughly.

_Clever sceptics of a scientific mind have offered explanations_ which implicate: a subconscious characteristic of some human minds to project a subterranean expectation of a post-death state; or a potential for certain biochemical changes to occur in the brain during the dying process; or for a subliminal psychic need to unveil themselves immediately after death, especially after a traumatic experience such as a terrible death caused by accident, or by a prolonged painful illness.

_But to no avail. Where is the evidence to back up such explanations?_ This is a favourite stance of modern scientists.

**I had an out-of-body experience at age 18. I found myself floating horizontally at ceiling height.** I had been suffering from dengue fever (that bone-crushing disease) for about 5 days, with increasing pain. Anyone touching my mattress would cause me terrible agony; I could not move. _Seeing my body laid out on a different bed so frightened me that I woke up in my bed. I then sweated heavily, and began to improve._

**That was an out-of-body event with no out-of-life implications**. But, how is one to explain what happened? My imagination? Not probable. I am a sceptic. I doubt that my subconscious can over-ride that mental state.

Late in her life, a senior citizen told me about her out-of-body experience when she was 13. She recalled walking along a bridge. At the end of the bridge, she could see a bright light and some figures. _She recognised one of the figures as the mother who had died, leaving her 3-year old behind. When she reached her mother, the latter said to her, "Patty, you have to go back." The significance of this report is that no one else had ever addressed her as Patty._

Another friend told me about her husband. He had proven himself as slightly psychic from time to time. After his near-death experience late in life, he discovered that his hands had acquired healing powers. Not every survivor of a near-death experience is so fortunate.

_Those who were briefly clinically dead have reported experiences which are fairly similar. The general pattern is that they are outside the physical body,_ often floating near the ceiling. Or they experience flying or walking. They can feel the presence of others. They also experience a natural border which has to be crossed. They are then advised to return.

Could _a 'collective unconscious'_ (possibly a past species-memory) explain the out-of-body experiences of some individuals? Why only some? Are these exceptions?

The experience of being sent back to life on Earth after an out-of-body event may be lit by a simple explanation; _that the out-of-body excursion was an error, a mishap._ Being temporarily clinically dead may have aroused some deep impulse (of unknowable origin) within the individual to escape life.

**If Hinduism is correct** _in postulating that each of us is born with a broadly programmed trajectory of life,_ a life-path, a personal destiny, then a temporary hiccup cannot take the individual away from paddling on his river of destiny. That has implications for the cross-linkages of human destinies as time goes on. Is Hinduism correct in this regard?

One reality may not be deniable; that there is a realm or dimension which is home – temporarily or permanently – for those who have departed Earth. Near-death or temporary clinical death out-of-body experiences may reflect this reality.

###  The value of a religion

**What of those who quite impertinently suggested that my soul would remain doomed if I did not convert to their sect?** _My riposte to such soul gatherers is as follows: 'When you ascend to the Celestial Abode of the Heavenly Father, you will find yourself shaking hands with Caluthumpians and members of all the other religions.' Regrettably, some 'wannabe' saviours seemed discomfited by such a vision; I have watched a few dash down the road with displeasure after receiving my good news! I wonder how the atheists react on entry to this Abode._

Is it not true that institutional religion has pitted followers of one religion against another, and sect against sect within many religions, butchering fellow humans and defiling them in every way in the name of their faith? Under the pap propagated by their spin-doctors, it is carnivore-eat-carnivore, that is, dog-eat-dog! This situation continues.

_I found it interesting to read about Judaism recruiting converts from North Africa to counter the growth of Christianity in its foundation years; about early Christianity challenging Judaism regarding the coming of the Messiah; and about the Thiering thesis that Jesus had recovered and had gone on to travel extensively._ Since religion purports to help mankind in its travails, I do wonder whether any of the theological wars within and between the 'desert' religions had benefited their followers.

**A true measure of the quality of a civilisation is the way the least viable of the people are treated. This criterion, in my view, also applies to religions.** _On this test, the major religions, if not all of them, fail._ The life chances, the quality of life, of those at the bottom of the socio-economic pile are generally ignored by their co-religionists in power, in government. It is a great pity that it was the communist nations which provided some uplift to their peasants, lifting them from their squalor. Our only hope is the secular nation, which subordinates saving the soul to filling an empty belly.

Would it not be wonderful if individual humans were able to seek succour from their god or spirits or whatever, without being caught up within an institutional religion with all its divisive binding rules, regulations and practices, as well as its priesthood; that is, without an intermediary?

However, how could they accept that their prayers, their entreaties, are in vain; and that they need to work through their personal destinies in each life?

Yet, I will make it clear that I am not denigrating the kindness of most of those I refer to as middlemen. I continue to deal with them. They are worthy of respect. They have chosen to help their church-attending flocks as best they can, but within the closed framework of their dogma, and the well-trodden paths of tradition. Any possibly well-meant deviation would seem to be a threat to one's career. That is the price for working within a bureaucracy, which will always have its own ends in clear perspective.

**It is a truism that millions of people need hope of some kind that life will be better. When their priests and their rulers fail to alleviate their predicament, will they accept that they may need to work out their destinies by themselves? Can they realistically expect divine intervention?** Will their priests do no more than offer ritualistic balm, even if this balm offers some mental peace attached to hope? Is this the best institutional religion can do?

When consideration is given to the **probability of wars between civilisations, but carried out by sectarian religious warriors,** what hope is there for mankind? Consider the carnage being caused to children, women, and their homes, livelihoods, and menfolk by regime, or national or religious boundary-changers of diverse faiths today. And there are some who claim that humans are a chosen species!

###  A Seeker wanders and wonders – A spiritual experience

**The advice from the spirit of my uncle led me to a yoga ashram, way north of my 'retirement cave.' I was the only brown face there.** On the first visit, I listened to _sunyasins (dressed in the traditional garb of Indian sunyasins) expand on the philosophy of yoga_. There was no reference to Hinduism, although there was mention of Rama, Krishna and others.

Most of those attending the course were relatively young. Their youth and fitness were displayed during the Ode to the Sun. _It appeared that almost all of them had been attending yoga classes in the city of their residence._ That explained their calisthenic approach, rather than the meditative approach I had expected to see. But that is neither here nor there; _it is their devotion which mattered._

The atmosphere in the meditation room was most conducive to deep meditation, 3 extended periods per day. There may be a cumulative influence in the location, which somehow appeared enabling. Indeed, _the site of the complex, the aura of tranquillity, and the demeanour of the sunyasins contributed to pacifying my mind._

While I was there, a youngish sunyasin would join me at mealtimes. We all sat out in the open, on the steps of buildings or on low garden walls. I discovered that he and I had qualifications in psychology in common. What interested me is that, _in spite of 17 years of meditation in an ashram, he had not had any 'transcendental experiences' (his words)._

When I returned to the ashram a couple of years later, we talked about his experience at an ashram in India in the interim period. It was comparable to his Australian experience. Now, he was to be sent to yet another ashram. The dedication of these sunyasins is impressive. His experience, however, confirmed my feeling that, _no matter the path followed in the search for spiritual enlightenment, one could realistically expect to spend considerable periods on 'treadmills' going nowhere fast._

Yet, **on this visit, which was a silent retreat over a long Easter weekend, I had a most inspiring psychic exposure, during meditation, to one of the deities of Hinduism.** I know that these deities are only representations of the one and only Creator God of all that is, an 'unknowable' God accepted as omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. _I have been writing prodigiously ever since – over 20 years!_

The message? Go, with faith, wherever the currents in the ocean of existence take you.

###  A Seeker wanders and wonders – cremation and compassion

**A sofrologist friend (a medico who uses hypnotherapy to treat his patients) sought to help me with my stress.** _Under hypnosis, I learnt to deal with an unhappy memory thus. I was to place this memory on a stage, and close the curtains, saying 'The show is over.' That process did help._

Following the logic of that useful approach, **I subsequently decided to conduct a mental cremation ceremony for each bothersome memory.** Having participated in cremation ceremonies, I believed that anything cremated could not possibly gather itself and re-appear (as might anything buried). _That approach was indeed successful._

**I then joined a meditation group,** which included 2 Dutch people, one of whom was Jewish by faith. _I was able to still my ever-roving mind for short periods._ To my surprise, however, one of those present (an Irish Catholic) reported travelling all over the world during meditation! That was confusing.

Years later, a young relative told me that _she travelled through space during meditation._ She too was comfortable with that experience. Yet, was this really a form of stilling the mind?

When that group collapsed (through the untimely death of its organiser), **I joined a Buddhist meditation group**. The atmosphere there, which included the effects of incense and candles, was most conducive to meditation. _What did I expect to find from the meditation process, asked the instructor/guide._ I could possibly answer that question after the next 20,000 lifetimes, I suggested. As one crucially interested in the place of Mankind in the Cosmos, I do not expect any insight or enlightenment to be placed on a plate before any Seeker like myself. **The focus on the path to spirituality should surely be on the journey, not the destination.**

Yet, I remember reading about a colloquium held in Burma in the 18th or 19th century of the leaders of Buddhism from all over Asia. Apparently, they decided that nirvana could be achieved within a single lifetime!

This meditation group collapsed when our guide, an Anglo-Australian lady, joined a Buddhist monastery. _The philosophy of Buddhism is known to attract many a Westerner. Compassion for one's fellow-humans (and other sentient beings) may be seen to be more attractive than calling out to God exclusively._

###  A Seeker wanders and wonders – The destination

_As a little boy, I would look to the sky and wonder where God is located._ Where else could He be? As I grew up, the then Stationary State cosmology did not put a dent in this belief. He was there somewhere. However, the Big Bang Theory 'upset the apple cart.' **God had now to be outside the physical Cosmos. Where?**

When I then read that God is 'unknowable,' and lacking both form and substance, I wondered whether He is located in another dimension. Luckily, my cultural heritage did not promise everlasting bliss, or the possibility of sitting on God's knee, when I died. _But where would I be located before each re-birth? In the same or another dimension? Would I meet God there?_ The more one learns, the less one knows!

The following conundrum applied when I contemplated the objective of meditation. Is there any point in seeking to still the mind when it is already at peace? Yet, I did hope to understand Reality (which must include both the material and the immaterial) through some process of awareness. However, Maya now clouds this objective. **Will whatever I perceive be real?**

I then read that it is not the external, impermanent, even ephemeral sphere which is pertinent in the search for an awareness of Reality. _I noted that I should be seeking awareness within me – to reach that part of God, that amorphous essence pervading all of Creation, which is within me._ Is that the soul – the real me (who is in an existential transit through a spectrum of Earthly lives)?

_When my mind, which is said to be only an instrument of Consciousness (that Ocean of Existence), finds my soul, would that be what is meant by 'Realisation'?_ When I still my mind to reach my soul – the presumed extension of God within me – would that be the ultimate destination of my peregrination through Existence? If this view is correct, would I not need to be adequately 'polished' before Mind meets Soul?

**Or, is it the case that my soul is separate from that part of my Creator said to be within me? I now so believe!** Perhaps I should cease being a Seeker, and sail my frail sampan on my personal river of destiny in calm contemplation, until its currents take me to where I must go – in due time!

It is the journey, not the destination, which must be crucial to learning about ultimate Reality. _Isn't learning an enrichment of the soul?_

###  A Seeker wanders and wonders – The pathway

When one considers the long spans of time built into Hindu cosmology, and the reality (yes, the reality) that we humans will be reincarnated on Earth until we are adequately 'polished' to be able to return Home (the birthplace of our souls), **I wonder about any need to seek an understanding of Reality within a single lifetime, or even within a span of a number of lifetimes.** _Yet, Hinduism offers a pathway for this search for Reality, while Ultimate Reality will surely await your return home._

**But then, no matter how ready the boat you have acquired, you also need the tide to come in,** to take you to the Ocean of Consciousness. We are said to have arisen from that Ocean. After quite a number of Earthly lives, we could hope to return to that Ocean. _According to the spirit of a Native American named White Feather, the objective of life on Earth is moral cleansing (my interpretation of 'polishing')._ White Feather's message was channelled to an investigative group in England years ago.

_While on Earth, it is apparently possible to apprehend Reality through deep meditation._ Described as 'Realisation,' it seems to require great preparation. Presumably, one's mind and soul would need to be cleansed of any psychological detritus in preparation.

_What does one do with this awareness of Reality?_ It would seem that, as this process of becoming aware is beyond words (I can understand that), those who have come to 'know' cannot tell us – not in words anyway. Therefore, those who seek to explain to us about this awareness could not possibly know (so I have read). What then? _Would those with this awareness be required to remain on Earth as enlightened persons to guide the rest of us?_ I hope so.

However, how would a Seeker of understanding find such an enlightened soul? When the time has come, would a guru subtly call the Seeker?

###  Advanced concepts found in Hindu writings

I offer the following extracts from 'Advanced concepts in Hinduism' from the Internet. _It is incredible that, way back in time, unknown people in Asia had speculated successfully, or had been told by extra-terrestrials, about matters we consider scientific; and that modern discoveries confirm some of these speculations._

The following is an extract from the same site as the material below on the Vedas.  
**"Advanced Scientific Concepts in Hindu Literature:**  
Sphericity of Earth, Earth as Flat at poles, Sun the center of the Solar System, Atoms, Universal Time Scale, The Expanding Egg, Concept of Trinity, Hundred thousandths of a second, Airplanes, Description of Tides, Botany and Biology, Electricity and others."

The material below offers **a commentary on the Vedas,** ancient writings.  
"The Vedas have guided Indian civilization for thousands of years. They are the pillars of Hinduism. 'Veda is the source of all Dharma' declares Manusmirti (2.6.) T _here is no major religion on the planet, which has not been influenced by the Vedas. The creation stories of all major religions are based on Vedas._

Though all other religions have forgotten their Vedic root or have been forgotten, there is one religion, Hinduism, that has kept the flame of the Vedic wisdom burning continuously. _Vedas which means 'knowledge' contain a good deal of scientific knowledge that was lost over millennia,_ which needs to be recovered. The Vedic sages had discovered the subtle nature of reality, and had coded it in the form of the Vedas."

"According to Raja Ram Mohan Roy, author of Vedic Physics, "The knowledge contained in the Vedas is very abstruse, and is well beyond the comprehension of ordinary human beings. Therefore, Vedic sages coded the knowledge in a simple form in which it could be understood by everyone. _The Rig Veda itself testifies that it has a hidden meaning in verse 4.3.16._ Sage Bharata in his Natyasastra 2.23 refers to the sages who knew the hidden meaning of the Vedas. This coding of knowledge proved to be very successful in disseminating the knowledge to common folk.

This would also explain why extraordinary steps were taken to preserve the Vedas, and the honour given to the Vedas by Hindus, even though its meaning is little understood today. "On the eve of the "Mahabharata War" our ancestors believed that their knowledge was in danger of being lost. They could have written it down, but writings could be destroyed. Therefore, it was memorized and passed on orally.

Today, the Avesta, religious scripture of ancient Iranians, contains only a fraction of it. _Alexander captured Iran in 326 B.C. and after a bloody war, destroyed each copy of the Avesta available."_

"As in modern physics, Hindu cosmology envisaged the universe as having a cyclical nature. The end of each kalpa brought about by Shiva's dance is also the beginning of the next. Rebirth follows destruction."

Author Dick Teresi says "Indian cosmologists, the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was influenced by India, via the Persian civilization."

###  A theory of consciousness (Part 1)

Not an easy concept to define, consciousness has been described as _the state of being awake and aware of what is happening around you, and of having a sense of self._ [Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind]

The 17th century French philosopher René Descartes proposed the notion of **"cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am")** , the idea that _the mere act of thinking about one's existence proves there is someone there to do the thinking._

**Descartes also believed the mind was separate from the material body** — a concept known as mind-body duality — and that these realms interact in the brain's pineal gland. _Scientists now reject the latter idea, but some thinkers still support the notion that the mind is somehow removed from the physical world._

But while philosophical approaches can be useful, they do not constitute testable theories of consciousness, scientists say.

"The only thing you know is, 'I am conscious.' Any theory has to start with that," said Christof Koch, a neuroscientist and the chief scientific officer at the Allen Institute for Neuroscience in Seattle."

_Comment:_  
The above is an extract from an article by Tanya Lewis titled 'Scientists closing in on science of Consciousness' dated 30 July 2014 on the www.livescience.com website.

My interest was evoked when the insubstantial spirit of my uncle communicated with my clairvoyant, and also responded to something I had said.

###  A theory of consciousness (Part 2)

More from Tanya Lewis in Livescience.com ("Scientists closing in on theory of Consciousness")

" **Correlates of consciousness**  
In the last few decades, neuroscientists have begun to attack the problem of _understanding consciousness from an evidence-based perspective._ Many researchers have sought to discover specific neurons or behaviors that are linked to conscious experiences.

_Recently, researchers discovered a brain area that acts as a kind of on-off switch for the brain. When they electrically stimulated this region, called the claustrum, the patient became unconscious instantly._ In fact, Koch and Francis Crick, the molecular biologist who famously helped discover the double-helix structure of DNA, had previously hypothesized that this region might integrate information across different parts of the brain, like the conductor of a symphony.

But looking for neural or behavioral connections to consciousness isn't enough, Koch said. For example, such connections don't explain _why the cerebellum, the part of the brain at the back of the skull that coordinates muscle activity, doesn't give rise to consciousness, while the cerebral cortex (the brain's outermost layer) does._ This is the case even though the cerebellum contains more neurons than the cerebral cortex.

Nor **do these studies explain how to tell whether consciousness is present,** such as in brain-damaged patients, other animals or even computers.

Neuroscience needs a theory of consciousness that explains what the phenomenon is and what kinds of entities possess it, Koch said. And _currently, only two theories exist that the neuroscience community takes seriously,_ he said."

###  A theory of consciousness (Part 3)

" **Integrated information**  
Neuroscientist Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed one of the most promising theories for consciousness, known as integrated information theory.

Understanding how the material brain produces subjective experiences, such as the color green or the sound of ocean waves, is what Australian philosopher David Chalmers calls the "hard problem" of consciousness.

Traditionally, scientists have tried to solve this problem with a bottom-up approach. As Koch put it, "You take a piece of the brain and try to press the juice of consciousness out of [it]." But this is almost impossible, he said.  
In contrast, _integrated information theory starts with consciousness itself, and tries to work backward to understand the physical processes that give rise to the phenomenon,_ said Koch, who has worked with Tononi on the theory.

**The basic idea is that conscious experience represents the integration of a wide variety of information, and that this experience is irreducible.** This means that when you open your eyes (assuming you have normal vision), you can't simply choose to see everything in black and white, or to see only the left side of your field of view.

_Instead, your brain seamlessly weaves together a complex web of information from sensory systems and cognitive processes._ Several studies have shown that you can measure the extent of integration using brain stimulation and recording techniques.

The integrated information theory assigns a numerical value, "phi," to the degree of irreducibility. If phi is zero, the system is reducible to its individual parts, but if phi is large, the system is more than just the sum of its parts. ( _Comment: Like a gestalt.)_

This system explains how consciousness can exist to varying degrees among humans and other animals. The theory incorporates some elements of panpsychism, the philosophy that the mind is not only present in humans, but in all things. ( _Comment: The human mind may be part of Consciousness, which pervades all existence.)_

An interesting corollary of integrated information theory is that no computer simulation, no matter how faithfully it replicates a human mind, could ever become conscious. Koch put it this way: "You can simulate weather in a computer, but it will never be 'wet.'" ( _Comment: Hear! Hear!)_

The above is also from Tanya Lewis on "Scientists closing in on theory of consciousness" (livescience.com)

###  A theory of Consciousness (Part 4)

More from Tanya Lewis in 'livescience.com' ("Scholars closing in on theory of Consciousness")

" **Global workspace**  
_Another promising theory suggests that consciousness works a bit like computer memory, which can call up and retain an experience even after it has passed._

Bernard Baars, a neuroscientist at the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California, developed the theory, which is known as the _global workspace theory. This idea is based on an old concept from artificial intelligence called the_ _blackboard,_ _a memory bank_ _that different computer programs could access._

Anything from the appearance of a person's face to a memory of childhood can be loaded into the brain's blackboard, where it can be sent to other brain areas that will process it. _According to Baars' theory, the act of broadcasting information around the brain from this memory bank is what represents consciousness._

The global workspace theory and integrated information theories are not mutually exclusive, Koch said. The first tries to explain in practical terms whether something is conscious or not, while the latter seeks to explain how consciousness works more broadly. 'At this point, both could be true,' Koch said."

( _Comment: As long as researchers limit themselves to the mechanistic material paradigm – reflected in the scientific method – and expect human consciousness to be explained by processes operating exclusively within the human brain, what are the chances of explaining my personal experience, facilitated and witnessed by a most reliable clairvoyant, of the spirit of my uncle displaying memories from his immediate past Earthly life?_

I suggest that Cosmic Consciousness, all-pervasive and facilitative as both record and communication, wherein human memories are contained (as in the cloudland of computers), while yet linked to the relevant human brain while its holder is alive on Earth, explains the manifest memory of my uncle's spirit.

That is, human memories are held outside the brain, while yet associated with brain during life. Proof? Only after we are able to explain the links between the 3 realms of human existence, the physical, the mental and the spiritual.

###  An alternative view of reality

David Bohm, physicist, offers another view of Reality from that of current scientific thinking. (Refer David Lewis).

" _Reality, Bohm's work suggests, has a more subtle nature than that which can be defined by linear human thinking... Within the fabric of reality, Bohm found not just the wave/particle duality phenomenon... but also an interconnectedness, a Non-Space or Non-Local reality where only the appearance of waves also being particles exists. He saw, perhaps intuitively, that it is ultimately meaningless to see the universe as composed of parts, or disconnected, as everything is joined, space and time being composed of the same essence as matter."_

Semantically, at this high level of abstraction – so it seems to me – I admit to being adrift. A 'Non-Space' or a 'Non-Local' reality? _As David Lewis says in this article from which I am quoting, 'The physicist as mystic' (in 'Forbidden history' edited by Douglas Kenyon),_ "Reality, then, is not material... it is something far more ineffable... Mystics call it 'oneness.'"

More from Lewis: " **Bohm evolved a yet more profound understanding, that of an interconnected whole with a conscious essence, where all matter and events interact with one another, because time, space, and distance are an illusion relative to perspective.** He developed, in fact, a holographic model of the universe, in which the whole can be found in the most minute part – in a blade of grass or an atom – and where matter, circumstance, and dimension result from holographic projections of subtle but powerful conscious energy."

_I think that I need 2 things. First, someone to translate the above in operational terms; then an explanation as to how I, and everything else of substance like me, exist in space._ Having once seen a holographic image of a tiny human performing on the stage in space (that is, he was there and yet not there), I can only remain in conceptual wonderment. I also remember reading that my elbow contains more space than substance; yet my 'tennis elbow' was most painful for months. That is, I (assuming I am a projection) did hurt.

Perhaps I should just follow Hinduism's Upanishads and seek to apprehend Reality through deep meditation (even if I cannot talk about that experience). But, by what path would a follower of Bohm perceive Reality? This is a serious question.

(Comment: **My belief – a statement which can be neither proven nor disproven – is that we humans are connected through co-creation, and through the ephemeral essence of our Creator being within each of us – as suggested by the metaphysics of Hinduism.** Bohm's intuition should warrant further investigation, but not through the mechanistic-mechanical paradigm which now prevails. How then?)

###  An ethereal life in the 'Hereafter'

Some relevant questions relating to the asserted ethereal existence after Earthly death arise. _Do the ethereal entities existing in an insubstantial universe meet and relate to one another? What would bring them together? Do they form collectives? How do they spend their time? Is time relevant for them? How long, in Earth times, would an entity spend in this environment? Most importantly, if there are opportunities for learning, how is that learning made possible?_ Are not these issues relevant for those who are not afraid to die? And who accept the probability of an existence without form or substance, as we know it on Earth.

In this context, _the claim by the New Agers of the Western world about accessing what they refer to as the Akashic Record is not persuasive._ This claim reflects the ethos of individualism of the modern Westerner; that one can do, and be, whatever one wants. It also seems to be an optimistic extrapolation from the core beliefs of Hinduism.

_Instead of accepting Karma or Destiny or Fate (each reflecting in diverse degrees the Law of Cause and Effect), this perspective encourages individuals to pull up their hiking or snow-field socks, and to march out of any marsh in which they might find themselves towards the light they seek. Admirable, but possibly unreal experientially._ But, why not indeed? After all, a substantial degree of free will is not denied by those who accept the karma of Hinduism as influential in their lives.

However, the 'forest' faith of Hinduism and its associated or derivative forms do not have the authority of a Good Book akin to the Bible or Koran. Instead, a very wide raft of beliefs, and commentaries on epics offering moral guidance (such as the Bhagavadgita), with a core of mysticism surrounded by an armoury of rituals, permits most flexible interpretations of the reality underlying Earthly life.

Ultimately, an understanding of the unity of all existence, of all things created, is said to be beyond words, to be 'Realised' only through a deep meditative process. Thus, _as said pithily by a recent commentator, those who come to know ultimate reality in this manner obviously cannot tell us about it._ The corollary is that those who seek to tell us about it could not possibly know. Putting aside for the moment the unclear concepts of 'reality' and spiritual 'Realisation,' there does seem to be plenty of scope here for learning, achievable through an individualistic path.

**The objective of learning whilst in the hereafter? Apparently to bring the learning back to Earth for the benefit of self and others during one's next life. To what ultimate end? To be progressively purified spiritually (thereby morally as well), and thus to eventually qualify to rejoin that Ocean of Consciousness from which we are alleged to have arisen.** So it has been claimed. The proof?

Ah, the mystery of a transmogrification of a material existence on solid Earth to an ethereal entity with a potential to progress spiritually whilst 'existing' in a domain lacking substance! Fascinating!

###  An image of God

If Man had been created in the image of God – see Genesis 1.27 in the Bible – would God necessarily have both substance and form, as mankind does? If not (obviously), what other attributes would be relevant in conceiving an image of our Creator?

**On the other hand, Zachariah Sitchin tells us that the Anunnaki from planet Nibiru had created 'the Adam' about 300,000 years ago.** He said that 'the Anunnaki had jumped the gun on Evolution through genetic engineering.' _'By mixing genes extracted from the blood of a_ _god_ _with the 'essence' of an existing earthy being, "The Adam" was genetically engineered.'_

This 'god' was an Anunnaki, a giant. _Sitchin describes an assembled Great Anunnaki ('who administer destinies') as the Elohim, the 'Lofty Ones.'_ He quotes Genesis 1.26 thus. _'And Elohim said "let us make an Adam in our image and after our likeness."'_

Later, he refers to God as the 'Hebrew Yahweh Elohim.' This is confusing. Surely, God of the Bible would not have been related in any way to the Anunnaki 'gods'.

Yet, the Bible seems to have drawn upon Sumerian writings to a large extent, while probably borrowing (as suggested by some writers) the mythology and other religio-cultural concepts of a few earlier tribal cultures in neighbouring terrain. This would be normal practice for all societies – like fusion cuisine, the borrowing of clothing styles, and adopting useful words from contiguous tribes.

**Do those who are devoted to prayer or contemplation need an image, even a mental (possibly third-eye) image of God?** Hinduism has images of deities who are only manifestations of an 'unknowable' God; while Buddhism has images (as I have read) of human attributes. Islam rejects images.

_As a metaphysical Hindu, I do not need an image of God; I do not believe in an interventionist God._ I do not ask for anything; and I can offer thanks without focusing on any image. **Since God has neither form nor substance (in my view),** in order to aid my efforts to meditate, I use an image of Ganesha (from my boyhood temple-attending years) or Shiva (the dancing Nadaraja).

All that I seek is an eventual merging with the Divine, soul to Soul!

###  An interventionist God?

Having produced a 'bright' boy, who topped his class (bar once) every term, the young Hindu mother (like mothers in almost every culture) decided that her son would become a doctor. **To that end, he was despatched to the Pilleyar (Ganesh) temple once a week. He also accompanied his parents frequently to that, and another temple.** The family also prayed each night at home before dinner. Their faith was total.

**The son failed in his studies, as foretold (although indirectly) by a yogi.** The reasons for that failure are both complex and incomprehensible. After all, _this boy, who had completed only primary school before the Japanese military occupation, had completed high school within 15 months after the end of WW2. He had, during that occupation, held his own in a technical college, against boys older by at least 2 years!_

The upshot? The total demolition of the young man's prospects of any sort of career, and almost total damage to his self-confidence; the family's financial future was doomed. With an only son seen as a pariah (social outcast), the mother suffered. The son gave up God. The mother persisted in her faith – to no avail.

What was the use of all that faith and prayers? How could they now believe in an interventionist God?

_In the light of Hinduism's concept of God (Brahman), there should be surely no scope for direct intervention._ Where then would intervention come from? From that part of God said to lie within the individual? Or, more likely, from the spirit world?

Or, **is it the case that there can never be any intervention of any kind,** because the destined (self-created in part) river of each personal life must continue on its course, with (possibly) a degree of individual free will available to influence actions (and responses) offering some (marginal) positive outcomes, either in the present life or the next one?

_One might conclude that the son's future prospects had to be destroyed, together with his mother's hopes, for reasons beyond rationale._ The Cosmos does what it does, and we will adapt – or not!

###  Analysing religions

**There is a simple framework which defines religions.** _At the simplest level, each faith can have its own path of prayer._ It can be structured, as in Christianity, or unstructured. Hindu prayer is free-form. _The objective of prayer is uniform across all faiths, ranging from seeking succour, to expressing gratitude, to hope for communion: variable in form, but united in intent._

**At the highest of 3 levels is the metaphysical face of religion.** The theology can be open-ended, permitting a plethora of interpretations, or be highly structured, even rigid. _The objective is explanation._ The belief systems are gloriously variable, reflecting the place and time of their origin, their passage through history, and the influences of the variable cultural conditions prevailing, the competition within and without each religion and, in some instances, the personal ambitions of the religious leaders. In some religions, the explanatory systems can be highly defensive, or even aggressive.

Institutions do engender power; and power is persuasively pervasive, and can be intransigent. The brotherhood of Man is often lost in any expression of relative power.

_The middle level, between the physical expression of faith and the attempted explanatory level, is the ethical._ It should enjoin proper conduct towards fellow-humans, in recognition of the evidence of co-creation of all humans. **In reality, the expression of fellowship can tend to be restricted to those who share the same sect, with some (perhaps concealed) disdain towards outsiders.**

Those who are imbued with that innate tendency to reach out to fellow humans, irrespective of religious allegiance, have to cross the barrier set up by some of the controllers of the explanatory systems, the metaphysics.

This framework for analysis is useful for studying religions. Any judgement about their relative value in our urge to merge with Divine surely rests with the Divine.

###  Do religions have to compete?

_One of 2 strands relating to humanity I developed in my book 'Hidden Footprints of Unity' looks at the various paths to God taken by ethno-cultural communities in Australia._ **The Religious Affairs Editor of 'The Australian' newspaper, James Murray, SSC endorsed (pre-publication) Chapter 4 'Which Way to the Cosmos' in 'Hidden Footprints of Unity' thus:**  
**"I find the concepts in 'Hidden Footprints of Unity' most appealing, coming as they do from an agile mind which has managed to embrace cultures usually seen as competitive, or even enemies. This book should prove a precious contribution to mutual understanding."**

What triggered my interest in the competitive aspects of institutional religions was the contrast between the mutual tolerance displayed by the adherents of a variety of religions in British Malaya, and the strangely bitter sectoral religious prejudice within Australian Christians (and their shared disdain of other religions) when I arrived in Australia in the late 1940s.

I had also noted the futile attempts by so many ordinary people to convert non-Christian Asians to their faith. Worse still, recently I overheard a senior citizen say to another 'I have the better faith.' Really?

_Obviously, for the leaders of some religious sects, control of the 'flock' and the exercise of power is satisfying._ While on Earth, they can enjoy the privilege of some influence over governments, seeking to have their theology over-ride all others. To what ultimate end? These guys remind me of the behavior of roosters at the crack of dawn. How long does that dominance last?

As power-hungry religious leaders leave their bodies, do they ever review their lives, in order to assess whether they had enhanced humanity by stressing the core teaching of their Great Teacher during their time on Earth?

The essence of that would be 'Do unto others as you would have done to you,' would it not?

###  Do religious dogmas have to be divisive?

**The short answer to this seemingly simple question is 'No, they do not have to be divisive.'** _But, are religious dogmas divisive, or have they been divisive – as between peoples sharing a geographical location or living in close proximity to one another? For the most part – throughout known history – would the answer be a decisive 'No'._

However, having regard to the colonial experience, when the buccaneering trader was accompanied by a soldier on one side and a priest on the other side, the invader's religion was divisive (if not deadly)! Look at what happened when the conquistadores arrived in the Americas.

_Yet, colonial subject peoples were, as least_ _within my experience in a multi-ethnic environment,_ _tolerant of one another's religion and associated culture. Religion was lived and not talked about; there was mutual acceptance. Is that a feature of non-combative Asian cultures (which then included Muslim Malay culture)?_

In reality, from a global point of view, an ambitious ruler (or a greedy tribal chief) could have used a perceived difference (self-chosen) between his people's god and the god of those whose lands and other assets he covets, in order to 'smite' those others. When he is not a priest-king, injunctions from a powerful priesthood, or any authority deemed to emanate from a 'Good Book,' would provide necessary authority to act.

Highlighted cultural differences as between these peoples could also provide the necessary excuse for the intended butchery. A chosen cultural difference may be a difference in theology or dogma.

_One has only to note what is happening in the Middle East. Is not religious dogma associated with the combatants to a substantial degree, while the primary aim is obviously control of asset-rich lands?_ Since religious beliefs are not divorced from other motives by aggressors, **how much 'collateral damage' is tolerable? How many innocents have to be killed, maimed, or starved in the name of religion, 'guided democracy', or protecting the acquisitive aims of certain Western interests?**

###  Divisive institutional schisms serving a sole Creator

**The divisive role of many institutional religions,** while ultimately acknowledging that there can be only one Creator or God is touched upon in the _following extracts from the chapter 'On religion' from my book 'Musings at Death's Door.'_

" **Were fragments of the faithful, the fearful, then hived off by the cleverer, the more power-hungry, priests through their creation of theological schisms?** Did then come the schismatic wars, some overt by fighting and killing in the name of some god, or by forced conversion? Did the priests insidiously and persistently proselytise in order to claim a relative strength of their faith through numerical size? _Even today, there are ordinary Christians continuing to collect souls for Christ in Africa and Asia. To what end?_

Later, did not many gods, most local or regional, give way to one god, resulting in supremacy sought by priesthoods on a wider geographical front? _Did some priesthoods subsequently develop into a hierarchy, a tower of authority composed entirely of men, enabling a lifestyle of considerable quality, while their flocks survived as best they could?_ What grandeur these priests must have portrayed, with a pageantry normally associated with god-kings! Indeed, some of them still do. **Yet, there were other priesthoods which displayed a simpler lifestyle.**

_Is this not how religious institutions achieved control and began to mislead the people, even while purporting to guide, lead and comfort?_ Is this not why the more independent-minded people withdraw from participatory religious events and practices, to the extent that some go to the extreme stance of atheism?

Atheists do not believe in a creator god, but obviously cannot prove (much as they would like to) that such an entity does not exist. _How could one prove the non-existence of something?_ On the other hand, the believers in a creator god cannot prove that such an entity exists (no matter how many of them cavort on the head of a thumb tack). _What reliable, objective evidence can be adduced for such an existence? It is belief against belief._ There can therefore be no solution to this conundrum, no matter how much and how long each side blathers on!"

(Not all religions are combative. Yet, in spite of much agreement by some well-meaning religious leaders, division remains – based on doctrinal differences. Authority and control may never be traded for unity in the search for communion with the Divine. Yet, there are other religions which are happily porous in their theology.)

###  Human rights constrained by religious sects

_A minority religious community (a Christian one) has allegedly denied freedom of choice in certain key areas of Australian social policy to fellow citizens not sharing their dogma._ With an exaggerated emphasis on the procreative aspects of women, this community's preferred restrictions in these areas of social policy impinge upon all residents, irrespective of their divergent religious beliefs and associated social values.

How had this minority been able to have its religious dogma-based values over-ride the clear boundary between faith and politics which should apply in a modern democratic Western nation?

Is Western democracy, as practised in Australia, the allegedly superior version of accountable government, now being sold with much vigour to non-Western cultures in Asia and the Pacific, responsible for this unrepresentative and unbalanced outcome? _Isn't Western democracy secular, with diverse communities of believers free to practice, or not, their faith (with all or some of the associated dogma)?_

What is the rationale, ethical or legal, for denying members of other Christian sects, or of other religions, or non-believers in institutional religion, or even atheists and agnostics, freedom of choice as to how they live their personal lives, and without interference in the lives of others? _Why should a right or practice unacceptable to a religious minority be taboo for all citizens?_ What can one say about a political process which enables this inequitable outcome?

**In a secular society displaying a variety of religio-cultural value systems, should not freedom of choice according to personal conscience be granted to all residents by legislation, and indeed captured by a national bill of rights?** How does a Western democracy based upon representative government permit the oppression of alternative values as recently applied in the former Soviet Empire?

###  Are authoritarian religions intolerant?

In mid-2017, one of the Australian States was reportedly about to legislate the availability of physician-assisted death, with necessary safeguards to avoid anyone being killed, and preventing an avalanche of deaths rushing down a slippery slope. Up pops someone protesting against this availability.

_He does not want this right, but I do. He has no right to speak for me or to represent the whole population._ No one has, not even a bioethicist or a theologian representing a church of choice.

In fact, over many decades, more than 80% of the Australian populace has sought what was once described as voluntary euthanasia, now defined more specifically as physician-assisted death under the most stringent conditions.

_His defence_ in seeking to interfere with my right is that _his God,_ through the medium of his priesthood, _denies such a right_ – **which is based on compassion.** Since his God is surely the universal god of all mankind, how could he claim that his priesthood has sole right to interpret God's wishes? In the absence of revelation, has not his priesthood made an arbitrary judgement – an assumption – on this matter?

This church, whose spokesmen have persistently opposed voluntary euthanasia (as well as certain processes related to the nether-regions of women), is based on a claimed authority, and had exercised strong control (as evident to me during my residence – as an adult – for nearly 70 years in Australia).

Those who belong to this church are entitled to live by the codes of conduct set by its priesthood. The rest of us should not be required to do so.

Thus, no more than 20% of the Australian population can be claimed by their church to oppose **the right to voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted death** _sought by more than 80% of the population over decades._

The 30% of the population who stated in the last Census that they had no religion can surely demand that religious institutions (or their spokespersons) do not interfere in their lives by claiming to speak for a God they deny. These people are atheists, with a right to be so.

**Australia is officially a secular nation,** in spite of the apparent control of national policies by Roman Catholic politicians currently. Hopefully, State Governments will allow compassion as a human right, by challenging any church-determined policies to the contrary. We do need choice, not rule by religious bullies!

On the sea of life, let us all paddle according to our respective rhythms. Do respect my right as I respect yours.

(Comment: _Is it not the case that the 'forest' religions of the Indian subcontinent and lands further east do not interfere in the lives of non-believers, except for the rulers in a couple of minor nations?_ )

###  Special circuits in human brains for spiritual experiences?

I had a spiritual experience in a Yoga Ashram. It was an incredibly emotional experience when I was in deep meditation. It was personal.

On the contrary, Paramahansa Yogananda's spiritual exposure was about the underlying processes of the Universe. His description of the event – in a dream? – was inspiring, possibly unbelievable. It cannot, however, be discounted. A real experience cannot be sneered away by professional sceptics. We know very little about ourselves and our Earthly home.

Is there a facility in the human brain (and psyche) which enables some of us to have religious or spiritual experiences?

Many years ago, I read that some scientist had made the following discovery. When an electrical probe touched a particular part of the brain, the patient reported sensations which seemed to be, or were interpreted as, of a religious nature. What staggered me was the suggestion that the origin of religious experiences had now been found.

As I wrote in one of my books, this is akin to saying that the music, scenes, etc. we experience through radio or television actually originate in these machines!

However, I realised that a specific area of the human brain may be 'programmed' (by evolution?) to receive signals which we interpret as religious or spiritual. Surely, we have all been emotionally influenced by beautiful sights, inspiring music, religious chants, and suchlike – up to a level akin to ecstasy.

Neuroscientist Prof. V.S. Ramachandran said "... _with the lie detector we were able to show that the human brain apparently responds particularly strongly to religious ideas...... we concluded that evolution might have equipped the human brain with special circuits for spiritual experiences. That would explain why all people have a religion.... these are highly speculative ideas..."_ (Refer Ramachandran's article on Consciousness 'In the Hall of Illusions' in Stefan Klein's 'We are all stardust,' – a most interesting book.)

In my view, it pays to have an open mind to achieve a glimpse of reality.

###  The mystery of death

At age 90, I look forward eagerly to death. I know where I am going. However, those of my Christian friends who are willing to talk about their death seem unsure about what will happen at their death. Indeed, I have been made aware by others that they actually fear death; that is very sad. Were they influenced by their priests?

Here are some notable quotes on death:

_There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer._ EUGENE IONESCO, _Rhinoceros_

_To die will be an awfully big adventure._ J.M. BARRIE, _Peter Pan_

_A man dies... only a few circles in the water prove that he was ever there. And even they quickly disappear. And when they're gone, he's forgotten, without a trace, as if he'd never even existed. And that's all._ WOLFGANG BORCHERT, _The Outsider_

_Dying is like getting audited by the IRS–something that only happens to other people... until it happens to you._ JEROME P. CRABB, _Death Quotes and Quibbles_

_The human animal is a beast that dies but the fact that he's dying don't give him pity for others, no sir._ TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_

_Cowards die many times before their deaths_  
_The valiant never taste of death but once._ WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, _Julius Caesar_

###  Wisdom on death

Death is a matter of considerable interest to me now, as I cannot live forever.

Here are some thoughts from Swami Vivekhananda, a great commentator on Hinduism.

(1) Be true unto death.  
(2) Birth is re-composition, death is de-composition.  
(3) Death comes to all forms of bodies in this and other lives.  
(4) Death is better than a vegetating ignorant life; it is better to die on the battle-field than to live a life of defeat.  
(5) Death is but a change.  
(6) Death is but a change of condition. We remain in the same universe, and are subject to the same laws as before. Those who have passed beyond and have attained high planes of development in beauty and wisdom are but the advance-guard of a universal army who are following after them.

###  Death: quotes from Buddhism

With mind far off, not thinking of death's coming,  
Performing these meaningless activities,  
Returning empty-handed now would be complete confusion;  
The need is recognition, the spiritual teachings,  
So why not practice the path of wisdom at this very moment?  
From the mouths of the saints come these words:  
If you do not keep your master's teaching in your heart  
Will you not become your own deceiver? _Tibetan Book of the Dead_

From a Buddhist point of view, the actual experience of death is very important. Although how or where we will be reborn is generally dependent on karmic forces, our state of mind at the time of death can influence the quality of our next rebirth. So at the moment of death, in spite of the great variety of karmas we have accumulated, if we make a special effort to generate a virtuous state of mind, we may strengthen and activate a virtuous karma, and so bring about a happy rebirth _. The Dalai Lama_

Life is uncertain; death is certain.  
Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with a besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.  
There are those who do not realise that one day we all must die.  
But those who do realise this settle their quarrels.  
Here will I live in the rainy season, here in the autumn and in the summer: thus muses the fool. He realizes not the danger (of death).  
_The Buddha_

My delight in death is far, far greater than  
The delight of traders at making vast fortunes at sea,  
Or the lords of the gods who vaunt their victory in battle;  
Or of those sages who have entered the rapture of perfect absorption.  
So just as a traveler who sets out on the road when the time has come to go,  
I will not remain in this world any longer,  
But will go to dwell in the stronghold of the great bliss of deathlessness.  
_The Last Testament of Longchenpa_

###  Death – more notable quotes

Better to flee from death than feel its grip. _HOMER, The Iliad_

We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure of all diseases. _SIR THOMAS BROWNE, Religio Medici_

Death, in itself, is nothing; but we fear,  
To be we know not what, we know not where. _JOHN DRYDEN, Aureng-Zebe_

Our life dreams the Utopia. Our death achieves the Ideal. _VICTOR HUGO, Intellectual Autobiography_

You only live twice. Once when you are born and once when you look death in the face. _IAN FLEMING, You Only Live Twice_

Morn after morn dispels the dark,  
Bearing our lives away;  
Absorbed in cares we fail to mark  
How swift our years decay;  
Some maddening draught hath drugged our souls,  
In love with vital breath,  
Which still the same sad chart unrolls,  
Birth, disease, and death.  
_BHARTRHARI, "Against the Desire of Worldly Things"_

(Ha! My death will take me to a better place. It will enable me to gird my loins – so to imagine – before I undergo my next phase of moral cleansing on Earth. So I have been told!)

###  Death – yet more notable quotes

Of all the events which constitute a person's biography, there is scarcely one... to which the world so easily reconciles itself as to his death. NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, _The House of the Seven Gables_

Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. YODA, _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith_

The grave itself is but a covered bridge,  
Leading from light to light, through a brief darkness!  
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, _The Golden Legend_

Death will be a great relief. No more interviews.  
KATHARINE HEPBURN, _The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners_

The world's an inn, and death the journey's end. JOHN DRYDEN, _Palamon and Arcite_

As soon as one is born, one starts dying. LUIGI PIRANDELLO, _Henry IV_

(Each day on Earth takes us closer to becoming stardust again – the glory of death. Yet, I have met people who have said that they fear death - why? I also know ardent church-goers who are not certain as to what can happen after death.)

###  Do institutional religions benefit mankind?

**Did God create us in his image?** _I hope not!_ I do not want the Creator's visage to resemble the composite face of mankind. **Did God create 'the Adam' (a human being)?** _Seemingly, the Sumerians_ , a 'black-haired' people allegedly from the East (the drowned Sundaland of south-east Asia?) _had made that claim about 6,000 years ago._

Zachariah Sitchin, yet another scholar seeking to provide a provenance for the religious writings of his people, has claimed that the Anunnaki from the planet Nibiru created Man while they were on Earth. Drawing upon Sumerian inscriptions, he asserts that **the Anunnaki introduced 223 genes not found on Earth into their creation of 'the Adam'** (who was to be a miner on their behalf).

_So, are we only part-animal?_ Yet, collectively, as tribes and nations, often driven by damaging divisive religious beliefs pertaining to the same God, we seek power, and display tremendous greed. Those characteristics are not found with fellow-members of the animal kingdom. The explanation? Faulty processing? Or genes donated by greedy aggressive extraterrestrials?

On the other hand, offsetting the butchery and slavery which continues to prevail throughout the globe, _there is a rising ground swell of care for fellow humans._ While the distribution of charity has also been a manifestation of religious faith, _an enduring care for the less viable in society seems to have its roots now outside mainstream religion._

Against the reality of officially-provided evidence of dastardly behaviour by some employees of institutional religions in Australia; and the reality that a very substantial proportion of people in nations identifiable by their official religion live in abject poverty; **could one ask whether organised religions are beneficial to mankind as a species?**

###  A true measure of the value of a religion

" **What of those who quite impertinently suggested that my soul would remain doomed if I did not convert to their sect?** _My riposte to such soul gatherers is as follows: 'When you ascend to the Celestial Abode of the Heavenly Father, you will find yourself shaking hands with Caluthumpians and members of all the other religions.'_ Regrettably, some 'wannabe' saviours seemed discomfited by such a vision; I have watched a few dash down the road with displeasure after receiving my good news! I wonder how the atheists react on entry to this Abode.

_Is it not true that institutional religion has pitted followers of one religion against another, and sect against sect within many religions, butchering fellow humans and defiling them in every way in the name of their faith?_ Under the pap propagated by their spin-doctors, it is carnivore-eat-carnivore, that is, dog-eat-dog! This situation continues.

I found it interesting to read about Judaism recruiting converts from North Africa to counter the growth of Christianity in its foundation years; about early Christianity challenging Judaism regarding the coming of the Messiah (that He has already been); and about the Thiering thesis that Jesus had recovered and had gone on to travel extensively (in the East). Since religion purports to help mankind in its travails, I do wonder whether any of the theological wars within and between the 'desert' religions had benefited their followers.

**A true measure of the quality of a civilisation is the way the least viable of the people are treated. This criterion, in my view, also applies to religions.** _On this test, the major religions, if not all of them, fail. The evidence is clear. The life chances and the quality of life of those at the bottom of the socio-economic pile are generally ignored by their co-religionists in power in government._ It is a great pity that it was the communist nations which provided some uplift to their peasants, lifting them from their squalor. Our only hope is the secular nation, which subordinates saving the soul to filling an empty belly.

Would it not be wonderful if individual humans were able to seek succour from their god or spirits or whatever, without being caught up within an institutional religion with all its divisive binding rules, regulations and practices, as well as its priesthood; that is, without an intermediary?

... However, how could they accept that their prayers, their entreaties, are in vain; and that they need to work through their personal destinies in each life?  
... Yet, I will make it clear that I am not denigrating the kindness of most of those I refer to as middlemen. I continue to deal with them. They are worthy of respect. They have chosen to help their church-attending flocks as best they can, but within the closed framework of their dogma, and the well-trodden paths of tradition. Any possibly well-meant deviation would seem to be a threat to one's career. That is the price for working within a bureaucracy, which will always have its own ends in clear perspective." (The above extracts are from one of my books.)

**(Comment:** It is a truism that millions of people need hope of some kind that life will be better. When their priests and their rulers fail to alleviate their predicament, **will they accept that they may need to work out their destinies by themselves?** Can they realistically expect divine intervention? Will their priests do no more than offer ritualistic balm, even if this balm offers some mental peace attached to hope? _Is this the best institutional religion can do?_

When consideration is given to the probability of wars between civilisations, but carried out by sectarian religious warriors, what hope is there for mankind? _Consider the carnage being caused to children, women, and their homes, livelihoods, and menfolk by regime, or national and religious boundary changers – of diverse faiths today._ And there are some who claim that humans are a chosen species!)

###  Evolved and modified uncreated humans

_Mankind may not have been created by God._ Although inter-species evolution has not been proven (while intra-species evolution is supported by evidence), _the genetic difference between humans and chimpanzees (our nearest relatives) is said to be only about 4%. In view of the vast differences in conceptual capacity, intelligent functioning, and manipulative and artistic skills between the two species, one may accept the probability that extraterrestrial intervention had occurred._

**Yet, the 223 genes not found in any other motile form on Earth has not been identified** (refer my earlier post about Sitchin). This is not to deny the likelihood of officialdom keeping silent on this contentious issue, because it is likely to be seen as threatening. Likewise, cosmic catastrophes and their impacts on human societies and civilisations, or the Roswell Incident's implication that, _in spite of SETI, spacemen may choose to arrive unannounced. But we may be seen as somewhat immature, too influenced by our animal nature._

**More probable as the trigger for the apparently sudden appearance of artistic skills displayed in caves in Australia and in Western Europe (and probably elsewhere) is cosmic radiation from a supernova explosion.** It has been claimed that about 40,000 years ago, Earth was bathed in a sudden blast of radiation from space. In the event, about 72 generations (2,000 years) later, the survivors on Earth could have displayed significant changes in both appearance and functional capacity – through massive genetic mutations.

Early Man may have been made 'human' through such incidental interventions.

###  Does cosmic radiation mutate humans?

In spite of the 'gazillions' of allegedly burning balls of helium filling space (as suns), darkness prevails everywhere. (The alternative view of an 'electric universe' does not affect the rest of this post). Into this darkness may suddenly appear a spark of light caused by a supernova explosion. Such an explosion may bathe Earth with new radiation.

These cosmic rays produce radioactive isotopes. These isotopes will rain down on Earth, and accumulate in sediment, tree rings, and the ice of glaciers (the sources sought for evidence of these isotopes).

**Ice-core research confirmed the presence of increased cosmic radiation about 40,000 years ago.** The cause was seen as a supernova explosion about 200 light years (60 parsecs) from Earth. _Major consequences include: human creativity in the form of art and advanced tool-making; the human brain became larger, but may not have been responsible for the sophisticated speech and more complex thinking which also apparently appeared then; Cro-Magnon humans (much like modern people) appeared suddenly; and the extinction of the mega-fauna of Australia (the Aborigines could not possibly have eaten them all)._

Genetic evidence also suggests that Caucasian and East Asian peoples split off from each other about 40,000 years ago, through a mutation which led to the variation in skin colour between these two peoples. Cosmic radiation may account for this mutation. (Refer Freestone, West and Warwick-Smith).

What other mutations have been (or are being) wrought by cosmic radiation?

###  A Seeker's approach to understanding Reality

**All my life, beginning at about age 8, I have wanted to know about many aspects of my life.** At about that age, according to school teachers and child psychologists, a child wants to learn. In Australia, it would be in school-year 3. _The first question I recall asking my parents was 'What caused the Universe?'_

After completing a comprehensive British colonial education, I began to read widely. My initial forays covered educational psychology, the Patriarch Abraham, and race relations in the USA (I cannot explain this selection).

Then followed Darwin's Theory of Evolution, the nature and practice of religion (and religions), and some pre-history and anthropology. _I qualified as a research psychologist, with a solid foundation in the scientific method and, later, as an economist. My aim was to become an academic in sociology, specialising in ethnicity and multiculturalism._

Quaintly, my personal destiny led me, through my employment as a public official, to acquire necessary knowledge about the process of migrant integration into their chosen new nation (and its implication).

This led, _following the intervention of the spirit of my favourite uncle_ , to my 6 books, sundry articles, and Internet posts. **Now I seek understanding – rather than material knowledge** – about the nature of mankind, and our possible place in the Cosmos.

I now realise that our Reality encompasses the physical, mental, and spirit realms; and that **the only realm of relevance to understanding any significance attached to our existence is that of spirituality.** In the light of my significant exposures to this realm, I raise questions (like 'How is it so?'), and offer some tentative thoughts. However, I am not prepared to 'die in the ditch' over any of my tentative beliefs.

Of course, the nature of a belief is that it can be neither proven nor disproven. True understanding may need to be intuitive (a 'third eye' facility?).

Any understanding I achieve will naturally be somewhat ephemeral. Yet, I offer some of my tentative understandings, through this blog, for consideration by those who offer open minds.

###  The soul and Consciousness

Here are extracts from "50 years of near-death experience research suggests that **the 'soul' is real"** by Arjun Walia

"The research shows that consciousness, or the soul, or something continues _to have awareness after "death."_

"Fast forward to today, and we now have hundreds of notable world-renowned scientists studying "non-material" science. Since the birth of quantum mechanics, the mysteries of consciousness have been at the forefront of scientific study, and _we now know today that consciousness plays a crucial part, in several different ways, when it comes to perceiving what we call our physical material world."_

"Most of our founding fathers of science, especially physics, were all spiritual mystics. _Max Plank,_ a physicist who originated quantum theory, regarded consciousness as "fundamental," and matter as "derivative from consciousness." He said that "we cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, _everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness."_

_Eugene Wigner_ , a physicist and mathematician told the world that "it was _not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness."_

" _Near Death Experiences (NDE's) are one area of study under parapsychology and non-material science._ What happens when we die? Does some aspect of us survive death? Some non-material aspect, like consciousness, for example? _Does consciousness originate in the brain, or is it a receiver of it?"_

" _Large studies have shown that a significant amount of people who have been clinically dead, experience some type of 'awareness' during that time._ For example, one patient – a 57-year-old man at the time, despite being pronounced "dead" and completely unconscious, with no detectable biological activity going on, recalled watching the entire process of his resuscitation."

"On a side note, _Certified Master Hypnotherapist Michael Newton_ developed a technique to regress his clients back in time to recall memories from their past lives. During this process he stumbled upon a discovery of enormous proportions. **He was able to bring the souls back to the place where they go before their next life** — a life between lives. _Out of 7,000 regressions, a large majority had eerily similar recollections of a place that many of them called "home."_

(Comment: as a nonagenarian Hindu, I look forward to returning soon to humanity's home-base (the 'Afterlife'), from which each soul is projected into successive lives on Earth. As well, I suspect that consciousness pervades all existence, and that human minds are based in this ocean of consciousness.)

###  On suffering – and its containment

**Suffering, like evil, exists only in the human mind.** How so? _Anxiety is the basal emotion of all motile beings._ It is aroused by an awareness of (mostly hidden) threats to existence. Uncontrollable and incredibly powerful forces of Nature, ferocious carnivores, and evil-inclined humans will naturally progress anxiety to fear. _Fear is the historically primary cause of emotional suffering._

In reality, pain is the main cause of _physical_ suffering. Yet (as I learnt through 3 years of a 'slipped disc' spinal problem), such pain can be moderated. That is an issue of mind-over-matter.

_Psychological_ suffering will arise from deprivation – of a loved one; of necessary sustenance; of a loss of freedom (both physical and mental). Other causes would include threatening chance events; or an inability to cope with, or accept, reality (which needs to be avoided or moderated).

My exposure to chance events involved "the wheels of my life-chances cart falling off" unpredictably a few times; and my "falling into holes which were not there" – these refer to _inexplicable_ chance events. Refer to my second memoir _'The Dance of Destiny'._

**Yet, psychological suffering can be controlled or moderated; or even denied.** Think how the millions of terribly poor people living all over the globe survive the most desperate circumstances. It seems as if they simply _accept their plight (as I accepted my many tribulations in my adopted land), and live as peacefully as they can with fortitude and resilience._

###  Only 3 issues matter to human Seekers

**The only 3 questions of relevance for mankind are:**  
(1) Where did we come from?  
(2) Why are we here?  
(3) Where will we be going?

**My tentative answers follow.** But I do hasten to add that my answers to these questions, as with other issues pertaining to Earthly life, are tentative. Indeed _, I hold a raft of beliefs, to none of which am I able to commit myself!_ Like Socrates, I know nothing, but do not wish to experience his fate.

After all, **a belief is only a statement of value, which can be neither proven nor disproven.** My answers to the 3 core questions for mankind are beliefs based upon an intuitive understanding gleaned from a lifetime of reading and pondering.

(1) Where did we come from? From an unbounded etheric Ocean of ever-existing Consciousness.  
(2) Why are we here (on Earth)? We were seemingly sent to be purified morally.  
(3) Where will we be going (at the end of our Earthly lives)? Probably back to that Ocean, thereby progressively improving its quality (and, probably, its complexity and cosmic capability).

**It may be that mankind is on a trajectory of existence on Earth** , and elsewhere in the Cosmos; and subject to exceedingly slow moral growth (because of our evolutionary heritage). _This trajectory may allow sudden partial destruction; and subsequent revival_ (this seems to have happened at least once).

**Or, following total destruction, to be 'suspended' within Consciousness,** and _subsequently re-located_ to another planet or universe. Refer Hindu cosmology, claimed to have been learnt from guiding extra-terrestrials!

###  A Hindu Tamil in White Australia

**In the early post-war years, when a small number of well-educated Asian students, adequately acculturated in their tribal cultures, arrived in Australia, the bicultural shocks were strong.** Because of our pride (as I can attest) in our respective civilisational heritages, _those of us from India, Ceylon, and Malaya were not affected emotionally at all._ However, many (if not most) of the upholders of the racist Christian White Australia policy were severely discomfited.

**At my university (Melbourne), the majority of the fee-paying, well-dressed, well-spoken, and courteous students from these 3 countries were Hindus.** Sustained efforts to convert us to Christianity, for our 'salvation,' failed. On occasions, _I had to point out that my religion in my current life had the longest history of all, that we were not controlled by our priests and, like the other 'forest' religions of the Indian sub-continent, we were tolerant and accepting of the diversity of pathways to the one and only God of mankind!_ To no avail!!

**Individually, we ignored the many UTTERANCES OF PREJUDICE in public spaces, and the ACTS OF OVERT DISCRIMINATION in a few areas of social and occupational transactions.** I put up with the ignominy of being denied employment as a psychologist. That was in spite of my training as a research psychologist, and my professor's advice to seek a career in academe. Why was I rejected? Because I was "too black".

When I then qualified as an economist, the Head of the university's Graduate Employment Unit was told that "the Australian worker was not yet ready for a foreign executive, much less a coloured one."

**The ignorance-based and greed-driven mindset of an innately-superior colonising white species had been acquired by even the Australian hoi polloi,** through about 160 years of treating the Australian indigene as fauna to be cleared from the land; and destroying their ancient cultures, economic viability, and self-respect (just as happened in North America).

_Of course, this mindset did pass by the end of the next half-century._ The feared 'yellow hordes from the north' have been replaced by Chinese corporations buying up Australian land and infrastructures (including a port adjacent to a US military transit station). However, **I claim that we Hindus began the process of civilising the white supremacist.**

###  The value of individual souls

**My soul is extremely important to me. It is the essential ME!** It travels through space and time through re-births. It will obviously retain memories of significant events and experiences from each of my Earthly lives. _I do suggest, intuitively, that some of these memories influence some of my feelings, thoughts and actions._

_How so? Probably through a 'leakage' (intended?) from the souls' memory bank._ Did not the spirit of my uncle demonstrate his memories of his immediate-past Earthly life?

**Soul memories may also affect my MIND in my current life.** This may happen by me somehow becoming aware of a substantially fragmentary and fleeting 'gut feeling' (akin to the flicker of luminescence of a firefly) which reflects an ephemeral 'memory' of significance from a past life. _Repeated subliminal 'felt glimpses' may occur in spite of that deep, deep fog camouflaging our sojourns in the 'Afterlife'_ (where we charge our 'batteries' for the next Earthly life).

Is there not globe-wide and undeniable research evidence of young children between age 3 and about 6 remembering their immediate past lives? As well, is there not evidence (on the Internet) of children from about age 4 displaying very high musical skills which normally takes years and years to acquire?

_Our souls carry humankind into the future._ Why then are babies born to suffer, either briefly or through to old age, before death through starvation, bombing, or other forms of human brutality? Are they just unavoidable 'roadkill'? However, let us not blame our Creator (God).

Chance causes aside, are not adult humans at fault? What does that say about the souls of those responsible?

###  Aether-like Brahman as Consciousness

Here are a few thought-provoking approaches about the Hindu version of the aether.

_Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many. Brahman is the unborn (aja) in whom all existing things abide. The One manifests as the many, the formless putting on forms. (_ _Rig Veda_ _)_

_The word Brahman means growth and is suggestive of life, motion, progress._ **(Radhakrishnan)**.

_The Universe is Brahman, the One that underlies and make possible all the multiplicity; the universal consciousness that is the soul of all existence. It is the primordial no-thingness from which all things arise, the one reality whose oneness is all-inclusive; and includes all that is, or shall be. It is Brahman; the source of the entire cosmos and all cosmic activities relating to the emergence, existence and dissolution of the terrestrial phenomena that form the cosmic rhythm. And this ultimate reality is One- absolute and indeterminable._ **(Sudhakar S.D. I am All, 1998** )

... _the problem of the one and the many in metaphysics and theology is insoluble: 'The history of philosophy in India as well as in Europe has been one long illustration of the inability of the human mind to solve the mystery of the relation of God to the world. We have the universe of individuals which is not self-sufficient and in some sense rests on Brahman, but the exact nature of the relation between them is a mystery._ ( **Radhakrishnan)**

(From the website 'On Truth and Reality'; 'Hinduism – Hindu religion')

(Comment: I believe that Consciousness surrounds us; and that the human mind, while linked to the brain, yet exists outside the body in Consciousness.)

###  RAJA ARASA RATNAM – the man

He is a nonagenarian Asian-Australian immigrant, with a residence in Australia of just over 70 years. A qualified psychologist and economist; a former Director of Policy (with almost 2 years of experience in the senior executive service) in the federal public service; a substantial contributor to civil service throughout his life, including holding leadership positions; a writer of books and essays; and a blogger.

He has been described as "an intellectual who cannot be categorised." His writing has been defined as "challenging and provocative" by senior academics (why else bother to write, he says).

His book on Australian society received this assessment – "There is wisdom here." "His experience as an Asian in Australia from the time of White Australia to that of multiculturalism is unique. This book is a final distillation of the wisdom he has gained over that time."

He remains a communitarian in a land whose ethos is individualism. He is a swinging voter; a tolerant freethinker about religion; and pursues a spiritual path.

###  "You people are always......"

**Wow! I remain 'you people'** after more than half a century of having lived, as an adult, a highly-interactive and contributory life in Australia – which is becoming increasingly colour and culture-blind.

" _You people are always having riots over there"_ (Malaysia/Singapore, my birthplace). The only riot in Malaysia was in 1969; the skirmish in Singapore at about that time was a minor one. Then, a retired war-horse, a Vietnam War veteran, claimed that _"You people are always fighting one another over there."_ 'Over there' was now south-east Asia. Both men were within my social circles. These 2 instances stand out in my memory.

**What was their problem?** They represented a people which had 'lorded it' over the Australian indigene; and did not like 'uppity' blacks (Aborigines) and other coloured people (Asians). _The traditional 'tall poppy' syndrome, manifest in a tendency to cut down any achievers who had risen above their class (in an allegedly classless nation), had now to put down any coloured high-flyers._ The underpinning psychological demons rattling the comfort zones of those who did not want 'them' to become 'one of us' is pretty obvious. Get over it, Guys!

More interestingly, some Vietnam War veterans (incredibly) want to commemorate, on Vietnamese soil, a battle which the Vietnamese lost to the Aussies. While this story always refers to the small number of Aussie out-numbered troops involved, little is written about the heavy artillery bombardment which was responsible for the many Vietnamese killed.

As well _, it is a fact that the USA and Australia were driven out of Vietnam by the Viets._ These 2 white nations had no business being there. _The domino theory was a furphy. South-east Asia was in no danger of being over-run by non-existent communists._ There is seemingly an urge by some Aussies now to celebrate a sole victory in a series of lost (and losing) wars since the successes of the war in the Pacific during WW2.

But – to commemorate this win in the land they unsuccessfully invaded? How sensitive! _The arrogance of the colonial-minded Westerner will not, of course, endure. I say this as a known anti-colonial and anti-communist. As my father repeatedly advised, freedom heads the list of human needs._

###  From exile to fruition (Part 1)

**When a seemingly authentic yogi told my widowed mother that he saw me travel south to study, I was surprised; why Australia?** His further comment that I would be spending much of my time overseas after my obviously premature return did not alert my mother and me that _I would be an academic failure, and be 'exiled' to Australia shortly thereafter;_ that I would thereby effectively become an outcast to my elders (but not my mother) – and even to the Ceylon Tamil expatriate community in Malaya; and that while I was denied the social ambience of my kith and kin, _I was to contribute to the dissipation of the bicultural culture shocks which had arisen in Australia when educated communitarian Asian youth met the many Christian white-supremacist racists of Australia._ The latter did not want foreigners (viz. non-British people), especially coloured ones, in their land (which had been stolen from the Australian indigene).

As foretold by that yogi, I failed my studies. I must have had a mental breakdown, unnoticed in my isolation. My destined failure predicated a consequential total destruction of my life-chances. As subsequently foretold by a reliable 'fortune-teller,' I was to be poor all my life.

In Australia, for the first quarter of a century after my return, I had repeated _nightmares: I could not find my way home!_ My terrible guilt about letting down my widowed mother and my (younger) sisters was relentless! What sins had I committed in my past life?

I then experienced a serious of vicissitudes and setbacks throughout my life in Australia, even as I enjoyed my family and community life. I do not know whether I am stoic by nature but, with resilience and fortitude, _I kept acquiring beneficial skills and knowledge; while also making significant contributions to civil society._

Strangely and significantly, when (after my retirement) I consulted a reliable clairvoyant (purely out of curiosity) the _spirit of my favourite uncle_ (whose advice that day changed my subsequent life-path) _said this_ : **"We had difficulty getting him to Australia"!**

I was intrigued. Why was I born gifted scholastically (and musically and artistically), then destroyed materially? Why, throughout the rest of my life, was I to be subject to all manner of denials and deprivations? **Why would the spirit realm involve itself in my destiny-path?**

Refer my second memoir _'The Dance of Destiny'_ (ebook available at about $US 3). It is biographical, historical and sociological; and most favourably reviewed and endorsed.

###  From exile to fruition (Part 2)

From the deep dark to sunlight

When I withdrew from my studies, and my mother (rightly) cut me off financially, I was left in a country to which I had no claim, and had to return to a country where I would be despised. I would be seen as one who had **chosen** to fail. No one would be aware that I had to return prematurely (as foretold by a yogi). _What role did the spirit realm play in this dastardly outcome?_

Until my personal destiny lifted me from the figuratively deep, deep dry well, at the bottom of which I was like a slug crawling around with no hope of ever wriggling up into the sunlight, _I had no thoughts or feeling – only the instinct of survival!_

**Then, through a confluence of destiny paths, I was lifted out of my 'dungeon' and aided into the burning tropical sunlight of Singapore** by a recent Australian friend (and subsequent wife). For a year, we survived financially – but barely. We were, however, supported socially by a wealthy Indian couple, who virtually adopted us.

**When my in-laws obtained Ministerial approval for me to join my wife** (who had returned to her family while I was to be trained as an Inspector of Police), I withdrew from this program. _The morning I arrived at her parental home, my wife (standing at the kerb) said that she did not want me!_ I booked into the YMCA, wondering "What now?"

Although I had inherited my father's 'fire-in-the-belly,' _I remained emotionally controlled and, strangely, without any thought about alternative scenarios as to my likely future._ (The normally intuitive analyst had also tamped down his normal searchlight-like mind.) This, I had already learnt, was an effective method for coping with disasters.

**Part 1 of my second memoir 'The Dance of Destiny,' titled 'The wheels fell off'** covers my life under colonial Britain, the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, and the most interesting inter-cultural relationships my wife and I had during our time in British Singapore. _What seemed to have interested one and all was the calm, coloured Asian lad of unknown provenance with a chatty, equally young white wife, who projected no superior airs._ That we were poor was no secret.

Those portly wealthy men hoping to cuckold me were highly visible, as was my muscular physique. 'Twice on Sunday' was our theme song!

_My life in Singapore with a loving wife was my first period of psychological peace since I lost my boyhood at age 13,_ when the Japanese arrived. I had been lonely (and half-starved) during the Occupation when I had been left with a 'guardian.' Soon after the return of the British, my father's health dominated our lives (he died, aged 47, two years after the departure of the Japanese).

With hindsight, I came to understand that this transitional happy episode was akin to enjoying the Afterlife – the Cosmic home enabling R&R (rest and recovery) between stressful Earthly lives.

###  From exile to fruition (Part 3)

The crevasse-ridden road to recovery

As clearly indicated in my first memoir _'Destiny Will Out: the experiences of a multicultural Malayan in White Australia',_ in spite of the prevailing religiously brain-washed and culturally-biased white racists, _I became enamoured by the 'fair-go' ethos of the nation._

_This was reflected essentially in the behaviour and social status of even the lowest-level workers._ They stood tall, were never subservient, and were equitably paid. Equal opportunity and social mobility were available, even to the newly-arrived Europeans.

However, _Australia's indigenes_ _had no place on the national stage._ _Asian Australians then stood at the very back, with no role in white businesses, government administration, or politics._ That did not bother me. I presented myself as I am, not being aware that the spirit realm had exiled me to an unwelcoming milieu for some inexplicable reason.

However, subconsciously, I may have decided to claim my place in Australian society once I became aware that my brain and mind had not been adversely affected by my tragic experience.

I have always been a voracious reader. During the Japanese Occupation, I had read some of the English classics. Immediately after finishing school, I had also read about educational psychology, the Patriarch Abraham, and race relations in the USA. Reconciling with my wife (also a great reader) on the evening of my rejection, I found work, and enrolled for a full-time degree course in psychology and economics; but studying only part-time (after each day's work). I had to obtain prior approval from the university each year.

Sleeping only 2 to 5 hours per night for 5 nights (the other nights belonged to my wife), after 4 years I had qualified as a research psychologist (with the faculty head suggesting that I seek an academic career); and then as an economist. Unable to be employed as a psychologist ("too black") or as an economist in the private sector (the Australian worker was apparently not ready for a coloured foreign executive), I joined the federal public service in the national capital.

Although I was then the only coloured graduate federal employee in the national capital, my questioning and problem-solving approach was constantly rewarded; and I reached the rank of Section Head (or Director) in 9 years (then considered a speedy rise).

**Promotion into the Senior Executive Service was denied, even after being on higher duties successfully for about a year in each of 2 agencies.** _In the second agency, I had carried out (supported by a knowledgeable team) the first review of the Australian Citizenship Act; my recommendations were adopted almost intact by the government (so I was told)._ I would have been the first foreigner promoted to Assistant Secretary. **Regrettably, the means of rejection were not honourable!**

During my first year in the Service, my wife decided to divorce me; an unexpected and tragic development. Yet, during my boyhood, sundry palm-readers had said that I would be married twice! Obviously, my personal destiny, like my shadow, follows me everywhere.

A dozen years later, _I fell into a great hole which was not there._ That is also the title of _Part 2 of 'The Dance of Destiny,_ ' which covers my life-path in Australia, even as I sought a firm footing in society. I have also woven throughout Part 2 my thoughts on Asian spirituality, especially the formation of a personal destiny-path.

Born in a (Chinese) Year of the Dragon, I could do no less. We dragons soar into the sky of solitude, and simultaneously sink into the sea of humanity, even as we sing the songs of significance about our true home – that Ocean of Consciousness which unites all existence and non-existence.

###  From exile to fruition (Part 4)

My destiny-path unfolds

_Was there a destiny-path involving the spirit realm laid out for me?_ Each time I fell into a hole 'which was not there,' I was able to climb out. Through this process, I acquired new skills, some knowledge, and increased understanding about relevant matters.

How? By moving laterally into yet another sector of civil society, another community organisation. I would then make substantial contributions to that sector, usually in a leadership position. **I did feel that I was being progressively developed** (or, I am a lot smarter than I look). _Was it not the spirit realm which was guiding me? If so, why me?_

In relation to my exile, my 'third-eye' explanation (necessarily tentative) is that the spirit realm 'inveigled' a number of Asian youth, who were proud of their civilisational heritage and comfortable within their skins, to settle in Australia through marriage to Anglo-Australians; _and osmotically condition the nation to seek to join the Family of Man._

Refer my book _'Hidden Footprints of Unity: Beyond tribalism and towards a new Australian identity.'_

Curiously, a well-known Anglo-Celt academic historian became somewhat irritated by **my claim in this book that we New Australians, representing non-Anglo ethnicities, and who had changed the nation for the better, now had a right to select new national icons.** I am not enamoured, for example, by a highway man being one of my national icons.

As with my two memoirs, this book was most favourably reviewed. In relation to Chapter 5, titled _'Peering into the Void,'_ which deals with mankind's innate yearning for communing with the Divine (expressed in diverse ways), the Religious Affairs Editor of 'The Australian' newspaper responded thus: **"I find the concepts in 'Hidden Footprints of Unity' most appealing, coming as they do from an agile mind which has managed to embrace cultures usually seen as competitive, or even enemies. This book should prove a precious contribution to mutual understanding."**

By contributing (usually through leadership positions – which I have never, ever, sought), especially in these sectors – education, career protection (through my trade union – resulting in a Meritorious Service Award), official health services, student organisations, and social clubs – my communities and I both benefited. _My integration into Australian seemed complete. It was not!_

I wrote about immigrant integration in _'The Karma of Culture.'_ **Three senior academics in diverse disciplines were most appreciative.** My books, being based to a substantial extent on personal experience, drew upon my own settlement path, and my work as Director of Policy in every area of the then Department of Immigration & Ethnic Affairs responsible for aiding, or involved with, societal integration. _The recent invasion of Europe by Middle Easterners and Africans highlights the relevance of my analysis._

Effective barriers to the integration in Australia of immigrants with host-nation peoples (already divided subliminally by institutional religion) are **acts of discrimination.** Utterances reflecting prejudice by silly people are of no substantive consequence. _Those immigrant communities seeking to set themselves up as 'campers' rather than as 'joiners', while benefiting from benefits and rights, are minor exceptions._

The unfolding of my destiny-path identified significant tribal-based religious discrimination and racial discrimination, the former being truly damaging.

###  From exile to fruition (Part 5)

The strange convolutions of my destiny-path

My understanding of Hinduism is that current destiny paths are shaped, to an unknowable extent, by past lives. Since the river of a human personality is fed by a diversity of causal tributaries, the reaction-potential of each personality cannot readily be identified. DNA is not adequately persuasive. Chance impacts complicate matters.

**Yet, is it significant that my immediate past life seems to have been as a scimitar-wielding Muslim warrior? And that, since age 30, I have been on a spiritual path as a metaphysical Hindu? In spite of having denied God a decade earlier, I had come to realise,** _through logic,_ **that there has to be a Creator of our Universe.**

For the next 3 decades or so, I compared the major religions to see which provides the most comprehensive explanation of mankind's place in the Universe. Until I discovered the Upanishads!

_The involvement of the spirit realm, as has occurred in my life, would result in a destiny-path being initially unreadable._ As a Seeker of understanding attempting to perceive (or even to create) patterns of significant relationships, **I was challenged to explain the convolutions of my own destiny-path.** This is especially so, as the repeated denials and rejections of my entitlements or other opportunities came to represent the template for my progressive life experiences.

_I began to feel – long after the events, of course – that any fulfilment of my potential had had to pass more stages of acquiring understanding (not just knowledge) of reality._ What was encouraging was that my birth-gifts were not only intact, but also in good working order.

When, responding to the suggestion by the spirit of my uncle that I seek to contribute to building a bridge from where I came to where I am, I found myself able to write (in a manner supported by academics and policy 'wallahs') about the issues involved in the successful societal integration of immigrants.

When I opened my memory bank, repeated reflection and analysis finally led me to realise that there is a strikingly clear pattern in the flow of events of my life, beginning with the most improbable arrival of that yogi (a long way from his meditative cave in the Himalayas). He had effectively said "Go South! And stay there!" (presumably on behalf of higher beings in the spirit realm).

I obviously had to be where I am, and to acquire through experience (some of it being very painful) a smidgen of _understanding of the complexity of the gossamer connections between the material and ethereal realms in an unknowable Cosmos._

###  From exile to fruition (Part 6)

Incredibly timely interventions

When I was about 85 years old, I realised that _I had incredibly survived my 'use-by' date._ My second clairvoyant had, a long time back, accurately described my past, my then present, and foretold key events in my future. I would die at age 82/83. That was highly improbable. My father had died at age 47. My mother and her elder brothers did not even reach age 70.

At 82, when I had survived my second heart attack, my (Catholic) doctor suggested that **I had not finished my work on Earth. Implication? Intervention from 'on-high'!**

I was reminded then of _the most significant spirit intervention in my life. I had been pulled out of that metaphoric deep well_ (where I had no thought, no feeling, and no future) into the sunlit realm of normal existence by a young, chatty, attractive, and kind girl. We had eloped and married. We lived in Singapore for a year. _When we returned to Australia, the higher beings in the spirit realm should have been pleased, should they not?_

When I had completed my qualifications and obtained employment in the national capital (which was set in a desert), my wife remained in her State-capital metropolitan home-city. **My palm-readers had been right all along!** I then wondered: when would I enjoy a normal stable life?

_Through a chance meeting (or, was it?), I met a young woman who shared all my values!_ I could not believe my good fortune. We married; we produced 2 children (but lost others), while experiencing what seemed to be a normal barrage of life-problems. _We enjoyed a happy family life for a quarter of a century._

In the meanwhile, to provide a stable life for my family, I gave up my plans to become an academic. My first clairvoyant did remind me, after my retirement, that _I had indeed been meant to be an academic!_ My thought then was: **how could I have altered my destiny-path?**

My wife then gradually moved into dementia, and subsequently to death. Since one would expect one's children and their offspring to go where their destiny-paths take them, _was I to be isolated in the manner of those Hindus who, when freed of their family and social responsibilities, voluntarily isolated themselves to live a contemplative life?_ When I was 'sent' to this distant village, I named my cheap home my retirement cave. I now live a contemplative life writing, while continuing with my learning.

The intervention by the spirit of my uncle has changed my life, giving it purpose and direction. His performance raised _major issues about human existence – which I have discussed in previous posts._

_The most recent intervention was by my (then unknown) Spirit Guide._ He must have engineered my meeting with yet another clairvoyant, the one who had shouted at me (refer earlier post). **I know that he is guiding me.** He may also have influenced my 'gut' feeling 25 years ago to have a colonoscopy. A pre-cancerous polyp was discovered; to date, 5 such polyps have been dealt with over 17 colonoscopies.

I am obviously being kept alive and healthy (in spite of a most painful spine). As a total recluse, with my soul reaching out to the Divine, and my mind doing what it does best, **I am presumably adhering to the destiny-path set by my past lives and my higher beings.** So mought it be!

###  From exile to fruition (Part 7)

Necessary agents affecting my life-path

The _trigger-agent_ who had alienated me from my people was the yogi who had travelled a long way to influence my widowed mother to send me to join an unwelcoming racist people. As the _facilitating-agent_ , she paid a heavy price, presumably reflecting her own destiny-path.

While I was floating – unaware – in the doldrums of societal isolation, on route to crashing onto a rocky shore, _a middle-aged immigrant lady in my guest-house befriended me_ (when no one else offered any conversation). In the same period, _a young fellow-student and I went out together for a short while_ (when no Anglo-Australian girl would be seen in public with me). **Both were Jewish; the girl and her family bore numbers on their forearms.**

_My rear-vision mirror highlights this incredible scenario._ I was born into the land of a friendly Muslim-Malay people in south-east Asia, my immediate past life having been as a Muslim warrior in Central Asia. In a racist white Christian nation, I was initially supported by immigrant Jewish friends. My second wife had an Italian Christian mother. I attended Anglican Church services twice a year.

_To complete my multi-ethno-cultural links:_ before World War 2, an uncle married a Chinese. After the war, another uncle acquired a Malay wife. A nephew then married a Chinese; another married a Burmese. A niece married a part-Indian, part-Chinese. **I expect to be re-born a Han in China! I seem to have lived everywhere else, including Europe and West Asia (just a 'gut-feeling').**

Then there were the _WASPS and Papal-zealots_ who ensured that I did not get promoted into a senior executive position in the public sector. _They were most probably agents of those 'higher beings' ensuring that I continued to progress to where I could respond positively to my spirit uncle's advice._

Through responding to implement my uncle's suggestion about building a socio-cultural bridge, _I realised that the spirit realm had put me through a necessary learning program._ I began to write when I became aware that I was truly able to contribute to building that bridge.

So, I published my 6 books, and wrote 44 intellectual essays for ezinearticles.com. For 6 years I have been writing posts on WordPress.com and Facebook. I have also had a few other articles published.

I do hope that I am making the sort of contribution which our higher beings had expected of me. But I must be time-limited in this endeavour.

###  From exile to fruition (Part 8)

When I write about being exiled, I do so in a sardonic manner. **Since my fragile personal-destiny sampan, steered by higher spirit beings (perhaps only at times) took me from the communitarian family-oriented ethos of Asia to the ethos of individualism of immigrant-created Australia, I have adapted successfully.**

Through an unyielding adherence to the civilisational spiritual values of my heritage, while contributing substantially to my 'adopted' nation's civil society in a highly interactive style (leadership being a natural propensity for me), I have been able to march to the drumbeats of a materialistic Western society.

By and large, I have been accepted by a population which is now becoming ethno-culturally diverse, and socially colour-blind. Whether non-Christian immigrant-descended coloured citizens, and Australian Aborigines, will be able to ascend to positions of political and societal authority is a moot point.

Both religion and skin colour have been, and can be, detrimental to equal opportunity. The terms 'multicultural' and 'diversity', prominently espoused by some politicians and media, obfuscate the need for equal treatment. Tribalism continues to be subliminally pervasive.

In the host-nation population, I detect an overt search (but only by some) for spiritual paths to the Divine. _I have influenced a number of people in this search; indeed, 4 middle-aged persons did tell me once that their respective clairvoyants had foretold my influence._

Yoga and Buddhism are the preferred paths for these Seekers. While many Australians are caught in the grasping grip of Mammon, or are attracted by the treacherous tug of transient power, mature souls seem to be aware (as I believe I am) of where to seek a keener understanding of the universe of human existence; and of our place as a species in the Cosmos.

Spiritual insight is what I seek. I read widely, analyse deeply, and endeavour to develop my 'third eye' capacity for intuition. **I have done what my uncle's spirit suggested, enabled by the protracted learning I had to (unconsciously) undergo.** My contribution to that 'bridge' is now in cloudland. _Higher spirit beings may choose to disseminate my observations and thoughts._ The recent invasion of Europe and Australia by Middle Easterners and Africans make my first 4 books highly relevant.

Am I close to completing what the spirit realm expected of me when I was directed to, and kept in, Australia? My next Earthly life will let me know. How? Hopefully, through a 'leakage' from my soul, the essential me who has traversed space and time through many reincarnations.

**I have reason to believe that my soul is (and has been) in subtle communication with my temporary Earthly bodies (or personalities?).** Insubstantial souls must surely influence their associated (linked) Earth-entities of form and substance. _While our souls have to be located in Consciousness, Consciousness must necessarily infuse our Earth-bound bodies._ So mought it be!

###  Linking the past to the future

When a manifesting spirit (a former human being) displays – through a clairvoyant – memories of his immediate past life (as did my uncle), the unavoidable conclusion is that his mind, together with the memories it contained, had been transported (in association with his soul) to the 'Afterlife' (the spirit realm) at the demise of his Earthly life. For this transfer to be enabled, the human mind (while obviously linked to the brain) must be located outside the body.

I proposed, in an earlier post, that the human mind would have to be 'embedded' in Consciousness, that etheric essence which seemingly encompasses all of cosmic existence. The departing soul, which would need to take the mind with it, would thereby need to have been also 'embedded' in Consciousness.

**Could soul and mind not be linked subliminally (perhaps in a gossamer web) throughout a human life on Earth?** Intuitively, I seem to have become aware of such a link in my life recently. Could not this link be expected to continue in the Afterlife (the spirit realm) until re-birth of the soul?

_Support for the belief that Consciousness_ (indefinable as it may be) _envelops_ _all cosmic existence_ can be found (to a degree) from these sources: current neuroscience research (refer the redoubtable V.S. Ramachandran); sub-atomic research (refer the free-thinking speculative theorist David Bohm); and age-old mainstream Hindu belief (viz. the unbounded 'Ocean' of Consciousness).

Modern research by non-traditional scientists on the aether (ignoring the 'non-finding' of the Michaelson-Morley experiment of yore) suggests that it may be (at minimum) an ever-existing all-pervasive medium enabling the transmission of all manner of forces (including etheric ones?). Could it be a substitute for Consciousness – or, is it another name for it?

_Then there is Hinduism's Brahman,_ the uncreated essence, said to be the source of all that is in the Cosmos, and which permeates all creation. The complex cosmology associated with Brahman represents the only complete cosmology (typically cyclical) offered by the leading religions of mankind. _Brahman seems to be the alter-ego of Consciousness._

Consciousness also offers the advantage of self-awareness, an attribute seemingly accessible only to the highest being in the animal kingdom, the human being.

Is it not probable that, in the Afterlife, the soul (representing the past) and the (temporarily) linked mind (the residue of the recently-expired human being representing the present) together contribute to the contours of the to-be-reincarnated human entity?

Is it not also possible then that the soul (as the 'Watcher' of Yoga) may allow its current associated mind to perceive a relevant fragment of the past as a fine-tuning endeavour? This endeavour may reflect the soul's own need to progress towards moral maturation.

That is, through the ambience of Consciousness, the soul may also be able to participate in shaping its future direction!

At a subconscious level, I do feel that my soul has enabled my mind to link my immediate past life (and a couple of others) to my current Earth life.

###  In retrospect (Part 1): Where resides my soul?

As a metaphysical Hindu (that is, one beyond rituals), **I accept that the Cosmic Creator (not necessarily a physical entity), as both transcendent and immanent, may have a presence in all that is created. A fragmentary essence of this Creator could thus be within me.** I have read that this presence is located in a walnut-sized space within my heart (a Hindu view).

Is this essence the real me, that traveller through time, through repeated re-births? That cannot be. That is because _each soul is held to be a single human entity and believed to have been sent on its trajectory_ to be polished (improved morally or spiritually) through the reincarnation process, and _then returned to the boundless Ocean of Consciousness from which it is said to have risen._ A fragment or essence of the Creator will surely not need to be polished.

**Rather, the role of the essence of the Creator within me may be to remind me** that, in times of travail, _I need only look within me for succour and spiritual (and mental) peace._ The lessons of Destiny – both personal and communal – do need to be accepted with stoic equanimity, and some humility.

_My soul is clearly a unique insubstantial entity, the essential me,_ carrying the compound lessons acquired through a series of past lives. Does it remain a passive record keeper, uninvolved in the normal turbulence of life? Or, _does it, in its own interest, influence me by allowing me intimations (on occasions) of my immediate past life?_

_I have become somewhat sensitised to this influence_ through: some instinctive responses to events; visions of a past life through auto-hypnosis; information offered by a psychic healer whose Spirit Healer can apparently read my past life traumas; and my 'casual' clairvoyant who saw me as I apparently appeared in my immediate past life. I await, with hope, further illumination.

Developing my 'third-eye' vision may enable me to become more intuitive about such matters. **I doubt, however, whether the embodied-I will ever know what the essential-I (my soul) is doing.**

What I would like to know is whether my soul surrounds me as an ethereal (or cloud) entity (like the Internet). When I die, will my soul gather my mind and its memories on its way, because they too exist in a 'cloud' around my brain?

Could I now explain how I recovered the memory which I had lost when I had a heart attack? _Perhaps my memory exists at 2 levels; at an operational level, which can be damaged, and at a holistic ethereal level beyond bodily weakness._

Fascinating! Pity that I will be denied an answer. As my soul soon takes off to the Afterlife, it will not (I guess) be concerned by such Earth-based ruminations. The caravan must (and will) move on!

(Note: **While I cannot prove the existence of a Cosmic Creator and the ways this all-pervasive, ever-existing essence may influence human existence, no sceptic can disprove such a belief. As for the reality of souls and the reincarnation process about which I have written, my experiences and reliable research findings by eminent scholars over decades being very, very real, cannot be denied.**

Doctrinal religion does not offer needed illumination. Regrettably, some scholars cannot step out from their religion-imbued castles.)

###  In retrospect (Part 2) – How do souls retain mind and memories?

**This question arises from my real experience** when I began to investigate e.s.p. (extra-sensory perception), otherwise known as psychic phenomena. My initial exposure to a clairvoyant, and his extra-ordinary and quite inexplicable skills, involved the manifestation of my favourite uncle's spirit.

Incredibly, my uncle communicated psychically with the clairvoyant, obviously heard a comment I had made to the clairvoyant (by responding to it), and displayed his memory of a relevant segment of his recent Earthly life, and referred to his knowledge of the tragedy I had experienced long after his demise.

**It was obvious that this insubstantial entity, while thus lacking a brain, ears and eyes, had retained –** more than 4 decades after the cremation of his body – **his Earthly mind and its memories** ; and was able to offer advice to me about my spiritual advancement (implying an awareness of my potential future).

How could a spirit, presumably residing in what I refer to as the Afterlife, also retain capabilities normally associated with an efficiently operating human on Earth – to hear, think, speak (mentally in his situation), and probably see as well? _Here is evidence that, at death, the soul of a human being continues as a spirit in another dimension, retaining both mind (with its memories) and sense-and-brain related facilities._ Unthinkable!

As for our physical organs of sense – the known 5 – what is seen, heard, tasted, touched and smelt – need to be processed and stored in the brain. **The mind, clearly associated with the brain, may not be resident in the brain.** Indeed, I use my mind to search the brain for recorded memories.

Yet, the brain can also project information even before I begin the search. I have had this experience doing crossword puzzles. Sometimes, my brain also projects relevant information before I ask my mind to go search. _Here I am proposing that my ego (my personality) is indeed separate from my mind; the latter being a facility._

**Thus, memory, associated with the brain as a storage facility, seems to exist outside the brain?** How else could the soul of a human being take both mind and the memories contained therein into the Afterlife? (Denying the existence of souls, the Afterlife, and the capabilities of spirits is not now an option for me. _Experienced reality cannot be denied by closing one's mind.)_

In this or any other context, I do not accept the concept of an Akashic Record which registers every action of every human being on Earth. What would be the objective of such a massive record of inconsequence?

Confusingly, I lost the memory of quite a few faces through my heart attack. A few years later, progressively, this memory was recovered.

Did changes take place in my brain enabling recovery of memory? Or, **was relevant memory reinstated from outside my brain?** Is this not a relevant question? _While the recall of memory reportedly involves the whole brain, the impetus of such a memory search would have to be the mind. In my case, it was a conscious search for memory._

Food for thought? (Refer my previous post "Where resides the soul?")

###  In retrospect (Part 3) – Where resides the Creator within me?

**I believe, tentatively, that my soul arose originally from the Ocean of Consciousness. (Was I not born conscious?)** I say 'tentatively' because _all my beliefs are tentative; I am in no position to know about such matters._ Being tentative does not equate to being uncertain. It is not like holding on to the horns of a vibrant bull as it carries me onward, while wondering whether I am really holding on to its tail.

**I have read that my soul resides in a walnut-sized space within my heart.** This seems credible in the light of reliable reports about some heart-transplanted persons. The reports were of significant changes in their personality, including likes and dislikes, tastes, interests, and, surprisingly, the subtle impact of some vague foreign memories!

**Where then is the Creator claimed to be within me to be found?** Good question. It is, after all, a big shift in perspective, from believing a God of substance to be up there, or out there, to contemplating an ethereal God within me – and everybody else (while out there too).

**It would seem that our Creator, an essence, occupies all space, and all things created.** That is, my Creator should be found within me ephemerally infusing my existence. _Is it the Creator, then, which provides me and my fellow-humans with the energy to live?_

In the light of the pettiness, greed, and evil manifested by humans at all levels of responsibility, it is very difficult to accept that we are co-created, and that we all share a Creator. Yet, such a belief offers hope for the future of mankind.

This ethereal essence, perhaps a flux of vital energy, or Consciousness – totally pervasive in all existence (and non-existence?) – may be waiting for us to become mature; that is, to grow up.

In the meanwhile, as I await to hear the soft beat of the wings sent to take me to my next abode (for rest and refreshment), **is it for the Creator within me to say 'Time to go'?** _The essential me, my soul, will then vacate that little space within my heart or, more likely, take off to the Afterlife from its connection to Consciousness, leaving the shell of my body to be returned to star-dust through cremation._

###  In retrospect (Part 4) – Does Consciousness explain Reality?

**My experience of Reality is three-fold: physical, mental, and ephemeral.** Relatively few humans are likely to have had exposure to the ephemeral (spiritual) realm. This realm is both exciting and confusing.

Among the multiple facets of the inter-connections between these 3 realms is this issue: **Is there an over-arching, all-encompassing, dimension into which all these 3 realms fit?** Notwithstanding the apparently challengeable conclusion from the Michelson-Morley experiment (a very long time ago), is there something referred to as the aether which could provide an operational basis for illuminating these 3 realms operating in unison?

Interestingly, there are a number of scientists researching the aether. They are obviously working beyond the prevailing explanatory paradigms of science. I hasten to add that _I accept the usefulness and reliability of the scientific method. However, it is necessarily limited to the mechanistic material realm of experience._ It may, however, be useful in illuminating the mental realm – or parts thereof. _It could not, under any circumstances, assist in perusing the mysteries of the spiritual realm._ Beware (as someone wrote) vivisecting the songbird to identify the source of its trill.

My question about an over-arching dimension arose from my reading of Easwaran's translation of the core Upanishads. **Hinduism's Upanishads offer a view of Reality through spirituality** – not available at an equivalent depth from other religions. This is not surprising in view of its distant origins in time. The Vedas, their precursor, seemingly originated about 7,000 years ago (dated by tracing a unique planetary configuration).

Hindu cosmology is complex, and allegedly inherited from extraterrestrials (but that is a separate issue). Human history before the Universal Flood (of about 11,000 BC) is uncertain – possibly covered in mud.

**The relevance here of Hindu cosmology is the concept of Consciousness,** and its role. Consciousness is posited as ever-existing, all-embracing, all-pervasive – like the aether. It is an un-caused First Cause.

In relation to my posts about the mind and the human soul, **were our minds and souls to exist outside our bodies in some ephemeral (cloud) form (like information on the Internet), could they not be associated with (linked to, or part of) an all-pervasive Consciousness?**

Furthermore, since everything in the Cosmos appears to be inter-connected, could that be explained by an all-embracing Consciousness (like a gossamer blanket which covers everything)?

Thus, the physical, mental and ephemeral realms of my experience may represent my awareness of a 3-tiered Reality reflecting an ever-existing Consciousness. That is, could Consciousness create and sustain all that is, in spite of not being adequately explicable to humans?

(Disclaimer: In this life I am a Hindu. In my previous life it appears that I have been a Muslim in Central Asia. Way deep in me is a memory of being a Jew in the Middle East. I have also been a Christian. As a free-thinker, I merely seek understanding of the place of humanity in the Universe. I have no axe to grind. My tentative beliefs and speculations are just what they are.)

###  In retrospect (Part 5) – Life after Earthly death

Why not? Yet, there are those who say, with great certitude, that at death the body and everything associated with it – such as _the mind and its memories – come to an end._ Of course, they have no basis for that claim. How could they know?

Then, some church-attending friends told me that _they do not accept that they have a soul,_ and which represents the core or essence of their existence. Indeed, in spite of their Bible offering eternal bliss in Heaven (by being with Christ), these genuinely _good people do not know where they will go after death._ A couple have said that an 'essence' of what they are may remain – possibly in the memories of their loved ones.

_Those who have indicated that they fear death_ belong to a church which has threatened a location named hell for non-compliance with its teachings. Interestingly, it is decades since I heard reference by that Church to babies born in, or conceived in, sin; or to that location named 'limbo.'

**Yet, there are others whose religious beliefs offer – not damnation or bliss – but a continuity of existence after Earthly death; and which allows re-birth.** The Western version of this belief – which I think of as 'New Age' – offers 'guides' in a location generally known as the Afterlife who – with or without any judgement about one's past – either set a pathway for the next life or assist in choosing a pathway (always on Earth).

I have also been told of a faith _whose members may move to another planet after life on Earth._ Whether this offers a richer life than available after death through one of the 'desert' religions is not clear to me. This latter religion seems to offer pleasant surroundings and a pleasurable life.

_The principal proponent of a sequence of re-births is Hinduism._ Unlike some Western psychotherapists and 'New Agers' who refer to life between lives as something known, and who offer descriptions of the Afterlife as an abode (with some such abodes offering scope for self-assessment), Hinduism's Afterlife offers (as told to me by a Western spiritualist) an opportunity to continue with my learning.

This may overlap another Western perspective of the Afterlife. Here one can purportedly have _access to the 'Akashic Record.'_ This record allegedly covers every action ever taken on Earth by humans. Would this Record enable self-tuning of one's next path on Earth?

So, we go nowhere after Earthly death. Or, we can, or do, go somewhere. That somewhere may offer pain or pleasure; or nothing specific. If 'somewhere' is a neutral place, the dead may choose their next life on Earth; or be guided to such a choice; or acquire learning; or just have a rest (slumber?) while waiting to commence the next life. For this process to be meaningful, through the principle of cause-and-effect, the next life would have, implicitly and autonomously, been shaped by one's past lives (especially the most recent one), would it not?

_How credible are those who provide descriptions of the Afterlife in both physical and sociological terms?_ As well, are modern-day descriptions more accurate than those going back 2,000 years or more? How would any of these writers know? If through revelation, how could one separate this from hallucinations or imagination?

The veil around Earthly life seems impenetrable. Yet, **my life-experiences, as well as reliable research of past-life memories by young children, have convinced me that an Earthly life is like island-hopping by a swimmer ploughing through rough seas on his way to shore and safety.**

###  In retrospect (Part 6) – What of the Afterlife? (1)

**First, what is the Afterlife? It is an assumed locale for the departing souls (spirits) from Earth.** It may be the Heaven mentioned in certain religious documents. It would certainly not be the hell(s) imagined by those who seek to induce better moral behaviour on Earth by frightening their religious followers.

_My first clairvoyant surprised me by saying of what he referred to as the 'Other Side', "It is not that different from here; and you will not meet God."_ As a metaphysical Hindu believing in the reality of the reincarnation process (for the existence of which there is plenty of evidence), **I view the Afterlife as an R & R Depot or a Way Station.** It would give me a break from the hell of Earthly lives – like walking on a bed of hot coals to get to a grassy patch; and then repeating the process again and again.

Were one to be lucky to have a broadly programmed path of a personal destiny (as I am able to claim), then one may seek to learn (and understand), while in the Afterlife, the significance of human life on Earth, of Man's place in the Cosmos, and what the Cosmos might be all about. _I have been promised that I can continue my learning in the Afterlife. I do like that._

I must admit to having been pre-occupied in recent years (with Death patiently awaiting) with thoughts such as: Where is this Afterlife located? Insubstantial entities will not need an environment of substance. I do not want to be involved with other spirits in the way humans interact on Earth. And how will I be able to acquire the learning I seek? And so on.

I do want to know; yet, I am apparently not qualified to know. But, there has to be a way for this knowledge to become available.

###  In retrospect (Part 7) – What of the Afterlife (2)

**Then, I had a strange dream recently. I was in a physical environment of my liking (the details do not matter here) in what I felt is the Afterlife. I heard human voices in the distance, but no one came into view. Peace prevailed.** As in my present reclusive life.

This life was imposed upon me, but it is acceptable as consistent with the guidance offered by Hinduism. _Hinduism recommends that, once one has completed one's commitments to family and society, one could withdraw from society to live a life of contemplation and meditation._

For example, a cave in the Himalayan mountains had been the meditation home for 3 years of the yogi who had come down to Malaya to guide my widowed mother and I about our respective futures. _Years later, when I detected a coherent pattern in my life, I knew that he had been sent to us_. I remember that he was clearly at peace, and apparently unaffected by the cold of the mountain.

In my more comfortable retirement 'cave' I too have achieved peace (after a turbulent life). While the dogs do bark (and snap), this caravan will move on, ignoring those who foolishly insist that only their beliefs must prevail. Certainty is, in my experience, not a human condition.

The message I received through my dream about the Afterlife is that spirits create their own environment in the Afterlife; and that any contact with other spirits can only be on a mutually-agreed basis. My spirit guide may have been responsible for this message.

Strangely, I read about a similar perception at about that time. This coincides with scientist Rupert Sheldrake's concept of 'morphic resonance' – "a process that involves action at a distance in both space and time." For example, a discovery by one person can be followed by comparable or similar discoveries by others, without any contact between them. I instance the way birds began to open the tops of milk bottles all over the world near-simultaneously.

_I know from my real experiences with spirits that the Afterlife is nearby (therefore in an intersecting dimension), and that it is the residence of spirits such as my uncle and those he referred to as 'higher beings.'_ I look forward to an interesting sojourn.

###  Flying home – temporarily!

**I am most seriously looking forward to the arrival of my 'wings'. These would allow me to 'fly' to that spiritual realm which I term the Afterlife.** Where is it? Probably in another dimension – but which intersects with ours – and is thereby very close.

I feel that, after 8 decades of questioning, and speculating about the Cosmos and the place of mankind in it in the last 3 decades, _I have completed my Earthly responsibility (in this life)._ I am bodily depleted; my brain is tired.

Through circumstances beyond my control (a normal human condition), when I had completed my family and self-imposed community responsibilities, _I was required to adopt a reclusive life in an isolated home in a small coastal village._ My expressed wish as a schoolboy that I hope to live and die by the sea has achieved part-fruition.

I have had most challenging spirit realm experiences; formulated some questions and thoughts reflecting these exposures; and sent into cloudland (together with my books, essays, etc.) my most recent speculations. **I have written in a clear and concise manner – to enable thoughtful and sensitive challenge by fellow Seekers!** Professional sceptical debunkers – please await some evidence of your maturation!

I am looking forward to my next sojourn in the Afterlife, where I hope to extend my learning. _I seek understanding rather than knowledge_ – for, knowledge is a variable feast. It would be obvious that I have been indulging in speculations which, unlike my exposure to the spirit realm, have no basis in experience.

My out-of-body experience at age 18 was probably a demonstration that higher spirit beings had decided not to allow my impending death through dengue fever, that bone-breaking disease.

My speculations will be laid out in future posts.

###  The 'Afterlife' – My ponderings (1)

_This is probably the first Earthly life during the end of which I have given serious thought to my next (temporary) home._ Ten years ago, I consulted my second clairvoyant – for the second time. During the intervening 17 years, every event she had foretold had turned to be true! So, **at age 80, I sought to have her confirm that I would die at age 82 to 83. I did not want to live any longer.**

Her response was not encouraging – again. Since my family history implied my death before age 70, in the light of my record of lifetime tribulations, I had been dismayed at age 63 at the prospect of living for another 20 years, and being increasingly isolated from family and society. The societal ethos of Australia is, of course, individualism, not the communalism of non-Western cultures, especially Asian cultures.

**At age 82, I had my second heart attack. It stopped midstream when I began to vomit. Significantly, I never, ever, vomit; I have a cast-iron gut!** _The spirit realm, which wanted me in Australia, and which reportedly (refer comment by the spirit of my uncle) had difficulty in getting me to Australia, had to be responsible._ My Spirit Guide, as agent for unidentified higher beings, is now influencing my writing – for which I am grateful.

**My physical condition and the associated pain-level are such that I want release now.** I have said so. I hope my message got through. As well, _my suffering is affecting my thoughts, and thereby my writing._

" **When your brain dies, you will die" – said by this clairvoyant 10 years ago – had better come true.** _In preparation, I ponder about my new home: Where is it? What will it be like? How will I 'live' there?_

###  The 'Afterlife' – My ponderings (2)

Personal attention is due (especially when one may be time-limited) only to issues of significance. **I thus do not consider the comment by my second clairvoyant 10 years ago "When your brain dies, you will die" as an indictment.** I am adequately aware that, for me to die, my heart must stop.

What will happen when my heart stops? _I expect my soul, the substantive me, to sing 'Hallelujah' (sotto voce, of course); then detach the gossamer links which (I believe) bind it and the associated conglomeration of the more significant memories from my current Earthly life to that all-pervasive cosmic Consciousness which also surrounds all existence; and take off into the 'blue yonder' with increasing joy._

My soul should (would) have done this innumerable times – judging by the **increasing number of intuitive 'flashbacks' of cultures I seem to have experienced in past lives.** They now flick in and out of my spiritual awareness. These subliminal flashings may be comparable to those sub-atomic particles which flick into existence, and almost immediately disappear (so I have read) during scientific studies of particle physics.

**These spiritual flashbacks of mine are a recent development.** Through considerable periods of contemplation and some meditation (enabled by being a recluse), _I may be triggering my soul to be reminiscent of fragments of my past lives which have (perhaps obtusely) a bearing on my current Earthly life._ The connection between the distant past and the present may be stronger than we could normally know.

Indeed, why couldn't my soul 'enlighten' me now about any aspects of my past lives which may be pertinent in my future life? Much of the latter may already be laid out!

###  The 'Afterlife' – My ponderings (3)

Leaving my Earthly life to be (rightly) converted into stardust through cremation, in the form of soul, I should 'wing' my way 'home' once more. Once arrived, I (as soul) should have some of the answers I (as a human) now seek. So, **why ponder now about matters which will probably be clear after my arrival?**

Because, all my life, I have been a Seeker of knowledge, and (now) of understanding; because I am a pragmatic problem-silver; and because I am also a communicator, who wants to share with fellow-humans what knowledge and understanding he has.

**Since souls as spirits are insubstantial, why should they need a place to gather** (assuming they do come together)? If such a location exists, would they need any structures? It is indeed difficult to imagine a structure-less residence or meeting place. _Or, do they communicate with one another, wherever they may be, through their 'cloudland' equivalent – as we internet users all over the globe on Earth do?_

Do they communicate with one another only psychically? They need to, don't they? They also need a shared language – or a facility which enables instant translation into many tongues.

In this context, I reject the comment by my first clairvoyant that "the Other Side is little different from here." Just consider the over-population of Earth, and the overwhelming prevalence of exorbitant greed for power and possessions. We outdo all the other members of the animal kingdom in this regard.

_As the Afterlife is said to be a 'location' offering rest and recuperation from the stresses of Earthly life, those who arrive there should have the opportunity to divest themselves of any past evil (which arises only in human minds); and to benefit from the learning which is said to be available there._ **What am I looking forward to?**

###  The 'Afterlife' – My hopes

Through my real-life exposures to the spirit realm, I am of the opinion that my R&R (rest and recuperation) home is in a different dimension from the dimension which includes planet Earth, but which it 'crosses'; that is, it is close-by.

To offer R&R, as well as learning (which I have been promised), the Afterlife has to be an environment of peace and quiet, free from human emotions and ambitions.

I expect to be a microscopic gossamer-equivalent wisp of non-substance (an interesting image!), quite separate from all other wisps of insubstantial entities originating from Earth; to be left to my own devices; and communicating with others psychically only through necessity.

I also expect to create my own imagined physical environment which reflects, possibly, my past lives; or, more probably, my preferred environment. If the latter, I would be located on a luscious mountain-side, with a fast-flowing river, both visible and audible; yet to be able to see a beach and the sea.

What I find mysteriously fascinating is that I have already had a dream of such an environment, after months of pondering what my next temporary home would be like.

During this dream, I heard human voices, but they did not come near me – for which I was grateful. This dream offered me a true R&R environment. It is also consistent with my recent life as a recluse in an isolating environment, with absolutely minimal human contact.

**My contemplative life, seeking communion with the Divine (my Creator) needs continuity** – while I discard the detritus of a difficult life (which yet had a built-in destiny-path). The stress today is on-going harassment by the only neighbour I have, but whom I do not wish to harm.

_I need to retain my mental and spiritual peace in the Afterlife, in preparation for my next Earthly life._ So mought it be!

Raja Arasa Ratnam

After 70 years of a highly interactive and contributory life in Australia as an adult, including holding leadership positions in civil society, and now living as a recluse in a beach-side village, I continue my life-long search for understanding of matters both material and ethereal, with a spiritual intent. My reality covers the physical, the mental, and the spiritual domains – through experience. Significantly, twice in primary school, I wrote in my essays that I wished to live and die by the sea.

