Keep in mind always that we are moving toward explaining life “on the other side” – which means life when not constricted by the special circumstances of life in the constricted environment of 3D, and we are doing so by moving from what you know, and subtracting.
So, you lose your physical senses, which reorients you inward. And at first, what do you “see” there? You initially experience yourself as you have been experiencing yourself in 3D existence. That is, Frank on his deathbed, losing sight and even awareness of the 3D, is as if in a dream. He processes thoughts, emotions, memories, fantasies – and does so as he did in dreams.
Well, you know dreams. Sometimes you are the main character and things are happening to you, or perhaps you are trying to do something. Sometimes you are watching a movie and, although you are not aware of yourself as audience, still you are watching a drama that may seem to have nothing to do with you, but is engaging. And sometimes it is as if you come in in the middle of the film and leave – or the film stops – in the middle. All this has one common feature. You do not feel in control of it, it does not seem to be emanating from you even if it is connected with you. you seem to be the passive recipient of experiences with their own autonomy. That is, they seem external to you.
And while they do, I imagine they may seem grotesque or frightening sometimes.
They may. Not every dream is a nightmare. Less important (ultimately) than whether they are frightening is that they are experienced as external to you, in the way the 3D world appeared external.
After dreaming comes Lucid Dreaming, and as you were told, Out-of-Body experiences are merely the third rung on that particular ladder. It’s a useful analogy. First comes the oblivion that is the blotting-out from your mind of awareness of, and ability to communicate with, the 3D. Then comes internal orientation, a rough equivalent of dreaming. These two stages come in very different forms depending upon how the person has lived, and how died. They may be quick and easy or prolonged and painful. Thus the disparity of descriptions. But one way or another, you lose sight of the 3D, and your world is composed of you as you experienced and shaped yourself.
The soul confronts itself.
Let’s say, the soul is no longer distracted by externals, and its world is then – itself.
Now, in a sense it was never any different. In a sense, you have been living in a world that always reflected you to yourself (not that you necessarily knew it) and always seemed to have its own objective existence, amid which you lived as a sort of island of subjectivity.
So, now your world has reduced itself to – you. Not news, not chores, not routine, not projects, and not the inexorable march through time. Now it is you among what happened, you experiencing who you made yourself in a long or short lifetime, and nothing else.
And if you died as an infant?
Then there won’t be much to experience, will there? On to the next stage smoothly and soon. Or do you think they remain suspended? But let’s not divert ourselves, but continue.
Your world now consists entirely of you. As in a dream, you do not direct your consciousness, but seem to be directed, you do not know (nor think about) by whom. Everything you were now appears to you, including and perhaps we should say especially, the parts of yourself that you most actively repressed in 3D life. It isn’t necessarily fun to experience. And it certainly doesn’t fill you with pride. Seeing who you are without being able to sugar-coat it can be a bitter pill. But, it – the bitter taste – doesn’t last forever, only until you get over judgment and get to acceptance.
The specifics of what you encounter when you encounter yourself naked to your gaze are obviously going to be – specific. Everyone will have a specific experience, and the way you have lived will shape what you have to bear. But – don’t worry about it. As in 3D life, you don’t get more than you can bear. Sooner or later, you realize that all is well and is always well – no less between awarenesses (i.e. between worlds) as in 3D or in non-3D.
You move beyond judgment into acceptance. What does this mean? It is the same as saying, you lay down your partial view for a more inclusive one. You realize that the self you are accustomed to, with its values and virtues and shortcomings, is only part of who you are.
This coming to realize that you are not only who you experienced yourself to be, but are more, is dependent upon your ceasing to cling to what you were. You stay stuck, clinging to the sides of the sliding board, until you willingly let your previous identity slip away as the world slipped away. One more loss. One more coin for the ferryman over the Styx.
The price of admission.
The price of admission to the next act, yes. And of course, bear in mind, none of these losses is permanent, or I should say none is what it seems to be.
— From Awakening From the 3D World, available from publisher Rainbow Ridge Books (https://www.rainbowridgebooks.com) or from other booksellers.