3.1 Reincarnation.
Reincarnation (the transmigration of souls) is the principle whereby God leads humanity toward the light, that is to say, toward greater spiritual maturity, insight, love, purity of mind and thought. In TTL it is written that (pg. 270): "Through the many incarnations, the human spirit builds up its individual personality. Just as a mature or aging person can remember and look back upon thoughts and feelings and recall incidents and actions from early childhood, and yet as an adult in every way be able to identify with the child maturing slowly over the days and years, so can the released spirit remember as far back in time as thought can reach and still feel a complete identity with all the human beings to whom it has given spiritual life. The gradual development of the self unfolds before the spirit as kaleidoscopic images, from the first feeble and weak personal beings to whom it has been bound, to those who through a slow progression have become more highly developed and more conscious personalities."
For as long as humans are incarnated here on Earth, they will of course have no memory of previous lives; all memory hereof lies hidden in what is referred to as the psychic mind, the spirit's great nerve center. (5 Note) The knowledge that each individual is privy to here on Earth is but a mere fraction of that embodied by the discarnate human spirit. It is only hypnosis and certain forms of narcotics that will allow the incarnated person here on earth - and only in certain cases - to attain access to that which lies hidden in the psychic mind. Any such incursion, however, will prove a disturbance in a human's life on Earth and is therefore against the laws of God
3.2 Conscience, Sin, Atonement, and God’s great karmic equation.
God always makes plans for human spirits' many incarnations on earth. Prior to each incarnation, each and every individual is informed in broad strokes as to what God expects of them in their upcoming life, and only when they have completely understood the reasons as to why their next incarnation must develop in the manner chosen by God, and have sanctioned the subsequent life, not until then does the spirit enter into its incarnation. In order to guide mankind and in order to avoid harmful deviations from His plan for the individual's life on earth, he or she is always equipped by God with a guardian spirit. This guardian spirit, who is usually one of the Youngest (see sec. 1.3), is closely connected mentally with the individual throughout their earthly life and will always warn them when they are in danger of performing a hateful or in any other way harmful action. The guardian spirit's warnings and admonishments will by the human be conceptualized as the inner voice of their conscience. If the individual inevitably acts against this inner voice by giving in to their own base tendencies and the like, then the order of reincarnation is unnecessarily lengthened. After each completed life on earth, the individual must, in the confines of their astral resting place (see sec. 1.5), meticulously scrutinize all that took place in the previous lifetime. The guardian spirit will demand of them a truthful exposition of the instances where they were in conflict with their conscience, and by confronting the individual with images from the past life wherein the individual acted sinfully, the guardian spirit will, among other things, attempt to awaken their sense of remorse. As soon as remorse manifests itself, God, by way of his infinite compassion, will forgive his creation, but the sins perpetrated against fellow human beings must also be forgiven by fellow human beings; God neither can nor will forgive on the behalf of others. Christians will never be able to attain forgiveness for their sins by believing that the crucifixion of Christ was a propitiary sacrifice (see sec. 2.2). Insofar as the individual does not repent their sinful thoughts and deeds, and insofar as the individual does not attain forgiveness from the person or persons against whom the individual has sinned - either here on Earth or in their astral resting place - then it is inevitably expiated under the law of retribution. The individual must, within the context of their subsequent Earthly life, relive the suffering - physically or spiritually - that the individual previously perpetrated against others. It should be emphasized that all thought and all action is registered by God; transgressions both great and small must be atoned. In this light, each individual's series of incarnations may be perceived as one great Karmic equation, an equation that only one Being can fathom - God: "Human beings - when they do not repent - will never escape with a lesser penance than is their due. The scales of God never err, for the guilt of sin and the penance of atonement will always balance" . (6 Note) On the basis of this information, the truth must be evident to all that the "punishing God" is unfounded in reality; by way of his or her own benign or malignant actions, each individual passes judgment upon themselves - God merely confirms the sentence. And as a result of God's infallibility the following should be clear to all: no individual suffers more than he or she deserves as a result of actions and thoughts in a previous life and no one has ever been treated unjustly at the hands of God.
3.3 The power of Prayer: God’s relation to human Suffering.
The divine principle of education is unyielding: everyone must reap as they sow. But if God is equally inflexible in his demands toward humans, then at the same time he is humanity's mild, compassionate and sympathetic Father; anyone can in thought address God whenever he or she feels the need: God never tires of human prayer; never does he avert his ears from the complaints of the sufferer nor the sorrows of the tormented. God is always ready to provide the help His creations ask of Him, to provide the support in which they are of need. And it is God's wish to administer this help. For humans are his beloved children, no human being is too wretched for God's love, no human being is excluded from the Father's infinitely heartfelt compassion - all humans are equal before God. And in this manner, God, by way of His thought, will assist anyone who is unable to cope with their suffering. Everyone is helped and supported by Him; no one is excluded from his almighty and all-embracing thought; the most devout as well as the most ungodly non-believer receives from God the support that is needed to endure the oft-times gruelling trials and tribulations associated with life on Earth. During prayer, however, individuals should not only dwell upon themselves, upon their own agony and pain: in relation thereto, the oldest of the Youngest states in TTL (pg. 119):
"Yea, human beings, hear me! Be not selfish in your prayer, but pray for every human being upon the Earth; pray for those who walk with you and for those who are departed from you. For with your prayer you disperse Darkness and draw the Light toward you and toward those for whom you pray. Truly, I say unto you: The power of prayer is great, when it is borne by loving thoughts; for you must remember: in prayer shall you meet with our Father!"
3.4 Suffering as the Teacher and Love as the goal.
As a rule, it is only he or she who has suffered that will be able to feel true compassion for the suffering of others and pray for them. People who in previous lives have experienced great suffering will in their subsequent lives on Earth preserve a vague recollection of the feelings that anguish has planted in their minds and the spiritual maturation that is hereby attained - in and of itself an invaluable - and inalienable treasure - will allow them to intuitively identify themselves with the suffering, worries and pains of their fellow human beings. Within this painfully acquired ability to empathize lies the source of the individual's ability to intensify and immerse themselves in the love of others - the essential meaning with life on Earth. Thus, all forms of enmity must have ceased and all conflict be settled before anyone can be released from the continuum of their incarnations. With this thought in mind, God always ensures that those who in a previous life stood opposed to each other as bitter enemies, will in a future life meet once again as close relatives. In this way, through the course of time, people will be able to establish a loving friendship where once there was bitter strife.
3.5 Male and Female - The Maturation of the Duals.
No matter how warm and understanding the interrelationships of mankind become as the spiritual maturation process develops, they will never compare to the heartfelt love and understanding that the individual through time will evolve with their dual. For God has created all of his children - the Youngest and the Eldest as well as the human spirits - in pairs; to each and every female spirit there is a male spirit, and it is God's intention that all of his creations, in the course of their maturation, shall reach a point where the male spirit in a consummate and harmonious manner will complement that of the female and vice-versa. In an infinitely slow manner, through innumerable incarnations, each individual human spirit develops a still stronger emotional tie to their dual, in whose company he or she will be incarnated as often as possible. However, the duals' relationship will not reach its fulfillment prior to the attainment of humanity's migration towards the light's ultimate goal: the kingdom of God.
3.6 The Free Will.
Many eternities will pass before the distant goal is attained. Toward the Light decrees that, henceforth (7 Note) human spirits will be bound to life on Earth for millions of years to come (the rest periods between incarnations in the astral sphere is of course incorporated within this time frame) . (8 Note)
As previously mentioned, the total number of incarnations here on earth is the responsibility of each individual human being; it is by way of our free will to choose between good and evil that we form our own destiny. It is precisely free will that is the subject of "Speech of God's Servant" (TTL pg. 133ff) a text that is primarily of an ethical nature, a subject whereby the present summary of the content of Toward the Light - a Message to Mankind from the Transcendental World may fittingly be concluded:
These questions your Father bade me to ask of you. What will be your answer? For the future rests in your own hand; even as you desire it, even as you will it to be, so do you create your future and that of those who come after you.
(. . .) Human beings! Your Father yearns for you! He bade me, His Servant, to bring unto all of you His Fatherly Greeting. His Peace be with you for ever and ever! Amen.
Notes:
(1 Return)
Ardor, as the penultimate representative of evil, has through the ages become known to humanity through a variety of names: Satan, the devil, antichrist, Lucifer, Iblis, and Beli'al are but a few of these.
(2 Return)
A more detailed account of how Ardor managed to translate his numerous plans for humanity into earthly manifestations is to be found in TTL p. 307ff.
(3 Return)
This excerpt is from "Questions and Answers" I p. 98
(4 Return)
The Doctrine of Atonement and the Shorter Road - A message from the Transcendental World to all who bear the Name of Christian p. 19
(5 Return)
1. A variety of in-depth dissertations are to be found in TTL (p.274-288) and related works ("Questions and Answers" II p. 112ff) concerning the relationship between the physical, the psychic, and the astral brain. Landmark discoveries in relation to the scientific study of the human brain will be impossible as long as said information is not taken into account.
(6 Return)
"Questions and Answers" II p. 50
(7 Return)
"henceforth" should be understood as the time period initiated by the Eldest's return to God in the 20th century; in other words, the time period just recently begun (see sec. 1.11).
(8 Return)
TTL p. 322-323 and "Questions and Answers" I p.53-54
© Copyright: International Foundation for Toward the Light - towardthelight 1974 - 2012
Read the Danish version of this website on www.vandrer-mod-lyset.dk
If you have a question regarding TTL, then please send us an e-mail
If you have problems witch this site, then please contact our web administrator - AD'sistance
Read TTL online | Home | What is TTL? | Summary of TTL | Books & ordering | The Foundation | Contact us | Links