The Joy of the Blessed – Part I

THE WAY OF THE GRAIL – SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS – April 24, 2023

Czech original: Radost Blažených – Část I. · cesta-gralu.cz

Earthly death steps into the way of every man as an inevitable dividing-line upon his path

It is entirely a matter of course that this change will one day come for every inhabitant of the gross material plane here

It comes precisely so that he may then, by laying aside the earthly body, continue further in his onward development

For the right understanding of everything that concerns the end of earthly life it is needful for man that first the calm recognition and acceptance of the transience of all that has its origin in the gross material world here should become something natural for him, and at the same time that he should realise with clarity that his nature of the spiritual kind continues in its existence even after the earthly end

In the materialities nothing lasts for ever – thus it might be called out especially to all those who stubbornly cling to asserting themselves in this world here and who concentrate all their forces upon it, and that often even against the inner voice of conscience

That which is genuine for man is bound up with the finer degrees of receptivity, and it is also the most important thing which decides the continuing development in the planes outside this gross matter here

It is therefore not merely the outward manifesting of oneself, but above all it is the inner intuitive volition which determines the paths for the human spirit

It holds good, of course, that the more inwardly advanced and mature a man is, the more there always rules with him the accord between his inner volition and the outward manifestation of the earthly body during the time of his working on earth

The gross material body is after all during that time the needful outward support for the inner spiritual foundation of man

In our perceiving, gross material life is closely bound up with this earth

The earth is a genuine gift out of the Loving-Kindness of God, and as the original work of the animistic servants, who faithfully serve the Will of God, it counts as a small jewel in the far space of the lifeless interstellar realm, bearing within it and upon it the conditions for the development of material life

Yet the true values which the earth affords for the support of their spiritual maturity have still not been recognised by men

These values of the earth open the access to a wise understanding of wherein lies that full value of earthly life which is sought by many

To this belongs, among other things, that above-mentioned ability of attaining a harmonious unity between the spirit and the gross material covering of the body at all times, that is, the attaining of completeness between the inner volition and the outward conduct

This lies above all in the complete balancing of the right relation between the inner intuitive receptivity and the intellectual work of the brain

So that this may be so, the human body has its nervous system so arranged that in the right attunement it brings that unity and accord on all the levels of manifestation, that is, in intuitive perceiving, in thinking and in conduct

It can and is to be so in all the moments of everyday life, for it is just this state which then brings equanimity, inner peacefulness, peace and the lasting joy flowing from it

Today this relation is thrown out of balance, which with the greatest part of men then leads only to inner division, from which arise wrong decisions and conduct that is not good, indeed not seldom directly evil, seen from the woven threads of fate which the hands of the Vaenen, serving the Will of God, spin

This harms the human spirit already on earth, and all the more then in the subsequent planes, when at the time of the cooling of the body his finer part must leave the earth

It also makes the majority of men the poorer in sincerity and fervour in their conduct, which is always the needful foundation for the ability of compassion with others

Yet here on earth there are several ways of bringing this disproportion back into balance, and only thereafter is it made possible for man to experience inner equanimity, peace and happiness

Although perhaps in the near future this knowledge will be attained, and in the wise drawing upon all this knowledge about life on earth the so long-awaited age of enlightenment will arrive, this earthly nature of existence will nevertheless for ever remain for man only a temporary place for the span which he may spend here, because it cannot offer him everything needful which the spiritual inner being urgently requires for the complete understanding of the work of Creation and of the Creator

The great Wisdom of God has therefore, through the Laws in the work of Creation, prepared for the human spirit further places, far more precious and kindly still, in which for a certain time of his existence he can exercise his abilities and endowments under conditions shaped for him by the weavers of the threads as a consequence of the volition of his own earlier paths

Each of these places has its own conditions and enables everything humanly spiritual to grow and to gain strength in these conditions, and that ever more, up to the attaining of the complete perfection of its kind

The places mentioned are to be found on the steps of the finer substantiality of the Subsequent Creation

All that which, in our knowledge of the distances around us, we call the universe is Hermetis, that is, a certain kind of more cooled materiality which has become a temporary space for the working of the animistic and of the spiritual in the Subsequent Creation

And the earth in particular is formed out of the Will of the Light as a blessed anchorage where, through many happenings of nature in close cooperation, the developing humanly spiritual can and is to meet with the developing part of the animistic, so that, working in accord, both kinds may ripen together towards perfection

The spiritual kind is to ripen towards the spiritual goal which lies in joyful creating in the home of the Primordial Creation, that is, in Paradise, while the animistic then ripens in its activity for all the parts of the Subsequent Creation allotted to it

Besides this there are also many places in Hermetis where, for the balance of the forces, only the animistic has its field of activity, being far more adaptable to the harsh conditions of gross materiality, and therefore it inhabits even those stars which otherwise offer no room for such more sensitive kinds as the earthly organisms, to which the human body belongs

Thus we find many kinds of life which in their diversity can offer an anchorage also for something higher that comes from above downward and needs a support in a formed gross material covering

The earthly world, in the density of its matter, is one of these appointed places offering an anchorage for the development of the spiritual kind

Here there are offered those wonderfully appointed conditions for the life of man, who in his ignorance calls these conditions life itself, without suspecting that in reality it is only the animation of the material covering, and that actual life lies in something other than his temporary bodily state

Men have so far recognised these conditions in their exceptional nature only in small part, and they do not use the time granted to them of inhabiting the earthly body rightly enough for their healthy inner development

In its conditions for existence here gross materiality is very valuable for the human spirit

It is far more valuable than has so far been recognised by men, and above all than has been rightly used

It is not, however, the only space for existence, as alas is still generally held today by a great part of men on earth

This earthly world is only one of the places which temporarily offers a small stretch of a quite definite way of life for the human spirit upon his paths

Through its density it has its given limitation, and that especially in the length of its duration

As has already been mentioned, in the earthly world everything has its allotted span of duration, that is, it has its beginning and its end

Therefore everyone can expect with certainty that for him too the end of this material life here will one day come

And this very moment of departure from the earthly world, in spite of its given naturalness, is something which then fundamentally changes those temporary earthly conditions of existence, in that it brings man into such experiences with which the human spiritual essence needs to unite as with the continuing surroundings of a conscious life, which, however, henceforth finds its support in finer planes of the materialities than was the case on earth

In spite of that naturalness, which among other things does not in its way differ much from the opposite, that is, from the coming to earth, or the preceding birth into the gross material world, the moment of earthly death is for many men still a great change

Of these moments, and also of the further continuing existence, we now wish to speak here, for it is a needful part of knowledge for attaining the right understanding of who man in reality is and along which paths his development leads to the gaining of the maturity which alone makes possible for him the attaining of a lasting home in the spiritual planes of the work of Creation

Let us therefore follow that transformation which takes place for man in these moments

At the moment of earthly death the organ of the heart ends its work, and thereby the blood also ceases to circulate, which until then, through its radiation in the circulation of the blood and of the nerves, formed the magnetic bridge between the earthly body and the inner, finer coverings of the soul about the spirit

With the moment when the circulation of the blood in the body comes to a stop, the first step of the change of consciousness sets in at once, which among other things is also connected with the ceasing of the activity of the gross material brain

Everything which but a short while ago, through the earthly senses and perceptions, counted for man as certain in its material form is suddenly a thing of the past

This state changes the perceiving of everything earthly into a level resembling only an echo, which sounds strangely from an ever greater distance

The finer body, which forms the bridge between the gross material body and the ethereal coverings of the soul, still temporarily maintains the ability to perceive something of what is past, while at the same time it already opens the further way which is making itself heard

It rests only with each single human spirit how far he lets himself be detained in this place between the worlds, towards which he is as a rule drawn by the longing to remain near the earthly world that is past

But through the space around there already sound many a murmuring of the threads guided by the skilled administrators working in the vibrations of the Will of God, the Alphar, and everything needful is being made taut so that the soul may be led further

Near by there also shows itself a figure who counts as the guide sent for a certain part of the nearest way

One of the animistic handmaidens of the sublime Sthyx has drawn near to the departed one, so that for the coming moments she may form a protective space for the awakening soul, which is still freeing itself from the threads that connect it with the earthly body

As the most natural thing it suddenly comes to such a soul, which fully experiences this happening

It is as if it did all this quite as a matter of course, so that it need not even pause over it

Everything goes easily for it, and what is more, it intuitively perceives in it a certain measure of liberation, which it had so much lacked before in the gross material body

It is as if everything oppressive, perhaps even painful, fell away from it, according to the manner in which that moment of the loosening from the body came about

Suddenly all this is already a thing of the past, and now before the soul, which is still connected with the astral body, there appear the first of those who knew of its passing over here and hastened to greet it upon its way onward

These are usually some of its former close ones who had gone before into the beyond, or they are friends of a still earlier kind who abide in some part of the Subsequent Creation

It hears their voices, it may perhaps even glimpse them fleetingly in their coverings of the soul, but it is all still like a dream which has yet to gain in distinctness so that it may be experienced more fully

Much appears new, but only for a moment, for in proportion to the maturity of the soul it comes to it ever more evident and more certain, as though it were not so very long ago that the soul had already experienced something similar

The plane opening for the continuing existence brings back the recollection of what is past, of what was surely here already before

It is now again before the soul separated from the earthly body, and it makes itself known as the continuation of the earlier existence which was here once before the earthly birth, when the soul had previously united itself, through threads of radiation, with the forming body of the child in the mother's womb

Everything, as though long since forgotten, calls itself to mind again, and at the same time it makes a far more familiar impression than anything which the earthly world offered but a moment ago

This ethereal world, which from the earthly point of view appeared to intellectual reflection untrustworthy, indeed which appeared to narrowly material thinking to be non-existent, through the insufficient way it was spoken of during earthly life, when all this was called into question many times, right up to a state of uncertainty and mistrust, this very world suddenly becomes far more real than the earthly world itself was before, which on the contrary now grows weaker and becomes only a kind of very distant sound of the past

Before the soul there opens a further part of its existence in its intimacy, in which everything has its clear place and everything is permeated with a greater natural care than the earthly world ever offered before

It is that part of the Subsequent Creation which welcomes the newcomer, a part fuller, brighter, freer, if the spiritual inner being of man has brought with it out of the past existence sufficient inner purity and also inward sincerity in the perceiving of himself

But even this is somehow something entirely natural, about which there is no need to reflect, because it is only like the return of what is past, which everyone surely recognises very well, unless in some stubbornness of his inner rejection he has closed himself inwardly to it completely

He is not one who comes into something new and thereby unknown, but he is one who has returned back into the finer spheres, out of which he had only for a certain time immersed himself into the covering of the earthly body for the purpose of experiencing with such possibilities of perceiving and of manifesting as the incarnation on earth afforded him

In this alone there lies for many men the necessity of widening their knowledge, for no one among the men here on earth is one who has not known before the world of the finer spheres

That for the most part little is known about these spheres is due to the forgetting which during earthly life was enforced by the concentrated power of the brain upon everything material in the earthly world

In reality no man is a stranger in these places when he enters the degree of the ethereal plane which awaits him, after he has freed himself from the close magnetic connection with the earthly body, which during gross material life created for him the impression of an inseparable union of his consciousness with the earthly brain

But when the brain, together with the cooling body, remains inactive, then of course a new consciousness sets in for the spirit, which does not need to lean upon what is earthly, but which through its receptivity is directly connected with the finer surroundings

It is therefore really a natural happening, over which there is no need to pause too long, even though in the earthly world it would signify something extraordinary

It is similar to the way in which with a newborn child the sense for taking nourishment manifests itself, when it feels hunger in the very hours and days following its earthly birth

In exactly the same way everything is self-acting for the soul, if it gives itself up freely and without constraint to all the helps prepared for it at the time when it returns back into the finer spheres after the ending of its earthly life

The astonishment which is in its inner being while it becomes acquainted with everything that suddenly surrounds it often lies only in this, that it can hardly believe how it could have forgotten all this on earth

All the deficiencies which the earthly body bore are gone, and through the finer degree of the covering there now streams perceptibly more of fresh power

The fervently pure striving, which for the spirit on earth could assert itself only with difficulty against the hindering doubts of the intellect, now becomes ever more that moving force for the further advance forward

And as everything calls itself to mind again, it works in an absorbing manner and draws the soul strongly upward, exactly to those places to which by its inner maturity and purity it belongs

The threads are prepared for this, all that is needed is the fervent longing to be nearer to the Light which hovers above the distant horizon, and to let oneself be led

The self-acting nature of all the happening, which at the same time manifests within it the highest kindliness and fervour, surpassing every earthly care, is often the most astonishing moment, when the soul realises how greatly in all this the world of men on earth differed from the planes of the more luminous spheres of the ethereal kind

The all-overwhelming immediate fulfilment of all the vibrations of the inner being is likewise a cause for joyful astonishment in the newcomers, who through their inward purity make it possible for themselves to be led by helping currents into places filled with a pleasant radiance

Here many a soul blushes at itself in the realisation of the moments which it still experienced on earth, whenever its thoughts flew to the questions about death and about all that would come with it, once this moment drew near

The fear which hovered over it all vanished at the moment when these very hours really began to come

Everything around was filled with a fine misty veil which made it possible for the hands of the Alphar to detach the old threads bound to the earthly covering, and at the same time for everything that is to come to become reality

The mist, however, was not impenetrable, but it was possible to perceive everything with the clearest degree of self-awareness, if the inner being of man, in relaxation, let itself be led by what was taking place around

It was as when a space hitherto permanently condensed becomes permeable to all brighter and fresher perceiving

The freeing from the threads of the magnetic connection with the earthly body, although it lasts a certain while, makes the receptivity for what happens to the body already only weakened, indeed altogether absent, for the soul detaches itself as soon as the streaming of the energy in the bodily nervous system stops

And even for some time before that everything appeared muted, if we occupy ourselves with the question of the painfulness of these hours

If there is no reason for anything from the earthly body to be transmitted back to the astral covering, which at that moment is the temporary bridge for the passage from the gross material body to the ethereal one, then everything is protected and there is in it no longer any sensitivity for whatever happens in the earthly body

The purity and inner fervour of the departing man, if he strove to live already on earth for the Light, act as the best preparation for this time of the passing over from the earthly world into the world of the finer spheres

It is a path to a higher bliss, which thereby becomes reality for him

This path is woven for him by the Alphar as the natural consequence of the striving for the knowledge of all that is spiritual already during the time of earthly life

And that is only the beginning of everything that is prepared for him, awaiting his coming into the places towards which the threads woven out of his lasting attunement rose

The entry into these planes appears as a real awakening to life

And that even though these are still only parts to be found in the planes of the materialities of the Subsequent Creation

Already here it is possible for the soul to experience so much that is luminous and blissful

So great is the difference between the conceptions of men about the world outside earthly matter and the reality which from the beginning is laid into all the finer planes of the Subsequent Creation, into which, thanks to their permeability, a higher part of the radiation of the Light may penetrate

We may say that the anxieties and the fear of the unknown, which make so many men uncertain about their earthly end, are only the work of the ignorance here on earth about all the rest of life in the work of Creation

In contrast to this ignorance and to the groping of thought arising from it, however, everything around this dividing-line is something most highly natural, just as it is with everything else in the whole work of Creation

It is therefore a happening which is never to call forth in man uncertainty about the unknown, or anxieties about pain and an unjustified fear of the inexorably approaching end

It is in no respect an end, but it is only an advance further into new and far more translucent places filled with beauty and kindly help, if man through his pure inward attunement tends towards the living of the virtues and values of the spirit

Of the planes awaiting those who were untrue to this noble striving and thus lost the direction of their path there is not to be spoken today as yet

A little of it will be described for the warning of those who let themselves be influenced by bad habits and by malicious deeds

Predominantly, however, we wish to occupy ourselves with the bright and more beautiful prospects, for they are the result which is to be expected for those who bear within them the will to good and who strive to live a creative and harmonious life already here on earth

For them the sequence of the texts that follow is to be a strengthening and a support, for they deserve it

Perhaps, then, these prospects described hereafter will bring more comfort and peacefulness to all those who seek answers to the earnest questions about the meaning of their existence now here on earth, and especially afterwards in the places where they find themselves after the ending of earthly life