On
this second sleep, William Atkinson in his book "Life beyond death"
related the following:
« One of
the many facts which are impressed upon the minds of the student of the occult
is that which illustrates the principle that Nature is consistent and uniform
in her methods. On the various planes of being, Nature has a few fundamental
methods or habits of manifestation which the student soon learns to look for in
his investigations, and which he always finds if he continues his search
sufficiently long and with sufficient care and watchfulness.
One of
these constant methods of habits of Nature is that by which she always
interposes a period of rest, pause, sleep, or recuperation between the end of
one period of activity and the beginning of another. On the physical plane we
have many instances of this, from the momentary pause of the pendulum between
its forward and backward swing; the pause between the inhalation and exhalation
of the breath; the sleep between the close of one day and the beginning of
another; the period of rest of the unborn child between its formative period
and its birth into the world, etc.
In the
Astral world we find the same phenomenon in the soul slumber which occurs
between that which we call Death and the beginning of the new existence on the
Astral Plane. And, reasoning from analogy, we might naturally expect to be
informed that a similar phase or period exists between the close of the
activities of the soul on the Astral Plane and its passing on to reincarnation
or to higher spheres of spiritual life. And, indeed, such a phase or period
does exist, and forms a very distinct feature of the soul’s existence on “the
other side.” Such phase or period is known to occultists as the “second soul
sleep,” or slumber.
The second
soul-sleep is preceded by a transition state of gradually declining activity
and consciousness, and a corresponding desire for rest on the part of the soul.
The natural processes on the Astral Plane nearing their close, the soul begins
to experience a feeling of lassitude and weariness, and instinctively longs for
rest and repose. It finds that it has lived out the greater part of its desires,
ambitions, and ideals, and in many cases has also out lived them. There comes
to it that wistful feeling of having fulfilled the purpose of its destiny, and
a premonition of the coming of some newer phase of existence.
The soul
does not feel pain at the approach of the second soul sleep, but, on the
contrary, experiences satisfaction and happiness as the coming of something
which promises rest and recuperation. Like the weary traveler who has climbed
the mountain paths, and has delighted in the experiences of the journey, the
soul feels that it has well earned a restful repose, and, like that traveler,
it looks forward to the same with longing and desire.
The soul
may have passed but a few years, or perhaps a hundred or a thousand years, of
earth time, on the Astral Plane, according to its degree of development and
unfoldment.
(This
is false since the masters specified that after death, the human remains in the
astral plane until the period of time that he would normally have lived on the
physical plane. For example, if he died at 50, but planned to live until 90,
then he will remain 40 years on the astral plane.)
But, be
its stay short or long, the feeling of weariness reaches it at last, and, like
many aged persons in earth life, it feels that “my work is over — let me pass
on, let me pass on.”
Sooner or
later, the soul feels a desire to gain new experience, and to manifest in a new
life some of the advancement which has come to it by reason of its unfoldment
on the Astral Plane. And, from these reasons, and also from the attraction of
the desires which have been smouldering there, not lived out or cast off; or,
possibly influenced by the fact that some loved soul, on a lower plane, is
ready to incarnate, and wishing to be with that soul (which is also a form of
desire) the soul falls into a current sweeping toward rebirth and the selection
of proper parents and advantageous circumstances and surroundings. In
consequence thereof it again falls into a state of soul slumber, gradually, and
so when its time comes it “dies” on the Astral Plane, as it did before on the
material plane, and passes forward toward rebirth on earth.
But,
strictly speaking, the soul continues in a condition of partial slumber even
after it has been reborn on earth life, for it does not at once wake up in the
body of the newborn child, in which form it has reincarnated. On the contrary,
it awakens gradually during the early childhood and youth, of the child.
This is a
most interesting fact of occult science, and one that is but little known even
to many careful students. We have spoken of it as follows, in a previous work:
« A soul
does not fully awaken from its second soul slumber immediately upon rebirth, but
exists in a dream like state during the days of infancy, its gradual awakening
being evidenced by the growing intelligence of the babe, the brain of the child
keeping pace with the demands made upon it. In some cases, however, the
awakening is premature, and we see cases of prodigies, child geniuses, etc.,
but such cases are more or less abnormal and unhealthy.
(This
is false and in reality those cases are beneficial and occur when the human
developed a lot in some activity during his previous life.)
Occasionally,
the dreaming soul in the child half wakes, and startles us by some profound
observation, or mature remark or conduct…. The rare instances of precocious
children and infant genius, are illustrations of cases in which the awakening
has been more than ordinarily rapid.
On the
other hand, cases are known where the soul does not awaken as rapidly as the
average, and the result is that the person does not show signs of full
intellectual activity until nearly middle-age.
Cases are known where men seem to ‘wake up’ when they are forty years of age,
or even older, and then take on freshened activity and energy, surprising those
who had known them before. »
But we are
principally concerned now with the earlier stages of the second soul slumber —
the stages which are passed on the Astral Plane. In these early stages, the
slumbering soul undergoes a peculiar stage of what might be called “spiritual
digestion and assimilation.”
Just as,
in its first soul slumber, the soul digested the fruits of its earth life and
assimilated the lessons and experiences thereof, so in this second slumber the
soul digests and assimilates the wonderful experiences of the Astral. For, be
it remembered, the period on the Astral has been not only one of retrospect on
the one hand, and manifestation of latent powers, on the other. It has also
been a period of reconstruction and unfoldment.
Many
things have been lived out and outlived on the Astral, and the soul leaves the
Astral a far different entity from that which entered it. But, and remember
this also, the change is always for the better. Many undesirable
characteristics have been burned away by the fires of repentance and remorse,
and many desirable characteristics have been unfolded in the rich spiritual
soil of the higher planes, aided by the Sun of Spirit which envelopes the soul
on the higher planes. But, there is still needed a process of “stock taking,”
readjustment of mental conditions, and spiritual preparation for a new life —
and this is supplied during the early stages of the second soul slumber.
Just as
the child, or the adult, receives the energy necessary for the work of the new
day, when it is wrapped in sleep at the close of the old day, so does the
sleeping soul receive energy from the One Supply, that it may face the new life
with vigor and power. We do not go into the details of this recuperative work
at this place, as we wish to avoid all appearance of technicality.
Enough to
say that the soul receives a fresh impetus of energy, and is also given the
“psychic pattern” of its new physical body, during the second soul slumber. It
is also allowed to experience the attractive power of its Karmic ties, which
leads it into the channel of rebirth in accordance with the character of its
nature — “like attracts like,” is the axiom which expresses the processes.
Each soul
goes to where it belongs by reason of what it is. It is not subject to the
arbitrary dictates of any being in heaven or in earth, but the absolutely just
and equitable law of Karma operates in every case. There is no favoritism, nor
is there the slightest chance of even the faintest injustice being the fate of
any soul, no matter how humble or lowly it may be.
The lowest
as well as the highest comes under the same law, for all are children of the same
parent — all little children in the kindergarten of the Absolute. All are on
The Path, whether they know it or not — and their ignorance is not counted
against them in the reckoning.
In the
last chapter of this book, we shall speak of a class of souls that rise above
further reincarnation in earth life, and ascend to planes and stages of
existence far above anything which the earth can offer. We mention them here
merely to say that even such souls must pass through the second soul slumber of
the Astral Plane before they can proceed further. In such cases they lose in
their sleep all that is left of the confining sheaths of earth desire, and
throw aside all the fruits of earth action except that which is called
Liberation and Freedom.
Such souls
never again awaken on earth, nor do they ever return thereto, unless,
perchance, they voluntarily revisit earth in after ages as great teachers or
leaders. Such have worn the garb of men, now and then throughout the ages, but
have always been far more than men in all but form.
There are
planes upon planes of existence higher than earth or its Astral Plane. Blessed
indeed is the soul which awakens from the second soul slumber and finds itself
in even the most humble of these exalted states. Even the wisest sage bows his
head in reverence at the mention of such spheres of existence, which transcend
even the human imagination. »
(Chapter
18)
OBSERVATION
What
William Atkinson said in this chapter are speculations he invented, because the
masters explained that after dying, the vast majority of humans lose their consciousness
and sleep and dream for practically their entire post-mortem journey
(on the astral, on the kamic and on the
mental plane). And it is only when the humans reincarnate again that they reawaken
their consciousness. Therefore,
there is no "a second dream in which the soul remembers the activities it
carried out during its life on the astral plane" as William Atkinson
claims.
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