Mystic and spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg provide a meticulously written up report of what he claimed were visions of an afterlife realm. This material was based on what he inwardly heard and saw when experiencing altered states of consciousness. The awareness occurred on a daily basis throughout the last twenty-seven years of his life.

I believe that what he wrote about these extraordinary experiences is worth sharing because it throws light on what I see as common errors of thinking about death.

We read that following our departure from this life, we wake up in a ‘spirit body’ like a normal human body we have on earth. In this afterlife existence we are said to be conscious of people and things but not those still present in the material universe. We are not it seems reincarnated back in the world in a physical body. Nevertheless, we each retain our individuality in a ‘spirit body’ – one that can see, hear and smell as well as think and feel.

Swedenborg’s idea of a ‘spirit body’ may resemble the idea of a ‘subtle body’ thought to be a psycho-spiritual part of living beings according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. For example in yoga, practitioners claim that the ‘subtle body’ consists of ‘chakras’, connected by channels, that convey ‘subtle breath’. Through breathing exercises, it is claimed a person may direct the ‘subtle breath’ to achieve immortality.

What is Swedenborg’s vision of human contact after death?

For Swedenborg, with our ‘spirit body’ we can be in contact with others who also are no longer alive in the physical body. We can communicate and socially interact like we usually do. He says the afterlife is a spirit dimension of existence. It is real with even more vivid sensations than we experience in the natural world. This is so even though our surroundings are not part of the physical universe. Writing in Latin three hundred years ago, he called this environment ‘mundi spiritualis’. I like to translate this phrase for afterlife as ‘spirit world’. Most translators have used the term ‘spiritual world’.

Furthermore, we learn that the individual’s mental state projects itself on to what they see and hear. For example, if after death we are looking for kindness and thoughtfulness, then beauty surrounds us. But if we prefer crime and corruption, then ugliness is all around.

Is there time and space in the afterlife?

Swedenborg’s vision of the afterlife, is that time and space do not follow the laws of physics. Instead they mirror our inner states of mind. I would point out that, in the material world, time is objectively measured for example by clocks and the rotation of our planet. But imagine what it would be like if these physical measures are no longer possible. We would be left with ‘subjective time’ which depends on our mood. Something of this idea can be seen when we are bored or in pain for then time drags. But, if we are getting on with things and engaged with what interests us, then time passes before we know it.

Swedenborg says how far things seem from us depends on psychological rather than physical rules. For example, if you and someone else feel emotionally close, then in the afterlife, both of you will appear to be located near to each other. So what matters is psychological time and distance.

Are there other descriptions of an afterlife?

It is not just Swedenborg who presents this picture. There is a consistent wealth of similar information from mediums regarding what spirit communicators supposedly say through them about the afterlife of spirits. How the world views mediums and psychics varies a lot. Some have been exposed as fraudsters and there remains a general scientific scepticism as to the validity of their experiences.

However, psychologist David Fontana summarised many of the reports by mediums in his book ‘Is there an afterlife: a comprehensive overview of the evidence’.

“We are told by (spirit) communicators that the way in which the next world – at least at the lower levels – is experienced by each individual is shaped not just by his or her own thoughts but by the thoughts of others who think in similar ways.” (Professor David Fontana)

Apparently, we will gravitate to that part of the next life where there are people of like mind to ourselves. Those who love trees and flowers, peace and harmony, go to a domain where the thoughts of others who love these things will have helped to create just such an environment. By contrast if violence and strife attracts us, then we enter that kind of social sphere. Consequently, our own environment would change accordingly.

Swedenborg claims to have had direct access to this afterlife dimension. To some extent he depended on what spirits told him but in addition much of this was verified by his own inner experiences. If true, the source of a lot of his information is first hand and contrasts with that of the mediums whose accounts rely only on information conveyed to them via spirit communicators. Yet despite this, the content of both – the mediums’ and Swedenborg’s account – tally together.

Is the next life a happy one?

Professor Fontana writes that spirit communicators describe an environment called the “Upper Astral”. It is an idealised version of what this earthly world could become. One where we treat it and each other with more love and respect. Spirits speak of landscapes of enchanting beauty, of mountains and rivers, of beautiful towns and cities etc.

This sounds like Swedenborg’s vision of one part of the afterlife he calls the ‘spirit world’. The part he terms in Latin “caelo”. For him this social sphere of the afterlife gives a deep kind of happiness.

He does not see this state of consciousness as a reward for an unselfish life on earth. On the contrary, for him it is the fulfilment of what already has begun to grow in a person. He doesn’t mean it is for someone who has simply gone through the motions of living a good life: appearing to be honest and generous for the sake of social approval. Instead he reserves the sphere of “caelo” for the person who genuinely wants to act in these ways. One who tries to live by their deeper conscience of what is good and right.

In the next podcast we explore what we might we take with us when we die. How will our individual character be seen?

As a clinical psychologist, Stephen Russell-Lacy has specialised in cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy, working for many years with adults suffering distress and disturbance.

Most schools in India avoid including sports education in their curriculum because most Indian schools are mainly academic centric. But giving more attention to sports facilities increases students’ participation rate in class and serves a much broader community. Developing a sports facility within the school boundaries and maintaining it targets a specialist area of many students who can showcase their talents through this medium.

At present, sports activities are valued as much as academic activities because choosing sports as a career can now help you flourish, and there are a large number of fields full of opportunities for true sports talents.

Sports activities make a student’s body healthy and nurture their management and leadership skills. Along with academics, every student needs to get into any sports activity of their choice as it will help them learn discipline in life and make them feel motivated.

To engage its students in physical activities, all schools, irrespective of their size and exposure, should organize events according to their capabilities so that students can take part in them. This will compel students to dream big, ahead of their books and academics.

The Physical Benefits of Sports

Playing a particular sport have a lot of positive effect on health. It helps kids to make their muscles stronger and develop strength in them. Those who play some sports from a young age naturally have a healthier physique and active brain functions than those who only drool over academics.

Why should Schools include Sports in their curriculum?

Involving students in various sports events together increases the feeling of unity and togetherness in them. Students push their bars to coordinate with their peers while playing sports. It also embraces all the emotions present inside a person, which is responsible for maintaining the body’s hormonal balance. These sports teach the students the hardest truth in life: sometimes they face failure, and sometimes success and nothing is permanent.

Sports show us how to be disciplined in life and maintain balance by being in control. It gives us insights into how to manage time and all activities in life. Therefore, sports play a huge role in students’ mental growth by keeping the brain’s activities sharp.

How Can Schools help their students to achieve success in sports?

Those who are eager to make a career in sports start as early as in their teens. For this reason, having sports facilities inside a school premises is so important because most of the teenage year is spent in school. School plays a vital role in pushing them towards making their future bright. Under worthy supervision and authorities, children can reach as far as playing at national and even international levels. For this, they have to maintain a proper diet, health, discipline, and most importantly, they should keep practicing.

Money is a manmade commodity and no one can dispute that as fact. It is, however, the thing that is destroying the environment and bringing the world as we know it to an end, that is another indisputable fact. The question is why was it allowed and who is responsible? It is like a cancerous growth that got into the cells of the living and has expanded uncontrollably until the patient is now terminal and all of life is threatened.

In the last week, ivory from hundreds of thousands of animals in Africa was burned and last January China destroyed 6 tons of ivory while Hong Kong has 30 tons to destroy. That represents a lot of dead animals. The tusks of a single elephant can produce over $1,000 for poachers and they are in need of money to live in the world where finance rules it.

Elsewhere it is the jungles and habitats of animals that are being rapidly destroyed with huge loss of species. Even the fish in the ocean are being caught at an unsustainable rate while the harvesting practices of trawlers are disturbing the ocean bed and uprooting essential sea-grass and other food sources. On top of that many animals are caught that die and are then returned to the sea as unwanted by-catch.

These are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to environmental damage caused by greed and companies who are focused on profit. Executives are taking home pay-checks and bonuses in the millions in return for the way they are destroying the world. It’s little wonder that people are angry with governments that fail to stop such exploitation.

My spirituality prevents me from destroying anything of nature or otherwise. My reincarnation showed me how wrong humans are generally about most things and insertions in the bible that state that men have dominion over the earth is false. Having said all of that, however, it is the Spirit of the Universe that controls all things, including the destruction and the greed of those who do it.

It also proves there is no heaven or hell and that all who have lived are back, that explains the size of the population. Prophecies in the Old Testament are coming true and the end of the earth as we know it is foretold. Money is, therefore, used by the Spirit to bring it about through the weak minds of the rich and wealthy.

Watching a power station expelling gasses into the atmosphere from burning coal is a disgusting experience. The smell it generates is appalling and people are living nearby and working in it. The men who mine the coal are breathing in black dust that results in black lung disease. The cars we drive are little better as they pour out similar gasses into the air. Those gasses are a mixture of carbon monoxide, a super deadly gas, and carbon dioxide.

Man has believed that the earth is big enough to cope with it but what was not taken into account is the multiplying effects from the millions of similar businesses that do the same. The end result of all is money and many are dying because of it.

While Australia debates the pros and cons of climate change leading up to an election on July 2nd 2016, people are outraged that those creating enormous wealth from mining of dangerous pollutants are unstoppable. Among them are the gas companies who are causing some to suicide by their tactics. The result of their ‘work’ is releasing methane gas from rocks that is poisoning the water and the atmosphere around cities and rural properties.

There seems to be no way of stopping this invasion and governments are misled by their claims of jobs and other things that don’t always eventuate. The ones making the money are the owners of the businesses that are doing the polluting and they have little care for the environment, or so it seems.

This is not a problem for Australia alone as the same is happening world-wide and people are voicing their objections by turning away from major political parties. While voters have woken up to the big-polluters who care more about the money they make rather than the health of the planet politics is facing major challenges.

My perspective on this problem comes from memory of my reincarnation and my suspicion that everyone is back, which accounts for the huge population growth of recent times. It is also apparent that the earth can’t survive the impact of the pollution much longer, so we are in the last days. If this is the case, then there is ample proof that money is used by God to bring it about.

It is the hunger for money that drives the World Order and that puts wealth creation ahead of common sense and survival. So what are those who pollute the environment thinking? We can’t eat coal and we can’t breathe the gasses and everything else is in decline.