Scientists from the University of San Diego discovered a pattern after studying about three million cases of natural death. It turned out that women die more often in the week following their birthday. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to die close to their due date. According to Dr. David Phillips, such a holiday for a man is something like summing up, when he subconsciously decides whether he should cross another line. For women, after the holiday, relaxation and psychological depression set in.

The glow effect of biological objects in high-intensity electromagnetic fields has been known for more than two centuries. But the method became widely known in the 1930s thanks to the Kirlian couple. And in 1996, St. Petersburg University information technologies a device was created with which you can observe the glow of a person’s energy field during life and even after death. The idea was simple - if we see the distribution of energy in a living body, then we should see how it fades away after death, how the transition from living to inert matter occurs. And here are the conclusions the scientists came to:

1. Death from old age

In these cases life cycle naturally completed. The soul calmly leaves its shell. But not at once. She stays for another day physical body. About 16 hours after death, we see oscillations on the instruments that rise to a peak upward or, conversely, fall sharply. And finally they fade away.

2. Death is accidental

Life path not completed yet. And the soul does not want to part with the body. She's been tossing around for 48 hours. Then the glow suddenly goes out. And the flesh glows evenly and dimly, like a rubber dummy glows.

3. Death by suicide

The etheric body is tightly connected to the physical. The end of life for him is a surprise, a coincidence of circumstances and failures. The subtle body is not ready to suddenly leave the physical container where it suffered and struggled. And for almost three days the devices recorded bursts of energy. The more excited a person’s feelings are before death, the more difficult it is for the etheric double to fly away.

4. Sudden death due to an accident

In the first four hours after death, a narrow thin peak is visible on the instruments, and after another three, star-shaped emissions of luminescence, like a scattering of snowflakes. It’s as if energy is flowing out of a broken shell like a fountain. The subtle body needs a day to finally say goodbye to the physical body.

In the first nine chapters of this book we have attempted to set out some of the basic aspects of the Orthodox Christian view of life after death, contrasting them with the widely held modern view, as well as with views emerging in the West which in some respects departed from ancient Christian teaching. In the West, the true Christian teaching about Angels, the airy kingdom of fallen spirits, about the nature of communication between people and spirits, about heaven and hell has been lost or distorted, as a result of which the “posthumous” experiences that are taking place today are completely misinterpreted. The only satisfactory answer to this false interpretation is Orthodox Christian teaching.

This book is too limited in scope to present fully the Orthodox teaching on the other world and the afterlife; our task was much more narrow - to present this teaching to the extent that would be sufficient to answer the questions raised by modern "posthumous" experiences, and to point out to the reader those Orthodox texts where this teaching is contained. In conclusion, we specifically give here summary Orthodox teaching about the fate of the soul after death. This presentation consists of an article written by one of the last outstanding theologians of our time, Archbishop John (Maximovich) a year before his death. His words are printed in a narrower column, and explanations of his text, comments and comparisons are printed as usual.

Archbishop John (Maksimovich)

"Life after death"

I hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century.

(Nicene Creed)

Our grief for our dying loved ones would have been boundless and unsuccessful if the Lord had not given us eternal life. Our life would be pointless if it ended in death. What benefit would then be from virtue and good deeds? Then those who say: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die” would be right. But man was created for immortality, and Christ, by His resurrection, opened the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal bliss for those who believed in Him and lived righteously. Our earthly life is a preparation for the future life, and this preparation ends with death. It is appointed for men to die once, and after this the judgment (Heb. ix. 27). Then a person leaves all his earthly cares; his body disintegrates to rise again at the General Resurrection.

But his soul continues to live, without ceasing its existence for a single moment. Through many manifestations of the dead we have been given partial knowledge of what happens to the soul when it leaves the body. When vision with the physical eyes ceases, spiritual vision begins.

Addressing his dying sister in a letter, Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes: “After all, you will not die. Your body will die, and you will move to another world, alive, remembering yourself and all the world recognizing" ("Soulful Reading", August 1894).

After death, the soul is alive, and its feelings are heightened, not weakened. St. Ambrose of Milan teaches: “Since the soul continues to live after death, good remains, which is not lost with death, but increases. The soul is not held back by any obstacles posed by death, but is more active because it acts in its own sphere without any connection with a body that is rather a burden to her than a benefit” (St. Ambrose “Death as a Good”).

Rev. Abba Dorotheos summarizes the teaching of the early fathers on this issue: “For souls remember everything that was here, as the fathers say, words, deeds, and thoughts, and they cannot forget any of this then. And it is said in the psalm: On that day all his thoughts will perish (Ps. 145:4); this is said about the thoughts of this age, that is, about the structure, property, parents, children and every act and teaching. All this about how the soul leaves the body perishes. .. And what she did regarding virtue or passion, she remembers everything and none of it perishes for her... And, as I said, the soul does not forget anything that it did in this world, but remembers everything after leaving body, and, moreover, better and clearer, as if freed from this earthly body" (Abba Dorotheos. Teaching 12).

The great ascetic of the 5th century, Ven. John Cassian clearly formulates the active state of the soul after death in response to heretics who believed that the soul after death is unconscious: “Souls after separation from the body are not idle, they do not remain without any feeling; this is proven by the Gospel parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke. XVI, 19-31)... The souls of the dead not only do not lose their feelings, but do not lose their dispositions, that is, hope and fear, joy and sorrow, and something of what they expect for themselves at the universal judgment, they are already beginning to anticipate... they become even more alive and zealously cleave to the glorification of God. And indeed, if, having considered the evidence of Holy Scripture about the nature of the soul itself according to the extent of our understanding, we consider a little, then wouldn’t it be, I don’t say, extreme stupidity, but madness - to even slightly suspect that the most precious part of man (i.e., the soul), in which, according to the blessed Apostle, lies the image of God and the likeness (1 Cor. XI, 7; Col. III, 10), after the deposition of this bodily fatness , in which it is located in real life, as if becoming insensible - she who contains within herself all the power of reason, with her communion makes even the dumb and insensible substance of the flesh sensitive? It follows from this, and the property of the mind itself requires that the spirit, after the addition of this carnal fatness, which is now weakening, brings its rational powers into best condition, restored them purer and more subtle, and did not lose them."

Modern "post-mortem" experiences have made people incredibly aware of the consciousness of the soul after death, of the greater sharpness and speed of its mental abilities. But this awareness in itself is not enough to protect someone in such a state from manifestations of the out-of-body sphere; one must be familiar with ALL Christian teaching on this subject.

The Beginning of Spiritual Vision

Often this spiritual vision begins in dying people even before death, and while still seeing others and even talking with them, they see what others do not see.

This experience of dying people has been observed for centuries, and today such cases of dying people are not new. However, what was said above should be repeated here - in Chap. 1, part 2: only in the grace-filled visits of the righteous, when saints and angels appear, can we be sure that these are truly beings from another world. In ordinary cases, when a dying person begins to see deceased friends and relatives, this can only be a natural acquaintance with the invisible world into which he must enter; the true nature of the images of the deceased appearing at this moment is known, perhaps, only to God - and we do not need to delve into this.

It is clear that God gives this experience as the most obvious way to communicate to the dying person that the other world is not a completely unfamiliar place, that life there is also characterized by the love that a person has for his loved ones. His Grace Theophan touchingly expresses this thought in words addressed to his dying sister: “There your father and mother, brothers and sisters will meet you. Bow to them and convey our greetings - and ask them to take care of us. Your children surround you with their joyful greetings. There You'll be better off than here."

Meeting with the Spirits

But upon leaving the body, the soul finds itself among other spirits, good and evil. Usually she is drawn to those who are closer to her in spirit, and if, while in the body, she was influenced by some of them, then she will remain dependent on them even after leaving the body, no matter how disgusting they turned out to be upon meeting.

Here we are again seriously reminded that the other world, although it will not be completely alien to us, will not turn out to be just a pleasant meeting with loved ones “at the resort” of happiness, but will be a spiritual encounter that tests the disposition of our soul during life - whether it was inclined more to the Angels and saints through a virtuous life and obedience to the commandments of God, or, through negligence and unbelief, she made herself more suitable for the society of fallen spirits. The Most Reverend Theophan the Recluse said well (see the end of Chapter VI above) that even a test in aerial ordeals can turn out to be more of a test of temptations than an accusation.

Although the very fact of the trial afterlife stands beyond any doubt - both of the Private Court immediately after death, and Last Judgment at the end of the world - the external judgment of God will only be a response to the internal disposition that the soul has created in itself in relation to God and spiritual beings.

The first two days after death

During the first two days the soul enjoys relative freedom and can visit those places on earth that are dear to it, but on the third day it moves to other spheres.

Here Archbishop John is simply repeating the teaching known to the Church since the 4th century. Tradition says that the Angel who accompanied St. Macarius of Alexandria, said, explaining the church commemoration of the dead on the third day after death: “When on the third day there is an offering in the church, the soul of the deceased receives from the Angel guarding it relief in the grief that it feels from separation from the body, it receives because the doxology and the offering in the Church of God was made for her, which is why good hope is born in her. For for two days the soul, together with the Angels who are with it, is allowed to walk on the earth where it wants. Therefore, the soul, loving the body, sometimes wanders near the house, in which she was separated from the body, sometimes near the coffin in which the body was laid, and thus spends two days like a bird, looking for a nest for itself. And the virtuous soul walks through those places in which it used to do justice. On the third day, He Who rose from the dead, commands, in imitation of His resurrection, to ascend to heaven for every Christian soul to worship the God of all" ("Words of St. Macarius of Alexandria on the exodus of the souls of the righteous and sinners", "Christ. reading", August 1831).

In the Orthodox rite of burial of the departed, St. John of Damascus vividly describes the state of the soul, parted from the body, but still on earth, powerless to communicate with loved ones whom it can see: “Alas for me, such a feat has a soul separated from the body! Alas, then there is a lot of tears, and there is no mercy yu! lifting up your eyes to the Angels, praying idlely: stretching out your hands to men, having no one to help. In the same way, my beloved brothers, having thought about our short life“We ask for repose from Christ for the departed, and for our souls great mercy” (Sequence of the burial of worldly people, stichera self-concordant, tone 2).

In a letter to the husband of her dying sister mentioned above, St. Feofan writes: “After all, the sister herself will not die; the body dies, but the face of the dying person remains. It only passes into other orders of life. She is not in the body that lies under the saints and is then taken out, and they do not hide her in the grave. She is in another place. Just as alive as now. In the first hours and days she will be near you. - And she just won’t speak - but you can’t see her, otherwise here... Keep this in mind. We who remain cry for those who have departed, and they immediately feel better: that state is joyful. Those who died and were then brought into the body found it a very uncomfortable place to live. My sister will feel the same. She feels better there, but we are killed, as if some misfortune had happened to her. She looks and, truly, marvels at this (“Soulful Reading,” August 1894).

It should be borne in mind that this description of the first two days after death gives general rule, which by no means covers all situations. Indeed, most of the passages from Orthodox literature quoted in this book do not fit this rule - and for a very obvious reason: the saints who were not at all attached to worldly things, lived in constant anticipation of the transition to another world, are not even attracted to places where they did good deeds, but immediately begin their ascent to heaven. Others, like K. Iskul, begin their ascent earlier than two days by the special permission of God's Providence. On the other hand, all modern “posthumous” experiences, no matter how fragmentary they are, do not fit this rule: the out-of-body state is only the beginning of the first period of the disembodied journey of the soul to the places of its earthly attachments, but none of these people spent time in a state of death long enough to even meet the two Angels who were to accompany them.

Some critics of Orthodox teaching about the afterlife find that such deviations from the general rule of “posthumous” experience are evidence of contradictions in Orthodox teaching, but such critics take everything too literally. The description of the first two days (and also the subsequent ones) is by no means some kind of dogma; it is simply a model that only formulates the most general order of the “posthumous” experience of the soul. Many cases, both in Orthodox literature and in accounts of modern experiences, where the dead instantly appeared alive on the first day or two after death (sometimes in a dream), serve as examples of the truth that the soul does remain near the earth for some short time. (Genuine apparitions of the dead after this short period freedoms of the soul are much rarer and always happen by God's Will for some special purpose, and not by someone's own will. But by the third day, and often earlier, this period comes to an end.)

ordeals

At this time (on the third day) the soul passes through legions of evil spirits who block its path and accuse it of various sins into which they themselves have drawn it. According to various revelations, there are twenty such obstacles, the so-called “ordeals,” at each of which one or another sin is tortured; Having gone through one ordeal, the soul comes to the next. And only after successfully passing through all of them can the soul continue its journey without being immediately thrown into Gehenna. How terrible these demons and ordeals are can be seen from the fact that the Mother of God Herself, when Archangel Gabriel informed Her of the approach of death, prayed to His Son to deliver Her soul from these demons, and in response to Her prayers the Lord Jesus Christ Himself appeared from Heaven accept the soul of His Most Pure Mother and take Her to Heaven. (This is visibly depicted on the traditional Orthodox icon Dormition.) The third day is truly terrible for the soul of the deceased, and for this reason it especially needs prayers.

The sixth chapter contains a number of patristic and hagiographical texts about ordeals, and there is no need to add anything else here. However, here too we can note that the descriptions of the ordeals correspond to the model of torture to which the soul is subjected after death, and individual experience may differ significantly. Minor details such as the number of ordeals are, of course, secondary in comparison with the main fact that soon after death the soul is indeed subjected to judgment (Private Court), where the result of the “invisible war” that it waged (or did not wage) on earth against fallen spirits is summed up .

Continuing the letter to the husband of his dying sister, Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes: “Those who have departed soon begin the feat of moving through the ordeal. She needs help there! - Stand then in this thought, and you will hear her cry to you: “Help!” - That’s what you need you must direct all your attention and all your love to her. I think - the most truly evidence of love will be - if from the moment of the soul's departure, you, leaving the worries about the body to others, step away yourself and, secluded where possible, immerse yourself in prayer for her in her new life. condition, about her unexpected needs. Having started this way, be in a constant cry to God - for her help, for six weeks - and beyond. In Theodora's story - the bag from which the Angels took to get rid of tax collectors - these were prayers her elder. Your prayers will be the same... Don’t forget to do this... Behold love!"

Critics of Orthodox teaching often misunderstand the “bag of gold” from which at the ordeals the Angels “paid for the debts” of Blessed Theodora; it is sometimes mistakenly compared to the Latin concept of the "extraordinary merit" of saints. Here too, such critics read Orthodox texts too literally. What is meant here is nothing more than the prayers for the departed of the Church, in particular, the prayers of the holy and spiritual father. The form in which this is described - there is hardly even a need to talk about it - is metaphorical.

The Orthodox Church considers the doctrine of ordeals so important that it mentions them in many services (see some quotes in the chapter on ordeals). In particular, the Church especially expounds this teaching to all its dying children. In the “Canon for the Exodus of the Soul,” read by a priest at the bedside of a dying member of the Church, there are the following troparia:

“The aerial prince of the rapist, the tormentor, the upholder of terrible paths and the vain tester of these words, grant me permission to pass without restraint, leaving the earth” (canto 4).

“Holy Angels commend me to sacred and honorable hands, O Lady, for having covered myself with those wings, I do not see the dishonorable and stinking and gloomy image of demons” (canto 6).

“Having given birth to the Lord Almighty, cast away the bitter ordeals of the ruler of the world far from me, I always want to die, but I glorify You forever, Holy Mother of God” (canto 8).

So dying Orthodox Christian is being prepared in the words of the Church for the upcoming trials.

Forty days

Then, having successfully gone through the ordeal and worshiped God, the soul visits the heavenly abodes and hellish abysses for another 37 days, not yet knowing where it will remain, and only on the fortieth day is it assigned a place until the resurrection of the dead.

Of course, there is nothing strange in the fact that, having gone through the ordeal and done away with earthly things forever, the soul must become acquainted with the real other world, in one part of which it will dwell forever. According to the revelation of the Angel, St. Macarius of Alexandria, the special church commemoration of the departed on the ninth day after death (in addition to the general symbolism of the nine ranks of angels) is due to the fact that until now the soul was shown the beauties of paradise and only after that, during the rest of the forty-day period, it is shown the torment and horrors of hell, before on the fortieth day she is assigned a place where she will await the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. And here, too, these numbers give a general rule or model of post-mortem reality and, undoubtedly, not all the dead complete their journey in accordance with this rule. We know that Theodora actually completed her visit to hell precisely on the fortieth day - by earthly time standards.

State of mind before the Last Judgment

Some souls, after forty days, find themselves in a state of anticipation of eternal joy and bliss, while others are in fear of eternal torment, which will fully begin after the Last Judgment. Before this, changes in the state of souls are still possible, especially thanks to the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice for them (commemoration at the Liturgy) and other prayers.

The teaching of the Church about the state of souls in Heaven and hell before the Last Judgment is set out in more detail in the words of St. Mark of Ephesus.

The benefits of prayer, both public and private, for souls in hell are described in the lives of holy ascetics and in the patristic writings.

In the life of the martyr Perpetua (3rd century), for example, the fate of her brother was revealed to her in the image of a reservoir filled with water, which was located so high that she could not reach it from the dirty, unbearably hot place where he was imprisoned. Thanks to her fervent prayer throughout the whole day and night, he was able to reach the reservoir, and she saw him in a bright place. From this she understood that he was freed from punishment ("Lives of the Saints", February 1).

There are many similar cases in the lives of Orthodox saints and ascetics. If one is prone to excessive literalism regarding these visions, then one should probably say that, of course, the forms that these visions take (usually in a dream) are not necessarily “photographs” of the position in which the soul is in another world, but rather images that convey the spiritual truth about the improvement of the state of the soul through the prayers of those remaining on earth.

Prayer for the departed

How important commemoration is at the Liturgy can be seen from the following cases. Even before the glorification of Saint Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), hieromonk ( famous old man Alexy from the Goloseevsky monastery of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, who died in 1916), who was dressing the relics, got tired, sitting at the relics, dozed off and saw the Saint in front of him, who said to him: “Thank you for your work for me. I also ask you, when you serve the Liturgy, mention my parents"; and he gave their names (priest Nikita and Maria). Before the vision, these names were unknown. A few years after canonization in the monastery where St. Theodosius was abbot; his own memorial was found, which confirmed these names and confirmed the truth of the vision. “How can you, saint, ask for my prayers, when you yourself stand before the Heavenly Throne and give people God’s grace?” – asked the hieromonk. “Yes, that’s true,” answered St. Theodosius, “but the offering at the Liturgy is stronger than my prayers.”

Therefore, the memorial service and home prayer about the deceased are useful, as are good deeds done in their memory, alms or donations to the Church. But commemoration at the Divine Liturgy is especially useful for them. There were many apparitions of the dead and other events confirming how useful commemoration of the dead is. Many who died in repentance, but were unable to demonstrate it during their lifetime, were freed from torment and received peace. In the Church, prayers are constantly offered for the repose of the departed, and in the kneeling prayer at Vespers on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit there is a special petition “for those held in hell.”

St. Gregory the Great, answering the question in his Discourses, “Is there anything that could be useful to souls after death,” teaches: “The holy sacrifice of Christ, our saving Sacrifice, brings great benefit to souls even after death, provided , that their sins can be forgiven in a future life. Therefore, the souls of the deceased sometimes ask that the Liturgy be served for them... Naturally, it is safer to do for ourselves during our lifetime what we hope others will do for us after death. Better to make a free exodus, rather than to seek freedom in chains. Therefore we must despise this world with all our hearts, as if its glory had passed away, and daily offer to God the sacrifice of our tears, as we offer up His sacred Flesh and Blood. Only this sacrifice has the power to save the soul from eternal death, for it mysteriously represents to us the death of the Only Begotten Son" (IV; 57, 60).

St. Gregory gives several examples of the appearance of the dead alive with a request to serve the Liturgy for their repose or giving thanks for this; once also a prisoner whom his wife considered dead and for whom she certain days ordered the Liturgy, returned from captivity and told her how on some days he was freed from chains - precisely on those days when the Liturgy was performed for him (IV; 57, 59).

Protestants usually believe that church prayers for the dead are incompatible with the need to find salvation first in this life: “If you can be saved by the Church after death, then why bother struggling or seeking faith in this life? Let us eat, drink and be merry.” ... Of course, no one who holds such views has ever achieved salvation through church prayers, and it is obvious that such an argument is very superficial and even hypocritical. The prayer of the Church cannot save someone who does not want to be saved or who has never made any effort for this during his lifetime. In a certain sense, we can say that the prayer of the Church or individual Christians for the deceased is another result of the life of this person: they would not have prayed for him if he had not done anything during his life that could inspire such prayer after his death.

St. Mark of Ephesus also discusses the issue of church prayer for the dead and the relief that it gives them, citing as an example the prayer of St. Gregory Dvoeslov about the Roman Emperor Trajan - a prayer inspired good deed this pagan emperor.

What can we do for the dead?

Anyone who wants to show their love for the dead and give them real help can best do this by praying for them and especially by commemorating them at the Liturgy, when the particles taken for the living and the dead are immersed in the Blood of the Lord with the words: “Wash away, Lord, sins.” those who were remembered here by Your honest Blood, by the prayers of Your saints."

We cannot do anything better or more for the departed than to pray for them, remembering them at the Liturgy. They always need this, especially in those forty days when the soul of the deceased follows the path to eternal settlements. The body then feels nothing: it does not see the gathered loved ones, does not smell the smell of flowers, does not hear funeral speeches. But the soul feels the prayers offered for it, is grateful to those who offer them, and is spiritually close to them.

Oh, relatives and friends of the deceased! Do for them what is necessary and what is in your power, use your money not for external decoration of the coffin and grave, but to help those in need, in memory of your deceased loved ones, at the Church where prayers are offered for them. Be merciful to the deceased, take care of their souls. The same path lies before you, and how we will then want to be remembered in prayer! Let us ourselves be merciful to the departed.

As soon as someone has died, immediately call a priest or inform him so that he can read the “Prayers for the Exodus of the Soul,” which are supposed to be read over all Orthodox Christians after their death. Try, as far as possible, to have the funeral service in church and to have the Psalter read over the deceased before the funeral service. The funeral service should not be elaborately arranged, but it is absolutely necessary that it be complete, without shortening; then think not about your convenience, but about the deceased, with whom you are parting forever. If there are several dead people in the church at the same time, do not refuse if they offer you the funeral service to be common to everyone. It is better for the funeral service to be served simultaneously for two or more deceased, when the prayer of the gathered loved ones will be more fervent, than for several funeral services to be served sequentially and the services, due to lack of time and energy, be shortened, because every word of the prayer for the deceased is similar a drop of water for the thirsty. Immediately take care of the sorokoust, that is, daily commemoration at the Liturgy for forty days. Usually in churches where services are performed daily, the deceased who were buried in this way are remembered for forty days or more. But if the funeral service was in a church where there are no daily services, the relatives themselves should take care and order the magpie there where there is a daily service. It is also good to send a donation in memory of the deceased to monasteries, as well as to Jerusalem, where in holy places the unceasing prayer. But the forty-day commemoration should begin immediately after death, when the soul especially needs prayer help, and therefore the commemoration should begin in the nearest place where there is a daily service.

Let us take care of those who have gone to another world before us, so as to do for them everything we can, remembering that the blessings of mercy are such that there will be mercy (Matthew V, 7).

Resurrection of the Body

One day this entire corruptible world will come to an end and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven will come, where the souls of the redeemed, reunited with their resurrected bodies, immortal and incorruptible, will abide forever with Christ. Then the partial joy and glory which even souls in Heaven now know will be succeeded by the fullness of the joy of the new creation for which man was created; but those who did not accept the salvation brought to earth by Christ will suffer forever - along with their resurrected bodies - in hell. In the final chapter of "An Exact Exposition" Orthodox faith"St. John of Damascus describes well this final state of the soul after death:

"We also believe in resurrection of the dead. For it will truly be, there will be a resurrection of the dead. But when we talk about resurrection, we imagine the resurrection of bodies. For resurrection is the second raising of the fallen; souls, being immortal, how will they be resurrected? For, if death is defined as the separation of the soul from the body, then resurrection is, of course, a secondary union of soul and body, and a secondary exaltation of a resolved and dead living being. So, the body itself, decaying and resolving, will itself rise incorruptible. For He who in the beginning produced it from the dust of the earth can resurrect it again, after it has again, according to the saying of the Creator, been resolved and returned back to the earth from which it was taken...

Of course, if only one soul has practiced deeds of virtue, then it alone will be crowned. And if she alone was constantly in pleasure, then in fairness she alone would be punished. But since the soul did not strive for either virtue or vice separately from the body, then in fairness both will receive reward together...

So, we will be resurrected, since the souls will again be united with bodies that become immortal and strip away corruption, and we will appear at the terrible judgment seat of Christ; and the devil, and his demons, and his man, that is, the Antichrist, and wicked people and sinners will be consigned to eternal fire, not material, like the fire that is with us, but such as God can know about. And having done good, like the sun, they will shine together with the Angels in eternal life, together with our Lord Jesus Christ, always looking at Him and being visible by Him, and enjoying the continuous joy flowing from Him, glorifying Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit to the endless ages of ages. . Amen" (pp. 267-272).

Chapter 37. The process of separation of the soul from the body during physical death. Post-mortem shock and adaptation of the soul to new conditions.

“Yes, man is mortal, but that would not be so bad.

The bad thing is that sometimes he is suddenly mortal,

that’s the trick!”

M. Bulgakov, “The Master and Margarita”

So, a person dies (how sad it is)... This can happen almost instantly (sudden death) or gradually (say, death from illness or aging). If a person dies naturally, then he has time to experience a number of sensations common to all.

“The three main signs of death and their symbolic images are as follows: 1) a feeling of heaviness in the body - “earth in water”; 2) a feeling of cold, as if the body were in water, which gradually turns into feverish heat - “water on fire”; 3) a feeling as if the body is being torn into tiny atoms - “fire in the air.” Each symptom is accompanied by external changes, such as loss of control of the facial muscles, loss of hearing and vision, intermittent breathing before fainting...” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“A man dies, and at the moment when his physical suffering reaches its limit, he hears the doctor pronouncing him dead. He hears unpleasant noise, loud ringing or buzzing , and at the same time he feels that he is moving at high speed through a long black tunnel. After this he suddenly finds himself outside of your physical body , but still in the immediate physical environment, he sees his physical body at a distance, like an outside spectator. He watches the attempts to bring him back to life, having this unusual advantage, and is in a state of some emotional shock "(R. Moody, “Life after life”).

“After a while he collects his thoughts and gradually gets used to his new position. He notices that has a body, but of a completely different nature and with completely different properties than the physical body he left. The souls of other people come to him to meet him and help him. He sees souls of already deceased relatives and friends , and a luminous being appears in front of him, from whom emanates such love and warmth as he has never met. This creature silently asks him a question that allows him to evaluate his life, and guides him through instantaneous images the most important events of his life, passing before his mind's eye in reverse order . At some point, he discovers that he has approached some kind of barrier or border, apparently representing the division between earthly and subsequent life. However, he discovers that he must return back to earth, that the hour of his death has not yet come. At this moment he resists, because now he has learned the experience of another life and does not want to return. He is filled with a feeling of joy, love and peace. Despite his reluctance, he nevertheless somehow reunites with his physical body and returns to life. Later he tries to tell others about all this, but finds it difficult to do so. First of all to him it is difficult to find adequate categories in human language to describe these unearthly events "(ibid.).

It should be noted that, firstly, the return to the physical body is naturally experienced only by those who have returned to earthly life, and secondly, the luminous being is not noted in the “Tibetan Book of the Dead” and among some witnesses - this phenomenon is most often observed by representatives European cultures, where Christianity had a strong influence at one time...

At a certain moment the dying person realizes that his consciousness, continuing to function, appears outside the physical body ; his “I” has left the mortal coil, but still continues to exist, maintaining its integrity .

“According to eyewitnesses, the first thing that happens to a dying person is that he leaves his body and finds himself outside of it. Often he sees the surrounding environment and people, including his own dead body and the efforts of doctors to resuscitate it. He experiences a blissful state of warmth and lightness: as if he were swimming; he is no longer able to influence living people with speech or touch and therefore often experiences immense loneliness; his thoughts move, as a rule, much faster than when he was in the body” (Hieromonk Seraphim, “The Soul after Death”).

At the same time, almost all “primary sources” note that the deceased (i.e., the one who “lost” his physical body) experiences

feeling of peace and quiet . This, from our point of view, is caused by the loss of the main number of connections with the physical body, as a result of which the “pyramid of the soul” ceases to receive information about the state of the body (including all painful sensations of the body).

Naturally, in this case, the usual human senses seem to be “turned off,” and the “pyramid of the soul” (including human consciousness) remains “alone with itself,” without the usual connection with the body. As a result, the entire psyche (including consciousness) of a person seems to “release” the channels previously used to receive information about the state of the physical body. And moreover, it seems that in this case a number of hereditary spiritual-immaterial structures of the “pyramid of the soul” associated with “archetypes of fear” are lost.

“Your mind is empty, but it is not the emptiness of Nothingness, but the mind as such, free, trembling, blissful; this is Consciousness itself...” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

In reality, in this case (at least quite often) there is no immediate loss of all channels of communication between body and soul, which confirms, in particular, the possibility of resuscitation.

“At death the soul is released gradually; the longer, the more material life was” (P. Galeva, “Conversations with Allan Kardec”)...

Physical death, by all logic, is not limited to just the loss of the physical body. Also happens

loss of "physical personality" , that part of the human personality (meaning that part of the human psyche) that is directly connected with the physical body. It is obvious that this part of the psyche (i.e., the “pyramid of the soul”) upon the death of the physical body becomes “superfluous”, “unnecessary”.

It is also clear that if a “physical personality” occupies a dominant position in the hierarchy of personalities, i.e. if in the “pyramid of the soul” structures are very highly developed, oriented towards communication specifically with the physical body, then physical death has a very strong effect on the entire human self . At the same time, it becomes possible Negative consequences as a result of such a change in I. It is obvious that the changes should be smaller, the less importance the physical person has in the mentioned hierarchy . Then the orientation of Buddhism, the yoga school and other religions towards limiting the significance of bodily sensations for a person and towards the development of spirituality in him seems quite understandable.

But still, apparently, the main part of the “pyramid of the soul” - and precisely the one that is associated with the perception of the person’s “I” itself - is separated from the physical body in a very short period of time.

“Despite all the supernaturalness of the disembodied state, a person finds himself in such a situation so suddenly that it takes some time before the meaning of what he is experiencing reaches his consciousness” (R. Moody, “Life after Life”).

It is interesting to note that at the moment of death (of the physical body), those who have had post-mortem experiences and those who die often

hear some noise and/or see a glow .

“From the depths of this radiance, the natural sound of Reality is heard, like the peals of a thousand thunders. This is the natural sound of your true self" (Tibetan Book of the Dead).

“...at that moment when your consciousness separated from the body, you should have seen the radiance of the Pure Truth, elusive, sparkling, bright, dazzling, wonderful, majestic, radiant, like a mirage” (ibid.).

These phenomena, in principle, are also quite predictable and explainable. If the soul loses its connection with the physical body at the moment of death, i.e. in the "pyramid of the soul"

some connections are broken , then, by all logic, this process should be accompanied by the generation of certain fluctuations in the “pyramid of the soul” . If we take into account that our visual and auditory sensations at some stage also take the form of oscillations in the “pyramid of the soul” (in this case, the structure of oscillations of the “pyramid of the soul” clearly tracks the structure of the visual or auditory signal - see earlier), then it is quite likely that the dying person perceives and feels the severance of connections between the soul and the body in the form of a kind of “noise” or “radiation” (especially since this “signal” again comes from the areas of the “pyramid of the soul”, previously oriented toward communication with the physical body, i.e., receiving auditory and visual signals, among other things).

But the vibrations of the “pyramid of the soul” are also emotions; those. the dying person must at this moment experience some kind of emotional outburst . This also takes place in real post-mortem experience: R. Moody points to the state “ emotional shock "at the first moment after the separation of the soul of the dying person from the physical body.

Further. What is quite remarkable is that post-mortem experience makes it possible to obtain experimental data about the properties of the world into which a person finds himself after the death of the physical body, and about the properties of objects in this world . Let's say, although a person (more precisely, his individuality; and in essence, his soul) loses his physical body, at a certain moment he notices that in some way (obviously not the usual physical) body he still has it.

“Death is the destruction of the very first shell, the spirit preserves the second, which constitutes for it the etheric body, invisible to us in its normal state, but which under certain conditions it can make visible, and even tangible, as happens for sight, hearing and touch.” (P. Galeva, “Conversations with Allan Kardec”).

“Those who die, apparently, are initially aware of the existence of their spiritual body due to the limitations of its capabilities” (R. Moody, “Life After Life”).

“...although the spiritual body is invisible to people who have physical bodies, it, in the opinion of everyone who has experienced it, is something, although it is impossible to describe [a cloud, fog, something subtle, a clot of energy, etc.] "(ibid.).

“My essence felt like some kind of density, but still not physical density, rather it was like some kind of wave or something similar to it. I think that this was a completely physical reality, but resembled a certain, if you like, charge... My essence did not have physical properties... “(ibid.).

“...I was... in a body, but not in a physical one, but in another, which I, perhaps, can best characterize as a certain type of energy. If I had to describe it in words, I would say that it is transparent and spiritual, as opposed to material objects. And at the same time, he definitely had separate parts” (ibid.).

Here it can be noted that a person (more precisely, what is left of him) feels and perceives himself quite definitely as

localized and limited (relative to the space where he ended up) an object that has some (blurred in some descriptions) borders . This property is noted in one way or another in all available descriptions and “primary sources”. Other properties of this object give us the opportunity to draw an unambiguous conclusion that, firstly, it itself has spiritual-immaterial nature , and secondly, this object (soul) falls precisely into the spiritual-immaterial world with all the previously listed properties. And above all, this is emphasized by the fact that the object (soul) turns out to be clearly outside physical space-time, outside the physical world .

“...suddenly a shining body appeared, reminiscent of the previous body. As tantra says: with a body of flesh that resembles what was before and what will appear, endowed with all the senses and the power of unhindered movement, possessing wonderful karmic abilities, visible to the pure heavenly gaze of the inhabitants of the Bardo” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“...your current body... is not a body of gross matter, and therefore you have the ability to pass through rocks, hills, stones, earth, houses without hindrance...” (ibid.).

“Physical objects do not constitute any obstacles, and movement from one place to another can be very fast, almost instantaneous” (R. Moody, “Life after Life”).

“...according to several people, they, being in a spiritual body, realized that they were deprived of the sense of weight, movement and location in space” (ibid.).

“...almost everyone notes that when you are outside the body, time does not exist” (ibid.).

In all these descriptions of the “spiritual body” one can easily notice the properties that objects of the spiritual-immaterial world possess (see earlier)...

But the spiritual-immaterial world is unusual for a living person, who is very strongly attached to the material world. Naturally, getting into a world completely different from the usual one , makes it difficult to understand and describe what is happening around.

"This 'new body' represents one of the two or three aspects of the death experience for which the inadequacy of human language poses the greatest difficulties" (ibid.).

“... our world, the one in which we live now, is three-dimensional, but the other world is most definitely not three-dimensional, and that is why it is so difficult to tell you about it” (ibid.).

The transition to the spiritual-immaterial world at death, as it turns out, is not at all accompanied by a complete separation from information about the material world (at least at the very first stage), which is evidence of the connection that exists between the two worlds.

“When the stream of consciousness leaves the body... he [the dying person] sees his relatives and friends, as he saw before, and hears their crying” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“At this time, the dying person sees how his share of food is put aside, how clothes are removed from his body, how the place where he slept is swept away. He hears the crying and lamentations of his friends and relatives; but, although he sees and hears how they call to him, his own calls are not heard by them - and he moves away dissatisfied” (ibid.).

With the “loss” of the physical body, the soul also loses its familiar sense organs. But the physical sense organs, among other things, are designed in such a way that they significantly reduce the strength of the external influence they perceive. Now this “buffer” has been removed, and any external influence acts on the soul in full force, which

sharpens the perception of impact and enhances emotions caused by it.

“...torments and pleasures... are a thousand times more vivid than those you feel on earth, since the spirit, once freed from matter, becomes much more impressionable. Matter no longer dulls his sensations” (P. Galeva, “Conversations with Allan Kardec”).

“There is heavenly music and heavenly beauty, which are incomparably better than earthly ones” (ibid.).

But if a person (i.e., his soul) is deprived of his usual senses, then how does he perceive external influences?.. The answer to this question lies in the previously mentioned human ability to receive information directly from the spiritual-immaterial world and in the presence of communication two worlds.

“... Kübler-Ross mentions a remarkable case in which a blind woman “saw” and correctly described everything that happened in the room in which she “died,” although, having returned to life, she again became blind - stunning evidence that in In such cases, it is not the eye that sees (and it is not the brain that thinks, for after death mental abilities become sharper), but rather the soul itself” (Hieromonk Seraphim, “The Soul after Death”).

“...even if during your life you were blind, deaf or lame, then here, in the Afterlife, your eyes will see images, your ears will hear sounds, and all other senses will be unharmed, receptive and perfect” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead” ).

And the point is not at all about “restoring” the organs of perception in some miraculous way. We are talking about the fact that that perception is “turned on”, which in different “primary sources” is called either “astral feelings”, then “spiritual vision” or “spiritual hearing”, then “telepathic perception”, but in essence it is nothing more How

direct reception of information from the spiritual-immaterial world with all its previously described properties.

“When vision with the physical eyes ceases, spiritual vision begins” (Archbishop John, “Life after death”).

“It seemed to me that this spiritual vision knew no boundaries, since I could see anything, anywhere” (R. Moody, “Life after Life”).

“It seemed to them rather that they were perceiving the thoughts of those around them and... this same mechanism of direct transmission of thoughts plays a very important role in the later stages of the experience of death” (ibid.).

Formed during a person’s lifetime

the mechanism for perceiving the structure of incoming information is preserved , which makes it possible to do without the sense organs remaining in the dead body. At the same time, one can clearly trace the connection of such perception with resonant spiritual-immaterial interaction .

“Each soul can come into contact with another soul only by directing its attention to it. This happens not only with “quickness of thought,” but also with perfect completeness, if the souls are at the same level of spiritual development; the whole thought is transferred with lightning speed from one soul to another, and each soul sees how a thought is created in another soul” (Yu. Ivanov, “Man and his soul. Life in the physical body and the astral world”).

In principle, the appearance of these properties in a person after death can be quite predicted based on the properties of his spiritual-immaterial component, which obviously must manifest themselves in the spiritual-immaterial world. This conclusion is emphasized by the almost complete

analogy of the effects manifested in post-mortem experience and during meditation .

“The natural or disembodied state is a state of peace, which can be compared to dhyana (deep meditation), although here the mind is still united with the body. Conscious perception of Pure Light causes a state of ecstasy, which the saints and mystics of the West call Illumination” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

But since it is possible (at least at the first stage) to perceive information from the material world telepathically, then

it is possible for the living to influence the soul of the deceased . Let's say, it is a fairly well-known fact that the presence of people close to him when he is dying, persuading (begging, screaming, etc.) him to “hold on a little longer,” can, in some conditions, actually prevent him from passing on to another world. And vice versa, since such an impact can also have harmful consequences for the soul, some “teachings on dying” recommend actions for others aimed at facilitating the process of “separation” of the dying person from the physical body and the adaptation of the soul to new conditions of existence.

“When someone dies, it is very important to have a close friend next to him, who will wholeheartedly help him and pray for the good of his soul” (“The Art of Dying,” treatise of the 15th century).

“According to Tibetan and Lamaistic ideas, one should not touch the body of the deceased, so as not to interfere with the normal separation of the stream of consciousness that leaves the body through the hole of Brahma, located in the crown” (Notes to the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“At this time [during dying] neither relative nor friend should be allowed to cry or lament: this is harmful for the deceased...” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

It is quite obvious that the separation of the soul from the physical body at death, the severance of connections between them, frees the “pyramid of the soul” from the need for continuous processing of information about the state and functioning of the elements and organs of the physical body. Consequently

the soul gains the opportunity to process more information about its own condition and information about the surrounding world .

“Not knowing whether he is dead or not, the deceased gains clarity of consciousness "(ibid.).

“...the mind becomes nine times stronger there [in the Intermediate State]” (ibid.).

In particular, separation from “bodily” information channels may be the cause of the “

memories » past life events. Since the need for information remains at the same level, and its quantity is sharply reduced (there are no more signals from the body), consciousness compensates for the resulting information deficiency by retrieving images from memory. Moreover, since information during a person’s life is received and recorded in memory not only through consciousness, but also subconsciously, the soul remembers even long-forgotten scenes and images.

“...the soul does not forget anything that it has done in this world, but remembers everything after leaving the body, and moreover, better and more clearly, as having been freed from this earthly body” (Abba Dorotheos, Teaching 12).

Other versions of the explanation of “remembering” are also possible. Firstly, the information channels of consciousness, freed from receiving information about the state of the physical body, can, as it were, “switch” to data about the state and contents of the unconscious part of the human psyche, where all the “pictures of the past” are stored.

Secondly, the soul, having lost material sources of energy, replenishes its supply by additionally organizing previously accumulated information (by analogy with the processes occurring during human sleep). This allows, in addition, to reduce the disorder of internal mental images, which enhances the resonant nature of their interaction and increases the stability of the “pyramid of the soul”, which with physical death loses part of the connections that hold it together as a single whole (connections with a single physical body). And this is thirdly...

In some cases, this “remembering” is carried out in the presence and under the influence of some external force, sometimes taking the form of a certain being. Often, adherents of religious views use references to this creature as an indisputable argument in favor of the existence of God. However, an unambiguous conclusion cannot be drawn here, since, firstly, there is a clear connection between the worldview of the dying person and the interpretation of the force (being) that the dying person gives to visible images. And secondly, let’s say, in the “Tibetan Book of the Dead,” which originated in a culture that did not proclaim the presence of one God as a personified person, the process of “remembering” is described as occurring without the intervention of an outside force (being).

“...a mirror in which all the good and evil deeds of man are reflected” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

Based on empirical data on the nature and conditions of the “remembering” process, two more conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, in certain cases, at this moment the influence of an external force is actually observed. And secondly, if this influence is carried out, then it has a very remarkable purpose.

“While watching, the luminous creature seemed to emphasize that the most important things in life are two things: learning to love other people and acquiring knowledge” (R. Moody, ibid.).

notice, that

the orientation “learn to love other people” directly follows from the conditions of coexistence of different personalities (people or souls) with resonant-dissonant spiritual-immaterial interaction between them . Since coexistence requires the absence of repulsion (i.e., the absence of dissonant interaction), it requires “tuning in” to the “natural frequencies” of another person, to perceive her as she is, which means precisely “orientation towards love.”

A focus on acquiring knowledge is directly related to the extraction of information energy . As mentioned earlier, in order to assimilate perceived information as completely as possible (as well as to obtain maximum efficiency in extracting energy when processing information), a person (and his soul) must have a maximum of knowledge in order to introduce a minimum amount of distortion into perceived information and have the ability to organize it as much as possible.

Thus, we're talking about about the impact aimed at adaptation to new conditions of existence: obtaining energy from information processing and the coexistence of individuals in conditions of the dominance of resonant-dissonant interaction . We will omit the question of who (or what) can have such an effect for now, since the available experimental data do not allow us to draw any unambiguous conclusion or assumption...

So, the soul is separated from the body, and this happens quite quickly (for the most part). However, judging by the available data, the final separation of the soul from the body occurs gradually and is completed after approximately three days (maybe this is why there is a custom to bury the deceased on the third day after death, when all connections are broken and the state of the physical body is no longer affects the state of the soul of the deceased).

“During the first two days, the soul enjoys relative freedom and can visit those places on earth that were dear to it, but on the third day it moves to other spheres” (Archbishop John, “Life after death”).

Until now, when describing and analyzing the processes that occur with a person upon the death of the physical body, we have operated only with the concept of “soul” (or “pyramid of the soul”). However, as stated earlier,

the spiritual-immaterial component of a person consists not only of the “pyramid of the soul”, which is an active object of the spiritual-immaterial world . This spiritual-immaterial component also includes such a passive object of the spiritual-immaterial world as the image of a person’s physical body. This is an object that in some “primary sources” appears under the term “human etheric body” and which we are more inclined to call the term “phantom” (see earlier).

Naturally, with the physical death of a person, the phantom image also undergoes changes. Having, like the “pyramid of the soul”, a spiritual-immaterial nature, the phantom image is separated from the physical body along with the “pyramid of the soul” . However, since its source is directly from the living organism, it is more connected with the physical body. Because of this (judging by the available data) after some time, the phantom image, the “etheric body” of a person (the image of the physical body, as an object of the spiritual-immaterial world), is separated from the “pyramid of the soul” and subsequently exists independently in the role of a passive spiritual-immaterial object .

“The very fact of communication with spirits, by the way, is also denied by serious occultists. Astral bodies do not take part in earthly life; mediums come into contact only with peculiar “shells”, “psychic shells” that retain individual features of the personality that inhabited them, which by this time had already left the astral world and moved to a higher dimension. These shells have only the appearance of life; they are enlivened by the psychic energy of the medium who has fallen into a trance (or, during table turning, by the energy of its participants). Therefore, in an involuntary letter, in the speeches of a medium, some replicas of the dead may appear, but there can be no question of genuine communication with spirits, since only some fragments of this “shell” materialize, which, moreover, are combined with the ideas and impressions of the medium.” (Preface by A. Rutkevich to the book by K. Jung “Archetype and Symbol”).

It is also natural that, thanks to the resonant spiritual-immaterial interaction, a phantom image can be “attracted” to the location of the physical body and to the places where a person lives during life, as noted in some “primary sources”.

“A few days after death, a person leaves the etheric body, which for some time floats over the grave of the physical body. The abandoned etheric body can sometimes be seen by sensitive people in a cemetery as a ghost. After a few weeks it disintegrates and dissipates in the air” (Yu. Ivanov, “Man and his soul. Life in the physical body and the astral world”).

If during a person’s life the existence of a phantom image is directly supported by the vital activity of the body, then with the cessation of life processes in the physical body and their replacement by processes of decomposition, the phantom image ceases to receive “feeding” from the body and gradually disintegrates (since it loses connection with the “pyramid of the soul” ").

The existence of a phantom image some time after the physical death of a person, taking into account the fact that the phantom image carries information about the state of the physical body during a person’s lifetime, creates conditions for the emergence of such a phenomenon as the possibility of diagnosing the lifetime diseases of a deceased person. By the way, V. Safonov, who was involved in similar diagnostics, notes the fact that diagnosing using a phantom image makes it possible to determine not only the state of the body before death, but also changes that occurred with the physical body some time after physical death (apparently until then , while some connections between the physical body and the phantom image are still preserved )...

So, the human soul is finally torn away from the physical body that connected the person with the material world, and finds itself in a purely spiritual-immaterial world, where objects interact according to completely different laws (a number of which were discussed earlier) than the laws that prevail in the material world.

“The soul is not restrained by any obstacles posed by death, but is more active because it acts in its own sphere without any connection with the body...” (St. Ambrose, “Death as a Good”).

The soul, as an active object of the spiritual-immaterial world, is capable of producing thought forms and thought images in it in the course of its activity. But now a person (more precisely, that active part that remains of him) is not connected with the material world and is in the spiritual-immaterial world. Therefore, in the process of mental activity, human consciousness generates images from spiritual-immaterial substance, which in the spiritual-immaterial world are completely independent objects (albeit dependent on consciousness), and

perceived (especially out of habit) like foreign objects .

“...from now on you are endowed with miraculous power; however, it is not the result of samadhi, but arose naturally in you and has a karmic nature” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“In the “subtle” world, you can create from subtle matter with your thoughts anything that a person desires. The richer a person’s imagination, the more diverse his creativity, and the more cultured the person, the more beautiful it is” (Yu. Ivanov, “Man and his soul. Life in the physical body and the astral world”).

“In the mental world, a person’s thoughts are immediately reproduced into certain forms, for the rarefied and subtle matter of this world is the environment in which our thinking manifests itself, and this matter immediately takes shape into certain shapes whenever thoughts act on it” (ibid.).

“...your mind in the Intermediate State has no solid support, is lightweight and is in continuous movement, and any of your thoughts, pious or not, has enormous power...” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

Thus, a person who is accustomed in material life to active mental activity (and not only on a conscious, but also on an unconscious level!) finds himself in the spiritual-immaterial world surrounded by the products of this mental activity. All images generated by the consciousness and subconscious “suddenly” (for him) acquire visible reality in the spiritual-immaterial world.

“According to the Chenid ​​Bardo, the reality that characterizes the Chenid ​​state is the reality of consciousness. “Thoughts” appear here as something real, fantasy takes on visible forms, the deceased experiences eerie visions generated by his karma and directed by the “dominants” of the unconscious” (C. Jung, “Psychological Commentary on the Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“When the Uncertain Reality appears before me, then, throwing away all thought of fear and trembling before all visions, may I be able to understand that they are just reflections of my own mind , may I be able to understand that by nature these are only illusions of the Bardo, and at the decisive moment of the opportunity to achieve a great goal, may I not be afraid of the hosts of Peaceful and Wrathful Deities - your own thoughts "(Tibetan Book of the Dead).

A person finds himself surrounded by a “swarm” of all kinds of images, many of which are generated by his

subconscious activity , which he does not yet know how to control. Therefore, images can take on a fantastic appearance, and a person is not always able to recognize them as his own. The effect is further enhanced by the fact that those images that belong to the collective unconscious also take on a “visible” form , inherited from previous generations and enshrined in the form of various “alien” mental images...

“The deities reside within us and are not something that exists outside of us” (Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup).

“The world of deities and spirits is the collective unconscious within me” (K. Jung, “Psychological Commentary on the Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

But since a person who is not yet accustomed perceives emerging images as foreign objects, and not the fruit of his thoughts, he

is able to evaluate them as hostile and aggressive, which most often gives rise to a feeling of fear in him .

“...phenomena, more precisely, the perception of phenomena in the world of Bardo will occur differently than in the earthly world, and it will seem to the deceased that all phenomena have moved out of their places and are in complete disorder. Hence, a warning to the deceased, who must get used to the posthumous state” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“Suddenly seeing something they have never seen before, they perceive it as something hostile; a feeling of enmity arises in them...” (ibid.).

“...if, despite spiritual concentration and obedience in earthly life, you do not recognize your own thoughts “If you do not accept this instruction, then the light will frighten you, the sounds will frighten you, the visions will frighten you” (ibid.).

"...a person meets here with its true quality as a result of the fact that the external environment influences him not from the outside, but from within himself” (Yu. Ivanov, “Man and his soul. Life in the physical body and the astral world”).

“Thus the first sphere represents subjective sphere , with as many states and experiences as there are many individuals and states of mind...” (ibid.).

“Those who experience a feeling of fear before death also fall into the first sphere... In fear, those awaiting their inevitable death slide straight into those ideas that they created it themselves about life after death" (ibid.).

Since a person falls into the sphere of his mental images, the heaviness is noted in all “primary sources”

suicide . A person commits suicide under the influence of some very unpleasant thoughts that receive a “visible” embodiment after death, so the suicide does not solve his internal problems, but, on the contrary, aggravates his situation even more.

“...the conflict that they tried to resolve by suicide remains even when they die, but new difficulties arise. In their non-corporeal experience, they can no longer do anything to solve their problems and, in addition, they have to see the tragic consequences of what they have done” (R. Moody, “Life after Life”).

It is interesting to note that the question remains open about the consequences of heroism, which strongly resembles (purely from the factual side) suicide. In particular, in cases where a person deliberately goes to death for the sake of other people or some ideals...

But let's return to the topic... What happens to a person (more precisely, to his soul) when he enters this “dark sphere”?..

On the one side, images, as passive objects of the spiritual-immaterial world, cannot independently harm a person .

“The body you now possess is called the spiritual body of inclinations; it is not made of flesh and blood, and therefore neither sounds, nor light, nor visions, nor anything will harm you; you are no longer subject to death. It is enough for you to know that these are your own thoughts” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

“Your body is a spiritual body, it cannot die even if it is beheaded or quartered. The nature of your body is emptiness, you have nothing to fear” (ibid.).

But there is another aspect. In essence, this first sphere is the area of ​​people’s mental images. The deep experience of its passage is determined by the absence of a “habit”, i.e. due to unpreparedness for the perception of images that arise so “closely” and “naturally”. A person is attacked by a chaos of mental images, from which he was previously protected by internal and external defense mechanisms. Hence,

“breakdowns” must be possible nervous, or rather - mental system (we said “nervous” out of habit, but there are no more nerves!!!). Especially if we consider that, according to S. Freud’s research, the influence from within on an individual’s “I” has much greater power than external irritation (since the “defense” is thinner, i.e., a lower threshold of sensitivity). Consequently, the faster the “overshoot” and “breakdown” of the psyche should occur under such described influence.

“This is the Bardo of the Wrathful Deities, and one who succumbs to the influence of fear, horror and trembling will find it very difficult to achieve awareness” (ibid.).

“...whoever does not recognize his own thought forms, no matter how well read he is in the sutras and tantras and no matter how he fulfills the religious commandments, even for an entire kalpa, will not become a Buddha. But whoever recognizes his thought forms will, with the help of this, become a Buddha” (ibid.).

“...these are thought forms generated by our own mind. When a person is convinced that he is frightened by a stuffed lion, he is freed from fear. If he doesn’t know that it’s just a scarecrow, fear increases, but as soon as everything is explained, fear leaves him... Enlightenment and self-knowledge free him” (ibid.).

Thus,

the deceased’s awareness of the dependence of the surrounding pictures on his own thoughts helps him get rid of causeless fear and overcome the sphere of his own mental images .

The Tibetan Book of the Dead notes the importance of the teaching, the importance of knowing what the deceased is facing. It helps reduce the likelihood severe stress when confronted with one’s own mental images in the “subtle” world . To a greater extent, the skill of “spiritual concentration”, which in the “Tibetan Book of the Dead” clearly means the ability to consciously regulate one's own thoughts . Unfortunately, this is not so easy to achieve without special training.

“A person dies only once in his life and therefore, having no experience, dies unsuccessfully. Man doesn't know how to die , and his death occurs gropingly, in the dark. But death, like any activity, requires skill. To die completely safely, you need to know how to die, you need to acquire the skill of dying, you need to learn how to die. And for this it is necessary to die while still alive, under the guidance of experienced people who have already died” (O. Pavel Florensky, “A Man Dies Only Once in a Lifetime”).

At the same time, we must not forget that

under the influence of any teaching, a person inevitably forms images that correspond to this teaching. Therefore, firstly, the world of his own images will inevitably absorb the features of this teaching; and secondly, the stability of the acquired images will inevitably adjust the area of ​​​​his subsequent stay (as we will see a little further). Based on this, it is necessary to “educate” and receive “enlightenment” on this issue with extreme caution. From our point of view, the most important thing in this case is to master process technology , and the metaphysical and religious surroundings of existing teachings can be discarded. To do this, of course, it is necessary to study and study the phenomena that occur during physical death...

“He who manages to die while alive does not fall into the underworld, but passes into another world” (ibid.).

“...one should master the method of conjuring images before the mind's eye and use its boundless merits to improve one's situation” (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”).

But in reality, a person is not always able to independently navigate an unfamiliar environment and escape from the “gloomy sphere.” Therefore, in post-mortem experiences we often see descriptions

meetings with previously deceased people who “help” overcome the stress caused by the transition to a new state .

When moving to another plane of existence “most were met by people who had once loved them and had died previously, or by religious figures to whom they attached serious importance during life and who naturally corresponded to their religious beliefs” (R. Moody, “Life After Life”).

“...other persons begin to appear before the dying person in order to help him in this transitional state” (ibid.).

“The deceased receives from his friends, so to speak, advice relating to his new condition in eternal life"(E. Swedenborg).

“In very few cases, respondents believed that the beings who met them were “guardian spirits”... Ordinary sinners are more likely to meet their relatives, friends or “gods” according to what they expect to see "(Hieromonk Seraphim, "The Soul after Death").

From all available data it can be concluded that

the meeting takes place with those persons who have certain characteristic features that are close in parameters to the corresponding characteristics of the deceased (as a rule, people who are “close in spirit” become friends in the full sense of the word, i.e. having a certain similarity of spiritual-immaterial components, similarity of sets of “natural frequencies” ). And this is quite understandable, since one of the types of interaction in the spiritual-immaterial world (namely, where the deceased ends up) is based on resonant-dissonant principle , which predetermines the possibility of “approaching” only for persons with a similar structure, since persons (souls) with different sets of “natural frequencies” repel each other (experience dissonant interaction). It is clear that the greater the similarity of the sets of “natural frequencies”, the closer the contact of the deceased with the person he meets can be.

It should be noted that, apparently, the persons encountered in this case are completely are not products of the consciousness of the dying as “inhabitants of the first sphere”, since their behavior, firstly, is very purposeful and independent of the thoughts of the deceased. Secondly, their appearance often occurs even before the deceased enters the “sphere of his own thoughts.” Thirdly, they give advice to the deceased on future behavior, but the person himself (in most of the cases studied) does not have any experience of existence after death. And fourthly, the behavior of the appearing persons is the same in the testimonies of different people who have experienced post-mortem experiences, which clearly should not have been observed in the case where the phenomenon in question would relate purely to the mental activity of the deceased and would be the fruit of his imagination...

This practically ends the available objective (more precisely, subjective) empirical material. In the future, we will have to rely only on the “indications” of various existing theories and compliance with ordinary logic. For now, we need to dwell on just one more experimental fact.

In all cases of meetings of the deceased with some unfamiliar persons (in addition to friends or relatives), it is clearly visible the connection between the worldview of the deceased and his interpretation of the person he met . Only believers meet gods, angels and the like; an atheist meets only some “person” (and not a deity).

“Christians of past centuries, who had a living belief in hell and whose conscience accused them at the end of their lives, often saw demons before death... The visions of modern “enlightened” Americans are quite consistent with their “comfortable” life and beliefs that exclude the real fear of hell and confidence in the existence of demons" (Hieromonk Seraphim, "The Soul after Death").

“...in modern “out-of-body” and “posthumous” states, ordeals and demons do not occur, and only occasionally the process of ascension is described” (ibid.).

“...in the modern “posthumous” experience there are apparently no direct meetings with angels” (ibid.).

Description of "sky"

“...essentially coincides with the worldly and even atheistic experience of “paradise”, with the exception of the interpretation of a few minor points that can be easily introduced into the “astral plane” by the human imagination” (ibid.).

The glow effect of biological objects in high-intensity electromagnetic fields has been known for more than two centuries.

But the method became widely known in the 1930s thanks to the Kirlian couple.

And in 1996, the St. Petersburg University of Information Technologies created a device with which you can observe the glow of a person’s energy field during life and even after death.

The idea was simple - if we see the distribution of energy in a living body, then we should see how it fades away after death, how the transition from living to inert matter occurs.

And here are the conclusions the scientists came to:

1. Death from old age

In these cases, the life cycle is naturally completed. The soul calmly leaves its shell. But not at once. She remains in her physical body for another day. About 16 hours after death, we see oscillations on the instruments that rise to a peak upward or, conversely, fall sharply. And finally they fade away.

2. Death is accidental

The journey of life has not been completed. And the soul does not want to part with the body. She's been tossing around for 48 hours. Then the glow suddenly goes out. And the flesh glows evenly and dimly, like a rubber dummy glows.

3. Death by suicide

The etheric body is tightly connected to the physical. The end of life for him is a surprise, a coincidence of circumstances and failures. The subtle body is not ready to suddenly leave the physical container where it suffered and struggled. And for almost three days the devices recorded bursts of energy. The more excited a person’s feelings are before death, the more difficult it is for the etheric double to fly away.

4. Sudden death due to an accident

In the first four hours after death, a narrow thin peak is visible on the instruments, and after another three, star-shaped emissions of luminescence, like a scattering of snowflakes. It’s as if energy is flowing out of a broken shell like a fountain. The subtle body needs a day to finally say goodbye to the physical body.