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> A Different Way To View Suffering, from George Anderson
Furkidlets' Mom
post Apr 9 2009, 03:44 PM
Post #1





Group: Pet Lovers
Posts: 1,208
Joined: 21-June 05
From: Canada
Member No.: 961



I'm so used to such perspectives by now, that I often forget that others may not have had the same learning benefits I'd had, so here is a good excerpt I found on another board that may help many of you who've had to witness their beloved one(s) suffering in some way.


From George Anderson's Walking in the Garden of Souls, Chapter 4, "Life in the Garden -- The Souls Want to Tell You":

Through so many sessions I have had with families, where the very fiber of their resolve has been tested by difficult circumstances both they and their loved ones endured on the earth, the souls have continued to state emphatically that there are no accidental circumstances on the earth. ... There is a specific reason why we have to suffer, or have to watch helplessly while a loved one suffers. No matter how much we think we could have changed the circumstance of the passing of a loved one, the souls tell us that we do not have that kind of control over the Infinite Light. ... We cannot, and we do not have that power, nor would we want it if we really thought things through. If we could understand from the perspective of the souls in the hereafter, then we would know that nothing that happens on the earth is meaningless to the story of our journey here, and everything has a purpose, even if it can't be immediately seen by us. There are no victims on the earth -- only students, who by their circumstance are fulfilling an important part of their life lesson by enduring whatever this lifetime has thrown in their path.... It is only the people who have suffered on the earth, through loss or circumstance, that truly understand what the souls are trying to say. Earth is a complex series of experiences designed to test our faith, our endurance, and our capacity to give and receive love. Some are joyful experiences, but many are tough, and it is up to us to decide whether we will use the time we have to our best advantage or fritter away the experiences, having learned nothing of value from them. No matter when the time comes in our lives, at the time it is necessary for us to graduate out of our existence here, our circumstance of passing is chosen to have the greatest impact on both our own spiritual lessons and the lessons of those around us. No matter what the circumstance, whether through illness or "accident" or at the hands of another -- the circumstance of our passing is only the vehicle that transports us from this dimension to the next one.

I have always found it curious that the souls never seem to spend too much time detailing the manner of their passing during a session, and seem to only relay the pertinent facts as a way of proving to their loved ones that they were aware of the circumstance. We tend to regard the moment of death as a monumental tragedy, but the souls regard it as merely the transition to their new life in the hereafter. I didn't realize until I was told by the souls that the circumstance of passing was really not an important step in the story of the soul's transition -- it is just the manner into which they were transported to a new life. Ask any married couple about their wedding, and while they can tell you in minute detail about that wonderful day, very few will even remember the ride to the church. If the souls spend any time at all communicating the details of their passing, it is usually because they want to give us the respect of reenacting a major moment in our life -- their passing to the hereafter. Otherwise, like their physical bodies, the last moments of their time on earth are no longer of any consequence to the souls -- what they have now is all they need. One very resourceful young soul in the hereafter helped both myself and her sister understand the concept through her ana logy: She asked us to "imagine being slapped and pulled physically from a ratty apartment, then shoved hard into a beautiful palace. Once you see that you got a beautiful palace out of the deal, who cares what it took to get you there?"

People who have had the hard experience of watching a loved one suffer have a very difficult time finding any value in what the souls insist is one of this lifetime's greatest learning experiences. Most cannot find any benefit whatever in having to stand by idly, unable to help, knowing that there is nothing they can do, and feel that suffering is the final insult their loved one will have to face before dying. In fact, many people I have spoken to throughout the years have found the experience of their loved one's suffering (and their own, witnessing it) to be among the cruelest, incomprehensible events of life. But the souls have often said that not only was the "momentary" (in the soul's eyes) suffering a quick, final, worthwhile experience that brought them great spiritual reward in the hereafter, the experience of having watched helplessly as they suffered will prove to be a great spiritual lesson for us on the earth. The souls tell us that the very act of caring and waiting and watching -- and not completely abandoning our hope -- is one of the most spiritual of the lessons we will ever learn. They also, without fail, will tell their families that great progress in each member's own spiritual journey has been made, because they have survived -- they have lived through the torment and agony, and yet still continue to live as best they can after falling so hard. ... And they tell us that not only is it incumbent upon us to accept that there was a reason (and a very good one) for all the suffering we and they endured, but experiencing the difficult times and living on here provides perhaps the greatest lesson of our lifetime -- to rebuild hope after it has been shattered.


--------------------
"I dropped a tear in the ocean. The day you find it is the day I will stop missing you."

[center]~Anonymous~


<div align="center">"Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart - but in it"[/center]

~Fleur Conkling Heylinger~


>^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< >^..^<


"For one species to mourn the death of another is a noble thing"

~Aldo Leopold~

<span style='font-size:9pt;line-height:100%'>Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage. ~Sri Aurobindo

Spay now or pay later, the interest is killing us.


</span></div>
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