After being immersed in the study of science and spirituality for the past twenty plus years, and after devouring too many books to count, there is one concept that I still find hard to accept. I remain open to everything regarding survival of consciousness after bodily death, but some concepts seem more probable than others.
Among those in the spiritual community, it is widely accepted that we enter “soul contracts” before we incarnate. Such a contract is essentially an agreement that we make with our higher selves/soul, and we return to the physical world knowing that our lives will be short, or long, or filled with hardship, obstacles, and joy. This theory assumes that we return to improve upon deficiencies we had in our previous lives, and thus move closer to enlightenment. Many who have lost loved ones find this theory to be comforting, as it provides a pre-determined reason for death of a loved one, as since it was agreed upon it could not have been changed or prevented. Those who subscribe to this theory usually recognize that free will still plays a role, but it does not change the outcome.
I do not believe that each one of the six million Jews exterminated by Hitler had a soul contract to die at that time. Similarly, I do not believe that each one of the almost three thousand people that died as the result of the 9/11 attacks had a similar contract. Egomania, politics, religion, and power played roles, but not contracts or Divine intervention.
Often people think in religious terms and believe that people die because a Creator fated it to be so. They also believe that the same Creator determines where they go after they die, based upon the life they lived, which can be a frightening prospect. Over the years I have met people who were angered by a God who did not fulfill their end of the bargain. In other words, they played by all the rules and were promised that if they did so good things would come. Instead, the worst thing that could happen took place. I will always remember a conversation I had with a woman whose son was killed when a drunk driver jumped the curb and struck the boy. She was counseled, as I was after my daughter died, that God “needed another angel.” Really? With the billions of souls available, God needed more assistance and could not wait? This woman also mentioned that if the car had jumped the curb and missed her son by a couple of inches, she would be told that God intervened to save his life. I don’t believe either scenario.
I have written about this before, and although I believe in reincarnation, I lean on the side that soul contracts do not exist. Instead, I believe that an organized universe selected our physical existence, which is a sliver of a greater continuum of life, to be left alone to our own designs. We make of it what we will, and this randomness is part of the overall design. We all react differently to the obstacles, challenges, and experiences that occur. Rather than predetermination suggested by a contract, we are left to navigate a world that is dependent on free will, happenstance, and serendipity. That is how we learn and grow.
This means that, although we all ride a train and get off at different stops, accidents, illness, happiness, sadness, and joy…. they all just happen. Free will decisions by us and others, environmental reasons, genetics, politics, life choices, cultural and societal influences, are all factors that result in good and bad. People have genetic mutations that make them susceptible to disease, and sometimes they get ill. Sometimes people are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and accidents occur. Lifestyle choices, environmental toxins, social norms, the ego mind, and an intricate web of connected consciousness can have cause and effect consequences, good and bad. I often hear it said that there is no such thing as a coincidence, and everything has a reason, but I do not believe this to be true.
However, I believe that once we move on to the next dimension after bodily death, the organized part of our lives come into play. It’s as if the wave of randomness collapses into order with crystal clarity. We can self-evaluate our lives, whether they were short or long, and perhaps we have help in doing so. The love and empathy we exhibited towards others, how we faced adversity, or how we managed prosperity, now play a role in our non-physical existence. We then see that the apparent randomness was part of a designed plan. We realize that all the things that seemed earth shattering in the physical realm now mean extraordinarily little in the broad picture. It is only in the physical dimension where ego, greed, hate, bigotry, and the thirst for wealth and power dominate.
I also know that discarnates, loved ones in the next dimension, have an interest in our well-being. Seemingly in violation of the universe’s Laissez-faire policy towards the physical world, our loved ones in Spirit do try to help us on an individual basis. They may be able to send a warning through thought transference or point us in the direction of good fortune. However, they cannot translate this to the macro level of affecting large groups of people, cities, countries, or our planet.
Those involved in the spiritual or scientific aspects of life after physical death may have noticed some apparent inconsistencies in my thoughts regarding soul contracts. How do I explain the common reports from near death experiencers where they state that they were sent back to their bodies because it was not yet their time to pass. These reports suggest a pre-determined timeline in the physical world. However, as I suggested, randomness and uncertainty only apply to the physical realm. Near death experiencers move to the non-physical realm, a place where order and meaning exist. Therefore, from that perspective, they can see the need to return. Or they simply want to go for another ride. When I play golf and have a bad day, I want to go back to correct the mistakes that I think I made. However, some days I feel like I have had enough of golf and want to move on in another direction. Perhaps those in the next dimension have similar choices.
I certainly don’t have the answers to these deep questions. Like most people I am always trying to make sense and find meaning in our existence here. I now simply live in the moment, as moments and love are all we have, and I try to experience the next world now. I do feel that I am a free agent and have not signed any contracts, but this remains to be seen. My intention is to be the best person I can be, not return, and continue to grow in the realms to come.
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