FMBR Editorial: Feb, 2002
Beyond the Veil
William C. Gough (about work with Dr. Robert Shacklett)
The question of what lies beyond the veil -- is there life after life -- has been pondered for eons. Ancient traditions consistently held a belief in an afterlife. However, the question of the existence of a spirit world is one that mainline science has painstakingly avoided. My own personal belief has evolved over the years. The major event that altered my beliefs was an FMBR project in 1986 using two channelers to communicate to a group of deceased persons. The information we received was interactive and consisted of facts later confirmed that were unknown to any of the participants. This implied to me that organized intelligence must somehow survive death.
This led in 1999 to a paper with Dr. Robert Shacklett on "What Science Can and Can't Say About Spirits." In that paper we explored in depth the issue of spirit worlds and the possibility there might exist a continuity of life after death. We found evidence supporting the existence of a spirit world coming from many research areas. When taken as a whole, it provides a rather convincing story that supports the viewpoint of ancient civilizations and religious traditions. In addition to the more than a century of investigations into channeling and mediumship, there are recent data from the field of thanatology (the scientific study of death and dying), research on out-of-body and especially near-death experiences, the study of comatose patients, reincarnation research with children, and finally the use of electronic devices to receive information from the spirit level.
Here are some examples of the characteristics described for that world beyond the veil. Individuals on the spirit level can have a body composed of finer matter and vibrations. Their thoughts create their reality and they communicate telepathically. One's personality is normally unchanged from what it was on earth, yet intellectual growth continues. Separation due to the body's skin no longer exist. One's mind determines the body's appearance, missing limbs are reestablished, disfigurations become perfect and the age one appears is subject to choice. There is no sickness, and sex exists without pregnancy. The environment beyond the veil is described as having houses and beautiful settings with sandy beaches, lakes, and mountains. Butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. exist as do family pets. What has just been described is extremely hard for a scientist and even a lay person to believe. Yet, if spirits are real, then we must treat this information as possibly being valid. How could this be?
To encompass this data Dr. Shacklett and I proposed a cosmology of multiple interpenetrating levels or fields of waves, related to each other, not causally, but by reflecting a common pattern. In a subsequent paper with Dr. Dean Brown, on Resonance, Coherence, and Us we proposed "resonance" as the mechanism for the interactions between physical and non-physical worlds. Quantum physics states that everything in the universe is vibrating -- all forms and patterns have a spectrum of waves associated with them. Resonance represents the transfer of energy/information between vibrating waves of similar shapes and forms. Very powerful energy transfers occur for identical wave characteristics. But for wave characteristics far apart, energy transfers are almost undetectable.
In this dense physical world where our material bodies now reside, separation occurs based upon the physical properties of the environment -- we are separated by oceans, mountains, national boundaries, as well as our physical bodies. Although we bond with friends, family, country and establish a resonance, the resonant process has not served as the principle organizing mechanism for humanity. However, beyond the veil resonance may actually become the primary organizing mechanism. Individuals with close associations and similar thought patterns would cluster together because their wave characteristics resonate. This is why many contacts with the deceased involve relatives and close associates. Intention (a focused thought pattern) provides the basis for the creative process at all levels. Only with finer matter and higher frequencies this process has a very rapid response -- you become what you think.
All religious traditions hold that "to die in a state of prayer is enormously powerful." In the Buddhist tradition considerable emphasis is placed upon developing practices for dying. They point out that "whatever thought you die with is the one that will return most potently when you reawaken" beyond the veil. The emphasis placed upon the state of mind at death could be based upon resonance being the connection between levels of physicality. When one considers resonance as the primary organizing mechanism beyond the veil, then the concept of heaven and hell take on a unique meaning. A person's thought patterns while in the physical body indeed establishes the environment that they will encounter in their after-life. You are therefore creating your own future "heaven" or "hell" by today's actions and choices.
William C. Gough, Feb 2002