See also~
Alien Life, Spiritualism and Channeling ~ Sri Daya Mata
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❖ Departed Souls and Astral Entities are Unreliable Guides ❖
Many persons erroneously imagine that “the dead”—human beings who have passed over to the astral world—are in touch with great masters or are themselves deep founts of wisdom. ….but until man achieves soul-realization he is unable after death to express any more divinity than he expressed during his life on earth. ….
The Gita points out that those who believe in consulting “departed spirits” are ignorant men. Such persons rely on the guidance of astral entities instead of seeking communion with God, the Heavenly Father and Friend of all. Having His help, what need of aid from astral beings? ….
Among these emancipated ones are the great gurus or spiritual preceptors appointed by the Lord to help mankind in silent, secret ways. They do not require any agent or “medium” to reach the truth-seeker who wants and needs their aid; they assist their disciples directly. Whether or not the devotee is conscious of such help does not matter; he will understand that he is receiving divine succor according to the way he himself changes inwardly and outwardly for the better. Eloquent, high-sounding phrases that emanate from an ordinary astral being who is posing, through the agency of a trance medium, as a “teacher of mankind” have no such power to transform man’s spiritual life.
The ordinary professional or amateur mediums, those without divine realization, are unable to “tune in” higher than the common astral realms. They cannot summon the presence of God-knowing saints to ask their “views” on various questions.2 The august beings who are at one with the Ineffable Infinite can never be commanded to give a weekly lecture, for instance, through a trance medium on earth. Darkened human minds, the Bhagavad Gita points out, have many gross misconceptions about the nature of the divine plan for man’s redemption. …
❖ No True Saint or Master Communicates through Mediums ❖
While physically embodied, a master employs the gross instruments of expression for the easy recognition and acceptance of those who are thus limited. His higher spiritual workings on behalf of the world and individual devotees remain generally unseen—but tangibly felt by those who are receptive. These are the true blessings and guidance of a master by which spiritual changes are wrought in the inner astral and causal natures of man, and which in turn then find expression in his material existence.
When a master is no longer encumbered by incarnate constraints, his transforming succor continues just the same, but he does not demean himself and his spiritual effectiveness by seeking gross expression again through “mediums.” Having given his divine message and testimony while on earth, he doesn’t have any “afterthoughts” requiring revelation by psychics and spiritualists. But when a devotee by self-effort uplifts his consciousness in meditation to the pure realms of the saints and angels, he himself will perceive through divine sight or wondrous intuitions the presence and guidance of the holy ones who are his spiritual benefactors, and the loving God who empowers them to dispense His grace.
❖ Danger of Possession by “Tramp Souls” ❖
The astral world (with its various higher and lower vibratory realms) contains many beings who are good, many who are ordinary, and many who are bad; just as on earth we find all degrees of goodness and badness among human creatures. The person who indiscriminately opens his mind to receive whatever messages may come to him through “spirits” is not able to tell what sort of contact he is making in the astral spheres; and by becoming receptive to any astral vibration he runs the risk of getting into “bad company.” He may also become engrossed with phenomena of the lower astral worlds and thus fail to make any spiritual progress toward the only desirable goal: inner illumination, salvation.
If a person were to keep his automobile unlocked, unoccupied, and with the key in the ignition, anyone could get in, drive it, and wreck it. Similarly, when the mind is kept blank, any “tramp soul” may get in and possess that hapless individual. These tramp souls are roaming through the ether by the millions. They are seeking rebirth, but because of bad karma they are unable to incarnate as soon as they desire; hence they are continually looking for some foolishly passive mentality so that they can use that human being’s flesh and mind to satisfy their wish for physical embodiment. They can very quickly get into a mind that is permitted to become blank. If a person is weak or negative, then during any attempt to contact departed spirits, such as at a séance, he may easily become the victim of a tramp soul. Such possession deranges the subconscious mind. ….
Yogis stress the importance of concentrating on a definite thought of God while casting aside all other ideas. By thus trying always to reach the highest vibration, the seeker is able to avoid the lower astral world and to commune with the Lord in one of His manifestations—as Peace, or as the Cosmic Sound Aum, or as Light; or, if one is very advanced, as the visible form of a saint. ….
Persons who invite visitations from astral entities—and, similarly, those who allow their minds to be hypnotized (that is, controlled) by another—carelessly risk the enslavement of their God-given instruments of salvation: consciousness and will.
Even though one may encounter only “benevolent” astral entities, and even though the hypnotist may be trying to help that person, the fact remains that he has permitted another being, on this or the astral plane, to invade and temporarily control his consciousness. This is a dangerous practice, one that does not in any way hasten spiritual advancement or resemble a true experience of the presence of God, which should be man’s sole goal.
Paramahansa Yogananda, God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita–Chapter XVII verse 4 (excerpts)
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See also~Alien Life, Spiritualism and Channeling ~ Sri Daya Mata
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