download link - Starbridge Centre

LiberationthroughResonanceintheBardoU laandErikSandersen

Liberation through Resonancein the BardoThe series of 9 contemplative illustrationsIs reverently dedicated to Swami Sri YukteswarWe are pleased to present this booklet, “Liberation Through Resonance InThe Bardo”, based on a series of 9 pictures introduced during a sevenmonth`s certificate course in 2004 at Starbridge Centre, about how to help aperson who has died or who is dying.It is our hope that this contemplative series will reach as many as possibleand be used as a healing tool, both for those who are using the illustrationsand their contemplations as well as for those it primarily are meant for.The series of nine pictures in this booklet can be used individually, alone, or ina group meditating together, as we do ourselves at Starbridge Centre in orderto reach out and help those we know and those it may come to our knowledgewho has died, and who otherwise would be beyond our reach.The illustrations are painted in watercolours during 2003 by Ulla Sandersen inclose co-operation with her husband, Erik Sandersen.The text is written according to the same meditative checks, by Ulla and Eriktogether.Peter Sandersen has been the force behind all graphic design in this book.In 2002, the first booklet “Our Cosmic Home, A Manual For The Dying”, alsowith comtemplative water colour illustrations, was released.(available asspiralbound A4 book and e-book). In 2005 we have released our latestbooklet “The Path of Dharma”, a series of twenty colourful illustrations ofcosmic symbols meant for contemplation. This booklet is also available asspiralbound A4 book and e-book.For further details about ourselves and our activities, check our website:http://www.starbridge.com.au Email: ulla&erik@starbridge.com.auLatest update Nov 2005Ulla and Erik Sandersen© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved2

INTRODUCTIONWHAT IS THE LAW OF RESONANCE?It is a pivotal point to understand that by contemplating a picture,we can affect other personsby the vibrational pattern we thus create.That we can affect someone who is DEAD may be more difficult tocomprehend for us in the West, with our materialism and strong attachment toour bodies. But the way we can, and actually do all the time, influence others,and in this connection in particular someone who has died, is through morphicresonance. This is a concept created by Rubert Sheldrake which he, with hisown words defines as “similar things influence similar things across time andspace. In this understanding, growing organisms are shaped by fields whichare both within and around them, fields which contain, as it were, the form ofthe organism”.This means that we can reach and guide a dead person via our “resonance”,the resonance created by contemplating these nine pictures while we holdhim or her in our mind. Obviously, the pictures only work when someone islooking at them.The discarnated, astral individual can only “see” the vibrations of the pictureswhen they are astrally “charged” and directed to him. This is why a picture inits own right is not enough, someone needs to meditate on it for it to work.The lasting effect the nine pictures may produce in the living person who isworking with them will continue to affect the person who has died as long asresonance exists between the two.How can a person who is dead hear when ”The Tibetan Book of theDead” is read aloud for him?“The simple reply is that the consciousness of the dead person, when it isinvoked by the power of prayer, is able to read our minds and can feel exactlywhatever we may be thinking or meditating on. That is why there is noobstacle to the dead persons understanding the Tibetan Book of the Dead orpractices done on their behalf, even though they may be recited in Tibetan.For the dead person, language is no barrier at all, for the essential meaning ofthe text can be understood fully and directly by his or her mind.This makes it all the more vital that the practitioner should be as focused andattentive as possible when doing the practice, and not merely performing it byrite. Also, as the dead person is living the actual experiences, he or she mayhave a greater capacity to understand the truth of the Tibetan Book of theDead than we do!”Sogyal Rinpoche “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” p. 305Here from Certificate Course: Death and Dying, Weekend 1The above quote also explains how looking contemplatively at picturesreflecting psychological stages in the process of dying and after death can beof help.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved3

How to use the 9 picturesAs mentioned before, the following pictures are equally relevant for the deadas they are for the living. As we have illustrated (in the course) via thedifferent teachings about what happens after death, such as the ancientEgyptian “Book of Coming Forth By Day”, the Tibetan Buddhist teachings in”The Bardo Thodol”, Paramahansa Yogananda, Rudolph Steiner`s and othersaccounts of life after death in the astral universe - all agree that there is a lifeafter death, and that at least in the early stages of the after-death-life, theindividual is not necessarily aware that the or she has died.Liberation through hearing in the bardo, after death, as stated by TibetanBuddhism, is becoming a seriously considered possibility also in the West.The same level of “liberation” or, to use a word from Christianity which is closeenough, “salvation”, is possible through resonance in the bardo, bycontemplating the series in this booklet. The pictures will help both the personwho has died and the (living) person who is contemplating them to becomemore flexible mentally, less polarising in their way of thinking, and ((both ofthem) consciously and safely to expand beyond the physical dimension andinto the astral.The series can be used by those who can neither surrender fully to theBuddhist teaching in the book, “Bardo Thodol, nor to the Christian teachingabout the after-death stages such as Heaven, Purgatory and Hell, nor to anyother particular teaching or faith.It is important to state that the nine illustrations presented here are notin disagreement with any of these religious teachings. The nine picturesand their contemplations are simply offering an alternative way into theessence of the same spiritual truths.The purpose is to help the mind of the dead person facing issues and trainflexibilities within the various unusual and often scary events during thebardos .These “bardos”, the moments of truth that we all have to encounterwhether we like it or not, throughout life and in death, may be described as“dimensions of possible realities”. Or quantum physically speaking: a “bardostate” may be understood as one of the worlds in the “many- worlds” school.The person who has died, exposed to the often dramatic experiences in thebardo without the physical anchor of the body, will essentially only have his orher inner integrity to rely on during these experiences. The resonance from aphysical, compassionate person who is contemplating the pictures can be oftremendous support.The 9 pictures fit into the bardo-descriptions in Tibetan Buddhism, theyconvey the same understanding of the events. It is important to emphasize,however, that the nine pictures are not depicting the bardos as such.The pictures relate to all stages in the process of death and rebirth, and are,as stated above, helping the mind to be open for change, to let go of theknown reality and move on, and to transcend polarity thinking.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved4

The approach is psychological, working with symbolisations ofpsychological challenges in the bardos. They do not attempt to describe howthe experiences literally may look, even though some experiences are verysimilar to some of the pictures, as for example “Nothing Solid” (picture 4), and“Home”, the meeting with the Primary Clear Light, (picture 5). The pictures arenot attempting a description of where we are after death, but are focusing oncreating resonance in the person who has died.Accordingly, there is NOT a set order in which these pictures should becontemplated, as for example is the case in the description of the stages inBardo Thodol. This is linear, describing a stage by stage process of dying, themoment of death and after death, while these pictures are multi-dimensionallyinterconnected.; All nine themes may be recurring in the same or in a differentorder throughout the existence in the bardos.The order of the pictures is given here, simply because the successive orderis pleasing for the mind. The successive order is not “real”, as everythinghappens simultaneously and quantum-physically.Once again – the pictures offer a way of helping the dead, and they areat the same timey a spiritual path that ultimately invites toenlightenment, not unlike The Tibetan Book of The Dead, “The BardoThodol”.It is also important to keep in mind, that the deceased are in no way forced torespond because of our effort to help them. Contemplating these picturesworks through resonance, inviting, and not forcing the deceased toparticipate.A literal interpretation of the Tibetan Bardo Thodol describes six different“realms” in which it is possible to achieve rebirth. A symbolic understanding ofthese realms will see different “classes” or different mindsets in humans,rather than different ‘species’ or beings, as the options.The pictures in the following focus on supporting rebirth in the human realmon planet Earth.A persistent and successful contemplative work with the pictures may wellcorrespond to rebirth in the higher realms, understood symbolically.When, and for how long, should we try to help someone who has died ?There are particular periods in which it is important to focus on helping theperson who has died:• The first 24 hours• The first 7 days• The first 40 days© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved5

It will always be a help to contemplate these pictures whenever you havesomeone in mind who is dead, no matter how long ago this person has died.Related to the tricky issue of time is the notion of the astral world as timeless,or at least with another way of measuring “ time” than ours.The way ‘time’ is translated in the astral after-death states may be moreconnected to the degree of meditative training of the deceased.This means that the individual stages in the bardo can last anything from thetime it takes to snap your fingers, to a sun-year.• From the point of view of the (living) person contemplating the pictures- we recommend anything from 5 minutes per picture to one hour perpicture!• Contemplate the pictures regularly, for example once a week, or atleast once a month.• Contemplate all the pictures every time.When you have meditated regularly on all the pictures, you can consider twoways of continuing:• Continue using equally long time to contemplate each picture until youknow them all well, and then consider honestly which one of thepictures you have troubles with (which may likely be the one you don’tlike), and use more time on that.• Always meditate on all the pictures!• After having contemplated these pictures - or in whatever other wayyou may have been given support and healing to the dead - there mayfor some of you be a feeling that some of these discarnate beings stilllinger around. This is NOT dangerous or a problem as such, but if youfeel you want consciously to be free of them, just shift your “frequency”and think of something pleasant.First and foremost – no tool helps unless it is usedUsed with sincerity and reverence.If a large group of people is killed by natural disasters, disease,epidemics, by terrorism, wars, or by accidents – an event that is broughtto your knowledge via the news media, you do not have to feelpowerless or disheartened, because it IS possible to reach out and help.You can help others through the final transition, being it friends,relatives, clients, or someone you have never met in your life.“Do not ask for whom the bells tolls, it tolls for me!”John Dunne, (seventeenth-century English poet and clergyman) says thatbecause we are all part of mankind, any person’s death is a loss to all of us:“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; andtherefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”.http://www.bartleby.com/59/6/forwhomthebe.html© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved6

When you want to help someone who has died via these pictures, werecommend the following 3 steps:1. Centring:Imagine that you sit upon a “square”; this will help you to stay grounded andto build up an atmosphere of deep contemplation..You can also center yourself by feeling your entire physical spine inside yourbody. Both physically and symbolically, the spine represents your“backbone”.Simultaneously, imagine Christ or another enlightened Master youfeel affiliated with (your guru if you have one), above your head ;(If you wantto be precise you may link in to ”the point of idendity” an arms-length aboveyour head). If you have difficulties by imagining Christ or any other spiritualMaster, you can link in to the highest principle you trust, or to the highestspiritual experience you have had.Take your time to prepare yourself in the described way, and then, withcompassion, open yourself up for the person who has died, or, if you have acollective event in mind, for the individual, or the group of individuals whohave died, and whom you want to help.There are two ways to continue:• Address the deceased person or persons along the lines suggested inthe following invocation.• The alternative approach is more demanding for yourself, but may alsobe more effective in helping the person who has died to let go andmove on: Ask yourself, in the light of the dead you want to help:• What in YOU died when you learned about these deaths?2. Say the invocation loudly (see below)3. Look at all the pictures, one at a time, while you are aware of yourspine, and contemplate the instruction (to be said loudly) to thepicture.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved7

Before contemplating the of pictures, start with an invocation.It is best to address the deceased directly, respectfully and audibly, notemotionally, using his or her name if you know it, or any other description thathelps reaching out and connect with the deceased.For example :O noble son(s) or daughter(s) (name(s)I know (believe) you are ‘dead’I also know, that even if your body may be dead,YOU may not be unconsciousI am your relative/I am a human like youI was a witness to your death/You came to my attention in the news(/state how you learned about them)My heart goes out to you in compassionYou are in what is called a bardo state after deathI will now contemplate nine pictures describing liberation throughresonance in the bardo.You will learn how to let go, and to make your mind flexible so that youbetter can deal with whatever happens for youListen, and relate to the resonance.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved8

Letinggo

I. PictureLETTING GOContemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze, and contemplateThe left behind: “What should you have said?“What should you not have said?”The deceased: “You must let go. You must let go. You must let go”.(Three times.).The background for the hands – the dead and the living who both are in theprocess of letting go - is sparkling sky-blue as the clear mind when it is void ofany pollution or attachment. The transparent sky-blue colour aids aconnection with the pure mind and may ease an acceptance of the truth thatwe are only visiting.“Letting Go” relates to all aspects of the passage through the bardos, but mostintensely in the beginning, when the person who has died is forced to let go ofthe whole of the well-known reality, loved ones, relatives and friends.Later in the bardos, during the displays of especially the positive aspects ofthe mind (“the positive deities”). and later still, in what the Tibetan “BardoThodol” calls the sidpa bardo state, where the person who has died oftenbecomes conscious again and may not have realised, that he or she is dead,the need to be able to let go of attachments is crucial.A person contemplating this picture may clairvoyantly percieve amoving vision of astral spheres, where hundreds or maybe thousandsof discarnated people are sitting, some alone, some in groups, all cryinginconsolably.A compassionate help to let go can be of immense help for these souls. Mostof them are faced with the demand to let go of husbands, wives, mothers,fathers, children, everything. All will be faced with almost more than they canbear.Most of us who are alive also have situations where letting-go was, or is, thechallenge, and where, if we are honest, we never did really let go - justsuppressed the issue, pushed the pain out of our mind and continued ourlives.“LETTING GO” is the most difficult picture of the whole series tocontemplate honestly.Contemplating the picture, done rightly (“look at the picture with a relaxedgaze, feel your entire spine, and contemplate “You must let go”, 3 times),helps the person who has died by strengthening integrity and centring,enabling him or her to pass through the unevitable process.It is important to repeat three times: “You must let go”, because if you canrepeat this loudly three times with presence of mind (!) then you mean it, andthen there IS a letting-go.Contemplating “Letting Go” is difficult.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved10

Areyoureadytomeetyourmaker?

II. Picture:ARE YOU READY TO MEET YOUR MAKER?Contemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze, and contemplateYou cannot go back, you can only go forth.Where do you go?Are you ready to meet your Maker?If the deceased manage to pass the first phase, “letting go” consciously, thenext phase will be felt as as a “breather”. The picture depicts the meeting withan astral doorway. Looking into the portal, you look into a quantum physicalworld, into a “corner” of a curved universe.The purpose is here transformation of fear, to heal, or at least diminish theimpact from the shatteringly lonely experience of the previous stage, lettinggo, an experience where ones reality was shaken or annihilated.The triangle of the portal to enter through has the classical white and blackcolours of polarities. The triangle itself reflects astral balance, precision andsincerity. The space inside the triangle is arching away relative to thespectator, attempting to invite a dimensional shift of consciousness. Thequestion is asked : “Are you ready to meet your Maker?”The green background colour, the colour of hope, relates to the heart, Greenis the blend of blue, that relates to our spiritual nature, and yellow, relating toour earthly nature. “Spirit and nature dancing together” is in essence what weas physical humans embody.The question “Are You Ready to Meet Your Maker” is relevant whenever webelieves or identifies oureselves with being be physical, and are utterlychallenged in this belief-system. Such a challenge of our sanity happenswhenever we move into in a bardo state, in an alternative dimension of reality.The triangle drawn with sharp black and white lines helps because it relates totranscendence of polarity thinking. Again, contemplating the triangle isfacilitating healing, because essentially the only way one can be ‘healed’ isby opening oneself to the divine, ones “Maker”.If someone in a bardo, who is resonating with this picture will not, or cannot,go through the portal, one of two things is likely to happen: either this personwill meet the content of his or her own consciousness, the “deities” and so on,described in the Bardo Thodol, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, andelsewhere. Or he or she will simply faint or fall asleep - not uncommonly onlyto wake up again in a new, tiny physical body.If one in a bardo goes through the portal, but is not quite ready, the outcomemay well be fear. If one goes through the portal, and is ready, the outcome isJOY! If one is ready and moving through the portal into the inner space of thetriangle, he or she is ready to receive enlightened guidance and is on the pathtowards liberation.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved12

The picture “Are you ready to meet your Maker” can help our ego, regardlessif we are incarnated or discarnated, to overcome the limitation of fear thatarises when reality has broken down and there is nowhere to hold on to.If you are contemplating the picture regularly and in the right way, it willgradually help you to cope with your own fears. This is a good picture tocontemplate in its own right!.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved13

Adventure

III. Picture:ADVENTUREContemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze, and contemplate:Focus on the sun.In your mind’s eye, let the black and the white meet.Thunder!The yellow sun in the center symbolises the higher Self. The black colourbelow symbolises “the mother” or the material world. The white coloursymbolises “the father” or the spiritual, eternity, no-movement. It is only in theordinary consciousness, that black and white are opposites. On the spirituallevel there is no duality, only unity. The white colour, “the father”, as thepositive pole; and the black colour, “the mother”, as the negative pole, is thesimplest way of describing the basics of the dual reality that enablesmovement and physical existence.The astral Sun is in the center to bring the higher Self in focus, to invite theperson who is contemplating it (and via resonance also the individual who hasdied) in a balanced way to seek the higher Self.The picture is meant for someone – which means most of us - who has notyet realised the Self, so subjectively there is still a movement, a direction, apath to go, from where he or she is and to realisation of the Self, which willcontinue right until he surrender. Someone experiencing the astral sun maysee it right there in the center, but more probably he may find the sun down ina corner, behind something and so on, reflecting the “Yes-but” attitude that isso common for the human mind..The multicoloured “dots” in the middle band relates to the heart. Thechaotically looking, but orderly arranged, multicoloured patterns, the” Harlekindots” represent the confusing experience of “what-is-in-fact-real”. At death,the disappearing last remnants of normal known life is experienced in thisway.When the black and the white meet, the door opens into the astral world.As mentioned before, this picture is potentially scary, but only because of ourlittle understanding of our own mind. Maybe exactly therefore, the picture hasthe reassuring title “Adventure”.The picture invites an experience of the freedom generated from goingbeyond the mind. What we probably do not appreciate, is that going beyondthe mind is the condition for any new experience. Only if the letting go of theattachment to polarity has happened, is there an opening for something newto be experienced - regardless if it is in the after-death states or in everydaylife.The movements of the black and the white are both towards each other - andaway from each other. This is different from the contemplation, because theinstruction focuses on training the mind to let go of itself.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved15

The movement of the black and white away from each other, enabling anenlargement of the multicoloured band, is the movement into the ego, backinto everyday consciousness. The movement of the black and white spacestowards each other, is the transcendence of duality and movement out of theego. The moment the black and white touches, we are in a bardo. Thistension and flux is the constant condition of the ego - the known, predictableworld in the one end, and the openness to the new, unknown in the other end.When the black and the white meets – Thunder!This is because of the opening to the astral world that happens when wetranscend polarity. There is a thunder-like sound at that moment. If we are notin balance, it will be a discordant, loud ‘thunder-like’ sound.If we are in a very good balance within ourselves, it will be the OM-sound weare hearing.The notion of balance is not easy – most, if not all of us, will have trepidationswhen we meet our extremes, the divine and the evil, in whatever form weindividually will experience that.Liberation through resonance in the bardo: If the contemplation on the pictureof “Adventure” succeeds, surrender to the sun will happen, and we will findourselves in the Primary Clear Light, in other words “Home” (picture 5).© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved16

Nothingsolid

IV. Picture:NOTHING SOLIDContemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze, and contemplate:Look at the Sun.Everything else,the zodiac, everything else, is waving.Open up to the Sun.The universe with the sun in the center and the stars surrounding it is amovement, a process.The sun is the only object that is not waving. The vibrating waves are like adrop falling into still water, creating ripples. The rippels are not spreadingoutwards, but they are making the universe waving and expanding. The starsthemselves are also waving. This is the astral universe.That is the way it looksin this condition. It is a blissfull experience.The physical universe is a mirror of the astral (not the other way round). Sowhen we die, we expand out in the astral universe, to which the physical isonly a mirror. The physical and the astral universes occupy the same space,but with different vibrations. So in a sense it is true that we after death expandinto the physical universe.“Looking at the stars while strolling one evening with a group of disciples, theMaster [Yogananda] said:“Each of you is composed of many tiny stars of atoms! If your life force wasreleased from the ego, you will find yourself aware of the whole universe.When great devotees die, they find their consciousness spreading overinfinite space. It is a beautiful experience.”Paramahansa Yogananda: “Sayings”, p. 97.When we die, the bardo we find ourselves in what may be described in thelanguage of modern science, as the reverse of “the collapse of the wavefunction” in a big way; that we harvest what we sow. Whatever we investedinin the life hat has gone, and coloured with our subjective understandings,must loosen up now.The transition from picture 3: “Adventure”, which is opening the door to theastral universe, and thus to the reality in this picture, where nothing is solidbut everything is glimmering and wavering, represents expansion into higherand multi-dimensional consciousness.The expansion after death goes way beyond the ego and towards cosmicdimensions, to the twelve star signs of the zodiac. In spiritual cosmology, thezodiac is the blueprint for dharma. Dharma is - with ParamahansaYoganandas words: “the eternal laws of righteousness, that uphold theuniversal structure and the very existence of human beings.”© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved18

The meeting between the dead person’s ‘mind’ and the zodiac, regardless ifthis meeting is harmonious or inharmonious, is when the wellknown scene ofJudgement takes place.On the picture, the zodiac is superimposed on the outer ripple, our presentaim of evolutionary expansion. The “ripples ‘are the five “root-races”, paststages of development, (beginning with the innermost ring and outwardstowards the outer ripples). All root races are integrated in modern man duringevolution; they are representing deeply rooted, archaic aspects of the psyche,which we must pass when we expand into the astral cosmos after death.The picture represents the stage which Tibetan Buddhism calls the SecondaryClear Light, or “dharmata”; just prior to when the mind dissolves in themeeting with the Primary Clear Light - or just re-emerging after, moving downtowards the Secondary Clear Light, or dharmata.The red star is POLLUX in Gemini, the heavenly twins, one of the twelve starsigns of the zodiac, and it is the only coloured star shown. The red coloursymbolises “desire”. As the human realm on Earth is the realm of desires, thisred star guides us towards reincarnation on planet Earth.“Pollux”, according to the Greek myth about “Leda and the Swan” traditionallyconnected to this star sign, is symbolising the higher Self. The star “Pollux” istherefore a projection of our own desire for the higher Self, spiritual desire.Human beings are dual, a mortal and an immortal aspect, as depicted in thedual sign Gemini, and its myth about the two twin brothers, Castor and Pollux,who had the same mother but different fathers. In this connection when wemove into the astral universe where nothing is solid, Pollux represents ourhigher astral aura. It is cosmic in nature, and even though most of us do nothave a conscious connection with our astral body, there is a deep bond, a‘friendship’. This means that our astral body, at home among the stars, helpus to soar, to let go when we die.Pollux` twin-brother, Castor, represents our physical body, the corpse.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved19

Home

V. PictureHOMEContemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze and contemplateHome.This picture is depicting the Primary Clear Light, the Ground Luminosity, orthe merging into God, or Bliss, which happens at the moment when physicaldeath is irreversible.The Light is depicted as myriads of luminous balls or spheres, because that ishow someone in a state of consciousness high enough to see the PrimaryClear Light will experience it. Every “ball” or “sphere” is absolutely white, butno two balls have exactly the same white colour. The light balls are allresonating with OM, AMEN and AMIN, the sound of God..The picture “Home” represents the closest we can come to God while seeingourselves as separate from God, while maintaining a subject-objectrelationship to God. HOME is unspeakable beingness in ever-new bliss.This state corresponds to the moment after the Big-Bang, when the universewas created.In Tibetan Buddhism, some teachings indicate a distinction between theMother Clear Light and the Child Clear Light (The Dalai Lama), and betweenthe Ground Luminosity and the Clear Luminosity of the mind (SogyalRinposche). As far as we understand, these distinctions are conceptualdifferences.The picture “Home” is not differentiating between these states, but attemptsto help the meditator and the person who has died via resonance to reach ashigh as he or she can.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved21

Returnofthepersonality

VI Picture:THE RETURN OF THE PERSONALITYContemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze and contemplateThe task ahead.The planets around the sun are depicted in the order they appearastronomically. In the subjective existence in this after-death state, which isequivalent with dharmata or the Secondary Clear Light, still visible as thewhite background, the order of the planets may be perceived differently. Theorder is reflecting the individual degree of balance between the variousaspects of the personality. The picture acts as a resonance of the most idealcondition in which to influence ones own destiny.The individual who has died and now is in the dharmata state is more acosmic being, embedding the full zodiac in his or her body, rather thanidentifying with the gender he had in the past life. At death we expand frombeing in a body, confined by normal physical proportions to the oppositeextreme, to be cosmic in proportions, expanding right out to include the wholezodiac and sometimes beyond. Such a cosmic being represents a very highlevel of consciousness, gracefully available for Man, where he calmly can“embody” his cosmic nature. He uses, but does not idenfy with his personality,the “planets”. He stands in front of the sun, with his hands folded inhumbleness, aware that he is at the mercy of higher powers.It may be worth mentioning that a person who has died and who actually isout there in the astral cosmos, will not see it as depicted here. Here we look atthe person who has died – who in turn looks at us. The order in which theplanets will be perceived is also subjective. The Moon is in alignment with themedulla point in the neck in the back of the head, which traditionally is called“the mouth of God”. The Moon is sterile and so is the mind. The divine canonly enter in if the mind is ready to give way. A rigid mind will sit there as a“cork”, preventing the higher Self, the Sun, from shining through. The nameand the vibratory resonance for each of the planets, for Sirius, the Sun andthe Moon is shown below/next page..As mentioned before, all the pictures including the present, “the return of thepersonality,” help towards reincarnation on planet Earth. According to esotericteaching, the Earth is a good option because the maya-play with dualities andthe realm of desire which together is the realm of this planet, makes for a fastdevelopment.The star in the forehead of this discarnated, cosmic being is Sirius. The starSirius helps to focus and have clarity towards the goal; the goal embedded inthe next reincarnation. The exact alignment between Sirius, the Moon and theEarth depicted here is the perfect condition from where to influence onesdestiny. The Sun is traditionally a symbol of our Higher Self; similarly theMoon symbolises the mind; the planet Earth represents the physical body -and the star Sirius, which is the highest celestial body in this hierarchy, ishonoured with the title: “the Mother of the higher Self”.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved23

According to spiritual cosmology, and supported, but not yet confirmedofficially by recent scientific research regarding the Earth presession, theEarth and the Moon, our star the Sun, and the star Sirius are interconnected;the Moon circles the Earth, that circles the Sun, that together with its planetsand their moons orbit Sirius. All stars including our Sun orbiting Sirius belongto the same “family” of higher Selves with Sirius as the “Mother”. On thehighest spiritual level all stars in cosmos are interconnected.Keywords to the celestial bodies:Sirius Clarity towards the goalThe Sun :The joy felt in creating: Joy, joy, overwhelming joy.1. Mercury: Fickleness2. Venus: Affection3. The Earth Desire4. The Moon: Mind.5. Mars: Strife is the embodiment of ego6. Jupiter: Joy, quiet joy7. Saturn : The inevitability of time8. Uranus: Void9. Neptune: Unlimitedness, unending spaciousness10. Pluto Hidden Key© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved24

It is both true and not quite true, that we expand out into the physical universeafter death, since we in fact expand out into the astral universe that fills outthe same space as the physical, but with another vibration.After the meeting with the Primary Clear Light, our real “Home”, the processback to reincarnation starts. This is complex, but while the outbound journeyaway from Earth is guided by our “friend” “Pollux”, the higher astral aura (seepicture 4), the inbound journey towards re-incarnation on Earth is guided byour higher Self - ultimately Sirius, the center in a higher dimension ofmankind.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved25

Squaringofthecircle

VII. Picture:THE SQUARING OF THE CIRCLEContemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze and contemplateIn your mind’s eye, place the super-ellipse in the medulla pointin the grove in the neck while you with open eyes look at the picture.The deep blue-violet figure in the centre is a super-ellipse. It is neither a circlenor a square – it is both. Surrounding the super elipse is five circles and fivesquares, each pair corresponding to the 5 aura layers, or koshas, of humans.The picture shows the classical “squaring of the circle” motive, the (hitherto)unsolvable mathematical quest, which at the same time is an esoteric symbolfor Man’s inner journey. It creates a resonance of the two basic buildingblocks - the male and the female.The super-ellipse in the core is the causal body. The deep blue-violet colourreflects spiritual penetration.The super ellipse can be understood as the point of creation..The squaresand circles around it are “ripples”, gradually solidifying as standing waves.The super ellipse is a higher truth of our essence, and the circles and squaresare reflections of this truth. When truth“ falls” to a lower level, it is translated toeither circles or squares.The red background represents the world of illusions, maya; divinely ordainedmaya. with its attachments, suffering and passion, samsara.If the person contemplating “the squaring of the circle” are using it as a tool forself development, the effect from contemplating the picture over a longer timeis a balancing of the masculine and feminine energies and of the right and leftbrain hemispheres; this will lead to less polarisation and more positiveinteraction between the male and female characteristics internally andexternally, whether the person is a man or a woman. The stages in such aprocess of realignment will likely be felt as balancing, provoking, andstabilising.The super-ellipse is a portal, with the potential of leading back to the highstate of the vibrating astral cosmos in “Nothing Solid” (see picture 4), andeven further to our true “Home” (see picture 5).As mentioned before, the 9 pictures are all interconnected, the order in whichwe suggest them to be contemplated makes sense for the mind. In the actualstates of consciousness they lead to, their interconnections aremultidimensional, not linear.The geometrical form of the square is traditionally connected to the physicalworld, the male principle and logic. The geometrical shape of the circle istraditionally connected to the principle of wholeness, the creative, thefeminine.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved27

If a discarnated person through resonance manage to contain the balancingpattern in the squaring of the circle in his or hers consciousness the wholeway through the bardos to rebirth, he or she will be reborn as a very high soulor as a Buddha.The picture relates to the medulla point in the back of the brain, “the mouth ofGod”. This is the point through which God, when He wishes to create,contacts the human through the male and female principle. “The mouth ofGod” in the medulla is the highest point where God enters.Contemplating ”the squaring of the circle picture” for those who have died willbe of great benefit; but as previously said, this picture as well as the others, isvery beneficial as a spiritual routine also while alive, whether that is meant asa preparation for a peaceful death, or as a enhancement of spiritualdevelopment.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved28

Solidifying

VIII PictureSOLIDIFYING.Contemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze and contemplateHold on to your task.The deep-blue figure is one person, the male and female aspect, bodilyinterconnected, and mentally separated. The figure is an archetype withoutany facial features, and we can project ourselves onto it.The figure is standing on a cream-white background. This is an “echo” of thePrimary Clear Light, our real Home (see picture 5) – a reminder, “MementoMori”, “remember you are mortal”. The background is the fifth element, theether or “akasha”, the screen onto which amongst other things our strongestgender attachment is projected.From the perspective of quantum physics, the solidifying process has reachedthe state where the wave-function is collapsing – either into the masculine orthe feminine; the collapse of the descending androgynous energy field causesit to split up in a physical “pole” and its etheric double. The originallyandrogynous individual is being split into two. One half will be the physical,solid body, the other half will be the etheric aura, or “sheath. ”The degree ofbalance between the two will determine how capable this incarnatingindividual, whether a man or a woman, will be in creating a harmoniousrelationship with a partner of the opposite sex.The task for the two sexes is to stand firmly each in their own right, and stillmaintain being a unity.The question is –WHAT separates them?The yellow ‘spear’ stretches from the ID point (identity point), situated anarms-length above the head, on the upper fringe of the mental aura, andstraight down to the heart chakra at the back. The separating impulse, the`spear’, originates in ID, because it is from our highest essence that thepurpose of our incarnation, our task, is projected into the physical. One of thefactors in our purpose is our gender.At the moment of death, we finally meet the other half of ourselves, the ethericaura, or sheath. At the last stages between death and a new conception, thetwo sexes are again becoming separated, so that we, when reborn, areestablished in identification with one sex, the sex we embody physically. Theetheric aura is of the opposite sex than the physical body.It is possible, but it would be very rare, to be liberated by contemplating thispicture, to reach the ultimate state of inner Unio Mystica, to melt into “Home”;it is possible to achieve complete balance between the physical and ethericaspects of one self.The gender-separating impulse reaches down to the heart at the back. This isbecause it is the mental that separates. If our thoughts and attitudes were notseparating between the male and the female, even the physical body wouldstart to look more androgynous.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved30

The message of the yellow “spear” is to choose side. This does not mean thatwe can decide consciuosly what gender it would be handy to incarnate as thistime. On the contrary, it means, that the separating factor is the idea that onehas to choose side. If the individual about to being reborn rests in a consciousall-encompassing containment, a knowing of, but not identifying with both themasculine and feminine aspects within him or herself, the rebirth will be veryhigh. If the individual about to being reborn in reality is indecisive about thelikes and dislikes embedded within his two gender-aspects, the possibility isthat this soul develops a confused gender-identity in the next incarnation,maybe homosexuality.The male principle is deep commitment to being. This is interesting, since themale energy is traditionally characterised as the dynamic, the doing force. Thereason is that it takes an active, dynamic, commitment for the male energy toachieve ‘beingness’; there needs to be “a hero’s journey”.The feminine energy, magnetic and accumulative in its essence, alreadyharbours the “beingness” in its nature..It is essential for the feminine energy tobe fruitful.. This means that for the magnetic energy to feel fulfilled, “children”,something created from the beingness, needs to be born. If it feels provokingto accept ‘to be fruitful’ as the goal for the feminine energy, it is because westill think in separating terms. This is not about women as such, but about themagnetic or ‘feminine’ aspect in all of us, regardless of our physical gender.The female principle is the energy-field; it contains the purpose with the life inquestion. The male principle contains the “spearhead”, the strength tomanifest the purpose. To be fruitful means, that whatever the purpose is in aparticular life, comes to fruition.It is sadly obvious in our time why the contemplation therefore must be “holdon to your task”. Today most people are more than enough occupied withrelationship issues, with little or no energy left to explore the spiritual reasonfor the relationship, the shared task. The spiritual task was easier to recognisein “the Return of the Personality” (see picture 6).Now, at this level of ordinary consciousness, which is sidpa bardo close to thenew incarnation, the process of solidifying and “the task ahead” begin toclash. The spiritual task begins to loose its imminence, and the personalityissuescome in the foreground.© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved31

Co-existence

IX. PictureCO-EXISTENCE.Contemplation (to be said loudly):Look at the picture with a relaxed gaze and contemplateEnjoy!The face looks at the Sun, the source of Light. This bardo-being is moreaware of the Sun than of what the Sun reveals. This is the perpetual dilemmaand right of us humans: are we going for the play of forms and events –samsara – or are we going for the Source – the higher Self?This is a picture of a fully liberated human who is not physical. A discarnatedindividual can form his mental body as he wishes, and the face is a goodapproximation of the “mental body” we inhabit after death..This is close to the new incarnation, just before conception. It is an astralprelude to physical birth, to the first of the perinatal matrices of the birthprocess itself.The astral Sun is bigger than the physical Sun. The picture is related to theincarnation process, preparing a welcome visit to planet Earth with her luringgreen, rolling hills. A scenario like this can be percieved by the incarnatingsoul, now at the end of the sidpa bardo. It is possible to foresee up to 80% ofthe future life – if he or she can bear it.The physical and the astral Sun are strangely intermixed as the physical Sunis a portal to the astral world and vice versa. Modern physics suggests thatthere is a “wormhole” in the center of stars leading to other dimensions, or toanother part of the universe. Our sun, being a star, may also have such awormhole in its center. Therefore, the Sun is a good analogy for the birthcanal. Someone being born with his or her consciousness intact willexperience it as if he is being born into the Sun.The human skull in the middle of the head, surrounded by cosmos with all itsbeauty, is reflecting a pure mind open for the fact that we are cosmic beings,visiting Earth. This mind comprehends everything`s inter-connectedness; thesame as what Buddhism calls ”the inherent emptiness of existence.”The mind recognises the co-existence, that we as humans belong to twoworlds, an outer physical and an inner, spiritual world.The skull containing cosmos, visible in the third eye of the individual soon tobe reborn, is revealing a quality of humans: cosmic consciousness. Also, thepons and pituritary gland in the brain are included, because they arenecessary to give the human being the possibility to consciously experiencethe cosmic connection..A closer look at the nondescript adult face will reveal that the bone-case ofthe skull, with its relative lack of solidity, is visible. This underlines the fact ofco-existence; that we as humans have nowhere to flee. Humans arevulnerable, regardless if we are living in the astral or in the physical world.This is an important reminder, since it is a common human trap to idealizewhere we are not, believing that “the grass is always greener on the otherside of the fence.”© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved33

A skull as the one seen in the center of the head, is an essence of what itmeans to be huma. It is a profound symbol, at the heart of our fear ofmortality, our worst fear, so an ability to contain this fear is an measure ofcentring. The sun is a good analogy of the birth canal, and at physical birth,an individual who is in the state of consciousness depicted here, will feelhimself drawn into a funnel or maelstrom. Most individuals will during birthloose the ability to experience the state of co-existence, existence in bothworlds; it becomes unconscious. In order to manifest our spirituality in thephysical world, to co-exist, we must be centred enough to be able to contain,not drown, in fear of the outer and inner worlds.The Lord is my shepherd“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastureshe leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul:he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemiesthou anointest my head with oil;my cup runneth over.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow meall the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever”.David’s 23’ Psalm© 2005 Starbridge Centre/Ulla and Erik SandersenAll rights reserved34