Author: ECKANKAR

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I have been deeply depressed since a friend decided to kill himself. I think it was stupid. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to contemplate or even hold a job!

Your friend’s suicide was tragic, because he knew better. However, it did not end his spiritual existence but an all-important chapter in his life.

Why do people do acts that seem irrational to the rest of us? They are exercising their free will in light of their survival instincts. Many incarnations develop a fierce drive toward survival. But many, even those on spiritual paths, are only on the bottom rungs of this ladder of the survival factor.

There are many who have physical disabilities much worse than those your friend had. Yet these people, some of whom are Vietnam vets, are cheerful, upbeat people. Why? It’s a difference in how much more love they can show themselves. Your friend will learn to love himself more next time.

Remember—love is all!

—Sri Harold Klemp

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It’s been five months since my son was killed in an airplane accident. Although I have accepted his going and see him in my dreams often, I miss his physical presence. Tell me, how do I grieve?

The pain of losing a loved one is a sorrow common to all people, regardless of belief. It’s natural to miss someone who has been so much a part of ourselves.

How does a person grieve? There’s no one way because our feelings about each loved one who leaves are different in each case.

To deal with the pain of separation, make an effort to help others. Offer to baby-sit someone else’s children or pets. Or call the local hospital, and say you have a few weeks free in which you could be a volunteer.

Right now you have to go beyond your sorrow. Time heals all wounds, so be a volunteer for a while to give yourself time to heal. And write again, if you need to.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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My husband whom I love dearly translated yesterday. He had cancer, but I don’t believe he suffered much pain at the end. I know you were there with him. He had wanted very strongly to talk with you by telephone several days ago, but when we called the office, you were not there. I wrote you, but perhaps you didn’t get the letter in time. That is my only regret, that he did not get to speak with you.

Your husband is in good hands, and you will be able to meet each other in the dream state, so you both have time to adjust to the idea of his translation from the body.

A letter from me would have made these events stretch out over several more months, giving him false hopes of recovery. He’d completed the spiritual growth he’d come to earth to do, and Soul heard the call of Divine Spirit and was ready for new shores.

Love transcends all borders. Your love for each other will endure. The point is that you must now let yourself heal. Crying is a good physician. Please look for me on the inner planes for comfort—that is, look to the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, which is the spiritual part of myself.

The tenderness of your love for each other will remain after the sorrow is gone. By all means, keep your love moving out to others; do not become introverted.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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Eleven years ago, our son committed suicide. This year our neighbor’s boy did the same. What happens to those who do this? I just don’t understand why he wanted to leave so badly.

We can only do so much when our dear ones shut out love and destroy themselves. Yet, take comfort: Soul is eternal.

You did all that was humanly possible to encourage him to anchor himself in this life. Please do not feel that you have failed him in any way. He knows you haven’t and does not want you to carry an unnecessary burden of grief over time.

For a while, these unfortunate Souls wander in one of the inner worlds, the Astral Plane, lost. Some must relive their act of self-harm again and again. Thereby they learn how precious life is.

Eventually, the wheel of karma turns, and they are reborn. Their new life may be harsh, but it is to teach them love.

Your son’s act of self-harm is of a temporary nature, for finally he, as Soul, will recognize his responsibility to life and serve it gladly without regrets. The Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ is working with him even now to help him adjust his spiritual viewpoint, so that he may become worthy of service to God.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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Why do our loved ones have to die? I feel so angry at God.

The passing of a loved one may be a time of sorrow, when we are apt to say, “Dear God, why my beloved?” We understand the order of life, which requires all people to pass to a higher place of existence. But when a loved one goes, we just don’t understand.

Impatience and anger will no more bring our loved ones back to us than would patience or love, but these last two qualities can bring us healing.

—Sri Harold Klemp

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How do you help people when they write to you about their terminal illness?

When I receive a letter from someone who says their loved one is terminally ill, I realize it’s that person’s time to go. So the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, the inner part of myself, begins to work with the one who is ready to go into the other worlds, to let them see and recognize the places they have already visited many times during the Spiritual Exercises of ECK or dream state.

The purpose of the spiritual exercises is not only to make us aware of the other worlds, but also to link us up with the Sound and Light of God. They go together. As more of the Sound and Light of God come in, we gain more courage and confidence in going through life, whether it is life here or in a higher world.

Through our experiences with the true elements of our divine nature, fear is dispelled and confidence remains.

—Sri Harold Klemp