Miraculous messages

The Laws of the Spirit World by Khorshed Bhavnagri. Published in 2009 by Jaico Publishing House, A-2 Jash Chambers, 7-A, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta Road, Fort, Bombay 400001. Pp: xviii + 342. Price: Rs 199.

A lack of prescience of the future is one of the vexations of mortality. What happens after we die? Is there life after death? Should we fear death? What awaits us in the next world and do we get treated there on the merits or demerits of our individual karma? These and many other questions are addressed by Khorshed Bhavnagri in The Laws of the Spirit World. The author, now deceased, was a spiritual guide to Shiamak Davar who has written the Foreword and Afterword to the book.

On February 22, 1980, Khorshed and Rumi Bhavnagri’s world was shattered when they lost both their sons Vispi and Ratoo in a tragic car crash. Devastated, they lost all faith in God until a miraculous message from their sons from the spirit world reassured them that they were happy. The story began nearly a month after the funeral when a sister-in-law of one of the Bhavnagri’s neighbors had gone to a concert and during the interval overheard a lady speaking of two boys who had recently died in an accident and wanted to send a message to their parents. This lady, a Ms Kapadia, was a powerful medium who had contacted her own dead brother through séances organized at her residence on Napean Sea Road at Bombay. On March 22, 1980, Khorshed and Rumi attended a group séance at Kapadia’s home and that was when they started communicating with their dead sons through a direct communication process known as automatic writing. Khorshed would hold a pen lightly onto a book concentrating intensely and gradually the spirit of her deceased sons would use her hand to move the pen slowly and unevenly over the page. At first these were mere scratches but with practice words formed and Khorshed would ask questions aloud and receive answers.

Khorshed Bhavnagri: messages received

The dead sons started advising their parents on various mundane issues but after some time they conveyed to their parents a desire to dictate a book containing the laws of the spirit world which they thought would help human beings to advance spiritually. Friends and strangers who heard of Khor­shed’s communication with her sons came pouring into their residence and the Bhavnagris slowly realized that by reducing the pain of others and through selfless service their own pain was considerably reduced. People posed questions both spiritual and personal and many of these have been reproduced in Part II of the book.

Khorshed would communicate with Vispi at least twice a day between sunrise and sunset with no fixed agenda or plan. This book consists largely of messages received by her and the sequence, language and conversational tone have been retained. The spirit world we are told consists of seven realms or planes. In each realm there are 10 stages from 0 to 9. Realm 1 is the lowest and darkest, and also the nearest to the earth. It is a horrible place with human souls with disfigured bodies and horrible minds full of bad feelings. There is not even a tiny spark of light anywhere. Realm 2 is similar but not as bad as Realm 1. Realm 3 is better but still there is no light and the atmosphere is extremely heavy and foggy. Physical bodies look human but are older looking and imperfect. As in the first two realms, ill feeling and hatred predominate.

Realm 4 is like earth with both night and day. It is said that a human soul starts its life journey from this realm with a chance to either go up or down depending on its deeds. Realm 5 is the beginning of heaven which is like a beautiful place on earth. Souls on this realm are helpful to each other, bodies are much lighter and there are no deformities of any kind. Realm 6 is even better. It is always bright and sunny and all souls have perfect light bodies and everyone lives in harmony helping each other and doing the work that they love. If a soul is on Realm 6 and above, the subconscious mind (conscience) which is the true spiritual mind will prevent those sins from being committed on earth that will take it lower than Realm 4. Realm 7 is the highest and most beautiful. Souls on this realm possess young looking spirit bodies and all live in utmost harmony and love. The beauty of this realm cannot be described in words. Vispi and Ratoo told their mother that after Realm 7 stage 9 souls do not reincarnate any more on earth but the spiritual journey still continues. Even a soul from Realm 7 if it reincarnates on earth and sins a little will go down to Realm 5 or 6. So it is in every soul’s own hands to take God’s good path or go down the evil dark path. In the spirit world all good souls live together. Similarly, all evil souls are grouped together. We will have to pay for our sins no matter what.

Much of the book explains the theory of karma and stresses the need to live a noble and pure life. In the spirit world there are no bodily aches and pains and there is no burden of the physical body. Vispi and Ratoo stressed that certain laws of God have to be observed very strictly by all souls, the most important being, "What you sow, is what you reap.” There is no injustice in God’s world; if a person has been good then happiness awaits him/her in the spirit world but if any harm has been done then that person must surely pay his/her karmic debt. The sons also told their mother how good souls from the higher realms visit evil souls on the lower realms to help them spiritually. However, special permission is required for visiting these lower realms and a protective cloak has to be worn so that evil spirits and bad vibrations do not harm the good souls.

Vispi and Ratoo said that many souls on higher levels are reborn on earth to protect and help their loved ones, finish the karma left over from previous lives or reincarnate for a spiritual mission. However, it is emphasized that the most important reason we are on this earth is to purify our souls and rise to a higher level. Thus, earth is a training institute where we are given a chance to improve spiritually provided we wish to do so. If a person continuously engages in sinful behavior the subconscious mind or conscience first quietens down and then becomes completely dormant. The voice of conscience then no longer interferes with bad deeds or habits. A point is reached when the subconscious mind becomes so disgusted that it goes to sleep forever. For a few years of enjoying evanescent riches, fame and glory on earth, evil souls subject themselves to hundreds of years of extreme suffering in the spirit world. The book has numerous examples of people whose deeds brought them to a lower level, as also the truth about people who were considered pious, charitable and good on earth when in reality they were evil people, something which the brothers discovered when they entered the spirit world.

Every deed, good or bad, is recorded in a person’s soul name in what are called the Akashic Records which contain the memories of all the lives a person has led on earth. When a soul progresses or falls and moves to a higher or lower realm the records follow. We come to earth time and again for the growth of our souls; the same spirit being comes to earth hundreds and thousands of times to progress spiritually. All souls must follow a specific procedure in order to be reborn on earth: application to the High Good Soul of the realm for rebirth stating the reasons for wanting to do so, selecting a mother and specifying what sort of training and testing the soul wishes to take in that life. If a soul wants to be tested for pride the lessons will continually teach humility. Sometimes a good soul may be born to an evil mother in order to improve the mother. Or this can also be a way for that soul to repay karma and undergo testing and training. It is said that we decide our date of birth as also our date of death.

It is often said that we are not physical bodies with a soul, but a soul with physical body. We are spirit beings in human form and do not have one body but three: the physical body of which we are aware, the astral body and the spirit body. When we die we go from human to astral, and then to spirit form. An astral body is a replica of the human body but is much lighter. From an astral being the soul and subconscious mind will transform into a spirit being. The spirit body is much lighter than the earthly and astral bodies, and a spirit being looks much younger than he did on earth. The more advanced the soul, the brighter and younger the spirit form.

The sons also told their mother that committing suicide was a great sin as it resulted in the build-up of a great deal of negative karma. Such souls fall by one whole realm because they do not allow their soul to complete its journey. After all, it is a life and situations that the soul itself has chosen, and since it is God who has given life, it is a sin to end it. Committing murder they say is one of the worst things a soul can do and results in demotion to the lowest realms.

This book will be of interest to the uninitiated and a welcome reiteration for those who are spiritually aware but have yet to take practical steps to live strictly according to God’s laws. In the final analysis this book is an exhortation to live one’s life according to divine laws and perform selfless service. But as Davar points out in his Afterword, spirituality is a slow but sure climb and doesn’t come from merely reading books. One must also guard against spiritual pride which is a trap many self-proclaimed prophets have fallen into. What makes us spiritual is spiritual action, and only selfless action can bring about true change.

BAKHTIAR K. DADABHOY