Dear Sir/Madam, My beloved father expired on 26 April 2017 due to cardiac arrest. He was admitted in hospital on 25 April 2017. My father was a totally fit and healthy person. My family members and I are completely shocked by this unexpected incident. Can you help me to contact my father’s soul in the astral world (afterlife) and talk with him? Can you let me know whether my father has been reborn anywhere by now and in which form?
—Pankaj , India
Dear Pankaj,
We are very sorry to hear of the sudden loss of your beloved father. We will pray for him, for you, and for your family. May you receive comfort and assurance of his well-being.
A sudden death like his is often very difficult for family members to accept, but it may be for the best, because a person who passes quickly does not have to linger long in pain and suffering, as so many must do. This can something for which to be grateful on his behalf.
Paramhansa Yogananda does mention ways to contact our departed loved ones after they have passed, primarily through our meditations or dreams. But he also cautions us that it is best to pray for them and send them love and blessings, asking that they go onward into the higher realms of the astral plane.
When his soul now really needs to go onward, evolve, and ready itself for its next reincarnation, excessive grief on your part may hold your father’s energy to this material world. I know you would not wish to do that! Therefore, the wisest course on your part is to not be selfish and try to deter his spiritual progress.
He will be able to feel your love and prayers and might be able to reassure you in a dream, or in some other way, that he is happy and moving forward in God’s light. Nevertheless, it is definitely best to be as non-attached as possible and leave it all in God’s hands.
Your father, being the good person you indicate he was, will probably spend a long and very joyful time (like a lovely vacation) in the beautiful astral world—Yogananda mentions it may be hundreds of years, before his karma pulls him back downward into another incarnation in a material world.
It would be best for you to unselfishly allow him to be undisturbed by your grief in order for him to enjoy his wonderful experiences in the astral world. Try instead to send him mental messages, not of longing for him and wanting him back with you, but rather messages telling him that you love him and want only the best for his future. It is best to do this as a part of your daily time of prayer and meditation.
If it is God’s will that he contact you, then it will be so. Give it all to God and Guru and leave it there.
Ananda Sangha has an inspiring Astral Ascension Ceremony, which you can read as a ceremony on behalf of your father. If you would like to see this or receive further assistance with a funeral ceremony, please contact www.anandaindia.org
