Personal Accounts from the Beyond:
5th March 1958 is the beginning of a lecture series given by ascending spirit beings – that is, deceased human beings who report on their experiences in the beyond after earthly death. By 1970, 91 such firsthand testimonies have been conveyed thru  Swiss medium Beatrice Brunner. In 1962, a selection of these personal accounts is published for the first time in the book,What Awaits Us – Personal Accounts from the Spiritual World). And here is,             
	
Experience reports 1966-1967.


From past life, reported from the other side, recounted spiritual experiences, when they just enteredthe afterlife.here then google translated from German to English: remark this has been found in German language online, and translated here via Google into English, for personal use, and mistakes can certainly be found here, both in the translations, and in Googles perception, interpretation of the language otherwise. At some point in time, these messages will surely be translated and "approved" by the group, glz.org.

these were originally only made to increase my personal understanding of the afterlife and how life there might unfold. But eventually I thought that this was so important also for others to understand, so therefore I post it, in the unprofessional form, which can still be useful for the searching soul - who cannot understand the German language at all, so here then  google translated to English. So even if this translation is not perfect, it can raise understanding for the searching soul, who can thus prepare for the afterlife.

 

Foreword.
The more than 2000 lectures that were mediated by the deep trance medium Beatrice Brunner, (1910-1983), also include 91 experience reports from ascending spirit beings. These are stories from deceased people who report on their earthly life and their first experiences in the world beyond. These accounts are very personal. The reporters show in many different ways what effects their human thoughts and actions had and how individually they were judged and treated after their death. The accounts give a vivid insight into various levels of the world beyond and into the laws of cause and effect. They show how justice is done to everyone who returns home and how much God's spirit world strives to support everyone in their spiritual development. The reports date from 1958 to 1970. This book is the fifth volume in the series of reports and contains the 16 lectures from 1966 and 1967. The new edition of the reports - they are being published chronologically for the first time in book form - sticks as close as possible to the original text or the original wording. Editorial changes were generally only made where they were necessary when translating the spoken language into written form. The characteristic expression of the spirit beings who make themselves known here has been left as far as possible in its original form so that the reader can empathize with their individual nature. GL ZURICH. 

Contents. 
Introduction 
Alex - elementary school lessons in the afterlife at a lower stage of ascension 
Adelheid - what the intercession of a good soul can do in the afterlife.  (was also in-64-65 edition.)
Theresia - expectations of the afterlife over time
Wanda a spiritual bond between two siblings.
Insight into the past of a spirit.
Matthias a guardian serves in a spiritual animal kingdom.
Benedikt healing from greed and lack of love.
Elfriede how a daughter becomes a blessing to her guilt-ridden father.
Erika surprised by awakening in the afterlife by the blessed power of a heavenly intercessor.
Frieda earthly possessions cannot be taken into the afterlife.
Karin a wonderful home thanks to a life of merit.
Jacob the afterlife experience of a rich but unforgiving landowner.
Sebastian the return of a mentally handicapped person.
Ruth the burden of irreconcilability.
Franz worker and designer in heavenly gardens.

Introduction.
What happens to us after we die? What is the world like that awaits us and what will our life be like when we have crossed the threshold into the afterlife? We receive information about this from those who have already taken this step into the world beyond and who are given the opportunity to report on their experiences from the other world. In this fifth volume of the series of experience reports, deceased people again have their say, giving a personal insight into the world in which they live. They were specially selected by the otherworldly teachers of the GL Zurich community and commissioned to report on their past lives on earth and their subsequent experiences in the world beyond through mediator Beatrice Brunner. These spirit beings belonged to different social classes on earth; they had different life plans and fates and had different levels of education. Some had earned spiritual merit in their life on earth, others had brought guilt upon themselves and returned to the world beyond burdened. Their personal accounts thus provide insight into different stages of ascension. They show according to which spiritual laws the deceased are received and judged and their further path in the world beyond is shaped.
	Spirit teacher Josef explained the selection of the reports:
We select spirit beings and events that have the possibility of enriching your knowledge and teaching you what is necessary for your life. We only wish that you can fulfil your tasks in this life better, and you can fulfil them better with this spiritual knowledge.
Four of the lectures in this volume were not given by the beings themselves, but by spirit teacher Josef either because the people concerned were not able to do so themselves (for example the spirit child) or because they were not allowed to do so (for example Ruth).
In each of the reports, several topics are addressed.
	One important aspect, for example, is the work that is assigned to those returning home in the new world. To the great surprise of some, the spiritual world is a world in which work in which the spirit beings fulfill their tasks according to their abilities and their level of development. Several reports also specifically deal with the topic of guilt and atonement. They show that even if a person has committed serious sins in his life, the world of God will prepare ways for him to atone for and make amends for the wrongs he has committed. Every being who is willing to do so will receive the necessary support so that he can learn to overcome his vices and move on to further ascension and find happiness. For spirit teacher Josef, one of the goals of these reports is to convey a differentiated and as comprehensive as possible picture of the world beyond that awaits us after our death: I have the opportunity to go to the most diverse levels of ascension in the spirit world. I rarely go alone, I go with my companion. I visit the suffering in the depths and I visit the happy in the spiritual heights; I am allowed to enter here and experience the wonderful celebrations there. So I am able to tell you about it. People are trying to get me to explain as much as possible about the divine world and give you insight.

Now I said that I would like to give an account of my experiences this hour; that I am giving this account myself will be understandable to you by the end of this hour. I must point out that we often have to give explanations that may seem depressing to you. We would love to show you only the beauties of heaven, we would love to talk only about the blessed brothers and sisters, but your world is not like that at all. Certain individuals deserve a beautiful heaven, but how many there are who have to go through great hardships before they reach these heights.

You are happy and glad when you hear something edifying. We would like to offer you that, and our sublime spirit sister Lene also ensures that. But we would like to show you the whole path, as it really is, how you experience it if you live in this or that way. All of this is intended to strengthen you in spirit and soul, to lead you on the right path, so that you have the courage and strength to live the spiritual life in a way that is to your advantage. On the other hand, you should learn to understand your fellow human beings and not to judge them. You must learn to understand them when they have a fate - a fate that is determined by God because the holy spirit world of God has condemned them to it. You should know all of this in order not to judge one-sidedly and fanatically. You should know that the divine laws are so diverse and that the divine world is ready to pave a path for each person to ascend. And even if a person has to go through a difficult life, the dawn will still come in their life. 


February 2, 1966,
Alex's elementary school lessons in the other world at a lower stage of ascension.
About the great forbearance and patience of God's world with beings who are at the beginning of their spiritual ascension.

Joseph: Greetings from God. Dear brothers and sisters, you must make do with me for this hour, I am well known to you. Why I have to tell you all this [instead of the spirit brother Alex], you will understand in the course of the evening. What I have to tell you and explain to you is, I believe, is also worth knowing for you.
About 150 years ago, this person lived on this earth. He could not write, he could only write his name with difficulty; he could only read a little. He was a hot-tempered, stubborn person, and it was not particularly easy to get along with him. So he was not at all intelligent, and he had not attended school. He lived from small trade and the occasional work that was offered to him, and was able to make ends meet. Compared to your present circumstances, it was a life of extreme poverty, but in those days people were generally not used to anything better. This man tried to make ends meet. He remained unmarried and often had arguments with the people who lived in his village. He was very assertive.
Now we will not look at his life in more detail, but we will see how he fared in the other world. There, this soul was received by two high spirits.

Spirit teacher Joseph addresses the fact that the listeners in this hour were expecting an ascending spirit being who would report on his experiences, as was usual on the first Wednesday of the month.

Relatives, his parents and acquaintances stood at a certain distance; but they did not talk to him. The two exalted beings had the task of receiving this returnee and discussing a few things with him; they also wanted to immediately try to clear up some things with him.
He expressed his astonishment that he was alive. At first he did not want to believe that life continued in a world that was new to him. But he saw his parents, friends and acquaintances who had already returned to the world beyond, and so it became clear to him - he now saw that life does not end after death. But he had no idea whatsoever about life after death, and so he first felt his body. He found that he had a body, but that it was somewhat different from the body in human life. He still had the same hands - he did not have delicate hands, because his work had not given him well-groomed hands. So he was surprised at first. But he continued to feel himself and felt the hair on his head, his eyes and everything and now had to realize: He had a body, a body, but this body was more delicately designed than in human life. But certain characteristics were still there. 
In his earthly life he had a scar on the top of his left hand, and now he looked for this scar and found that it was still there. (Picture not in/from book>.) But it was not as palpable as it had been in human life. So he had to realize that it was a spiritual body that he now possessed, made of spiritual matter. Now he was actually disappointed by the stern countenance of these two high beings and in general by the silence with which he was received. Then these saints of heaven said to him: Alex, what do you have to bring us? We want to give you this name, what are you bringing back to heaven? He was astonished by this question and actually did not know the answer. But these saints helped him and said: Think about your life. You have done many things wrong in life, have brought many sins upon yourself. 
Now this Alex began to defend himself and said: No, I have no more sins on me. All the sins that I have committed have been forgiven. One of these saints asked: Who forgave your sins? And he answered: I did confess; through confession the priest forgave me all my sins. When he saw the astonished faces of these two, he asked: Can't you tell me where our priest is?
Go get him, where is he? Because this priest had died shortly before, or according to your terms, a few years before. After that, a new priest had taken over the office, but Alex remained more attached to that old man, and so he asked about him: ’Where is he? I see my parents and other acquaintances. But where is the priest? He can tell you about my sins, he knows everything, I have confessed everything to him. I don't need to tell you anything, he should give you an account. ’
And these saints replied: We can't get him, he is not responsible for your sins. Now this brother began to quarrel and complain and defend himself: Christ had died for the sins of humanity; it had always been preached and announced that through the death of Christ all sins would be taken away from people; so he no longer had any sins on him and he could not agree with them wanting to accuse him; the church was something holy and was revered as something holy. So he defended himself with many words. The two saints listened to him for a while and said to him repeatedly: What you say is not true. You yourself are responsible for everything you have done. Christ has indeed redeemed you from that great guilt [of apostasy] and he has created the possibility for you, as for all the other fallen ones, that the way to us, and by that they meant the way to heaven, is clear. Alex could not understand that, and he continued to defend himself in a way that was typical of him during his lifetime: challenging. And so these saints turned away from him and disappeared. There he stood alone. His parents and the acquaintances who had been nearby but were so far away from him that he could not speak to them had also left. Suddenly he was alone, or so he thought, and a feeling of relief passed through him. Now I am alone, and I will find my way in this supposed heaven on my own, he said mockingly.
 But no sooner had he turned around than a brother he did not know came hurrying up to him and said: Hey, I have the task of devoting myself to you, and I must guide you. You can call me Martin, I am your teacher here. Again he was indignant and answered in a rude manner. The hot temper did not disappear from this soul when the physical body was laid aside, but these feelings of hot temper, egoism, quarrelsomeness, and desire for power were in the depths of the mind, in the whole soul. But this teacher knew how to defend yourself, and he replied very forcefully: You are completely uneducated - you must be aware of that. You can neither read nor write nor do arithmetic. You can do nothing, and you think that you can have the big say here in the new world. I want to tell you that you have to learn here what you were not given in human life. This brother who had returned home was outraged, laughed, mocked: In heaven you have to learn to write, do arithmetic and read? He thought that was too much. And this teacher said to him: You were stupid in your human life, and you are stupid here too; you didn't make an effort to learn to write, do arithmetic and read.
 This Alex defended himself and said that only certain people had been able to go to school, and that there were still many who would go through life without any schooling and get by quite well. Yes, of course, said the teacher, but you will have to learn a lot here. He did not want to understand the word learn; because that was precisely what he did not want: to learn. No. In heaven, he said, it should be possible for everything you wish for to be there, for you to only have to say a word and all your wishes would be fulfilled, for you to be able to write, read, do arithmetic and everything else that goes with it, simply by yourself. 
And the teacher answered him: I will give you a document now. Try to read it, and he gave him one. But he could not read it, and so the teacher said to him: You see, you have come over to the spiritual world with the same abilities that you had as a human being. Or did you have no abilities? What have you done in your life, have you done anything for heaven? And the teacher answered himself: You have not done much for heaven. Because you have exercised force and violence over your fellow human beings. That is not possible here. You must make up for what you missed in human life and what should have benefited you. And you must learn more here than what was necessary in your life. Here you must also learn the laws of God; you must be able to understand God's will and you must know something about the plan of creation. There is a lot you must learn.
It will be hard work.
Now this Alex saw that it was of little use to him to defend himself and rebel like that. But he did it anyway, using as many words as he had at his disposal; because he still believed that he could behave in the same way as in human life that he only needed to shout and rage a lot before he got his way. But in this new world he had no success with that. The teacher said to him: We will start lessons with you, and first you must learn to read and write.
Because how are we supposed to teach you if you can't write and can't read? You cannot keep everything we have to tell you in your memory; you must write it down. You must learn to speak and write the language you spoke in your human life correctly. We want to build on the existing basis; you must therefore first learn to write.
And the teacher said to him: I am taking you to a school where there are many beginners just like you. There you must begin to learn to write. We will make the lessons varied. For I have already told you what you must know in the heavenly world. You must be taught the most necessary things, and so we will try to make up for what you have missed. 
He should go to school. But the teacher said to him: You are still a bit of a stranger in this world, and I advise you to rest a little and first try to familiarize yourself with this new world. You can go around and ask your brothers and sisters what they are doing. But before you set out and become interested in this world, I recommend that you rest a little. 
And this teacher led him to the house in which he was to live in the future. This house was plain; the whole surroundings were plain, but that did not bother this man who had returned home. He was given a room for himself. In this room there was a very modest bed and a table - all for him alone. Actually, he did not feel tired, he was very curious and secretly he had his plans. He did not like this new world and he thought about how he could escape from it. He immediately saw possibilities for doing so. But he suddenly felt that he wanted to rest in order to gain some strength. Because so much new had come his way and he did not really know whether he should be happy about it and familiarize himself with this new world or whether he should resist it. He didn't like the idea of ​​having to learn, because he felt that he would embarrass himself because he couldn't do anything,
he knew that, and he never wanted to be ashamed in front of the others. So he wanted to try to resist as long as possible.

But now he lay down on this modest resting place and slept for a while. He woke up of his own accord. No guardian, no relative stood beside him to greet him when he opened his mind's eye again. He also did not know how long he had slept.

It became clear to him that this was a different time, or no time at all - he had no watch. Now he looked at himself and realized that he was actually wearing the same clothes that he had worn in his human life; he was therefore dressed in the bare necessities. But he had no shoes. But that did not bother him, because he was not cold, and in his human life he had mostly not worn shoes either.
Now he opened the door and looked around to see if anyone was watching him. He saw a lot of activity, but didn't have the feeling that anyone was looking for him right now. Then he realized that he suddenly had a great desire to return to where he had lived on earth. And it seemed easy for him to find the way there - for him the path was so brightly lit and he felt so attracted to this world he had left. 
So he moved along this path to get close to the earth again, and he was attracted to it. He was amazed by this and actually considered it a miracle. How quickly I have disappeared from this heaven, he thought to himself, because he was already back where he had been when he was alive.
Now he could follow the people. He walked behind them, patted them on the shoulders and said to them: I am here. Can't you hear me, can't you see me, can't you feel me? He did that with his people, whom he knew well. He then discovered that there were many other spirit beings who walked alongside people. He actually found that particularly interesting. With some of them he discovered that there was even a friendly relationship between this spiritual companion and the human spirit. He now tried to establish such a friendly relationship, but he did not succeed. His acquaintances did not hear him. He spoke to them, but it was no use, they did not do anything like that, as if they were hearing something. 
And so he simply changed people and stayed with them for a while. When the people were asleep, he occupied himself with things that gave him pleasure. And so he stayed on this earth, because the thought of having to go to school kept him firmly on earthly ground. Now he believed that he felt comfortable where he had lived before. He went into the house where he lived and chose his place and felt like lord and master there. He went to his acquaintances and was very curious to see and hear what was being said. For now he realized: Strange, you can hear and see everything, you can penetrate everything, through the walls, nothing can stop you through the walls, and he enjoyed it. He also realized that there were spirit beings who caused mischief among people; and so he himself was not far from imitating them.
But now, all of a sudden, two acquaintances stood before him - they were these saints, these two angels who had received him on his return to the spirit world. They just looked at him and raised their hands threateningly. Then he immediately fled from this earth and entered his real world again. Suddenly he became afraid, for they had stood threateningly before him, and so he had to realize that he could not do what he wanted after all. He found his way back to his house, because he had been drawn to exactly the same place in the spiritual world. There he went into his room, but only for a short time. Because he noticed that he was not actually missed and no one asked about him. So he felt free again and followed the advice he had been given: he should familiarize himself with the new world. So he wandered around. 
This new world did not have much to offer him in terms of special features. It was similar to the earthly world; so much of the same could be found, but in spiritual form. So he came to a small forest and went in. In the middle of this forest was a small hut. He looked at it and realized that it was uninhabited. And so he wanted to make it his own and believed that in this way he could escape the place assigned to him in the world beyond and his tasks. He thought about it and thought: I can live here too, there is an uninhabited hut here. He didn't even know that this hut was also visited from time to time.
To his surprise and joy he discovered that there were animals in this forest. And so he thought that there was enough activity and entertainment, because the animals came close to this hut from time to time. But they only came close, and he then stepped out and went to them to talk to them. It was a bit strange for him, but he soon got used to such strange things, that these animals, which were shy and wild towards humans in the earthly realm, were trusting here in this world and he could pet them. 
He found it interesting to walk around in this forest, and so he also went far away from this hut to look out for all there was to experience in this new world. But he did not meet any spirit brothers here, only animals. Then he always went back to this hut, because it had become his home. When he went back to the hut again, he discovered to his great horror that these two were still there, these two from whom he had fled. They received him and asked: Why don't you obey? and they told him that he must now join them, that there would be no escape. 
He had taken advantage of the teacher's goodwill; he had not made friends with the new world and had not asked his brothers and sisters about their activities, but had sought his own way. The time had now come for him to attend school, he could not resist it. Now he realized that all resistance was useless. He was now led to a different house than the one he had once been assigned to. Here he was received by this spiritual teacher Martin with the words: Now there is no escape. Be glad that God is so kind and that he is giving you the opportunity to move up, that you are being given the opportunity to be taught and to learn. Because you must also learn a trade, work, over time. But as long as you do not know the necessary concepts of obedience and cannot write, you cannot learn a trade/|work. This house was a prison in your eyes. There was no escape from here. He could no longer open doors to escape. Now he had to obey. In this house he was not alone. That actually comforted him, because he now saw that others had been as rebellious as he had been. 
He now had a room in which he had to live together with the others; he no longer had a room for himself. There was a lot of discord among these siblings at first, but there was always someone there who performed the role of guard and reprimanded them. Because the beings here were still full of discord in their hearts, full of quarrels and could not get along with each other. Everyone believed they were being wronged; everyone believed they had been assigned the worst place. So this teacher had to intervene energetically.
These beings then had to leave this living space and attend the school, which was in the same building. Our brother had indeed considered whether there might be a possibility of escape but that was not the case. Because he found that a kind of wall had been built around this house and there was no escape. So he had to attend school like everyone else; he had to learn to write, read, do arithmetic, the bare minimum. This teacher who taught them showed great patience. And so they were actually surprised, because they were not scolded because they knew nothing and could do nothing. Instead, they were treated like children; they had to practice the simple strokes and thus learn the letters. So they accepted it and were happy with it. Because there was no punishment in the sense that they would lose the joy of learning. There was a lot of patience, a lot of patience with them.
It took time before these beings fully accepted this school. But they all became ambitious and gradually they could be taught what to do next. They could be told that they now had to learn a trade, work, because the spirits of heaven also practiced their trade. Admittedly, this was not to be understood in exactly the same sense as they might still remember from their human thinking, because here everything was spiritual. And so they then saw that what was built in heaven or what objects existed had to be created by spiritual hands, that one could not be idle in this new world. So it was not the case that after entering the heavenly world one could only sing and rejoice, as they had believed. 
No. They now realized that there was a lot to learn and that this heaven was wide and big and that they themselves were probably still at its lowest level. They had already understood that one had to take step by step to reach the world of joy and bliss, and that many tasks were still to be completed before they could even begin to enter such a world. But the teachers consoled them and said: The more diligent you are, the quicker you will advance, and the sooner you will be able to experience joy and bliss.
So they had to attend many lessons; they had to be taught about many things. Their thinking had to be directed completely differently, because they had a completely wrong idea of ​​this heavenly world. They had to realize and come to terms with the fact that so much of what they had been told in human life was wrong. They were also disappointed that nothing or very little of this truth was being passed on to people.
So they had many questions: Why does God not make it so that people have knowledge of this heaven as it really is? The answer was given to them when they were taught about the plan of salvation and creation - and then they began to understand.
 In these lessons the past was presented to them. Like a film, life lived on earth was shown before their mind's eye. They were able to experience the birth of Christ; they were shown excerpts from the life and work of the Savior; they were also shown his death. What impressed them most was being able to see how spirits had risen from hell and used people as tools to spread lies and lead them to sin. They were able to see why Christ had to die on the cross; they could see how the spirits had risen from hell and used people as tools and how they condemned him; they could see how these spirits got into the bodies of these people and used their tongues to call out: Crucify him! Crucify him! That made a big impression on these brothers and sisters.
 And so they had to learn and learn again and understand why this truth had disappeared from the world and that it is a struggle to find out this truth. The eager and hardworking person quickly has the opportunity to advance. That was the case with this brother Alex: at first he was dissatisfied, he had resisted everything, and then the time came when he wanted to learn. And so the spiritual world was able to prepare him for what was to come. He was to enter a new life on earth, and in this new life there were to be better opportunities for him. He was to be allowed to attend schools, and what he had learned as a spirit in the world beyond was to be of use to him in his new life on earth. 
He was to be able to prove that he was ready to search for the truth. It was to be of great benefit to him on earth that he was given the opportunity in the world beyond to be taught and to learn a trade. Something of this eagerness to search and learn was to remain in his soul and be expressed in his new human existence. 
When this brother Alex was reborn on earth, his spiritual teacher Martin remained his friend in his new life. And this spiritual friend and teacher was delighted to see how his protege in the earthly world was now making an effort and making his way up. The fruits that he had reaped in the spiritual world were now to be distributed in human life and lead to further gains. The two strict saints of heaven also remained his friends and visited him from time to time. They stood by him and helped him. While they had once met him with severity and had to lead him with severity, he was now to be able to experience the love and benevolence of these faithful ones. So they supported him, and so this soul had the opportunity to work its way up, step by step.
 Every life that is imposed on one brings its tests and its tasks that one must fulfill in addition to the ordinary. So one must prove what one has learned; and depending on the tasks one fulfilled in life, one then takes one's place in the world of God. 
So this soul had worked its way up from step to step, had gone through various difficult tests, until it reached the point where it works with great zeal, whether as a human being in this world who lives according to the justice of God and seeks the truth, who is urged to always search for the truth and to draw its lessons from this truth, or whether as a spirit who lives in the world of reality and practices his craft with great zeal, fulfills his tasks and has one longing and desire: to get ever closer and closer to God. 
So, dear brothers and sisters, I was able to explain to you a few things about a soul. Do you have any questions about what I have said?

Dear Josef, I see again and again in these reports that the deceased, when they come into their sphere, have the need to go to a house, to come in. This Alex had also found this hut again. Is that because they feel safe in a house? 

Josef: Yes, it is the feeling of security; it is the same as with you. They also find this security in their own home. 

Dear spirit friend Josef, you said that this soul came to the world beyond about 150 years ago and was then reincorporated after its stay in the spirit world. Where does this relatively short time come from between the two earthly lives? You have already explained that it can take 300 to 400 years before one is reborn.

 Josef: Yes, today development is encouraged. People are interested in development happening more quickly. Especially when wars raged across this earth, rebirth occurs more quickly. 

Is that related to the fact that there are more and more people today?

 Josef: Yes, there are still so many who have to come. 

Dear Josef, was this spirit so attracted to the earth because he himself was still so earthly minded?

Josef: Yes.

But how does this attraction work technically?

Josef: That is probably difficult to explain to you. But you have already been told repeatedly that man's desires, his lusts, form a force, and he flees into this force, and is attracted by this same force. It is difficult for you to explain.

Dear Josef, does it have a special meaning that this Alex was not wearing shoes?

Josef: Yes, it is a sign of spiritual poverty. That does not mean that there are not beings in higher stages of development who are without shoes. You have to imagine: the clothing of a spirit corresponds to his reputation. A person can also wear very coarse shoes that he wore during his lifetime. Of course, as a spirit being he does not wear shoes with this earthly matter, with this leather - it is the spiritual matter, the spiritual covering that surrounded the earthly material; that is why the forms are the same. The same applies to the garment: someone can wear a garment that he wore during his lifetime; but it is not the earthly matter, but the spiritual, that which once made it possible to build up this matter. First the spiritual core is there before it is transformed into the material. 
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I withdraw, and God's blessings will protect and guard you. Greetings.

 Experience report and answering of questions by spirit teacher Josef through his mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich. Original: tape recording. March 2, 1966. 




Headline, next case.

Adelheid what the intercession of a good soul can do in the afterlife.
 The faster a deceased person can detach himself from all earthly things and the greater his insight, the faster he regains his youth in the world beyond.

Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit sister by the name of Adelheid is speaking to you. We would like to ask you to ensure that it does not get too hot in this room. May God bless you. 

Adelheid: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, my name is Adelheid and I was a nurse. I left home early because there was no peace there. I put myself in the service of my neighbor; I cared for the sick.
When I passed over into the spirit world, I received my reward for it. I knew that my father was to blame for the discord in the family. I was very religious. When I was allowed to open my spiritual eyes in this new world,
I was delighted and surprised by all the wonderful and beautiful things I was able to experience. My siblings, who had entered the spiritual world before me, were there to greet me, as was my mother. I also saw acquaintances and people I had cared for. But now my father was missing and I asked where he was.
I had a companion who always gave me information. He told me that my father had not been allowed to greet me. I wanted to know more: Why was my father not allowed to come, while my siblings and my mother had been present when I returned home? I looked into the eyes of this angel who was accompanying me. They were so full of goodness and love, and he had such a friendly face. I trusted him.
Because at first I felt very strange in this new world. Although I had many pleasant encounters, I still had to get familiar with it.
But now I had only one desire: to look for my father. I knew that his life on earth was difficult and I suspected that things would not go well for him in the new world. So I asked my companion to take me to my father. But he said: Dear sister, I cannot fulfill your wish now. So I asked him to tell me where my father lived and what he had to do. And my companion answered:
With people on earth it is like this: Anyone who has not obeyed the laws, anyone who has been found guilty, is locked up. We in our world have our prisons in a similar way. They are of course not comparable with those on earth. Our prisons mean isolation, loneliness, exile. And he explained to me:
Your father is in such a spiritual prison.
I was not surprised that he gave me this answer. But I felt sorry for my father, and so I asked this angel to do everything in his power to get him out of this distress. But he told me that he had no permission to release my father from his punishment, since he would have to live in this distress for a long time. However, he would do me the favor of going to him and telling him that I was here, sending him greetings and praying for him. He promised to tell him that. 
Then this kind angel explained to me: Look, your father is now living in great distress. In his last life he burdened himself so much that we had to take him to this prison and he remains bound there. Your father is a spirit who rose from the very bottom. But he had brought great merit with him from his second-to-last life. Back then he had been a person of love and helpfulness and had thus reached a certain spiritual height; so he was able to take a higher level. 
The angel also explained to me that my father had had particularly kind, loving parents in his second-to-last life. They had taken great care of his upbringing and raised him with love, and this love had benefited him: he did not live to a ripe old age, he was called away at the age of 35; but he had lived a life of helpfulness and kindness. He had been able to continue living in the same way and in the same atmosphere in which his parents had brought him up. He had taken the good example of his parents' home with him when he went out into life and started his own family. But it was thanks to his parents that he had acquired these merits; for he had full confidence in them. This helpfulness, this kindness and love were only superficial in him; he had acquired them from his parents, but they did not reach the depths of his soul. 
But they prevented the lower feelings from breaking through in him, and so he could not burden himself with them. So he was not purified in the depths of his soul, but owed his rise to the caring upbringing of his parents. 
And then he was led into the last, into this important life. Now he was no longer lucky enough to have such kind parents. He was born into a family with many brothers and sisters. There was a lot of sorrow and worry in this family, and there was no longer any talk of the helpfulness and kindness that had been there before. 
Now the true self of the person could be expressed, because he did not receive from these parents that good example of helpfulness and goodwill. And so he had burdened himself. He had given in to alcoholism, became a hot-tempered person and was never willing to do a service to anyone else. This had brought his burden of guilt upon himself. He was now to pay off this burden in the world beyond, so it was explained to me, because now the depths of the soul had to be purified. And this was only possible by being very strict with him in the spiritual world, giving him enough opportunity to think so that he could purify himself. 
My kind companion added: The plane in which your father lives looks generally quite decent. I was able to hear that she had her various beautiful and less beautiful places. There were areas that were very beautiful and there were less beautiful. And those places where this splendor of color and variety was not expressed were those who had something to make up for. Large buildings with boundaries stood there so that these beings could not leave them.
 My companion informed me of this and promised me to pass on my greetings to the father. He told me that on his next visit he wanted to accompany him to the garden of this prison so that he could talk to him about me. I wanted to know more and he told me: There is a large garden around this prison; but it is very desolate, only individual flowers and bushes or trees can be seen. And the surrounding area is fenced off. Angels stand there as guards so that none of these beings can cross these boundaries. In passing, my spiritual companion gave me the explanation: See, it was like this once before: When Adam and Eve did not fulfill their tasks and had to be expelled from their paradise, the same angels of heaven were placed and prevented them from crossing into another sphere. They too were thus bound to their place and were not allowed to cross the borders. The saints of heaven stood there and kept watch; for those spheres had to be transformed first and then worked on further for further advancement. 
This was also how it was to be here in my father's environment. He lived in a city where happy brothers and sisters were allowed to live; but he was in a place where he was confined and had to live in distress with others. They were given the opportunity to spend time in the garden. But they were not to be able to escape, and there was no escape. This is what I was taught
Now I wanted to know: What can I do for my father? And the angel said to me: You have earned many merits in your life. You have prayed a lot for your father. The prayer that you said for him during his lifetime could not have benefited him at that time, because he was a very stubborn person, and he did not deserve to be granted grace through your prayer. He should assert himself, his real self should now be expressed. 
But my prayer had not been in vain, I was told; it was only effective now that I was in the spiritual world; now it should benefit my father's soul. I then asked my companion to do everything he could to obtain release for my father. He promised me: Your works and your prayer should bring him a little relief, because he will now be able to do something in the future. Because up to now he was condemned to do nothing, and that is, as I was told, the hardest thing in a world where there is no time, where you do not know what today is and what tomorrow is, where you cannot look into the future, where hope is so far away. 
He promised me that he would take care of it and then brought me the news that he had now sent greetings and had made sure that my father could do some work in the room that was available to him in this large house.
 I was very interested to know what kind of work this was, because my father had only been a casual worker in his life and I could not imagine that he could do any work conscientiously. I was told that he would have very small spools with which he would have to work. They would be brought to him, all the colors mixed up, and he would have to arrange them neatly according to the color scale. This work would give him some joy. 
He had also been told that this had happened as a result of my intercession. My companion then brought me greetings from my father and the news that he would like to see me very soon. But this was not yet to happen. What I was able to achieve for him was that he would be allowed to work, and he was very grateful for that. 
Now he no longer felt so lonely in his cell and no longer had to wait and wait idly, but could do work. I was told that he made a special effort and was conscientious, because he wanted to get out of this imprisonment; he had long since realized what mistakes he had made in life. But he knew that it was now too late and that he now had to earn his living. So I was glad that my father could at least be helped in this way. My other relatives could not do anything for him. They were not allowed to visit him, nor to send him any news. 
But now I also had to take on tasks in the new world, and since I loved old people and children in life, I was now to have a relationship with children again in my new world and, I say, with old people again. 
I would like to explain what is meant by these old people. I was led into another sphere; I was allowed to enter this sphere, which was to be my new home, at any time. I lived in a beautiful house with other spirit brothers and sisters. We had a really happy life; we could sing and make music, and we were happy. But we were supposed to help to promote God's plan of salvation and to make the path to the heights easier for the brothers and sisters who were ascending. 
So we had to leave our beautiful, happy place and also put ourselves in the service of our neighbors. I was told that care was taken to ensure that certain abilities that one brought from earthly life into the new world could continue to be exercised so that they could benefit the plan of salvation. So I was led to a village. I had the impression that it was very lively here, and I did not have the feeling that the inhabitants were unhappy. I saw various houses, large and small, and I saw a splendor of colors in the flowers. The buildings were also in their colors, and so I did not have the impression that this was an unfortunate sphere. 
I was also told: You will fulfill your tasks for your brothers and sisters on a higher level. But those who have come to this village or this level are still connected to their earthly life despite their spiritual development and they must now cast off this earthly bondage. I was to help them with this. The brothers and sisters I met were all newcomers. They had only recently returned home and they all looked similar to how they had in the last days of their lives. Most of them had left the earthly world in old age and still bore the traces of their age on their spiritual bodies. They still had wrinkles on their faces and their faces seemed to be withered, just like that of an old person. 
That is how I met these brothers and sisters. And they also had to familiarize themselves with their new world first. It was often a great confusion. There was a lot of talking; some were amazed at what they were now able to experience, others were so surprised by this new life that they had never expected. But basically everyone who lived together was good people. They were all equal in their development and in their goodness and had been led into the same sphere. They did have various human weaknesses that had to be overcome over time. 
What was the problem with these siblings? Most of them still felt that they were suffering. Actually, only a few were completely satisfied. Most of them still felt pain in their spiritual bodies, the same ones that they had had with their earthly bodies during their lifetime. They were in pain because their old, sick body had caused them pain. They were still so connected to it in their thoughts and believed that they still had the same pain. Some had difficulty walking. 
They had to be taught: Here in the new world you no longer have any suffering, your spiritual body no longer torments you with pain; you left that behind in the earthly world. You only have thoughts of suffering with you, but it is no longer real pain. 
Before I went on this task, I was taught how to talk to these brothers and sisters. I was told that I should watch them getting younger. I was now to witness how the faces of these returnees, which were full of wrinkles due to their age, and how their facial features, which were not particularly harmonious due to their age, slowly became more refined. 
I was told that they would become young again, and that the faster they became familiar with the new order, the faster they would be able to regain their former youth. Many people need to adapt to this new world.
 These beings are of good will, they want to do it, but they are still bound to the past with many thoughts and memories; and this bondage delays rejuvenation. So they must be taught again and again: separate yourselves now from all this earthly thing that still binds you, so that you can enter into spiritual youth. Then you will become young again, and you will no longer be judged by your age, as is usual with people, where everyone carries their age with them openly and can be estimated. Those who conform to the order in the spiritual world get a youthful, wonderful appearance, and this youth remains.
This is how I was taught, and this is how I should now teach my brothers and sisters: you should get an ever better appearance. Here it is the opposite of what it is in the earthly realm. On earth, one recognizes age, because people get tired and their strength decreases. But in the spiritual world, over time, a freshness is expressed, youth returns. 
All of this can be observed in a being that moves towards this youth if it wants to; one must therefore do one's part to regain this youth. I did not have to give these instructions alone, but I did have a task with these brothers and sisters. 
And so I took pleasure in seeing how those who had come home so tired and looked old and could no longer walk properly now left so fresh, so young. They were happy that they could now keep their youth and would always look like this if they adapted to these new laws and this order. That was once my task with these brothers and sisters. They all had to fulfil a task, each according to their ability. So some were led here and others there, and they had to practice loving their neighbour. For in the communal life, when we were together or when we worked together, the character of the individual could also be expressed, and so one or the other had to be reprimanded if he did not behave properly. 
But they all strove to win back this youth very quickly. So for me it was something beautiful, a joyful task. Here the youth was being won back, and it is something beautiful when you can experience it, when you can lend a hand yourself to win back this beauty. 
But my tasks were not only with these brothers and sisters, I was also supposed to work with the children. So I was able to carry out my work here and there in turns. With the children who come into God's world, it is the other way round than with the old people: the children are supposed to grow, and it is just as beautiful to watch them grow.
 You also have to keep busy with these spirit children. They are classified according to their age and cared for and taught accordingly, and they are also given small jobs. There is a lot of play among these children, especially among the little ones; but the older ones can also indulge in these games. 
When they have reached a limit in their growth determined by the spiritual world, they must also attend spiritual schools; they are taught and must learn. But they also have plenty of opportunity to work. They can join the angels of God, go with them and fulfil a task with them. It is the angels of God who take over the role of parents for these children who have returned home. These angels are their foster parents; they are therefore not their spiritual parents, about whom you have already been informed [see the lecture Heavenly Marriages and Families in the volume Meditation Week 1965, p. 85 ff.].
 Such a foster mother has a certain number of children whom she looks after and for whose well-being she is concerned in every respect. She goes out with them into those environments that are marked for this and shows them what is permitted in the divine world. All of this is limited for these children, because it was explained to me that not all of them enter the same sphere. The children who return home also have different degrees of spiritual development, and they are accordingly led to their stage where they are educated and cared for.
 Where I was now able to fulfill my task with the children, there was a higher stage, roughly equivalent to that of the older siblings who were allowed to enter adolescence. It was the same sphere, but this sphere has its different stages, its different towns and villages. 
So I also enjoyed the task with these children, and for the most part they were very grateful. There were also some with whom it was difficult to educate; but through great dedication and sacrifice, these spiritual siblings could be given such an education that one could be happy about them. 
There were spirit children there from all ages of human life, according to your time reckoning from infants to fourteen years. From then on they were handed over to certain other spirit beings who then took over supervision of them and took them to their schools. 
So I was allowed to work with these children, play with them, sing with them, make music with them and also be there when the spiritual teachers came who had to teach these children. In these spheres the language that the children had learned in their parents' home on earth is spoken. They are also brought together in groups in which one and the same language is spoken. So in the children's paradise the different languages ​​of these children are also spoken. 
But as I will now explain to you, those who speak the same language are brought together and they are allowed to play with each other. And the angels who teach them naturally speak the language of these children, in which they have to educate them. 
When they all come together, there is a motley of entertainment. Because up to the age of fourteen - I say it according to your concepts - children are mainly taught only one language, while these spirit children later have to learn other languages. And here, among these children, those who are gifted with languages ​​stand out. This is because they have this ability from previous lives and because they are brought up in the spirit and grow up only among these saints of heaven. So these children are surrounded by a very specific, I would say purified, power that enables them to more quickly learn or recognize another language that they spoke in previous lives. But these are exceptions. As a rule, they first have to learn to speak the language that their parents spoke correctly. 
So you experience the children's paradise. There are of course many joys, many celebrations. The children are looked after very specially and they are given attention, because the angel world is very close to them, and those high beings come to visit from the highest levels of heaven. The spirit children are prepared for these visits. They decorate themselves and then give the visitor special flowers or small gifts that they have made themselves. So it is always a big celebration, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to these spirit children.
So I was able to fulfill my task here and there. But I never forgot my father. I wanted to use all my devotion to help him out of his distress. I not only wanted to fulfill my task as I had been assigned; I also wanted to free my father from his distress. So I kept asking about him. And when the time came, I was told that I could now go and visit him. That was a very special joy for me, something I will never forget.
So I stood in front of my father. During his lifetime he had never been well-disposed towards me. Now in the spiritual world he asked me to support him, and he asked me for forgiveness. I was disappointed with his appearance. I felt as if everything about him was dirty. I was used to experiencing growth from my duties - on the one hand I was able to experience how youth is regained, and on the other hand spiritual growth. 
And now I saw my father in this way. I was sad, but I was prepared for it. I could now tell him that I would like to support him if I were allowed to. He then confessed to me that he had been very surprised when he woke up in this world. He had never believed that there was life after death. Now he had to tell himself that it had been so stupid of him not to come up with the idea that there really was life after death. Because if he had only thought a little more about Christ, he would have come to this realization. But that would not change his situation, but he would now be very obedient in order to get out of this distress. 
I was allowed to go with my father into this garden, which looked so modest. We stood very close to a divine guardian who stood there and did not want to clear the way for us. We could not go any further, but only look a little into the distance, that is, my father could see that there was a more beautiful world outside this prison. 
He confessed to me that it was the first time that he was allowed to look into the distance like that; up to now he had only experienced the narrowness of his prison, but he probably deserved it. 
When we parted he asked me to do everything I could to get him out of this prison as quickly as possible. What could I do? I had spoken to my companions, the high spiritual beings, about my father again and again. I wanted to offer them something and said: you can give me further tasks; I want to fulfill them, because I want to free my father from his distress. But they told me: you cannot fulfill any more tasks; what you are doing is enough. But if you are so committed to your father, we will give you permission to get him out of prison. We will show you where you have to lead him. 
That was a surprise and a joy for me at the same time. I prepared myself. I put on the best clothes I had and then, accompanied by a loving being, went to my father and brought him the good news that he could leave prison. So we went to get him and he was overjoyed, even weeping with joy. 
We were allowed to leave this prison and the angel who usually stood there and kept such a strict watch smiled and let us through. We were able to go and my father was free. But I had been told where to take him and who to report to. It was the same village, but the surroundings were much nicer. My father felt free and he was happy. Now he could enter a house again; but this was no prison and there were no guards outside the house. 
When I entered this community house with my father, the residents were just having a merry game together. They greeted us with joy, welcomed us and offered us a place to sit. And the beautiful thing that I observed was: None of them recognized my father as a great debtor; none of the other siblings saw that he had come out of prison; he had relinquished his guilt, had been forgiven, and was free. They welcomed him with joy, and no one knew where he had just come from. This made my father particularly happy, because on the way he had said to me: I must be ashamed when the others see all the bad things I have done in life and that I am coming out of prison. 
But I said to him: You need not be ashamed, because in this world people show each other great understanding and love. I had no idea that the others should not know who he was. So they celebrated our arrival. Then a spirit brother came and received my father, showed him his place in this house and told him what he should do in the future. And no one did anything like that, as if they knew anything about the fact that he had come to the world beyond burdened with heavy debts. 
No, he had made amends and was accepted into the large community as a peaceful and loving being. In this new community he was supposed to prove that he was worthy of sharing his life with these brothers and sisters. My father did it. I visited him again and again and never had to admonish him, because he was so happy about this regained freedom. 
Over time he had made friends, to whom he revealed that he had had a difficult path behind him and that he had a lot to thank his daughter for. But none of those to whom he told this bore him any grudge. They were happy that he had now achieved his advancement and was ready to fit in. 
So I am allowed to visit my father again and again. He is happy and fulfills his tasks in his new environment with his brothers and sisters, with whom he has to live. He is glad and happy to have put the difficult things behind him, and he also has his new tasks that he must fulfill. He is still being taught about the plan of creation, about the plan of salvation, which is a necessity for every being. Because if you are informed about it, you understand the meaning and purpose of earthly life, and you make an effort to speed up your ascent accordingly; you then also know how much still has to be done so that you can at least reach a certain spiritual height. 
This is how I fulfill my task in both of these spheres. With the children, I am happy to see them grow, and in that other plane, I am happy when someone comes back from earth, tired, with a heavy gait and an old face, and I am able to experience how they become young again and how they can then, after a certain time, leave this plane and ascend a level further. It is a beautiful activity and something beautiful to see how one becomes young again through justice, through love, through loyalty, insight, peace. The greater the insight, the faster spiritual youth is regained; the faster one detaches oneself from everything earthly, the faster one regains youth. 
So, dear brothers and sisters, I say goodbye to you again. I told you something about a world that is still foreign to you, but that you should become familiar with. So may God give you the strength to come ever closer to this spiritual world, so that the bonds between you humans and us become ever closer. God grant it. God bless you.
Joseph: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, I am ready to answer a few questions that relate to what has been said.

Dear spirit friend Joseph, I assume that the change in the Father's nature did not only take place at the moment of liberation, but was slowly developing.

Joseph: Yes.

Dear Joseph, Adelheid emphasized that in the sphere where the spirits became young again, there was a special activity. Was that only apparent, did it only seem that way to her, or is there an intention behind it so that they can change more quickly?

 Josef: No, the reason for the activity is that these beings themselves show great joy because they are allowed to become young again, that they return to this youth and most of them do an activity that gives them particular joy. It is a liberating world for them in which they live. It is only the first few times that cause them difficulties, but very soon they have become familiar with this new world. I could almost say that many of them have a certain high spirits, but this is nevertheless
within its limits.

Dear friend Josef, the young are getting older and the old are getting younger. At what age do they then stop? Can one say that?

Josef: Yes, one cannot say that according to your concepts. A spirit being that has completed its purification and has reached a certain spiritual stage of development looks young and beautiful, and this beauty remains. You cannot really estimate it by years as you can, because the beings also differ in their size and shape; some are narrow, smaller in stature, others are tall and broad. Nevertheless the face of all those who have achieved spiritual maturity is such that they look young and beautiful. Because in the high heavens everything must be beautiful. So all beings have a corresponding or certain beauty in their own way, just as you have, let's say, beautiful people among you, and yet no one is the same as the other. It is the same in the spiritual world.

I have read that there are tests and after passing, a test the person suddenly appears perhaps five, ten or twenty years younger. 

Josef: Yes, it is possible that he was given such a test, and if he has fulfilled it, then he has regained his spiritual maturity. 

Experience report of the ascending spirit being Adelheid and questions answered 
by spirit teacher Josef by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich. Original: tape recording. 


Headline, next case.



May 4, 1966.
Theresia's expectations of the afterlife over time.
Today people are much more demanding than they used to be; therefore, many are disappointed with the world they enter after death.

Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit sister by the name of Theresia is speaking to you. We ask you to listen carefully to her. God bless you. 

Theresia: God bless you. My dear brothers and sisters, my name is Theresia. I lived in Austria around eighty years ago. (1966-80=1866 and  below is typical clothing from that time there/not from book.)

I would only like to briefly describe my life to you, but I would like to shed some light on the conditions of that time in comparison to today.
Then I want to tell you what my task is today in my new world: I look after souls who have returned home, I give comfort where it is needed; I have access to people. I am fulfilling my task in our kingdom.
I earned merit because I had raised a large number of children, that is, I was the mother of fourteen children. I had a hard life, the work was hard, that is, it was not so easy to earn my daily bread. I had to help people to earn money. I was lucky to have a biological sister who did the necessary work around the house, and so I was able to earn a little money. But what does earning mean? I went from house to house, from door to door with a basket of goods. I had little. So people were happy for every bit of money. 
Now I will try to compare life back then with life today, with your life; after all, it is my job to comfort those who have returned home. I want to tell you that I have also made many, many mistakes in life. I was told that as soon as I arrived in the spirit world. But I was also told: Theresia, you have earned merit through the children you have given birth to; you have accomplished such a great work in God's plan of salvation. But as far as your life is concerned, we were not so happy with that; you were not always honest and you could be very argumentative and a lot more besides. 	Yes, I did have a bad conscience, but I was told that the many children would now be highly valued, and that was my spiritual merit. Well, I also had to go through purification. But people were very considerate and very loving, and I found the world I had entered wonderful. I found it so wonderful, because in my whole life I had never experienced anything so wonderful, such care, such attention. In general, this world was so beautiful; it made a huge impression on me. Now I will tell you why this world made such a big impression on me; because from today's point of view, my world at that time was not particularly beautiful. But I cannot say anything special about the life I left behind, or that I lived well and had a beautiful life.
I was accused of not always being honest, and of course also of being quarrelsome.
I had to go from house to house with the basket, and what I had was humble goods, very humble goods. But the most important thing, much more important than all the goods in the basket, was the rosary. I always put the rosary on top. When I offered people my humble goods, I always put the rosary on top, and then they couldn't help it: they had to give me something. Yes, it was little, but I was happy with what little I had. Sometimes I took the rosary and wound it around my hand so that people could see that I was a pious woman. The fact that I did so brought me material advantages. Now and then I was given something, sometimes even a little bread, and so I was happy with that, or I was given other kinds of food. So I had to do everything to be able to give my children what they needed.
Theresia: Well, when I then looked around in my spiritual world  and made the acquaintance of these higher brothers and sisters, they reproached me for it: I had been deceitful, I had only done it out of calculation. And I had to say: Out of necessity, it was not calculation, it was necessity; necessity forced me to do it.
But they did not accept my excuses. Well, I did not care so much about what these nobles said to me. What was important to me was that I lived in a truly beautiful world, I no longer had to worry about my daily bread, no more suffering, oh, what more could I want. Everyone was so accommodating, it was simply wonderful.
Well, it is my job to make you understand the difference between you and those who come to us today and whom I have to comfort. Sometimes it is not easy for me to comfort these new arrivals and give them the right words. But what do I do then? I tell them what happened to me. If someone comes to us today and, let's say, arrives at the same level of development as I did back then, then he is not satisfied.
Such people start to complain and say that they are not used to such things. They had a much nicer life, a nice home, they had all the comforts, nice clothes and so on, they could have afforded everything and now this modesty. No, they cannot accept that. And then I say to them: You know, I once got to where you are now, but for me this new world was a great experience and I have to explain to them: Back then, when I lived, there was still great poverty. And we were not at all so demanding, we wore the same clothes for decades.
If we look at people today, be it women, then we have to say: This state that they create! This finery that they spend! And when they then come to us, nothing is good enough. They want to wear the same clothes and the same finery, but then they find that none of that is left. They wear simple clothing. And then I tell them: In my time, people didn't wear a new coat every day and men didn't wear a clean shirt; in my time, men wore the same shirt for at least four weeks. And now that they are in the new world, they want the same comforts, and they don't find those comforts there. And I have to tell them again: In my time, if you were sick, you just had to endure the pain. Only the very rich and fine people could get a doctor, and even then they didn't always get help. But people like us didn't go to the doctor; you just had to die, life didn't last as long as it does today. And you just had to endure the pain. 
When you then entered the spiritual world and were freed from pain, how happy you were to be free of the pain! And you felt so fresh too; your clothes were much nicer than when you were alive. So you didn't have the kind of demands that are made today when the deceased come home. 
I had a special experience, not so long ago: One person came home wearing a rather dirty vest or coat, to be more specific. He stood at a well, wet his hands and tried to clean the stains off his coat. You couldn't tell whether these stains were blood or rust, they were just horrible stains, his whole coat was covered in them. He stood at the well and thought he was getting rid of his stains. I went up to him and asked him what he was doing. And he replied, not particularly friendly at all, although I only wanted to help him: You can see! Can't you see what a dirty coat I have? It would be better if you found me a way to get rid of these stains. I answered him: You know, we don't have the means to remove stains that you have had in your life. We also have means to remove the stains, but this is done in a different way than you imagine. I should help him to remove these stains, he should be ashamed, he had never been used to walking around so dirty in such stained clothing as he had here. In fact, he couldn't even imagine where the stains came from; and this clothing or this coat didn't belong to him at all, it must be a mistake, a mix-up. I patted him on the shoulder and said: Dear brother, there is absolutely no mix-up, it is your coat, it belongs to you. He just looked at me in amazement: Help me to remove my stains instead. I told him: You will never get rid of these stains with water, not even in this new world; There are other means for that.
What means?he wanted to know. Yes, that would be a completely different life. That is not so easy to say, I replied, I could not explain it to him at the well, we would have to talk to each other for a long time so that I could explain to him how he could get a clean coat again. I then made hints to him, as he had heard when he came in and people had spoken to him about his great mistakes. These stains on his coat were nothing other than the burden of his life. The fact that this dirt was now on his coat was quite natural in this world; because this dirt would only go away and his appearance would only improve when he adapted to the new circumstances in this new world. Then he said that he had had so many beautiful, clean clothes and such a beautiful house and everything and now he was in misery and dirt. I replied: Yes, you were a Christian too. Did you not know that everything that shines on earth is nothing, nothing at all?
Even if someone throws himself into the most beautiful garment, but has an ugly soul and a coldness in his heart, he could not contribute anything to improving his spiritual garment.
He did not really want to understand it, he did not want to be satisfied with these words and said:
 I want nothing else but to go back, I do not like it here. I want to go back to my world, where I have worked and lived for so long. There I have my comforts, there I can go among my own kind, I feel good there. But here, in this filth, I do not feel good, and when I look around: everyone who is here is so unkempt, so to speak, ill-mannered. I do not want to deal with them.
     I replied: ‘You can do as you like. If it seems good to you, you can go back again. You can then see how far you get. But I would like to point out to you that you no longer have an earthly body and you are no longer bound to earthly laws; you are now bound to the spiritual laws of the new world you have entered.‘
He replied that he could not accept this new world for the time being and he said goodbye to me and then went back to his world, from whence he had come. His longing for this world that he had left was so great that he was drawn to it again like a magnet; and he went back among his own people. He could only live among his own people for a certain time, then he was taken away. They made him understand that he had to return.
 I have experienced all sorts of things like that. Some people complain about the possessions they have left or that have disappeared from them. When you come to them, they start to tell you what their job was, what they achieved, what reputation they had among people. They tell you things like that, they talk about their possessions. 
And they have to be told again and again: is what you left behind of any use to you in this new world? And they have to realize that what they left behind in their former world is of no advantage to them. But they always want to refer to what reputation they had. And they explain to everyone they meet what they left behind, what they achieved, and they believe that the other person would then respect and esteem them. Then they experience great disappointment: no one gives them the respect and esteem they need; they are all the same. That hurts these people who have returned home; they simply cannot accept it. 
Finally, you make them aware of the inner life and you say to them: Yes, you must have known that there is another world. They answer: Yes, we have not thought about it, we have not concerned ourselves with it, and they accuse us of having to intervene more massively in people's lives; they should have made it clear to them that life does not end after death, then many people would have thought about what they were doing. 
We have to say: Ha, that would be a very cheap conquest of the divine world! God does not give up his heaven so cheaply. We then have to explain to them: You lived in a time when you were constantly being made aware of the Christian holidays; and you also had your commandments. But God was far too far away for you. Yes, it was not considered good form in society to talk about God, you would have made yourself look ridiculous, or so they tell us. 
And then we say: It is not good manners if we have such a special conversation with you. We take our time. Good manners require a conversation a few steps further up. And so you let them know that you will break off the conversation quite quickly and not resume it straight away. Although I always judged from case to case when I had the task of comforting these souls. Some seemed to be quite stubborn in their attitude and had brought so much humanity with them, and so one had to talk to them accordingly, while others were prepared to adapt to the new circumstances. And they were treated quite differently.
 But the hardest thing for those who have returned home is always to adapt to this new world, to find their way into this order, because they still carry so many human feelings within them. The soul is not yet free of human thoughts and passions. It has taken the passions with it. The body is not the bearer of passions; the body is nothing, it is transient. The bearer of passions or virtues is the soul. The soul lives, it cannot be killed, it does not die with the body. It gets up, it lays the body down. Because when it comes to dying, to shedding the shell that has become heavy, the soul and the spirit long for reality, they are attracted to this new world.
Even if the soul and the spirit are so wrapped up in human thinking, in the desires that are inherent in humans, there is still something inside them that pushes them into that world.
There is an inner force, something that only lets out a faint trace of itself; but this faint force has the ability to increase the desire to enter this new world and to make friends with it.
It is something like a dream experience for the soul. When it has then entered the spiritual world, it is sometimes in such a state, especially in the first few days. On the one hand, it wants to make friends with the new world, on the other hand, the desire to return to the old world is greater. Sometimes it is the passions that have not died out that simply find expression. Giving expression to these passions in the new world, in the spiritual world, is difficult for every soul. One can certainly live for a time with the same desires and passions, or whatever you want to call them. One can return to earthly existence and indulge in the same vices for a certain period of time. But one cannot simply do it as one pleases. If one cannot free oneself from these vices and passions, one will be released and led back with gentle force. This is what happens to souls who have never occupied themselves with a higher thought during their lifetime. This weak force, this quiet desire for something higher and better, cannot find expression in this way. Many are clever enough to recognize that in the new world they are under a different power, that different conditions exist, and they want to adapt to these conditions; because they see that there is no escape. Those who have the will to change are the ones who make the quickest progress. 
But today it is not quite so simple. When those who had so many comforts in their world, who could afford everything, come back and suddenly find themselves in a world that has nothing to offer them, that is to say, temporarily, offers them nothing of equal value, they are unhappy, deeply unhappy. 
Then you have to say to them again: Yes, what a beautiful time you were born in, because your world was beautiful, or: Where you lived, it was beautiful. You had enough bread, you never had to go hungry. Because you never had to go hungry, because you did not have to ask yourself: 'Where must I lay my head to sleep tomorrow?', you are not happy in this new world, because you want the same comforts that you had on earth. 
But in the time when I lived, people suffered from hunger; there were days when a mother could not eat anything just so that the children had enough. And when you were in pain, when you were ill, there was no powder or tablets; you had to bear the pain. Oh, how happy one is to be freed from that pain and now to be able to live in a world where the body, now the spiritual body, no longer has to suffer. And those who lived in a world where the slightest pain could be overcome by means, had to endure as little pain and discomfort as possible. Yes, then the demands grow, and one wants something nicer; what one had, one had, and one wants something better.
Giving the people who have returned home the right answer and guiding them correctly is not so easy. And when I say again and point out to people: In your world, where you live, you have it nice; you have as many clothes as you want, you can wrap yourself in a splendor of colors if you want and when you come back and then in a lonely, If you have to live in a world of darkness and gloom, you feel deeply unhappy because you have had more beautiful things and you want more. 
Those who were of a believing heart, who had a connection and an inner bond with our world and who did good, who knew the commandments, who knew exactly what they had to do, who thought that life is passing and that after earthly life other laws and other circumstances would be decisive, are lucky. Those who prepare for the future are lucky; they can then enter the beautiful world, and they will receive more beautiful things than they had in human life. In this way, everyone experiences this heaven that they earned during their lifetime. It is a joy for us to be able to greet someone who is coming home and to say to them: We are happy that you stood up for us. It is not a matter of course that people will stand up for us, it is not at all a matter of course; because people believe that they are exposing themselves if they talk about the other world, about spirits, about heaven, about God. 
And whoever has done this, whoever has expressed their confession in the right place, at the right time, will receive their reward. Then they need not be unhappy about the clothing they are wearing. Admittedly, it is not so flawless, so excellent at the beginning. There is much to complain about in the clothing, in general in the external appearance. But the higher brothers and sisters are happy to tell you what to do to improve your appearance. Then you just have to orient yourself accordingly, towards serving your neighbor. 
This is how the divine laws are expressed, and you have to learn them. This is how these returnees make the acquaintance of higher spirits. But before a conversation with them can take place, you experience all sorts of things from your peers that they have to complain about; you constantly hear about their misfortune.
 One person left behind no special possessions and had no special prestige; and the other, he did have them and then he wants to express this to his neighbour and believes that he will receive special treatment for it, but he does not receive it. So it is difficult for many souls to find their way in this new world.
That is why, dear brothers and sisters, I have had the task of telling you about it. And I would like to say to you: go back in spirit, eighty, a hundred or even more years. How much misery there was! You speak among yourselves of the hunger of this world, of peoples who suffer from hunger. Yes, that is it, and in the past the hunger was even greater. You can eat your fill, you do not have to suffer from hunger. But if someone dies of hunger and opens his eyes in the other world, he is content even if this world does not have these comforts and does not know how to offer him. 
But it is still a better world for him, because in this new world he does not have to suffer hunger, he does not have to endure pain, he no longer has the problems he had as a human being. So it is man's task to strive upwards. Much greater demands are made of those who have returned home today than in my time. 
Because we had nothing; we already lived in poverty and great modesty and have already contributed to a part of the purification in human life through our poverty. People in today's world can rarely earn a part of the purification in human life, because they do not know the path of purification that they must go through; they want to take the beautiful and comfortable path. 
And when those of today return home, greater demands are made of them. The ascent is not made so easy for them. They must work more in the spiritual realm in a spiritual sense until they are allowed to ascend a level more than those who die of hunger. They will be comforted, the gates of the kingdom of heaven will be opened to them, and they will be given help to ascend. 
Greater demands are placed on those who have lived in abundance, and the gates will not be opened in the same way, because they had a better life. They had experienced so much in their world that should have aroused their admiration, so that they should have investigated the question of where all this came from, of the strength and the possibility to do so. And because this is not done or is done little, the demands are greater. 
That is my task, dear brothers and sisters, that I had to fulfill, to tell you and that you should not be disappointed if the world you will one day enter does not offer as many comforts and beauties as your current world. Think about it: you can experience wonderful music, you can experience the beautiful arts as you wish here in your world, in my time that was only a thing for fine people. But how much greater is the admiration of those who in poverty and modesty leave the world t and are now able to experience what they had to do without in their human existence. You don't have to do without, you can experience the fine arts. Whether you will experience them in the Kingdom of Heaven is another question. 
So, dear brothers and sisters, I have said enough. I am returning to my world and am once again ready to offer my service and care to someone returning home. And I will tell the next person that I was here and that I was able to address such words to people. But not everyone believes, not everyone who is here believes. All the greater the amazement when the time comes. Greetings from God. [End of recording. Addition from the first publication in the magazine Geistige Welt.]

In response to a question concerning the various prospects for the afterlife, spirit teacher Josef replied:
You have already been told that those who have lived in poverty, distress and ignorance are received very differently in the afterlife, that they are treated with much more love and that many things about them are overlooked. As this spirit sister Theresia explained to you, they have already completed part of their path of purification in human life, and this is credited to them accordingly. If you think carefully about the Bible, you will find the right answer in it.
Depending on the circumstances, greater demands are made of people today. This does not mean that efforts are not made for them when they return home. They are also shown the path to their ascent. But today they have a completely different knowledge. And these souls, when they return to spiritual life, carry this knowledge within themselves. 
So it is not the case that one loses the knowledge that one has acquired in human life through death. But if one has used one's knowledge to the detriment of one's fellow human beings, this knowledge is temporarily - we cannot say taken away - locked in the soul in the divine world, and only at a later point in time, when the purification has progressed sufficiently, can this knowledge be returned to one.
 So nothing that one has acquired in human life is lost. This is then paired with new spiritual insights. It must also be said that when one has to enter a new earthly life again, these abilities and this knowledge are locked in the soul. But if there is reason to do so, they can be brought out again in greater measure. 

Experience report of the ascending spirit being Theresia and questions answered by spirit teacher Josef
 by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich. Template: tape recording and first publication in the magazine Geistige Welt.

Headline, next case.
June 1, 1966.
Wanda a spiritual bond between two siblings.
Help and sacrifice for the backward brother.
Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit sister named Wanda is speaking to you. May God give you the blessing and the strength to hear and understand everything correctly. God bless you.
Wanda: God bless you. My dears, I will try to tell you briefly about my last human life and my subsequent tasks in the world beyond. My name is Wanda. I had nine siblings and our parents died early. I was the eldest and had to look after my siblings. One of my brothers was called Alberto; he was a scoundrel (=thief, black sheep). Over time, all my siblings had left home, only Alberto and I remained behind. Alberto took it for granted that I would take care of him, and so I had to work for him. I had accepted any work that was offered to me. Alberto had worked occasionally, but he was a cause for much annoyance. People were not happy with him because he was not hardworking, he did not like to work, and he was not always honest. We had a lot of trouble with him. But I felt a very strong bond with him, and I remained single. So I had always tried to be particularly supportive of this brother. It was generally customary for us to help and support one another, but this Alberto had caused all of the siblings. i  do not want to tell you more about my human life, but I want to tell you about my subsequent life in the world beyond particular worries.
When I entered the spiritual world, some of my siblings were already in the spiritual realm. My brother Alberto was still living on earth at the time. My deceased siblings, my parents and many of my acquaintances greeted me when I entered the spirit world. My parents thanked me for always standing up for Alberto and caring for him, and they also told me that I would be rewarded for this. And truly, I did receive so much reward that I hadn't really expected. The meeting with my siblings and my parents didn't last long. They all seemed to be in a hurry and didn't spend much time greeting me - they all acted as if they had a lot to do. I didn't want to force myself on them either, because I had to adapt to this new world first. But my spiritual guides, these angels who had welcomed me, were very loving and kind. I told them that I would actually have preferred it if my brother Alberto had died before me, because now he would be completely lost in this earthly world. Then these guides explained to me that it wouldn't be too long before Alberto would also return home. As a result, I did what I could for my brother Alberto from the spiritual realm. I went to see him and tried to support him and help him as best I could. But I couldn't give him much, because as a human he didn't sense me and he didn't listen to me. 
When the time came and he too died, I, as well as all my siblings and my parents, were able to greet him on his return home. He stood by me and didn't want to leave my side. He said to me: Wanda, don't leave me, because you are my support. You were my support on earth. Now I'm afraid of everything that's going to happen. I can only hope in you, because you were always good, you were pious and just. And so I assume that I can go with your grace or share in the grace that you receive. I want you to stand by my side. 
But I had to look at the higher spirit beings present, who now explained that it was not my task to take care of this brother who had returned home, first and foremost; they would, however, allow me to take care of him. 
My parents, my other siblings and acquaintances then had to say goodbye to my brother Alberto, and only I was allowed to stand by him temporarily. I was to listen to what was being said to him. An angel came up to Alberto and said: You have not lived your life to our satisfaction, you have done so much wrong. You were dishonest and you were lazy. Because of your life on earth, you have taken a burden with you into the afterlife, and you will do well to hold on to your helpful sister, because she can truly be a support to you. Despite my support, he should have to go through his purification and do the work assigned to him.
 The higher spirit beings said to Alberto: As a human being, you had not learned a trade or practiced a profession, but you had worked here and there, staying in one place or another for a little longer. Here you must now make up for what you missed in your human life. You had no diligence and no perseverance. Now in the new world you must prove diligence and perseverance, and you must learn a trade.
 They told Alberto which manual work might be suitable for him. He looked disappointed; he did not want to learn a trade. He could neither read nor write; he had not learned to do it in human life, and he was not willing to do regular work and do it conscientiously. I knew my brother and I knew that this would be difficult for him. But the higher siblings insisted and said to him: There is no other way. You can choose what you want to learn here. You must learn a trade. You can choose to be a carpenter, a shoemaker, a painter or a gardener. What do you want? 
Nothing; he did not like any of these jobs, he did not want anything. But these angels told him that it was no use resisting, because even in the Kingdom of Heaven people work. Hearing this disappointed him greatly, because he believed that nobody had to work in the Kingdom of Heaven. He was indignant that this was being asked of him; he simply could not understand it, and he replied to the angels: But that is not necessary, you do not need to practice a trade in this world. Everything is there. God can create everything with a word. I cannot understand why I should learn a trade. 
Now I had been allowed to talk to my brother. I was supposed to persuade him to choose one of these trades. I said to him: Alberto, look at what you look like. He was wearing shoes, but very bad and dirty, with holes, and he was also wearing dirty clothes, a very dirty coat. So I pointed it out to him and said: Now look at your shoes and your coat. Everything is so dirty. You can't be dressed like that in the kingdom of heaven. You have to get better clothes, but you don't get these clothes for free, you have to earn them. 
When he looked at himself, he saw that he was still wearing the same shoes that he had worn at the end of his human life. He was also still wearing the old coat that he had worn at the end of his earthly life. It was the same with everything that he wore on his spiritual body. 
He was astonished, and then he looked at me and said: Why are you wearing a different garment than before? You are not wearing the same apron that you wore in life. Why are you wearing such a fine coat? You don't have the same shoes anymore, you have very nice shoes. Where did you get them from? Yes, I earned them, I said to him. And he replied: But they were given to you, and where you got your shoes from, I can probably get shoes and a coat for me too. 
I replied: That is not possible, because you have taken everything with you from the earth, and you have also taken your shoes and your clothes with you. He could not understand why he looked the same as he did when he was alive as a human, and yet he knew that his earthly body had been given back to the earth and that he therefore had a spiritual body.
He was dressed in spiritual clothes, but they were the same clothes that he had worn in his human life. I had to explain to him that because of his naughty and bad life that he had led, everything heavy had gone with him - including these clothes that he was now wearing and that were now present on his spiritual body in the form of spiritual material. These clothes that he had taken on would only dissolve when he had made some progress in his thinking and had become more industrious and obedient. Then he would also get different shoes and a completely different appearance. 
No matter how much I spoke to him, he couldn't understand it, and he always asked me: Get me a pair of other shoes, you're surely able to. Get me a clean coat from somewhere, you have the opportunity to do that. 
And I had to say to him: I'm not allowed to do that, you have to work for it yourself now. And the first thing you have to do is this: You have to go through the purification now. If you have changed your thinking a little and have only recognized a few of the things you have done wrong, then you will definitely get better shoes and a better coat too. 
That's how I talked to him. I had to discuss with him what work he wanted to do now. He didn't like anything. So I pointed out the following to him: You have helped out in the fields now and then, and you have worked in gardens. So you can at least decide to work here in our spiritual gardens too. Good, he said, then I will do it.
So he decided to pursue the profession of gardener in the spiritual realm. I then communicated his wish to the angels and asked them to show consideration for my unfortunate brother. I did not live with him, but was allowed to go down from my house, from my sphere, to my brother and stay with him and guide him. At times, however, I had to leave him because I had to return to my own house and devote myself to my tasks. However, I had expressed the request that I be allowed to take special care of my brother, and this request was granted; it became my actual main task. Whenever I visited him, my brother asked me: Stay with me, you must not leave me. We were always together before, so please stand by me here too and always tell me what I have to do. 
I wanted to tell him what he had to do, but he didn't obey me either first Alberto took on this work as a gardener. He was led to a large field where he was to work together with other brothers and sisters. I was with him at times and encouraged him to work hard - that went on for a while. After the work was done, they returned to the house where he lived. There was no peace and quiet, however - the lessons began. They were taught about the divine laws, but not only that.
My brother didn't really understand it yet; he listened, but he wasn't able to think it all through and follow it. But now he still had to learn a lot about his trade. Spiritual teachers came for this purpose, and they taught not only my brother, but everyone who did the same work as him. Spiritual laws apply in the spiritual realm, and these laws must also be followed in God's gardens. So it was a real school for my brother; he had to and should so much to learn. However, learning was very difficult for him, because he also had to learn to read and write, which he had not learned in human life.
I personally had made a bit of an effort in human life to learn to read and write the most basic things. In the spiritual world, I was also taught further in this regard.
So my brother had to learn to read and write too, and that was already a big task for him. It was not enough to just tell and draw things in class; because you had to do the work according to these spiritual laws. So my brother had to attend two schools. 
On the one hand, the one that is intended for all spirit beings who have returned home and in which they are taught about spiritual laws, about the meaning of the human life that has been lived and about the plan of salvation and redemption. There is so much that awaits you there and that you have to learn. So my brother also had to go through this class. On the other hand, he also had to attend classes that gave him additional knowledge for his professional activities.
All of this was a bit much for my brother, I knew it. I encouraged him and helped him to solve these tasks. I did the tasks together with him and encouraged him, but it didn't help. He said to me: You can see that I don't understand. I can't keep up with everything that is being explained and told. I just can't, and I just don't like it. I don't want to work like this, I can't do it. 
And I said: You have to. But he replied: I can't. I would prefer to go back to where we came from, to our village. That's where I want to go. I want to be completely happy there. But I can't handle all these tasks. I talked to him so much, but it didn't help. It was his wish, he just wanted to go back to the village where we had lived as people. 
Well, I couldn't do anything about it - I had already told these higher spirits: My brother is not obedient. He doesn't have the strength to understand everything and he wants to avoid this work. Then they said to me: Let him go. Let's give him time. He should go, but you should go to him occasionally. So I had to take care of my brother. I was sad that he was returning to the village and to the people, because he couldn't work on his spiritual progress that way.
 Moreover, I had to see that my brother had been granted a great grace, because he had not yet been punished for the misdeeds he had committed as a human being. I believed that the schools he would have had to attend would have been a punishment for him. I only saw and praised the great grace and indulgence that was now being given to my brother in God's world, because I knew what a terrible life he had had behind him. And so I thought he should have been grateful that he had been accommodated so much and given the opportunity to work his way forward.
But my warnings didn't help either, and so I just let him go. I followed him, however, and was mostly close to him, because I was hoping for the moment when I could convince him that it would be better if he passed over into the spiritual realm again.
What did he do when he went to the village where we had lived as people? First he visited all his former acquaintances and followed them. But none of these people noticed or saw my brother Alberto as he followed them and spoke to them. When he then noticed that no one was paying him any attention, he looked for a sunny spot, lay down there and just wanted to rest and take a siesta. He was happy to see the people and felt the lovely warmth of the sun. So he was happy. But his happiness did not last long, because he always had the feeling that people could see him and that they would avoid him if they approached him. But nobody saw him, because he was a spirit. Now young people came and trampled over my brother Alberto.

They went back again, walked back and forth and trampled on my brother on his spiritual body. He was lying on the earthly ground and people could penetrate the spiritual, they walked over the spiritual, they did not see my brother, they did not see us.
Now my brother began to curse and lament that the young people were walking around on him; they could take a different path. But no matter how much he shouted, they did not hear him. He ran after them, cursed and mocked, but it did not help.
I then went after my brother and pointed out to him the useless life that he had now returned to earth; it was completely useless to wander around there as a ghost; he wouldn't get anywhere that way. But he said: I'm not alone. Look at the many others who are there too. They lie in the sun too, and nobody scolds them. Why don't I have the right to do that? The others do it too. 
I had to point out to him the uselessness of their activities, but my brother didn't listen to me. Then he said: Well, if you won't even allow that, fine, then I'll go and see who all goes to church. It was Sunday, it seemed to us, because people were getting up and going to church. 
I followed my brother to keep an eye on him and to point out to him when he was doing something wrong and when it was necessary to intervene. He went into the church and knelt down at the front of the altar, where people were also kneeling. I stood behind him and said: You know, they pray for the poor souls. And the prayer they say is supposed to free the poor souls and lead them to the kingdom of heaven. He replied: Well, I want a prayer like that now, then I want to go to the kingdom of heaven too. But I don't want to go where I was led. I want to be where you are and I don't want to work. I want to live like the angels of God live. And I want the prayer for the poor souls now, because it belongs to me. They pray for the poor souls.
 I had to say to him: Yes, they pray for the poor souls so that they can find relief and bear their lot better. He did not agree with my words, but replied: No, if you pray for the poor souls, they will be saved. You should know that very well. If people say so many prayers, the poor souls will be freed and redeemed from their torments and their unpleasant lives. I will now just wait until I am redeemed. 
I had to say to him: All of this will not help you, Alberto. They are not just praying for you alone - you certainly don't hear anyone praying for Alberto - but they are praying together for the poor souls. They are praying together so that they can find relief and comfort. And you will find comfort - I am giving you comfort. Be grateful for that. I am showing you the way.
 He said: No, you are not giving me any comfort, you are only my sister. He took my support for granted. Then I said: Fine, I will leave you here. I will come back to you, I will look after you again. But I only moved a little way away from him so that I could always watch him. And so I then had to realize that he was not particularly serious about taking these prayers, but went straight out into the village and into the inn with the people who had left the church, sat down there and took an interest in the conversations that were taking place there. He began to laugh with the people and to take an interest in everything that was being said. I was very close and got the feeling that he was not a ghost, but almost like a human being. 
But they didn't notice, this Alberto. He simply influenced these people and lived off the power that they exuded. Then I had to reprimand him and say to him: You must now leave this place. This is no place for you, because you wanted to stay in the church. 
He replied: You yourself said that prayer is of no use. So I just left the church. And so I had to point out to him: It would be better if you came back and carried out the task you had been assigned. But it was not possible - I could not persuade him to do so. He did not want to return. And so I had to give him free will. And now he was here and now there. But then, when he tried again to choose a sunny spot and sit down to watch what was going on, a higher spirit suddenly appeared. It floated past me and I suspected that it would approach my brother. And so it did. This spirit approached my brother and said to him: It is better if you leave this place now and return to your work. My brother was astonished, because at first he thought that it was me who was reprimanding him. But this spirit influenced my brother so energetically that he could not contradict him. But you could see his thoughts, and they were as follows: OK, I'll go, but I know the way. I can go back if it gets too much for me. And so he went and returned to his work in the spiritual world. 
So he was put back in line. He had to go back to his work in the fields and in the schools. Nobody took offense at his absence in the meantime. When he noticed, that no one reproached him, he made up his mind to go back to the village. They don't miss me here, no one asks about me, he thought. When no one took any special notice of him, he thought he was simply superfluous and left the place again.
 I admonished him and said to him: You are being tested for your obedience. Believe me, it is a strict angel who has reprimanded you and you are disobedient. If you are disobedient, then the punishment will come. Believe me! Don't go back again! But it was no use. I knew my brother Alberto and knew that he was still the same as before. And so he went back to the village. I followed him, but I didn't go directly to him, I just watched him, because I suspected that a spirit of God or the same spirit of God would come to get him again. And so it was. This spirit of God came and did not say a word to him. He just stood in front of him and looked at him sharply, and my brother went back to his house in the world beyond. From his house he had to go to school again and do his work in the fields. But this time it was different from the first time, this time he was reproached. When he came into the house he was received reproachfully, and when he went to school the teachers reproached him. Even when he went to the fields spiritual teachers came and warned him. 
They said to him reproachfully: If you leave this place again you will be banished to a place that will be very unpleasant for you, and you will have even more to learn than you have to learn here. These words made a greater impression on him than the comforting words I had given him. And so I begged him: Stay, be obedient, try hard! I want to help you. 
So I tried to solve the tasks with him. My brother promised me not to return, and he promised to be very diligent and obedient, because he had overheard a conversation between other brothers and sisters who had done the same thing as him and who had not fared well when they left their work. They said that they had now been through a severe punishment, that they had even gone through purgatory, and that they would recommend that everyone be obedient. That made a certain impression on my brother, and of course I also said: You must never leave this place again, because I would be very sad if you really had to go to purgatory. 
My brother simply understood this purgatory as something painful that he would have to experience, perhaps even living in fire or always being in water - he imagined something like that. And now he submitted. It took a lot of effort for my brother to get to that point and start to learn and obey. When he had now decided to do it and stood up with all his strength to learn and obey, he also noticed that he was no longer wearing such dirty shoes. They were the same shoes that he had worn when he entered the world beyond, but they had become so transparent, just like his clothes - everything was so transparent. There was still dirt on his clothes and shoes, but he had the feeling that it would all dissolve very soon. This frightened him and he asked: Where can I get new shoes and where can I get a new coat? Because everything has become so thin that it is no longer wearable. 
I myself had been taught this and was now able to teach my brother: You see, with your diligence and your obedience you have released from the earthly world what bound you to it. The weight that clung to your soul and to your thoughts has been released and is becoming more and more released. Because all this heavy spiritual matter in this bad state has only come about through your thoughts being bound to the life you left behind and the misdeeds you committed. Now you have separated yourself from this life, and so your heavy shoes and your dirty clothes are also separating from you. 
And so it was. A spirit of God came to us because I was still able to look after my brother, and he said to me: I will show you the way. There you can get shoes for your brother. You can also get a proper coat and the necessary clothes for him. 
I was taken to a workshop where these shoes were made and they gave me a pair for my brother. They were not yet so fine, but they were beautiful compared to the shoes he was wearing now. The clothes were also neat; they were not dirty and not torn, but they looked good. Of course he would not look distinguished in them, but much, much better than now.
So they gave me these clothes and these shoes from the workshops and I took them to my brother. I told him:
The shoes were made by other spirit brothers; they are spiritual shoes. Try them on, they will definitely fit your feet.
I took off his threadbare coat and put the new coat on him. He was happy about that because everything was so neat.
Then I gave him the rest of the clothes and said:
You can wear all of these. And your threadbare clothes will soon be gone.
Full of joy, my brother went away to change. When he came back, he was wearing all of these new clothes that I had brought him. And the moment he presented himself to me and was happy about it, his old shoes and his old clothes had also disappeared - it was all dissolved. 
With his great joy and his now existing resolution, with this thought to do better and be more diligent, he had released the rest of this bound matter, and now his spiritual body was clothed with the garments made in the spiritual world. 
Now his spiritual ascent could begin. But this ascent was only slow. But now I could leave my brother, only to visit him occasionally and to rejoice with him in his progress. He learned his trade and practiced it. In the world beyond, one can take up one's trade at any level of ascent. The rough work is done at the lower level, and the further one ascends, the more the work becomes artistic.
Actually, the higher one ascends, it is no longer a question of working, but of artistic creation. The trade that one practices becomes a trade in the artistic sense, the higher one ascends. My brother sensed this and I was able to tell him. He began to be happy and is now on his way up. I fulfill my tasks in the service of my spiritual brothers and sisters. I already fulfilled them in my human life: I served and lived for my brothers and sisters, that is, for my human relatives and for my fellow human beings. 
Now I work in the spiritual realm in this way. I serve my neighbors because they are all my brothers and sisters. I have the opportunity to serve and help in many different ways. I have also had a similar experience to my brother. I have received many beautiful things; some of them are to wear, to decorate myself with, and some of them are to beautify my house. 
So I enjoy my own spiritual ascent, which I am going through, and I am happy in my world. I am especially happy because I am able to help others to ascend and to offer them a hand in gaining a beautiful and happy life. 
So I have told you about my work that I carried out with my brother in the first time after my transition to the world beyond, and I have told you about my later work in the wider area, always in the service of my neighbour, in order to reach the heights, to gain the beautiful, in order to gain a place close to God. This closeness of God is still far away for us, but we experience the closeness of the King of the spirit world, because he comes to us, he visits us. We hear him expressing his joy at our zeal and our activity. He encourages us all to work hard to bring this plan of salvation to fruition. It is a great joy for us when the time comes for him to visit us. He visits the spirit brothers and sisters in the ascension spheres, he comes to us.
 So, dear brothers and sisters, I told you about my life in the spiritual world and about my ascension. We lived in Italy 200 years ago. Greetings from God.

Joseph: Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to answer questions in relation to what has been said.
Dear spirit friend Joseph, was the reason for this attachment between the two siblings a certain bond from a previous life on earth?

Joseph: It is based on spiritual togetherness.

Through family ties?

Joseph: Yes, spiritual, not human.

Why was so much leniency shown to this Alberto? Why was he granted so much grace that he actually did not have to undergo any purification?

Joseph: Yes, that is how it is: when a spirit rises from below, from the depths, much more consideration is shown. The punishment, let us say, for a wrong way of life will come when one can now demand of the person in question that he could have lived differently, that he had risen further spiritually. In the lower stages of the ascent, more consideration is shown.

So one does not expect so much from the beings who ascend from below? 

Josef: Yes, you can't. If you are good at having listened, then you have understood that one cannot expect so much from them. But that does not mean that these beings will always be treated with the same consideration later on, rather they will be guided accordingly and they must also go through this purification if one can expect it from them. 

Dear Josef, was so much strength planned in Alberto's life plan that with good will he could have made some progress in his human life? 

Josef: Yes, of course that would have been possible. But the environment was not like that. He was not given the opportunity to do so. 

We have heard that Alberto felt very comfortable as a spirit in the warmth of our earthly sun, which I still cannot fully explain.

 Josef: Yes, the reason for this is that as a spirit he was still too tied to the earthly. He could feel like a human being, that is, he felt more like a human being, because his development was of such a low kind. He was still so earthbound that he felt everything like humans. That is the deep, low development.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, the time has advanced and I am withdrawing. May God's blessing accompany you, may he watch over you and protect you. May all of you who are sick recover, in body and soul. God bless you.

Report of the experience of the ascending spirit being Wanda and
answers to questions from spirit teacher Josef by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.





Headline, next case.






July 6, 1966.
Insight into the past of a spirit child.
What the world of God does when neither punishments nor repeated earthly lives have any effect on a burdened being.

Josef: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, it is I, your loyal brother. I will speak to you this evening [instead of an ascending spirit being]. I went in search of a spirit who would be suitable to speak to you this evening. I went to the children's paradise, I inquired about the fate of these brothers and sisters, and immediately the behavior of a spiritual child, a brother, particularly caught my attention. I inquired about the previous life of this spirit boy, and I was given insight. I was able to experience everything and recognize what lives he had been in, what burdens he had faced, and why he had come to the children's paradise.
 So now I will try to tell you about the life of this spirit being. I always have the opportunity to look around in the spiritual realms for brothers and sisters who might be suitable to come here and tell about their past human lives. It is also possible for me to gain insight into the fate of the chosen one beforehand. It is always about revealing more of the divine laws to you, dear brothers and sisters. In this way, through these reports of experiences, you will most likely get to know the divine laws. And so I have the opportunity to ascend into these spiritual realms in order to experience the bliss in the heights; I also have the opportunity to descend and observe the lives of the unfortunate and to research the causes of their unhappiness. 
So I and my spiritual friends have now chosen this spirit brother to report on him. When I tell you that I went to the children's paradise, that does not mean that there is only one children's paradise; rather, I entered one of the many children's paradises. To make it easy for you to understand, that means that one finds such children's paradises at all levels of ascension. 
When children pass into the spiritual realm, their spiritual development is very different; consequently, not all of them can be led to the same paradise, as we call it. So I entered a children's paradise on a lower level. Because there we find particularly vivid fates that can be easily told to you.
When I approached this particularly lively spirit boy and became interested in him, his past was revealed to me. Every children's paradise is headed by a high spirit who oversees everything, who gives instructions and who bears responsibility for this small or larger world. So I was given insight and explanation, and I was able to look back into the past of this spirit brother.
In three consecutive lives on earth he had never fulfilled the task that had been given to him. When he had grown up again to become an independent person responsible for his actions, his desire for revenge came to the fore.
He lived in constant conflict and discord with people.
Nothing could be done for him. He was always full of mistrust. If something was done that he did not like, he suspected that someone had been  ill-disposed; for his vengefulness also included slander, lying and quarrelsomeness.
He always sought revenge if people were not particularly well-disposed towards him. And so throughout his whole life he had always lived in a way that was harmful to others; he was always concerned with how he could repay them. He lied, slandered and always managed to express this vengefulness. And in this way he caused great harm to his fellow human being, his neighbour, and his own soul was deeply burdened by it.
When he then returned home from such a burdened life, he was reprimanded for his vices and there was no lack of harsh punishment that he had to endure.
I would now like to tell you something about the main, the first of these three lives, or, more precisely, explain to you what happened to him when he returned to the soul world.
 He was disappointed that people were still alive; he had realized that he had left his earthly body behind. But the ego that lived and his thoughts of revenge continued to live in him. He was now subjected to a harsh purification, he had to be punished for his vice; the work was to be hard.
When I tell you about this work, I want to assume today
that it is no longer so incomprehensible to you. It is only incomprehensible to those friends who still know very little or nothing about the spiritual laws, about the life of the spiritual world. He was to work hard. He was taken to a place that he had to clean.
According to your concepts, it looked there as if there had been a great earthquake. Everything was in disarray, houses had collapsed, trees had fallen down... When I talk about houses having collapsed and trees lying in all directions, I mean spiritual matter - I would like to emphasise this especially for those who do not yet understand the spiritual language; the spiritual house and the spiritual tree have been torn down.
Now everything had to be cleaned and put in order; and this was hard work, there was no rest, so to speak. All those involved in this work were under supervision. They were bound to this place. It was made impossible for them to escape this world, as one likes to do when one lives in freedom. The freedom of these burdened brothers and sisters had to be restricted, however, they were not to be able to move away from their work. It should also be mentioned that after work these brothers and sisters had to live together in a large communal house. Everyone had their own cell here, but it was very desolate and there was not much freedom of movement. According to your understanding and your concepts, we could say that it was a prison. People lived there if they were not assigned to this hard work. High spiritual beings stood above these brothers and sisters and watched them to ensure that they really did carry out this work. Each was assigned a place that he had to clean.

In all these souls that had to do this hard work, there was hatred and envy. These vices that they had expressed in human life remained in them. These vices could not be cast off with the earthly body, but belonged to the living, the spirit. The spirit was so permeated by all these base feelings that this whole disposition was expressed in the human body as it once had. For the soul's mind remained in the same state and expressed the same as at the time of incarnation. So these spirit beings could not be expected to carry out their work peacefully alongside one another. Just as this brother was hateful and vengeful as a human being, he was also hateful as a spirit; he could not simply put these vices aside, they were alive in him.
So there was much discord and much conflict in the work of these burdened brothers and sisters. That is why it was necessary for higher spiritual beings to watch over them more than usual and ensure order. Because among these unfortunate people, people were more likely to push part of their work onto others than to take some of their burden off their shoulders. They knew no benevolence. So the higher spiritual world had to be very strict with them. They all felt this strictness, because in this new world they became aware of the power of God. They knew that a harsher punishment would await them if they disobeyed, and so, although they were dissatisfied and argumentative, they made some effort to meet the requirements and they did their work, they cleaned up. You will think: What do they have to clean up? Can't all of this be cleaned up by the word of God? Is this work important, is it necessary?
 I must also comment on this. If you are wondering: Why has everything fallen apart?, I must explain to you that this is a sphere that has fallen apart through the will of God. It is a sphere that has been overtaken, to put it in your language. Cities and villages had to be dissolved; they had to fall into this state of decay because there were no longer any spirits living in them or having to pass through this plane. One could also say: development has progressed and it is therefore no longer necessary to live in such a place. A new city will therefore arise from this for other ascending spirits. Therefore these places must also be cleansed, purified; it must be rebuilt. For this new construction, spirit brothers and sisters are needed again, who divide themselves up into the various jobs, the lower and the better, higher. The very spirits that are burdened, who have to do truly hard work, are now called upon for this cleansing. They therefore carry out their activities in this way. Once such a place has been cleaned, there is still much that needs to be transformed. These burdened people are then transferred to another place to continue their work there.
If the individual being carries out this work correctly and tries not to show malice and not to cause conflict - if it changes its nature - then the time will have come for it to be allowed to do easier work; work that it can be happy with, that does not have to be done under such harsh conditions. 
But there are souls who never come to an understanding, who always live in this quarrelsomeness, in this thirst for revenge. This brother I am talking about was one of them. He was not able to gain this insight. And there is something that, through God's goodness and grace, brings him up: it is the new life on earth. 
In this new life on earth, one should prove that one can do better. In earthly life, there is the possibility of improving much more quickly than in the spiritual world. Because what you achieve in a human life counts significantly more; it will bring greater merit and will be valued more highly than in the spiritual world. It is valued more highly if you overcome your vices in human life, because life as a human is difficult, or perhaps more difficult, than life in the spiritual world. 
As a spirit, you live in spiritual reality; you recognize God as the ruler, as the Lord. But you also recognize God as the kind and loving father who creates the possibility of leading his children back on the faster path. 
In earthly life, you are distant from God; you do not experience him in the way that a spirit can in the spiritual world. In human life, you can doubt God, even come to the conclusion that there is no God at all. You can deny God, or you can affirm him and can direct your life accordingly. So it depends on what a person can accomplish in this great distance from the real world; whether he has no feeling, no inkling at all that there really is another world than the earthly one, that there is a more significant power than just human might and human violence, that there is truly something that goes beyond earthly death.

If one is close to God in human life and tries to live according to his will, then one can better overcome one's vices and better search for the higher goal of life and orient oneself towards this higher life.

Man has the opportunity to prove in his life that he is capable of believing in God, even if God is far away for him; he can prove that he wants to live according to his faith, according to the laws and the will of God. He can do it, or he can leave it; he has free will. God has given him this free will. Even if someone comes into a human life deeply burdened, but maintains his connection to God in this human life, if he lives according to God's will, he makes great steps upwards. 
He has then [after his death] overcome the perhaps painful or oppressed world from which he came into earthly life and has taken a great step up to the blessed world. But if someone is vengeful, if he has not put aside this vengeance even during his purification period in the spiritual world, if he is reincarnated with the same mind, then this remains a part of his soul and will be expressed again in his earthly life. However, upbringing and environment play an important role in a person overcoming such vices or eradicating them completely.

I now want to speak of the brother who had to do this hard work in the spiritual world, who could not be taught and who was sent by the heavenly world for a new earth.

life was determined and prepared to give him the opportunity for a better life and faster advancement. So he was led into preparation, it was explained to him: We consider it necessary to lead you into a new life so that you can overcome your thirst for revenge and advance more quickly. This spirit was indifferent to what happened to him. He allowed himself to be led into preparation for the new incarnation and entered into a new human life. I will now tell you again how he behaved in the time of his maturity, his independence, when he had to bear responsibility for his actions. 
His mind was still exactly the same as in his previous life; he had not given up his thirst for revenge. The world of God had decreed that he was born into circumstances where his life was not particularly easy. He had to struggle with the same difficulties as in his previous life, because he had to go through the same tests that he had not passed then; in the new earthly life, they were imposed on him again. So he had again fulfilled nothing in this following life, and he now took a big step back into the spiritual realm.
 He was again led to a place of distress like after his last return home, where he again had to do hard work. Again, strict angelic beings stood over him and admonished him, instructed him, explained to him that he absolutely had to give up his vices; because he had not passed the test this time either, and so he had to start a new earthly life under similar circumstances.
 And so it happened to him, he had to enter a human life again. Again, the world of God arranged that he had to pass the same test and he did not pass it again. So there were three lives in a row without any progress. I would not like to omit to mention that this brother naturally had to wait a while in the spiritual world, according to your calculations, let us say about 150 years, before he could enter human life again. So there were three lives in a row, and in none of them was the test fulfilled. 
When he returned, the spirits of heaven were again at his side, reprimanding him and explaining to him that he had now failed the test three times in a row. They rebuked him and wanted to put him to even harder work. But when he returned, he was of a slightly different mind than before, he was no longer in the same indifference, but he was now insightful in the spiritual world. And this insight was to his advantage. For he said: I know very well that I have made many mistakes and lived to the detriment of others; but I could not do otherwise, I was weak. I can only ask you to help me to overcome these vices. 
And so he was willing to accept and atone for the punishment he deserved. The spiritual world is always pleased to see when someone is insightful and has a good will to live a better life. Then, when this good will is present, the higher spiritual world is also willing to lend a hand. 
Of course, the brother had to go through a time of hardship and hard work again. But now they wanted to give him the opportunity to speed up his ascent. They explained to him that this time they did not want to wait so long before he was incorporated into a new human life. His next life on earth should only be of short duration, perhaps three, four, five years at the most, so that he could then receive further education in a children's paradise, where he would be raised by angels of God. There would be a chance that he would be able to get rid of the vices that he still had within him sooner.
 He now carried out the work that had been assigned to him with great zeal. He showed remorse and promised to do everything so that he could finally begin his ascent. He asked that he be given a harsher punishment if it was sensible and useful for him, if it would speed up his ascent. The spirit world of God said: Good. As soon as we find that it is good for you, we will lead you into preparation for a new life. Now this spirit being was interested in preparation for a new life. In addition to the work that had to be done, it could also be taught something about the plan of salvation and order. 
But now this brother was full of questions. He was aware that he had gone through various lives and had not passed the tests. Now he was to be granted special leniency and he was to go back into the new life; he was told that it would be short-lived and that he would then enter the children's paradise. How should this happen?
This is what interested this brother. Since he was full of good will, they wanted to help him with his ascension, he was told:
You should be able to see and experience how souls are prepared for their new earthly life. Until it is time for you to enter the new human life yourself, we will lead you to a place where you will meet those souls who are destined for the new incarnation.
He was led into a large room where one bed was next to the other. There they all lay, the spirit brothers and sisters who had been destined for the new human life. You have already been informed about the preparations for a new earthly life, you have already been told: Some beings can be told that it is time for them, and they are happy to be allowed to enter a new earthly life because they know that this will accelerate their ascension; others, however, do not agree with this and must be led to it with gentle force. 
This is how this brother experienced this preparation. There was a room where these beings slept on the beds. The spirit of God, who was in charge here, allowed our brother to walk through the rows; however, he was to be quiet, to himself, to speak to no one, to make no noise, but to just watch attentively. So he observed the deep sleep of these brothers and sisters. He saw how they were each led to a bed and put to sleep - I could say in your terms: they were given an anesthetic. 
As incomprehensible as this may be for many, it is nevertheless the truth. The spiritual world has this possibility, it has the means to put these brothers and sisters to sleep, just as it has the possibility of offering people means to ease their pain.
Now the brother could observe in one or the other how during this deep sleep there was a kind of disintegration or how should I put it? how the spiritual body contracted. The spiritual body became smaller and smaller, finer and more transparent, whereas previously it had been made of more solid spiritual matter. The brother was also able to observe that every spirit being lying on its bed had a number above its head and a ring of different colors. This number is intended for those spirits of God who need these numbers to bring the being in question onto the right path; the colors that are like a wreath above the head of a being also serve to recognize spiritual development. This is therefore for the spirit beings who have to guide and arrange these brothers and sisters under the influence of the planets; they take them out accordingly. The colors in their vibrations play an important role in the spiritual world. 
These colors can also be designated with numbers that also have to do with the spiritual development of the beings, that is, that indicate their spiritual development. So this brother could see how the spirits of God were often in a hurry, whose task it was to fetch these brothers and sisters at the right time. They were in their sleep, they were carried by the spirits of God and led into their paths. They floated in those paths, floated there, and then approached their destination. 
There is a great deal of activity among the spirits of God among people to lead these beings to where they belong. It would now take too long to explain the closer connection to people; that can perhaps be done another time. 
So our brother now experienced this preparation and the incorporation into a new body. So it was time for him too. He was told to lie down, and a deep sleep came over him too. And so what must be done to everyone in preparation for the new human life was done to him, so that every being can follow its deserved path, its meaningful path. 
Joseph:This is what happened to him, and his life on earth lasted five years. Then it was time for him to pass over to the spiritual world, so that his character could be formed there and his ascent accelerated. All this happens out of the grace and love of God and out of his wonderful wisdom. 
So this spirit child then came to the children's paradise. The earthly body was left behind on earth, and the ego personality, the living being, the spirit, lived on as a boy. This spirit boy had to be raised by the spirits of heaven, and he could continue to grow and be taught in the children's paradise. He was allowed to grow up in the environment of these loving beings. Such a being still expresses peculiarities and vices, which are in the root of his soul, in his mind. The angels of God, however, with their great patience and devotion, can shape these spirit children better. With their help and their loving guidance and upbringing, it becomes possible to stop such vices and burdens. 
This is what is happening with this spirit child that I told you about this evening. As a general explanation, it should be said that later, when such spirit children have grown up, the path to a new life on earth is open to them again. But their nature has changed. Many or most of those who were able to go through an education in a children's paradise under the guidance of these heavenly beings have managed to change their character, overcome their vices and have been able to take a significant step in their ascent. 
Nevertheless, there are individuals whose difficulties continue to emerge even after being cared for by these heavenly beings.
 So, dear brothers and sisters, I have tried to illustrate something of the spiritual laws to you so that you can understand them better. And so I chose this brother to make it clear to you, to answer your questions in this way so that your knowledge is enriched once again. You can see in all this wonderful things, how wonderful this spiritual guidance is and how God bestows so much goodness on the ascending beings but that something is also demanded of them. It is the insight
that one must have and the good will that makes it possible to lead these spiritual brothers and sisters.
What I have reported may seem strange to those friends who still know little about the spiritual laws and the life of the spiritual world. But one should delve deeper into all of this; one should ask God to help one to gain the understanding to grasp all of this and to make it possible for one to think of the future world as a human being in this earthly kingdom, not to forget it and to orient oneself as far as possible towards the future in human life and work.
So, dear brothers and sisters, I withdraw. May God's blessing protect you, accompany you; May he protect you so that you do not have to endure hardship, suffering or illness, so that the grace and love of God guide you. Be grateful for this and raise your hearts and souls up to God. Greetings from God.

Report of the experience of spirit teacher Joseph through his mediator
Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.
Headline, next case.



September 7, 1966.
Matthias guardian service in a spiritual animal kingdom.
About the great surprise of a simple farmer that there is life after death for both
him and the animals

Matthias: Greetings from God. Dear brothers and sisters, my name is Matthias.

My wife and I raised seven children. I was a farmer by profession. I was not particularly pious. But my wife went to church very diligently and regularly and prayed a lot, including for me. I could not really believe and therefore sometimes had differences with my wife. Our children had been raised in a religious sense by my wife. Later, however, they also went their own way. 
I had no idea about life after death and was of the opinion that it would all be over after death. I tried to live right and not harm anyone. But now, when I woke up in the other world, I was disappointed and surprised - at first I couldn't believe that it was like that. 
When I opened my spiritual eyes, I saw beings standing very close to me. The beings who were related to me and who I knew stood a little to the side and waved to me. I could clearly hear the conversation of the beings who were standing very close to me. I was not able to grasp the whole thing properly and thought it was all just a dream. But I was soon proven wrong and the beings who were standing next to me said to me: Matthias, it is not a dream, but reality. You are alive. You have only left your body behind, but what is imperishable in you has entered the kingdom of God, into eternity, into the imperishable. 
The figures that stood very close to me had a beautiful appearance, and I heard them actually discussing me. One seemed to be complaining about me, and the other was interceding for me or speaking well of me, and I heard him say: After all, he raised seven children. He tried to do what he could. Of course he had no piety or faith, but he looked after his family and did what he could in this unbelief in which he lived. 
Much was said in addition that I could not understand. However, it was clear to me that they were talking about me and were eagerly engaging in conversation with one another. I watched and was disappointed that life went on. I said to myself: Now it is my fault [that I could not believe properly], and rightly so I now had to take the evil upon myself. 
My wife had been right. She had explained to me again and again: God will punish you, you cannot get through that net. Truly, that was now clear to me, I could not escape. I stood there, somewhat frightened, and tried to think what I could say that would be in my favor. But nothing came to mind. I kept hearing my wife's reproaches, accusing me of not going to church, of not praying, of not wanting to believe - always these reproaches, and I had to say to myself: She was right, she was right. But what use is it to me now? Even if I have come to my senses, it is too late now. What will happen to me, since I have lived in this disbelief?
 I then realized that only these noble beings were in my immediate vicinity; the others had left just as quietly as they had come. So I could not start a conversation with my friends and relatives. I thought to myself: Yes, prayers are being said for my poor soul, and their prayers will certainly be of use to me. 
My wife was still alive, and I knew that she would pray for me. When the conversation was over, some of these distinguished people had left; they had not taken any further notice of me. Two, however, stayed, came very close to me and said to me: Yes, you must now go through a purification process. You must now try to make up for what you have missed in life, but that will not be so easy. You cannot simply make up for what you have missed in a short time. But we want to give you the opportunity to reflect on the life you have lived and the wrong way. But you should not think that it will be so easy and so wonderful for you. 
Then they asked me, as if they didn't know, what I had done in my human life. 
What did you work for? 
I said: You know what I had done. I was a farmer.
 They replied: Yes, you were, but your property was very modest. 
And in my defense they said: Yes, you tried to get through life as best you could with your family. Well, you didn't bring a great deal of intelligence with you, and you don't have any good works either, so we will now put you into a job that you should actually be familiar with. You had a modest property, and we will now take you to a field; there are a lot of animals there that you have to look after. You now have to make sure that these animals do not cross the boundaries that have been drawn. 
I actually breathed a sigh of relief, because I had expected much worse. I had thought that a time of torment and pain would begin for me, but that did not seem to be the case. 
What followed was so quick: They led me to a large field, to a pasture where there were many animals that I was supposed to look after. I couldn't count them. They didn't talk much and didn't explain to me why I had to look after these animals, but simply said to me briefly: When the time comes, we will visit you. We will come and get you and let you know if it is necessary. They explained it to me again very clearly: The boundaries have been drawn and you must take care that these animals do not cross these boundaries. The boundaries were of course not drawn in the way that is usual on earth, namely with wire, but rather it was a band that lay on this spiritual earth and which, to me, seemed like the flickering of a fire. So that was the boundary.
 I myself was not allowed to cross this boundary either. I was supposed to stay within this boundary. It was explained to me: Behind this border there is a large piece of pasture that could be called no man's land. This is how they explained it to me in my own terms. However, this did not mean that this land did not belong to anyone, it was simply an intermediate area between this pasture and the next one. If an animal crossed this border, then I had to take it back; nothing should happen to the animal or to me. What was explained to me was of course difficult for me to understand, given my knowledge at the time. I had no idea why I had to look after these animals. Questions upon questions arose in me. 
I had imagined the world beyond or this heaven to be different. So I asked myself: is it really necessary for such animals to live in heaven? It reminded me too much of the earthly world, because everything was so similar to it. Now I had the same animals that I had once had in my stable. I thought that there were more than a thousand. They all seemed to be well-fed and were mostly lying on this spiritual earth. To my amazement this meadow was wonderfully green, though there was no grass growing - it seemed like a carpet. The cows were constantly chewing, as if they had just had a meal. So nobody gave me an answer to the question: Why do these animals chew even though they are not eating anything? I had the opportunity to look at these animals. Their fur was so soft, so shiny and beautiful, and they were clean. The animals in my stable were not that clean. They all seemed to be content. They lay like that for a while, then got up again, sniffed around and looked for another place to lie down again.
 Often they lay body to body and seemed quite content. So I thought: You don't have to do such hard work there. Because in the earthly kingdom the animals were not so obedient. So I didn't have anything special to do. There was enough space for these animals because the field was big - really big. But the animals crowded together and seemed to warm each other. And so I was able to think about it. I thought: Why is it necessary for there to be such herds of animals in the world beyond? I believed that just as there was no survival for humans, there would certainly be no survival for animals. 
So I had to improve my views and think about it, because I now found confirmation that this animal world also continues to live. I would also like to tell you something about my own personality. I thought about what my relatives would do - they would certainly pray for me. And I asked myself: Would prayer be of any use? After all, I was not so unhappy in this field with these animals. So I had no reason to worry about whether people were praying for me.
 Then I took a closer look at myself and realized that I was actually wearing the same trousers as when I was alive. They were rolled up and I was shoeless. I didn't look particularly elegant. That didn't bother me, because anything else wouldn't have suited these animals. I was happy with it, and I slowly made my observations. I had been told that I had to make sure that the animals didn't cross the borders. A few times I had to step in and turn the animals away, but they weren't wild. When I turned them away, they lay down again. And I lay down among them, because that was where I could think and make my observations. I was interested in observing one or two animals more closely, how old they might be and what breed they belonged to - that was what naturally preoccupied me at first. But I couldn't give myself any more specific answers. I saw that different breeds were together and that they all got along.
 But I noticed that there was a transition. The herd didn't always stay the same, but new animals joined, and they came accompanied by spirit beings. I would have loved to approach these newcomers and have a conversation with them, but the field was so big and I was usually too far away. The spirit beings who let these animals into the field could cross the borders. They would come back with a number of animals and open the border. They did not always arrive at the same place, but one time at this end of the field and the next time at that end. I could therefore not calculate in advance where the next passage or departure of the animals would take place. So I had to think about it myself. 
I had been told: You will have time to think about your life and you will have time to observe. I was alone, but that did not make me unhappy. The spirit beings who came and went quickly did not engage in conversation with me. So I was completely on my own. I felt neither hunger nor thirst, neither cold nor heat, and I found it wonderful. So I was actually satisfied and thought to myself: Well, if this is my heaven after all, then I want to be satisfied with it. I had heard much worse things from my wife about how it could be if you had no faith. She had claimed that there was a purgatory where you had to suffer. 
So I liked my purgatory quite a bit, because I loved the animals and felt good among them. But actually I wanted to know why they kept taking animals out and bringing new ones in. I couldn't understand that, because I thought to myself: They should keep this herd together. Why do they keep letting new animals in, choosing others and driving them out again? In that position, at that level I was at, I didn't know the answer to these questions. So I just let it happen and I didn't think about it any further. 
I was satisfied and it would have been all the same to me if I had had to do nothing else for all eternity but tend this herd. But it was not to be like that. Then they came back, the two beings who had led me there and given me the task of looking after these animals. They told me that my time was now up and that I had to leave this plain; someone else would take my place.
 I asked them to leave me here because I felt so happy among the animals and that heaven could not be more beautiful for me. They did not agree with me and took me by the hand. I should now cross the border. 
Then I asked them: Let me stay at least for a little while longer, because I cannot leave here without saying goodbye to my animals. During the long time that I had to look after this herd, I also had my favorite animals, and I was happy to discover that they could stay and were not taken away. I had brought these favorite animals together, and then I had calculated the following: the last time, the beings from this side came in and took those animals with them, and the time before last they crossed the lower border. So I thought about it, and I wanted to secure my favorite animals so that they would not be taken away immediately. I did not know whether my request had been seen. In any case, I managed to keep my favorite animals back. I leaned against them and slept on their bodies, and they seemed so trusting to me. I had a special affection for these animals. 
I told these two companions, these angels who had come, that I wanted to say goodbye, and they granted my wish. They said: OK, if we make you happy with this, then we are happy to make you happy. So you can say goodbye to your favorite animals. They then made the comment: Maybe you will have the opportunity to deal with them again.
Yes, I thought, maybe they will fetch these animals and bring them to me. That was my thought. And so I said goodbye to my favorites. It actually really hurt me, and I didn't like leaving this pasture. And only then did I really think about it. Then it occurred to me that God is powerful and that there is tremendous wisdom in him. Because I had lived among these herds and felt happy, and I could imagine that there were many other things that one could also become familiar with, and that perhaps this other thing would serve a higher purpose if one gave this other thing one's interest. 	And I thought: After all, you can't be such a guardian of these animals forever and ever. You too must move forward to something better, to something more beautiful. I remembered my relatives and friends who had waved to me. I did not feel that they had to lead such a modest life as I had.
 Then I became happy in my soul and I began to thank God and pray as best I could, remembering the prayers that my mother had taught me as a child. I prayed modestly and stammered a few words of gratitude that I had not had to go through a hard purification and suffer any pain, because I had deserved it for my unbelief.
 For the future, I resolved to be very diligent in order to strive for a better position. Then the angels came again to get me and they asked me: Have you now said goodbye to your favorite animals? Yes, I replied and asked them: Is it possible that I can return to this pasture again and look at it all? 
They said: Of course you have the opportunity to return and look back. But later you will definitely no longer have the longing and the relationship with these animals that you have now. 	They did not let me continue the conversation, but said: OK, now say goodbye to all the animals and we will move away from these fields. As far as I could see, I saw herds like this, pasture after pasture and thousands upon thousands of animals - I could not count them. The individual herds all seemed to be fenced off. They had a certain field where they were allowed to live and they were not allowed to cross it. I saw herders like this everywhere. A little wistful on the one hand and yet on the other hand with great excitement and anticipation of what the future would bring me, I said goodbye to them and moved away from these herds. Then the angels said to me: Yes, the first thing that will happen now is this: We will now first have to talk to you thoroughly about your past life. 
They explained to me that I would stand before the divine court and would have to appear before a higher spirit of God. I had now undergone a certain purification and had been given enough opportunity to turn to God and be grateful; now this angel wanted to speak to me. I became a little afraid and looked at myself. I was still wearing my rolled-up trousers and had no shoes. Then I asked these angels: Don't I need to be ashamed of my appearance? And they replied: That's why you don't need to be ashamed, because the one who judges you has long known about you. What you wear is your property, your spiritual property, and your spiritual property is poor. 
So there are many who have to appear before this judging angel and who don't look any better either. They wanted to prepare me a little for this conversation, and so I soon realized that these two actually meant well by me. 
And so I asked them: Why are you so good to me? Do you know me? They answered in the affirmative, saying: Of course, we know you from your life. We were often near you. One of them explained that he had been my guardian angel and that he had often been very sad about me. I could now understand that. The other said that he had also been a guiding spirit for me, but that he had to keep an eye not only on me, but on the whole house, on everyone who lived with me, as well as on those who lived in the immediate vicinity. 
And so they said: Well, you have had time to think about your life, but you have not thought much, you have been content. You were just happy with your animals. But you should have thought more about the meaning of life. 
And we now give you the following advice: When this sublime spirit of God asks you what works you can show, you must answer him that you have come home as a poor sinner and have brought little or no spiritual goods with you; and you ask in the name of Jesus Christ that your unbelief may be forgiven. And you may point out that you have raised seven children in your life and have had to go without a lot as a result, and that you have done everything in your power to always give your children enough bread.
 And you say that you are asking for grace, for mercy, that you may be gracious and merciful to you. You are aware of your guilty life, but in the name of Jesus Christ you are now begging for grace. 
I was very happy and glad that they told me this in such detail, because I would probably have just stood there trembling and not been able to say much. And I stepped up to this judging angel. I bowed before him, I didn't dare to look up, and I asked exactly as these two angels had told me. 
At first I was very frightened, of course, but my fear quickly disappeared. This judging angel listened to me, and he didn't really talk about punishment, but he said the following: Everything you have done wrong, you must now make up for in the future. What you have neglected, you must make up for. We will give you the opportunity to make up for it. And if you are eager and obedient, then you will also be able to ascend, and then you will no longer be such a pathetic thing as you are now. You must strive to improve your own appearance by actively contributing and fulfilling the tasks in the new world in the kingdom of heaven. 
Yes, I was told all this, but I couldn't understand and hear everything he said. My two companions were with me, and they later repeated to me word for word what this sublime spirit of God had explained to me. 
When he said that I could now leave the place and that I would now be led to another level and given new work, I left with a sigh of relief. I was relieved. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined, but I had no idea what the future would bring me.
 The two spirits of God who had taken care of me then made sure that I at least looked better. They really did bring me shoes, they did bring me shoes, even if they weren't particularly fine ones, but I was more than happy with them. They also had a different garment ready for me and said: In this state you cannot advance, because your brothers and sisters would not accept you like this. You must become like them and be like them. But you have to start learning now. Now the big task begins with you.
 I wanted to know why I had to look after these animals, and why there are animals in the world beyond. I told my companions that I had believed that animals did not continue to live after death. They explained it to me: every animal continues to live after death. These animals that I had looked after were those animals that had been killed by humans and that had now passed over into the spiritual realm with their spiritual bodies; for humans had only killed the earthly body, not the spiritual body. They could not and cannot kill that, the angel told me. 
I wanted to know what happens to these animals. Then they revealed to me: we cannot tell you in a few words or sentences; it is a long school until you grasp and understand it. And you must go through this school, and you must learn a lot. 
But alongside this school you must practice ‘faith more’. You must be able to pray to God. Worship of God must become a desire in you. You must become grateful to the Creator. You must develop a different relationship with these immortal beings. We want to lead you from one level to the next and teach you. And if you can grasp all this, your faith and admiration for the Creator will also increase. 
All of this really made a big impression on me. I wanted to learn and I was glad that I looked better. I was then led into a house where many, many brothers and sisters lived, all of whom had to learn like me, to learn to deepen their faith. I wanted to know whether these brothers and sisters also had to look after these large herds of animals and I was told: No, not all of them. Some of them did, but others had their own special tasks. 
But here you get to know the Creator and admire him. And so we want to deepen the faith in your innermost being, we want to put faith into you, said the angels of God, because the time will come when you must believe, when you must express your faith. And if you cannot believe in the future after having received such careful training and instruction, you will have to go through a much more rigorous path. 
So I am at school and have much, much to learn. Actually, I would like to envy you that you already know so much about God's creation. As a human being, I did not know it, I did not believe. You have it easier. After your death, you can enter a few steps higher in the spiritual world and continue your journey from there. You are ahead of other brothers and sisters through your faith - I find that wonderful. Because if you do not have this knowledge, you have to go through strict schools, as I had to. 
So, dear brothers and sisters, I have told you about my purification. I am now returning to my school. May God bless, protect and guard you. Greetings.
Joseph: Dear brothers and sisters, do you have any questions about what has been said?


Dear Joseph, if animals are treated badly by people on this earth and they enter the spiritual world, they will probably be looked after in a special way.

Joseph: Yes, in the spiritual world, all animals have their care.

But aren't the animals then mentally confused or intimidated?

Joseph: A great calm surrounds all these animals. People who torture animals, who are not good to them and who have no understanding for them, burden themselves. They will also have to make up for this in the spiritual world.

Where were these animals led that Matthias spoke about?

Joseph: When these animals are led out, they are led to a higher level, because they also ascend. So those animals that have reached their spiritual maturity in this development are taken out and they move to a higher level. Then the preparations are made for a transformation into a higher life. 
You can't just lead them out of one sphere and into another, and then they would suddenly have a different spiritual appearance. Rather, the divine beings always need to intervene to give them a new spiritual garment, which they can receive through their ascent. 

Are they then incorporated into new animal bodies again?

 Josef: Yes, until the whole development has been completed. 

When and where did this Matthias live as a human being? 

Josef: He lived in Germany about 150 years ago. 

Did he have to look after the animals in the spiritual realm for a long time?

 Josef: I can't say exactly according to your concepts of time. 

Did his wife's prayers help him at all?

 Josef: Every prayer helps, even if not immediately. It is simply kept and will be of use to him at the right moment. Because he simply had to go through this purification.

It is a misconception of people to believe that one can now only pray for a deceased person
and then God would have mercy on him. Of course prayer helps, it is always a balm for a suffering person when he hears that prayers are being said for him. But it is not like that in all cases. There are those who have returned home who are so deeply in debt that they are not allowed to receive any news from their relatives, which means that the angelic world does not give them any news or prayers, because they simply do not deserve it. But the prayers are not lost, they will be of benefit to them later, or these prayers will benefit other souls. In this example we see again the great indulgence of heaven with these simple souls, from whom not much more could be expected. 

Josef: Yes, it is always like this: those who are on the rise, who come up from below, perhaps have it easier in a certain sense, people show them much more understanding. They are actually not punished as much as they really deserve through their actions. But that comes later. They are then taught in the spiritual world and they are told the following: When they have become like humans and have so much intelligence and have also worked their way up in a spiritual sense, the divine world also demands more from them. 
So it all depends; not everyone is required to do the same. Someone who is weak in spirit cannot achieve the same feats as someone who has his knowledge and has his firm faith. More is demanded of such a person. 

Dear Josef, I noticed that Matthias really did receive preferential treatment. Can we at least conclude from this that he was not a malicious person in the earthly world?

 Josef: Yes, he was not a malicious person. He was simply a person who could not believe. He tried to live as a proper person and had to make many sacrifices to support himself and his family. 

Well, now, dear brothers and sisters, I will withdraw. May God's blessing be with you. Recover, all of you who are sick, recover in body and soul. God bless you.

Report of the ascending spirit being Matthias and
answers to questions from spirit teacher Josef by mediator
Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.

Headline, next case.


October 5, 1966.
Benedict healing from greed and lack of love.
How a deceased person is trained in charity and kindness in the afterlife in order to express true Christian spirit in the next life on earth.

Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit brother by the name of Benedikt is now speaking to you. God bless you this hour and in your whole life. God bless you.

Benedikt: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, my name is Benedikt. I want to tell you about my life in the divine world, but I must also say something about my life on earth. I had a large family. Like my whole family, I was religious and believed that I would be taken to heaven after my earthly death. I didn't think about how this would happen. However, I had no idea that heaven could look like that [as I then experienced it]. 
And so it was a great disappointment for me at first. Because when I entered this spiritual world, I was received by spirits of God. My parents were nearby. They came to me and greeted me. As a human being, I had children who had entered the spiritual world before me, because I was allowed to live to the age of eighty. 
So I was happy to see my parents, these children and other friends and acquaintances. But they couldn't quite find their way to me; they waved and smiled at me. I didn't think about it any further, because I wasn't yet fully aware that I had really died, because what I was experiencing was so similar to the earthly world. But they made it clear to me that I had died and that I had been a religious person, but that in addition to the faith I had, I had also had many vices and that I had done nothing to combat these vices. 
Then they told me straight away what kind of vices they were. They explained to me: You were jealous, you couldn't begrudge your fellow human beings anything. You had no compassion for others. And then they explained to me what the greatest burden on my soul was. This was due to the fact that I had driven my brother and sister out of our parents' house. They emphasized that I had been given the right to have sole control over my parents' house. My brother and sister were very humble people. 
I myself had started a family and had many children, so I felt that these two no longer had room and I had asked them to leave the house. The spirits of God replied that this had nothing to do with kindness and even less with charity; I had chased my siblings out of the house and they no longer had a roof over their heads. They had then found shelter with friends, but it was my duty to keep these two siblings with me, especially since they were very undemanding. So I had no kindness and no love in my heart and soul. I had been too self-centered and too much of an egotist. It was not an excuse for me to chase these siblings out of the house. I wanted to defend myself by replying: I did not chase them away, I needed the space for myself and my children. But none of this was of any use in my excuse; it was just held against me. This is what the angel of God said:
You should not have done that. And he went on to list so many details, namely that I did not begrudge my neighbor anything, that I did not want to give anything to anyone and that I always tried to get the greatest benefits for myself. I replied that I did not consider this a sin and was actually disappointed that this was considered a sin; rather, I believed that I had the right to provide for myself and my family in this way. But that did not help; I could not use these excuses as an excuse. No, they said, you did not have a good heart. And in the spiritual world you certainly have a lot to make up for. You will go through tests, and when you have passed this test, you can continue your ascent.
 I didn't think about it any more - I had no idea about this kingdom of heaven that I had entered, because I still believed that I had taken a piece of earth with me beyond death. Because everything was so similar to the time of my human life. I was told that these encounters, these visions that I was now having, belonged to the early days; but the more I tried and the better I could detach myself from the memories of the earth and the life I had left behind, the sooner I would be able to continue my ascent. So I wanted to make an effort to earn this heaven. But it wasn't that easy. 
First, I was told, first you belong in seclusion for a while. I was told: Now remember that you left the earthly kingdom, you had to leave all earthly possessions. You are separated from it and also from the people you lived with. You have found those who have died again. They now live in the spiritual world. It is this world in which you also live. Remember that there are other laws that play a role on earth. Remember that spiritual laws are expressed in the spiritual world. 
And so it was explained to me that one must forgive one's neighbor, as is expressed in Christian teaching. One must be prepared to make a sacrifice for one's neighbor. The teachings of Christ, the life and death of Christ, were explained to me, and it was explained to me: You should have followed him. He showed how one must live in order to gain the better, the higher life. It was emphasized that in this true Christian life one loses many things that are of such great importance to people. One should not devote oneself so much to earthly goods, but rather turn more to the spiritual and try to understand one's neighbor and accompany and support him in his need.
 So I had to admit that I had not lived this human life like that, and so I was now given the opportunity to think about it. So I went into seclusion for a while. I was supposed to be alone. There was no one around me to tell me about this new world, about its laws and about everything that I had to expect. No, I was led into solitude. There I could really think about my life and had to come to the conclusion that there was a big difference to a Christian life. Of course I had many questions: Why didn't God arrange it so that as a human being we know that we should not cling to earthly things, but rather devote ourselves to the higher life, and that the higher life has completely different conditions than the ordinary, earthly life? So I naturally had my own excuses. I asked myself question after question, but I always had an excuse for my own questions. So I never really came to a real understanding. I did not know how long I was there in this solitude, because there was no time for me, but I had the feeling that it had taken quite a long time. 
In any case, it was a great release and salvation for me when the same spirit of God that had led me into this solitude came to me again. He said: OK, come now, I will lead you into a house. It is a very tidy house with a nicely laid out garden. Not so long ago, this house and the garden were abandoned because your predecessor was allowed to move up. By this, the spirit of God meant the resident of this house that I was allowed to move into. 
So I was led to this house and I really enjoyed it. The garden was well laid out, but I still had the impression that I would change some things. I didn't like the way this garden was tended so much. The house itself looked quite tidy. Various objects and useful things were there and I was more than satisfied with it, as I remembered my human life, which had not been so nice. I was happy, of course, and I believed that with this purification, with the time I had to live in this solitude, I had made up for everything. I had no idea of ​​the trials that were now waiting for me again. 
I was very grateful that I had acquired a house and a garden. So I saw a lot of work ahead of me and thought: After all, I had earned this through my faith. I was a pious person. I believed in God and had raised my children in a religious, Christian spirit. I saw no faults in myself. So great was the surprise and joy to discover that from a higher perspective they would have had better insight, so that they had given me this good house with the garden after all. 
The house stood on a small hill, and there were the same houses to the right and left. They were small, cute houses, and they were all inhabited. In front of every house there was a small garden like this, and everything looked very neat. As I looked around the house and the garden with satisfaction, other spirit brothers and sisters came to me and explained that I had to go about my daily work. This amazed me, because I believed that I could live in the house as I pleased and maintain the garden in a similar way to human life. So I was astonished when I was told that I had to go about my work. I believed that one did not have to work in the heavenly world, and so I asked about the work. I then asked a little shyly: is it really necessary to work in the kingdom of heaven? 
The answer was yes: it was very necessary; everyone who came home was needed to help carry out the big work. I would see straight away what kind of work it was. And they asked me to come along right away. They led me into a large workshop that was not far from my house or ours. This workshop was large and wide and there were many people working in it.
Of course I was amazed because I just couldn't handle the idea that one had to work. But I immediately gained insight into this large workshop and truly saw that it was necessary to work. The material that was there was of a spiritual nature - I was also a spirit and everyone who lived with me was a spirit; but we had our hands with which we could work and we had our spiritual material that we had to work on. 
This spiritual material consisted of wood. We had to work on wood. I had to admit that I had no skills at all for working on this material. This was not required of me; rather, I was simply placed in the middle of the others. First I had to watch, and then I was given truly spiritual tools - I would like to emphasize this. So I had to try to use these tools. I had to do small jobs. What I did was watched closely. But I immediately realized that I was probably one of the clumsiest people working in this workshop. While others were making really valuable objects, I only had to do very insignificant work. So I did it, and they also kept to a time. I myself had no idea or knew nothing about  time, and I also realized that all the others who were with me had no timekeeping. It was always a spirit of God who came and asked us to stop working. So we were allowed to return home. We still had enough time at home to do something and keep ourselves busy. 
I was very keen to redesign this garden. So I set about moving the plants and preparing the garden so that it would be, as I thought, more beautiful and better. I am happy I was impressed by the hedges, by all the bushes and also by the few flowers.
I wanted to plant these flowers in such a way that they could be seen from afar and, above all, that I could see them first. That took a while. So I went to work and back home regularly.
One time when I returned from work, I experienced a very bitter disappointment. My garden was completely empty - no plants, no bushes, no flowers, nothing at all was there.

Everything that I had so carefully transplanted had been dug up, carried away, everything was gone - only this spiritual earth, empty and desolate.
I was disappointed, bitterly disappointed. First I ran to my neighbor and complained that someone had come and cleared out my whole garden. This neighbor didn't have much to say about it. He just said that it would be best if I inquired at higher up; I will definitely get an answer there. Strangely, I had trouble reaching a higher being - they seemed to have disappeared, whereas they always came and went in these houses, because they had always given advice and also spoken of the future. 
They always had something to report. And so I waited longingly, but no one came. So I went back to work and I was dejected, disappointed. I turned to a master - it was the master of the work that was being done there - and complained to him about my experience. He said that it was not his job, he could not tell me about it; I would have to turn to those spirit brothers who had led me into the house. When I was then allowed to return home and walked through this empty garden full of sadness and went into the house, I found several higher spirit beings who had gathered there and were discussing things with each other. I went to them and asked them who it was that had cleared out my garden. I thought that these spirit brothers and sisters had seen this and had now come together to discuss who had done it and what should now happen. 
And so I was full of hope and thought that they would tell me that it was a misunderstanding that my garden had been cleared out. But it was not so. When I went to them and complained: My garden has been cleared out, they looked at me in surprise and asked me: What do you have to say about that? 
I replied: That is an injustice. I have been robbed, my property has been taken away from me. And these spirits just looked at each other, smiled and said: Who told you that it is your property? I thought it was my property. I was taken to this house and I assumed that it was my property. 
Then they explained to me: In the spiritual world everything is God's property and what you have is only given to your brothers and sisters or children of God in trust. God and the higher spiritual world decide what is to happen with this or that thing. It was never your property. That's how they explained it to me. I was sad and they saw that I did not agree with this answer. But then one of them took me aside and spoke to me very seriously: It must be painful for you, he said, that we have now had everything that was in your garden removed. I had to say yes and said: The garden was my greatest joy. Yes, your greatest joy, replied this divine being, in your human life you took away from others what meant much more to them and was much more precious than these bushes, these flowers and everything that was in this garden. You have often taken valuable things away from others in your human life. Admittedly, it was not always material objects of value, but rather intellectual property that you stole. You hurt other people's souls with your stubbornness, your egoism, your greed, your desire for power. And so they listed, as if they never wanted to stop, all the mistakes I had made. 
When I thought I was in the greatest happiness, something was taken away from me that really hurt me deep in my soul. And these higher spiritual beings explained to me that the pain I now felt over this loss could not be compared to that felt by my fellow human beings. To console me, they told me that I would have the opportunity to acquire such plants for my garden myself through my own efforts. I then expressed my thoughts by saying:
Yes, the work that you do in the workshop, isn't it paid for? I knew that it wasn't paid for with money, because there is no money here, but you had the opportunity to do something
for the garden. 
Then I asked: Isn't the work I do paid for? 
And the Spirit of God answered: This work you are doing is not paid for. But there are other activities that are highly paid, and that is the practice of charity, devotion, sacrifice - that is very highly paid. But what you do, everyone else does too, and they don't get paid for it either. Only the other thing, that is highly paid, but it is an art to get paid for it. I thought: Love, charity, devotion, sacrifice, yes, how should I express this love and this sacrifice? I was alone in the house, and I went about my work and didn't concern myself with my other spirit brothers and sisters. I went to school, where I was taught. I stayed by myself. I had no opportunity. My spiritual guide saw these thoughts and said:
Yes. But first you have to learn, you have to strengthen your soul. You have to know how to do it, how to meet with love. You can only give all this, this sacrifice and this devotion, once you have awakened the desire for it in the depths of your soul. You still have no such desire. You cannot even carry out such valuable activities.
Yes, I understood that it would take time, but I asked if they could give me something modest, in advance so to speak, and I would then earn it back, pay it off.
Because the following thought occurred to me: I had been told that my relatives would visit me, how ashamed I must be when my garden was empty, while my neighbors to the right and left had such beautifully decorated gardens, but I myself had nothing. And I also believed that my relatives would quickly find out why my garden was empty. I was ashamed. I didn't want my relatives to come to visit me and see that I had this garden with nothing in it, while all the other gardens were beautiful. So I begged for them to give me a few flowers and a few bushes in advance, so to speak, but they didn't agree to that. 
No, they said, we don't get any advances. First we work for us, and then comes the reward. They said this so forcefully and so strictly that I didn't bother to ask for it. I felt disappointed, but had no idea that things would turn out completely differently. So I went about my work, went to these lectures, and didn't worry about the others. I had no idea that I was making the biggest mistake and that it was a test, because I began to struggle. I was unhappy, but no one seemed to notice my dissatisfaction.
 When I came home again and entered the house, I noticed that an object that had become so dear to me was missing. I thought to myself: Now they've taken that away from me too. And so it went on. Every time I came home, something was missing. In the end, all I had left was my bed to lie down on. Everything else that had given me joy was gone. I didn't dare ask: Why did you take that away from me? I was only filled with more grief. So I did and did my work where I was put. I tried to learn what I was told to do, but now I had an empty garden and an empty house - everything was gone. And I had only one wish: that my family would not visit me, because I must have been ashamed in this desolate, empty house.
 The higher brothers and sisters came to visit me again, as they did with the others, and they greeted me and asked about me. I told them that I was very upset and sad. But they said: Everything that has happened is fine. We have taken from you what you have taken from others. And so you will feel the pain. Just as you have caused others pain in human life, we have taken away from you everything that gave you joy, because you have taken away from others what also meant joy to them.
 And then they said: You must now learn to overcome. You are struggling, you are dissatisfied. You wanted an advance on your love, on your sacrifice and devotion, and you are dissatisfied with yourself. You have no strength in you to show understanding. You have no forgiveness in you. So it will take a long time until you have even got to the point where you learn to understand what it means to live in a loveless life and to only look out for your own advantages. 
Yes, I knew that it would certainly take a long time, because I could not overcome all this immediately. And what I feared, that when I was once at home and was lying on my bed thinking about what should be done and what could be improved, I had a visitor. 
My children, who had entered the spiritual world before me, came and my parents also came to see me. They were happy to see me again, but I could read the disappointment on their faces. Everything was empty. And then they said: Why is everything so desolate at your place? Have you not yet achieved anything else to gain something for yourself? That is how I was so ashamed by my family. 
I had to admit: When I entered the house, everything was so tidy and I was very happy. The garden, the house, everything that was there, made me happy and everything was taken from me. I was told that it was only right that it had happened to me; they had taken from me what I had taken in human life. My family just looked at each other. They seemed to know me better than I knew myself, but they consoled me and explained that I should no longer be sad about it, but that it was just like that: in the spiritual world you have to go through these tests, and they are often painful. You are tested precisely where you are weak, and that is my weakness; I cannot understand and comprehend that now. I should now simply be content, be content and do my work with enough insight to think that I am right. That is what they said to me.
 I was surprised and pleased at the same time that they did not reproach me; no, they gave me comfort and promised to come back. They even gave me advice on what I should do; in fact, that I should do something: I should try to show some charity. I did have charity for my own relatives, my neighbors, but everyone else meant nothing to me. I had not made contact with my neighbors and only spoke to them on extremely rare occasions. And so they advised me to make contact with my neighbors and try to speak to them in a loving way; and wherever I am active and wherever I go, I should have a happy and uplifting conversation with the other spirit brothers and sisters. I did it. It cost me a lot of effort, but over time I managed it.
 I then spoke to my spirit brothers and sisters in the workshop. I went to my neighbors on either side now and then. And so I tried to be a little friendly with my other spirit brothers and sisters. And so they became attached to me. It went on like this for a long time. Slowly I was able to overcome this loss, and then I suddenly noticed that things were starting to sprout in the garden - I couldn't believe my eyes. 
I saw that things were starting to turn green, that there was life in this spiritual garden. Of course I was very excited to see what would grow in my garden. Then it occurred to me: Yes, now I have overcome some of my lack of insight, I have begun to have understanding. And the more I tried to be attentive and loving in my dealings with my other spirit brothers and sisters, the faster everything in this garden flourished. Bushes appeared, flowers appeared, and they began to bloom. 
And so I was really happy about my garden. My neighbors came to me again and were happy to see how everything was beginning to grow and flourish. I felt that something had been released in me. A tightness, a pressure that had been in me, had disappeared; I had become free. And so I tried harder and harder. 
When I was allowed to receive these higher brothers and sisters again, they said to me: This is the result of your inner transformation. You have given to others and to us, by which they meant the high spiritual world and the whole of heaven, you have given to us, so we will give to you. So the blessing has come back to you. This blessing brings prosperity and growth. 
Then they urged me to do more and to be more diligent so that I can return to what was once in this house. I had also done my work better, because I had already been allowed to do better work. I was able to speak much more freely with the spiritual masters, and I had always agreed to help those spiritual brothers and sisters who took their work into their hands as clumsily as I had. I spoke kind words to them and I helped them to guide their hands. Wherever I could, I had agreed to serve and help. 
When I returned to my house once again, I discovered the following to my great joy: everything had been given back; everything that had once been taken from me was there again. Now my joy was great, and I knew that it had been right for me when all this had been taken away from me, and
I had to endure the pain. It took time to overcome it, but then I became so insightful and free and was able to put myself at the service of others. That may have taken a long time. I don't know how long it took according to earthly time. 
	So I had regained my happy life. My loved ones came to me and I was allowed to visit my loved ones on the same level. Then the higher spirit brothers and sisters came again and explained that I must leave everything very soon because they had a great task in store for me; if I succeed in this task, a more beautiful heaven would open its gates. This great test consisted of entering a human life again. There I was to prove that I had been taught to love my neighbor, that I was no longer so hard-hearted, that I had goodness in me and that I could live according to the true Christian spirit, but I had to express all of this in a human life. At first I was worried: What will happen to my house and my garden? Can I take possession of all of this again when I return from earthly existence?
They had to answer me that this was very uncertain, because if they knew, I would not have to go through this test; so they themselves did not know whether I would have the strength to do all of this. But they told me that I would definitely return to this plane; whether I would be allowed to take possession of the same house again, they could not yet tell me. But they would expect that a more beautiful world would be open to me, in which there would be even more beautiful gardens, even more beautiful houses and an even more harmonious coexistence with the spirit brothers and sisters.
That was what they would like from me. I then asked them:
Can't I have things that I have become so fond of in the house back when I next return? Who do all these things belong to now? They answered: You have received them too. They were simply given to you. So they are at the service of someone else. But what you have acquired for yourself and through your special achievements will be returned to you in a higher spiritual value when you have passed the test. If you have not passed the test, then we will keep for you what you have now acquired in your purification period and in your spiritual life. But we would like to exchange this for something that has even higher values. But to do this you must do your part in your new life on earth. So, dear brothers and sisters, I am waiting to enter the new life on earth. And it will not be too long before I am led to those preparations. And then I will face the great test, the same test as you, dear brothers and sisters. You are also facing a great test. But I myself do not know what is required of you individually. I was able to explain all of this to you now that I have gained better, higher knowledge. I only have one wish: that I do not lose everything I have gained in my spiritual world in my earthly life.

So, dear brothers and sisters, may God give you the strength to pass your life test. God bless you.

Joseph: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, I only want to answer questions that are related to what has been said.

Dear Joseph, it seems that this brother did not get far enough in his purification period to act accordingly in his house or with the other brothers and sisters. How did it happen that he did not get that far?

Joseph: Yes, that is just how it is: one person changes his thinking quickly, and the other remains stubborn and uncomprehending, and so he has to live life like that.

Couldn't the purification have been extended, for example? It seems to have been quite long. 

Josef: Yes, the divine world arranges everything in the way it believes is the best way for the individual. It should also be added that he was a man who had a deep faith in God, but he had many vices. So it was a matter of overcoming these vices. 

Dear Josef, did this Benedict perhaps simply go to church often in his life and believe that everything was now OK?

 Josef: Yes, yes. 
Dear brothers and sisters, I am returning. May God's blessing accompany you, protect you and keep you from every hardship. Greetings. 

Experience report of the ascending spirit being Benedict and questions answered 
by spirit teacher Josef by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich. 
Original: tape recording. 

Headline, next case.




November 2, 1966.
Elfriede, like a daughter, becomes a blessing to her guilt-ridden father.
Where a soul who has returned home will live in the world beyond and what kind of work will be assigned to it depends on its development, status, their merits and their burdens.

[The greeting and blessing of the controlling spirit are not preserved.]
Elfriede: Greetings. My dear brothers and sisters, my name is Elfriede. I will tell you about my life and the life of my father, about my family, about my father's passing, about his work [in the world beyond], about his rise and a little about myself.
We were a family with five siblings. We were always very afraid of our father. He was quick-tempered, drank and looked after his family very poorly. So we had constant discord in the house. When our father came home drunk, he beat our mother and us children. We always fled from him, and so did our mother. When he came home late in the evening, he started to argue with mother and she always fled to our room. Then the father made noise and started to hit us too. So we didn't have a nice life and didn't have good memories of our father. 
I was sick and I was told that I wouldn't live long, but I didn't care. I was happy to be able to leave this world and my mother said to me: If you are in heaven, please put in a good word for our father too, so that he doesn't bother us anymore. If he also enters the spiritual world before the rest of us, you should take care of him. We had been raised religiously and we were all focused on God, except for our father. 
Suddenly our father fell ill and died. We didn't feel great sadness when we lost our father. All of our siblings had to work together for our daily bread. However, we knew that we had a lot to pray for him and we did that. We had no idea what the future world would really be like.
We believed that there was a heaven and that life there must be beautiful, but we had no idea what this heaven would be like. Now it was just that I was getting sicker and sicker. But I was looking forward to dying, I was not attached to life, but my siblings and my mother were very sad. I tried to comfort them myself and I promised them that when I was in heaven I would try to do something for my father, because we suspected that he would definitely not be well.
Then the time had come: I had said goodbye to this world and opened my eyes to the spiritual world. The first to come to me was my grandmother on my mother's side, whom I had loved especially. She had died a few years earlier, but we children had all known this grandmother as Heb. Now she stood there in front of me and she greeted me, hugged me and showed  great joy. 	Then she said: You can stay with me. I live in beautiful surroundings and have a beautiful house. It is much nicer with me than on earth, where I lived and where you lived. You know, heaven is so beautiful. People have no idea about it. But heaven also has its other sides, where it is not beautiful. Those who have not lived properly and who have not believed in God go there. She lowered her eyes wistfully and said: Father is not doing so well either. I had suspected that. And then she said to me: We will visit him then and we will help him too if it is possible or if we are allowed to. 
When I was greeted in the spiritual world, not only was my grandmother standing in front of me, but I also saw acquaintances who had lived very close to us, and they also greeted me with joy. Other relatives were also there, but also very beautiful, noble beings, and my grandmother said to me: They are angels of God. Just wait a little longer, they will come to you and they will greet you. They will give us a little time so that we can chat together. But then they will come to you and talk to you too. 
Actually, I was a little afraid, although I did not have the feeling that I had done anything seriously wrong in my life, but this new world had made a big impression on me, and these beings, of which my grandmother said  were angels, looked so wonderful, so noble, but also very strict at the same time. Then I asked my grandmother quietly: Should I be afraid of them? She smiled and said: Oh, for heaven's sake, what evil have you done in your younger years?
You don't need to be afraid. It won't be long before they will come to you.
She wanted to give me some news from those friends who I also knew but who were not here, and she wanted to explain to me in brief how they were doing and where they lived. But I didn't really listen. I was still dazed and felt sleepy and tired. My grandmother probably saw that, and
she said: Come, we are now going to go to these angels, and then I will accompany you to my house, because I was told that you can stay with me. I have prepared everything for you. I have made the bed nice. You can rest, and then, when you have rested, we will visit father.
So we went to these beautiful ‘figures’. They called me by name, greeted me and welcomed me to the new world. They said that they had work for me too and that this new world would certainly make a great impression on me, because it was very different from the world I had left behind; the work I had to do was also of a completely different kind. Smiling, they said: Even in the kingdom of heaven one is not idle. Even in the kingdom of heaven there is all kinds of work to be done.
 I had already suspected this, because my grandmother had whispered something to me when she greeted me, saying that this new life was not what people imagined it to be; even in heaven you have to work and it would not be good if no one worked. 
Well, I was of course happy about this greeting and I did not hear any particular reproaches. These beautiful figures told me that I should now withdraw with my grandmother and that they would look after me again later and then give me a job; I should also look around and familiarize myself with this new world. 
Then they said a word of warning: You should not long for the world that lies behind you. Leave it as it is. Don't worry about the past any more, instead strive towards the new time, the new life. I did not really understand these words as  said, I felt too tired and sleepy. But my grandmother explained everything to me clearly afterwards.
We walked up a path to a hill and I came to my grandmother's house. It really was a very beautiful house. You could compare it to a country house that you see people have in the world. It had a big garden and was surrounded by meadows, forests and large areas. And that was supposed to be my new world now? I had never lived in such a beautiful house in my previous life and so I felt very rich and noble to be allowed to live in such a beautiful house. When I was led into the house, I had to admire everything that adorned these rooms and I had to touch everything despite my tiredness. I had to keep saying: Is it possible? Do you have such things here and who makes them? Does it have to be made or does it only come about through a word from God and these things are there? My grandmother warned me and replied:
Go to sleep now. You should rest. Afterwards you will understand and comprehend everything much better. So I lay down on the bed she had prepared for me. There were flowers in these rooms, and I had to express my amazement at that too. But now I wanted to sleep. I wanted to rest. So I fell asleep. 
My grandmother was awake at my side, and it must have been she who woke me up again. When I opened my eyes, I felt fresh and happy. We immediately started talking, and I wanted to know more about the new life. I besieged my grandmother. I wanted to know so much, but she warned me and said: You shouldn't ask so many questions right from the start, just slowly, slowly. First you should drink something that will strengthen you. And then we will begin, and I will explain to you what I have experienced and what I know. 
They gave me a vessel with a delicious drink. I didn't really know what it was. Here, too, I had to ask: What is that you're giving me to drink? Is that needed in heaven? 
Grandmother answered: Just think how lonely and how dull life would be here if you didn't have joys and sometimes something precious to eat and drink. That too exists. You'll be amazed at all the things you have here. My grandmother then explained to me: You know, I think it's necessary that we go and greet your father. You know, he can't find his way. He knows that you're here, but he wasn't allowed to come and greet you. His way had been blocked. Now let's go to him. 
My grandmother knew the way to him. We had to go down, down, and down, which means we were floating down. And the deeper we went, the more lonely and desolate it became. I didn't like the environment in which my father was supposed to live. It was so gloomy and didn't have the cheerful colors that it had at home. Everything was so dark and as if shrouded in fog*.  (*exactly as described in OSCAR BUSCH's books  from more than a hundred years ago and also in this book from the same time, which came long before the  the ones we are reading here via Beatrice Brunner.)                                                                                                                I had to ask: Really, does my father have to be there?
On the other hand, it was quite clear to me, because I knew about the guilt that my father had brought upon himself. My grandmother consoled me and said: It is God's will. Everything is according to the law. He deserves it so much. Now we looked for him.
When we were there in this plane, a luminous being came towards us. This being had broken through the fog with its light and illuminated the surroundings so that we could see much better. Grandmother said somewhat quietly: That is an angel, we will ask him. She went up to him with me and explained our request to him. The angel told us that of course the father was not there, as he had just left work as usual.
So where is he, where can he go? I asked, because I didn't know, but my grandmother did, and she said: Can't you guess where he is?
I have no idea, I had to answer. And now my grandmother wanted to show me the way. She was allowed to walk this path with me. She had to go down even further, into another world. We walked through a thick fog until we reached our old house, where I had lived with my father, my siblings and my mother. 
I knew this house very well, every corner, everything. And here I found my father. He wandered around the house as if he was looking for something. I saw him and  saw him acting as if he were still in a human body. His appearance was so similar to his former form. I saw that he was still so tied to the house, to the environment, and yet I knew about his transgressions. 	
Grandmother explained it to me and said: Do you know why my father still looks as if he were a human being? There is still so much about him that is burdensome. There is still so much impurity in his soul that he has indeed laid aside his earthly body, but his spiritual body is so overshadowed by his earthly body that you still recognize the father as he once was; all guilt hangs on him and has made him what he is now: a burdened, suffering spirit. 
Suddenly father saw me and he came towards us. He could not speak. He knelt down in front of us and tried to put his arms around our feet and asked us for forgiveness; we should forgive him. 
And I asked him to stand up; he did not have to kneel down in front of me. But he said: I must do it, as often and as long as it takes, until God has forgiven me of all my guilt.
 And then I had to answer him: You have not only burdened yourself with me. You have also beaten our mother, but she has forgiven you. No, he said, that is not true. She says she has forgiven,
but God has not forgiven me, and so she has not really forgiven me either. And I have to go to her again and again, and I have to kneel down before her again and again and ask her again and again to forgive me.
 And Grandmother said to him: It is pointless what you are doing. Your wife does not hear you when you ask for forgiveness. She is a human being. She does not feel anything, even if you hold her by the feet. He replied that he knew this very well, but that he had to do this now. And he did the same with all my siblings. If he met one of my siblings, he knelt down before them, held them by the feet and asked for forgiveness.
But my siblings had not seen or felt their father either. And he said: That is the sad thing, that they do not see you. You have so much to say to them, and they hear nothing and see nothing. 
Then he began to complain that it was not fair that one could not see or hear him; that the others could not notice if one was of good will and asked for forgiveness. And so we told him that it would be much better for him if he now carried out the work that had been assigned to him in the spiritual world; that was where he belonged, among the creative and upward-striving spirits. That was where he should go. 
He answered us that he did not like the work; it was too strenuous for him and he felt that it was making him ill. Therefore he preferred to go to his former house and considered it more sensible to ask for forgiveness from them; because he would do this until God had mercy on him.
We then had to explain it to him as best we could and said: Yes, God will certainly have mercy on you. But does he have mercy because you are kneeling here before those you once tormented so much? We don't believe that. There is certainly another path of atonement than the one you are now taking. 
He did not listen to us and always claimed to stay until the last of his family had entered the spiritual world. Then he answered me that he was not allowed to be there when I was received; they had refused him and said to him: You must first do a few things for him before he comes to meet you.
And then we made it clear to him that it would be much better to do what the angels had ordered him to do. And they had ordered him to work. And this work was a bit hard.
We then got so far that we took the father with us into his world, in which he had to live, into this darkness. We went to the angel whom we had already met here, asked him for help and asked him: Where is the workplace? He understood us, called the father by name and reprimanded him for always leaving his work. But father did not remain silent.
He answered this spirit of God and told him that he would work if he had better, more pleasant work; but this work would only make him sicker. 
And the spirit of God replied: No, this work will not make you sick, but will make you healthy. My father, however, claimed that his mental limbs ached during this work. So we were to see for ourselves where our father was allowed to work and where he was allowed to live.
 We were first shown his apartment - I think the word apartment is not the right term. It saddened me greatly to see this, because I had the beautiful, very beautiful house in front of my eyes in which I now lived with my grandmother. My father had a house that was only about two meters high. Within this room you could take a few steps forward and a few steps sideways. There was house next to house or building next to building. They looked dilapidated and were all so unkempt and so dirty. There was a whole row, we didn't see the end of it - one building stood next to the other. You could enter on the ground floor, and one building was, as I said, only about two meters high. It made me sad to know that my father lived here. I went into this room because I wanted to see what it looked like inside. 
It had only a bed and nothing else, no pillows, nothing, just a board, slightly raised from the
ground, that was all; no table, no chair, nothing at all. And I thought again of the beautiful house in which I was allowed to live, with all the beautiful things that were there.
We were then led to the work site. It was a pit, and the ground seemed so wet and muddy. My father had to work in this pit. He walked ahead of us and complained: Look at what they expect of me and the others. And that is supposed to be in the kingdom of heaven! In the kingdom of heaven you still have to work!?
Yes, he was still mocking it. He had not yet realized the situation, how deeply in debt he was. The angel asked him to start his work and he recommended that we wait there above the pit. He explained to us what work my father had to do. My father disappeared into this pit and the angel said:
Look, there on the other side, on a hill, there are stones, large, medium and small. All of these stones were now dug out of this pit by these beings, transported there and sorted exactly according to their size. They must have taken these stones out of the mud of this pit partly with tools and partly with their hands. So we saw this, my father's work, which was certainly hard. And so he complained about it. 
The angel then gave us the instruction to say goodbye and return to our world. He said what we could do for our father: visit him from time to time, bring him comfort and warn him not to always return to the house on earth, as this was pointless and he was just paying off his guilt by working and atoning in the spiritual world. 
Then the angel also told us that my father did not have to work the whole time, because they were all being taught God's plan of salvation - and the angel pointed to those who did the same work - and the path of ascent was being explained to them. 
And so we returned. We floated through or broke through this fog and then stood in front of the beautiful house again. On the one hand, I was so happy to be able to live in such a beautiful place, as I had never known in my lifetime. 
But my grandmother said: You know, we have to work too, but now we have additional work with your father. We have to try to make his way up easier. And we will go down to him as often as we can, bring him comfort and encourage him so that he can manage to do his work. We ourselves were allowed to do some nice work between these visits. We also had to receive further instructions. I myself was so ignorant of these divine laws.
	Angels came to our house and stayed with us as guests, often for a long time, and so we could not start our work, but they taught us. It seemed wonderful to me and my grandmother, when we would have known these things that were explained to us a long time ago.
So we went back to the father. We had to do it many times, to break through the fog and cheer up the father. We also had to warn him not to keep returning to earth because it was pointless. And we said to him: Your family are praying for you. What do you want? You can't ask for more. It is up to you to improve your spiritual life now. 
That took quite a long time, but we were able to notice this inner change: The father became more docile and now he stopped going to his former house and to his relatives.
Other acquaintances and friends also entered the spiritual world, but my father was never allowed to greet them. A brother also came, and my father was not allowed to be there either. 
When my mother came, however, he was fetched. He was allowed to greet her, but very soon he was separated from her again. It was to be my grandmother's and my job to look after my father. So we often went to him and were delighted to see that he had changed. 
We then started a conversation with the leading spirit who was overseeing everything and asked him to remember this father with love and to have a benevolent attitude towards him. We wanted to say to him: Don't hold the guilt against him as he actually deserves. 
But this spirit of God answered us that everything was according to God's law and that his love was great, not just for his father but for all those who were suffering and in distress. We could understand it, but we were happy when we were told: It won't be long now before my father can move up a level. 
So we wanted to be there for this transition to this other level. We wanted to be happy with him. We went with a spirit of God and accompanied my father out of that darkness into a new plane. That plane/level still had its fog, but no longer had the mud, but was dry spiritual earth. There he had to do the same work, but it no longer seemed so difficult, and the spiritual material that had to be extracted from those pits was, as he said, no longer so difficult either. This new work was more pleasant for him. He explained to us that he liked doing it and would have been happy if he had been allowed to do such work right from the start. 
But he also immediately explained that he now understood that he should not have been given better work. He had realized that he himself had carried a great burden and that it was this burden that was so important (to get free from). Because he had changed through his inner transformation, his condition and his appearance had also changed. 
He no longer looked as human as he had when he was human, but had now taken on the appearance that other spirits had. He had left behind what had weighed on him so much. These many memories, this great guilt, seemed to have partly fallen away from him. And so he looked much better in this new world - this had to do with his spiritual, inner transformation. Now he seemed to be content, but he was still striving for higher things.
 He was no longer so sad and explained to us: I am very curious to see what work I will be allowed to do later. Because he had been taught and he knew that he would not have to work in a pit like this all the time. He had worked his way out of the mud and was allowed to do the same work in a more pleasant, easier way. 
So we went to him again and again and spoke to him and cheered him up. Then he began to change more and more. He had become insightful as soon as he converted - he wanted to ask everyone for forgiveness, but that alone was not enough and the change had not been completed. The change had to come from within. 
And now he also had a different relationship with his spirit brothers and sisters. He was no longer this rough, unfeeling being, but he felt something for others, he showed goodwill towards others. And so his change had taken place more and more for his own good. After a certain time we were able to receive the news that he could move up a level again. So we went back excitedly and fetched him. 
To make us happy, we were allowed to take flowers and branches from bushes from our gardens, and we brought these flowers and branches to his house, to the room in which he was now allowed to live. Now things looked completely different. He really lived in a house. It was no longer
covered and shrouded in fog, but everything was clearly visible, even if not colorful. But everything seemed clean and orderly. He was to do his new job, he himself said to us: I am amazed at the work I will be doing. He did express his amazement at times that one could not stop working, that heaven was beautiful enough and that God's power was so great that working was superfluous. 
	He could not yet understand why one had to work. We were then allowed to take a look into his workshop. He had left the pit and, when he moved to the higher level, he entered a spiritual workshop. In this workshop he had to work with spiritual glass, exactly to the size that was prescribed. This spiritual glass had to have a use, because it was led away from him to another workshop, a workshop that was again a few levels higher. 
	We looked at the work that was being carried out by those spiritual brothers and sisters there. They painted the glass in the most beautiful colors. They painted figures on this glass and put colored glass together to form a structure. It was a very large workshop, and great art prevailed here. 
	So my grandmother and I were allowed to go through these workshops and admire them. Everything we saw, all the news, we brought to father, and we told him what was being done with what he was now working on. Our father was so happy. He had taken a big step from his entry into the spiritual world, when he had to work in this mine, to this workshop. 
	He had changed more and more and gained more and more understanding for his spirit brothers and sisters. Because that was how they were all tested: you had to talk to the others, you had to live together with them. Only in spiritual coexistence can you prove whether you have really improved, whether you are living a better life than when you were in human clothing. Greater goodwill, greater understanding and love, honesty - all of this should now be expressed and take root in the innermost part of the soul.
This is how we accompanied our father. At first, progress was slow, but later his ascent was faster. When he already had an insight, it was easier for him to ascend.
Grandmother and I still live in the beautiful house. We are also given a task. We too have the opportunity to exchange this beautiful house for an even more magnificent house. But we were told that we could not be compared with those who were in these lowest stages, who had to be encouraged so that they did not have to stay in the same place, in these lower stages of distress, for too long. As soon as a spirit was of good will, they wanted to offer him a hand to ascend, but the time of purification lasted as long as God had determined for the individual. That means that the higher spirits determine how long one has to live in distress.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, I have told you about my father's life and his rise. We come together again and again, and we bring our news, our experiences that we have with the spirits of God, to those who have no idea and no connection to this high, beautiful spiritual world.
So I have tried to give you an insight into the rise of a soul. So may God give you the strength to align your life according to his will. May you all look forward to the world to come, because there are certainly spiritual brothers and sisters there who will prepare the home for you, just as they did for me.
Greetings.

Joseph: Greetings. Dear brothers and sisters, if you have any questions that are related to what has been said, I am ready to answer them.

Dear Joseph, can you say something else about the use of these spiritual stones that were mined from the pit? 

Josef: Yes, that is also used for buildings.

Dear Josef, how should we imagine this, over what period of time did this ascension last?

Josef: 150 years. Are there any other questions?

Is there always such a thick fog in these deep spheres? Is there perhaps fog from one sphere to the next that must be broken through?

Josef: Yes, that is usually the case, because the light is withdrawn.

Dear Josef, Elfriede did not say anything more about the help of the spirit's wife during his ascension. Did she help later too?

Josef: Yes, they probably got together later.

It can be assumed that the grandmother, as in all other cases, looked very young again?

Josef: Yes.

It would also be interesting to find out something about the atmosphere, the light in which they lived. Are there many colors?

Josef: No, I would like to compare it to a bright light like you have. But this light can be made colorful.
Dear Josef, was this daughter, this Elfriede, standing with her father in a certain
relationship from earlier times?

Josef: I can't say. As far as I can tell, there is no spiritual connection.

Well, then I'll go and withdraw into my world again and leave you to the blessing and protection of God. God bless you.

Report of the ascending spirit being Elfriede and
answers to questions from spirit teacher Josef by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.


Headline, next case.


December 7, 1966.
Erika surprised by awakening in the world beyond.
Experiences of a pious but partly unloving teacher in an orphanage.
Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit sister is speaking to you by the name of Erika. May the blessing of God permeate you. God bless you.

Erika: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, my name is Erika.  In my human life I had my job in an orphanage; I shared responsibility for the upbringing of these orphans. We all lived a very religious life, which means that we met several times during the day to pray. After my physical death, however, I learned that prayer alone did not pave the way for me to spiritual heights. 
I would now like to tell you about my entry into the spiritual life and the impressions I had and how I experienced this new world. When I crossed over into the spiritual realm, I saw my parents from afar. They then came to me and greeted me. Other acquaintances also came. But then angelic beings came to me, greeted me with the name I had borne on earth and said that some things needed to be made right. 
At first I was just amazed that life went on. At first I was so happy about it and I would have liked to bring this message or this news to all my friends who were still living on earth. So it was my heartfelt wish to go to my friends and tell them: Yes, you live on. You go straight to heaven after earthly death. 
Because in human life people had talked about being resurrected on the last day. I hadn't really expected that anyone or I would open my spiritual eyes immediately after earthly death. I had no real idea at all about spiritual awakening. So I was happy that I woke up immediately after earthly death and this new world seemed so interesting to me even though there was nothing special to admire where I was now. But I had an inner joy that this life continued. Now I tried to express this joy, and I really wanted nothing more than to return to the house in which I had lived as a human being, to proclaim this message: one opens one's eyes, one's spiritual eyes, immediately after earthly death. And the world beyond is somewhat different from the earthly realm, but there is no particular difference.
For immediately after my entry into the spiritual realm, I met many deceased people. I was led into a town. In my human life, I had never actually experienced a town. 
Where I had lived as a human being, there was a church, and right next to the church was the cemetery. There was also a schoolhouse, and there were isolated houses where people lived. People came to church from everywhere, and children went to school. Everything was as far apart as I remembered from my human life. 
And now I found myself in a town. In this town, I had opened my spiritual eyes. I experienced a lot of activity, a back and forth, and I had the feeling that one had to work diligently and eagerly here too. Where the beings in this city went and where they came from didn't really bother me at all. I wasn't really connected to this new world yet and had the feeling that I was only visiting this city temporarily, but I knew: I have died as a human being and I live on. 
So I was interested in life in this city, but I immediately started to think about it. My companion, who had greeted me and led me part of the way, showed me the way to my house where I was to live. Then he said to me: You can go into the house yourself, introduce yourself and say that you will be living in this house from now on. 
Then he told me that I should strictly follow all instructions. Well, this being said goodbye. However, I was not at all willing to go into this house, but instead I returned to earth first. There I sought out my acquaintances. I went to them and explained to them what I had said right at the beginning: You do not have to wait until the Last Judgment. You will open your eyes soon when
you dies.
But they are other eyes, they are spiritual eyes. And you have a body. It is the spiritual body. You live on - remember that. As soon as you die, you open your spiritual eyes. I announced that to everyone.
So I went to my friends and now experienced as a spiritual being what I had also done as a human being: people gathered together during the day to pray and prayed in the name of Jesus Christ; people came together in his name, also with the idea that he would receive you when you entered the afterlife; that he would personally go to meet everyone who had worshiped him and believed in him. And now I had to make my own considerations. When I entered the spiritual world, I had indeed been met by beautifully dressed beings, but I had not been received by Jesus Christ at all, as we as humans had believed and imagined that we would be led directly to him. That wasn't the case at all. 
I had been led to a town where so many deceased people were rushing back and forth. It was a town with its busy hustle and bustle, and I had been assigned a house to enter and introduce myself to. Yes, I had my thoughts and thought that I had not been led to the right place when I entered the spiritual world. I then returned to my spiritual world. The path from the beyond to people and vice versa is actually found so quickly. 
When you immerse yourself in the thought of returning to a place, you are already on the way there. So I then had the desire to return to the beyond again, and I stood there again in front of the house to which I had been led, in the middle of this town, but I thought: No, I thought carefully, I will not enter the house, because I am not in the right place. I can wait a long time
that's all the same to me. I will wait until someone comes to me and admits: 'There has been a mistake, you don't belong here.' 
	And so I stayed near the house. I was interested in the hustle and bustle of this city. But then I had the feeling of being an outsider. While everyone else was working or doing something, I couldn't do it, and I didn't want to be idle.
I then spoke to a beautifully dressed spirit of God who was staying near my house. I also noticed immediately that he was always watching me. So I went up to him, introduced myself and said to him: Surely it is a mistake that I have been brought here. I don't belong here. What do you think? 
That's what I said to this spirit of God. He looked at me long and intently and said: Yes, yes, you belong here, and you were told that you must report to this house, because there is room for you in this house. Why don't you go in? 
And I replied: I will not go in until I have been led to Jesus Christ, because I have lived my whole life for him and I insist that I be led to him. This being seemed somewhat surprised by my perhaps insistent words. The face or expression that it made seemed somewhat strange to me, and so I suddenly began to doubt the correctness of the words I had uttered. 
I said: Is it not my right to insist that I be led directly to Jesus Christ? This being then said very firmly: No, that is not your right. 
Why not, if I have lived for him? This spirit being said to me: You have taken on a great debt, and until you have paid off this debt, you cannot reach him.’ 
I was speechless, even disappointed and indignant at these words. And this spirit being repeated it again: ‘Until you have paid off this great debt, you cannot meet him’. 
Then I wanted to know: What debt have I taken on? 
This spirit being answered: ‘I will explain that to you in detail.’ 
And it asked me to come with it. We then walked a few steps away from the house and found a bench. We sat down there. Then this spirit being told me about my life and my mistakes and explained: You have prayed a lot, that's true, but prayer alone has not brought you salvation. You had a responsibility towards these children. You were not always a kind person. You did not always understand these children who had been entrusted to you. You are particularly guilty of one person who had also come to this orphanage as a child. This boy had received more lovelessness than attention and understanding, and this person had not found his way when he entered life. He had made himself a very burdened life. And the spirit being explained to me exactly who it was. I replied: This person had stolen and lied, and I am to blame for his lies and his stealing?
Yes, said the spirit of God to me, you are to blame.
The other person's guilt will be mitigated, not counted as it is usually counted against someone who has grown up in love and understanding. You have something to do for this person. Until you have paid off this guilt, you cannot meet Jesus Christ.
I did not want to understand it and replied: How is it possible that the guilt is placed on me? I did not lie and I did not steal.
No, said the angel of God, but your lack of love caused this boy to do that in later life. You have wounded the roots of his soul. And he said that it was not just me who was to blame, but that the others who had been responsible for raising these children were also to blame. Instead of giving love, harsh punishments were meted out. No spark of understanding and true love was placed in this child's soul. As a result, mistrust developed in him and he rebelled against his fellow human beings. 
Now I had to take the blame for this - I still knew exactly what his name was: Anton was his name - and make amends. 
And this spirit of God said: You can think about it, you can think about it. You should come to the realization that what we are telling you is right. You have done wrong and now you have to make amends. 
And he went on to say that the necessary love and understanding had not been shown to any of the other children either; that had to be sorted out first. Then he left me. 
But I could not yet decide to enter the house, so I stayed on this bench and in the immediate vicinity. I thought about it, I prayed and still could not understand. 
I hoped that someone else would come and say: You have been judged wrongly. It is not so, we have made a mistake. You do not belong here. I held on to this belief, but no one came. I did not want to understand it, and I prayed. I had also gone to other spirit beings who were distinguished by their special clothing, because you knew exactly that they were higher beings, because you could see it in their faces. There was something noble about them, and the way they were dressed was not what those who were hurrying back and forth were dressed. You could see it in them: they wore headdresses, bracelets, so they must belong to heaven and to a higher order. 
And so I tried again to ask such a beautifully dressed being whether it did not also think that I was in the wrong place and that they had made a mistake. And again I had to experience the same thing - people looked at me in amazement and said: No, you are in the right place. 
I tried it sometimes and sometimes asked and always got the same answer. Then I had to realize that there had to be some truth in it. How could I escape from this new world? I had no other option than to go back to earth, but that couldn't make me happy. I wanted to go to Christ and I wanted to ask him to forgive me, -  forgive me for what I had done wrong. I just couldn't understand. And so it took a long, long time before I came to this conclusion: Jesus Christ actually suffered for others too; he took on a difficult task, he took on the sins of humanity. 
Therefore, one should follow his example. And so I was now ready to take on Anton's sins, but not for the same reasoning as Jesus Christ had done. I then approached the spirit of God who had his task in this area. If you were on the road for a long time, you would meet him again. So I could ask him again. I explained it to him and said that I had now come to the right conviction, namely that one must be able to take on the sins of another, as Jesus Christ did. Then he said to me: But not in the way that you do it or believe that it is right. You are guilty. Jesus Christ is not guilty. He voluntarily walked this difficult path and brought salvation. But you, you burdened yourself because you expressed your lack of love. There can be no talk of voluntarily. 
It took a long, long time before I understood what was meant by that. Then this spirit of God brought me together with this Anton, who was also in the spiritual world. He was on the same level as me - although he was not in the same city, but he was of the same level as me, which amazed me, and I said: How is it possible to bring a liar and someone who had stolen so much together together with pious souls? 
Yes, that is possible, replied the Spirit of God. But I would only understand it once I was taught, and that could only happen when I entered this house and asked to be taken in; then I would be taught. I was brought together with this Anton, and I did not have the impression that he was unhappy. I could not talk to him for long. I was allowed to greet him, but I was forbidden to have a closer conversation with him. However, I could see that he was quite happy. I was to be taught why he, who had stolen and lied so much in his human life, was now on the same spiritual level as me. 
Then I thought to myself: Yes, he will not see Jesus Christ either, he will not meet him either. And if I now have to take on his debts, then I can understand that we are actually on the same level together. So I just bear the guilt. 
And then I thought further: OK, I want to bear the guilt, I don't want to ask any more questions. I thought about what a great work our Savior had accomplished. But I couldn't really understand the difference between him and me. He did it voluntarily, but I had burdened myself.
 I then decided to ask for accommodation in that house. I said goodbye to this Anton and then walked resolutely into the house, and someone came to meet me straight away. I noticed that it was a big house with many rooms and that many spirit beings were coming and going. Some left, said goodbye with joy, hugged each other, had small suitcases with them and left full of joy. And others came and were just as confused as I was. But they too were met, taken by the hand and disappeared with them into a room. 
The same thing happened to me. They took me by the hand and led me into a room. This room was not particularly decorated. It was small, but I was content with that - I was alone in this room. The spirit brother who had led me into this room said: After a while, someone will come to you and tell you what to do next.
 So I sat down - a bench, a table, that was actually all there was there. I had the impression that I did not have to wait long before someone came. I was greeted as if they had known me for a long time and the curriculum was immediately explained to me. I was actually amazed at how quickly it all went. 
So they explained to me that I could live here temporarily; they were giving me this room so that I could concentrate better and so that I could change more quickly - I should become more insightful. 
Many such words were spoken to me, and it was explained to me that I would have to leave the room each time I had to go to the other spirit brothers and sisters with whom I would be taught. I would have to absorb what was being said to me carefully and then process it in my quiet room.
 And so it went, and I sometimes thought back to my life on earth and to the idea that people had of the spiritual future, that they would meet Jesus Christ, that they would see him immediately after death; or that they would be resurrected by him when the Last Judgment took place - one of the two. 
But neither of these things actually happened when I entered the world beyond; the spiritual world was alien to me, and most of those who were there were alien to me, with the exception of my parents and a few friends, with whom I had a brief encounter.
 Now I went to this school. After an agreed signal, everyone had to leave their room, and I did so, and we came with other brothers and sisters - there must have been about fifty to seventy of us - into a beautiful, large, bright room.
 There was a blackboard, and drawings were made and written on this blackboard. We all seemed to understand each other in the same language, and the lessons were taught in the same language. So they began to teach us. They did not speak of the guilt that lay on us, but rather gave us lessons. They taught us about the plan of salvation, and we were all amazed, including the plan of salvation of Jesus Christ.
 The more I immersed myself in the teachings we received, the more familiar these explanations became to me. I felt as if I had heard it several times before. Suddenly it was not at all strange to me, and yet it was new to me. I had no idea that I had actually been taught about it before. 
And so I learned eagerly. I returned to my room and thought about it. And then I finally got to the point where I understood what was meant when I was told that I had to bear the guilt of others through my lack of love and my ignorance. Now I had to make amends. There was always a lot of talk about sacrifice, about serving others, about Christian love and understanding it. 
The life of Jesus was explained to us, his great devotion and sacrifice, his mission to redeem humanity. In this way I was able to understand why the guilt had fallen on me. After we had been taught a little, we parted ways. I was able to leave the house. I had also left with a suitcase. Suitcase might not be the right word for you. But through our activity and our zeal we had acquired things, objects made of spiritual matter, and we were to take these with us to our new home. 
We were all zealous, and our zeal was rewarded, and so we received such attentions from our spiritual teachers as to encourage our zeal even more. We were told that we would be glad to have some property of our own in the new home. 
So I left that house too and was accompanied elsewhere. I still stayed in the same town, but I was allowed to live in nicer surroundings. There the school continued, we continued to be taught. But now we had to go out and prove that we had really absorbed what we had learned and that what we had been taught had not only come to us superficially, but that it had taken hold of our minds and that we were capable of putting it into practice. 
And so we had to enter into practical life, so to speak. And there was also the matter of paying off the debt. So I had to prove for my part that I had understood what I had been taught. 
I was then led to those unfortunate spirits who had not yet found the way and the insight and who were much worse off than I had once been. For I had not found the way either. I had also doubted whether I was in the right place. These beings were, however, malicious in their nature. 
When you approached them, they shouted at you - they did not want to know anything about us; they called us hypocrites and spoke of injustice. And now we were to take care of them. We were to speak of justice, we were to have understanding and say loving words to them. 
This was what we had been instructed to do. Actually, it would have been the angels' job to do this, but they said that we had to take on this task in order to prove that we had now grasped love and this understanding. They also told us that angels would come to our aid if necessary. 
So I set off, like all the other brothers and sisters. It was not an easy task. It was not a pleasant activity when you were shouted at and rejected. Unpleasant words were shouted at you. We had to deal with these evil beings, and I had to deal with them too. So we could not leave them straight away. 
We had to explain to them what they had done wrong in life; they had to take a closer look at their lives. A spirit of God had taught us how we should deal with our brothers and sisters in detail. 
So we could talk to them about their lives and their mistakes and show them the way to ascension. So I did.
 I had three unfortunate spirit brothers and sisters to look after; they were assigned to me by a higher spirit. I was given more details about their past. Now I wanted to prove that I could work with love and understanding.
 I had been to school and I wanted to meet Jesus Christ. It was explained to us:
You can only meet him if you serve in this way and make amends for what you have done wrong in life. Then you are given the opportunity. So I had the opportunity to make amends for what I had done wrong in my human life. 
Of course I always prayed now and then. Later, higher spirit beings also joined in my prayers. I sensed that they were satisfied with my work. And then they visited us, and they visited me and stayed for a while. They prayed with us, sang and brought musical instruments. So we had a wonderful time with them.
We made those suffering spirits happy. We brought them comfort, supported them and lifted them up - but it was hard work. And the spirits of God made us happy, they brought us joy because they accepted us into their circle. 
We were treated quite differently than when we first had to face them. They were more loving to us. They told us about their own experiences, about those higher worlds, and they told us about other towns and villages, about the spiritual life of that great world. 
So we were always happy, but also curious. They promised us that we too would be able to experience everything they told us about if we fulfilled our tasks. So I made an effort and tried to fill my whole soul with this divine love in order to serve and be accepted by the higher spirit world in the spiritual world too. 
This is how I made my ascent. First I had to experience this disappointment when I came to the world beyond. I had to let go of the ideas that I had had in human life and that I had taken with me as a spirit. I had to be willing to be taught and I had to make amends. But I was able to experience many beautiful things, receive attention from the higher spirits, that is, receive small, personal gifts for my future new home. 
This is how I worked my way up. I diligently followed the words and tried to live according to God's will in the spiritual realm. When people now say that a new life on earth awaits me, I find it all the more necessary to be very eager so that this love and understanding take hold of my whole being, because we are always told: you need love in order to be able to live and work as a human being. Only in love will you grow, only in love, however it may be, by giving it to others, by living in love yourself. It will make you happy, this divine love, and without it there will be no understanding, no happy life; because the two belong together.
 Understanding, love, benevolent feelings and always being ready to forgive - then you can make progress in human life and the ascent will take place even faster. But you have to bring something like that into human life from another world, from the spiritual world. 
So they told me that I would now place the seed in my soul, in my whole mind, and that this seed would then open up and find expression in a human life. So I want my whole mind to be as full of these divine virtues as possible. 
Before it is time to enter a new life on earth, I would like to walk in the spiritual world accompanied by the divine beings and be taught further. 
So during my ascent I managed to experience Christ from afar, but this experience was not a personal experience, as one assumes as a human being that it could be immediately after earthly death. But this experience or these experiences were so impressive, so wonderful, that they gave new courage, new motivation and enthusiasm for personal advancement.

So I have tried, dear brothers and sisters, to describe to you some of my
impressions, my experiences. It is something of my experiences, of my work; it has been an insight into my spiritual life. So I want to say goodbye to you, and I leave you to the guidance and blessing of God. God bless you.
Josef: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, do you have any questions in relation to what has been said?

Dear Joseph, were these mistakes in raising the children that the sister made actually just negligence, or was it really sometimes malice that she showed towards the children or towards this Anton?

Josef: It was both.

Did she later have the opportunity to help him herself in the world beyond?

Josef: They met again then. But that would take me too far if I had to talk about it.

Could this Anton rise as high as this sister?

Josef: No, that depends entirely on the efforts he makes.

Was more demanded of this sister Erika in the children's home than of others? Did she have any special position or greater insight than others?

Josef: Yes, she shared the responsibility for the upbringing of these children, as she said.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, I am returning to my world. May God's blessing protect and keep you. Greetings.

Report of the ascending spirit being Erika and answers to questions from 
spirit teacher Josef by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.
 
Headline, next case.


February 1, 1967.
On the blessed power of a heavenly intercessor.
God's grace and love also apply to those who are seriously culpable.
God's grace and love also apply to the one who is deeply in debt.

Joseph: Greetings. Dear brothers and sisters, today I am speaking to you and giving you an account of my experiences. But I do not want to point out again that it is probably difficult for new friends to speak this language, and to understand. 

It is up to my loyal friends to teach those who have not yet grasped this spiritual teaching to the same extent. Well, dear brothers and sisters, recently I have often been a guest of our high brother in the Linus house. With me were other guests from the high heavens. They had come to make my acquaintance, to see me and to hear from me; for the news of your community was carried to the high heavens, the news of loyal friends, of their firm belief in the spirit world of God. Something like that is carried on in the divine world; once it has passed its probationary period, this news may well be carried up to the higher heavens.
 So I was a guest with others, and we discussed so much. We talked about the forward development of people, about their ascent in general; and they talked about how the knowledge of the friends, the loyal friends, could now be expanded, that it was probably time to open the gates of heaven further to them. 
So it was a special honor for me, a special joy to be invited as a guest and to hear about the heavenly wishes. I had been commissioned to visit the various stages of ascension in the divine world. I had been given appropriate companions who explained the spiritual laws to me in detail so that I too could gain a better understanding. 
So we then talked about what would be most necessary to mediate between you. I have already told you that I am a mediator between you and the higher spiritual world and that these high spirits of heaven are very often much stricter than I am, judge much more strictly and give stricter instructions. They have shown me forbearance in not being so strict with you and not judging so harshly. And people show understanding because I am so close to you; because of my constant messages I have to be close to you. 
As you know, I have my helpers who come to your home, who look at your worries and problems and bring them to me. It is not possible for me personally to come to your home or to accompany you and hear about your worries. It is not as some believe that a spirit must know everything. What it is currently experiencing and what is explained to it with certainty is known to it. 
So I can answer your questions and speak about your problems because they are explained to me. And so you may have been amazed that, as you say, much or more interesting things have been given recently. So I was allowed and enabled in the way described to experience the interesting things for you. So I have the opportunity to go to the most diverse levels of ascension in the spiritual world. I rarely go alone, I go with my companion. I visit the suffering in the depths,
and I visit the happy in the spiritual heights; I am allowed to enter here and experience the wonderful celebrations there. This is how I am able to report to you about it. People are trying to help me so that I can explain as much as possible about the divine world to you and give you insight. But people are not only trying to help me, they are also trying very hard for you, for those who are of true faith.
They too can know that they have a higher guidance and companionship alongside them today - those who have earned this, who have remained loyal to the community, who have proven themselves.
Now I said that I would like to give a report of my experiences this hour; that I am giving this report myself will be understandable to you by the end of this hour. I must point out that we often have to give explanations that may seem depressing to you. We would love to show you the beauties of heaven, we would love to speak only of the blessed brothers and sisters, but your world is not like that at all. Individuals certainly deserve a beautiful heaven, but how many there are who have to go through great hardships before they reach these heights. You are happy and glad when you hear something edifying. We would like to offer you that, and our sublime spirit sister Lene will also make sure of that. But we would like to show you the whole path, as it really is, how you experience it if you live in this or that way. All of this is intended to strengthen you in spirit and soul, to lead you on the right path, so that you have the courage and strength to live the spiritual life in a way that is to your advantage.
 On the other hand, you should learn to understand your fellow human beings and not to judge them. You have to learn to understand him if he has a fate - a fate that is determined by God because the holy spirit world of God has condemned him to it. You should know all this in order not to be one-sided and to judge naturally. You should know that the divine laws are so varied and that the divine world is ready to pave a path for the advancement of every person. 
And if a person has to go through a difficult life, the dawn will also appear in his life. So I will now begin this report of experiences and explain to you what happened to those concerned. 
A person was killed and the blame was put on someone who was innocent - he was found guilty and executed innocently. The real culprit, however, was never suspected; he was able to direct his life very skillfully and no suspicion fell on him. So someone was executed innocently. The real culprit, however, no longer had a clear conscience, not for the rest of his life. Now in the spiritual world there was the victim who was full of hatred, and then there was the one who was executed innocently. These two had not lived particularly exemplary lives themselves; this is already shown by the fact that one was killed and the other was believed to be capable of the same crime. 
But the one who was innocently executed did not deserve this violent death. In the spiritual world it was not a problem to identify the real culprit; and it was also not a problem that these two, the victim and the innocently executed man, found each other. They had already known each other in their earthly life and now they met in the spiritual realm. So they became friends and lived together in the same spiritual city. These two were of a low level of development and were supposed to improve a lot of themselves for the sake of their souls. They were assigned a job that they could do well. But they were told that they had free will and could move freely; they could move freely in their city, but they could also return to the earthly world, to where they had lived; This would not be recommended to them, however, because it would not help their spiritual progress. 
Both were filled with hatred. But they did not lack encouragement, which they were able to receive from high spirits. They were made aware of the need for forgiveness: everyone must be forgiven, no matter how great an injustice has been done to them. They were pointed to Jesus Christ; they were shown his life, his death, which he had accepted for the salvation and liberation of mankind. But all of this was of no great use. The two of them said yes to it, but they had the impression that Christ was a very high being and had fulfilled a high task; however, as modest beings, they did not want to compare themselves with Christ and did not want to measure themselves against his courage to sacrifice; it would be different for them; they had the right to be outraged. 
But they were taught further and made aware that they would not reach the heights if they thought in this way. Since these two had died a violent death, the world of God had in a certain sense given them greater freedom. They were not restricted in their actions, they were not banished, although neither of them had lived an exemplary life. 
But since other people had caused them so much suffering and had committed crimes against them, they were allowed this freedom of movement. Nevertheless, the admonishing spirits of heaven repeatedly went to them and made them aware of their senseless actions. But it was all to no avail, because they had only one wish: to find the real culprit, which they could find, and to pursue him. 
You will understand that this real culprit did not have a clear and calm conscience. These two, however, now took turns to approach him to disturb his normal way of life and to torment him. They encouraged his depression. This seemed to them to be the most suitable means of getting close to him, and for the following reason: This man had a bad conscience because of his deed, and since he was inwardly afraid and his own spirit was not at all satisfied, the feelings of bad conscience could be increased. It was therefore easy for these two spirits to support him in his fears, to increase his depression and thus to make him ill.
 They swore to themselves: When he returns to the world beyond, we will go to meet him and accuse him before the higher spiritual world. These two, who tormented this guilty man, were often warned to refrain from doing so; they should rather try to forgive this person and leave him alone, because he would never escape his punishment, and the punishment that awaited him would be just hard enough. But none of this helped, the warnings were ignored. The spirit world of God did not intervene with these two, they let them do as they pleased. 
Now it got to the point where this person became so ill that they had to be taken to a nursing home and cared for because he suffered so much from depression. But he never revealed his true guilt and could therefore never be freed from his troubles and suffering. He carried his secret with him into death and the other two had only been waiting for this death. They believed that it was their right to torment him and harm him in body and soul. Now this guilty person had died and passed on to the world beyond. Now these two stood there, that is, they were the first to introduce themselves to him. The world of God allowed this to happen, the stern angels of heaven stood at a distance. 
This deceased person, who had passed into the spiritual world with this great guilt, now saw to his astonishment that he was not dead at all, that life continued. During his lifetime he had not believed in life continuing; he had not believed that after his earthly death he would one day face his victim and the one who had been wrongfully convicted. When he saw these two, he thought he was dreaming at first. He was not yet so conscious of physical death, for he felt that he was alive, and he could sense his body, and he could think just as he had when he was alive; his bad conscience was also there, just as it had been when he was alive. 
But the bright figures standing nearby were something special for him. Now the accusations of the two began. Each complained in his own way, and at a great volume. They thought that the whole of heaven, the whole of the world beyond, must hear who was coming and what they had experienced through him in the earthly realm. They did not stop with their accusations and complaints, and the angelic world had to intervene. They took these two complainers to one side and they were taken into the care of the spirits of God; they were not to approach the man who had returned home again until these high ones of heaven had spoken to him. 
This guilty man became afraid and anxious. He lowered his gaze downwards, covered his face with his hands and cried: No, that cannot be possible! No, that cannot be true! By this he meant that it could not be true that he was still alive. 
A spirit of God then approached him, took his hands away from his face, raised him up and said to him: You will be severely punished for what you did in life. Another spirit of God came and put a heavy, dark cloak around him.
This cloak was heavy for this guilty spirit; it was and became a burden for him, a burden that he had to feel, that he had to carry constantly. This cloak was like armor. He felt constricted in it, and he cried out and said: This will make me even more afraid. Free me from my fear, I have suffered enough. I have regretted my deed, and now free me! The spirit of God replied: You did not confess your guilt during your lifetime, no one could forgive you for your guilt, not even on earth; and since no one freed you from your guilt, heaven cannot free you from your guilt either.
 If you had confessed what you had done during your life, you would have been freed from this great guilt in heaven too; but you have taken the guilt with you into the afterlife, and you must bear it. This is how it was explained to him: If you had confessed to your crime, you would not now be experiencing this punishment.
A punishment would have been waiting for him, but not to this extent. And so this heavy cloak was placed around him, and he walked with heavy steps.
The spirits of God told him: You will stay in this city, where the others are; they will meet you. This city was actually more than big enough so that they would not have had to meet. But these two others now pursued this guilty man, and it was a secret joy to them that he was now being punished in this way. They had no idea that they were burdening themselves again with their base thinking.
The guilty man was now severely punished. He was not given a job, and he still suffered from depression, just as he did as a human being.
In addition, he had to bear the heavy burden that had been placed around him. The spirit of God told him: You have a freedom, we will let you have it for a certain time. But this freedom is of little use to you, for you will only make slow progress in your walk. For the burden he had to bear was truly heavy. His thinking was now of such a low nature; he had to constantly think about how he had killed his victim; he could not get rid of the memory of it. This constant thinking about that time drew him back to earth.
I went to the place where he had committed this act. There he was to live as an unfortunate spirit for a certain period of time. However, it would be up to him to remain in the spirit world. However, he believed that he could escape those two if he returned to the earthly realm. 
Because of his low thinking, he could easily find the way to the place where he had committed the crime. But now the other two also found their way there, and they mocked and laughed at him. This meant even more pain for him. In his distress he remembered people who were praying; and when it became almost unbearable for him, he set out for a place where people gathered to pray - he went to a church. When people entered the church, he went to them and asked them to take pity on him and pray for his poor soul. Over time he had to realize that people did not see him at all. He was content with that. He only wanted to be around people who prayed for the poor souls. If he could be around one person at a time who prayed for the poor souls in real devotion, then it was a great relief for him. And so he wanted to actually always stay in this church, to always be near people who were praying, to enjoy the balm that was given through this prayer.
The other two had followed him and they also wanted to enter the church. But they were turned away from the church by spirits of God, by spiritual guardians who were present here, because their only intention was to torment this helpless spirit; and that should not be allowed. 
These guardians were therefore also there for this guilty person; he was given the opportunity to enjoy the healing balm of this prayer. So he stayed in this church for a long time. He was now able to observe that people often came and prayed a prayer from which he received no benefit. He soon found out which people he had to go to in order to receive comfort from them. He saw many who prayed like machines; there was no thought in their words. This did not help him. He soon knew the people who came with a pious heart and soul. He also preferred to approach people who had recently lost a loved one and now came to church to pray for the deceased. He went to such people and benefited from their prayers. He stretched out his hands to them and clung to them. He asked them for more prayers, he asked them to come back soon. So he stayed in this church for a long, long time. 
Then he had an experience. He was not the only unfortunate person who sought help and comfort among the praying people in this church. He noticed that there were many other guilty spirits who sought people's prayers. And now he noticed that an angel of God went to such a guilty person, took him by the hand and led him out. And after this observation he just waited until such a spirit of God entered the church again. For he observed carefully and saw that such spirits of God often came into this church, into this prayer house, and walked quickly back and forth and acted as if they were looking for someone. They then often went out again without having taken on anyone seeking help or asking.
 These spirits of God were angels who were commissioned to lead out of the church those spirits whose time here had expired and who could therefore be released. And so this guilt-ridden brother waited until such a high spirit would enter the church again. He had found out that he should stand at the entrance, at the door, of the church, because that was where the people came in. He had observed that the spirit beings entered this room or rooms from all sides; for the earthly walls and partitions were no obstacle for them, just as they were no obstacle for him. But he wanted to be ready in case a spirit being came in that was to be freed, because you could tell when a being's guilt was released. 
And so he immediately followed such a spirit and wanted to stay close to him. And so it happened: A soul came into this church to seek comfort from these praying people. It was a soul whose guilt was soon to be paid off; and so a spirit of God approached this soul. Then the guilty brother approached these two, but he only walked with slow steps, for he was carrying a heavy burden on him. Then he begged this high spiritual being: Have mercy on me, take care of me.
I have a heavy burden to bear, but I want to bear it again. Asked and said he would do good; take the burden from me. This angel of God looked at him full of pity and said: It is not my task to free you now; but because you ask me to, I will come here at the next opportunity and take care of you. Now that was a great hope and a great comfort for him, and he would never have left this church now - he did not do so because he knew that the other two were only waiting for him and would have insulted and tormented him again. 
Here in the church he was safe from them, which was also why he did not leave the room and also because he felt better here. Now he had to wait and wait, and time passed very slowly. He could hardly wait. The angel of God, who had promised to look after him, had to first inquire in the world of God: May I now assist this person in the near future, or how long must I stay away from him?
 This angelic being was an intercessor angel, and he now asked for this guilty person to be freed from his burden. These intercessor angels have so many words when they intercede for a burdened being; one could say that they are intrusive in a kindly way with their higher brothers and sisters. And so they then give their consent, and the helpful angel, this intercessor, goes back to the guilty person full of joy. He knows himself that he must not do anything for him as long as he is not permitted to do so. When he sees such a guilty person, who is marked in this way, he too must abide by the law. But there is also the grace of God, and it is the task of these intercessors. They pray to their higher brothers and sisters for these poor souls and with so many wise words and so much kindness they manage to achieve something for them. 
And so this intercessor succeeded, and full of joy he now went to the one who was waiting for him in the church. He first freed him from the burden he was carrying; he took off his cloak and said: Come, we will both kneel down first and we will thank God for his love, for the grace he has given you. And full of joy they knelt down, and the intercessor angel took the hands of this guilty man and said a moving prayer to the Father that he would have mercy on this sinner. So they fled from this room and the angel of God led him back to the world beyond, to the city where he had entered after his earthly life. Other angels were already waiting for him here and had to take care of him. Then the spirit of God who had placed this heavy cloak on him again appeared before him and said to him: Through the love and grace of God, most of your guilt has been taken away from you; but you will have to make up for the rest of your guilt in a new life on earth. This soul was overjoyed and agreed with everything: Of course I want to make up for the rest of my guilt in my new life. For he was happy to be freed from the burden and to know that he was being cared for by an angel of God. 
This intercessor had promised him to take care of him. For there was still a trace of fear in this soul, and the intercessor now had the task of freeing this brother from fear, of making him aware of the spiritual life, of working in the spiritual world. He also had to make sure that this brother was no longer bothered by the others, but he could not be at his side all the time, for his tasks are great and varied. But this brother became his protege, and he called his helpers to him to recommend his protege to them. Now he was to work in the spiritual world, and work hard, because there was still a considerable amount of guilt on him. But it became easier and easier for him, he no longer felt a burden, and these depressions gradually left him. He was filled with zeal; he wanted to make amends and do everything that would help him to find the way up and pay off the rest of his guilt. 
So he was allowed to work in the spiritual world. But then he too had to take the further path to a new human life in which he would pay off the last of his guilt. The angel of God who had once placed the burden of the heavy cloak on him now drew his fate in life; in his subsequent human life, a fate awaited him. But a friendship had developed between him and his intercessor, and the latter promised to be close to him in his future human life and to invoke grace for him, but also to admonish and punish him if necessary. But this intercessor also pointed out to him: When you enter human life, it is possible that you will meet the other two.
 perhaps they will then be incorporated again and will play a role in the fate of your life. Perhaps they will remain in our world and will then find their way to you from here and try to torment you. 
Now this spirit brother prayed and asked that this helpful spirit of God would be a support to him in his earthly life and that these two would distance themselves from him. And the intercessor had to say to him: It all depends on your personal fate. Depending on how you lead your life, your fate will be made worse by you, or you will be able to ease it through your knowledge. 
And what was the task of this intercessor? He promised to protect this brother in life; he promised to stop these two, who could have been after him, from doing so. And again, this spirit of God managed it: He also had to take care of the future life of these two others, whether they would remain in the spiritual world or whether they would play a role in the human life of his protege. And then this kind spirit of God was able to arrange it so that these two could not play a role in the future life of his protege. This arrangement was again made possible by the kindness of this divine being. And so it happened: His protege came to prepare for the new earthly life and then came into this new human life, he was incorporated. 
He was marked for a fate that was unchangeable - even this wonderful intercessor could do nothing about it. When his protege was back in human existence, this intercessor came to him from time to time and looked after him. But he was not his only protective spirit - he was an intercessor angel, and this person who was incorporated also had his own protective spirit. The intercessor now had to talk to this guardian spirit and tell him about his promise; he had to ask him to ensure that this person could, whenever possible, direct his life in such a way that his fate was not made worse, but that he could mitigate it as best he could through his own strength, with clever thinking and consideration. God's spirit world must assign a fate according to the activity, ability and life of the person. 
So this person was now to be accused of having committed an offence; he was to be accused of an act that he had not committed. This accusation weighed heavily on him, because no one could be found who would admit to this act. And so he had to pay off the rest of his former guilt in this way. It was not easy for him; because now his fellow human beings no longer respected him as much; they turned away from him because they considered him guilty. Now his spirit and he himself as a human being had to accept these humiliations. But it was not so difficult to pay off this guilt, for he had achieved so much in the spiritual world, he had asked so much for help in life. So this fate did not fall upon him in vain, and he had to bear it to the end.
 I believe that I do not need to give any further explanation. In the spiritual world the true culprit was then found, and our brother was able to move up a level; as a human being he had borne his fate, he had said yes to it, although it was not easy for him. The great guilt that he had incurred in his previous life could now be made good in this way. 
Dear brothers and sisters, do not ask about the time, how long it took from his deed to the time when he was freed from his guilt. It was a long time. Now, dear brothers and sisters, the time has passed, and I am withdrawing. May God's blessing come upon you all, may it accompany you; may you be protected from distress and danger.
And may you have the strength to think and act as it is written in God's law. God bless you.

Report of the experience of spirit teacher Josef through his mediator
Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.




Headline, next case.

April 5, 1967.
Frieda earthly possessions cannot be taken into the afterlife.
In God's world, different values ​​count than on earth.
Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit sister by the name of Frieda is speaking to you. May God bless you this hour. God bless you.

Frieda: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, I am telling you about
 my passing, about my entry into the spiritual world, about my work there.
I did not know how seriously ill I was when I was lying there;
I did not know that I was going to die. But I heard it from the relatives standing around, who came to my bed and asked how I was. I could no longer speak, but I could hear and recognize all the people.
  I could hear everything that was being said, and I could see much more than usual. I could see beyond the room, I could see all around the house. It seemed to me as if there were no walls in this house anymore. I saw what was happening in the kitchen, I saw what was happening in the next room, and heard what was being said. And so I heard some people asking: How long will it take? And then I heard them say that they were expecting it to be a few hours. They had already talked about my funeral. Of course I found it a little strange that they were talking about it. But I couldn't say anything, even though I would have loved to. Then I was allowed to see my family and relatives for a while; but then it came back like a mist over my eyes and everything was gone. Then I saw
other figures, figures that were completely alien to me, and it seemed to me as if they came from a completely different world.

I also heard them talking to each other, they also spoke of my going home, and one of them was even able to give the exact time when it would happen. Then he said to another companion:
The next time we come back, we will go closer to her, we will help her. I heard this and could only be amazed; but I could give just as little an answer as I could to my relatives.
	I then had to watch these figures disappear again. My eyes then looked around the whole house again, and so I heard them all. I looked at the clock, because I had heard exactly the time that the others had given when they said: Then she will come to us, that is how long it will take. There was a clock in my room, and I could look at it. I didn't even need to sit up in bed, I knew exactly what time it was and could calculate the time myself. 
	Then it went on for a while and the same thing happened: a veil came over my eyes again and then these strange figures came towards me again. I looked at the clock to see if it was time now, as they had said. But as far as I could see the time, it was still about three hours. So this happened alternately. One time I saw these figures, the other time I could see my relatives. I could see them and hear them talking; some then left again because they thought it would still take too long, and others came over.
	 I saw and heard everything. I was indignant about the conversations they were having, but it didn't help me, I had no strength to defend myself. Then it happened as this one figure had said: Next time we'll go closer to them. So they came a little closer, each time they appeared. 
	And now they had grabbed my hands. They held my hands on both sides of my bed. One of them put his hands on my forehead and I secretly hoped that this would make me healthy. I simply did not want to believe that I was going to cross over, although it was actually clear to me; because these figures that I saw were from another world. They were not so human, and yet they had something like humans. But I had a feeling of relief when they held my hands like that and someone put their hand on my forehead. Then other figures made movements with their hands over my body, back and forth. So I could perceive the whole event. I felt lighter and lighter and suddenly I was standing there next to these figures and saw myself lying in bed. Actually I was a little tired and the whole event had made a great impression on me. But these figures immediately started talking to me. They pointed to the clock and said: Did we not tell the truth? It happened exactly at the time we said it would. And they continued: We helped you, we released your spirit from your body. We made it easier for you to leave this life. Now they wanted to lead me. They explained to me that they did not want to talk to me here in this room, that they would now flee with me; that I should not concern myself with what those left behind, these relatives, would say about me and the inheritance, the funeral and so on; I should not concern myself with that. Then they fled the house with me. It happened so quickly that I could not perceive what was happening to my right or left. I suddenly found myself in a world that was foreign to me. I stood in front of a house, and before they wanted to enter the house with me, they said to me: This is your house, where you will now live; everything else is behind you. Now let us come in,
and let us look at your harvest. I began to wonder what they meant by this harvest.

This new world was so similar to the one I had left behind. And yet I felt that I was in a completely different place. Then, as I was still looking around in amazement, I suddenly saw my parents. They came towards me, they had been waiting for me in this house. But it wasn't just my parents, there were other acquaintances and friends there too. They also came towards me, welcomed me and wished me luck. And my mother said to me somewhat quietly: First we'll talk about the harvest. We'll see each other again later. I asked my mother: Stay here, don't go away, I'm scared, and I asked my father too: Stay here. You can help me, I'm scared. And then a figure I didn't recognize said: Are you scared? Why are you scared, who are you scared of? 

I'm just scared, I don't feel comfortable, everything is so strange here. And then another figure, who was a complete stranger to me, said: Come now; let's talk about the harvest you brought with you. They wanted to talk about the harvest; and I thought quietly whether they meant spiritual wealth, whether they were talking about the merits that one should have acquired for this other world, whether they meant this harvest. They seemed to be able to read my thoughts and so they said: That's exactly it, we're talking to you about this harvest. I was amazed at the wonderful appearance of these figures. They were dressed so colorfully and they had wonderful jewelry on them. This jewelry was mainly woven into the clothes or pressed into them, worked into them in some way - I couldn't figure out how. Around their arms and around their heads they had bracelets with stones - very precious stones, it seemed to me. And the whole thing had also aroused a certain respect for them in me. They looked so sublime, so noble. And the whole thing was just a little uncomfortable for me,
that's why I got scared. 

But then they said: You don't need to be afraid of us. But it was precisely their appearance that had worried me, because I recognized a certain power in these figures' appearance; I realized that they could be part of the authorities in this new world and could have a very important say.
I then quickly thought about my earthly possessions that I had left behind. I looked at myself, what I looked like;
I couldn't see anything particularly pleasant. As far as I knew, I was wearing a grayish garment; it covered me from the neck to the floor. I was tightly wrapped in it and couldn't really tell what kind of garment it was. But I could feel my hands, my body. And so I considered whether it might be possible to change this appearance, to get a different garment, because I didn't like this one. And in a flash
I thought: If they express such grandeur through their special appearance, I could take the clothes I left behind with me and put them on; then I would certainly look better.

And I also wanted to put on the jewelry I had, so that I could also look dignified. I thought about that.
My thoughts were quickly understood, but as I saw, they were smiling meaningfully at each other, as if they only wanted to express: Let her, let her, if she thinks she can achieve that.

Then one of them started talking to me very eagerly, and my fear actually grew more and more. What have you brought home? he asked very energetically. I hardly knew how to answer. What had I brought home? Nothing, nothing had I brought home; I didn't like myself. I didn't know what they meant. And I replied to them: Yes, I had some property, but I had to leave it behind. They answered me: We are not talking about the perishable. What you left behind is all dedicated to the perishable, that does not interest us. We are interested in what is imperishable. Have you done such works? 

That is the harvest, we would like to talk to you about that harvest. And I had to think about it. Something imperishable? What had I done that was imperishable? I did not know how to answer. I also did good works, I told them, but they did not seem to be satisfied with that. And I became more and more afraid and could hardly speak anymore, because they seemed to become more and more energetic and asked more and more energetically what I had brought over, and I did not know the answer. And when I was so desperate, a figure suddenly came towards me and I immediately recognized: This figure is well-disposed towards me. She had a smile on her lips and raised her hands as if to signal that the others should be quiet for a while. This extremely beautiful figure stood next to me and  I  began to breathe a sigh of relief - yes, really, because I felt freer. I
found: Finally, finally I have received help, finally someone is standing up for me! Suddenly I felt protected by the presence of this being who had joined me.

Now this being spoke of my life, of my mistakes and of what I had done well and of my merits. And this being seemed to talk less about mistakes and more about good works. So I soon saw that
I had a defender. Now and then someone would say a word and raise an objection, but this being continued to talk and thus seemed to gain power. 

Then these figures, who had first asked about the harvest and had spoken to me more and more sternly, suddenly became more lenient and their faces became friendlier. What a surprise and what joy for me! And the fear gradually faded. No one asked me anything anymore. Now the two sides, these stern beings and my defender, I call him that now, began to talk to each other and talk about my life. And so there was a back and forth. Then they seemed to agree about my future.
I was no longer able to understand the words they were speaking. I didn't understand anything about a spiritual order, about its laws; everything they were saying about reparation, about being reborn, about karma, about purification and the like was foreign to me. I knew nothing about it, I couldn't say anything in response to them, and I was also quiet as a precaution.

So my defender had acted on my behalf. Then these figures went away and I was now standing there with my defender. I had to thank him; I knelt down, kissed his hands and thanked him for freeing me and helping me. And lovingly this being stood there, lifted me up, spoke to me with encouragement and comfort, and said: Yes, you have already done a lot wrong in your life, and your harvest is not particularly great. You will have to make up for a lot. And so this spirit of God spoke lovingly to me and admonished me to be very obedient in the future. He said that I was now being given a certain amount of time to adjust. During this time I could rest a little, I could sleep. But I could also look at the whole surroundings and admire this new world, establish connections with other spirit brothers and sisters who were nearby or with whom I would have to live together in the future - so I had the opportunity to do this. I also had another possibility, and that was: I could, if I wanted to, return to the house in which I had lived. But this was actually not advisable at all; because if one returns to the old place, one only stops one's own ascent. But it is in God's will and in the law that anyone who now has this desire to return can do so. But he does not recommend this to me, said my defense attorney, but advises me to do what he has just said. He would then have to examine me himself to see how I feel about this new world and whether I am willing to follow these instructions. He has now done what he was allowed to do for me. He is an intercessor angel, and every returning home person would receive such support if they had not burdened themselves too much in human life. But if the burdens on a returning person are too great, then these intercessor angels cannot do anything at first; they will come to the fore later. So I was lucky to have this intercessor angel. Of course I was very interested in this new world. And my companion, my defender, said goodbye to me and promised to check on me from time to time. 

Now I knew: I have truly died, I live in another world; I have left my earthly body behind. Now my parents were still there and they promised that they would inquire about me and give me support. But at the moment I was actually less interested in this new world I had entered than in what my relatives had done after my death: whether all the objects were still in my house, what had happened to my clothes, what they had done with my jewelry. That interested me more and I thought: If I have the opportunity to go back, as I was told, I want to take that opportunity. I can then stay in this new world long enough later. And so I did not resist and gave in to the urge. So I went back into the house and found everything as it had been when I was alive. I now thought again quickly as I had at the beginning when I had seen these beautiful figures, who were so beautifully dressed, who in their clothes

such precious stones woven or worked into it, whether it might not be possible to put on another garment and take the jewelry with me. I wanted to give myself a better, more elegant look. I opened the closet and pulled out a dress that I thought would suit me well. I pulled this dress over myself and I quickly took out the jewelry - it was still in the same place. I put everything on because I wanted to take everything with me. But the dress seemed a bit strange to me because I couldn't get rid of my old garment. 

So I put my earthly garment, which I had worn during my life, over my spiritual garment in the hope that it would dissolve or that I could then remove it. But I couldn't do it, even with the best will in the world. But I had the hope that it would happen - I wanted to get rid of this wide skirt at all costs. Now I looked around the house, but actually that didn't interest me much. I wanted to adapt to the new world, and I now had what I wanted, but unfortunately I couldn't take more than a pair of clothes with me. And so I went back into the other world, into the house where I was supposed to live. I only had to think about it and imagine this house. I didn't know how it happened, it happened in a flash, and then I was back in that other world and in this house. I thought about how that could happen, but that didn't interest me any more. I just wanted to look different, I wanted the others to admire me. And so I came back into the house. Then I saw that my mother, my father and some of my acquaintances and friends were waiting for me. 

When they saw me, they expressed their great amazement and said: What have you done, what do you look like! Quickly take off this coat! And then they looked at my arms and my hands, my neck, and my mother said: What kind of rusty stuff have you put on? What? I replied disappointedly, don't you know it, can't you remember that I had it? Oh, it's all rusty, just look at it. You're making a fool of yourself with it, along with the robe you've put on. I didn't want to believe it, but then I took a closer look at this stuff, as it was called. And they drew my attention to the rust and said: Try to wipe away this rust, as thick as it is. And truly: I rubbed it with my fingers, and it was all rust. Then I asked my mother: How is that possible? It wasn't full of rust, it was precious. And she said: Yes, it was precious to the world. But it is something that is fleeting; that doesn't count for us, that is meaningless in our world. You can't take any of it with you. Take off this rusty stuff. And I wanted to get rid of it. But I couldn't manage it, I couldn't get rid of it. I wanted to take off my skirt too, but that didn't work either, everything seemed to be sticking to me. My mother was disappointed, and my father and all my friends said: We should be ashamed of what you did. Now you have been given help; you had such a good, helpful angel who stood up for you. And you haven't yet realized what it's all about. You are truly a stranger to this spiritual world. 

Then they asked me to return everything as quickly as possible and to come back as soon as possible. Yes, it didn't take much determination. I really wanted to get rid of this stuff, as they called it. And I went back to my old house. When I got close to the closet from which I had taken the dress, I was suddenly able to take it off, it was no longer sticking to me. The jewelry, the chains and rings and everything I had taken with me, all of that was still in the drawers, but I had put the rusty part on myself. Now I simply stripped it off and got rid of it. And then I was back to how I was before; I had removed everything. My dress and what I had believed to be valuable and to give me prestige had put me in such a light that everyone was horrified and said it was just rust. So I didn't want to know anything more about it. So I returned to the spiritual world, back to the house of my relatives. They welcomed me with joy and said: Yes, it is better now; and let us hope, said my mother, that you have learned a lesson from it. So you should know:
What is human property is of no value to us. We ask about other possessions. We ask about the love that we have given to our fellow human beings in life. These are spiritual goods, they are part of the harvest, they cannot be seen with the human eye, but that is very precious. It is the readiness to help, it is modesty, humility, it is loyalty, kindness. And so they began to list them. These are all spiritual goods. But in human life this has as little value as the earthly goods of man have little value for us. People want to have the tangible, they want to possess wealth. They try to stand out with their egoism, with their desire for power. These are burdens.

That is what you have to learn to overcome after you return home; you have to get rid of it. And these vices that you had in life stick to your entire spiritual body and are deeply rooted in your soul, and it takes a long time to get rid of such thinking. Yes, it slowly became clear to me that you had to turn away from that world, and I was still looking for my spiritual wealth, but it really did not seem to be particularly great. Then my parents and friends stayed with me for a while.
But they had to go back to their place and their work.

They also reminded me that I had to do my work. Well, I then turned to a being who, as it seemed to me, distributed the work to all those beings who had recently come into this world. And I was also given a job. It consisted of tending large fields and meadows and gardens. First of all, I had to plant a large piece of spiritual earth - I must emphasize this - with spiritual grass. And that was done in such a way that only small areas of spiritual grass had to be laid on this earth. I was shown a certain field that I had to work on. I had a large basket next to me, and in it were small areas of spiritual grass, and I was supposed to lay them down on this earth and press them in, exactly as I had been instructed. However, the whole area did not have to be covered in this way, I was only supposed to press in such spots at certain intervals. I did not know how long I had to do this, because I no longer had a concept of time. But I could observe that these small patches of grass that were placed on the spiritual earth immediately began to grow and develop. 

In a short time it grew so wonderfully that it became a beautiful green area. So I had to carry out my work as I was told. Then everything that I had done was examined - I was alone in the area that had been divided up for me to plant. When I had finished, another being that was strange to me came and said: Now we are going to fence in this area, we have to put a fence around it. Then I asked: Yes, why do we have to do that? I thought that in this new world there were no borders and that there was no need to build a fence: What do you want to bring in here? And they said to me: You will see that soon. So I was allowed to watch. I saw some strange figures and when I speak of strange figures, I mean angels of God or ascending spirit brothers and sisters. Then a noise could be heard and this noise seemed so familiar to me: A large group of dogs came, big and small, and these dogs made noise in their own way. They were now led into this fence, they were literally driven into this area, and the gate was closed. I couldn't count them, there were so many. But I had loved dogs when I was alive and I was happy that they had such a nice lawn. Some of them lay down while some of the young ones, it seemed to me, were wrestling. But there were also guards among these animals who kept order. There were also older animals there, as I judged from my own experience; they seemed tired, but they lay down very happily. It was also a wonderful climate.
And I was happy to see animals in this new world
and so many animals. Of course I had questions about it: Who cares for these animals, who takes care of an animal like that? Or do they have to stay penned up like that? That had bothered me a bit. And when I returned to my house I had the opportunity to talk to spiritual teachers.
Well, it took a long time until this experience or this event happened. According to your terms, it didn't happen as quickly as you think, and I can't put the time in years and days. I can only say that it took several years until then and I had to do various other activities during that time before I had this experience. But then we always had the opportunity to be taught about things that we didn't understand. In the first period after my return home, I was not so interested in this new world, in its order and laws.

For example, I was not interested in why I had to wear my robe, since I could not take off the garment I had brought from my former house on earth in the new world, but could take it off again in the place where I had brought it; or why the jewelry was still there even though I had put it on my arms and around my neck - that had not bothered me at the time. But later I thought about these things and I had to realize that this new world really did have its laws and its order. 

And so I asked my teacher, who was available not only to me but also to everyone else in this house: Why could I not get rid of my lavish dress? And why could I put on a garment in my earthly house that belonged to me, that I had worn in life? Then he said to me: You only put on the od garment, you were not able to take the earthly matter with you, but only the od that was on the garment from your body, that you had radiated from yourself and that was still in or on this garment. It was only the od that had been on you; it was not the earthly garment. I had determined that when I came back, the garment was back in the closet, and yet I had it on my body. So it was the od garment that I had taken off this garment. And then, back in this earthly environment, I had been able to take this od garment off again. 

I was able to do this because this od was connected with the earthly currents, with the earthly waves or with the earthly power; I had therefore come back into this current where this od had been built up, and so I was able to get rid of it again. It was the same with the jewelry that I thought I had taken with me. I had only taken the odic form from it. I had worn this jewelry during my lifetime, and it had already been covered by the od of my body when I first wore it; it already had my odic power on it, which enveloped this object. And it was only this odic power, the odic form, that I then took from it as a spirit being. The [material] gold, the chains and the like, remained behind; it was earthly, it was earthly matter that I could not take as a spirit. I could only take the od that I had once clothed it in myself. And the fact that this od appeared in this rusty form was possible precisely because I had escaped this earthly world and entered another atmosphere. This other atmosphere then expressed this form in such a poor way, as a sign that these earthly objects, this so solidly formed matter, are completely meaningless in the new world, that they are nothing but rust, something that should be thrown away, that would be destroyed over time. That was the answer I was given, along with the instruction that people transfer their odic power from their bodies and hands to every object they touch; and that clairvoyant people or spirit beings can therefore see the entire past that is attached to objects, the entire experience through centuries. The past remains attached to every object through the touch of people. But even without the touch of people's hands, past events remain: what happened in a place can be seen on the objects present there, be it a tree, a rock or whatever it may be; the experience is recorded in these objects. That is something wonderful. Some people call it the conscience of God, the language of God, the events of the world; it can be interpreted in different ways.

That is how I was told about it when I later asked about these things. I then wanted to know what was going on with these dogs, why they had to live so tightly packed together.

And then it was explained to me: it is the case that every living creature in this earthly world continues to exist after its death in the same form as it had on earth, and so does an animal, whether in this or that form. It was explained to me that animals of the same species are brought together and that when such an animal dies, there is also spiritual guidance; it is a false belief among people that if you kill the animal, nothing of it remains. An animal cannot be alive on earth if it does not have the living spark of life in it; a dead animal is doomed to transience, you cannot keep it any longer. It can only be alive, healthy and powerful, if the soul is active within it. So the soul can escape from the body of the animal, and the soul continues to exist. And so this animal will also take its odic body with it into the eternal world, where this animal will also progress through its development. That is how it was explained to me that these dogs
 in the same form or in the same appearance as during their earthly life now continue to exist in the spiritual realm, but only for a certain time. 
Because I noticed that these guards kept walking back and forth among these animals and giving others the order to lead certain animals out that they had designated. So this and that animal was led out of this enclosure. These were the animals, as I was told, that were now so far developed or advanced that they could move towards further spiritual ascension. These animals were now to be integrated into a higher level, and all of this was to happen under the divine order, according to God's law. So they explained these things to me and said: This is how every being, every life will go through its ascension, and each will have to go through its own path. And of course they also pointed to me and told me that my work could be more beautiful as I progressed, as I ascended. So it was not to be my only occupation to do what I have explained to you. I was also to practice the divine virtues. They were to be applied and presented by bringing the Kingdom of God to the earth and also into the depths to other beings. This means that the goodness of God, understanding and mercy should be able to take root and develop everywhere; the Kingdom of God must therefore be carried everywhere. It was made clear to me that the greater zeal I express, the faster I can ascend.

 So one has one's occupation that one must do; and in addition to this one can acquire so much more to speed up this ascent. I did this too; I saw the need for it, I showed myself willing, was obedient. And so after that experience, after that activity, I was allowed to ascend and can now do a beautiful work of an artistic nature that gives me great joy. I may carry out this activity for my own joy and happiness and can thereby do the whole of heaven a favor by always helping to realize the beauties of heaven. For heaven must always be changed in its form; for this redesign must always trigger new amazement and admiration in those who ascend and in those who live in it. They should always admire this heaven in its great diversity; they should admire the talents, the artistic achievements of their fellow brothers and sisters. They should admire God himself in his infinity, in his goodness; for all ability, all creation comes from God's will. This is how one then experiences this heaven and these bliss. The highest authority - and by that I mean God, Christ and all the high spirits of heaven - contributes to the development of creation; and they themselves admire the activity that these ascending spirits can now accomplish. But all strength comes from God; these
creative achievements of an artistic nature can only be carried out if God gives his blessing.
Now I have explained a few things to you and hope that you have understood them. I am told that the time has advanced so far and after me our brother Josef will no longer come [to answer questions]. I must pronounce the blessing over you: You shall be guarded and protected from hardship, from all danger. You shall live and work under God's blessing. Greetings from God.

Report of the ascending spirit being Frieda by
mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse,
Zurich.
Original: tape recording.


Headline, next case.


May 3, 1967.
Karin's wonderful home, thanks to her meritorious life.
How those who have returned home can choose their heavenly reward,
according to their merits and virtues. 

[The greeting and blessing of the controlling spirit are not preserved.]
Karin: Greetings. Dear brothers and sisters, my name is Karin. In my human life I cared for the sick. But I don't want to talk about life on earth now, but rather about the new world that I have lived in since my earthly death. I will try to describe this world to you as best I can. I would like to add, however, that in my earthly life I cared for the sick and remained single. When I was allowed to open my spiritual eyes in this other world, I was very astonished by what I saw. As a human being, I believed in life after death and had imagined heaven according to human imagination. But I had not imagined it as I experienced it. I was just particularly amazed that I was received so warmly and that I was allowed to live in such a beautiful place in such a huge, magnificent house. The whole thing made a big impression on me. So I will now try to describe to you how I experienced this world.

First I was greeted by my relatives who had gone home earlier.
After that I had not seen them for a long time.
I had not longed for them or asked about them, because all the new things that I encountered here impressed me so much that I completely forgot about them.
When I was led to this beautiful place, the first thing I saw was this huge, beautiful building. I was told that I would live in it and that I would have my duties there. Now I would like to
describe this beautiful building and its very close proximity to you, because there was nothing like it in my earthly life.
This mighty building is higher than the highest building in your city, [Zurich],  and it is also very wide. Its width is, in your terms, like from one street to the other. It is not built in a straight line like your houses, and not as even either. From the outside it looks like a mighty rock that contains many apartments. I cannot tell you the number of floors. The top ones protrude a little, like a terrace, the whole thing looks so huge. 
From the outside, the building is not built stone on stone, but rather it is a rock, with the only difference being that it has large windows. From above you have a view of the street as well as the large, open space in front of the house, and you are amazed at everything that is going on there. 
Dear brothers and sisters, I hardly think you can imagine in your mind the wonderful location of my residence. I can hardly describe it all to you in your language. From my apartment I look out onto a long street that slopes steeply down from the forecourt, which is lined on both sides by a row of houses that stand quite high above the street. The street itself has a three to five meter high retaining wall on both sides, between which and the houses there are lovely little gardens, which cannot be seen from the street. The small houses on both sides of the street are on a long, drawn-out elevation. They have a uniform appearance, one is like the other. The end of the two rows is connected to this enormous rock building. In fact, this building marks the end of this spiritual level. 
On the other side you can also see places that the high angels can enter. But for us, who are allowed to live in the big house, and for all the residents of these houses to the right and left, there is no access to that other level. We have absolutely no way of satisfying our interest in what is happening behind our rock house. But we were told that behind it, that is, on the back of this enormous rock, there is other life and other spirit brothers and sisters live there. The street on our side, which initially leads steeply down, stretches far into the wonderfully bright distance, where other spirit brothers and sisters live. Our enormous building is partly inhabited by deceased people who earned their place in heaven during their lives. But angelic beings also come and go. They have a lot to do; they are always busy. Sometimes you see them walking down the street and then suddenly disappearing when they step into another plane. On the large square, magnificent horses with beautiful carriages also stop now and then. They pick up the most distinguished residents and then disappear again with them as if in flight. 
It is indescribable what splendors there are to see there. The gardens are full of flowers, large and small. But what gives the whole area a magnificent feel are the huge trees, the trunks of which alone are as high as the tallest poplar you have ever seen. Like palm trees, the leaves all  start from the trunk; they form a huge crown in which the end of the trunk disappears. The leaves all point upwards.
They form the shape of a huge cup. However, there is always a gentle breeze and the leaves sway gently. The scale, the size, is hard to explain in a way that you can understand.
With you humans, on the other hand, I find everything very small; your trees and flowers are so tiny. We have all the beautiful things big and powerful. We also have flowering trees whose umbel is one huge flower that moves like a fan in the gentle breeze. Everything is pointing upwards and a wonderful light shines down on everything and illuminates houses and gardens, making their flowers even more colorful. It is a wonderful atmosphere, a wonderful place. And they are all spiritual brothers and sisters here who have earned such spiritual merit in life that they are allowed to live in this beautiful world.
I told you that many apartments are built into this mighty rock building. But on the ground floor everything is open except for the back, and anyone can walk through. There are no paneling or windows like you have. It is a very large hall, and all around there are pillars between which you can walk.
In this hall all kinds of interesting things are on display that can be purchased by the spirit brothers and sisters. As I have been informed about them, I will try to tell you and explain them too.
The houses that were built on both sides above the street are also all inhabited. These spirit brothers and sisters all go about their occupations, and indeed outside their homes.
They are deceased people who have already gone through their purification and have then been led here. They are all those who said goodbye to the earth not long ago and only had to go through a short period of purification. They are those who have already paid visits to relatives and acquaintances of spirit brothers and sisters. Now they are temporarily housed in these houses and have started an activity from here that is of use to their spiritual life. 
After the spirit brothers and sisters had moved into all these beautiful houses, spirits of God walked along this street and invited the new arrivals in a loud voice to come into the big house to look around for their reward. 
Many still seemed shy or were almost afraid of the noble angel figures in the midst of this splendor that was unfamiliar to them. So the angelic beings had to walk up and down the street repeatedly and encourage the new arrivals: Come and find out about your reward that awaits you! The call was heard and these beings shyly went to the windows and looked over the big wall down into the street. Then a few brave ones made a start. They went out into the street, and this gradually encouraged others too, but some always stayed behind. They had to be persuaded to go to the big house to find out about their reward. 
This meant the reward from heaven for their meritorious life - an extra reward. When they saw the first returning with gifts, those who remained behind were encouraged to leave. Some of them now became curious and wanted to know what reward awaited them. 
My task was as follows: I was instructed to position myself at the entrance to the hall. Everyone who entered had to walk past me and offer me their hand in greeting. As I greeted them, I saw how many merits they had. Before I was entrusted with this task, I was instructed in all the details. At first, a spirit of God was at my side, when I was not yet able to judge flawlessly and justly. But I learned it over time and I have been carrying out this task for a long time. It also gives me special joy.
When I greeted the new arrivals, I saw different colors in their soul image. Their merits were recorded in colors and numbers, and according to these colors and numbers I had to give them a small corresponding tablet that contained the same colors and numbers that they carried in their soul. With this tablet they could then enter the hall.
I would also like to mention what these color and number tablets looked like. There were some with very simple, modest colors that did not shine particularly brightly. But the colors were dressed in shapes; they were diagonals, stripes, checks, circles and all kinds of other shapes. When I had passed the apprenticeship of cognition and had the knowledge to understand which tablet I had to give to the individual beings, it was no longer difficult for me. I simply had to hand them the same numbers and colors. So they received the certificate from me with which they could collect their reward. 
In the spiritual world, you can get by without money. There is no money like that which humans have.
How such signs come about is explained as follows: Every being has its own particular vibrations, and they produce colors. These colors are bright, particularly colorful, or modest, depending on the case. In the spiritual realm, these vibrations are converted into numbers. And it was the case that all the inhabitants of this spiritual plane belonged together, but not all had reached the same stage of development, the same colors. They differed from one to the other.
So I was able to give each of them the color chart that corresponded to them. The beings themselves could not make this determination. They looked curiously at the color charts that I gave them. Then they were received by another ascending spirit being, who looked at the charts and led them to a place in the hall, which is very large. There were many different things lying there, starting with very simple items of clothing, a scarf, for example, to very expensive spiritual garments.
There were colorful belts, bracelets and much more. In this way, one could show the color charts to the spirit brothers and sisters standing by, and then the person entering was led to the place where the things to which he was entitled were.
They had all come from the earthly world not so long ago and were mostly still wearing their modest garments, with which they had been clothed when they had opened their spiritual eye. They had received transitional clothing, so to speak, and should now be allowed to choose more beautiful clothes according to their merits in life. 
They had already been taught to the extent that the external appearance of a spirit being also plays a role, because the elevation of a spirit can be determined by its appearance. The elevated, spiritually advanced person not only has a harmonious appearance, but his clothing is also well-groomed. The others still wear the spiritual equivalent of their earthly clothes.
These people then have to realize that when you reach a higher level in the spiritual world, you wear completely different clothes than people on earth today. For example, male beings are very concerned about a noble appearance, as the noble Greeks and Romans once were.
They also want to wear such clothes, because the type of clothes they wore in their earthly life no longer appeals to them; they would not have made any effort to wear such clothes. But the type of those noble clothes with all the accessories appealed to even the men. So they too were very curious to find out what they could acquire.

I must also say that before they made their choice, they had the opportunity to look around the great hall to see all the precious items that could be acquired. No one knew for sure what they would be awarded; everyone thought about their lives again. Those of a modest nature did not expect that a precious object could fall to them. Others, however, believed that their merits would be so highly valued that they could definitely expect one of the finest garments. So there were surprises as well as disappointments. 
But people took their time with this deal, if you can put it that way. They had received their numbers and color chart and now knew what they could choose. Some were very picky and did not decide on anything straight away. Those who thought they would now get such a precious spiritual garment were disappointed, but instead they were led to a table, to a display where only modest things could be seen, and they were told: You can have this object for now, you can really improve your appearance with this headband for your head. 
And so the disappointment was great because they did not get everything that they saw on others. But then someone was advised: You don't need to take the ring now, because you can still earn more merit in the spiritual world and maybe get something more valuable in return.
 So they let themselves be instructed and returned along the long street to their house and discussed at length with the other people in the house whether it would be advisable to choose the ring or the belt or the scarf, since this would make them look better, or whether they should rather work hard to earn more merit, for which they could get something more valuable than just a ring, belt or scarf. The decision should be left to each individual. 
Many had consulted a spirit of God: What should I do? Should I take what is due to me, or should I first earn something extra? The spirits of God have given some good advice. They are happy to guide these people who have returned home to where they can earn more merit. So some decide to do more first. They put on the garment they want in their minds and find out what they have to do to get to this more precious thing. So some courageously go into this spiritual work. But if it is a great treasure, they are told that it would take a long time to reach this goal, that they would have to leave this house and move to another level to do the work from there.
So the decision is up to the residents themselves. Some choose something beautiful and believe that this will increase their reputation, others wait; they want to earn more merit first.
I would like to say that I have had the joy of seeing such spiritual brothers and sisters dressed in precious garments, as they are worn in the spiritual world, comparable to those that were once worn by the noble Greeks and Romans.
And with joyful pride the brothers and sisters left this huge building and returned to their homes. Others returned with more modest gifts: only with a better belt, a scarf, a ring or something similar. Still others with a colored band that they had wrapped around their arms or legs to resemble the angels, but they probably suspected that it would take a lot to become like angels. 
But through this they felt that they belonged to the angels, to the higher spiritual world. I experienced all of this, how these spirit brothers and sisters came and went from my house, how they walked up and down the street. And when the beautifully dressed ones returned to their house, they were greeted with cheers and joy by their fellow residents. Those who were able to live there had long since overcome envy; such things were no longer known here. 
People helped each other to acquire possessions more quickly so that their wishes could be fulfilled more quickly. They had discussed at length what to choose and what to do. 
So, from house to house, a happy and harmonious life prevailed everywhere. And yet they were very different in their development. In any case, all the residents of these houses had the opportunity to achieve great earnings in a relatively short time. 
They were also encouraged by each other to achieve great things in order to acquire these possessions. From time to time, people also gathered in the large square in front of the enormous house. Heavenly beings from higher levels brought robes and jewelry with them, and full of joy they spread them out in front of the spirit brothers and sisters who lived here. And the angels of God often explained in which levels these splendors were made. Because all of this had to be made. It is not as people believe, that in the spiritual realm you can only wish or you only need to speak a word and what you want will be there immediately. These precious garments had to be made, yes, the spiritual fabrics had to be woven. It is therefore entirely spiritual material. I would like to give you an explanation on this, because it is difficult for you humans to believe this. 
You simply cannot grasp it and cannot imagine that such a thing exists. All we can say is: everything that has to be processed and produced by you, must also be processed and produced in the spiritual world, as long as you need and want these things. All material that is available to you, whatever it may be, has its spiritual origin; because everything is just spiritually condensed matter. This substance is therefore also present in the purely spiritual realm, and this purely spiritual material is also processed in the spiritual world. There, too, it is necessary to possess it. You need it for spiritual life just as you need it as a human being in condensed matter. Just as humans need the coarse, condensed form, these things made of subtle matter are necessary in the spiritual realm. What you possess is also present in the spiritual realm, be it clothes, shoes and the many other things you have to beautify your appearance. 
But with us you cannot acquire all these beautiful things with money or by barter. In the spiritual world, the price for this is love, the services you have to render; it is all the virtues with which you perform a service to your neighbor. In this way you contribute something to the higher life, and everyone is rewarded through their elevated thinking, through their devotion to the divine and its affirmation. 
A vibration is generated in them, which in turn produces colors and forms these numbers. This marks the spirit brothers and sisters, and one can see what is to be given to them. In this way, everyone quite obviously displays their spiritual development. Lower spirit beings who have not been taught about this cannot see it because their vibrations are not such that they can observe it. 
A spirit being who carries out an activity like mine must be taught in every detail what this form, number or color means. One must also be trained in this. Every spirit being carries the mirror of itself around with it, and that is the wonderful thing, because through devotion, spiritual affirmation or negation, each one draws its own reflection. 
This is just for general instruction, because you often find it difficult to believe these facts. Thus the angels of God, who showed all the splendors in the large, open space, had at the same time explained where it all came from: who had worked on the richly decorated garments, who had forged the bracelets and armbands, who had made the precious stones polished, who had used them, and many other things were explained. 
It is always a great joy for the spirit brothers and sisters living here to be informed about all of this. They then go to the levels they can reach and to those spirit brothers and sisters and compliment them on their achievements. In this way they also bring joy to these artistic spirit brothers and sisters. 
There is also a lot of activity on this long street at times, especially when many of these precious things are brought here. And occasionally deserving returnees take all of these beautiful things away again, so that new ones have to be brought. Spirit brothers and sisters also move away again, and it is the case that new spirit brothers and sisters then come and are entitled to beautiful things through their merits. So all of these things must always be present in this large house so that they can be given some of them at their request.
 Well, dear brothers and sisters, I hardly believe that even if you try to escape from your earthly plane in spirit, you can get a true idea of ​​this beautiful place, of all the might that can be seen here. For I have told you how mighty these ever-blooming trees are that are here, how magnificent the gardens are, the view into these expanses and how wonderful the atmosphere and the light are here. All of this is hard to describe to you, not even the extent of it and the size.
 They are all spirit brothers and sisters who have earned such merit through their lives that they are allowed to live in this beautiful world. And even if they are still undecided at first and cannot find their way, they will soon come to the point where their wish is fulfilled and they can acquire these precious garments that make them like the angels who are so finely dressed.
 In these fragrant garments they make such a harmonious and loving impression on all spirit beings. And who wouldn't want to become like an angel, not just in their nature, but in their whole figure, in their elegant stride, in these harmonious movements, in these elegant garments. 
So everyone who lives in this wonderful place has only one wish: to be dressed like the angels who take you by the hand when you enter the spiritual world and the spiritual eye has opened, where you can admire them and say: You are so beautiful, you come from such a beautiful world. How great must be the happiness and harmony where you live, there can only be peace! 
And just as all these brothers and sisters had to acquire their beautiful garments and objects, I too had to strive for them. I had to strive and work hard first so that I could then take on this beautiful activity. And so much was or has been credited to me. So I too once went to the entrance to this hall, shyly held out my hands to the spirit who was receiving me and asked him to give me the certificate that would enable me to collect the reward. 
And I too was well advised to do something extra so that I could then acquire the most beautiful garment. Now it has become my task, which I carry out there, to receive those spirit brothers and sisters, greet them and give them the color chart so that they can look at their reward or collect it. 
Of course I do not have to carry out this activity all the time. I also have the option of walking along this long street, in the opposite direction from the mighty house. Because there is no passage through this house to the other side. I have already said that the street leads steeply up to this mighty rock into which this house is built. You have to climb down from there first and then walk along the flat street. 
Then you pass through many valleys, towns and villages, past many houses and find tasks everywhere that you can complete to increase your own reward. So I live happily and wish you, dear brothers and sisters, that you too can come to this place, for which you will only find words of admiration for all the wonderful and mighty things that will stand before you. 
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I am returning to my beautiful world. May God's blessing accompany you. May you remain strong, and whoever is not yet strong, may become so in faith in the spiritual world. Remember that everything that you can grasp with your hands is only condensed; we in our world have it in a subtle form. That world should one day make you happy. I wish you that in the name of Jesus Christ. Greetings from God.

 Experience report of the ascending spirit being Karin by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich. Template: First published in the magazine Geistige Welt.

Headline, next case.

June 7, 1967
Jacob: the afterlife experience of a rich, but unforgiving landowner.
How hardness of heart can be softened in the afterlife and the soul can be filled with love and understanding for one's neighbor.
Control spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit brother by the name of Jacob speaks to you. May God bless you this hour. God bless you.
Jacob: God bless you. My dears, my name is Jacob. In my human life I owned a property and accordingly I also had my employees. I did not always behave correctly towards them, because my main concern was to increase my property and my possessions, and so I pushed my people to work. Their pay must not have been so good either, otherwise I would have fared better after my entry into the afterlife. 
So I now want to tell you about my ascent in the afterlife. I want to tell you how it went for me. As I have emphasized, the main thing for me in my earthly life was what brought me benefit and profit. I did not ask whether this had happened in a legal way; I only wanted to see my benefit, my profit. I was religious and believed in God, but I had no idea whatsoever about an afterlife. 
Then I believed that after death it was definitely over, that there was no continued life, but I did not think much about it. I was all the more astonished when I opened my spiritual eye. A beautiful figure met me and explained: You are now dead to the world, but you live on as a spirit. There is no death, you have only laid aside your body. 
Then I could see my parents from a distance, but I could not speak to them. I felt tired because I had suffered a great deal. Now this  figure told me that I would now receive exactly what I deserved. I could not show any great intellectual gains. They rejected what I thought could be credited to me. I was always accused of not being lenient with my people, of demanding too much of them and of being unreasonable; by demanding too much I had caused suffering among those people. 
Now I too had to bear some of this suffering. I should experience for myself what it means to work hard and to be oppressed by the environment. I was led into the interior of a mountain to such a lonely place. I did not have the strength or the interest to look around. I simply let everything happen. I felt like a stranger and was dependent on the help of others. 
Immediately they demanded work from me. I was led into the interior of the mountain. I was amazed that such a thing even existed. If I had had any idea of ​​the world that was supposed to open up to the deceased after death, I had a different idea. 
But as I said, I was such a stranger in the world beyond, and I was actually amazed. There were many things in front of me that were so closely related to everything I had left behind and had to do with as a human being. So I was amazed that these mountains existed and that people had to work inside these mountains. 
I then thought: Do you really have to work to earn a living? But I soon came to the realization through my own experience that there was no pay here and that people only demanded work. In my human life I had demanded work from others, and now they were demanding it from me. Inside this mountain I looked around to see what was being done there. I was later able to determine that around fifty spirit brothers and sisters - that's what I'll call them now - were working to break stones out of this mountain. The tools seemed very simple to me.
 I then looked around and saw that everyone was hard at work and not having any conversation. Everyone was working diligently, and so I thought to myself: Now you too will have to work in this way. But I also noticed that five very nicely dressed beings were near these other spirit brothers and sisters and, as I immediately realized, were doing nothing else than supervising them. 
Each of these five had ten spirit brothers and sisters under their command; they watched everyone at their work and reprimanded them if they weren't working conscientiously and precisely. They didn't stand around, but were, as I later found out, the guards. They had everyone under control. There was no shirking work, they had to work hard. I was then led to a well. I had to draw the water that was there from the depths. There seemed to be a spring inside this mountain and also above it.
I had to be amazed.
But soon I gave up my amazement altogether, because I had the feeling that I was living as a human being. So I had to work in a strange place, where I had no property and nothing, where I was a stranger and had to be happy to be accepted by the others. So I was no longer amazed, neither by the beautiful, strange stone nor by the water that came from the depths of this mountain and that I had to draw up in a vessel. I had been provided with as many cups as there were spirit brothers and sisters who had to work.
I must also mention that the atmosphere inside the mountain was by no means pleasant. I felt it was very hot.
But it seemed that the other spirit brothers and sisters felt the same, because those who had to work there suffered from thirst.
I had the task of offering each person some water in turn. I took these cups and handed them out, but I didn't have the practice to do that, especially at the beginning. Now, when I approached the individual, he made it clear to me that I should speed up my work a little, because they were thirsty and were used to being able to drink more. The spirit brothers and sisters who were there, who were inside the mountain, did not all speak the same language, but I could understand what they had to say to me. 
Their looks were not friendly, but threatening, and their talk, which I could not understand either, was reproachful. So I had handed out these cups too slowly. It also seemed understandable to me that they had to suffer from thirst. 
Well, I did as well as I could, and of course I was also asked by these higher-ups, i.e. by these guards, to give this water to these working spirit brothers and sisters a little faster, because they said to me: You can see that they are suffering from thirst, because it is hot here. 
Yes, they had to work and still suffer from thirst and were therefore dependent on my skill in how quickly I could bring up the water and how quickly I could hand out these vessels for drinking. I was thirsty myself, too, but I didn't have to wait for my turn, because I had the advantage of being able to drink as much as I wanted. However, I hated all the work I had to do, and I didn't like these malicious looks, this talk and all the fuss from these spirit brothers. I was used to something different, and now I had to be a water carrier for these spirit brothers. They broke out the stones and had to take them to a place designated by the guards. They also seemed to make calculations regarding the size and shape of these stones, and I noticed that one or the other had the skill to actually produce this size.
 What was to happen to these stones did not interest me. I was just deeply unhappy. I thought of my parents and hoped that they would free me. I had seen them from afar, but I had not spoken to them. My parents and especially my mother were pious, so I wanted to believe that they would pray for me and that they could somehow free me. I had to carry out this work inside this mountain for a long time. 
I would also like to mention that we were allowed to leave this place of work for a while. Our house, where we lived, was like a barracks. It was very simple. Everyone had a low bed, but nothing else. There were certain times when we were allowed to talk to each other. Some of us mourned what we had been in human life, and others remained silent. I also thought that it was better to remain silent, because there was no point in boasting, and in general there was no point in talking about what one had had, because it didn't count here, one had only burdened oneself with it. 
But it was still a satisfaction for all of us to get together from time to time and talk about trivial things, and sometimes one of us would tell us something that was still deeply in his memory from his human life. Sometimes it was something sad, and sometimes it was very humorous. So we got used to each other. We had no possibility of escaping or refusing to work.
Life was very dull, but we could see - that is, I could see - that now and then one of these spirit brothers and sisters could go and now be allowed to leave this work. But there was another one who had to take up the same work again and who had the same experience as everyone else: at first you were amazed at everything and disappointed that you had to work, disappointed in yourself and disappointed in the beings you lived with - everything was a disappointment, but soon you had come to terms with it. And so it went. I only had to do this work, which was very boring. I had never calculated how long I had to do this work. 
I often thought back to my earthly life and to everything that I had organized and everything that I had owned. And here you couldn't put in a word to make anything change - no, these guards who were there, they simply determined everything. So you were only there to work. 
But now the hour came when I was freed from this place. Then someone came to me, the same one who had led me into the interior of this mountain and said: Now you can take a small step up. You should no longer distribute this water, and you will feel better. You have put the worst time of your purification, of making amends, behind you. Another job awaited me, namely the following: I had to carry these stones that had been broken out of this mountain to a place determined by higher spirit brothers. I could carry some of them there with my hands, and I also had a basket to put some in and bring them to this place. No one reproached me any more, and no one pressured me to work. Actually, I had gotten used to working hard, but I wanted to find out for myself whether I would be reprimanded if I did this work less quickly, but no one came to reprimand me. 
So I had it much better: no one came to check how quickly I was working. Guards did come by and tell me where the stones should be taken back and how I should stack them inside or on top of each other, but these guards were very friendly and not as energetic as those who were inside this mountain. So I noticed this great progress. I felt much better.
I thought to myself that now that I could do this work, my mother might come and visit me and free me. So I thought of my mother and prayed.
I prayed to God, who now has all the power and to whom I am now subject. I asked him to give me the opportunity to meet my mother and to clear the way to him for me. So I had found the way to faith, because everything around me was reality and I had to deal with all these things. As I have already said, I could no longer be amazed, because it seemed to me that life here was so similar to human life, except that one does not have an earthly body, but lives only with the spiritual body.
And now, when I had fulfilled my task and faithfully done what I was told, the moment came when my mother stood in front of me. She said that she had prayed a lot for me.
She spoke of a good spiritual friend she had and that it was thanks to this spiritual friend that she had been able to come to me. She gave me a lot of comfort and filled me with hope, because she said that this work that I was doing was only temporary and that it was all punishment. She reproached me for some things in my life that I had done wrong and that were sins before God; I had not worked myself and had only demanded work from others and had shown no understanding. 
Then she said that, because she had found out more about me, I had had a certain privileged position in the world beyond compared to those other brothers and sisters, because I had not had to suffer from thirst but could drink as much as I wanted. But I did not like the work and the comments that the others made about me. I didn't like carrying stones either, because I had the impression that I could do a more important, better job than one that didn't require any thought. 
My mother then said to me: You had to do all this, you should be reminded of the life you had lived. You still had a privileged position, namely because in your human life you gave others the opportunity to earn bread. Because I could have simply withdrawn. My means were enough for me and I didn't necessarily have to manage this property. In a certain sense, I was credited with giving other people bread. 
But I was also very narrow-minded in handing out this bread or in giving them the opportunity to buy bread. So now I had to bring these stones there. It was a laborious job, and I also had the impression that this work was very tiring, because these stones had weight, they were heavy. And so I knew now: I must now pay off the wrongs I have done in my life. So I must do this menial work. And I could imagine that some of my people at that time were now allowed to do better work than me. I was able to meet them later, and this turned out to be true, because they were the ones who suffered and I was the ruling part.
 In this new world it was completely different: those who had suffered were in the privileged positions in this new world, and those who had ruled in human life now had to go through the worst, they were ruled over - it was therefore a different world. 
And so I simply resigned myself to this new world and accepted my mother's consolation, because she said: You will only have to do this work for a certain time. And she warned me not to forget the Creator, because God is just; I owe my life to him, and this world in which I and the others lived was in such a wonderful order, and everything was done with justice. 
So I did my work in this way. I did not reduce my work, even if I had not been reprimanded for it, but I was just as industrious as before, because I had the impression that everything I had learned had gone so deep into me that I could not be careless and indifferent. I had an urge to move forward, to be able to leave this menial work behind me very soon and devote myself to a nicer and better occupation. My mother told me about her world and she also explained general things to me and said: These are the lower stages of ascent for those who, as human beings, ruled over others. Everyone is given the opportunity to move forward and advance, and that must be earned. 
So I too wanted to move upward and advance. So I wanted to submit. The moment came when the same sublime spirit came to me again and said: Now you have completed that too and you can follow me. You have completed the purification on this level. Then he said very emphatically: Let us assume that you remember all this. It really did stay in my memory. 

He then led me to another level, which seemed much brighter, because I could now see colors. I also noticed that there was more work and more activity outside; one now also encountered spirit brothers and sisters on the open level, on the paths. There was now a garden, forest and houses. These houses no longer resembled barracks. They were low houses, built one after the other along a long street. So one could see the same thing again and again: rows of houses, one after the other, one the same as the other.
I had the feeling that there was not much to do inside these houses, but that work had to be done and that the residents of these houses also had to do their work. So this spirit led me to such a house. The surroundings were no longer so simple and so desolate. There was no longer just a low place to lie down, but there were already various objects and comforts in the house. 
Now this sublime spirit told me that he would lead me to work, that this work was divided up so that I could find enough time to take an interest in other, higher things, and if I was interested in the higher things of this new world, I would also be given the appropriate spirit brothers and sisters to talk to and instruct. 
Of course I was interested in that, but first I was probably interested in the work that I now had to do again. I was then led to a workshop that was at another end of the street. The houses with the workshops were no different from the houses that were inhabited. But in the workshops people only worked. I was led to a bench. In this workshop they worked with wood. At first the thought occurred to me again: How do people even have such material in this world?
 But I had actually stopped being amazed and asking questions about this, because everything was there, but not in the condensed form as in human life. Everything was there in spiritual form and could also be worked on. Now I had to work with wood. There were spirit brothers and sisters there who had already done this work long before me and showed me how to make these objects. 
So I did it with enthusiasm, because I liked it better. I could also let my own imagination run wild; I was even allowed to explain or say how I thought it would be better and more beautiful. I was now allowed to create freely, and so I could carry out this activity within the limits of what was permitted. The work consisted of making vessels, making them as artistically as possible. So I had the opportunity  to do something artistic, which I was rather happy about, and so I was much happier because of it.
My mother visited me again and said: What you are doing will only be temporary. She seemed to be better informed than I was. She said that it was just like that, that I could now go from one job to another and find more and more joy in my work. She then explained to me that crafts had to be practiced in this world too.

I worked in this workshop for a while and was very satisfied. I then took advantage of what had been offered to me and asked for a spiritual teacher like that. He answered the questions I asked him. Of course, I wanted to get a better job that I could really enjoy. 
I also asked about personal possessions, how long it would take to acquire such possessions, what all had to be done and what kind of possessions were available to those who had returned home or died. 
That was what interested me the most, because this world in the higher sense was still really foreign to me. Now I had also completed this work and the spirit of God came to me and explained that I could now leave this workshop and that something else, something new, was waiting for me, because that was how I had to ascend. But I want to mention that in between I always directed my gaze towards God and always prayed. 
Well, my new task was that I was allowed to be led around the spiritual world as a companion of a higher being. So there was a spirit of God there who went through these different stages. He could not ascend with me, but I had to go with him to deeper spiritual stages, and his path led down to the suffering spirits. 
These suffering spirits had to be comforted, and one had to concern oneself with them. One had to console them and take part in their fate. So I learned to show compassion and understanding with this spiritual teacher, and so I was now able to develop in a higher sense. 
At first I only had to do manual work, which I didn't particularly like; but that did help me to purify myself, because I had to say yes to it and because I actually had to go through this humiliation.
 But now a new stage of development began for me. Now it was about elevating the soul, about elevating the feelings. Now I had to take an interest in the other person and try to understand him and comfort him. So my path with this spiritual guide went to these deeper spheres from one suffering person to another, and so I had to learn compassion and at the same time offer comfort, have understanding, take an interest in the other person's distress, speak to him and visit him again and again. That was a nice task for me, because I was accompanied by a higher spirit who spoke to me and gave me many, many explanations. 
I went with him like that - I don't know how long, because time is no longer counted. Then I had my first significant experience when my spiritual companion said to me: Now I want to take you to a temple, and there we will gather to honor God. That was my first big, significant experience
This temple was on the level from which I now set out to help those who were suffering. So I had ascended, but there were still so many spirit beings living on this level, deceased people who were also fighting for further ascension. They too wanted to progress, and they too were allowed to have this experience, just like me. There were higher spirit beings there who were of a beauty that we had no idea about. They were gathered in this temple, they greeted us. They spoke of God, they spoke of Christ, the King. They spoke of their world, of all the beautiful things they experienced and of the things they were busy with. They asked us to be very diligent in order to be able to experience this world too. 
Each individual who was there in this temple was then greeted by the highest ranking angel. We were allowed to shake his hand and he spoke a few comforting and edifying words to each individual. 
When I experienced this for the first time, I was so filled   with such zeal. I wanted to help everyone who was suffering. I felt like I had tremendous strength within me. I just wanted to give love and understanding. I just wanted to serve and help.
 The experience that I had had now brought me this happiness, this true, inner happiness. So I had done my task for a while in the company of this spiritual leader. Then he withdrew from me and explained: Now you should do this task without me to fulfill it. I will only observe you.
 After all that I had learned, it was no longer difficult for me to work in this way. I could therefore go to these suffering brothers and sisters and give them comfort. 
Later, I was also led to people on earth from time to time. I was also able to accompany people there and give them my great power of good will.
 But the important work that I do is now in the spiritual world, and it consists in helping the seeker to find what he is looking for, as well as in helping the suffering person to ease his pain and to support him. That is my task for now, and it can still last for a long time. 
Later, I will be able to climb a level again, and I will then also do other work. It was explained to me that the most necessary and important thing to do at first was to encourage these high and noble feelings of the soul, because then the ascent would take place much more quickly later. 
The soul must be purified so that everything goes deep and unfolds in the depths of the soul; because the possibility is created to return to a new earthly life, and then what has been laboriously gathered together must really be able to find expression, and it can only find expression if one has been very zealous in absorbing this precious treasure. 
In the meantime, I have experienced many such adorations, many encounters with high spirits of heaven, but my task is still the same, and it should serve me to develop my soul and its feelings to a high life. The high feelings must become so strong in me that they can no longer be lost. 
So I told you, dear brothers and sisters, about my ascent, how it went, and that the first period of my retreat and activity was difficult. Now, dear brothers and sisters, I am returning to my activity. Brother Joseph wants to give you an answer to what has been said, if you have any questions. So may God bless and protect you. God bless you.

Joseph: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, do you have any questions about what has been told you?

Dear Joseph, the thirst of these spirits in this mountain was probably because these spirits were still of a lower status?

Joseph: Yes.

Dear spirit friend Joseph, after Jacob had burdened himself so much with people, one would think that he would have to pay back these debts to them. Will that be in a next life, or did it already happen in the afterlife?

Joseph: He made up for most of it in the afterlife.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, I too am returning. May God’s blessing be upon you all, and all of you who are sick shall recover. God bless you.

Report of the ascending spirit being Jacob and answers to questions from spirit teacher Josef by mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.


Headline, next case.

July 5, 1967.

Sebastian Homecoming of a mentally handicapped person.
How a spirit achieved its ascension with a lot of perseverance, humility and the support of higher spirit brothers and sisters.

Control: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, a spirit brother by the name of Sebastian is speaking to you. May God bless you this hour. God bless you.

Sebastian: God bless you. My name is Sebastian. My dear brothers and sisters, I will tell you something about my life and why I had to live like this as a human being. I have had a miserable life. I could neither hear nor speak, and I could not walk. I was always sitting on a bench and had to be happy if someone gave me a friendly smile. 
I was grateful for such a friendly smile. I could always tell from the expressions of my relatives how they felt about me, whether they were friendly or angry. If they smiled, then I knew that they were well-disposed towards me. If they made serious faces, then I cowered even more, because I was afraid of people, because they were not good to me. 
So I had to be humiliated. I stayed with my family in my parents' house until they died. I was also allowed to stay in my parents' house with one of my sisters until my death. 
As a human, I did not have the same feelings as as a spirit. As a human, I could not think and reflect. I could sense and perceive, but I could not think and reflect as a healthy person can reflect and think. 
But I suffered even more from the injustices, from the way I was treated. But my spirit had a completely different feeling. In my spirit I saw everything differently, including the cause of my difficult life. As a spirit I felt the humiliations that were inflicted on me; as a human I heard nothing. I could neither hear nor speak nor walk. As a spirit, however, I perceived everything.
So my family prayed the evening prayer together every evening, and they never failed to pray for me that God would redeem me. 
As a human being I could not hear it or perceive it, but in spirit I heard everything and I would have been really happy if God had taken me, shortened my human life and ended my suffering, but it was not meant to be, and I knew it too. I had to go through these humiliations.
 I suffered not so much as a human being, but as a spirit, because I now saw that I had to endure such a life because I deserved it. 
It hurt all the more that I was not respected by my fellow human beings and that I was constantly spoken of disparagingly. That was hard for me as a spirit, not as a human being.
 As a human being I only noticed the state of mind of my relatives and adjusted to it. As a human being, I had no idea why I had to live this difficult life, but in my spirit I knew and acknowledged my great guilt.
 I had a sister who was always kind to me. My mother also tried hard, but she loved all the other siblings more than me - that was understandable.
 I had a brother who didn't like me at all and who constantly mocked me. Well, in my spirit I knew that he didn't like me. I just had to live in this family, and so it was the greater torture for my spirit to endure all of this. 
Fortunately, the hour came when I was able to be released from this oppressed life, and how happy I was about it! How I had always prayed as a spirit that I would be released from this earthly life! 
But in my spirit I also knew about the years that I had to endure. When the time came and I was allowed to say goodbye to this world and lay aside my body, which was a prison and a torment for me, I was happy because I was no longer suffering.
 No one could torment me anymore because my spirit was healthy and I had left this painful body behind on earth, knowing that the last part of the guilt had been left behind with it. 
Well, my parents had returned to the spiritual world before me, as had relatives and acquaintances who had always come and gone from our house on earth and had only had a mocking smile for me. 
I met all of them in the spiritual world and it seemed as if they had been led to me by a higher being because they all had to apologize to me. They had to ask forgiveness for every insult, for every bad word they had given me and for what they had said about me.
 I heard everything again, but the other person heard it too, because the past became the present - he experienced it and I experienced it. The other person could not deny it and claim that he had not said it and done nothing. 
So it became present to everyone again and everyone had to ask for forgiveness. They did it, asked for forgiveness. It was now up to me to forgive them. I was tested to see whether I was capable of forgiving everyone now. I had suffered enough in this human prison and was only happy to shake hands with everyone and say: I forgive you.
 I did that. My brother also had to come to me - he too came when it was time for him - he too had to shake hands with me and ask for forgiveness. I forgave him too. I had forgiven everyone. Now I was able to find out why I had to live such a human life. 
As a spirit, I already knew it in my earthly life, because when I had to carry this heavily burdened body, I was sometimes comforted in spirit: spirit brothers and sisters came to me and comforted me, gave me courage so that I could get through everything, and I listened to their words and became aware of my previous guilt. 
So I just wanted to make amends and get through this life so that I could then move on to a different, better future. These high spirit brothers and sisters had made it easier for me to get through everything. If I had had to live without comfort, I hardly believe that I would have survived this test. 
The constant comfort that they gave me and their support helped me to bear the heavy burden, this great burden. When I was in the world beyond, I was very happy that I had survived this short life after all.
 Now I was freed from the great guilt that I had once burdened myself with in a human life. I had tormented other people, and so what I had to endure was justice. I did not even have to take the full measure that I deserved. God had forgiven me part of the guilt. But for me it seemed just enough suffering to be able to bear it.
Now I was to,  in the spiritual world  - I could move towards my further ascent. I could take up a different place than the one I had taken up during my last visit to the spiritual world. Now I was to have regular work, but also to be educated. I had to learn to read and write. I was to learn the language that my family had spoken thoroughly.
 I did speak it in spirit with those who were with me, but I was to be able to speak it more thoroughly and read it correctly. I needed that for my spiritual development.
 In my human life I had not attended school. My siblings could not attend school either, but they still had a healthy mind, and I lacked this healthy mind. So I needed a better education when I returned to the spiritual world, because much had fallen dormant in my spirit and needed to be awakened again. 
Although I could communicate with these spirit brothers and sisters who had comforted me in human life, and they had enabled me to understand them, and it was enough for our conversation, more was required for further advancement. I had to attend these schools too. I had it much harder than other spirit brothers and sisters, because I had to catch up on what I had missed. What had fallen asleep had to be awakened again. That meant that I diligently attended these schools and carried out the tasks that were given to me. It wasn't just about learning, I had to work like everyone else. 
I didn't care what work I had to do. I could have rejoiced when I had put my painful and miserable path through life behind me. I was happy to have returned to the spiritual world and to be healthy in spirit. I had quickly forgotten all the pain that had been inflicted on me; it became meaningless to me. I only wanted to work for the future. 
So I had to do the tasks that were asked of me in between, which was actually just a side job. I also had to do constant work. Since I was not yet used to working and I had to fit into a spiritual order first, the work at the beginning was also corresponding.
 I was led into a forest where I did my work. I had to live together with many other spirit brothers and sisters. It was a community life that was not difficult for me, because I could keep quiet, as I still had too many memories of the human life I had lived.
 It was not difficult for me to keep quiet, and it was not difficult for me to endure, because a lot of things were still so firmly rooted in my memory. I was docile and obedient and did everything that was asked of me. Where I lived and worked, the spirit world of God was at work, because they were the leaders. I could trust them. They did not mock me, they did not laugh at me. They gave me words of comfort and encouragement. They were always good. My job consisted of gathering together all kinds of bushes and branches in the forest that had withered. 
The forest was large and confusing for me. I was not the only one who had to do this work, many others had to do the same; but each of them had a specific place where he had to work. At first I did not care why these branches and bushes had withered. Later, during the teachings we received, we were made aware of this. 
I could have asked myself: Why is there such a thing in the spiritual world? Why is there a forest at all, and is it necessary for the branches to dry up and the leaves to fall? But I was still so earthbound and not used to thinking. I had not sharpened my thinking like others, who had to think and reflect in life - it was locked away with me. 
And so I was somewhat neglected at first. So I had to get used to these new circumstances first and learn from scratch. Now it was explained to me and to others, who needed this instruction just as much, that life was present everywhere in the spiritual world as it was where people lived and that what was dead and withered was lifeless, that is, had also died and had to be collected so that it could be destroyed; only life should be effective in that place, in that forest.
 And later it was explained to me that those lives had escaped from those branches, from those trees and from those bushes. That stage of development had ended and that life would continue on a different spiritual stage of development. Now this matter was being dissolved. So it was my job to gather this dried-up material, and it was other spirit brothers who removed it. It was a very simple job for me, but I was only able to find out later what was behind this work. 
I only experienced cause and effect as I continued to ascend. I didn't think about it at the time, and it was only later that I was taught about it. So I worked hard because I was happy and people were happy with me, and that brought a stage of development to a conclusion, to an end. 
I was now allowed to leave this environment and return to a nicer place and take up another job. That was a great joy for me. Just as I was allowed to leave this place, I was also allowed to go to other schools where I was given other, higher knowledge. So I learned about this other world and its laws, as well as spiritual life and the ascension of all life.
 Slowly I learned it, slowly I was taught what spiritual life is and how many developments life goes through until it reaches the stage of perfection. When I had left this place, I was also allowed to leave the community center. I was led to a nicer place. I was allowed to share my home with other spirit brothers and sisters again, but it was very pleasant, it was no longer so simple. We lived together like a family. 
We had a beautiful house with a beautiful garden, and we enjoyed ourselves in this garden and found spiritual contact with each other. We revealed ourselves to each other: we told what we knew about ourselves, about our own spiritual development, and about our guilt. 
But we also spoke of our goodwill. We expressed our energy and our conviction together to stand up for this new world and to work for it. So we lived contentedly, and we lived together in small groups like a family. These houses were built one next to the other, and everywhere they lived together in such families. I never heard of any discord in any family; everyone was content, everyone was happy. Everyone had their own work to do, and everyone had a different job.
 I said that one house was next to another and that we had a beautiful garden. Well, in this garden there were wonderfully large flowers growing. There were arbors attached to the house, and these arbors were hung with flowers; large, heavy flowers hung down over these arbors, and it seemed as if they were touching the spiritual earth. So there was a great growth in these flowers. Now it was my job to tie up these flowers everywhere, at all the arbors, at every house, to hang them up on the arbors and tie them down. I was left to do it in whatever way I wanted. I was never rushed because of time, and no one reproached me or demanded that so much had to be done in a short time. 
Everyone was responsible for themselves and was proud of doing the work conscientiously and not being idle. It was an extremely great joy and satisfaction for me to now hold the living things, these wonderful flowers, in my hand and tie them up. In this respect I had learned in the spiritual school that there is life everywhere, life where people are and in the spiritual world where we lived. There is life in every plant, in every flower. 
Every flower or plant, whatever it may be, is moving towards its ascent and must be treated with care. In all this life one should see a brother or sister and be careful not to harm this spiritual life. This was to tell us: do not destroy this spiritual life on your own initiative, leave the decision about death or life to the higher world. Fulfill your tasks, hold on to the vitality, and enjoy everything that is alive. 
So I tied up these large tendrils of flowers as artfully as possible and as carefully as possible. And the rows were long. So it was a lot of work that I had to do. When I reached the end of the row, I had to start again from the beginning, because the flowers had grown again and were hanging over everything again. The work seemed never-ending, but it was a great joy for me, because here I didn't have to remove any withered leaves or branches - everything seemed to be alive, and that was a joy for me.
 That was my job. In the school that I had to attend together with others, it was also suggested to us that after a certain period of time we would have to return and enter human life and fulfill our tasks there in a different way. We would be given the opportunity to reach the spiritual heights more quickly if we fulfilled our tasks in human life. We were also told that we had to study diligently and that we had to adapt and fit into this spiritual order. There was truly a lot for a spirit like me to learn; a spirit that had risen from below had to learn a lot, and everything that was heard and experienced was new and admirable.
 I became all the more eager, because I only had to be amazed. And I was sorry for what I had done, but I was warned: Don't think back about what has happened, but hold on to the future. Prepare for the future, because the future is what matters. Leave the past behind you. God has forgiven you, and you have done your part. You have been purified and you have been humbled, so a new path is open. Don't think about what has happened, but think instead about what you can do for God's plan of salvation. 
So we got an insight into spiritual life. We got a glimpse into the present of people, how they lived and how one or the other burdened themselves and what was waiting for them. But we also got an insight into the lives of good people and what was waiting for them. So we learned about the spiritual laws, and we were encouraged. We also had the opportunity to seek out those spirit brothers and sisters in the spiritual world who had been banished. 
The spiritual world is a world that can be admired in all its diversity. It is a vast realm and it is a great life and a tremendous experience for an ascending spirit. 
So I had done my work, was happy and had to study hard. Others, for example, carried out their work as helpers for animals, and others again had to do their work for the sick and suffering. There was so much. 
Well, I'll only tell you about mine. But then my time was over again and I was to take another step upwards. I had truly been able to do a beautiful job, but I was not to be arranging flowers until my next life on earth; I was only being made familiar with life through it.
 And now I was able to leave that place and the spirits of God led me to another level, to another world. It was another village that looked completely different. There were gardens too, but there were no arbors with flowers hanging like the ones in the last place I had lived in. It was different and beautiful in its own way and, as they said, it was a world that was much more beautiful than the one I had left behind. I couldn't really judge it that way; I was simply happy with everything that I encountered; I simply admired everything.
 But what made a special impression on me was the encounter with the spirit brothers and sisters. There were other spirit brothers and sisters that I met and they seemed to have a completely different mentality. Their appearance was completely different. It seemed to me that they were even more noble, even kinder, even more understanding. It was once again a world of its own, and I also made friends with this new world and was happy.
 I lived together with other spirit brothers and sisters in a small family. It seemed to me that the circle of this communal life was now getting smaller and smaller, but the spirit brothers and sisters with whom I lived were very loving. And so I was able to adopt so much of their nature. 
We lived in what I would like to emphasize was a very beautiful house. We had a large garden; but this was no longer closed off like the previous one, because it seemed as if everyone had access to this garden. I think you can compare it to a park like you humans have. Everyone could go into this large garden. There were again wonderful trees, there were ponds, and there were also animals. 
You could look after and occupy yourself with these animals. You could do this on the side, that is, alongside the teachings and work. You could even take such an animal home with you if the animal liked it. They were all so trusting, and there were quite a few animals living in the houses we lived in. 
But these animals were not tied to the house like we spirit beings are. We knew: This is our home, this is our house. We have to obey the order. We have to stay there. But these spiritual animals did not know the order in this way. They also went through a spiritual upward development, and they were also free in a certain sense. With these animals it depended on whether they wanted to show their attachment to a spirit brother or whether they could not express this attachment. It was the same with me: I loved these animals and I took some into the house with me. So our house was full of animals, but they were not settled. For a while they seemed to like it with us, and then they left.
I went somewhere again. We couldn't follow them everywhere, because the world or the environment was too big for these animals to disperse or return to. So we were supposed to enjoy them. They were all very trusting, and one or the other had a special affection for a certain animal and it caused suffering when this animal moved away from them. 
	Sometimes it was also the case that these animals were called by a name by other spirit brothers and sisters, and these animals responded to the name and then followed this being. We were told that they were called to be transformed, or they were called to take their place in a very specific place. 
	So higher spirits had taken care of these animals too; they watched over the animal world. We couldn't do whatever we wanted with them, but we had a great opportunity to deal with them, talk to them and live with them. 
	I had to continue attending school. Now I was to find greater contact with my spirit brothers and sisters in the spiritual world. I now had to descend to suffering brothers and sisters. I was taught how to meet them and how to support them. It seemed very important, and it was given great importance, that one always supports ascending spirit brothers and sisters who are seeking help and are suffering.
So I was to learn this too. I was then also trained in understanding. One had to have understanding for the suffering of others. One had to try to share their suffering and treat them lovingly. Because if we were given attention and love, it was taken for granted that we would serve the other brothers and sisters in the same way. 
So my task now was to go to these suffering spirits. However, I only went with a higher spirit brother, and I was supposed to learn from him how to speak to others, how to lead them. That is my job. 
I would like to explain that there are other spirit beings who do not carry out this kind of activity in the soul world; rather, they have a great deal of work to do in the human kingdom with people themselves. They have to learn from people and have so much to give them that they can also learn from the spirit that leads them. 
This is how I carry out my job in the divine world. I have joined this great family, this great family that is connected to you [the House of Linus]. I live in this great family and share all the joys. I celebrate all the festivals with these spirit brothers and sisters and am thus connected to you. 
So it was my task to explain to you how it is possible for a spirit to rise from below, but that it must show a lot of perseverance, a lot of humility and conscientiously fulfill what it is asked to do. 
So I am now happy and am waiting to be prepared for a new life on earth. A new life on earth will lie ahead of me, which I am afraid of. I would like to tell you: Just as you people are afraid of dying, of the unknown that awaits you, I am afraid of the unknown, because I do not know what awaits me. I do not know whether I will do everything in my next life on earth as God requires, and whether I will not forget the divine world and remain connected to God's spirit world. It is the uncertainty, because one is sent far away, into a great distance, and what one has experienced in the spirit cannot penetrate into the human consciousness. 
But I also want to be full of hope and confidence that I will fulfill my future as God's spirit world expects of me. And I try not to be afraid. And so you, dear brothers and sisters, should also try not to be afraid of your future, of your entry into the spiritual realm. If you are of good will and serve God, then you will be lenient. 
So remember: remain faithfully connected with us in spirit, with God's spirit world. Remain faithfully connected with Christ. In times of need, seek comfort from him, seek comfort in prayer, and you will also receive help. In spirit you always experience and hear the answer. In spirit you hear whether people are happy with you. And when you have adapted and fitted in with the order, you know what is right and what is wrong according to God's order. Hold on to God's order and you will prosper. So may God give you the strength to do so. God bless you.

Joseph: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, do you have any questions about what was presented to you?

Dear spirit friend Joseph, was it also part of the punishment for this spirit that he had to learn the knowledge so laboriously after he had returned to the spiritual world?

Josef: Yes.

And how is it actually done that this knowledge, the ability to speak and so on is so locked up or contained that even as a spirit you have such great difficulty in learning it again?

Josef: It is a weakening of his spiritual ode, and because of this weakening he is no longer able to do it.

Dear spirit friend Josef, how is this to be understood, the destruction of these dry branches? Is it destroyed with spiritual fire, or how does it work?

Josef: It doesn't necessarily have to be fire, it is simply a spiritual power.

Dear Josef, Sebastian's spirit knew about his guilt in the human body. But when he died, he had to be told why he had to go through all this. How is it possible that a person, when he has died, no longer has consciousness, and the spirit knew about these things? 

Josef: Yes, every time the spirit leaves the body there is a different transformation or a completely different inflow of od. The human spirit becomes free in a different way [than when body and spirit are finally separated at death]. The human spirit can be led into the spiritual realms, it can be taught by the spirits of God, and one can speak to it. Such a spirit is then on a completely different vibration. The moment it finally lays down its body and its spirit is completely free, it is on a different level - I cannot say on a different spiritual stage of development, because that has nothing to do with forward development, but rather with its od. [At death the spiritual body draws the od substances of the body to itself, it takes them back; this condensed od that flowed through the earthly body is the bearer of all memories and feelings.]
 The od current that flows through the spirit and through the human being can be weakened, it can be strong. This od current enables him to experience. And this experience and knowledge can be restricted by the higher spiritual world. It can be made manifest and it can be enclosed. It is a force that is controlled by the higher beings. 

Dear Josef, what kind of animals were they that one could take home? Can you tell us?

 Josef: Birds, dogs, cats, rabbits, deer too. Dear Josef, we are always amazed at how in the spiritual world on this higher level there is a nature similar to ours. Can we still speak of matter, or is it subtle? 

Josef: Yes, of course. These are the beings who go through their spiritual development on a parallel level in the realm of the beyond. Just as there are developments in the animal and plant kingdoms on your level, there is the same thing in the spiritual world. This is a parallel level. 

Our eyes are very limited and can only perceive what concerns our material world. And of course we can get an idea of ​​it. But we always want to know where these levels are. We get the impression that all these levels of development are close to our earthly level. We know that the spiritual world and the earthly world penetrate each other without disturbing each other. Is that true?

 Josef: Yes, in part, yes.

 In part, not?

 Josef: Yes, where you live, there are spiritual spheres, that is clear. And on the stars and everywhere there are different levels and spiritual spheres, even inside the earth, everywhere. Everything is exploited. 

And the distance doesn't play a role? 

Josef: No, no. It is difficult to explain to you, and you will not have the concepts to absorb it now. When you are with us, you will experience it yourself, you will be led here or there, and then you will have completely different concepts and will be able to perceive it. 

Do people in the spiritual world also talk about us humans, let's say about everything that is currently happening to us, about all these current problems? 

Josef: Those who are interested in it talk about it. There are very many earthbound people who are very interested in it. 

Dear Josef, it seems that the work that was given to this Sebastian is also somehow symbolic of what he used to do, that is, for the past, and then for what he should have done later, or what he was slowly led into.

 Josef: Yes. Everything is always so meaningful, and every spirit is taught so much during this period of training. And the life that one experiences in the spirit is explained in the same way, and through this experience one then finds understanding more easily.

I am returning, dear brothers and sisters. May God's blessing accompany you on all your paths, and recover in the name of Jesus Christ; whoever is sick in body and soul or only in the body, shall recover. God's greetings.

Report of the ascending spirit being Sebastian and
Answers to questions from spirit teacher Josef by mediator
Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording.

Headline, next case.

October 4, 1967.
Ruth the burden of irreconcilability.
Purification path of a quarrelsome, ill-disposed soul.

Josef: Greetings from God. My dear brothers and sisters, it is I, Josef.
I have the task of telling you what happened to our spirit sister Ruth when she entered the spiritual world. I have to report this because she is standing here next door and listening.
Ruth had a family, seven children; but she was not a good mother and wife. She was quarrelsome and talkative, and she caused a lot of harm among her acquaintances and in her own family through her unsettled nature and quarrelsomeness. 
Her own children distanced themselves from their parents' home when they were adults. So I don't want to explain anything more about it, because you will hear what happened to this sister.

And so the hour of death came for her. When her spirit had separated from her body, she saw an angel of God; he was floating about two meters above the ground. She herself had stood next to the bed immediately after she had opened her spiritual eye and left her body. She stood next to the bed because she was so tied to this environment and also somewhat to her body. She was not yet fully aware of what had happened to her. 
She now saw this angelic being floating in this room. It was wearing a lavish robe, and this robe moved as if a gentle breeze were passing through it. So our sister Ruth could only be amazed. But then she also saw her relatives standing around the bed and talking about the death that had occurred. 
Now she was actually aware that something had happened to her, but she was not yet really convinced of it. The angelic being came up to her sister and said to her: Actually, and this was the greeting that was the opposite of those greetings where spirit brothers and sisters are received with joy and greeted and embraced with joy, actually you belong in prison. The sister was astonished by such words and she protested: No, I don't belong in prison! She did not yet really know whether she was actually dreaming or whether she had really died, because she had not expected something like this. And the angel repeated his words, saying: Actually you belong in prison immediately. 
And again she was outraged. Then the angel said to her: Good, you will now remain bound to this house and its immediate surroundings. I will lead you to where you are allowed to go. Come, follow me. She went with him, actually more out of curiosity, and now realized that walls and doors were no longer an obstacle for her, that she could walk through them. But she was tied to the floor while the angel was floating. He asked her to leave the room and go up one floor. So she went up the stairs, step by step. But the angel did not have to do this, he was floating at a distance of about two meters above the floor. There were more rooms on the upper floor.
Her children were now gathered here and were discussing what to do now after the death of their mother. Now Ruth could hear what was being said. Not a tear was shed, and she had to realize that there was a feeling of relief about her death. 
It was not long before neighbors who had heard of her death also came. They also came into the room where the relatives were gathered. No condolences had been expressed, but there was an atmosphere of relief. So people were happy about this death.
But now this sister also had to hear the unpleasant things, because now the siblings had repeated and told each other many things about the wrongs their mother had done to them. The neighbors who had come also spoke of how this woman had slandered them and caused them so much suffering. This spirit sister now had to listen to all of this. 
The angel said: Do you hear what they are saying? And she claimed that what they were saying was not true. But then the angel had this past brought before her eyes, and it became clear what she had lied about.
Now nothing could remain hidden. Slander and everything she had done to the others were now obvious. So there was no more denial for her. But she did not want to admit it and had many excuses for herself. 
The angel said to her: You do not hear a good word about yourself, and he told her: Follow me. They then went together to a neighbouring house. There they also spoke about the death of this Ruth, and the same thing was said. They also said that God would punish her for the evil and bad deeds she had committed; now there was finally peace in the neighbourhood and in the environment and it was good that she had died. 
And some said: I will never forgive her for what she had done to me. So people did not speak well of this sister and she had to listen to everything. Even if she denied it, it was of no use to her. 
This spirit of God had the opportunity to show her the past and so she relived it and she experienced and saw the truth which was now expressed in the spiritual realm. 
The angel asked her: Can you now understand that you belong in prison? 
No, she replied, I do not belong in prison. She could not understand that and she did not want to go to prison. 
Then the angel said to her: Good, now you will return to the house where you lived. There you will hear a lot more. For the time being you have no access to the spirit world of God, to those elevated spheres. For the time being, you remain bound to this house on earth. You have the opportunity to hear what is being said about you.
 She was to stay in this house, but was also allowed to visit the neighboring houses, i.e. the immediate surroundings. The surroundings she was allowed to visit were limited for her. It was the surroundings in which she had caused the greatest harm.
Now the angel said goodbye and said: I will look after you later. You now see what you have achieved and it would be good for you if you remembered the prayer that is prayed by Christianity: 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.' 
So the spirit of God took his leave and she was left to herself. Of course, she realized that she was not the only spirit living in this house and the surroundings; but she also noticed that the other spirits had free entry and exit, that they came from far away and were free, not bound like she was. 
She now thought about everything that had been said about her. She had no forgiveness for these people, but was rather angry with them and wanted to take revenge accordingly. She sought out these neighbors who said they were glad that she had died and that peace now reigned, and also those who said: I will never forgive her. 
Now she pursued these people wherever she could - she could therefore pursue them in this environment to which she was bound. But she was not allowed to accompany these people any further when they left the house and went away. But she had just enough time for her revenge. When she met these people who did not speak well of her, she went very close to them. And since she was dragging a cloud of impure od with her, she was able to transmit this impurity to these people; she enveloped them in the dirty, impure od.

An explanation for this. With a good spirit, the opposite happens: a spirit of light warms and radiates its light through the people it accompanies, and this for their benefit. With this spirit sister, it was the other way round. She, who had such evil thoughts in her mind, also had very impure od around her, around her spirit form. These people took on this impurity. They felt bad, sick, spiteful, yes, this sister Ruth was able to transmit her nature to others, making them unwilling, quarrelsome, dissatisfied. 
In this way, she carried it on and took revenge. All of this was possible for her in the area in which she was banished. When those people left this environment, moved away from their house, this dark odour slowly dissipated and they felt better again. 
Well, this Ruth did this for a long time, because she wanted to take revenge. She was happy about it because she saw the result. She saw how dissatisfied these people became and how she had the opportunity to transfer something of her own will, of her wishes, to others. 
An explanation for this: This is how an evil spirit penetrates a person, or it walks alongside the person and influences them. 

Now this sister Ruth had done this for a long time and had no forgiveness for anyone. She had also met people she knew who did not speak badly about her or who said that God should have mercy on her, God should forgive her. These people had not persecuted her, they had nothing to expect from this unfortunate spirit. But she remained connected to the others; she did not want to forgive them. They were people who did not have the ability to forget and forgive the evil they had endured, so they also had to endure the weight of this unfortunate spirit; it had influenced them. This went on for a while, Ruth remained so unforgiving that she had no desire to ascend to God. She heard the words the angel spoke to her again: You belong in prison. 

Her spiritual world was very small, she was enchanted.
She saw other spirits, happy, blissful spirits, coming and going in the house. Blessed spirit brothers and sisters also came to her and warned her that she should finally be able to forgive and align herself with God and try to pray, to ask God for forgiveness. She could not, because even as a human being she had not had a deeper connection to God. The whole nature that was once expressed in her human life was now in her soul, in her spirit, in her mind. Everything was expressed in the same way, because it had not simply died with earthly death. This thinking, this action remained rooted in her, it was a part of her personality. So these vices were also expressed in the spiritual world in the same way. So she was not ready to forgive, and she was not smart enough to think about it and to realize that things could not go on like this forever. So the angel of God came to her again and said: Now it is enough. Now it is time for you to go to prison. She resisted and said: I do not belong in prison! You said that this is my place and I am staying here. Then this spirit of God answered: Well, you have not forgiven anyone. Even if these people are not able to forgive you, at least you could have changed your thinking. You could have asked them for forgiveness, even if they do not see you. They have bad memories of you, and as a spirit you would have had the opportunity to improve things. But you did not do it, and so you will be taken to prison. And this spirit of God left again. Shortly afterwards two other angelic beings came. They were very different in appearance from the other angel, who wore a rich, beautiful robe. These two who had now come were simply dressed, but they looked very noble, their faces very stern. They were tall in stature and seemed very strong. The two came to our sister Ruth, they did not take long, but simply said: Follow us. And she now knew where they were going. The two were so stern, and she felt such power emanating from them that she did not dare to defend herself, but followed them. And these punishing angels now led this sister into a spiritual prison. This prison was a long, narrow building, and one room was next to the other, each one closed off separately. Now she was led into such a room without a word. There was nothing in it that could have pleased her, except for a cross that hung on the wall. There was no place to lie down, nothing for comfort, nothing at all. The door was closed and there was no escape.
While she had previously been able to see through and walk through earthly matter when she was still trapped on earth, this was no longer possible in the spiritual realm. For she had been led away from the earthly house into the spiritual world, where spiritual buildings stand. And she could not overcome this spiritual matter, she could not walk through it. So she could not see through the walls of the prison either, so she was locked in a spiritual cell.
Now she became aware of her distress and did not know what to do. She imagined: Now I must stay here for an eternity, and she believed she was experiencing hell for herself. Just as people imagine hell, she now believed she was walled up in such a cell; she felt this as the hell of the angels had spoken of prison. 
She now had no more distractions, unlike before, when she was still tied to the house on earth and could observe everything that was going on, listen to all the conversations and be interested in everything. Here in this mental prison there was no news, no conversations, nothing at all. Her surroundings had become even more cramped. While she had already believed back then, when she was still confined to the house and its immediate surroundings, that she had to live in a confined space, now she had to stay in an even smaller cell, with nothing to do, no distractions. 
The cross made an impression on her. For slowly her thoughts wandered back to the Christian holidays that she had also celebrated. She thought of Christmas, she thought of Easter, of Pentecost and slowly began to think about the meaning of these holidays. But it took a long time before she was ready to bend her knee before this cross. She simply couldn't understand why she had been put in such a prison. She struggled for a long time. Now she saw and experienced that God was punishing her for her misdeeds. On the other hand, she thought that heaven should be different than punishing.
 But then she remembered also that there was always talk of a hell on earth. And so she was close to despair at times. She screamed, she cried, but it was all to no avail. Then she prayed again, but the next moment she was completely dissatisfied again and cursed everything. This went on for a long, long time, until her innermost being, until her soul was somewhat changed, her mind was now humbled. 
So she began to pray more and to implore God and Christ to free her from this prison. Slowly, slowly she was able to change her way of thinking and realized that she had done many things wrong and was being punished for them. So her nature was changed somewhat, improved somewhat. The time of her exile was determined according to divine time, and she was to remain in this exile until the last minute without mercy from the spirits of God. When she was able to slowly change her way of thinking, the door opened and a spirit of God came to her again. It was a different spirit than the previous one and he wanted nothing more than to teach her to pray. He knelt down with her in front of the cross and taught her to pray. He comforted her and said to her: You must persevere because you deserve it. But you should be full of confidence and hope because you are not lost and not forgotten. The time will come when you will be freed.
 Have hope and be full of confidence. Trust in God because you will be helped. This Ruth then asked this angel to stay with her because she did not want to be alone anymore. But the spirit of God said: I cannot stay with you. But I will come back to you at regular intervals. 
And so it happened. At regular intervals, this angel of God came to her - it was a spirit of prayer - and prayed with her and comforted her. The visits of this spirit were always a great joy for this Ruth, and she always longed for her/him. So she stayed in this prison for the time that was meant for her. 
When this angel of prayer came to her again, it was said to her: Now I am allowed to take you away. You have now left the worst period of your purification behind you. But that should not mean that she could have a pleasant life from now on. This spirit of prayer now led her to another high spirit, who received her and led her to a place of work. 
She was now to have to work, now the hard work was to begin. On the way from her prison to this place of work, she was informed of this by this angel of God, and he said to her: I am now leading you to a house with different floors. Ascending spirits live on these floors. Those who live on the lowest floors are the most burdened spirits. You must first make do with the lowest level. But then you have the opportunity to work your way up very quickly and overcome one floor after another in this house. You will also have to do very hard work. 
He taught her that work must be done in the world beyond. The spiritual realm is constantly changing in its structure, which brings with it a lot of work that must be done, and so everyone will have to do the work that corresponds to their spiritual development. 
So she should now prepare herself for hard work. This spirit of God led her into the house where she would now live together with other spirit brothers and sisters. But here it was much more pleasant for her. There were objects in these rooms and there were comfortable places to lie down.
So for this spirit sister Ruth it was a little paradise that she experienced, in contrast to what she had had before. And so she was happy to experience this. But it was not without disappointment. Because she immediately noticed that the house was very crowded. Not only the lowest floor was home to spirit brothers and sisters, but also the upper floors were packed. Now she soon had to experience that those who had climbed a little higher made comments to the brothers and sisters who had just arrived, and were still living in a very modest way. 
Then she soon noticed that there was not all harmony among these spirit brothers and sisters in this house either. For very often spirits of God came and had to warn, mediate and now and then lead someone away because they were disobedient. 
So Sister Ruth was reminded very much of human life, because all those who were there, were to explain, spirits from the lower stages of the ascent and still far from a harmonious life. But she was happy to live there, because she had learned something in that prison, and she was afraid of having to return there again. 
Because she saw that the angels of punishment were not the ones who had once fetched them,
but they looked exactly the same; she knew them.
And so she did not want to fall into their hands.
Now she was led to her work, which she was to do inside a mountain. In this mountain there was a large cave, and there was work to be done. Great changes had to be made; paths were laid out, and a lot of rubbish that was in this cave had to be removed. It was not particularly pleasant work. 
But a level was being prepared here in which other spirit beings would later live. The sister now had to help, and no distinction was made in the work between male and female beings. The work was hard and difficult; it felt hard and difficult because it was on such a lower level. The [spiritual] matter there was of a lower nature and felt accordingly heavy.
So she carried out her task quietly for herself and now wanted to finally be freed from these ailments. She remembered the conversations with the angel of prayer, who had told her about the future. Here, where she was now, the beings were taught about the future at certain times; they were also taught about the plan of salvation, about God's creation. 
In this way she was able to learn a lot and also pray. Angels of God came to them, who directed them to God and prayed with them, sang with them. In this way, this sister was also able to improve her thinking considerably over time. She often had to think back to her life on earth and her guilt.
Then she received a visit, and the spirit of God came to her, whom she had first encountered after her death, who had told her that she belonged in prison. This spirit of God now asked her whether she was now ready to forgive those people, or whether she still lived with this feeling of hatred towards them. 
And the sister answered that she had not yet overcome everything, but that she was well on the way to it; she did not want to think about everything that had happened any more. She wanted to try to forget the past and ask God to forgive her. 
Over time, she managed to distance herself from the past. And so the time came when she no longer had this feeling of hatred and she could reply to this angel of God who visited her again: I am now ready, I want to forgive everyone, I don't want to bear a grudge against anyone, and I want to ask everyone for forgiveness. 
The angel said: It is good that you have come this far. He was happy about it and said: Without this strict spiritual upbringing that you have experienced, you would hardly have come to this realization in this time. It was only through the punishment that she had changed her thinking and found her way to God. 
Now the Spirit of God said to her: There will come a hard time for you again, when you will be tested to see whether you have absorbed the teachings that have now been given to you in the spiritual realm, whether these teachings have reached the depths of your soul and penetrated your entire being, so that you will never again be able to commit such evil deeds. The Spirit of God made her aware that in the spiritual world there is not such an easy opportunity for such evil deeds, since here one is on the path to improvement and overcoming. 
But once one is clothed in a human body again, one stands in a completely different world and faces temptations. There, instead of being overcome, the vices are built up and one lives in the vices; one finds advantages through these vices, a comfortable life, earthly wealth and so on. 
It would therefore be the exact opposite of the world beyond: in the human world there is an opportunity to build up these vices, while in the spiritual world there is the possibility of breaking them down. It would still be some time before she would have to go through this hard test of a new life on earth. 
After a certain time she was able to leave the hard work inside the mountain and that house and was led to a more beautiful plain where she was able to do easier work, work that gave her a lot of joy. 
But all of this was only possible because she had come a little closer to God. She had laid aside her heavy spiritual body and had changed; the impure od that had lain around her like a cloud had dissolved and been permeated by light. 
So she could now fulfil the tasks that had been set for her well. In addition to work, there was a lot of talk about the future that one was moving towards and about the human life that one would have to enter into. Here one would have to prove oneself and prove that one could hold on to and express everything that one had learned in the spiritual realm as a human being. If one then passed this test, the angels of God would come in droves to greet one and give the spiritual brother. And the spirit sister would take home with great joy that they had succeeded in passing the test.

So in this plane, where the sister was now carrying out her more beautiful work, the spirit brothers and sisters were always admonished and informed about the future life that they would have to enter again. But since many other joys were experienced alongside the work and the lessons, the knowledge of entering the new earthly life was not felt to be a burden. It was recognized that it was necessary for the fulfillment of God's entire plan of salvation; it was recognized that there is a general spiritual ascent and that it is necessary for one to offer the other a hand for this ascent.
So these spirit brothers and sisters were enlightened and could also face their future tasks with greater joy.
So, dear brothers and sisters, I have now told you this in the name of our sister Ruth. If you have any questions, I am ready to answer them. But I would like to ask you to only ask questions related to what has been said.

Dear friend Josef, there is probably a good reason why this sister Ruth was not allowed to speak herself. May we find out what it is?

Josef: Yes, because she had lived so deeply in these depths, she was not allowed to.

Dear Josef, you spoke of mountains in the spiritual world. Can you say something about when these mountains were created in the spiritual world or whether they are constantly being recreated?

Josef: That depends on the height of the sphere. In the lower spheres they can be partly dismantled, partly built up, changed, adapted to development. In the higher levels, as far as I know, they remain. If changes are made in the higher levels, for example, gardens are redesigned, rivers can be drawn differently, spirits can rebuild their buildings or create them differently - there can be a change in this respect, but on the whole the picture remains the same.

Are these changes always made by spirits?

Josef: Always, yes.

Can changes not also take place naturally in the spiritual world, as they do on this earth, through some kind of influence from nature?

Josef: That is also possible. But the spirits are kept busy by having to carry out such activities.

Dear spirit friend Josef, I can imagine that when a very burdened spirit opens its eyes, the lower spirits that it had always served during its lifetime, are already there to receive her/him. I don't think we have ever heard such an example from you, but I suppose, think that it does happen.

Josef: That does happen. Look, dear friends, that is something I don't like to talk about, because you friends are quick to say that lower spirits are speaking here; because you simply don't understand if someone tells you the truth in this way. I will not fail to say it. But you lack the understanding to grasp it. That is why it is not said. 

Dear Josef, is this sister Ruth a being who has not often been incarnated as a human being? 
Josef: She is ascending from below. 
This cave that you spoke of, was it  in the world beyond, and the matter there was therefore spiritual? 

Josef: Yes, it is spiritual matter. It cannot be said to you enough: what you possess in your world is also present in the spiritual realm; what you have is only a condensation of the spiritual. Everything exists in the spiritual realm. 

Dear Josef, this matter was very heavy for this sister. Was that because she herself was still at a low level? 

Josef: Yes, she was bound to this heaviness, to this condensation. The more condensed the matter is, the heavier it is. 

Dear spirit friend Josef, may we also find out something about this Ruth's husband?

 Josef: Yes, that needed a whole explanation in itself, because he was not as indebted as she was.

 So were the two of them completely separated after their lives? 

Josef: Yes. Later they were brought together. When Ruth's time of exile was over and the others had also returned to the world beyond, there was an opportunity to meet each other. 

It is always clear to us how long, roughly according to our calendar, this exile lasted. 

Josef: Yes, that is difficult to explain to you. Because we do not have the same calendar as you. You have to imagine if you had to live your day without a clock and it was always the same atmosphere, let's say it was always winter. How could you measure time? 
That changes with ascension, with moving to a higher level. Slowly you will get to know the spiritual world on a large scale, in all its diversity, and you will also get an idea of ​​time in the spiritual sense. But about this spiritual time calculation, we cannot explain this to you people in the same way as we can the spatial concepts in the spiritual world. It is difficult to explain space and time to you. 

Was it a grace that Ruth was given this period of time in the first place, that she would have had the opportunity to forgive people in this area where she was initially banned?

 Josef: You cannot speak of grace, it was a punishment for her. She was bound to her place and had to hear what was said about her. It was also a test for her. For if she had, let us say, forgiven all of them, then she would certainly not have had to go to this spiritual prison; the angel of God would certainly have led her straight to that work. But he gave her the opportunity to stay in her former environment for a certain time. She was to hear what was said about her here, she was to hear the truth about herself. For she did not want to be as bad as she was. She was to find confirmation that it was so. 

Was it not a merit for her that she had raised several children?

Joseph: Yes, that may have been a merit for her, but the evil she had done was more important, it made the other evil disappear.

Her children did not follow in her footsteps?
Joseph: No. 
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I will withdraw and leave you to God's blessing. If you think about what has been said, you can learn a lot from it. For the spirits of God select such spiritual beings and events that have the possibility of enriching your knowledge and teaching you what is necessary for your life. We only wish that you can fulfill your tasks in this life better, and you can fulfill them better with this spiritual knowledge.
So, dear brothers and sisters, may God's blessing protect and watch over you. Greetings. 


Experience report and answering of questions by spirit teacher Josef through his mediator Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich. Original: tape recording. 

Headline, next case.


December 6, 1967. 
Franz, worker and designer in heavenly gardens. 
The higher a spirit, the more gratifying and demanding his work becomes.
 
 Controlling spirit: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, an ascended spirit being is speaking to you, a spirit brother by the name of Franz. May God bless you this hour. 
God bless you. 
Franz: God bless you. 
My dear brothers and sisters, as you have already been told, my name is Franz. I was 35 years old when I had to leave the earthly world. I was married and had no children. I had known my wife since my early youth; it was she who had pushed for marriage. I had an incurable illness for those times, I had a lung disease, and so I died at the age of 35. My wife, who had pushed for this marriage, wanted to be allowed to bear my name, as she said. 
	When I passed over to the world beyond, I was astonished. I was very religious; my suffering had actually made my piety even more intense. But I had no idea about the world beyond, although I believed that there was a heaven where people continued to live, but I knew nothing about what form and what kind. 
So I was astonished to see my parents and other friends and acquaintances in the world beyond. They pointed out to me that this world in which I was now to live was similar to the world I had left behind, and that one also had to work in this spiritual world. 
My parents had not lived very long either; they were happy that I was now with them too. I liked the world and the surroundings I was in now; but I was told that I would not be staying with my parents for long, but would soon be allowed to ascend somewhat further, once the time of purification was over. I was pleased to hear that the life I had lived had not been particularly burdened and that I could therefore make progress in my ascension. And I was also pleased to be told that I would now be taught further in the world beyond. 
But although I was allowed to live with my parents, I still wanted my wife, who had stayed behind, to follow me. So I asked Christ in prayer to allow my wife to come to me too and for us to live and work together. But this request was not granted. When I repeatedly begged and hoped to be heard, I was taken to the house of my former partner. There I saw and heard her praying. She prayed that God would prolong her life, that she would stay alive. 
So she did not want to die; she prayed that she could live, and I prayed that she should die. Now I was informed of this, and heard that things should not go my way and that I should never deprive my former wife of the spiritual fruits of her life; she had the opportunity to gather such spiritual fruits in her future life and I should not take this opportunity away from her. So I saw and heard her praying that her life would be prolonged, that God would preserve her life; she also prayed for me. 
She had a task: when I left her by returning to the spiritual world, she took her sick brother in and looked after him. She had to fulfill a task for him, that is, she did it of her own free will. Because her brother was lonely, she took him into her home and saw this as a wonderful task. She wanted to live for her brother; she believed that by looking after her brother she could forget her sorrow. 
So she fulfilled her task and looked after her brother. Now and then I was allowed to visit her. But I soon realized that it was not possible to take her over into the spiritual world. And so I took my distance and only visited her on an exceptional basis, to give her strength and blessing for her tasks; I was able to do that. 
I always went accompanied by a higher spirit brother or sister. During these visits they also left healing powers behind for the sick person and his sister; they also offered both of them a spiritual drink so that each was strengthened in their own way and could defy fate. 
Well, my task in the spiritual world was a nice one. At first I was allowed to live with my parents. I lived with them until my purification was over, until various bumps that I had brought upon myself in my human life had been removed. 
I believed that I had not caused any particular annoyance to other people in my life. Because of my illness I was dependent on the help of other people. I realized that my spirit had been purified by the suffering I had endured; through this suffering I had been able to contribute to a great extent to my being purified in spirit. I became humble and modest precisely through bearing the suffering. I had been dependent on the help of my fellow human beings, and especially recently on the help of my wife. 
After a certain time, when this purification was over, I was accompanied to a higher level. I was allowed to leave my parents. The separation was not particularly difficult. I promised to visit them again and to tell them all the news that I would experience. 
So we parted, and I was led by the spirits of God into another world. This world was much more beautiful, it was more diverse. But work was also waiting for me; I was not to sit on my hands, but to work hard. I was to continue to practice the profession - I call it that - that I had already had in my human life: I was a gardener by profession. But this work was not of the same kind in the spiritual world as on earth; it was much more beautiful and also of a greater variety.
 The main work was working with flowers that were to be planted in the various beds. And it was not as easy as was usual for people at that time; people of my time were much more modest in this respect. Later, when I had more knowledge, I believed that this was because people were not so demanding and did not have such a variety of flowers at their disposal. 
In our world, everything that was needed to create beautiful, divine gardens was available in unlimited quantities. But the demands were very high; the high spirits made these demands. For our part, we could not simply plant the beds as we thought best; no, we had to meet these high demands. So I was not just supposed to plant these flowers in these beds, but I was supposed to help with the variety of design. These beds were actually supposed to express words in the language of flowers. So first everything had to be calculated and drawn out with the utmost precision. Then the flowers were brought in with the utmost care. These flowers had to be ordered first, and for this they had their own messengers. 
Depending on the type of flower, they had to order it from this level, from that sphere, from that sky. They had some of these flowers come to them to discuss whether they should plant this shape with these flowers, with these bushes, with these berries and so on. All of this had to be carefully checked before they started working on these beds. I would like to describe some of my work to you, which I did not do alone, but together with other people.
 I must also mention that I was taken in by a spiritual family and was allowed to live as a guest in their house. I was led into a house and told that I would be allowed to live as a guest in this house until my former life partner also passed over into the spiritual world; then we would be allowed to share an apartment together and we would then be allowed to do the work together. 
It was explained to me that there was a spiritual connection between my former life partner and me, a bond of spiritual connection would bind us together; and so we would then be allowed to do our work together in the spiritual world. 
So of course I still longed for her to come to me and I could not stop praying again and again that someone would be understanding and lead her over into the spiritual world. For I now saw the world of people with their problems, and I saw the spiritual world, the reality; and so, on the one hand, I found it unnecessary that she, whom I was waiting for, should stay behind on earth and live there. On the other hand, I believed that there were other people who could look after her brother, my brother-in-law. But no one listened to my request. My former life partner had to remain on earth until the time determined for her; and so I was just supposed to be patient. 
The more time passed, the more I was able to adapt to the new world. The longing for her did not disappear, but I understood; I now learned about God's will. For I had already been able to experience a lot and I had also been taught these divine laws. So I too should submit to God's will - this will happens in heaven as well as on earth - and so I should submit to this divine will. 
My work gave me ever greater joy. At first I had some trouble keeping up, understanding everything. I had to be taught and instructed first, because I had little knowledge of this work, and the highest demands were placed on me here. 
And now I would like to tell you what our gardens looked like. These beds, which were arranged in the most varied ways, were not only meant to bring joy to the spirit brothers and sisters who wandered through these gardens, but these spirit brothers and sisters were also meant to hear the language spoken by these flowers. The whole design in all its diversity was meant to encourage the brothers and sisters to talk. I said that everything had to be calculated precisely, for example, a rose had to be planted in a bed in each bed; this rose, however, was represented by thousands of tiny flowers, and it was so lively. To achieve this, these tiny flowers had to be placed slightly higher and slightly lower. The image of this rose had to appear so lively that one would believe that it was really a rose. People had to be able to admire our work.
It wasn't always that easy, because these high spiritual brothers and sisters who presided over our work were not afraid to ask us to take the work we had done apart and do it again or change it in such a way that it was more lively and beautiful. The smallest things mattered: how the leaves, how the smallest flowers were laid out, in order to experience this liveliness. This work was about preparing these gardens for special occasions, they were to be decorated for special celebrations.
 So you had to work hard to create all these things and to have them ready by a certain time, because these gardens were always related to the upcoming festival.
For example, at Christmas time, a large star of flowers was planted in a large bed. Small flowers were planted in it, which made this star so lively. The star with its tail had to appear so alive that it gave an answer to everyone who walked through these gardens; it had to speak in the language of flowers and remind them of the festival that was being celebrated and of what had happened in the past.
These beds were planted in different ways. The cross, which is planted in these beds with large, bright flowers, is of great importance. This cross must also be so meaningful and should express a clearly audible word when it is looked at. The image of the chalice is also planted in this bed; this chalice is also drawn in this way with small, medium and large flowers and must appeal to every visitor. These visitors know what such a chalice has to say to them. Symbolic images are also placed in these beds.
The scales also play an important role. In the most wonderful way, they can be made so lively with flowers; these flowers must be placed in fine moss, raised and sunk. The image must become so alive that you could touch these things. It is not only the scales that are an important symbolic sign, it is also the fish that can be found in these beds from time to time. 
So you can now imagine what work must be carried out to present everything in its perfection. This work must be perfect; what we do in this heaven must be admirable. We too have a preparation time for Christmas, just like you humans. You humans light the Christmas tree on the high feast of Christmas, and lights shine everywhere. 
We in our world do not have a Christmas tree in the sense that you do; but we have these wonderful gardens, and in these gardens the torches shine. They are placed there, and it is something wonderful. This is the work of other trained spirit brothers and sisters, who also make a game out of these torches and use them to put words into these gardens. 
This fire can shine in a variety of strengths, weak and strong, bright and dull, and it can have different colors, I would say like a rainbow. The spirit brothers and sisters who create it in this way are also artists in their field, and they do their part to decorate this garden of God and give it this shine. For these torches, which are lit and shine at these festivals, remind the spirit brothers and sisters who move through these gardens of the light that once came to earth from God's world and shines on people and is meant to be in constant connection with people. 
Much of what is created in our world has symbolic meaning. This symbolic language may be difficult for you humans to understand, but in the spiritual world an ascended spirit being knows this symbolic language; you learn it and so you know what each thing means, what it is trying to say. 
So I work in such a heaven and I am happy when the time comes when the spirit brothers and sisters, dressed so wonderfully in all colors, walk through these gardens in great joy. It is a joy for us to experience the admiration that our spirit brothers and sisters express. But not all of them realize how much effort and hard work it has been for us to make it this way. 
People also believe that in the spiritual realm the activities are very easy. That is not true; we too have our worries and problems with the work we have to do if we have to bring it to the point of perfection. So I am active in these gardens, and sometimes the path leads me to this level, then my work begins somewhere else, because we are in constant preparation for the heavenly festivals.
Now when the festival in honor of Christ is celebrated in memory of his birth as a human being, we then immediately go back to work on the next festival, which reminds the spiritual brothers and sisters of Christ's work, his death, his resurrection.
So there is always a lot of work ahead of us. For this we need the heavenly artists who give us the necessary inspiration for this beautiful design. We can also make our own suggestions, and these can be implemented if they are found to be good. But we have our great masters in art, and so we have to follow them. 
Everything has to be varied, it should always be given a new shine and always evoke new admiration. It has to be designed completely differently from one heaven to the next. From one festival to the next, the language must be spoken in a different tone, that is, spoken in a completely different way according to your understanding; it must be something completely new again. 
So we have our work in the design and in the constant change of these heavenly worlds. So much for the work that I had to do and am still doing. 
Now I would like to talk about the time when my former life companion also came to the spiritual world. She was supposed to be allowed to move into the apartment with me. Until then I had been living as a guest with a family and I had long been looking forward to my life companion's arrival. An apartment had been prepared for us, but I was not supposed to be allowed to enter this apartment until she returned. It was supposed to be a surprise for me too. Because my life companion - that's what I will call her - had fulfilled her duties for her sick brother; she had also helped and supported many other poor and sick people and had thus accumulated the fruits of her life. Now she should be allowed to live with me, and we should share the apartment with each other. 
So it was a great joy for me to be able to receive her when she came to us, to greet her and to lead her into the apartment that had been prepared for us by other spiritual brothers and sisters; namely by spiritual brothers and sisters whose sole task was to prepare the apartments for the coming brothers and sisters and to decorate and design them according to their spiritual wealth.
 So it was a great surprise for me to enter this beautiful apartment, because up until then I had no idea about it - it was to be a surprise for me as well as for my former life partner.
 When she passed over into the spiritual world and we were allowed to move in together, I was allowed to be with her for a while without having to go back to my work straight away; and she didn't have to work straight away either. We were told that we would be called when we had to start work; we should now be able to experience a time of being together, just as we liked. 
Since I was already familiar with the spiritual world, I was able to lead her - I will now call her my spiritual sister - through these different heavens and was able to show her the beauties of heaven. 
We also had many opportunities to experience this and that in the heavenly workshops. So we experienced a truly blissful time. I did not have to concern myself with my work, which, as I said, also caused me problems and worries in its own way if I wanted to do justice to the demands of making everything so beautiful. I was to be free from all of that. And that was a wonderful time of happiness and bliss for me too. 
When the angel of God came and called us to start working together, we did so with great joy. We felt that we had now experienced enough free time together. And now it was not just about living for the two of us, but about making ourselves available to the whole of heaven. 
Various tasks were to be fulfilled in the area of ​​this world where we lived. We were to work in the gardens of God and we were to become hosts. Spirit brothers and sisters who had ascended and did not yet have their own home also came to us, and they were our guests, just as I had previously been a guest of other spirit brothers and sisters. 
So we had a beautiful, happy house in which we lived together and cared for and pampered our guests as best we could. So we were all able to live together in heavenly joy and bliss. My work still consists in this design of heavenly gardens; I go to this task together with my sister. And it is also our joy that we ourselves are allowed to be among the visitors here and to admire our own work and to hear the admiration of the high spirit brothers and sisters. 
This is my life and the life of my spiritual sister. So I would like to wish you all: When you return to the spiritual world, you too should be able to carry out such a beautiful activity. Each of us has our own work to do. And the higher you climb, the greater the demands placed on the activity you carry out, whether it is in this artistic way or in missionary work. Great demands are placed on it, but they make each individual happy when they have reached the level where they are able to do what is required of them. 
So I wish you, dear brothers and sisters, a blessed Christmas season. Remember that heaven also has its celebrations. And when your lights shine in honor of Christ, think of the light that shines much more beautifully in the gardens of God than it does here. There is nothing on this earth that even resembles the light of God's spirit world. So may God bless you all. God bless you all. 
[Following Franz's report, spirit teacher Josef answered questions from the audience. 
This answer is not preserved on tape, but was summarized by the then editor of the magazine Geistige Welt as follows:] Regarding the easy way of purifying Franz, Josef said that this spirit brother had already reached a higher spiritual level. 
His burden was minor, but he was not completely free of daily transgressions. For purification, it was enough to assign him a place where he was to be alone in silence for a certain time. Then he was called back to his parents. Regarding the symbols, Josef said that this brother had only mentioned a few. It would take many hours to describe everything in more detail. What was said was only a short excerpt. 
When asked about the nature of the spiritual earth, Josef replied that it was difficult to explain or make a comparison. We would have to imagine the spiritual earth as a bright, subtle mass.

And when asked about the suffering and short life of the person in question, Josef explained that this brother was an elevated spirit who did not need a long life on earth and was born into a corresponding family where people did not grow old. His test was that he bore his suffering patiently without becoming a nuisance to his fellow human beings.
In doing so, he fulfilled a certain task. For when a fate or illness befalls a person, his true spiritual attitude is expressed from within. If a person proves to be reluctant and quarrelsome with what he has to bear, then he has not fulfilled his task and has not become spiritually more mature. 
On the other hand, someone who affirms his fate fulfills his task, he submits to the will of God, proves himself humble in that sense, and these are all signs of a mature spirit. 


Report of the experience of the ascending spirit being Franz and answers to questions from spirit teacher Josef by mediator
Beatrice Brunner in the hall on Münchhaldenstrasse, Zurich.
Original: tape recording and first publication
in the magazine Geistige Welt.

The end.