There is No Such Thing as a Return to This Life for the Punishment of Souls

Pictures from the March for President Trump

10s of Thousands rallied to Stop the Fraud, count only legal votes and support President Trump on November 14, 2020. I loved the fiery Latino speaker ‘Remember the Alamo, we have only just begun to fight!’. Many incoming Congressmen and women spoke. They are on fire. We will prevail.
The atmosphere was beautiful and supportive. I saw about 3 (yes, one, two three) counter protesters and I estimate 30,000 to 50,000 or more supporters of President Trump.
The mainstream news reports were pitiful. You should have been there!

The Richard Urban Show:
#70 The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 7 with Philip Sharp
#69 Video: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation
     Editorial: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1919

For this reason, when the era of the
Pacific civilization draws near, every-
body must become one. Then we can
explore outer space. Unless people
become one, they would even fight over
the ownership of the sun, with everyone
claiming that right. They would ask who
the master of the starry realm is and
they would all claim to be the one. They
are bound to fight among each other.
Our sun is about 1.3 million times larg-
er than the earth. How could human
beings, who don’t even amount to a tiny
speck, claim to own this vast entity?
The universe would roar with laughter.
A unified world is bound to appear in
the era of the Pacific civilization. That
is why everything must be overhauled.
Democracy in America does not work,
and neither does communism. That is
why the head-wing ideology, known as
Godism, must appear in this age. (207-46,
1990.10.28)

Richard This is very similar to the Rheama from three days ago. Godism is the God-centered thought taught by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. At the core of that is the teaching on absolute sexual ethics that I have been covering in my 10 part series on the Richard Urban Show. You can find the teaching of the Original Root Substance of the Principle, the teaching of the Unification Movement and Rev. Moon here.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1242

You must understand how impor-
tant the Blessing is from a providential
point of view. God’s Blessing is received
where the Kingdom of Heaven on earth
and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit
world meet. It is the place where the eter-
nal world and the corporeal world meet
horizontally. (Blessed Family – 544)

Richard: Find out more about the Blessing here.

Reincarnation

Belief in Reincarnation is common to the religions born in India: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. this is the belief that the individual soul passes from one earthly life to another, each life conditioned on the deeds of the previous lives. Differences in fortune, wealth, social position, and endowments are the consequences of actions done in previous lives. as the cosmos revolves in its cycles, the wheel of samsara turns for each human being as he or she rises and falls through countless births and deaths—sometimes as humans, sometimes as animals or even insects.
    On the other hand, Christianity largely rejects reincarnation, holding that God provides everyone the opportunity for salvation within a single lifetime. even the buddha spoke against easy reliance on reincarnation as a comfort to misbehaving sinners, thinking that they could easily obtain a second chance.
    According to the doctrine of reincarnation, souls have the opportunity to progress to the ultimate goal of perfection only when they are incarnated as human beings. thus, spirits seek out human bodies in which to be reincarnated, in hopes of a chance to right wrongs and make progress on the path. Father Moon also teaches that spirits can only progress while linked to a human body. however, instead of souls transmigrating from one body to another, he describes a process of spirits descending to cooperate with earthly people, which he calls “returning resurrection.” through assisting people on earth who face similar difficulties, spirits can resolve their unfinished business and be liberated to rise to a higher level. sometimes this is a painful and even pun-ishing encounter for earthly people, who have to deal with ancestors whose agonizing experiences they never imagined. believers in reincarnation simply misconstrue the spirits’ thoughts and experiences as if they were their own deeds in an earlier lifetime. regardless of where the truth lies, to see oneself as inextricably bound up with the lives of others—extending from the distant past into the future endless future—leads to an attitude of humility and patient endurance.

According to his deeds (karma) the embodied
    one successively
Assumes forms in various conditions.
Coarse and fine, many in number,
The embodied one chooses forms according to
    his own qualities.
Each subsequent cause of his union with them
    is seen to be
Because of the quality of his acts and of
himself.
    Svetasvatara Upanishad 5.11-12 (Hinduism)

The universe is peopled by manifold creatures
who are, in this round of rebirth, born in differ-
ent families and castes for having done various
actions.

Sometimes they go to the world of the gods,
sometimes to the hells, sometimes they become
demons in accordance with their actions.

Sometimes they become soldiers, or outcastes
and untouchables, or worms or moths….

Thus, living beings of sinful actions, who are
born again and again in ever-recurring births,
are not disgusted with the round of rebirth, but
they are like warriors, never tired of the battle
of life.

Bewildered through the influence of their
actions, distressed and suffering pains, they
undergo misery in non-human births.

But by the cessation of karma, perchance, living
beings will reach in due time a pure state and be
born as men.
    Uttaradhyayana Sutra 3.1-7 (Jainism)

“Frequently I have been born in a high family,
frequently in a low one; I am not mean, nor
noble, nor do I desire social preferment.” Thus
reflecting, who would brag about his family or
about his glory, or for what should he long?
Therefore a wise man should neither be glad nor
angry about his lot: he should know and con-
sider about the happiness of all living creatures.
Carefully conducting himself, he should mind
this: “I will always experience blindness, deaf-
ness, dumbness, be one-eyed, hunchbacked,
black, white, and every color; because of my
carelessness I am born in many births, experi-
ence many feelings.”
    Acarangasutra 2.50-55 (Jainism)

There is no such thing as a return to this life for
the punishment of souls… How can the return to
bodies which are gifts of God be punishment?
    Saint Augustine, City of God 12.27 (Christianity)

Sooner, do I declare, would a one-eyed turtle, if
he were to pop up to the surface of the sea only
once at the end of every hundred years, chance
to push his neck though a yoke with one hole
than would a fool, who has once gone to the
Downfall, be reborn as a man.
    Samyutta Nikaya 5.455 (Buddhism)

Spirits Can Neither Grow nor Be Resurrected Apart from a Physical Self

Stop the Steal March to Support President Trump
Saturday, November 14 12 noon, Washington, DC

The Richard Urban Show:
#70 The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 7 with Philip Sharp
#69 Video: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation
     Editorial: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation

Romans 15

15 If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord’s followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves. We should think of their good and try to help them by doing what pleases them. Even Christ did not try to please himself. But as the Scriptures say, “The people who insulted you also insulted me.” And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. Then all of you together will praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amos 3

Can two people walk together
    without agreeing to meet?
Does a lion roar in the forest
unless it has caught
    a victim?
Does it growl in its den
    unless it is eating?
How can anyone catch a bird
    without using a net?
Does a trap spring shut
    unless something is caught?

Isn’t the whole city frightened
when the trumpet
    signals an attack?
Isn’t it the Lord who brings
    disaster on a city?
Whatever the Lord God
    plans to do,
he tells his servants,
    the prophets.
Everyone is terrified
    when a lion roars—
and ordinary people
become prophets
    when the Lord God speaks.

Spirits of the Departed

2. Helping the Spirits and Gaining Spiritual Merit

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

According to the Principle of Creation, the growth of the human spirit requires two kinds of nourishment: life elements received from God and vitality elements received through give and take action with the physical self. Spirits can neither grow nor be resurrected apart from a physical self. Consequently, the spirits of people who died before they could reach perfection during their earthly life, can be resurrected, only by returning to earth and completing their unaccomplished responsibility through cooperation with earthly people. By assisting people of faith living on the earth to fulfill their missions, the spirits may complete their mission at the same time. Herein lies the meaning behind the verse, which foretold that in the Last Days the Lord would come “with His holy myriads.” (Jude 1.14)
    How do spirits help people on earth fulfill the Will of God? When people become receptive to spirits through prayer or other spiritual activities, the spirits descend to them to form a common base with their spirit selves and work with them. Spirits perform various works. For example, they pour spiritual fire on earthly people and give them the power to heal diseases. They help people enter states of trance and perceive the realities of the spirit world. They give people revelations and the gift of prophecy. They can also give deep inspiration to the soul. In these various works, spirits act on behalf of the Holy Spirit, guiding people on the earth to accomplish the Will of God. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Resurrection 2.3.1)

If you went to the other side, to the spirit world, do you think you would see people living happily or people fighting each other? Murderers and their victims are there together. Don’t you think they would be ready to fight, brandishing swords or knives and seeking revenge? However, there are many walls that block them. For this reason, evil spirits go to the descendants of their enemies and cause sudden deaths by accidents in order to fetch them to the spirit world.
    The quarrels between spirits should all be resolved. Yet for this to happen, the resolution must first take place on earth. It requires that we offer something precious—something more precious than the memory of their murder or their grudge against their enemy. Only in this way can quarrels among the spirits be resolved.
    With what offering can the spirit world be liberated? With what can God be liberated? Our ancestors bound themselves, thus making a mess of the spirit world. Therefore, we, their descendants, should now resolve our ancestors’ wrongdoing.
    We have learned the proper tradition of filial sons and daughters: we should pay back our parents’ debts. In that light, who should knock down all the walls that our ancestors erected in the spirit world? We should do it. In doing this work, we have to make our ancestors come down to meet us directly, and teach us. It sounds like a dream, but it is real. We are not alone. If I look at you, I can see what kind of people your ancestors are, and what they did. The faces of your ancestors appear and quickly disappear. I can distinguish which of them are good spirits and which are evil. (191:205-06, June 24, 1989)

During Jesus’ advent on earth, there was a special opportunity for good spirits who had lived previously to resurrect. They could rise from the form-spirit level of the spirit world to the life-spirit level of the spirit world. Likewise, your ancestors in the spirit world also have a special opportunity36 to resurrect by returning to earth, based on the condition afforded by your earthly life.
    Your ancestors are eager to return to earth and do the work of returning resurrection. Isn’t it wonderful that you give them that opportunity? Among the ancestors of your family and clan were loyal patriots, filial sons and faithful wives. Call them in prayer, and they will come. They can come because the time is right, when your ancestors should cooperate with you. (14:22-23, April 19, 1964)

The question is whether we have set the standard to mobilize the spirits of the spirit world, and have them bear witness. The spirit world is also demanding to be mobilized. The spirit world is aware of the heart of God. Therefore, if people on earth appeal on behalf of God’s sorrowful heart, then the spirit world will mobilize many spirits. They will help in the work of realizing the teachings of the Kingdom of Heaven.
    Why can’t spirits in the spirit world come to this earth plane? It is because the earth is beset by barriers of lamentation. If the earthly environment were free of the conditions of lamentation, if we were free from the miserable conditions that beset our flesh, and if we would enter a state of peace, unafraid of Satan’s threats, then God would help us. (4:60, March 2, 1958)231lifeafter deathandthe Spirit Worldstates of trance and perceive the realities of the spirit world. They give people revelations and the gift of prophecy. They can also give deep inspiration to the soul. In these various works, spirits act on behalf of the Holy Spirit, guiding people on the earth to accomplish the Will of God. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Resurrection 2.3.1)If you went to the other side, to the spirit world, do you think you would see people living happily or people fighting each other? Murderers and their victims are there together. Don’t you think they would be ready to fight, brandishing swords or knives and seeking revenge? However, there are many walls that block them. For this reason, evil spirits go to the descendants of their enemies and cause sudden deaths by accidents in order to fetch them to the spirit world. The quarrels between spirits should all be resolved. Yet for this to happen, the resolution must first take place on earth. It requires that we offer something precious—something more precious than the memory of their murder or their grudge against their enemy. Only in this way can quarrels among the spirits be resolved. With what offering can the spirit world be liberated? With what can God be liberated? Our ancestors bound themselves, thus making a mess of the spirit world. Therefore, we, their descendants, should now resolve our ancestors’ wrongdoing.We have learned the proper tradition of filial sons and daughters: we should pay back our parents’ debts. In that light, who should knock down all the walls that our ancestors erected in the spirit world? We should do it. In doing this work, we have to make our ancestors come down to meet us directly, and teach us. It sounds like a dream, but it is real. We are not alone. If I look at you, I can see what kind of people your ancestors are, and what they did. The faces of your ancestors appear and quickly disappear. I can distinguish which of them are good spirits and which are evil. (191:205-06, June 24, 1989)During Jesus’ advent on earth, there was a special opportunity for good spirits who had lived previ-ously to resurrect. They could rise from the form-spirit level of the spirit world to the life-spirit level of the spirit world. Likewise, your ancestors in the spirit world also have a special opportunity36 to resurrect by returning to earth, based on the condition afforded by your earthly life.Your ancestors are eager to return to earth and do the work of returning resurrection. Isn’t it wonderful that you give them that opportunity? Among the ancestors of your family and clan were loyal patriots, filial sons and faithful wives. Call them in prayer, and they will come. They can come because the time is right, when your ancestors should cooperate with you. (14:22-23, April 19, 1964) The question is whether we have set the standard to mobilize the spirits of the spirit world, and have them bear witness. The spirit world is also demanding to be mobilized. The spirit world is aware of the heart of God. Therefore, if people on earth appeal on behalf of God’s sorrowful heart, then the spirit world will mobilize many spirits. They will help in the work of realizing the teachings of the Kingdom of Heaven.Why can’t spirits in the spirit world come to this earth plane? It is because the earth is beset by barriers of lamentation. If the earthly environment were free of the conditions of lamentation, if we were free from the miserable conditions that beset our flesh, and if we would enter a state of peace, unafraid of Satan’s threats, then God would help us. (4:60, March 2, 1958)

Let Us Run With Perseverance the Race that is Set Before Us


Stop the Steal March to Support President Trump

Saturday, November 14 12 noon, Washington, DC

The Richard Urban Show:
#70 The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 7 with Philip Sharp
#69 Video: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation
     Editorial: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1919

The Unification Church is the third
son. The Unification Church was actual-
ly born as the most precious son of them
all. The Christian civilization is now the
only thing that can digest western cul-
ture into a unified substance and bring
harmony in Europe and to North and
South America. Yet, the Christian civi-
lization of the West is crossing over to
Asia. Then in which nation will Asia con-
form to God’s efforts to bring unity and
order through Christian thought? Japan
worships a diverse group of gods. China
and the Soviet Union have been commu-
nized. Korea remains alone within the
enclosure of Christianity even though
its various denominations are in con-
flict. Although it cannot be planted as a
seed tree, it is needed as firewood.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1165

In the cases of both Cain and Abel,
and Esau and Jacob, the brothers were
supposed to exchange positions after
their birth. To achieve this, the coop-
eration between mother and child was
always necessary. Eve protected Abel. In
the case of Esau and Jacob, Rebecca was
on Jacob’s side, and helped him through
her acts of deception. Nevertheless, no
one knows why God still granted the
blessing to them. Jacob was born as a
twin and later restored the position of
the right of the eldest son. Yet this still
didn’t restore the lineage. Then at the
time of the birth of Perez and Zerah,
when they were about to emerge from
Tamar’s womb, they fought each oth-
er and switched positions. The second
child pushed aside the first child in order
to be born first. You should understand
the deep significance of these actions
that signify moving closer to the lineal
standard of the original parents. (120-167,
1982.10.13)

Spirits of the Departed

2. Helping the Spirits and Gaining Spiritual Merit

Choosing an auspicious day and making
    purifications
you prepare the sacrifices.
You present them filially,
in spring, summer, autumn and winter,
to your ancestors, the former kings…
The spirits come,
and confer on you many blessings.
    Book of Songs 2.1.6 (Confucianism)

Outside the walls they stand, at the crossways
and outside doors, to their own home returning.
But when a plenteous meal is spread, of food
and drink, no man remembers them [the dead].
Such is the way of things.
    Wherefore do those who have pity on their
kin make offerings due, of choice food and
drink at seasonable times, saying, “Be this a gift
to kinsmen, may our kinsmen be well pleased
with it!” Then do those earth-bound [ghosts],
kinsmen, gather there where a plenteous meal is
spread of food and drink, and fail not to render
thanks, saying, “Long live our kinsmen, thanks
to whom we have this gift! To us this offering is
made; not without fruit are they who give!”
    For [in ghostland] no cattle-keeping, no
ploughing of fields is seen. There is no trading
there, as on earth, no trafficking with gold.
We ghosts that have departed there exist on
what is given here. Even as water gathered on
high ground flows down into the marsh, so are
offerings given here on earth of service to the
ghosts…
    Of a truth, wailing and grief and all manner
of lamentation avail not anything. It helps not
the ghosts that kinsmen stand lamenting thus.
    Moreover, [if] this gift of charity is bestowed
on the Order, it is bound to be of service [to the
ghosts] for a long, long time.
    Thus this duty done to kinsmen has been
declared: unto the ghosts it is no mean offering
of worship; unto the Brethren of the Order it
is strength conferred; unto yourselves no small
merit has been won.
    Khuddaka Patha, Tirokudda-sutta (Buddhism)

The rice and water no longer are offered,
the ancestors also must fall dishonored
from home in heaven.
    Bhagavad-Gita 1.42 (Hinduism)

All these [saints of the Old Testament Age],
though well attested by their faith, did not
receive what was promised, since God had fore-
seen something better for us, that apart from us
they should not be made perfect.
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with perseverance the race that
is set before us.
    Hebrews 11.39-12.1

It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the
earth will be smitten with a curse unless there
is a welding link of some kind or other between
the fathers and the children, upon some subject
or other—and behold what is that subject? It is
the baptism for the dead. For we without them
cannot be made perfect; neither can they with-
out us be made perfect. Neither can they nor
we be made perfect without those who have
died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the
ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of
times, which dispensation is now beginning to
usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect
union, and welding together of dispensations,
and keys, and powers, and glories should take
place. 35
    Doctrine and Covenants 128.18 (Latter-day Saints)

If You Resolve and Act on Your Resolution for God, Good Spirits Will Descend

Stop the Steal March to Support President Trump
Saturday, November 14 12 noon, Washington, DC

The Richard Urban Show:
#69 Video: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation
     Editorial: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation

Revelation 12

A war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon and its angels. But the dragon lost the battle. It and its angels were forced out of their places in heaven and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan. 10 Then I heard a voice from heaven shout,

“Our God has shown
his saving power,
    and his kingdom has come!
God’s own Chosen One
    has shown his authority.
Satan accused our people
in the presence of God
    day and night.
Now he has been thrown out!

Richard: This indicates what is happening right now with the massive voter fraud and the censorship and blatant bias of mainstream media and social media against President Trump. Demonic forces have been thrown down from heaven and are working on earth. Yet they will not prevail!

Psalm 1

God blesses those people
    who refuse evil advice
    and won’t follow sinners
    or join in sneering at God.
Instead, the Law of the Lord
    makes them happy,
    and they think about it
    day and night.

They are like trees
    growing beside a stream,
trees that produce
fruit in season
    and always have leaves.
Those people succeed
    in everything they do.

That isn’t true of those
    who are evil,
    because they are like straw
    blown by the wind.
Sinners won’t have an excuse
    on the day of judgment,
    and they won’t have a place
    with the people of God.
The Lord protects everyone
    who follows him,
    but the wicked follow a road
    that leads to ruin.

Spirits of the Departed

  1. Spirits among Us

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

You are ignorant of the original life of God’s creation. You are unable to speak with confidence in the presence of the Creator, the spirits in heaven and all things on earth. Yet even at this hour, God and some spirits in heaven and on earth are helping you. (8:43, November 1, 1959)

At the peak of your spirituality, if you resolve and act upon your resolution for God, good spirits will descend from the spirit world and assist you. However, if your spiritual level drops, those spirits that had been assisting you will begin to leave, one by one. As they depart they are sorrowful, mournfully thinking that they might never again descend to the earth and assist earthly people. Indeed, once they leave you, it is hard for them to return. Act, therefore, to increase the number of spirits who can assist you. Then your work will make smooth and rapid progress, and heavenly fortune will be with you. (161:273-74, February 26, 1987)

Spirit people cannot come here and work just as they wish; their way is blocked. Only a few particular spirits can return to earth, unless earthly people through their religious life build a bridge enabling more to cross. (102:29, November 19, 1978)

When our ancestors entered the spirit world, they were judged guilty. Unable to make progress in the spirit world, they should again descend to earth and make restitution. It would be better for you not to follow the same path. (146:224, July 1, 1986)

In the past, a person who prayed and made numerous conditions of devotion could meet the deceased founder of his religion for a short time, but then they had to separate, because the religious leader had to return to the spirit world. However, now is the time when all spirits can descend to earth, to people of their respective religions. (161:199-200, February 3, 1987

Those Who are Dead are Never Gone

The Richard Urban Show:
#69 Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation
     Editorial: Constitutional Crisis-Massive Voting Fraud Rocks Nation
#68 The Family Rooted In Absolute Sexual Ethics-Part 6-with Jamal Johnson
#67: Who Can Be Trusted on Voting Integrity: President Trump or Joe Biden?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 770

On the day you are really born as
God’s son…. Amongst the innumerable
stars, do you think there is a realm of
diamond stars or not? Think about it.
You want to have diamonds, don’t you?
You can’t say there isn’t a star made just
of gold. It is possible. How rich God, our
Father, is! Have you ever thought about
that? We can travel this infinite uni-
verse in a moment. Are you interested?
Are you truly interested? If so, what we
need to do is observe the normative laws
in accordance with God’s commands:
“Don’t do this!” or “Do that!” This is pos-
sible only when you observe what God
says to do or not to do. It is only logical
that this becomes impossible if you live
according to your selfish desires.

Richard: We have to observe God’s commandments in order to stay in his will. The number one commandment is sexual purity before marriage and fidelity within marriage. See this teaching in True Families Gateway to Heaven .

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1187

The Ceremony of the Settlement of
the Eight Stages signifies that the histor-
ical course of vertical indemnity and the
course of horizontal indemnity that went
through the stages of individual, family,
people, nation, and the world. That is the
vertical and horizontal courses consist-
ing of eight stages are completed. Due
to this, the right of eldest son has been
restored, and the course of indemnity for
all humanity is abolished. That is what
I have done by holding this ceremony.
The right of the eldest son is restored; the
Parents are embracing all humankind.
Thus, an end is brought to the history
of war and struggle that was necessary
in order for the right of the eldest son to
be restored in the realm of parental love.
The time has come when indemnity is
not needed and we can reach harmony
in love. In order to achieve this, I had to
hold the Ceremony of the Settlement of
the Eight Stages. By holding this cere-
mony, the Parents forgave both the elder
and the younger son, so that next we can
enter the age of the realm of forgiveness
for the fallen parents. (193-173, 1989.10.3)

Richard: Satan’s world is in its death throes; the current seeming advance of evil will not stand.

Spirits of the Departed

Souls who have passed on do not really leave us.  They remain with us as more than mere memories. the souls of people whom we loved on earth continue to seek our welfare us much as they are able. the souls of people we wronged on earth harbor resentment against us and would avenge themselves if given the chance. thus, the dead are not really dead. they may be living with us. sometimes sensitive people can call them down to earth, as in the bible when Saul employed a medium to call up the ghost of the prophet Samuel. 
    Most people are ignorant of spiritual influences on the living, yet they are real. the philosopher Immanuel Kant once said, “the human soul stands even in this life in indissoluble connection with all immaterial natures in the spirit world, that it reciprocally acts upon these and receives impressions and help from them.” they include not only spirits of the dead, but also nature spirits—sprites, fairies and their ilk. the first peoples know them well, and their shamans are trained to sense their presence and employ them for human benefit. their influence can be benign, or it can be beneficial, as the muse that inspires great art or the sudden insight that begets scientific discovery and invention. spiritual influence can also be terribly destructive; for example, the passions that inflame age-old conflicts into modern-day ethnic violence.
    Intercourse between heaven and earth works both ways. spirits can be mobilized to assist earthly people for a righteous cause; conversely spirits need help from earthly people to resolve their own difficulties. Many religions promote the idea that the living should make offerings to benefit the dead; the Latter-Day saints even promote baptism for the dead as a way to bring them closer to the perfection of the end-times. in this regard, Father Moon teaches a doctrine of “returning resurrection,” by which spirits descend to assist the living, and the living in turn assist the dead by shouldering the burden of their unfinished business and resolving it.

  1. Spirits Among Us

Do not say, “They are dead!” about anyone who
is killed for God’s sake. Rather they are living,
even though you do not notice it. 
    Qur’an 2.154

The scent of the sakaki leaves is fragrant; 
Drawing near, I see countless kinsmen
Assembled all around,
Assembled all around.
    Kagura-Uta (Shinto)

The light which these souls [of departed saints]
radiate is responsible for the progress of the
world and the advancement of its peoples. They
are like leaven which leavens the world of being,
and constitute the animating force through
which the arts and wonders of the world are
made manifest… These souls and symbols of
detachment have provided, and will continue
to provide, the supreme moving impulse in the
world of being.
    Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 81
    (Baha’i Faith)

Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up
for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out
with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul,
“Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.”
The king said to her, “Have no fear; what do
you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see
a god coming up out of the earth.” He said to
her, “What is his appearance?” And she said,
“An old man is coming up; and he is wrapped
in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel,
and he bowed with his face to the ground, and
did obeisance. Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why
have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
    1 Samuel 28.11-15

Those who are dead are never gone:
they are there in the thickening shadow.
The dead are not under the earth:
they are there in the tree that rustles,
they are in the wood that groans,
they are in the water that runs,
they are in the water that sleeps,
they are in the hut, they are in the crowd,
the dead are not dead.
Those who are dead are never gone:
they are in the breast of the woman,
they are in the child who is wailing,
and in the firebrand that flames.
The dead are not under the earth:
they are in the fire that is dying,
they are in the grasses that weep,
they are in the whimpering rocks,
they are in the forest, they are in the house,
the dead are not dead.
    Birago Diop (African Traditional Religions)

“The path of the hekura is visible, luminous;
there arises from it something like a fiery breath
that makes the air heavy and almost unbreath-
able. One does not see the hekura, one feels the
wind they raise when they move. During the
hunt from which I just returned, I scattered the
hekura who were in me.”
    “Ordinary men are unable to recognize
them. Yet the wind tells us that they are there.”
    “I see them only at night, when I close my
eyes.”
    “One can see them only then.”
    “Their paths become luminous for me. I
am sleeping; they approach and summon me
to answer them. They suddenly wake me by
shaking my arm or pulling on my ankle.”
    “Those who are not truly shamans do not
hear them. He who is really a shaman hears a
kind of buzzing, ‘bouu…’ during his sleep, and
this song echoes, rebounding off the celestial
vault. He opens his eyes and says to himself, ‘I
am going to see them now!’ The parrotlets sing,
‘bre, bre, bre,’ he knows that it is they. A cool
breeze then glides along his legs…”
    “I saw the hekura walk on a rotten branch;
I was passing right underneath.”
    “Indeed, it was they; but they were not
friendly toward you. The strong odors of the
smoking grill, the smell of singed hair, of scorched
meat near the fire, all this drives them off. Yet
they did seem inclined to approach you.”
    “They give off a heady perfume; it comes
from the dyes and the magic plants they carry
with them. Suddenly, I stopped smelling these
aromas, my nostrils no longer perceived them.”
    “Therefore when one is at the end of the
initiation, it is advisable not to hunt. If a flock
of toucans takes flight and one of them lands
near you, then all the others immediately follow
suit. Be sure not to frighten them: stare at them
fixedly and continue on your way; you be sure
that they are hekura. Of course, there are those
you drove away during the hunt; but don’t be
overly concerned, I foresee that those were not
the good ones. The others remain, who came
into your breast while you were lying in your
hammock. Those are truly yours, they are in
you.” 33
    Yanomami Shaman’s Instruction
    (Native American Religion)

And when the last Red Man shall have perished,
and the memory of my tribe shall have become
a myth among the white men, these shores will
swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and
when your children’s children think themselves
alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the
highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods,
they will not be alone. In all the earth there is
no place dedicated to solitude. At night when
the streets of your cities and villages are silent
and you think them deserted, they will throng
with the returning hosts that once filled them
and still love this beautiful land. The White
Man will never be alone.
    Chief Seattle 34 (Native American Religion)