Step inside “Bridges Between Life and Death” by Iris Paxino
by Floris Books • 21 May 2021 • Extract, Philosophy of Human Life • 0 Comments
Bridges Between Life and Death by Iris Paxino is a personal and moving book from an experienced psychologist and professional counsellor. This book is full of thoughtful insights that introduce alternative ways of thinking about dying, death and the journey of the soul after life. In the following extract Paxino outlines the connections which can occur between the living and the dead, and encourages readers to grow their relationships with loved ones they have lost.
The culture in which we live has a decisive influence on our understanding of the world and of ourselves. The current materialistic-scientific world view has created an image of human life as beginning at birth (or just before it at conception) and ending at death, thereby enclosing us entirely within earthly existence. This paradigm has defined human consciousness as the product of solely material processes and the limits of physical existence as impassable barriers, but the experiences of countless people contradict these claims. Spiritual experiences are increasing. It is no longer exceptional to hear of people who have memories from earlier incarnations, who have encounters with angels, elemental beings and even with Christ, relatives who experience their loved one beyond the threshold, women experience the nature of their unborn child.
When I give lectures or seminars about relating to those who have died, I often ask at the beginning of the event whether someone from the audience has already had experiences with the dead. As a rule, about half of the participants report their experiences. Some of them have only fleeting experiences, others more frequently; some have positive experiences, others have had more stressful ones. This indicates that perceiving those who have died is a real part of our lives. Many people experience the soul-spiritual threads that connect our worlds, but how often do such spiritual impressions flit past us? How often are the dead close to us and we do not even notice them?
Our five-year-old son, who, like many other children, has spiritual perceptions from time to time, asked me one day, ‘Mama, what’s the name of your dear old friend who went to heaven last year?’
‘Do you mean Stephen?’
‘Yes, Stephen.’
‘What about him?’
‘He’s sitting on the roof of our house looking down at us. Don’t you see him?’
I immersed myself into the spiritual environment and perceived my deceased friend. Of course, he was not ‘sitting’ on the roof of the house, but at that moment he shone as a great spirit figure over us and enveloped us with a warm, loving light.
A few months later, again in a casual conversation about his day in kindergarten, he said, ‘It was good. We kept building the big sandcastle that we had started yesterday. By the way, Mama, Stephen passed by here yesterday afternoon. Didn’t you see him?’
‘No, I didn’t see him yesterday. When was he there?’
‘When you were vacuuming.’
‘Aha. And what did he do?’
‘He tapped you on the forehead for a moment. And you had a nice thought.’
How often do we receive unnoticed visits from the spiritual world? How often are we surrounded by our loved ones from beyond the threshold? How often do they caress us with a ray of love and give us their warmth? The deceased seek connection with us. They accompany us and give us gifts; they empower, inspire, and motivate us. They illuminate and help to shape our earth. But they also need our keen attention and our trusting friendship. Through us, they seek to be involved in the evolution of the world, and together with them, we are the creators not only of what our earth is but of what it will be.
We hope you enjoyed this extract from Bridges Between Life and Death. Find more of our Philosophy of Human Life books here.
