Preparing to disembody
André received word from Master Alcar that the time had come for him to disembody.
André had prepared himself for this great event and felt ready for this wondrous happening.
All the same, it had not been very easy to get ready, because he had to adapt to life in the spirit which he could only achieve through meditation.
He thought of his master night and day, and pondered on all the things related to life after death.
His mind was constantly set on tranquillity, and in the meantime, he felt that he had moved away from the material world.
However, once he had reached this condition, earthly life became harder for him.
He was now at odds with one and all, because people no longer understood him.
An overpowering sensitivity got hold of him, yet he must try to stand firm, otherwise, life on earth would rap him on the knuckles too, and he would break down.
This had to be prevented; otherwise he would not be suitable for this kind of work.
He must, under all circumstances, be able to cope with his own life and with the tremendous situations in life after death.
Passions and material violence came rushing at him during this period of increased sensitivity.
It wasn’t easy to stand up to, and no-one was able to help him in this situation.
There wasn’t a single person whom he received any support from; André had to work his way through this on his own.
He had to keep on tuning in to the spheres of light; otherwise, his master would not be able to reach him.
If he became obstinate, there would be no disembodiment at all.
He must remain his own steady self in all things, or else he would deprive himself of this blessing, and that was something he wanted to prevent at all costs.
The first days were always the hardest for him.
He would remain suspended between two worlds, the earthly and the spiritual.
But once he had reached the spiritual, everything worked itself out and all earthly things lost all power over him.
Nevertheless, it was remarkable how he was still able to do his work. He could receive people and talk with them, while none of them sensed that at the very most; only twenty percent of André’s vital power and personality were present on earth.
During those moments, he actually spoke from a different world, the world to which his master belonged.
Now that he was tuned in to the higher spheres, his conscious self drifted off, and the physical laws that governed matter lost their grip on him.
At this point the other condition began to dominate, and he was able to see through the material worlds.
He was now more spirit than human being.
For a short while he consciously stepped into the great unknown on the Beyond, although he was still on earth.
He now dwelt fully consciously in the hereafter, and took in all he beheld.
Extraordinary things happened to him that week.
André had boarded a tram and was returning home.
He had gone through all the necessary motions without being aware of them, such as getting on, buying a ticket, and sitting down on an available seat.
In feeling, he was faraway from the earth, and yet he was amongst other people on earth.
In other words, he also dwelt in the life after death.
He didn’t realize that he had boarded a tram, although his master had constantly warned him against this absent-minded kind of behaviour, as it could prove fatal to him.
But André kept on forgetting this advice.
After he had taken a seat in the tram, he suddenly felt his conscious self dissolving in the spirit.
He was now in a clairvoyant condition and able to see.
The tram, the people, and all the things that belonged to the earth disappeared before his eyes.
His inner life now participated in the things he saw.
Namely the spheres!
He saw them in front of him and felt the sacred peace of the Other Side.
This holiness descended into him, yet he should have prevented this from happening.
He was no longer watching over himself.
The flowers and birds smiled upon him. He saw astral human beings who dwelt in that sphere.
How marvellous it is, he thought, to be allowed to see and feel all this.
Nothing could ever give him and the people on earth greater joy than to be allowed to dwell right there.
I’ll be back shortly, he thought, while he took in all he could see at the time.
It seemed remarkable to him that he could still keep on thinking of life on earth without it actually getting through to him.
He therefore understood that he was present at that certain spot, and yet again, he wasn’t.
This held true for both worlds.
His inner life had split.
The same thing occurred when he experienced certain things for his patients and then lost himself for a short while in order to take in what he had to see.
He had become familiar with these laws in the hereafter, and he understood his present feelings and the reason why he was so sensitive, but he forgot to tune in to it.
This was a dangerous situation, because he was now oblivious of his earthly actions.
As he began to see, two beautiful beings walked past him, close enough for him to clearly hear them talking.
At this point he merged into this other life completely and forgot himself on earth.
He sat there daydreaming; worse still, he was no longer aware of his material life. His conscious self had become totally immersed in the things he saw.
“How long’, a very beautiful female being said, “have I been waiting for you?
How great your suffering was on earth, and yet there is an end to everything.
How can we thank God for our happiness?
Shall we pray here in these holy surroundings and thank God for all the beauty we have now received?
Look, my child, behold all this beauty!”
André looked on, while both beings knelt and thanked God for everything they had been given.
He did not want to disturb them.
However, he did want to take a flower from the spheres back to earth, to remind him of this beautiful moment.
He stood up suddenly and picked a flower of the spheres.
At that same moment he felt a shock deep within, and he suddenly regained awareness of what he was doing.
I’ve forgotten myself again, he thought, and as a result the people here think I’ve gone mad.
What should I do?
He saw his master in the distance.
André looked into his eyes, that told him: ‘What are you doing, André?
Did you not feel my presence?
Was I not watching over you? And now what?’
He understood his master, bent his head and knew he had to act quickly.
Whatever is that man doing, the other passengers wondered.
Was he out of his mind?
He thought very quickly. He ought to do something.
He could see the people in front of him smirking, and he knew what that laugh meant.
They were right to think he was mad.
All the same, he had no desire to be looked upon as a maniac.
He raised his arm to get the conductor’s attention and call him over.
But he couldn’t remember how these men were addressed.
It suddenly came back to him and he called out:
“Conductor, excuse me.”
The man went over to him.
“Can you tell me ...” the words, spoken in deep concentration, crossed his lips haltingly.
“I’m not from here. Where is it”
That was as far as he got.
What now?
In his mind’s eye he saw the square he walked across every day, but the name just wouldn’t come.
He lisped something and said: “Val ... Val ...”
“Oh”, the conductor said, “You mean the Valkenbosplein?”
“Exactly, that’s the one.”
He spoke these words smoothly; he didn’t need to be thinking them up.
“I’ll let you know, sir; we’re not there yet.”
All the same, the other passengers thought he was a bit strange and stared at him.
But everything was back to normal.
André sat down again and thought to himself: ‘You can think whatever you like, I’m my usual self again.
I must watch out though, or else there’ll be an accident.’
What would his master have to say to this?
He was ashamed of himself. But after all, he was terribly sensitive!
He saw through life on earth in all its forms.
When people happened to sit next to him, their thoughts told him about their lives.
By now he could tell them exactly what they longed for, how they lived, where they were going to and where they came from.
By reading their thoughts, he was able to take on all their singularities.
This was also troublesome at times, because there were many who conveyed disagreeable things; some even made him shiver and cringe.
Lust and horrible physical violence lurched at him, and he had to use all his inherent faculties to stand up to them if he wanted to remain his true self.
These were the conflicts in earthly life, which he had to deal with.
The fact that a spirit of light could see through earthly beings and assimilate everything no longer seemed a wonder to him, because he knew that the people on earth send all their thoughts into that other, astral world.
The shock had brought him back to reality.
He was susceptible to everything now.
In this condition he felt an enormous attraction to water.
If he didn’t watch his step, he would walk straight into the water.
When he asked his master why this was the case, Alcar said:
“We were born in water.
You will learn about these laws at a later stage.”
It’s unbelievable, André pondered.
He had to concentrate vigorously on his material consciousness; otherwise, he would simply have jumped into the water, and again people would think that he had gone mad.
This sensitivity would come over him whenever he prepared to disembody.
Usually when he lived in this sensitivity, the moment would be drawing near for Alcar to free him from his earthly body.
He had to watch out for lots of things now.
Out on the streets, this condition could be fatal, as danger was always imminent.
And in his case the risk was even greater because he wasn’t afraid, and death didn’t scare him.
Death had become insignificant to him because he had become familiar with it.
He bowed his head to illness, misery, and accepted them.
By doing so, he remained himself.
Friends envied his inner disposition and André advised them all to open up to these laws, because in the end this would make them very happy.
One day, some years ago, Alcar had dematerialized him.
André was standing at a front door, in the open. He suddenly dissolved and found himself on the inside.
Those forces had gone right through him, although he hadn’t been aware of them at the time.
Nonetheless, his personality had experienced it, and this was another thing he had to watch out for.
Sometimes, when he went to visit a patient, he would absent-mindedly try to walk through a closed door, which invariably dealt him a painful smack.
He would bang his head against the door, which made him realize that he had forgotten his conscious self again.
He would stroll along in this condition, wrapped up in thought, and remain oblivious of the earth; however, this situation could invariably entail great danger.
The most awesome event he ever experienced happened when his physical body became totally dissolved in the spirit; he would otherwise have been run over and torn to pieces by a tram.
That eventful evening he had been on his way to a patient.
He was thinking of the woman, concentrating on her, but he didn’t realize that he would become completely immersed in that condition.
When he turned the street corner, he suddenly found himself on the tracks of a fast-moving tram, racing towards him.
He hadn’t heard a sound.
The monster was now only two yards away.
At that moment, he felt himself being raised up and transported right through the lights, the driver, the vehicle and the people, and he emerged again through the back of the tram.
He was swept to the patient’s front door, landed on his feet, and rang the bell.
The woman opened the door, looked at him and got a terrible shock. She asked him:
“What’s the matter, André?
You look as white as a sheet.”
“It’s nothing, ma’am, I feel quite all right.”
Shall I tell her what just happened to me, he thought.
She won’t believe it, nor, would she be able to understand it.
“I’m feeling fine”, he told her husband too, “there’s nothing wrong with me.”
To them, his face bore the signs of death, but a little later they had to admit that they must have been mistaken.
Evening dusk can be quite misleading ...
However, he received a severe spiritual scolding from Master Alcar.
Master Alcar was really angry with him, André was not to let such things happen again, or else his master wouldn’t be able to do anything more for him either.
The moment the tram approached, Master Alcar had dematerialized André, who, at that time, dwelt in a half-material, half-spiritual realm, where physical manifestations of this kind may occur.
He had experienced the same thing when his leader had transported him through that front door.
This time, Master Alcar had made him sail right through a tram and the people inside.
He entered through the front and came out through the back, looking like a corpse.
And André truly understood that at that moment he had experienced death, and all its inherent laws!
He had been made familiar with this condition during his dark séances, and he bore those powers within.
However, a protection of that kind could only be granted once.
Alcar told him:
“If you do not take better care of yourself, I will have to let you go.
It is up to you what you want.
If I had to protect you from every possible danger, your life would come to a standstill.
Besides, you are at odds with the laws of God and with your own life; that is something I cannot do anything about.
I was allowed to protect you this time, André, but if you forget yourself once more, I will back out of your life.”
This upset André for days.
Sadness overwhelmed him, and yet ... how simple it was!
He could have prevented this.
He ought to take better care of himself.
He should be here as well as there, yet remain his true self in whatever he did, and he ought to be able to look after himself.
He would otherwise have to accept the fact that an accident would sooner or later put an end to his life, and he didn’t want that to happen, as he wanted to keep on serving the Beyond.
Never before had his master been so strict with him.
On that occasion too, André had been about to disembody, and when he arrived on the Other Side, Master Alcar let him have it.
He received another spiritual dressing-down, and all he could do was to bow his head and own up to his error.
However, when his master reverted to their common task and made André familiar with more wonders, he felt that he had learnt a lot, since his will power had grown stronger.
And when Alcar smiled at him, that immense happiness returned into his life, the happiness he thought he had lost forever.
When Master Alcar told André that he had withdrawn his powers of concentration because he had done wrong, André sensed that he had been left on his own and his sadness was boundless.
He felt forlorn.
He had no notion of his own life.
He felt as lost as a stray dog and as poor as a church mouse.
His spiritual help had dissolved and he had been deserted.
How very downcast he was at the time.
He seemed to be totally devoid of life.
However, that same night Master Alcar set him free, and André disembodied.
Tears rolled down his cheeks when he saw his master standing in front of him.
He didn’t dare say a word and couldn’t even stand the bright light that his leader spread forth.
He went to all lengths to assure his master that he would watch over himself.
Countless things went through his mind.
He followed Alcar submissively wherever he was taken.
On that trip he realized how dangerous it was to simply let himself go.
Even now, he felt the eyes of his master upon him.
Again he had forgotten himself, but it hadn’t caused any accidents, thank heavens.
He would take better care in future!
Alcar had told him explicitly: “I cannot help you out in all matters.
You must look after yourself and pay attention to all the things that relate to your life.
You know the dangers.”
André was to take care of everything that concerned his own life; otherwise, strange things might happen.
No matter how far he spiritually removed himself from the earth, he should always be ready to act on the spot.
Meditation enabled him to separate himself from material life.
Finally, the message came through that he was about to disembody, and he thought to himself: “Thank goodness, the moment has come.”
He waited in his room for the things that lay ahead.
He already felt the first phenomena awakening within and taking effect.
His feet had lost all sense of feeling.
They had turned cold. He knew it wasn’t a natural coldness because that felt different.
This coldness set in because he was about to leave his body as a spiritual personality.
The physical organism was nurtured by the personality, and this personality was now being released from the bondage of the physical, organic laws.
Slowly, this coldness crept upward and the higher it went, the more he felt overcome by sleep.
This condition amounted to a state of trance, and to earthly standards he appeared to be dead.
Disembodiment, this conscious departure from the body, was the most wondrous of all the gifts his leader made him experience, because it enabled André to consciously dwell in the life after death.
Formerly, Alcar would put him in trance before he disembodied, but meanwhile, he had made enough progress to maintain his own consciousness, so that he could now follow the things that were taking place in both his own life and the spheres.
He didn’t lose consciousness for a single moment, and this was the condition in which he entered life in the spirit.
He now experienced two separate conditions.
When he experienced his earthly life normally and consciously – Alcar called this the ‘day-conscious self’ – he would step out of that consciousness into the realm of the spirit, where he had already become familiar with many of its laws.
However, he also possessed a consciousness of his own in this other, spiritual life, which was identical to the earthly one, yet was now completely independent of all material.
Two different worlds, which he experienced from within one single condition.
He was conscious in both worlds, but he acquired the enhanced, astral awareness through his master.
He could do as he pleased in his earthly life, but he had no say in his master’s domain, where he had to obey like a little child.
It was amazing.
No wonder disembodiment fascinated him most of all; it was the holiest of all the spiritual gifts his master enabled him to experience.
Now, all the material and spiritual problems he had faced belonged to the past!
As soon as the process of disembodiment started, sleep would enter his organism, but he stayed awake.
Behind this sleep there was the spiritual world with which his leader would connect him.
This grade of sleep harboured the psychic trance, and this gift, which lay in the hands of his master – he couldn’t free himself of his own accord – enabled him to experience this awesome wonder that acquainted him with life after death.
The wisdom he received during this period of disembodiment was intended for all mankind.
In this way he invariably returned in his organism with all the treasures he had acquired, which were then recorded at some later date.
Sleep, as his master had also explained to him, possessed seven grades.
The ultimate and highest grade equalled apparent death.
When he disembodied he found himself between the fifth and sixth grade of sleep.
In this condition he floated between two worlds, and was attracted by the astral world.
All this was brought about by the conscious powers of Master Alcar.
These powers did not belong to André; he was only the instrument, the earthly medium, and would remain so.
Nevertheless, he experienced all these sacred laws of God, which changed his life and continuously raised his consciousness.
What is disembodiment?
When do earthly people depart from their body?
André had become familiar with it.
Once again he was about to experience this spiritual wonder.
He had an inherent desire to serve and convince mankind of eternal life.
This was the most sacred gift for the earthly being that God could bestow on him.
Millions of people believed that they were not yet in need of such holiness, but those who became aware of it were grateful to his master and sent him flowers.
Most of them added a little note that read: ‘From a thankful soul’.
André cherished an ardent faith, and he had built up a strong feeling of self-confidence.
These character traits were vital to disembodiment.
He had a great desire to do good.
The fact that he was allowed to bring the light of the Beyond to unconscious people gave extra strength to him and to thousands of others who wanted to open up.
Since his wish to serve was pure, the conscious astral world in these moments drew him up, and he was released from his organism.
He slipped out effortlessly, and in the other world, his master awaited him.
Many people told him that they were able to disembody, but he could fathom their inner life, and he saw that they didn’t know what they were talking about.
These beings merely experienced a disembodiment, which they conjured up in their fantasies.
They would prefer matters to be otherwise, but they lacked the appropriate feelings.
They had dreams in which they spoke with their loved ones, but when André asked them about the astral laws, they were stuck for an answer and remained silent.
People of that kind didn’t disembody; they knew nothing about life after death.
His master assured him that millions of conscious people on the Beyond would rejoice if these persons were really able to disembody, because the more the earth received, the more humanity would profit.
It would change life on earth.
During all his years of service to the Beyond, he had spoken to hundreds of people who claimed to have disembodied.
Yet there wasn’t one amongst them who could tell him anything about the laws on the Beyond, and then he knew them for what they really were.
He would have loved to meet people on earth who had truly experienced disembodiment.
It would have given him a chance to discuss those awesome, wondrous laws with them, but in each case he came to the conclusion that they were making things up.
The more he experienced, the more he understood these so-called mediums, which were not mediums at all.
These people were not aware of the dangers involved, and yet they talked about all these matters as if they had passed exams and were qualified.
Darkness reigned in their lives.
They subsided into their own unconscious self.
They imagined that they could disembody and dwell in the hereafter for a while.
It was all a lot of rubbish to him, as well as to others.
These so-called mediums would go to pieces if they were really to experience these laws.
It would drive them insane on the spot.
It made no difference whether André briefed them and explained the occult laws; they refused to let him take their fantasy world away from them.
‘Do as you please’, he thought, ‘keep on living in your own fantasies and stick to your illusions, but do not rob me of my time’.
If these people were shown out too quickly to their liking, he was said to be loveless, and even lacked good manners.
“Marvellous”, Master Alcar would say, “let them curse and shout as much as they want, André.
We will show them on this side that their experiences amount to mere lies.
But first they will need to die!”
None of these people knew what they were doing, and they destroyed more than they pieced together.
These people were after sensation, eager for the gifts, but mainly bent on being something special.
They cursed him because they didn’t understand him.
André let them curse; it didn’t worry him, nor did he fear the devil; he had become familiar with that son of man too.
Right at the start of André’s development, Alcar had told him that mediums who were really able to disembody were to accomplish a spiritual task, but nothing of the kind showed up in any of these people.
Those who disembodied needed to possess all the physical and the psychic gifts that empowered the Beyond to work.
However, none of these people ever showed any signs of these gifts.
Besides, they had received their training from an earthly magnetizer or a clairvoyant.
This completely disqualified them in André’s eyes, because no person on earth could ever impart this spiritual treasure to others.
Orientals might very well be capable of disembodiment, yet these people, who lived in a no-nonsense Western world, couldn’t even fathom their own self.
Nevertheless, these magnetizers and clairvoyants claimed to possess those spiritual gifts; André, however, would promptly expose these people too, because he knew this to be impossible!
Training of that kind remained in the hands of the Beyond.
Even André would not be able to disembody if his master didn’t want him to; he was merely an instrument and would remain so.
In the long run, all these mediums merely fooled themselves.
They wanted to possess these gifts, yet they would never be able to develop them, because they had no knowledge of the laws that were involved.
Alcar had told him long ago that he would later instruct one of his helpers, who was his most advanced pupil on the Beyond, to write a book about all the spiritual gifts.
It would enable these people to get to know themselves and would put a final end to all their fantasizing.
No longer would they be able to hide, because everyone would see right through them.
Those people had no notion of death, although their disembodiment ought to have acquainted them with it. After all, they went through death to eternal life!
André now changed over into the life in the spirit.
Freed from his material body, he surveyed the ultimate of man’s physical existence and now understood his self.
André floated above his earthly body and looked at his leader.
Of all the moments during disembodiment, this one moved André most of all.
There stood Alcar, his master!
His friend, who was a like a father to him.
André alighted in front of him, and bowed down deeply.
He felt himself to be at the feet of his master.
“All right, my boy, here you are, dwelling on this side again.”
André rushed into his arms.
He felt united with Alcar’s life that shone over and above his, that spread its rays like a sun, yet was so close to him.
It would take him a long time to reach Alcar’s level.
His master was a spirit of light, someone who possessed cosmic consciousness and was a father and mother to him.
André felt drawn up into Alcar’s aura of life, and he became strong and powerful enough to be able to assimilate the laws of this life.
“Alcar, I am so grateful to you.
I keep on thanking God for everything you have given me and my loved ones.
How can I ever repay you for all this?”
“By always doing your best. Show your gratitude in your work and put everything within your power into it, so that the spheres of light may open up for you.
This is what you must do, and this will shape character traits within you, which will provide you with spiritual happiness for the life on the Beyond.
You are now dwelling on this side again, André.
You have yet another voyage ahead of you.
But this one will differ from all the others we have experienced together.
This time you will get to know the depths of the soul and the various grades of insanity.
After that, there will be a big surprise awaiting you, but more about that later.
You feel no different here from on earth; you are able to think and to speak to me, and nothing about you has changed.
If people could accept this, then all evil on earth would dissolve.
They would learn to understand each other and feel love towards every aspect of God’s life.
You will enter eternity and experience all this sanctity, so that you may awaken mankind, André.
I intend to explain the various grades of insanity to you during this journey.
You will experience remarkable laws, which are, as yet, completely incomprehensible to the people on earth, and all mankind still turns a blind eye to them.
On earth, human insight in these matters has not yet seen the light of day.
Nevertheless, God created it for the sake of everyone on earth; it belongs to man’s material possessions, although it represents our world.
The knowledge you are about to receive on the Side Beyond is an integral part of the proclamation of equality on earth, which the apostles preached according to the message, brought to mankind by their Master Jesus Christ.
If you never forget this, André, I will be able to descend deeper into this sanctity.
Although it seems to spell only sorrow and misery for the physical person. After all, who wants to be insane?
If you are able to feel this, I will determine the depth of all those unconscious ‘selfhoods’, and can then proceed to the very first and very last moment of those whose spiritual ability belongs exclusively to life on the Beyond.
You, and all who follow us, will become seeing.
Magnificent things will be revealed to you, but what is to follow surpasses the understanding of everyone on earth.
My masters instructed me to devote myself completely to this sanctity. In turn, I now ask you to dedicate yourself to this task, so that we can finish our great work.
The holy inspiration of our life will come over you, as well as the conviction that you will receive cosmic consciousness.
You must ask me questions about all this.
And these questions must be directly related to the problem; otherwise, we would not understand each other and that would make it hard for the masses, for our readers, to grasp our words.
I want to reach the simple-hearted, and the intellectual too if that is possible, in short, all those who want to get to know both themselves and the things belonging to the life after death that will benefit them.
Do you understand what I mean, André?”
“Yes, Alcar, it’s clear to me.”
“So try to think clearly and ask me as many questions as possible.
You must sense how these illnesses can be held in check, what they are attuned to and how a personality feels, who is astrally possessed.
On earth, you were allowed to experience several of those conditions, and so you have learnt a lot.
You are ready now.
We will descend into all these lives and experience their condition.
This will teach you the laws and the attunement of man.
I will explain the reality of these illnesses to you, so that the material genius on earth will get an idea of the abominable inadequacy of their studies of the spirit, and of the poverty in spiritual feeling, which prevails within universities that try to qualify a student for these studies. Under these circumstances he will never understand the illnesses and the laws that govern them.
I will not give them the chance to destroy our work, and I will see to it that the power and the knowledge involved remain in my hands. In other words: we analyse all these grades for the benefit of the scientists on earth, and that will be final.
There is no haughtiness within any of us, who have come to know the happiness of the spheres, because we returned to earth as brothers and sisters.
We bow our heads before man, before the scientist who stands powerless and shows his empty hands.
However, the despair in their life was not laid down in them by the God of all life, André; they must still awaken to this knowledge.
When that is in reach, our task will be blessed by their awakening, and we would do anything to achieve that!
Come on, my boy, we will now leave your organism behind.
I can continue to prepare you while we are on the way.
Your material body is being taken care of.
Your own aura of life will close it off to lower beings, and all the beings on the Side Beyond recognize your sacredness and bow their heads before your mediumship. They show respect for your servility and will therefore do all they can to help you!”
