Only man himself is responsible for its condition, thus
for its density and detachability. The more he chains himself to earthly
things the denser and heavier it becomes, and with it also the ethereal
body; hence in certain cases such a man must feel not only the last
earthly-physical pains, but also the disintegration of his physical
cloak.
But in such a state also cremation will not pass by the
soul without leaving some trace. The English poet H. Dennis Bradley
asked a deceased person through a medium about this, and received the
following answer, which he published in his book "Towards the Stars" (T.
Werner Laurie, London), pages 264/265:
'In a sense you are wrong about the burning of bodies
... On the other hand, you are not quite right in believing that this
sudden and complete destruction does not wound. In a sense it does.
Because, as you know, there is a fragile envelope which surrounds the
soul as a tissue might, which fades away shortly after death. It is a
membrane, as it were, and this is very sensitive immediately after
death, for what you would call a few days or a week. If the body is
entirely destroyed, this membrane, which in a sense is still attached
to the body, is severely hurt. It suffers, and this is imparted also
to the discarnate part. So you must not smile completely at those whom
you call fools, who believe that the body is entirely severed from the
other parts at death. It is so after a very short time, but not
immediately. Before the soul and spirit leave the darkness in which
they are brought after they sever from the body, this membrane has
withered away from them, but not at once.'
The "membrane" which is still attached to the body, and
which only later withers away, is the so-called astral body, which after
severance of the soul from the physical body disintegrates with the
physical body. The astral body, which is dependent on the soul, is a
mediator to the physical body. The so-called "phantom-pains" point to
the existence of the astral body. People who have had a limb removed
still suffer pains from time to time in the same place where the limb
used to be. This is because the corresponding limb of the astral body
cannot be removed along with it; the astral body remains as it is.
It should be mentioned here that there are people who
even in their earth-lives can leave their physical body temporarily with
their ethereal body. This may occur for instance during sleep. Also in
such cases a connection between the two bodies always remains through
the silver cord, which according to earthly concepts has an
inconceivable capacity to stretch.
The Bible describes the awakening of the dead through
Jesus, which He did as long as the silver cord was not yet severed. Only
in this way could the souls already severing from their physical bodies
return to them.
From these explanations it appears that the process of
dying is not yet ended with "clinical" death. There is also an astral
body which in certain circumstances dies only much later than the
physical body. As long as this astral body is still connected with the
physical body and the ethereal body, that is, as long as the connecting
cord is not yet broken, any interference with the dead physical body can
be painfully felt by the soul.....
Surely there can be no doubt that in order to obtain a clear picture,
physical death must be regarded not only from this world but also from
the beyond.
But contemplation of this other, invisible side cannot
be done with the intellect, which itself is transient, thus of this
world, because it is produced by the frontal brain that perishes at
death.
As little as it is possible to drive in a nail with a
goose-feather, so is no one in a position to recognise or to grasp what
is in the beyond, that is, ethereal matter, with the gross-material
brain, because the two are of an entirely different species.
Hence the only course open is to use the intuitive
perception of the spirit, which has a higher origin than have the Worlds
of Matter, and which can therefore view and understand all the visible
and invisible connections in the entire World of Matter.
And only from this point of view must the
increasing transplantations of physical organs from the just deceased
into living persons be regarded. This is really a question of
interference in man's personal sphere, to which he is defencelessly
relinquished, because he can no longer attract attention physically to
himself. But respect for one's neighbour, which also includes his
physical body, and the commandment to do no harm to him whatsoever,
applies not only to the earthly phase of life but also beyond death.
What use then is the consent given in ignorance of
conditions in the beyond. The reality of the Ethereal World, into which
a small glimpse was given here, will soon and painfully enlighten the
departed soul.
Therefore such experiments on the human being must
cease, simply because hardly anyone, not even the doctor concerned, can
answer for the consequences of his interference in the beyond; for he is
ignorant of them and thus cannot assess them. Moreover, Nature itself
usually sets a limit through the diversity and incompatibility of the
tissue-groups, although attempts are made even to break through this
natural barrier.
Interference with the dead physical body, which also
includes dissection and cremation, should, in the temperate zones,
definitely not be undertaken within the well-known three days, for it is
to be assumed that in normal cases the soul will only have severed
itself from its physical body by the end of that period. This would then
in any case rule out the removal of parts of the body for the purpose of
transplantation, because such removal would have to be carried out
immediately after clinical death in order to be at all clinically
possible.
Nevertheless, not only the doctors concerned but also
those persons who wish to give physical organs after their death, and
equally the relatives of suddenly deceased persons who must consent in
their place, and last but not least the recipients of such organs, must
also consider what takes place in the beyond, and base their decisions
on that.
It is a different matter, of course, when considering
the widespread view of which the basic idea is that after death it is
"all over". With this kind of thinking there can be no room for the
reflection that at physical death something that is living and not
visible also severs from the physical body, which through intervention
in the physical body just laid aside might be injured. Here the physical
body is simply material from which individual replacement parts are
taken when needed.
Yet also with this opinion the responsibility of those
who think in this way is not annulled before the Laws of Creation,
either here or "there". For ignorance of the Laws of Creation is no
protection from its consequences.
But for those who bear within them the conviction of survival after
death, physical death is birth into the Ethereal Realm. Just as at birth
into the gross-material, the earthly, the navel cord is severed, so the silver
cord is severed at birth into the ethereal, the beyond. Death need not
be feared by anyone who bears within him the living firm volition for
good, even if the resolution for it has arisen only just before his
physical death. It will help him safely over the threshold, and on the
other side helping hands will carefully guide him on to that recognition
which is still needed in order to ascend towards the Light."
(Herbert Vollmann, chapter "The Silver Cord" from
"A Gate Opens")