Is there such thing as Ghosts according to Sikhism?

Soul_jyot · #19 (**permalink**) 30-Sep-2011, 21:29 PM

Earthbound entities

By: James Van Praagh
( From his book : "REACHING HEAVEN" - A spiritual journey through life and death )

Once the spirit has shed its physical vehicle, it resides in its etheric
counterpart. In this state the spirit has an immediate feeling of peace and
freedom. likewise, there is a strong sense of lightness and buoyancy because the
weight and gravity of the physical body no longer exist. The spirit remains in
this gray, misty etheric double for a very brief time, perhaps just moments,
before the etheric sheath is shed and the spirit moves into its astral form. In a
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/interfaith-dialogues/24049-there-such-thing-ghosts-according-sikhism.html
way you could say that the etheric sheath is a bridge from the physical to the
astral. In most cases this transition is swift.

However, when a spirit is very close to its family and is not ready to accept the
fact that it is dead, the earthly ties become a type of entrapment. In such a
situation a spirit will stay very close to its corpse. Often, it will make futile
attempts to communicate with family members. it is quite common for this type of
spirit to attend its own funeral. Many times this act helps a spirit to realize it
is no longer a part of a physical existence.
By then it is finally ready to move onward to its spiritual home. occasionally, however, a spirit gets "stuck" and
becomes what is referred to as "earthbound." Often it is a person's belief system
in life that keeps him "earthbound" after death. let me explain what i mean by a
person's belief system.

Once upon a time there was a man named bill, who lived on the planet earth. He was
an agnostic; he had no religious or spiritual beliefs. Bill was certain of only
what he experienced. his attitude was, "when you die, you die. There is nothing
more." During his life bill was solely concerned with two things: himself and his
possessions. His main purpose in life was to accumulate as much money and as many
possessions as possible, even if it was through exploitation of or detriment to
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others.

One day bill dies and awakens on the other side. He quickly realizes that he is
not really "dead," just in another, lighter form. however, he still possesses his
earthly, materialistic mind-set. With great impatience he tries to hold on to his
possessions, only to find that he cannot. he does not understand that the etheric,
gray, dull mist in which he is engulfed is a mere shadow of his former physical
world. Unaware and unprepared, bill continues to roam the earth as a ghost,
visiting his house and contacting his family in an attempt to communicate with
them. this "in-between" state may last a few hours, months, or even years,
depending on bill's desire to leave the physical behind and move into the astral
or higher realms. fortunately, none of us have to go through the same etheric
entanglement as bill if we maintain some sort of higher spiritual awareness.

A few years ago, my knowledge of earthbound entities came to me first hand
through a friend. mike was a college professor who taught world history. He was so
rational that he could not be convinced that the spirit world existed. mike knew
the type of work i did and even sat in some of my seances, but he didn't believe
in any of it. Even when i conveyed messages from several of his deceased
relatives, he didn't give them much credence. looking back, i realize now that he
sat in those seances merely to appease me. during the course of our friendship,
mike was diagnosed with a terminal disease and became quite despondent. I
reassured him time after time that life doesn't end, but nothing i said helped him
to rest easy. in time he became bitter and reclusive.

Mike died not long after his terminal diagnosis. two days after his transition, he
paid me a visit from the spirit side. I remember it vividly. It was early morning,
and i was suddenly awakened by the appearance of a six-foot etheric body
shimmering at the foot of my bed. I couldn't get over how real mike looked, even
down to his blond hair. he stared at me, then telepathically asked, "am i dead?" i
sent back my thought, "yes, mike, you are." he replied, "thanks." On that note he
disappeared. Immediately following his departure, i perceived the presence of an
african woman dressed in incredible tribal robes. i knew instinctively that she
was one of mike's spiritual guides. i heard her say to me, "thank you. he had to
hear it from someone he knew." then she, too, vanished into the ether.
The sad thing is that the world is filled with earthbound entities. Some, like
mike, realize right away that they are "stuck" and quickly move into the spirit
world. some aren't so fortunate. these earthbound entities roam the physical plane
and "haunt" the living by influencing weak-minded humans. They are "caught" in
between the world of the flesh and the world of spirit. it is unfortunate that our
restrictive and rigid belief systems don't die when we leave the physical body.
Instead, these convictions prove themselves true on the other side.

Earthbound conditions can also occur if a person passes out of the body violently.
Here again, a spirit is lost because it is unprepared and doesn't realize what has
occurred. In many situations like this, a spirit will often continue to do what it
did on earth until it realizes that the body is dead, and it has passed to the
other side. spirits have often expressed anger at such untimely deaths; some even
want revenge. fortunately, there are spiritual beings whose job is to help these
lost spirits cross over to the higher expression of life.

The transition from the physical world to the spirit world is natural and
painless. however, our culture has built this event into one of immense fear,
and people are not properly prepared for it. This causes spirits to become earthbound
because they don't know where they are when they get there. that is why it is so
important that we gain an understanding of the phenomenon of death - so that
everyone's transition will be easy gentle, and complete. We need only grasp that
death is a doorway to life everlasting, and that there is more to come.

( Chapter 4: pages from 42 to 45 )

Tejwant Singh · #20 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2011, 09:15 AM

This James Vaan Praagh is the biggest fraudster ever existed. He was exposed by 60 Minutes on CBS. He claims to talk to the dead. He was caught having 'feelers' waiting in line with the people who wanted to know about their dead relatives. He got the information about them before hand through his feelers. One just have to Google his name and his fraudulent actions will show up.
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Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24049

I would urge the Administration to request the content masters to vet the authors,especially who claim to talk to the dead, before posting any articles from them.

Thanks

Tejwant Singh

harry haller · #21 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2011, 14:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sahota4eva

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh .. Freind, Do Not Worry Because The Guru Ji's Are Following Every Step Along With You .. Although If You Are Really Really Concerned As Such Things Then I Would Reccomend You To Spread Amrit Around Your Whole House And Apply Paat (Prayer). I Would Prefer The Sukhmani Sahib Ji Because This Paat Is Available Throughout The Whole Day. You Can Read It Yourself, Get A Dear Sevadaar Or Play The Paat On A Digital Device. If You Are Not A Amrit-Tari Then I Would Strongly Tell You To Follow God's Rules For At Least A Week Or Month. After All These Steps Have Been Followed Then Hopefully The Evil Spirits/Energy's Should Be Gone,If Not Then I Am Telling You To Go To A Proffesional. I Hope My Advice Helped. (If This Did Not Help Than Pardon Me I Am Only 11)

Your advice did not help hugely sahota4evaji, but thats ok, you are only 11, and you are pardoned.

However kakaji, your post shows huge potential and you have got a few things on the right road, to me Amrit is another word for knowledge, so to spread knowledge all around you is not a bad thought, to be so enthusiastic about sikhi is great, but harness your knowledge, learn the things that need to be learnt, read books, know the history, use sikhi as a guide while your growing up, I look forward to following your development and your posts

Gyani Jarnail Singh · #22 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2011, 17:43 PM

IN Sikhi and Gurmatt...people always forget that GYAAN..LOGICal thinking..thought process..vichaar, questioning mind...come first and foremost....A SIKH first arms himslef with the GYAAN KHARAGH..and then ONLY with a physical KIRPAN.
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Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24049
The Firts Five Gurus showed us how to carry the GYAAN KHARRAGH...and then slowly we beagn to carry the Kirpan...and only in 1699 was the Physical Kirpan made necessary..BUT still the GYAAN KHRAGH is Vital pre-requisite. Guru Gobind Singh ji has showed us that a Sikh minus the Gyaan Kharragh but armed with Kirpan etc is a DONKEY in Lions clothing...sadly today..too many such lions roaming around..inside they are donkeys.

spnadmin · #23 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2011, 20:31 PM

Actually what I want to do is merge the thread on Jim Van Pragh with the thread on Preets and Bhoots. My reason is that belief in this sort of thing did not end with the closing of chapters in Punjab's folk histrory; nor when immigrants stepped onto the cross Atlantic turf. It continues as a modern menace. Without knowing how beliefs in ghosts take modern and so-called "intellectual and spiritual form" in this age of information, it is hard to keep impressionable people informed. Personally I would like to see all new age regurgitations of old superstitions cleansed from this forum. But if we do that then we cannot educate.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24049
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24049

threads merged

aristotle · #24 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2011, 20:43 PM

Well, I haven't seen ghosts but would like to meet one soon. I mean, we are working on nano-sized particle medicines, and ghosts claim to be invisible. So, we could work up a theory, probably to make invisible drugs (Well, that's some Nobel Prize stuff !!).