Such spirits who appear in dreams are quite different because they are powered by a special motivation in contrast to apparitions who haunt places and are often sighted by others. Incidentally, in recent years, many such sighting have even been caught credibly on camera. In 2014, for example, British papers reported that CCTV cameras at Dover Castle had caught a mystery figure. “In the incredible clip,” the UK Mirror wrote, “a dark, wispy figure can be seen slowly walking across the entrance at Dover Castle in Kent before disappearing. A bemused security guard can then be seen searching in vain for the mysterious spectre…”. A month later, there were reports of another ‘incredible’ sighting captured on camera by a tourist couple, this time at Dudley Castle.
The Birmingham Mail wrote: “…On looking through the images… Amy saw a glow, as though a light was on, on the top window level. “On zooming in we noticed on the bottom, inside an arch, there was a lady and what appears to be a little girl, too….” Built in 1071, Dudley is believed to be the most haunted castle in England, with the Grey Lady the most famous spook. She is reputed to be the spirit of Dorothy Beaumont, who died, along with her baby, shortly after childbirth. On her deathbed, Dorothy asked for two things: to be buried next to her daughter and for her husband to attend the funeral…Neither wish was fulfilled… Jill Hitchman, head of media and communications at Dudley Zoo, which is in the castle grounds, said: ‘ This image is incredible because it was taken from the top of the castle on a mobile phone camera and still manages to pick out the outline of what seems to be a female figure in the doorway.’….”
In such cases of untimely or sudden or painful deaths or the death of a person who is strongly attached to material/earthly things or has unfulfilled desires, the astral journey cannot take place because of the abnormal circumstances surrounding such deaths. Such spirits do not normally haunt people on earth, but they can communicate with the souls of living beings and vice versa through a ‘dream state’ if they so desire. Conversely, the soul of a living person can enter the spirit world through prescribed siddhis and/or mantras or chants. But it is essential to have full mastery or to do so under the supervision of a guru or guide. In my case, I have three different spirit guides, two of whom are highly evolved souls, who can now enable me to leave and re-enter my body. All this while, one’s soul remains connected with one’s physical body through an invisible cord — if that cord gets broken for any reason, death occurs.
The Birmingham Mail wrote: “…On looking through the images… Amy saw a glow, as though a light was on, on the top window level.”
However, once a living being is in touch with the spirit world, a lot of skill is required to maintain a balance between normal earthly activities and supernatural spirit activities. Why ? Firstly, because most spirits are in a “waiting” state where they can neither move upwards towards Heaven nor return to earth and being uncertain of what awaits them, are “hyper”. The only “certainty” is what they knew — which was their life on earth — and so they are constantly trying to pass messages to living people through “mediums” who enter the spirit world. They are not at peace and unless one understands the spirit world and can control spirits in such a ‘neither here nor there’ state, there are lots of risks involved. I know of at least six people who embarked on ruhani journeys, lost their mental balance and finally, their lives.
On the concepts of “Heaven” and “Hell”, the traditional view is that if you’ve done good karmas, good deeds, etc, you go to Heaven and those who do bad deeds go to Hell. It is known that Heaven is high above — the 7th astral plane — while Hell is way below — the first astral plane above earth for some spirits who have done certain kinds of bad deeds and patal lok below earth for those who have done abominable things. Most ordinary people who have done good but average things go to the 3rd astral plane after death, from where they return to earth at the time of re-birth.
The more one’s soul evolves, as in the case of yogis and saints, the higher one can go, but it is only those who attain enlightenment and “nirvana”, like Lord Buddha — which usually happens after countless rebirths who go directly to Heaven. They too go to Heaven who are blessed by beings from the higher realms for whatever reason. In contrast, spirits who live in the spirit world have to wait for their “number” to come to be released from their ‘neither here nor there’ state. In great despair, such spirits try and reach out to loved ones on earth with an intensity that enables them to manifest themselves in dreams.
Amongst other interesting cases, I have dealt with a case where an aghori baba was very confident of his powers and entered the spirit world without taking proper precautions and found that he was so strongly surrounded by other spirits he couldn’t get back to his physical body. I had been interviewing him just a short while before he ventured into the spirit world and he still had enough power to throw me into a trance and once I was in that dream-like state, he told me what to do to get him out of the spirit world. It worked, and he is now an expert in entering and leaving the spirit world and helping others overcome spirit problems.