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NEW INSIGHTS INTO LIFE AFTER DEATH: The Dreaming Road #BookReview and #AuthorInterview


The Dreaming Road cover (1)We all want to know what happens after we die and what has happened to loved ones who have gone before us.

Well, The Dreaming Road provides answers. 

What started as Elizabeth Moore’s diary to express her grief after the suicide of her teenage daughter, turned into The Dreaming Road, a beautifully written novel with parallel stories of the daughter’s experience in the afterlife and her mother’s spiritual epiphanies.

The novel is extraordinary — a heart-wrenching yet uplifting exploration of the theme that love never dies.

Elizabeth Moore writes of the mother contacting her daughter’s spirit through mediums, angel guides, lucid dreaming, and automatic writing of her daughter’s voice in her head. Her daughter Cassie, called Callie in the novel, shares her experiences in a part of heaven called Summer Wind and her training by the Angel Seraphiel, all told with the same voice and wise-cracking personality she had in life. Her description of the afterlife gels with some of what we’ve heard before, but there are also many surprises.

We learn from Callie that life is not the end, but part of an eternal journey. She finds that her death was just a transition; it did not end her “life” or what she still needed to learn…

“You are not imprisoned by your history. You can own it and then let all of it go and move forward with faith and courage. You have the power to forgive everything and everyone, even yourself, and this will truly set you free. Believe me, things on Earth are not what they appear…. Everything happens for a reason — to help you know you’re love.”

Seraphiel explains how Callie’s life on Earth (thus everyone’s life) is just a dream:

“In the beginning, nothing existed except oneness and wholeness, but in your desire to know yourself, you dreamed yourself into existence as separate beings…. You are all love, but often you express yourselves as fear and judgment. Remember, nothing exists that you have not created…. Your true power is in remembering that you have created your experience.”

The mother also interacts with Seraphiel, channeled during Angel Awakening Classes, and learns the secret to feeling joy in life again. In her Acknowledgements, Moore says that she wrote this book to share the understanding she gained that “life and love go on forever, the dawn will break and the sorrow will be washed away.”

Elizabeth Moore explores profound concepts for those seeking spiritual awareness, from parallel lifetimes to insights into the angelic realm. I found it a good reminder, something I have heard before, when the Angel Seraphiel says, “We can’t help you unless you ask.”

Remember to ask for help when you need it. And I believe The Dreaming Road will provide help and solace, to those who have lost a loved one to suicide, and actually to ALL of us in this human experience who need to find understanding in the midst of inevitable loss, sorrow and pain.

Author Elizabeth Moore, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Nursing at a university in the south-central U.S. Her nursing research has focused on strengthening the bond between mother and baby immediately after birth by skin-to-skin contact, while her novel explores the eternal bonds between mother and child that continue even when one of them has passed on. Here, she answers my questions about The Dreaming Road:

What message would you like readers to take away from reading The Dreaming Road?

The message in my novel is that our connections with those who have passed on are eternal and can remain vibrant, ongoing and continuous even though they are no longer with us on earth. They’re not gone forever when they’re buried or lost to us until we too cross over. But to reestablish our relationship with them, we need to let go of the need to have their physical presence with us and focus instead on communicating with their eternal soul.

Your daughter’s suicide was certainly a tragic occurrence in your life. But, in the book, many important spiritual gifts are received. What was the most important thing you learned?

I think the most important thing I learned was how to let go of my guilt and despair over my daughter’s death by suicide. I learned that if I clung to all the pain from my past, I robbed myself of joy in the present moment. I forgave myself by understanding that I wasn’t responsible for my daughter’s death. Everyone is on their own individual path of destiny. We are all passing through this physical reality, traveling on a winding and sometimes difficult road home. Life on this side of the veil, by its very nature, is fragile and transient. And Cassie’s not gone, she just exists in another dimension.

As your book is described as a novel rather than a memoir, how much of the communication with Callie in the afterlife and with angels actually match the experiences in your real life?

The communications through dreams with my daughter were written exactly as they occurred. When I woke up I wrote everything down, so I wouldn’t forget anything. The information I received about Cassie’s experiences on the other side of the veil were written exactly as they were communicated to me. I heard what I felt was her voice in my mind and wrote down what she told me. I also talked with her through a medium and these conversations were edited to capture the essence of our communication. I did attend a class that was taught by a woman who was a physical channel for what we believed was an angel. The spiritual truths communicated by the angel were edited slightly to make them more understandable for readers. The characteristics of the setting and the individuals were modified to protect the anonymity of those involved.

So many people want to communicate with those who have passed. What would you recommend as the best way to proceed?

My communications with Cassie began in dreams and they just happened. But later, in a waking state, I found if I went into my flower garden, lay down, and let myself be at peace, I could ask her questions in my mind and she would answer them. As we continued our conversations, words became images and vivid scenes unfolded behind my closed eyelids.

So, I would recommend to first start some type of meditation practice, whatever resonates with you. I found that communication was easier if I was in a state of calm receptivity and if the love connection was strong, and more difficult if I was immersed in grief. You must also believe that this type of communication is possible. Light a candle, have a photo of your loved one, paper and pen nearby, say a prayer and ask the angels for guidance. When your mind is calm and open, ask them a question and wait for an answer. Don’t get hung up on whether it’s real or your imagination, just write down what you hear. Once you open the door and continue to set aside time for a conversation with your loved one, you’ll find that communication gets easier.

Your character is taught that she can create her own reality. Can you share more on this subject?

I believe we create our own reality by how we experience the external events that are happening in our lives. I believe we set up certain challenges that we will face before we cross over to this side of the veil. But our reality becomes how we meet these challenges, for example, with courage, faith and hope for a better day or through bitterness and despair.

I also think we can learn to manifest a more positive dream by the steps I mention in The Dreaming Road: visualizing it in in our mind, smelling it, tasting it, hearing it and imagining that it has already occurred.

But we can’t circumvent our destiny. So from my perspective, our experiences evolve from both free will and destiny. Cassie contends that manifesting is much easier on the other side of the veil because we are no longer in that time-space reality and when we imagine things there, they happen in an instant.

It was certainly a long process to work through the grief caused by your daughter’s suicide, but was there one thing that helped you the most?

It took me quite a while to find the joy in life again and I started taking small steps by just appreciating the small things in life, the scent of new mown grass or a rose from my gardens, wall-to-wall sunshine on a beautiful day, how happy my dogs were when I walked in the door. Then I moved to remembering the good times I shared with Cassie, climbing daffodil hill in spring, drawing colorful pictures with sidewalk chalk by the pool, dressing her in a mermaid costume for Halloween, hanging bubble lights on the Christmas tree or baking gingerbread cookies. These images began to replace the horrifying picture I had in my mind of finding her lying dead on the floor of her bedroom.

Now I actively try to seize the moment by doing things that bring me joy, like swimming in the ocean with the dolphins or snorkeling along a tropical coral reef and watching the fish swim in beautiful, intricate patterns.

How did the writing of this book benefit you personally, and how can reading it benefit anyone — whether or not they have experienced the type of loss you did?

I think The Dreaming Road serves as a gentle reminder for everyone that life can change on a dime and to cherish our loved ones who are still with us on this side of the veil. It reminds us not to take anything for granted and to focus on the things that bring us joy and make our lives meaningful before it’s too late. Because I began my novel as a diary, I was able to write my heart out without censoring myself. I found it difficult to be authentic in my grief around other people as there’s such a taboo around death by suicide and many are uncomfortable talking about it. Looking back, I now know how I survived and am hoping that by sharing my road map with others who have suffered similar losses, it will help ease their pain.

For resources on teenage suicide, grief and loss, as well as after-death communication, see Elizabeth Moore’s website, www.TheDreamingRoad.com.

The Dreaming Road is available today on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries, Chakra Secrets, Balance Your Chakras-Balance Your Life, and The Chakra Energy Diet

www.theChakras.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Dream It May Be, But The Dream Goes On! #BookReview and #AuthorInterview


screen-shot-2017-02-11-at-2-31-00-pmA Dream It May Be, But the Dream Goes On! is British author Nick Roach’s spiritual autobiography – ranging from his difficult childhood to current day, overcoming the struggles in his life to be free of negative emotions. This book takes us step-by-step on his path to reach an “Enlightened” state in which he describes himself as self-aware or conscious all the time, “truly awake in the dream….”

Determined to learn why emotional pain and upset have to be part of life, Nick began a spiritual quest in his late teens. He experimented with meditation, LSD, took spiritual awareness classes at the College of Psychic Studies in London, and finally found the answers he was looking for while studying with Barry Long – an Australian who described himself as a Western Spiritual Master. Long’s teachings revolve around how to free oneself of unhappiness, and also about truth and love, and personal and sexual relationships.

This autobiography chronicles Nick Roach’s life and all the realizations that came to him through his spiritual studies, while still working in stressful traditional jobs and having several tumultuous relationships before finding his long-term partner, Sally-Ann Powell.

While I personally have not undergone the same stressors or emotional upsets that Nick lived through, I of course, have faced my own, as do we all. And while this book is akin to reading Nick’s journal and seeing inside his mind and soul, it is also a story everyone can relate to and learn from, as we are all souls making our way in the world and ultimately, back to the same source.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH NICK ROACH

What is your definition of Enlightenment?
I know what Enlightenment is/was for me: I seemed to have a constant connection with a sense of ‘being’, regardless of what else was going on both around as well as within me. It was like having one foot outside of whatever was occurring which provided an inner knowledge and strength that all was well. But I also had the knowledge that ultimately I was responsible for whatever I was experiencing, and I knew how to work with life to face and dissolve any difficult situations, both within and without (as they are actually one and the same).

However, as people are different and their paths are different, Enlightenment also appears differently from person to person. That means one person’s Enlightenment may not be another’s; hence we have all the confusion as to what the word means. This is perhaps particularly evident when comparing my path and experiences with someone who followed no path or practice at all and for whom it ‘just happened’. Such a person is likely to say there is nothing that can be done, so the method I followed of consciously facing and dissolving emotions could be alien to them.

At one point you say, “Enlightenment is indeed a beginning, not the end!” Can you expound on that?
I suppose it’s because the point at which one feels they have reached a sort of plateau, and the term Enlightenment seems to fit, one’s life is by no means over. It’s perhaps not unlike learning to drive a car, passing the test and getting one’s first car. One has a new freedom, almost a new life.

In my own case, the 10 years between the entry into what I deemed to be the Enlightened state, and the later state which I came to call Liberation, was a difficult time (as described in the book). However, it is the latter state which is perhaps most recognised as being associated with Enlightenment, and this does bring with it the sense of a new beginning. Suddenly one’s life, and/or the circumstances of one’s life seems to flow effortlessly. And it is as if one is no longer adding to the karma, but is instead consciously (and quickly) living and dissolving it in the moment, as the circumstances of life continue to unfold.

 You write, “…one’s emotional self is what determines the circumstances of one’s life.” How did you let go of negative emotions?
Aha, that is of course the story of the book, and the entire process is described in some detail….

As to ‘how’ one lets go of negative emotions, it would perhaps be more accurate to say the emotional energy is made conscious. That is the process: when someone is emotionally attached to an outcome or experience, this drives the imagination and thinking mind, and one is then unconscious – from the perspective of being self-aware anyway. This unconscious thinking feeds the emotion, and the emotion further feeds the thinking mind, and it continues to snowball. But if one can suspend the imagination, looking consciously at what action can be taken, but resists the (sometimes terrible) urge to go off into the imaginary world of pain and think ABOUT the problem, one begins to feel the emotion dying. With each painful situation in which one faces the emotion in this manner, one becomes that little bit more conscious, and a little bit less emotional.

What’s wrong with getting emotionally involved in one’s existence, especially if one is enjoying life?
Ha ha, of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. This life is separation (emotion) enjoying and expressing itself. And it will continue to do so. But for some people, an aspect of the experience for them will be in realising they are not as separate as it may first appear. And this process may include them being unhappy (at being unhappy) and would like, a) for it to stop; and b) for there to be more to life than the emotional ups and downs. But I make no judgment. This place is a playground for the emotions. That is its purpose.

If the “whole of existence is a dream from which the spiritual life is a quest to wake up from,” what is the purpose of existence, the meaning of life?
Ooh, yes indeed; if it’s all a dream, then what’s the point? Sadly, ultimately one runs out of answers. Anything one realises ‘here’ (and perhaps particularly if the knowledge is that this place is a dream) is by definition only dreamt. And just as when one is in bed, asleep and dreaming, even if one becomes lucid and is aware that it is a dream, they are still not aware of their body in bed nor of the room they are lying in (of course if they were, then they would be awake and the dream has finished). So the question as to the purpose can only be answered from the perspective ‘What’s happening now?’, and in this moment ‘now’ I am aware that my attachment to being separate is being dissolved, and along with it so is the dream…

After that, it is really just speculation: Some Buddhists believe that eventually the slate is wiped clean and it is as if it never happened, as the ‘Being’ needs nothing. While some mystics believe in the Akashic Records, where everything, every experience is recorded energetically, as if the Being or Mind (or whatever term one wishes to use) is itself growing with each experience.

Whatever the actual ‘purpose’, the state of mind one is in when Enlightened (or whichever term one would like to use) means that actually it doesn’t matter. One can speculate, but it’s only really for one’s own entertainment.

Was is a cathartic or learning experience for you to look back so closely on your spiritual journey?
It was a little strange, as some of the book was written more than 20 years ago and much had long-since been forgotten. There would have been no way I could have done the story any sort of justice had I not kept diary notes of my insights and experiences, as well as the challenges I faced and what they meant to me at the time. It did feel like I was drawing a thick and final line under everything that occurred prior to now.

From what you have learned, what do you think could most help others?
There could be a number of ways I believe my story may help others, depending on their situation:
a) There is a lot of confusion as to what Enlightenment is. While it is still the case that individuals may define or experience it differently, I believe it could help alleviate some of the confusion if Enlightened people described their journey in more detail.

b) For many Enlightened teachers the experience just happened, so while they may be able to describe in eloquent and poetic language what it is, sometimes they cannot or do not teach a method (which is demonstrable and effective). The result is earnest seekers can spend years reading every book they can find and intellectualising about what is meant.

c) And last, but by no means least, consciously facing and dissolving emotion, and particularly understanding how they work (and perhaps amazingly, how this place works in relation to emotions; they are NOT independent of the externals goings on after all). I hope my story describes the process in a clear enough way as to leave little doubt. But when considered in conjunction with every other Enlightened teachings, and even any religion, I hope people will begin to see how it all fits together.

What plans do you have for the future – teaching, writing or ?
While thankfully we do not rely on the books or teaching as a source of income, it is enjoyable to share this nonetheless, and one must still do something to occupy one’s time (even if it is a dream). So I hope people will read my books; particularly the spiritual autobiography which is of course the latest and I am quite fond of it. Then, while I will be writing articles for magazines, as well as regularly replying to emails from readers, it is the face-to-face teaching I especially enjoy; and even more so with an audience rather than the more ‘intense’ or personal one-on-ones. So we hope to find the means to hold more meetings.

What we have found though, following on from the above, is that once someone has been to me, often on only one occasion, they don’t tend to need to come back for a while; not because they’re Enlightened, as that can be quite a lengthy process, but because they have learnt or understood enough to enable them to get on with living their life in a more conscious manner. So any future talks or meetings will most likely involve travelling to a new location (perhaps to talk to an established group) rather than holding regular meetings in one location.

A Dream It May Be, But the Dream Goes On! is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback. For more information on the author’s work, including his first two books, Enlightenment, the Simple Path and Essays in Truth, Glimpses into Reality, please see www.nickroach.uk. He can be reached to answer questions at info@nickroach.uk.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries, Chakra Secrets, Balance Your Chakras-Balance Your Life, and The Chakra Energy Diet

www.theChakras.org

 

 

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