On Death and the Passing of Toni

On Death and the Passing of Toni

Psalm 23:

“Yea though I walk through valley  of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for thou art with me.”

Today we grieve not for Toni but for ourselves, as we face the future without her. We know that she has gone to a better place where there is no pain, no suffering, no restrictions, from whence she can look down on us, and continue to participate in our lives, although we may no longer distinctly participating in hers; we, lagging behind, must endure the transition from having Toni in our lives to NOT having Toni in our lives. 

So saying let us consider the SILVER CORD:

This Wikipedia article summarizes the concept of the silver cord:

“The silver cord in metaphysical studies and literature, also known as the sutratma or life thread of the antahkarana, refers to a life-giving linkage from the higher self (atma) down to the physical body. It also refers to an extended synthesis of this thread and a second (the consciousness thread, passing from the soul to the physical body) that connects the physical body to the etheric body, onwards to the astral body and finally to the mental body.

In other research, it is described as a strong, silver-colored, elastic cord which joins a person's physical body to its astral body (a manifestation of the physical body that is less distinct).

Alfred Ballabene observed that during his out-of-body experiences "glue-like strings" appear as the astral body tries to separate itself from the physical body. As the astral body moves further away from the tangible body, some of the strings break apart and clump into a specific and smaller region - preferably the head, breast, back, stomach, and the abdomen area - thus forming the silver cord.”

What this article does not mention is how we the living are attached to our loved ones by a similar cord. We know that all loved ones are connected to us by a silver cord, similar to the silver cord that binds the soul to the body.  As the liberated one is loosed from the body and the Earthly attachments are broken down, so are the ties that bound the liberated one to us—and when that separation is effected, we feel physical pain, as if a limb were amputated, and the wound is left open to the biting air.

In Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte describes this experience:

“I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I'm afraid that cord of communion would snap. And I have a notion that I'd take to bleeding inwardly.”

So, you see it is not Toni for whom we grieve but for ourselves, as we struggle to recover from the amputation of Toni from our immediate carnal consciousness.

The Bible has this to say about the silver cord:

Ecclesiastes 12: 6, 7

"Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

Other comments on the silver cord are as follows:

From CORDS we read:

“Cords are made of astral and etheric energy and connect two people’s subtle bodies. They stretch between two people very much like an umbilical cord and transfer emotional energy and chi between the two. It does not matter how far away the other person is, as the cord is not a physical substance and distance is irrelevant, so it is still effective from the other side of the planet.”

From IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES IN THE TEACHINGS OF HEINDEL AND STEINER By Ger Westemberg, we read:

“The Silver cord, Heindel says, connects the spirit with the physical body, the vital body, the desire body and the mind, by means of the seed atoms located in the heart, the solar plexus, the liver and the frontal sinus. When this Silver cord breaks on its plane of fracture, situated in the apex of the heart, the heart stops beating. As soon as the panorama of the past life is etched on the desire body, the cord breaks on the point of the two sixes. The lower part of the vital body then returns again to the dense body; only then is one really dead.

Steiner, in his lecture of December 29, 1903, in Berlin says, “What connects the astral body with the physical body and its organs, and what leads them back again? There exists a kind of tie, a connection, which is a medium between physical and astral matter. And this they call kundalini fire. When you have a sleeping person, you still can follow the astral body in the astral. You have a shining band up to it, where the astral body is. When the astral body moves away, the kundalini fire in proportion grows more and more thin. These words imply that Steiner calls the Silver cord the spinal spirit fire.” 

From Death and Beyond, we read: “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 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.” Thus we see that the main problem with Toni’s ascent is that we, her loved ones, are denied, for a time the comfort of our spiritual connection with her. All we can do is wait for the pain of separation to heal, and then wait to be reunited in spirit with her, when our own personal silver cords break. Now a selection of thoughts on death from the Bible:

Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

Thessalonians 4:13-14

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

John 14:1-4 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Revelation 14:1

Compare13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

1 John 3:1-2 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now some thoughts on death from some more modern thinkers:

― William Shakespeare

“When he shall die,

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night

And pay no worship to the garish sun.” 

― Langston Hughes

“Life is for the living.

Death is for the dead.

Let life be like music. 

And death a note unsaid.” 

― Helen Keller

“Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” 

― Kahlil Gibran

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.” 

― Dylan Thomas

“Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.” 

From The Death of William Blake by Eric Wilson:

“And so, committed to the last of the flame consuming his, his joy outweighing the pain, he continued, as he lay on his deathbed, to sketch, driven to convert, for one final spell, his quick thoughts into lively lines. But his brain soon slowed, beginning its descent into the inevitable dimness, and his competent hand faltered. Now, he believed, was the hour. He would have to leave his configurations of heaven undone. He set his instruments aside, his now-dull pencil and his paper riddled with shades.

Faint, he turned toward those attending him, among whom was his wife Catherine, his faithful partner for forty-five years. He saw her crying. Maybe what happened next was a final surge of affection, or perhaps a desperate hope to make the moment stay. Whatever the reason, Blake's haze cleared. His mind revived. He recovered his pencil and paper, reports say, and exclaimed to her, "Stay, Kate! Keep just as you are—I will draw your portrait—for you have ever been an angel to me." This picture he did complete, though it is now lost.

Now finished and feeling the fatigue return, he again laid down his implements, now for good. He silently said farewell to his earthly exertions—all those pictures and poems, forged in visionary fury—and relaxed, ready for his flesh's demise. As his consciousness gently waned, he sang hymns of his own design, about the eternal bliss to which his spirit would soon rise. He expired at six o'clock, his lyrics still trilling in his head. Catherine remained calm. Perhaps she believed that her life would change but little; she had once said of her husband, "I have very little of Mr. Blake's company. He is always in Paradise.””

On the life to come, we read:

— William James

“Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. 

The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves one.”

1 Peter 5:10

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

I will close with four more scriptures. I consider this last batch of quotes to be one long miraculous sentence conveying a central integrated concept:

Romans 8:18

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

1 Timothy 6:12 |

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Psalm 37:28 |

“For the Lord loves the just

and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;

the offspring of the wicked will perish.”

1 Timothy 1:16 

“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”