Theos-Talk Archives (June 2005 Message tt00346)

In THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY, H.P. Blavatsky wrote:

"A mother dies, leaving behind her little helpless 
children -- orphans whom she adores -- perhaps a 
beloved husband also. We say that her "Spirit" or 
Ego. . . is now entirely separated from the "vale 
of tears," that its future bliss consists in that blessed 
ignorance of all the woes it left behind. Spiritualists 
say, on the contrary, that it is as vividly aware of them, 
and more so than before, for "Spirits see more than mortals 
in the flesh do." . . . According to their [spiritualists'] 
doctrine, unfortunate man is not liberated even by death 
from the sorrows of this life. Not a drop from the life-cup 
of pain and suffering will miss his lips; and nolens volens, 
since he sees everything now, shall he drink it to the 
bitter dregs. Thus, the loving wife, who during her lifetime 
was ready to save her husband sorrow at the price of her 
heart's blood, is now doomed to see, in utter helplessness, 
his despair, and to register every hot tear he sheds for 
her loss. . . . [But according to the esoteric teaching] 
the spirit is dazed after death and falls very soon into 
what we call 'pre-devachanic unconsciousness.' ."