S: It co-exists here, but we can still see it progress on Earth.
Dr. N: It seems to me when souls are in the Ring of Destiny they use time almost like a tool.
S: As spirits, we do use time ... subjectively. Things and events are moved around ... and become objects in time ... but to us time is uniform.
Dr. N: The paradox I have with time travel is that what is going to happen has already happened, so you could meet your own soul in some human being as you come and go in life scenes from the future.
S: (smiles enigmatically) When making contact the soul in residence is put on hold for a moment. It's relatively short. We don't disturb life cycles when tracking through time.
Dr. N: Well, if past, present, and future are not really separate while you are tracking, why do you stop scenes to consider choices when you can already see into the future?
S: I'm afraid you don't realize the real purpose of time use by the controllers of the Ring. Life is still conditional. Progressive time is created to test us. We are not shown all the possible endings to a scene. Parts of lives are obscured to us.
Dr. N: So, time is used as a catalyst for learning by viewing lives when you can't see everything that is going to happen?
S: Yes, to test our ability to find solutions. We gauge our abilities against the difficulty of the events. The Ring sets up different experiments to choose from. On Earth we will try to solve them.
Dr. N: In the Ring, can you look at life on planets besides Earth?
S: I can't because I'm programmed for tracking time on Earth.
Dr. N: Your being able to jump through time from the screens sounds like a ball!
S: (grins) Oh, it's stimulating-that's for sure-but we can't frolic around, because there are serious decisions to be made for the next life. I'll have to accept the consequences for any mistakes in my choices ... if I am not able to handle a life well.
Dr. N: I still don't see how you could make many serious mistakes in your choices when you actually experience part of the life in which you plan to live.
S: My choices of life environments are not unlimited. As I said, I probably won't be able to see all of a scene in one time segment. Because of what they don't show you, there is risk attached to all body choices.
Dr. N: If one's future destiny is not fully preordained, as you say, why call this space the Ring of Destiny?
S: Oh, there is destiny, all right. The life cycles are in place. It's just that there are so many alternatives which are unclear.
When I take my subjects into the spatial area of life selection, they see a circle of past, present and future time-such as the Ring in this case. Sensing they are leaving spiritual Now time within the circle, souls apparently rotate back and forth on resonating waves during their observational runs. All aspects of time are presented to them as reoccurring realities ebbing and flowing together. Because parallel realities are superimposed upon one another, they too can be seen as possibilities for physical lives, especially by the more experienced souls.
I was puzzled why my subjects did not fully see the future under these conditions, as part of an all-knowing spiritual setting. In trying to sort this out, I finally came to the conclusion that the spirit world is designed to protect the interests of each soul. Generally, the people I work with are still-incarnating younger souls. They may not clearly see significant events too far into the future because the further away these souls get from present probabilities, the higher the incidence of possible alternative realities which cloud their images. Although the same properties hold true for time in the distant past, there is one exception. A soul's own past lives are more easily identified. This is because a single reality, with a definite course of action, was previously established to train this soul, and thus is firmly imprinted on his memory.
In Chapter Five, Case 13 demonstrated how amnesia is imposed upon us when we come into a current life, so that past life experiences will not inhibit self-discovery in the present. The same condition holds true for souls examining future lives. Without knowing why, most people believe their life has a plan. Of course, they are right. Although amnesia does prevent having full conscious knowledge of this plan, the unconscious mind holds the key to spiritual memories of a general blueprint of each life. The vehicle of life selection provides a kind of time machine for souls, where they see some alternative routes to the main road. Although these paths are not fully exposed to us as souls, we carry some of the road map to Earth. A client once said to me, "Whenever I am confused about what to do in life, I quietly sit down and think about where I have been and compare this to where I might want to go in future. The answer to the next step just comes to me from inside myself."
Accepting what befalls us on the road of life as "acts of God" does not mean our existence should be locked into spiritual determinism where we must submit to an unalterable fate. If everything was preordained, there would be no purpose or justice to our struggle. When adversity strikes, it is not intended that we sit back with a fatalistic attitude and not fight to improve the situation by making on-site changes. During our lives all of us will experience opportunities for change which involve risk. These occasions may come at inconvenient times. We may not act upon them, but the challenge is there for us. The purpose of reincarnation is the exercise of free will. Without this ability, we would be impotent creatures indeed.
Thus, karmic destiny means we are not just caught up in events over which we have no control. This also means we have karmic lessons and responsibilities. The law of cause and effect for our actions always exists, which is why this case did not want to make a mistake in choosing a life unsuited to him. But whatever happens to us in life, it is important we understand that our happiness or pain does not reflect either blessings or betrayal on the part of a God-oversoul, our guides, or life selection coordinators. We are the masters of our destiny.
As I conclude my conversation with Case 25, it may strike the reader that the musical goals of this individual toward his next life are rather selfserving. Certainly his desire to be an admired musical talent has elements of personal compensation which would be less evident in a more advanced soul. However, it will also be seen that this soul wants to give a lot of himself.
Dr. N: Now, I want to talk more about the scenes you are seeing of New York City. Prior to your coming into the Ring, were you given any preparation about selections based on geography?
S: Oh, to some extent. My trainer and I talked about the fact that I had died young in New York in my last life. I wanted to go back to this dynamic city and study music.
Dr. N: Did you also talk to your trainer about other souls-your friends, who might want to incarnate with you?
S: Sure, that's part of it. Some of us begin staking out a new life by deciding what surroundings are best for all concerned. I made it known I wanted to start again in the same place where I was killed. My trainer and friends offered their suggestions.
Note: This subject came to America as a Russian immigrant in his past life. He was killed in a railway construction accident in New York at age twenty-two in 1898. His rebirth in the same city occurred in 1937.
Dr. N: What suggestions?
S: We talked about my wanting to be a classical pianist. I had played an accordion for extra pick-up change-you know, banquets, weddings-that kind of thing.
Dr. N: And this experience is motivating your interest in the piano?
S: Yes. When making ice deliveries on the streets of New York, I would pass by the concert hall. It was my goal to some day study music and make a name for myself in the big city. I hardly got started before I died.