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"The soul has an innate drive to grow, but it can only do that by acquiring mind." - Beyond a Shadow

What happens to the Spirit when we die?
We don't die, the body dies. The spirit is the entire human being without a body. It consists of the soul, the energies produced by the mind, and the ego system. Everything about a person - his character, psychological makeup, memory - remain with the spirit. When the body dies, the spirit will either remain in the physical realm as a human without a body (i.e. a ghost) or will move on to the next dimension where he or she will become a karma spirit. During the karma period, all mind energies will be purified while the spirit carries out his or her designated service. Eventually, those purified energies will blend with the soul and the soul will grow. The larger soul will reincarnate.

The Spirit and I: the evolution of soul (more info) Quasar Books, 2004. Ben Willemsen with Penny Margolis. ISBN 0-9680351-3-2. previously published as Beyond a Shadow: the path of the spirit

The following in an excerpt from The Spirit and I: the evolution of soul.

Chapter 2 - What Dies? The World of the Mind-Set Spirit
As I got out of my car, Shirley and her husband Henry came outside to greet me. Shirley in particular had been looking forward to my visit. We had met at a local high school where I was teaching a course called "The Spirit and I" through the Continuing Education program. Shirley had taken the course, hoping that it might help her understand what was happening in her home.

Halfway through the course, Shirley approached me. She said she was certain there was someone - or something - in her house. Her husband, she added, had finally admitted that he could find no logical explanation for the strange noises they'd been hearing, and had reluctantly agreed that she should ask my advice.

Henry was a civil engineer. He had built their home five years earlier, when he and his wife first moved to Winnipeg. The house was a solidly constructed bungalow with a raised basement where the children, two girls and a boy aged between eight and fourteen, had their bedrooms. It was the children who first told their parents about the strange sounds they kept hearing overhead. Over time, the sounds had grown louder and were now recognizable as footsteps.

For some time Henry had dismissed the matter, calling it nonsense. Shirley, however, had heard the footsteps herself and found them impossible to ignore. By the time I visited their home, the children were reluctant to sleep in their own bedrooms and overnight guests preferred not to stay in the downstairs guest room.

Shirley and Henry asked me to come inside. I followed them into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Shirley had arranged for the children to visit with friends for the evening. Henry looked a bit uncomfortable, but he started to relax when I told him about my career in manufacturing, which he could relate to more easily. After chatting light-heartedly for a while, I heard a buzzing in my ears, a sure sign for me that we had spirit company. I sensed a presence very close by and, with it, felt a mounting sense of anxiety. As calmly as possible I asked if I might walk around the house. "Make yourself at home," Henry replied. I stood up and went straight into the dining area. There, I began walking in a figure-eight pattern.

"That sounds exactly like what we've been hearing," Shirley cried out. Henry agreed, adding that it gave him the creeps.

As I sat down at the table, I felt as if I was choking. Lifting my hand, I gestured that I wanted to write. Shirley hastened to find a pencil and paper and I immediately began writing. "Please forgive me for the pain I've caused," appeared on the page. Henry, who had joined us at the table, read the words aloud, and he and Shirley looked at each other. Henry grew pale.

"Is that you, Sid?" Shirley asked breathlessly. I continued to write automatically as Sid identified himself and began to communicate his feelings to Henry. When I finally looked up at Henry, I could see that he was deeply moved by what I had written. Both sadness and astonishment were visible on his face.

Shirley explained that Sid was Henry's brother and that he had committed suicide eight years earlier. At the time, their entire family was living on the west coast. It wasn't until several years later though, when Shirley and Henry moved into their new home in Winnipeg, that they had begun to hear the strange noises. They now understood that Sid had followed them out of a need to communicate with his brother. He'd had to wait eight years to ask Henry's forgiveness; it took that long for the family to admit to themselves that there was a spirit living with them.

We all sat together in silence for what seemed like a long time. "What can we do to help him?" Shirley finally asked.

"It all depends on what Sid wants. Perhaps he is ready to move on now." As I finished speaking, I could feel Sid's relief. I imagined that he was tired of living in the physical world without a body.

"Would you like to move on?" I asked him.

There was not a moment's hesitation. "Yes!" rang out clearly.

Henry and Shirley were staring anxiously at me, waiting for me to say something. "There's no doubt in my mind that he wants to leave," I assured them.

Years earlier, during the time of my intensive psychic development, I'd been shown a tunnel into the spiritual world. I was told that it would stay with me so that I could help lost spirits find their way out of the physical world. I asked Henry and Shirley to sit quietly while I focused and brought the tunnel forward in my mind. With my clairvoyant channel open, I could now see Sid standing beside me, watching with great interest.

"Can you see the tunnel?" I asked him. He nodded hesitantly. Although he was a spirit, Sid knew only the physical world. Faced with the reality of the tunnel, he responded as anyone might to something mysterious and otherworldly. He looked doubtful, even frightened, but at the same time I could sense that he wanted to trust me.

It's all right," I said, gently. "You can go into the tunnel." Sid walked cautiously towards the opening, bending his head to look inside. "Can you see a light?" I asked. He nodded. "Walk towards the light and you'll be fine," I told him. He hesitated, looking back at me. "Go ahead," I urged him, "you'll be all right." Sid entered the tunnel. Soon, the opening collapsed and I knew that he was on his way.