Spiritual Concepts for Coping With Grief and Bereavement

‘This place is a dream.
Only a sleeper considers it real.
Then death comes like dawn,
and you wake up laughing
at what you thought was your grief.’
––Rumi

Dealing with the death of a loved one can be one of the hardest things anyone has to endure in life. And sadly, for most of us, it is something that’s inevitable.

I’ve been through this experience more times than I care to remember.

It’s always been hard, and even though you get over the initial shock, eventually, the pain can hit you again and again–even much later in life.

But learning about spirituality and learning to adopt a spiritual outlook has helped me tremendously in dealing with my grief.

I’d therefore like to share some spiritual concepts for coping with grief and bereavement that are based on my experiences.

I hope they will be of help and comfort to anyone reading this.

We Are Eternal Beings

Spirituality teaches us that we are eternal beings.

This means that the spiritual core of who we are–our soul–existed long before we incarnated into these physical bodies. And it endures long past the experience that we call ‘death.’

So we can take comfort in the idea that our loved ones are not ‘dead’–as in, ‘they have ceased to exist’.

They have simply made the transition from one state of existence to another.

They continue to exist in non-physical form.

Like many people, I was skeptical of this idea at first. It was hard to believe in something that I couldn’t see or touch.

But the longer I entertained the idea, the more I began to feel at ease with the possibility.

And little by little, I learned of new ideas and concepts that helped me to understand it better, and eventually, come to accept it.

Firstly, this is because I now believe that we’re all Consciousness at the core. And Consciousness is not confined to the brain or the physical body.

Well documented phenomena, such as Remote Viewing and Intention Experiments, have scientifically proven that this is the case (at least to my satisfaction).

Therefore, Consciousness does not cease to exist, just because the physical body does.

Also, given the large amount of information and testimonials I have seen relating to Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and Reincarnation, it’s hard for me to deny any longer that there is a part of us that survives physical death.

There’s just too much evidence.

Everything Is Connected

Since everything originate from the One Consciousness, everything is connected.

And since we all originate from this Consciousness, we’re always connected to each other.

I believe this is more likely if we’ve been in close relationships.

This is because I suspect that our relationships and knowledge of each other would make us ‘entangled’ in much the same way that quantum particles become entangled.

We know that once entangled, quantum particles remain so across time and space. I expect that it’s the same when it comes to people.

So, we’re always connected and can never be cut off from each other. (At least, not completely. More on that below.)

Therefore, we can potentially communicate with loved ones who have passed on and they, with us.

But spirituality teaches us that the Law of Attraction brings things of matching frequency and vibration together. And my understanding of spirituality is that when we’re in non-physical form, we don’t experience the low-vibration emotional states such as grief and anger that we experience in physical form.

In that non-physical state, we are love and we are joy.

This makes sense, as there is no war, hunger, disease, bills to pay, mortgages, cat vomit to clean, or even blocked sinks, in the non-physical.

What joy! And what bliss!

So when we’re sad or angry, or feeling anything less than happy, we’re not a vibrational match to our loved ones in non-physical. And conversely, when we’re feeling positive emotions like love, peace, gratitude, happiness and joy, we’re on the same frequency as them. This makes communication more likely.

Even so, it’s unlikely that they’re going to manifest before our eyes like holograms. Not impossible, but perhaps, unlikely.

So we have to look out for signals and messages from them. If nothing else, we can feel them. I did. I felt my brother Jani‘s presence once.

It started with a dream that brought me so much happiness. Then, later that day, I felt his presence.

This was followed up with a physical manifestation in the form of a photograph I received, again, on the same day.

The picture was of a wall plaque commemorating my brother’s service and sacrifice, as an army officer.

It came all the way from Sri Lanka, and from a friend I rarely hear from. But there it was, and on that very day!

You can read most post about this experience here: A Message from Beyond the Veil.

It Was Their Choice

Another idea I learned through spirituality is that as souls, we choose the time, place and circumstances that we incarnate into.

We come with desires and intentions and live them out as experiences during our time in physical form.

Similarly, spirituality teaches us that we also choose the time, place and circumstances in which we leave our human bodies.

If this is true, and I have no reason to believe it is not, then the time and circumstances of our loved one’s passing was their choice, regardless of how we might see it.

For example, my brother died because he was shot in battle. And it hurt me so much to see it in this way–that his life was ended by someone else out of malice.

But if I see it instead, that his wise soul, which was here to have that experience, arranged it all, it allows me to let go of a lot of the pain that the circumstances surrounding his death would otherwise create within me.

And so, I choose to believe it wholeheartedly.

He was not a victim.

He was an artful and wily old soul who chose to live life to the fullest and go out in a blaze of glory.

All I can say is, ‘Well played, old boy! I still miss you. But well played.’

Soul Groups and Soul Agreements

This last idea is something I’m still only just getting to know.

But the gist of it is that as souls, we exist in close groups, where we love and support each other.

One of the ways in which we do this is to help each other to create the experiences we want to experience in physical form.

Although to serve this purpose, we may not necessarily be kind and loving to each other while here as people.

Some of our worst tormentors could be souls that love and support us the most. But they’re just doing the job we asked them to do while we’re being humans.

The first implication that follows from the idea of soul groups is that the people who play a large or important part in our lives are probably part of our soul groups.

This means that we’re even more connected to each other that those who aren’t part of this group.

This offers us another reason to feel good, because it means that even on a non-physical level, we’re much more closely connected to our loved one who have passed.

This makes it all the more likely that we will remain connected to them, and even meet each other at some point in the future!

The other implication is one that applies if our loved one passed away in circumstances involving violence or tragedy.

If this was the case, as it was with my brother, then it is more than likely that the person who ended their life was part of their soul group.

The two rascals probably cooked up the scheme that left me in tears!

Yes, it still hurts. But, it does put something of a silver lining around that otherwise dark cloud.

Concluding Thoughts

So there you have it! I’ve shared the spiritual ideas and concepts that helped me to cope with my grief.

I hope that they bring you some comfort and relief, just as they have done for me.

Resources

Much of my understanding of the non-physical aspect of myself and others has been gained from the teachings of Abraham and Hicks.

Anita Moorjani’s book, ‘Dying to Be Me‘ was one of the best accounts I’ve read of a near death experience. I recommend her book. I also recommend that you listen to her TED Talk, as it’s quite illuminating.