Their souls will now be at peace. That was one of the reactions not only from family members of the 44 Indian jawans or soldiers killed in a dastardly terrorist attack recently in February, but also from a broad spectrum of people. They were reacting to news that more than 300 Pakistan based terrorists had been killed in one stroke by pre-emptive precision air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force less than a fortnight after the Indian jawans lost their lives. Many people felt that the souls of the Indian jawans would be at peace because their deaths had been avenged. But what about the souls of the more than 300 terrorists in Pakistan who were reportedly bombed out of existence while asleep at their camp?
The moment of dying is important for several reasons. As I’ve written earlier, it is at this moment that an all encompassing transition is taking place from a physical existence to a spirit state. It is at this moment that the soul demits the body and in normal circumstances, begins its journey to the astral regions. It is at this moment that a bridge is formed to make the crossing from life to death. It is at this moment that a parting takes place from people, places objects and aspirations one holds dear. The manner in which the soul leaves the body determines how easy or difficult it will be for the soul to adjust to a post death state. Leaving the body peacefully is, naturally, the ideal way, which is why when it is known that death is imminent, prayers, mantras and selections from the scriptures are usually chanted in addition to rituals that vary of course, from religion to religion, family to family, being performed as well.
In fact, it is known that a majority of souls —even those who have left peacefully —take some time to adjust to the knowledge that they are no longer a part of the living world on earth. In the case of a sudden death, it is even more difficult for the soul to believe that death has occurred. But what happens in the case of sudden, violent death ? Sometimes it is a quick death. At other times, even though sudden, it is a lingering death. In each case, each soul undergoes a similar experience in terms of transition but a very different, individualistic one in terms of feelings and intensity. Such deaths can be broadly divided into categories such as those who die in an accident, those who die in war between countries or in gang wars, those who die unexpectedly as a result of natural calamities, those who are murdered, those who are executed, those who commit suicide for personal reasons, those who immolate themselves for a public cause or because they have been denied justice in some way and so on.
In recent times a new category has been added to the list of categories—that of terrorists on suicidal missions. They are generally young, willing to die for a cause and as such death holds no fear for them. But they are also full of hate against an “enemy” and their death is, from their point of view, worthwhile only if they can kill as many people as possible while “sacrificing” their own lives. What happens to the hate filled souls of those who have engineered death for others, or are preparing or training to engineer such deaths?
A peaceful exit of the soul—the most ideal way of leaving the body—is a far cry in their cases. As on earth, so in the astral world, spirit guides are having a tough time controlling terrorists souls. For one thing, there is no remorse at the death and destruction they have wreaked. On the contrary, there is exultation and this makes them determined not to leave the environs of earth. In the case of the Pakistan based terrorists who were killed in the recent air strikes, there will be the additional regret of “unfinished business” and anger at having been outwitted and knocked out in a manner where they had no chance to react. To make it worse, there was presumably not much left of their physical bodies either after being pounded with a heavy payload of bombs.
It is known that “unfinished business” is one of the prime reasons for dead people becoming ghosts. Not getting a proper funeral or insufficient mourning or rituals are other reasons that result in dead people turning into ghosts. It is also known that most often dead people haunt the area where they met their deaths. Will the more than 300 dead terrorists now haunt the area where their camp was located, even though it was in an uninhabited area? In any case, through their terrorist activities they have condemned themselves to a difficult life after death as their soul force has been weakened. Ultimately, hate and negative thinking always weaken one. Yet like evil spirits, many of them soon realise that they have power even in their disembodied, ghostly state and attempt to control the minds of those who are still living and who they can still use for their vile ends.
Sometimes, they pass on information they have gathered in their spirit state to their colleagues who are still alive. Sometimes, they zero in on the impressionable minds of people they knew when alive and succeed in implanting certain ideas. Erasing such damaging ideas is actually the toughest part for the spirit guides—tougher than prising away terrorists souls from the earth’s environs and sending them into astral orbit where it would be easier to handle them. It is crucial to ensure that a terrorist’s soul or ghost doesn’t remain earth bound for too long, otherwise it tends to feed on happenings on earth and that reinforces the hatred embedded in their psyche.
They are in need of treatment, and that treatment can best be given only in the astral world where their links with earth and their past life will gradually be weakened. Is there anything that we on earth can do to hasten the terrorists souls journey to the astral world? “Remember they were misguided, because in their minds they usually did what they did in their lives out of misplaced fervour. Pray for them, pray for their souls to be released from the bondage of hatred and earthly ties”, is the compassionate spirit guides unvarying reply. That would require very large hearted thinking indeed, especially for those directly affected by terrorist acts.