Mr. Van Durst

Mr. Van Durst worked in a government office and died in Antwerp in 1863 at the age of eighty. Shortly after his death, a medium asked his spirit-guide whether Van Durst could already be evoked. The guide replied that Van Durst was still slowly emerging from the confused state that often follows death. The guide explained that communication would still be difficult and exhausting for him, and advised waiting four more days before attempting contact.

Mediums’ GuideThis spirit is still passing very slowly out of the state of confusion.

Mediums’ GuideIt would be possible for him to answer your call now, but it would be difficult and tiring for him.

Mediums’ GuideYou should wait four more days.

Mediums’ GuideBy then, he will be ready to reply.

Mediums’ GuideDuring that time, he will become aware of the kind interest you have shown toward him.

Mediums’ GuideAnd he will come to you gratefully... and as a friend.

Four days later, Mr. Van Durst communicated through the medium.

Mr. Van DurstDear friend... my life on Earth was of little importance when weighed against eternity.

Mr. Van DurstStill, I'm far from unhappy.

Mr. Van DurstI find myself in the modest but fairly happy condition of someone who did little wrong during life on Earth... but who also did not aim strongly enough toward perfection.

Mr. Van DurstIf people can be happy within a limited condition... then I'm among that number.

Mr. Van DurstI regret only one thing.

Mr. Van DurstI regret that I did not know what you know now.

Mr. Van DurstMy confusion after death would have been shorter... and much less painful.

Mr. Van DurstAs it was, that confusion caused me great suffering.

Mr. Van DurstImagine what it feels like to live... and yet not truly live.

Mr. Van DurstTo see your physical body...

Mr. Van DurstTo still feel strongly attached to it...

Mr. Van DurstAnd yet to be unable to use it.

Mr. Van DurstTo see the people you love...

Mr. Van DurstAnd to feel the mental connection between you and them slowly fading away...

Mr. Van DurstOh... what a terrible moment that is.

Mr. Van DurstHow terrible it is to feel yourself overwhelmed by an unknown sensation that seizes and suffocates you...

Mr. Van DurstAnd then... an instant later... darkness.

Mr. Van DurstOne moment you are alive...

Mr. Van DurstAnd the next moment you feel yourself annihilated.

Mr. Van DurstYou struggle to regain awareness of yourself...

Mr. Van DurstBut you can't grasp it.

Mr. Van DurstYou no longer exist...

Mr. Van DurstAnd yet you still feel that somehow... you do exist...

Mr. Van DurstBut within an abyss of confusion.

Mr. Van DurstThen comes a period of time that you can't measure.

Mr. Van DurstA time of hidden suffering...

Mr. Van DurstBecause you no longer even have the strength to understand what you are feeling.

Mr. Van DurstAnd after what seems like an endless amount of time...

Mr. Van DurstYou slowly begin to be reborn into existence.

Mr. Van DurstYou awaken in a new world.

Mr. Van DurstYou no longer possess a material body.

Mr. Van DurstYou no longer belong to life on Earth.

Mr. Van DurstYou suddenly feel that you are living the life of immortality.

Mr. Van DurstYou no longer see heavy human bodies around you.

Mr. Van DurstInstead, you find yourself surrounded by bright and active spirit forms.

Mr. Van DurstThey glide beside you and around you in every direction.

Mr. Van DurstThere are so many of them that your eyes can't take them all in.

Mr. Van DurstThey seem to fill the infinity of space itself.

Mr. Van DurstYou see this infinity stretching out before you.

Mr. Van DurstAnd you discover that you can travel through it simply by an act of your will.

Mr. Van DurstYou communicate simply through thought.

Mr. Van DurstOh friends... what a different life this is from life on Earth.

Mr. Van DurstWhat a brilliant life.

Mr. Van DurstWhat a life of joy.

Mr. Van DurstHail to you, Eternity, for receiving me into your embrace.

Mr. Van DurstFarewell, Earth, which held me back so long from the true home of my soul.

Mr. Van DurstNo... I want nothing more from you.

Mr. Van DurstYou are a land of exile.

Mr. Van DurstAnd your greatest happiness is nothing compared to what exists here.

Mr. Van DurstBut if, before leaving the Earth, I had known what you now know...

Mr. Van DurstHow much easier and more pleasant my entrance into this new life would have been.

Mr. Van DurstBefore dying, I would already have understood what I only learned afterward... at the moment of separation.

Mr. Van DurstMy soul would have freed itself from the body much more easily.

Mr. Van DurstYou are on the right path.

Mr. Van DurstBut never... no, never while on Earth... can you fully understand where that path is leading you.

Mr. Van DurstTell this to my son.

Mr. Van DurstTell it to him again and again until he comes to believe it and truly understand it.

Mr. Van DurstLet him learn this truth.

Mr. Van DurstThen, when he comes into the world where I now am... we won't be separated.

Mr. Van DurstFarewell, friends... farewell to you all.

Mr. Van DurstI await your arrival here.

Mr. Van DurstAnd while you remain on Earth, I will often come to your meetings to learn.

Mr. Van DurstFor I still don't know as much as many among you already know.

Mr. Van DurstBut I will learn quickly in this world where I no longer have earthly ties holding me back...

Mr. Van DurstAnd where old age no longer weakens my abilities.

Mr. Van DurstHere, we truly live.

Mr. Van DurstHere, we advance greatly and rapidly.

Mr. Van DurstThe horizons before us are so magnificent that we become impatient to reach them.

Mr. Van DurstAnd now I leave you, my friends.

Mr. Van DurstFarewell... farewell.