Do you believe there is an afterlife and if so what does it look like? Have you ever asked yourself these questions? Read this interview with Psychic Medium and Spiritual Teacher Mehal Mahipal and Paranormal Investigator Ross Richards to learn more about the afterlife, ghosts and spirits, and spirit communication.
1. Do you believe in an afterlife, if so what does it look like?
Ross: I believe that there is a form of existence after our soul separates and leaves the body, but I’m not sure if it is the picture most people have in their mind when the term “afterlife” is used. One theory I have come to believe is that we become an energetic being or spirit and that we have a limited energy source that needs topping up so to speak. We have free roamed on where we can go but limited capabilities in contacting living people due to the energy limitations. It is possible that if we as spirit beings overuse our energy and deplete our source, we could dissipate. But as Einstein said: “Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another.”, so where does our energy go? My hypothesis is that our energy is mixed with other dissipated forms until there is enough to create life, and a new spirit form is born. Somehow these new forms are born into human forms and some have memories of past lives they had. Just one of many possibilities I’ve pondered on the subject but this one stands out the most.
Mehal: This is a good question and I have been engaging in these thoughts for a while now. I think the term afterlife as we know it is very much an idea of the Christian belief system and also a big part of the Spiritualist Belief. When I first found my way to Spiritualism this understanding of Life after Death gave me a lot of comforts and allowed me to open my mind from the grief I experienced through the loss of a loved one. Furthermore, the Spiritualist Movement allowed me to have direct experience for this to be true. Andrew Jackson Davis ( a Spiritualist Pioneer) wrote a whole book on this subject and called the after-life Summerland. In the book, he clearly described his vision of the afterlife and how people were happy living there. As I said back in those times this understanding gave me great comfort. However, when I moved on with my spiritual inquiry and compared this belief to other religions, belief systems or even tried to find scientific evidence it got more complicated. I did find some things that matched up with what the Spiritualists believed and I definitely believe that our consciousness moves on. If I think today that the afterlife is summer land then I am not quite sure anymore. I believe somehow that our personal mindset and experience maybe define our actual experience of the afterlife. So for different people, it could be different things, this is close to the Buddhist understanding I guess. What I truly believe tho is that we are evolving even on the other side ( the non-physical). I found answers to those questions in my study of Theosophy and it resonated with the idea that for a while we might be close to earth but the soul continues its journey and would move on at some point. So yes, I believe that we evolve after we die and the stages after we die are determined by our own mindset or belief system till we reach the stage of consciousness that we can even let those go, which will probably take some time. I don’t have a clear idea of what this looks like in detail I do not know. I guess we perceive the world through our consciousness so that is different from what we experience in the world right now.
2. How would someone know that they have died?
Ross: Well thankfully I’ve not had any first-hand experience with this one. There have been many stories told of people who have had NDE’s(Near Death Experiences)saying they found themselves hovering above their bodies, watching events unfold as they happen when no awareness or sensory experiences of any kind should be possible. Some then find themselves floating down a dark tunnel towards the ‘light’ and being greeted by past family members, only to be told it isn’t their time and eventually find themselves back in the physical world. There have been hundreds, if not thousands of NDE stories all with similarities like the ones explained above so I think somebody would know that they had died by experiencing something similar to this. There are stories of spirits being contacted who didn’t know they had died though which may be due to an unexpected, traumatic death that somehow messed with their memory of the event, kind of like people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or those who have experienced extremely traumatic events.
Mehal: I think the most profound difference between being alive and being dead and becoming aware of such things is that other people can’t hear you or you can’t touch them. I also want to believe that it is similar to these ghost pictures where you can see a figure standing next to a dead body, which somehow is a remarkable expression of becoming aware of the loss of your physical body. Other people when they speak about near-death experiences they also speak about hovering above their physical body. However is someone died through drugs, or another event that caused unconsciousness before the soul could separate from the body I believe that the person will kind of fall asleep for a while and then wake up at some point. Somehow as if the body or consciousness needed some time to recover before they would be able to deal with the conscious awareness of their passing. Does that make sense?
3. Which evidence suggests that true Spirit activity?
Mehal: This sounds more like a question for our Paranormal Investigator I guess. Unless you would say what does suggest true Spirit communication? In this case, I would say that the Spirit would intelligently respond to your inquiry ( in a paranormal investigation). In Shamanic Practice the question would be more complicated because we few that spirit is everywhere, that everything somehow is alive. The communication then would take place on a more mental plane and in spirit communication the spirit would impress their thoughts onto our mind.
When connecting with animals or nature this is different, because we can see signs and symbols everywhere. 
I speak about this subject in one of my audio lectures in my Self Study Course “How to Unlock Psychic Potential”. You should check it out it might be interesting for you. Just look at: www.unlockingpsychicpotential.com
Ross: *Ross rocks back and forth in his chair debating*:
Hmm. Evidence which I believe would suggest true spirit activity would be several things. A spirit would be intelligent, so would be able to answer questions, move objects, and interact with the living to a certain degree. Saying that it doesn’t mean that intelligent spirit will want to interact with you, and can take a few visits to get them comfortable with you. There are many forms of activity that are mistaken for intelligent or spirit activity, one such being residual energy, that repeated itself over and over again, sometimes for centuries, until the energy runs out, and any forms appearing won’t interact with you. These are thought to be energetic imprints of events that happened in the past, which are trapped in these certain areas repeating over and over.
4. Have you ever seen a ghost? If so how did it feel?
Ross: I have had many experiences over the years, from laughing children in an empty house, objects being thrown and levitating, to moans and groans coming from an attic to name a few. The closest I have come to see a full-bodied apparition though was when I was a child. I, along with a room full of family members was witness to an enlarged human shadow figure move across the window. The outside was checked for anyone in the garden but nobody was around and couldn’t have escaped that fast. This was one of several incidents in my childhood home.
Mehal *laughing*: I was actually really scared…lol. I am more scared as an adult than I was as a child even tho I don’t think or felt that it would do me any harm. I think it was my mind that just couldn’t comprehend what just happened and that freaked me out. I have seen a full-body apparition from a Spirit that tried to connect with me at the moment he died. It was actually a really profound experience and you can read the whole story in my book: Unlocking Psychic Potential.
5. Why are ghosts attached to earth?
Mehal: I think you mean Spirits, as Ghosts are not really a “thing”. The common belief why spirits are attached to earth is they still have strong ties to people or places. Some say its unfinished business or just the denial of their actual death. Some people think that Spirits who are attached to earth maybe still have something to learn before they can actually move on to higher planes. We often find this idea in the appearance of apparitions. Some of them being said to be spirits who died in a certain way and now want to help or protect others that this is not happening to them. For how long they do things like that I don’t know.
And if we are looking into the idea of Ascended Masters we come across the belief that there are enlightened beings who decided to stay close to the earth to help humanity to evolve. So their motive maybe not so much personal but more service to others.
Ross: Again there are many different ideas as to why some spirits seem to be stuck on the earthly plane. Some may be scared of what is waiting for them after they cross over, especially those who have led bad lives. Some might have unfinished business, like a final message to a loved one, dying young or suddenly and not wanting or ready to leave their former life behind. As investigators, we should try to find out what is keeping and to try to help them move on when possible, to whatever awaits them on the other side.
This interview contains two parts, you can read the second part on 23.05.2021
Mehal Mahipal is an author, spiritual teacher, astroshamanic healer, and psychic medium. She has studied psychic development, spiritualism, theosophy, occultism, and Chinese metaphysics for many years. In her newest book “Unlocking Psychic Potential” she has written about the importance of discovering your own psychic powers and gives ideas and direction on how to use them. Additionally, she created a Self Study Course “How to Unlock your Psychic Potential” for all those who are serious about learning this craft.
Ross Richards is a Paranormal Investigator at RbR Paranormal Investigations and has been exploring unexplainable happenings for many years. His down-to-earth approach is very welcomed in the paranormal field and his professional way of investigating paranormal activities has shed new light on the confusion of this area. Regularly he publishes new articles about the Paranormal on his Facebook page (RbR Paranormal Investigations). Ross also runs private and public Paranormal Investigations in the UK as well as holds workshops with people from overseas.
Photos by Pexels: Suzy Hazelwood, Plato Terentev, Brett Sayles, Rodnae Prodcutions
