A World Beyond: A Startling Message from the Eminent Psychic Arthur Ford from Beyond the Grave

«AUTOMATIC writing is as mysterious as the cycle of birth and death and considerably more difficult to prove. We see a newborn baby and know that it has emerged from its mother's womb. We witness death and are aware that the life force has departed. Nothing remains but an outworn husk, which is cremated or sealed in a tomb. Automatic writing can also be seen, and even read, but the source of its intelligence and the propellant which directs the pencil or typing keys is unperceivable by any of our five physical senses.» — Montgomery abre el Foreword con la tesis que fija el estatuto del volumen: la escritura automática se ve y se lee, pero la fuente de su inteligencia y lo que mueve el lápiz o las teclas queda fuera del alcance de los cinco sentidos, de modo que es más difícil de probar que el nacer y el morir.

«We know that many books have been written totally by means of this directed force, including the Patience Worth series received by a Midwestern housewife and the fascinating New Testament stories dictated through Geraldine Cummins.» — y sitúa el libro dentro de una serie de precedentes que nombra por su vía y no por su título: la serie de Patience Worth recibida por un ama de casa del Medio Oeste y los relatos del Nuevo Testamento dictados a través de Geraldine Cummins.

«Almost invariably the source claims to be a discarnate who once lived in the flesh, even as you and I. Some of those who doubt the existence of communication between the living and dead argue that the thoughts originate within the subconscious, where our memory bank is stored. Others believe that the messages are imparted by a superconscious, or higher, self which has contact with all knowledge through a sort of all-pervading ESP.» — Montgomery pone una al lado de otra las tres lecturas que circulan del fenómeno y no toma ninguna: la fuente casi siempre dice ser un discarnado que vivió en carne; quienes dudan de la comunicación con los muertos la remiten al subconsciente donde está el banco de memoria; y otros la atribuyen a un yo superconsciente en contacto con todo saber por una especie de percepción extrasensorial omnipresente.

«I do not claim to know the answer. I can only attest that the vivid descriptions of afterlife imparted through this book are not products of my imagination or conscious knowledge and that in those instances where assertions are provable, they were totally unknown to me before they came through my typewriter.» — la reserva de la autora, dicha en primera persona: no sostiene saber la respuesta, y solo atestigua que las descripciones del más allá no salen de su imaginación ni de su conocimiento consciente y que, donde son comprobables, le eran del todo desconocidas antes de llegar por su máquina de escribir.

«Dr. I. C. Sharma, head of the department of philosophy at Udaipur University, wrote an airmail letter to me from Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, on March 28, 1971.» — el caso que ofrece como prueba arranca con una carta fechada: la de un jefe de departamento de filosofía de la Universidad de Udaipur escrita el 28 de marzo de 1971; el nombre se coteja contra el crudo y el libro lo imprime así.

«replied through automatic writing, "We have met and talked to Seeta, who is a lovely soul, bustling with energy and happiness to be here in this beautiful majesty.» — la respuesta que el libro presenta como escrita por Ford a través de la escritura automática de Montgomery: dice haber encontrado y hablado con la difunta, a la que describe como alma encantadora y llena de energía.

«She asks that they remember a little blue flower that she particularly liked and to think of her when they see it, for she will be there too.» — el mismo dictado transmite, en voz de la difunta, el encargo de la flor azul que a ella le gustaba: es el detalle que Montgomery va a poner a prueba.

«I had never before heard the name Seeta. I did not know if blue flowers even bloom in such a place as Hissar, which I had not known existed.» — Montgomery mide su propia ignorancia antes del cotejo: nunca había oído ese nombre y no sabía si en aquel lugar, cuya existencia desconocía, florecen flores azules.

«"Every word of the communication by Arthur Ford was correct," he wrote. "The blue flower was not known to me. But [my father-in-law] told me that during the last six months of Seeta's stay in the world, she had taken a fancy to flowers, particularly some blue flowers that grow in their courtyard, which she cultivated and used to decorate the living room with them. So her reference to liking the small blue flower was revealing for dear Bhag. It has given her great consolation."» — y la respuesta del corresponsal, citada como carta suya: dice que cada palabra de la comunicación fue correcta y explica que la difunta había tomado afición a unas flores azules del patio en los últimos seis meses, cosa que él ignoraba.

«Surely the more rational explanation would be that Arthur Ford had contacted Seeta on "the other side" and had passed along a particular piece of information which would seem evidential to her daughter and son-in-law.» — la conclusión que Montgomery saca del caso, marcada por ella como la explicación más razonable y no como un hecho: que Ford habría contactado a la difunta del otro lado y pasado un dato que resultara probatorio para su hija y su yerno.

«This book I believe to be Arthur Ford's own account of life in the next stages of existence beyond the portal that man calls death.» — y el cierre del Foreword, donde adjudica el libro con verbo de creencia: lo tiene por relato del propio Ford sobre la vida en las etapas siguientes, más allá del portal que el hombre llama muerte.

«And now, a world without Arthur. It was January 4, 1971, and throughout that long day I mourned his passing.» — Montgomery narradora fecha el arranque del libro en el día de la muerte de Ford, el 4 de enero de 1971, y lo cuenta como duelo propio.

«I had loved him as a father for a dozen years, and it was through Arthur's trance sittings that I first seemed to recapture the closeness with my own father, when he made his appearance through Fletcher, Ford's otherworld control.» — y declara de dónde viene el vínculo: doce años de trato, y el reencuentro con su propio padre que dice haber tenido en las sesiones de trance de Ford por medio de Fletcher, a quien el libro llama el control del otro mundo de Ford.

«automatic writing, and a high-minded control who called himself Lily dictated much of the material which I used in my book A Search for the Truth and in a chapter of Here and Hereafter. Then, after completing those two manuscripts, I abandoned automatic writing.» — Montgomery declara una práctica anterior y su abandono: el control que se llamaba Lily le dictó buena parte del material de dos libros suyos, y al terminarlos dejó la escritura automática.

«For one thing, I was too busy. For another, I had proven at least to my own satisfaction that communication with the so-called dead is possible, and I had no wish to become a medium.» — y da las dos razones del abandono, la segunda dicha sin rodeos: que ya había probado a su propia satisfacción que la comunicación con los llamados muertos es posible, y que no quería volverse médium.

«Late in that heavy-hearted January day after the telephone call, I suddenly felt an impelling urge to go to my typewriter and once again try automatic writing.» — el retorno a la máquina de escribir lo describe como impulso y no como decisión razonada, el mismo día del aviso de la muerte.

«Probably nothing would occur, for I had deserted Lily so abruptly that there was no reason to expect such a busy spirit still to be on tap. But he was! No sooner had I murmured my usual prayer for protection and placed my fingers in touch-typing position than the writing began:» — Montgomery consigna su expectativa contraria —no esperaba que un espíritu tan ocupado siguiera disponible— y el procedimiento exacto: la oración de protección y los dedos en posición de mecanografía al tacto.

«"Ruth, this is Lily and the group. Arthur Ford is here and wants you to know that he is as young as the merry month of May. He feels great and does not want you to grieve. He is so glad to be here, more delighted than you will ever know, for he has secretly yearned to make this trip of exploration and finds it much more beautiful than he had imagined or glimpsed while in trance.» — lo primero que el libro presenta como dictado lleva firma de dos: Lily y el grupo, que anuncian a Ford y lo dan por gozoso del viaje de exploración que, dicen, había anhelado en secreto.

«The next morning Lily presented my father, Ira Whitmer Shick, who wrote, "Ruth, Arthur and I are buddies now. He is a wonderful fellow and I appreciate all that he did to awaken you to this perfectly normal means of communication, but he says I should have some of the credit because you wanted to reach me enough to keep plodding away at it."» — la segunda voz que el libro consigna es la del padre de Montgomery, presentado por Lily, que dice haberse hecho amigo de Ford y reparte el mérito de la comunicación entre el difunto y el deseo de ella.

«Arthur then came through himself, writing, "Ruth, this is Art. For the time being, never mind telling people that we're in communication, because every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the country is going to be claiming that, and I don't have time to answer all of their pleas for admission and response.» — y la primera vez que el libro presenta a Ford escribiendo por sí mismo: pide discreción, con el argumento de que cualquiera reclamaría estar en comunicación y él no tendría tiempo de atender las peticiones.

«The next morning, with the urging of Lily, I agreed to resume the regular morning sittings at my typewriter, as I had done while amassing the material for A Search for the Truth.» — Montgomery narra el pacto de método: reanudar las sesiones matinales regulares ante la máquina de escribir, como las que dice haber hecho para un libro anterior.

«Arthur is not here just now, as he wants to check on his funeral details and what to do with the estate that he left. But this is a passing phase, as he will soon learn that it makes no difference here what is done with what, and who is where.» — Lily, en el dictado, explica una ausencia de Ford por asuntos terrenos —el funeral y la herencia— y la declara fase pasajera, porque del otro lado, dice, no importa qué se haga con qué ni quién esté dónde.

«We are not allseeing, all-knowing on this side, and many things are unknown to us on the physical plane unless they penetrate the intelligence of one with whom we work closely, such as yourself.» — y el mismo dictado pone un límite a lo que se atribuye: no son omniscientes de aquel lado y muchas cosas del plano físico les quedan ocultas salvo que penetren la inteligencia de alguien con quien trabajen de cerca. La capa de texto une aquí *all-seeing* por el guion de fin de renglón, y así lo devuelve la extracción.

«He wished me to be free to write a book in collaboration with him about life in the next stage of eternal life. With his usual zest, he assured me that he was collecting ample material, so that we could present "a totally accurate picture" of conditions in the plane where he now found himself.» — Montgomery narra el encargo del libro como colaboración propuesta por el difunto, que —dice— le aseguró estar reuniendo material para dar un cuadro del todo exacto de las condiciones de su plano.

«manuscript was unnecessarily delaying our work together on a far more important and lasting project, that which Arthur Ford has been discussing with you. We will begin at once, if you are agreeable, and will delve into the existence of life from one stage to another, telling how it differs with each stage. We will discuss the crossover to this phase as one sheds his mortal body, and as we progress with our account of life here, I will give you glimpses of the higher phases which are yet to come."» — Lily, en el dictado, fija el programa del volumen: recorrer la existencia de una etapa a otra, el cruce al soltar el cuerpo mortal y, según avance, atisbos de las fases superiores.

«"Ruth, you and I were together in many previous lifetimes, as I sensed there on your plane and now know to be a fact. We were friends and comrades, relatives in some lives and not in others, but never were we rivals or enemies, which is why we worked so well together and felt such consummate loyalty to each other in the phase which I have just finished.» — lo que el libro presenta como primeras palabras de Ford al tomar la máquina: vidas anteriores compartidas con Montgomery, nunca como rivales, de donde deriva la lealtad entre ambos.

«Now, let us start with the premise that each person is a continuing entity through all eternity. No beginning and no ending, despite what some of the moralists say about our life beginning with physical birth as a baby and ending with Judgment Day. Bosh! There has never been a time when we were not, and we always will be, even though in constantly changing forms and stages, for we are as much God as God is a part of us.» — la premisa con que arranca el dictado de Ford: cada persona es entidad continua por toda la eternidad, sin principio ni fin, y somos tanto Dios como Dios es parte de nosotros. La glosa no adjudica la tesis a nadie más que a la voz que el libro le asigna.

«For if each of us is God, then taken together we are God; and since it takes all of us to make a complete God, we know that another person is as necessary to us and to the common welfare as we ourselves. Therefore, it behooves each of us to concern ourselves mightily with others, for they are as necessary to us as our own arms and legs and eyes and ears.» — y la consecuencia moral que Ford saca de esa premisa: si hace falta la totalidad para completar a Dios, el otro es tan necesario como uno mismo, y por eso conviene ocuparse de los demás como de los propios miembros.

«"Each of us is incomplete without the totality of humanity, both living and dead. Don't forget that this all-for-one-and-one-for-all applies equally to the living and so-called dead, for it is the totality that makes us the whole of the Universal Spirit which we are wont to call God.» — el mismo dictado extiende la regla a vivos y muertos por igual: es la totalidad la que hace el todo del Espíritu Universal al que se acostumbra llamar Dios.

«The clergy may not like this concept, but if you think about it awhile you realize that it is much nearer to fulfilling Christ's commandment 'Love One Another,' and His teaching that 'The kingdom of God is within' than all the stuffy preaching about a God who sits on high to judge the quick and the dead.» — y Ford anticipa la objeción del clero, apoyándose en dos frases que atribuye a Cristo, el mandamiento de amarse y el reino de Dios que está dentro, contra la prédica de un Dios que juzga desde lo alto.

«Fletcher was his French-Canadian boyhood friend in Florida who lost his life in World War I and a few years thereafter became the master of ceremonies for spirit entities who wanted to come through Ford while he was in trance.» — y presenta a Fletcher con los datos que el libro le da: amigo de infancia francocanadiense en Florida, muerto en la Primera Guerra, y después maestro de ceremonias de las entidades que querían pasar por Ford en trance.

«"Fletcher's first words to me were, 'Old friend, welcome, welcome. And how happy is the release for both of us. Now I can go on to higher duties.' But first he talked to me at length, filling me in on what to expect on this side and giving me a few valuable words of advice about not becoming as earthbound as he did through taking over that long, drawn-out (fifty-year) project with me.» — el dictado de Ford pone en boca de Fletcher la bienvenida y el alivio del relevo, y le atribuye un consejo: no volverse tan atado a la tierra como él por haber tomado un proyecto de cincuenta años.

«I am not going to tie myself down to years and years of being a message bearer, as poor Fletcher did for me.» — de donde Ford deriva la razón de prisa del libro: no atarse años como portador de mensajes, sino cerrar un proyecto corto y seguir a otras tareas.

«As to all that business about sidereal time versus orthic time, I'll leave that to the great brains like Betty and Stewart Edward White [authors of The Unobstructed Universe], who are quite advanced here, incidentally. Let's keep ours in layman's language that is easy of comprehension, so that we don't lose our readers in high-flown terms.» — y el dictado declara el registro que quiere para el volumen: dejar el tiempo sidéreo y órtico a los autores que nombra y hablar en lengua de lego para no perder al lector.

«Time, of course, is different. There's no such thing as clock time here, for we are able to eliminate time as well as space, since we are able to will ourselves to be anywhere at any moment of earth time and are able to look ahead so far into what you call the future that this also transcends the earthly idea of time.» — la tesis de Ford sobre el tiempo: no hay tiempo de reloj de aquel lado, porque se elimina el tiempo junto con el espacio al poder quererse estar en cualquier sitio, y la mirada alcanza tan lejos que trasciende la idea terrena de futuro.

«Arthur would return to this philosophy again and again in the weeks ahead, expanding his thesis» — Montgomery narradora anuncia que esa filosofía vuelve una y otra vez en las semanas siguientes; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 12, donde ella pone su propio interés en el reencuentro de Ford con Fletcher.

«So what is fear? Simply lack of faith in the plan. Be relaxed, available, willing to take what comes and do the best that you can."» — y define el miedo como simple falta de fe en ese plan, con la receta que le sigue: estar relajado, disponible y dispuesto a tomar lo que venga.

«"Death is no more than the passage through a beckoning door. It is so brief, so transitory as scarcely to be noted, for it is what lies beyond the door that counts. The body, let us say, is tired and weakened. At a certain point the heart stops, not merely because the body mechanism will not function, but also because the soul has slipped off through the opening door. Some go gladly, some reluctantly, but all in answer to the universal urge for peace and tranquility.» — la tesis central de Ford sobre el morir: paso por una puerta que llama, tan breve que apenas se nota, porque lo que cuenta es lo que hay del otro lado; el corazón se detiene no solo por falla del mecanismo sino porque el alma se ha escurrido.

«For a time the soul in transit may slumber, particularly if there has been undue shock or mental weakening. On this side they let it sleep until it stirs and seems to feel need, of its own accord, for contact with those on this side. But sometimes the step across is so gentle as to seem like the wafting of a summer's breeze.» — y el dictado admite dos formas del tránsito sin armonizarlas: el alma puede dormitar si hubo choque o debilitamiento mental, y a veces el paso es suave como el soplo de una brisa de verano.

«This was so in my case, because I knew enough of what to expect to welcome the shedding of the husk which was my ailing body. The pain ceased, the spirit departed, and here I was amid such beauty as you cannot dream. The here was not different from the there except that, with no need for physical comforts, only the beauty of the world remained.» — Ford aplica la segunda a su propio caso y explica por qué: sabía bastante de lo que le esperaba para dar la bienvenida al desprendimiento del cuerpo enfermo. El aquí, dice, no era distinto del allí salvo por la belleza, sin necesidad de comodidades físicas.

«A WORLD BEYOND A STARTLING MESSAGE FROM THE EMINENT PSYCHIC ARTHUR FORD FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE by Ruth Montgomery Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., New York» — la portada entera, que es aparato editorial y a la vez el pasaje donde el volumen se anuncia como mensaje de un difunto: título, subtítulo, la autora con el *by* y el pie de imprenta.

«Twelfth Impression ISBN: 698-10404-8 Copyright © 1971 by Ruth Montgomery All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. Published on the same day in Canada by Longman Canada Limited, Toronto. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-154779 Printed in the United States of America» — la página de derechos: la mención de duodécima impresión y el ISBN, el copyright de 1971 a nombre de Montgomery, la reserva de derechos, la edición canadiense simultánea de Longman Canada Limited y el número de catálogo de la Library of Congress. El año de esta impresión no se imprime.

«CONTENTS Foreword I Arthur Ford Lives II The Arthur Ford Saga III Thoughts Are Things IV Heavenly Computers V Temple of Wisdom VI What Happens After Death VII Specific Cases VIII Storyteller Extraordinary IX Reports on Famous People X Proper Preparation XI Conquer Those Bad Habits XII Between Earth Lives XIII Examples of Reincarnation XIV Higher Planes and Other Planets XV Prophecy Epilogue Glossary» — el índice, que da la estructura declarada del volumen: Foreword, quince capítulos numerados en romanos y titulados, Epilogue y Glossary.