How my ancestors prodded me to perform Shraddha to help them in the afterlife

1. My transformation to my present state

Since commencing spiritual practice, my life has greatly improved !

After coming across the SSRF website in December 2018, I started avidly reading the website. I commenced spiritual practice progressively, and ever since my life has gotten better and better. I feel as though I am definitely more stable mentally and have greater clarity intellectually. I am less emotional, fearful and anxious. I stopped eating meat and I am enjoying being a vegetarian. My body feels much better and lighter without consuming meat. I have also become punctual and timely. In addition, I am able to concentrate and focus more on duties related to my job. I believe that as my energy became cleaner and higher, I was able to attract better people and situations in life. I changed my job and noticed the people were better, there was little or no gossiping and no draining conversations where they complained of their many problems. I was awestruck that I was attracting a better group of people in my life. I am no longer addicted to drinking alcohol and prescription drugs. It was such a smooth and seamless transition to get off these addictive substances. I was absolutely astonished that I did not have any withdrawal symptoms at all !

I had been taking an opiate every day for many years prescribed by my doctor, which I have now not taken in a year. I got off the drug right away in 2019 once I started doing the Salt Water Spiritual Remedy and chanting as recommended by SSRF. I thought I would be a legalised drug addict for the rest of my life.  Before, I could never go long periods without drinking. Now, I no longer hang out in bars for happy hour after work. I no longer experience night terrors, sleep paralysis or bad dreams.

I have so much to tell, and it has been a long road, so I was unsure of where to begin; so I decided to start with the last few years.

2. The inspiring transformation of Ms Carlyn Jewell

This article showcases the inspiring transformation of Ms Carlyn Jewell from San Francisco, United States. Narrating her journey in her own words, her experiences exemplify the divine power of correct spiritual practice and how it works simultaneously on every aspect of one’s life, fixing and enhancing it so that one experiences a better quality of life.

Given ahead is her amazing journey towards positivity and wellness.

3.  Struggling with depression and dabbling with the occult

I had a long bout of extreme major depression. I was severely depressed for 5 years. It was really bad from 2009-2013. But I did not start to feel better until about 2014. In the aftermath of this crippling depression, I started a journey of healing and inner engineering. I began to study many books on self-improvement, the occult, metaphysics, the law of attraction, Spirituality, demonic possession, the afterlife, etc. I had books on many topics related to self-enrichment. I even tried changing my handwriting because a book said that if you changed your writing style, it would improve your self-esteem. I also began seeing a therapist regularly. I wanted greatly to understand what had been plaguing me and my family lineage. On my father’s side, I felt there was a lot of dark energy attached to my bloodlines and evil family secrets. It felt as if someone did black magic to hex the family line.

I knew that many things from the unseen world were troubling me. I was beset by misfortune and bad luck. It seemed as if there was always something unseen blocking and obstructing me from having a happy and successful life. I just could not pinpoint it. I combed the Internet and YouTube looking for answers to life’s problems and trying to find ways to improve my life because I desired greatly to change my inner self.

4. Sensing the presence of entities in my home

Between 2014-2015, I began to meditate.  I knew that this was very good for me because I was able to experience small increments of calmness. In less than 2 years, I had reached a certain level of awareness. I had read that when a person began to heal and clean up their energy, their latent psychic abilities would slowly develop. I am an empath (a term used to refer to people with the sixth sense ability to perceive the mental or emotional states of others), so I would feel easily drained. But now since I had become partly clairsentient or perceptive, I was actually aware of exactly where the direction of the energy and feelings were coming from. I suddenly became aware of spirits in my waking state, in my home. I would see apparitions out of the corner of my eye or peripheral vision and hear weird sounds. I would awaken to see people standing over my bed. When I would look again, they would vanish.

They seemed to all be wearing the attire of the period and era that they were from. There would be poltergeist activity in my home. Even when I could not see them, I would become aware if they were around because it was like a blind man who turns his head and knows that someone has just walked into the room although he cannot prove it to himself by actually seeing them with his eyes. He knows that they are there because he can feel their presence. That is the best way I can describe how I knew they were around me. Whenever I would drive past a cemetery, it would feel as though some of the spirits of people would follow me home from the graveyard.

I began a quest to understand these happenings. Who were these spirit people or entities and what did they want from me ?

5. Trying all possible means for cleansing but problems persisted

Around the same time (in 2017), three of my uncles died in succession. They all died within a short period of time. I felt that when my mother started talking about them, they were suddenly drawn into my house, which felt like a sudden rush of negative energy. I was astonished when one of my uncles actually showed up at my job. My house became haunted, dark and ominous. The atmosphere became oppressive. I was wondering why they resided in my home since I had not seen them since I was a girl. I remember running past the second bedroom that they took up residence in.  I called a shaman to remove them. Yet, this problem persisted. It would feel as if my home would be empty of spirits at some point, and then more ghosts would come back. They would return to the premises time and time again. There was a time when I was walking, and it seemed like a ghost was in the ground beside me; it felt so heavy like an anchor and so low and close to the earth. (I later read in an SSRF article about negative energies which helped me to connect the dots.) I was at loss to understand how to protect myself and guard my home against these invisible intruders.

I would burn incense and sage. I also read books on psychic protection and none of them worked. I called a priest to come to bless my home and a spiritual healer. None of these people were able to help me. I would pray continuously and wonder how these entities had the power to keep coming back. (Looking back now after reading the article on the SSRF website that describes how they are refuelled by higher-level negative energies, this now makes sense to me.)

I felt hopeless because there was no one that I could talk to or explain this delicate and precarious situation to. Not one friend or relative.  If you start talking about ghosts, people think that you are crazy. I lived alone, so I used to dread going to my house. I felt isolated and thought that I was going to have a mental breakdown.

6. Meeting different psychics and getting some inkling of the other side

Once, in 2018, I met an old man at the hypnosis centre who told me told me quite frankly and randomly that he saw a vision of me in a swamp holding a torch and leading the spirits of the dead out of the darkness. I did not pay this man money as he was a complete stranger to me. I had never seen this man before, nor since.

Another psychic told me that I was assigned to help spirits ‘cross over’ and move to higher planes in the spirit world. She said that it was my duty. She said that she was shown a vision of a prison where the subtle bodies were imprisoned. She also stated that I would help thousands of spirits to move to higher spheres in the spirit world.

One particular man told me that your ancestors say that you never listen to them at all. I kept thinking what are my departed ancestors trying to tell me ? What do they want me to do ? I am not a Saint or a spiritual authority, so how could I possibly help someone in another plane of existence ? Why would people from the unseen world need my help ? In 2017, I read once that a Saint, Swami Vivekananda, had prayed and helped some spirits who had died by suicide. But I did not have the power or knowledge to do anything like that. This was unfamiliar territory to me that I knew nothing about.

I went to a church down the street since they have psychics there who give free consultations. I befriended a guy named Avery who was able to communicate with the spirits of the dead. He came to my home a few times and he reiterated the same thing that all the other psychics had told me : that my departed ancestors needed my help. That they were begging me to pray for them and assist them in moving forward in the afterlife. I asked him, ‘Why me ? And why now in my life ?’ And he would always say, ‘Because you are sensitive and aware of their presence. That is why they are contacting you to help them to move on in the afterlife. They have always been around you your whole life, you were just never aware of them until recently.’

I asked him if they saw the ‘Light’ to cross over and he said they described seeing only ‘pitch-black darkness.’ There was no light at the end of the tunnel for them. When I later read the SSRF article – Life after death: Going towards the light, it confirmed these findings.

I would wake up at 2:30 AM every night. Not 2:29, not 2:32, but 2:30 AM on the dot exactly. I never told anyone but, Avery told me that it was the spirits of the dead waking me up because they needed my help.

7. My departed ancestors prodding me on to help them in the afterlife

One time when Avery came to my house and told me that there were spirits of the dead there that were trying to contact me in my dreams. He said they were bound and captured by a demon that had enslaved them and was holding them captive. I stood there gawking at him in bewilderment. This incredible story was way over my head, a lot to comprehend and it all sounded like a paranormal television show. I was amazed by these startling revelations. I had no idea that later I would read the SSRF website article that would describe the exact same thing that happens to subtle bodies in the afterlife.

On another occasion, Avery came to my house and started to randomly channel my deceased first cousin Stephen. My cousin had died young in a violent manner. Stephen manifested through him and began to speak. We did not plan for this to happen, but all of a sudden Avery spoke with the exact same voice as my cousin! His mannerisms, speech, and gestures seemed similar to Stephen as well. ‘Stephen’ said that it was my duty to help spirits in the afterlife. He stated that it was he who had led me to purchase a book on rescuing earthbound spirits and to help them to move forward to higher subtle planes. He also said that it was my ancestors who led me to suddenly be interested in the spiritual dimension. This was true, as prior to these happenings I had never been interested in the spiritual dimension, life after death, etc. In hindsight, I think my ancestors were trying to lead me to all books that they thought might be helpful to give them momentum to move forward in the afterlife.

8. Reading books to understand how to help my departed ancestors

I had a few books that I purchased regarding the afterlife. They were all books over 100 years old. They confirmed the same thing that the SSRF website says. I don’t believe that in today’s modern time authors would compile a book with that amount of Truth in it. All the modern books will fabricate a tale about everyone going into the light of Heaven. If everyone goes to Heaven, then why are spirits haunting my hallway ? All the old books said the same thing; that there are karmic repercussions for misdeeds and that you will go to the precise, exact location that you have an affinity with according to your spiritual level. Everyone is separated and sent to a plane of existence that matches themselves. Ugly thoughts, emotions and actions create ugly surroundings in the spirit world. I knew I was on the right path after reading these same findings on the SSRF website.

The psychics tried to encourage me to develop my mediumship skills, but I felt that it was dangerous to engage in spirit communication. You have no idea who you are actually speaking with.  Since these topics are not discussed in society, I did not know what to do to help these earthbound subtle bodies. None of these events were happenstance and coincidence.

9. Not getting help and feeling baffled by misinformation

All these psychic mediums knew there was a problem with me and my home, but none of them actually had a solution because they did not have a high spiritual level or know about the Shraddha ritual, Deity Dattatreya (the Deity associated with departed ancestors), Deity Shrikrushna (associated with the Principle of God related to Sustenance) or spiritual healing measures to be done consistently to alleviate this dilemma. I learnt about these points later through SSRF. They were baffled by the intense spirit activity around me. None of the many books I read or the information available online was helpful to me. There is a lot of misinformation out there because this subject is not researched or believed.

My next thought was how can I not end up like all these earthbound subtle bodies ? They all seemed confused, disoriented and unsure of where they were and why they were in the situation that they were in. Because if entities from the other side are asking me for help in the spiritual realm as if I know something, they must be in a desperate and deplorable state.

10. Finding SSRF

I made a vow to resolve this situation. I met some people at the Buddhist Temple in San Francisco who taught me about chanting, and then soon after I found the SSRF website in 2019 when I looked up information about ghosts and how to protect myself. I knew that the articles on ancestral distress would apply to me even before I clicked on the link. Crows would flock around my mother and look at her like they were crazy, she said.  For some reason, we never saw seagulls or other birds. We always encountered crows. Crows always followed me as well and any palmist looking at my hand to read my palm would see that I have the sign of the Pitrudosh on my hand (Curse of the ancestors).

11. Experiencing the truth in the Knowledge published on the SSRF website firsthand

Through the information published on the SSRF website, now I know that the sleep paralysis, the recurring nightmares I experienced for my whole life and the spirits touching me in my sleep were all related to ancestral distress. That random man telling me of the vision he saw meant that one day, with the help of Deity Dattatreya, I would lead the spirits out of darkness and suffering. This was also the case when the medium told me it was my duty to help my ancestors. I learned later that it was the duty of the descendants to perform the Shraddha ritual for one’s departed ancestors.

All these occurrences were linked.

The ancestors were trying to get my attention to help them; I just did not know what to do since these concepts are not talked about and practically unheard of on planet Earth. Paratpar Guru Dr Athavale is right about departed ancestors troubling their descendants. I have firsthand experience of being troubled from the other side.

In 2018, I went to my extended family reunion. I had a cousin, Gigi who had a multitude of black and white photographs that she wanted me to index and catalogue with her. I had never seen any of these pictures ever before and my mother and grandmother didn’t have these pictures either. When I touched the pictures with my left hand which is more sensitive, it felt so bad ! I did not want to take these photographs to my home at all. I never even called my cousin back because I didn’t want my hand to feel as if it was singed again, and I wanted nothing to do with the pictures. I later read the SSRF article that explains that keeping pictures of deceased relatives is detrimental. This confirmed and greatly explained why there were negative vibrations emitting from the photographs.

12. Beginning spiritual practice, chanting the protective chant and performing the Shraddha ritual

I started attending spiritual meetings (satsangs) organised by SSRF. Under the guidance of my satsang teachers, I started chanting the ‘Shri Gurudev Datta’ chant and playing the chant perpetually in my home. I also played the chant continuously at my desk at work, and I would listen to it while commuting on the subway. I purchased the 2 books on the Shraddha ritual for departed ancestors to have a better understanding of this concept. This helped me immensely.

I was instructed by my satsang teachers to do a simple Shraddha ritual by cooking rice and sesame seeds. On three different occasions, I cooked and put the food outside during Pitrupaksha (the fortnight for departed ancestral spirits).  I prayed over the plate and set it out on my balcony. I believe my ancestors came the second time I put the food outside because I could feel strong energy emanating off the plate.

I wanted to make maximum efforts during Pitrupaksha, so I went to an Ashram on the ‘All Ancestors New Moon Day’ (Sarvapitri Amavasya which in 2019 was on 28^th September) where there was a fire ritual with different kinds of firewood, rice and sesame seeds done to appease our ancestors since it was the last day of Pitrupaksha. It felt like the departed ancestors were there during the fire ritual. I also had the priests at the temple do a formal Shraddha ritual for me. I was on a packed subway train going to work in the morning when I knew exactly when the priest was doing the ritual. As I was standing there with all the commuters, I could feel a strong rush of positive energy wash over me. Waves of energy hit my body, and I marvelled at how it felt so strong. It felt as if a portion of my own essence was actually returning to me and as if stolen energy was coming back. I am sure my auric field expanded (meaning my aura was impacted positively), and I could feel the potent energy from the ritual last for days.

13. Spiritual cleansing and a complete positive transformation

All of these bizarre events were enough to put fear in me and I was adamant to finding a way not to become Earthbound like the average person in today’s time. I made a vow to not end up like the spirits pestering me. I often wondered why I had to go through this rather odd and peculiar situation, but now I think that maybe God was showing me what doesn’t work to spiritually cleanse your home. I also think that the Lord was giving me a peek into the afterlife; a glimpse at what happens if you cannot raise your thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions while on the physical Earth. It was a glance into what awaits those who do not do spiritual practice and accumulate demerits.  Maybe now I can appreciate what actually does work, which is consistent spiritual practice and healing measures that are done daily. Needless to say, my home is no longer haunted. Now my house is just fine. I no longer feel as if I am under psychic attack. I am so grateful to God because my house now actually feels spiritually pure, almost like a Holy place; gratitude to Deity Dattatreya, Deity Shrikrushna, Paratpar Guru Dr Athavale and my spiritual teachers. Gratitude to God for relieving me of intense distress. That dark phase in my life is completely over, strange to say.

14. Realisations and final thoughts

Recently in 2021, my extended family throughout the United States started to have family reunion Zoom meetings on Sundays. Previously I saw them every few years. I was never connected with them regularly on this level before. My first thought was, why ? I started to see old black and white photographs of family members that I had never seen or heard of before. My mother also found a few obituaries that I had never seen before as well. I have a cousin, BJ, who works in county records who researched and went to actual gravesites. My cousin said that he doesn’t know why he is driven and prodded to do genealogy research of the family lineage, going back generations. Why are all these things coming to light now? I think I know why : the ancestors desperately want to be remembered and helped and that is why they are bringing us all together from every corner of the United States. I believe the ancestors want me to tell my extended relatives about making offerings to them and chanting Deity Datta’s Name.

The moral of my story here is simple : Do spiritual practice so that when you die, you don’t end up haunting the Earth plane like these people ! Always remember that it is hard to think of heavenly things when you are in hell, so do spiritual practice today, while you are alive.