[In December 1999 Rene said he would like to interview me and post the interview on SpiritWeb. I agreed. On 4 January 2000 he sent the following 15 questions. Some I could answer briefly, but some I could not. I soon had over 100 pages of notes. That was too much for an interview, so I told him my response would take awhile and continued to work on it from time to time. It took me five years to boil it down to 16 pages.]

Rene: Dear Ben, we met a few years ago, when I was introduced to your web-site where you had various texts on spirituality, and also a speech you held for a group of people, where you channeled a brief message about reincarnation; and it immediately touched me, and I was connecting the being you channeled and also with you. Even we met just once face-to-face you are a very close friend for me. So, thank you for the opportunity for this interview.

Ben: Yes, I remember that you said how much my report "Reincarnation 101" meant to you -- that it helped bring things together for you, and you felt great love when you connected to the being who sent that message. And I remember the moment you stepped out of the passenger gate at Dulles Airport. Our eyes met and we were glad to see each other. I cherish the time we shared, walking and talking together. Good memories, my friend.

Rene: Here my questions for you:

-------------------------

Rene: You do consider yourself as First Century Christian, what kind of religion, movement or belief is it, can you elaborate?

Ben: I call myself a First Century Christian because I have rejected church doctrines and dogmas and anathemas that do not conform to the teachings of Jesus. This is my personal decision. As far as I know, it isn't a movement. I lead a small group called First Century Christianity. And I've heard of some groups that call themselves First Century Christian but I am not associated with them.

-------------------------

Rene: What role plays Jesus for you, in which regard it differs from the catholic, Lutheran, and also the evangelist point of view?

Ben: Jesus is my master. I work for him, and so do many other souls, incarnate and discarnate. He provides leadership, inspiration, guidance, clarification, and his own example of attitudes and actions for us to emulate.

My view of Jesus differs from those of other Christians in several ways. I do not believe he places any human being between himself and me. I believe what he taught and demonstrated is far more valuable than anything else in the Bible. I do not accept doctrines that contradict his teachings or doctrines that he didn't teach. And I do not believe a lot of things people have said about him. For example, I do not accept the doctrine of the trinity. I struggled with it for many years. Finally, in 1998, after two years of research, I found the doctrine of the trinity was invented by Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, Egypt, in 362 AD, and imposed by the Emperor Theodosius in 380 AD. Jesus never heard of it. As a First Century Christian, I am not a disciple of Athanasius or Theodosius.

I believe Jesus is the most obedient son of the Most High God. He isn't the only son of God, but he is unique in his obedience. I believe God sent him into this world to rescue souls. He descended from heaven, incarnated as a human being, lived, taught, suffered, died, returned to heaven, and continues to rescue souls. Thus, I believe Jesus is and always was a divine (God-like) being and not merely a teacher or prophet or "ascended master" or an avatar of one of the lesser gods, but I do not believe he is equal to God. I believe he is subordinate and obedient to God, as he said.

-------------------------

Rene: Was Mary truly a virgin when she gave birth Jesus? Who was the father of Jesus?

Ben: I don't know whether Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. Two of the Gospels say she was (Matthew and Luke), and I suppose it is possible, but it doesn't matter to me. Jesus knew where he came from. He said his Father in Heaven sent him into this world. He often spoke of "Your Father in Heaven" and he taught us to pray "Our Father in Heaven." That's all I need to know about that.

-------------------------

Rene: What role play the Essene with the First Century Christians? Also in regard of the Qumran Scrolls?

Ben: I've read assertions that John the Baptist and Mary and their parents were Essenes, but those stories first appear in some fictional "gospels" written in the second century. From what we know of them, the Essenes were a Jewish sect that was even more strict than the Pharisees. Therefore, I believe the Essenes must have considered Jesus "a wine-bibber and a glutton who eats and drinks with sinners" and scorned his disciples as hopelessly lacking in piety.

Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were thoroughly studied, there was a lot of talk about their possible relationship to early Christianity, but now scholars say there was no relationship. The great value of the Dead Sea Scrolls is because they include the earliest known copies of the Jewish scriptures.

-------------------------

Rene: How do you view Judaism as a First Century Christian?

Ben: This is a interesting question. It led me to look within and investigate my reactions. I know there were two types of Christians in the first century -- Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. By the end of the first century, Christianity had changed from almost all Jewish to almost all Gentile. I apparently identify myself with the Gentile Christians, because I think of Judaism as someone else's religion. I respect Jewish people, and I know Jesus was a Jew, but I don't react as though I was ever a Jew. For example, I read the Jewish scriptures objectively, as the history of a people and their dealings with their god, Yahweh. When I find statements that Yahweh is impartial and not necessarily biased in favor of the Jews, I think some Jewish people were (and are) worshipping the Most High God and calling him Yahweh.

For me, the most significant finding in the Dead Sea Scrolls is the fragment of Deuteronomy 32:8-9 that doesn't support the usual translation. It says: "When the Most High (El Elyon) gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of [his] sons the gods (b'nai ha-elohim); for Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage."

I believe this fragment preserves an ancient understanding -- the Most High God is the Father of the gods. Yahweh is the tribal god of Jacob (who was renamed Israel). Later, in the great rejoicing and boasting after their return from exile, the descendants of Israel said Yahweh is the only God.

The first of the Ten Commandments states: "You shall have no other gods." This commandment does not deny the existence of other gods, but it demands total allegiance on the part of Israel to its own God. (HarperCollins Bible Dictionary)

-------------------------

Rene: How do you view Hinduism, such as shiavists (Shiva worshippers), vaishnavas (Vishnu worshippers), and also the concept of karma; and how far you incorporated or relate vedantic insights into your belief and cosmology?

Ben: As I see it, Hinduism isn't one religion. It is a group of religions that have some beliefs in common, but very different concepts of deity.

I know Brahman is the Hindu concept of universal unity (All is One), but I do not believe all things and all beings are united, and I do not believe all gods and goddesses are manifestations of one God. They certainly differ remarkably in their attitudes and actions.

I used to think I was a pantheist, but I realized that I do not worship all-that-is. I worship the Source of all-that-is.

I view the Hindu trinity (Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer) according to their attributes (creation, preservation, destruction) as three fundamental processes, and three purposes with which sapient beings may align themselves (to create, or preserve, or destroy). Although I do not deny they exist as discarnate beings, the thousands of other Hindu gods and goddesses are not important to me.

Hindus don't seem to pay much attention to Brahma the Creator. I wonder why. Brahma must precede Vishnu and Shiva, because until something is created, it cannot be preserved or destroyed. Also, Hindus scriptures say, at the end of each age of creation, all-that-is collapses back to the Source, the Creator. So Brahma is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end of each age of creation.

Those who say they are devotees of Vishnu seem to have a rather practical view of spirituality. I tend to like them. And I greatly appreciate the Bhagavad-Gita.

I have not studied Shivaist literature, but I have seen people praising Shiva or Kali in chatrooms. They were extolling all sorts of destruction and killing as good, beautiful, desirable, admirable, holy: "The flame that destroys everything and everyone that is weak or unworthy." I do not share their sentiments or worship their deity.

I have not read all the Vedas, but I have studied the Upanishads. I found much that I recognized from personal experience and other people's testimony, plus insights concerning things I half-understood. I did not derive any of my beliefs or cosmology from them, but I do believe they contain ancient descriptions and interpretations of some spiritual realities that have also been discovered by others and can be discovered now.

The basic concept of karma is: the totality of one's actions in any state of existence determines one's fate in the next. I agree that actions have consequences, here and hereafter, but even more, I believe that desires have consequences whether or not they are acted upon.

The deterministic doctrine of karma leads to thoughts or statements such as: "If you murder anyone, you must come back and be murdered; if you torment anyone, you must come back and be tormented." I think that doctrine is a form of social control: "You will be rewarded for your good deeds and punished for your bad deeds, if not in this life, then surely in a future life."

I don't accept the deterministic doctrine of karma. I believe we take our desires with us when we die, and those desires continue to influence us until we release them. This is the concept of "attachment" in Hinduism and Buddhism, but I call it "the law of attraction" because desires operate within us even if they aren't attached to anyone or anything. For example, we can be attracted to fantasies that do not and cannot exist in reality.

The law of attraction can be stated: "We are automatically attracted to whoever or whatever we desire, love, want, crave, yearn for, etc." Therefore, what we desire determines our direction, and direction determines destination, which is another name for destiny.

Some results of the law of attraction are described by Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita: "Those who worship the various deities will go to those deities. The ancestor-worshippers will go to their ancestors. Those who worship elemental powers and spirits will go to them. So, also, my devotees will come to me." Therefore, I believe each of us needs to decide very carefully who or what we will worship.

-------------------------

Rene: What's the difference of religion and spirituality, where does the cultural identity and belief ends and the universality of spirituality starts for you?

Ben: Religions prescribe rules for belief and behavior, but spirituality does not. As I grew up, I didn't accept the cultural identity and beliefs of the people around me. I always thought of myself as an outsider. Later, as I learned about various cultures and beliefs, I simply assumed that spiritual reality must be universal and not the exclusive property of any one culture. I remember laughing with a deep feeling of recognition and appreciation the first time I read the parable of the seven blind men and the elephant.

-------------------------

Rene: Do you believe in reincarnation, and when did you start to realize it?

Ben: As a little child, I knew I had been here before. For example: the first time I saw a folding chair, I thought "We didn't have those." I had the same thought the first time I saw an electric refrigerator, and the first time I saw an airplane. So I knew reincarnation is a fact long before I knew there is a word for it. My mother accepted the concept of reincarnation matter-of-factly, but we didn't talk about it much. No one else I knew talked about it at all, so neither did I.

When I first read the Bhagavad-Gita, I saw the primary reason for reincarnation: "Hungry still for the food of the senses, drawn by desire to endless returning." I thought: "Yes, and it isn't only desire for sensory experiences; it is also desire for anything that requires a physical body."

The first time I realized how vehemently some Christians oppose the idea of reincarnation was in the early 1960's when I overheard a couple of them damning the "hippies" for that belief. Then I saw some fundamentalist Christian literature that said reincarnation cannot happen and anyone who thinks it can is deceived by the Devil. I was glad I hadn't said anything about it in our church even though it isn't fundamentalist.

With the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius" there was more and more talk about reincarnation, and more and more resistance from fundamentalist Christians. That is why I was surprised in 1968 when a minister asked me, in a room full of ministers, "Ben, what do you think about reincarnation?"

I lifted up his question in prayer, "Well, what do we think about reincarnation?"

The answer came back through full control of my voice:

Reincarnation is available, but it is no longer necessary, and it never was desirable. Those who return have laid up their treasure on earth. After they die, they are tormented by earthly desires they cannot fulfill and will not lay aside, so they are not happy in heaven.

The loving Father allows His children to return, but that is not what He prefers for them. It is a result of their own addiction to earth. Every time they are born again, they must die again, and if they do not learn, the cycle repeats. Therefore, reincarnation should be seen in contrast to eternal life.

Jesus taught men to lay up their treasure in heaven, and to let go of earth-binding desires. He demonstrated life after death with his own body, so they could know that men go to their treasures. Thus he accomplished, for himself and those who follow him, what Buddha recommended: he broke the wheel, and set men free.

After that answer was spoken through me, none of the ministers said anything, and several nodded their heads. The one who had invited me thanked me. They gave me a round of applause. Someone said a benediction, and we all departed.

Many years later, I learned that some early Christians believed in reincarnation and some did not. For more than 500 years, belief in reincarnation was neither required nor prohibited -- until 553 AD when the Emperor Justinian made a church council declare it anathema (accursed). He enforced his anathema by dismissing every bishop who didn't agree with him and every priest those bishops had ordained. Then he had it written into the secular law (Justinian Code). Now those who say you cannot be a Christian if you believe in reincarnation don't know they are still enforcing the arbitrary decree of a Roman Emperor.

-------------------------

Rene: What is the purpose of life as human being for you based on your understanding and realizations? And how does reincarnation and liberation from it fits into it?

Ben: Eternal life is my purpose, for myself and others. The core of Christian understanding is John 3:16 -- "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Thus, my purpose is aligned with the purpose of God and Jesus.

It is important to know that the Greek word translated "life" in John 3:16 doesn't merely refer to existence. It means liveliness, vigor, vitality, enthusiasm, vivacity. These characteristics are what it means to be truly alive. So God's purpose for us isn't merely eternal existence; it is eternal liveliness.

Hinduism and Buddhism view reincarnation as being trapped or bound, and therefore something to escape from. Jesus did not preach reincarnation: he solved it, by teaching and leading his followers to rise from the earth-plane to the Light and live there eternally (i.e., not reincarnate again). The essence of his teaching is threefold and selectively applies the law of attraction:

First, love God supremely -- establish your upward attraction.
Second, love your neighbor as yourself -- establish your attraction to other souls.
Third, release your earth-binding desires -- drop the ballast so you can rise.

Hinduism teaches worship of various gods and goddesses, and austerities to gain release from reincarnation. Theravada Buddhism teaches extinction of desires. Mahayana Buddhism teaches extinction of desires except for the compassionate concern that others do likewise. None of these doctrines include all three elements of the teaching of Jesus, and most branches of Hinduism and Buddhism envision the ultimate goal as dissolution or extinction of individual existence, which is not eternal life.

My self-realization is that I am a soul, a spiritual entity, a spark of the Light, and originally came from the Light. I don't agree with those who say life as a human being is a curse or a punishment or a prison. No one forced me to come here. I'm here because I had some unfinished business that required living in a human body. But the earth isn't my home. The earth is beautiful. It is a park, a garden, a nursery for plants and animals. It can be a school for souls, but souls can become addicted to earthly pleasures and treasures, so they keep coming back and don't graduate. I intend to graduate from this school, and go home to the Light, and continue to work for my Master in his mission of rescuing souls.

-------------------------

Rene: Is living as human-being a fall-down from the paradise or heaven, do you also think in those 'Christian' terms?

Ben: Yes, but falling spiritually isn't only a Christian belief. It is described in the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead). During pre-birth regression many people remember falling from one of the upper astral levels, and some remember falling from the Light. Regression is usually needed to find those memories because most people forget where they came from.

Sophy Burnham has a lovely little story at the end of one of her books about angels. I'll paraphrase it briefly. A family had a little girl and a new-born baby. The girl kept asking to be left alone with the baby, but the parents were worried about that. Finally, they let her be alone with the baby -- with the intercom turned on. They heard her say to the baby, "Tell me about God. I'm forgetting."

-------------------------

Rene: You are also working in the field of spirit depossession. In which way you have started in this field, and working during the past with it? Can you share with us some experiences you had showing the fundamental basics of it (e.g. how spirit possession occurs, signs, and how depossession is applied)?

Ben: I started working in this field (also known as exorcism, detachment therapy, spirit releasement therapy, and soul rescue) in 1989. Before that, I had practiced prayer as a form of two-way communication for 25 years. How I started two-way communication with spirits and selectively changed my communication to prayer is described in several papers on my website. During that time, I encountered some cases of possession, and helped to resolve a few of them by counseling the people or discarnate souls involved, but I still had a lot to learn.

In 1989, a friend invited me to a workshop entitled "Regression Therapy Intensive Training: Past Life Recall and Spirit Releasement" by Dr. William J. Baldwin. I wasn't inclined to go, but my friend sent four audio tapes, and I thought it only fair to listen to them. When I did, I was surprised, and impressed.

The first three tapes were made during seminars in which Dr. Baldwin explained and demonstrated his approach to Past Life Recall and Spirit Releasement. What he called Spirit Releasement is in fact the rescue of discarnate souls. Instead of casting them out and driving them away, he guided them to the Light. I thought: "Yes ... that's right. He is raising the dead, from earth to heaven."

The fourth tape was made during a session in which a demon spoke through the voice of his client. Oh, yes: it was a demon. I had encountered them before, and they're not all that hard to recognize. What was different in this case was Dr. Baldwin's response. Unlike the Roman Catholic ritual of exorcism that tries to send evil spirits to hell, he rescued the demon. Firmly but gently, step by step, he led it to see it had been lied to, deceived, and led astray. Then he presented it with a choice: go back into darkness and be punished again by its demon-commanders, or escape into the Light where there is no punishment. And quite suddenly, the demon changed -- from hostile to hopeful -- and went to the Light. As I listened to it happen, I thought: "Yes! This is a higher ethic -- a better way."

The workshop was held on 4-6 May 1989. It was a major milestone in my life. Dr. Baldwin's lectures were excellent. I took many pages of notes, and it would be foolish of me to try to summarize them. Anyone who is interested in this subject should read his book "Spirit Releasement Therapy, A Technique Manual" (second edition, 1992). During the workshop, he demonstrated his techniques by working with volunteers. I already knew several of the people there.

In one session, our host asked Dr. Baldwin to clean up the house and grounds of any lingering ghosts. He selected a volunteer as the channel. She had not done this before. The first soul who spoke through her was a field-hand named Tom who didn't know he had died. When he was ready to go to the Light, Dr. Baldwin asked him to call any others he saw hanging around or watching. There were many of them. Dr. Baldwin rescued hundreds of souls who came from a near-by Civil War graveyard, a grumpy old soul who popped up and asked where all the others were going, and the souls of two women who used to live in that house. Then he converted and rescued two junior demons, their commanders, and those they commanded. Finally, the whole area was quiet and peaceful. He thanked Tom for his help, and asked if there was anything he wanted to say before he went to the Light. In a voice filled with awe, Tom said, "This is the kingdom of God ... This is the kingdom of God ..." and then he, too, was gone.

Having seen it done, I went home and put Dr. Baldwin's techniques to work in conjunction with two-way prayer. In the next three months, I conducted about 40 sessions with 15 different people. At first, I counseled discarnate souls as he did, and when they were ready to rise, I called for those in the Light who love them to come and receive them. Then I began to realize I didn't have to wait until souls were ready to rise -- angels were coming to me as soon as I prayed for guidance at the start of each session, and they were doing most of the work. So I changed my procedure: when I felt the angels arrive, I established two-way communication with the angel team leader, and then worked with the angels as I would with any other search-and-rescue team. The results were much better than I could do by counseling.

And I went back to the Bible to check this out. I had read the passages about casting out evil spirits many times. Now I studied those passages to see how it was done. The earliest reported case is the demon-possessed man who confronted Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:21-28). The demon cried out "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Jesus said "Be silent [literally, be muzzled], and come out of him!" And the demon, convulsing the man and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. The people in the synagogue were amazed, saying to each other "What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."

When I re-read this passage, I thought: "What happened in that synagogue? Evil spirits don't obey God. That is their primary characteristic. So why would they obey Jesus?" A word popped into my mind -- authority -- and I understood: it isn't authority over evil spirits. It is authority over angels. God's angels obey God and Jesus. As I was learning by experience, angels bind evil spirits and take them away. Therefore, I believe Jesus said to the angels "Remove this one" -- and the demon convulsed the man and screamed as the angels bound it and took it away.

I also re-read with new appreciation the story of the centurion who understood how Jesus could heal at a distance. He came to Jesus and said "Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." Jesus said "I will go and heal him." The centurion said "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one 'Go' and he goes, and that one 'Come' and he comes. I say to my servant 'Do this' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he said to those following him "Truly, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." And to the centurion "Go. It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour. (Matthew 8:5-13)

Jesus selected twelve of his followers and gave them authority to cast out demons (Mark 3:15 and parallels). What does this mean? Delegation of authority. I believe Jesus said to the angels "As our Father sent me, so I am sending these men. Stay close to them. When they are doing His will, assist them. Otherwise, do not assist them." That is how delegation of authority works.

Delegation of authority by Jesus has to be real and not imaginary. It isn't enough to tell evil spirits "I command you in the name of Jesus." When Paul was in Ephesus, some Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of Jesus to expel evil spirits, saying "I command you by the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches." But an evil spirit answered them "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?" And the man possessed by the evil spirit leaped on them, and overpowered them, so they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (Acts 19:13-16)

This is how I work:

First, I set everything else aside, and recall specific memories that are good, true, beautiful, holy -- until I feel the upward flow of reverent joy within me. Then, having thus elevated my spirit, I focus my attention on my mental image of Jesus and send him my blessing -- that energizes my caring-connection to him. When I feel myself surrounded by the Light of his much more powerful blessing, I ask him to guide me, and I ask him to assign a team of his angels. The angels follow the lit-up caring-connection from Jesus to me.

When I feel their joyous presence, I establish two-way communication with the angel team leader and ask the angels to encapsulate me in a bubble of Light for my own protection. Then I focus part of my attention on the person or discarnate soul to be helped, and send my blessing. The angels follow that connection and do what needs to be done. Sometimes I work with the angels by counseling souls and relaying messages. Sometimes I close my connections and go about my business.

When I encounter ghosts or evil spirits, I must make sure I do not want anything from them. I must ignore their promises or threats, and not let them sucker me into debating with them. I must constantly remember that my primary purpose is to send them to the Light. If they will not go to the Light, my secondary purpose is to stop them from hurting others, without hurting them. I cannot do this alone.

Warrior angels bind evil spirits. Then counselor angels persuade them to change their attitude toward others from malevolent to benevolent. When they do that, evil spirits are no longer evil. They suddenly light up (become radiant beings) and rejoin their brethren, the angels who did not fall. This is conversion.

I have read the scriptures about casting evil spirits into the outer darkness, and I suppose that is what happens if they will not change their attitude toward others, but I know God gives evil spirits a chance to change. I have seen it happen. Conversion is kinder and wiser than expulsion. Kinder, because the formerly evil spirit is rescued. Wiser, because evil spirits who are merely expelled usually come back to the person or try to find someone else to bother.

You asked for some experiences showing the fundamental basics of how spirit possession occurs, signs, and how depossession is applied. There are many such reports on my site, and I would rather not try to abbreviate them all. Here are three cases of possession:

Tommy's wife was depressed, despondent, so she did not resist when the ghost of a party-girl took control of her body. The party-girl walked the body downtown and did her thing. Then, after she gratified her lusts, she withdrew and let Tommy's wife take the consequences. This is a dirty little game that many earth-bound ghosts play when they find someone who does not resist them. Tommy defeated this one by confronting her and rejecting her. Then he strengthened his wife by helping her do more things that she truly enjoyed, so she would find her life worth living. Five years later, his wife was still doing well.

Jim studied Eckankar and intentionally left his body. He was gone for two years. While he was gone, two earth-bound ghosts entered his body. One was weak and slow and ineffectual, but not evil; he had access to Jim's memories but not his abilities. The other was evil; he fought with the family and started sharpening a knife to kill the family dog. All of this became clear in one counseling session. I was guided to strengthen the weak one and ask him to keep the evil one out of the body. From the report I received a year later, he apparently did that successfully, and then left the body when Jim finally returned.

The mother of a ten-year-old boy asked a friend of mine to do a remote detachment session, because her son was raising hell at home and in school, and she thought he might be possessed by an evil spirit. During the session, her son was found out-of-body at home. He said (through the channel): "The mean man won't let me get back in my body." The ghost of a man was found operating the boy's body at school. Demons were attached to the man. My friend asked Jesus to send angels to the man. The angels removed the demons and cleansed the man of dark residue. With apologies to the boy and his mother, the man went to the Light. The boy re-entered his body at school. Shortly after this session, his mother said: "I have had to take a whole different approach to dealing with my son, because now he has a conscience."

Total possession is relatively rare, though it does happen. Temporary possession and partial possession are more common. Discarnate interference, deception, temptation, and obsession are much more common. Attachment of human ghosts to human beings is very common.

Many earth-bound ghosts attach themselves to human beings in order to pursue their desires for physical sensations (sex, drugs, alcohol, food, excitement). They stimulate and use those desires. Many want to pursue their own earthly agendas, and their agendas include everything humans want that requires a physical body. Many want someone to listen to them. They will spin stories forever just to keep the channel open. Some ghosts want to be leaders, gurus, guides, guardians, gods, so they try to recruit and dominate followers. Some don't bother their host very much. Some try to help their host. Many are just lost and don't know what else to do. But every earth-bound ghost is a soul that needs to be rescued.

Unfortunately, most branches of Christianity don't acknowledge the existence of ghosts, so they don't try to rescue them. Those who practice deliverance ministry or spiritual warfare usually presume that all ghosts are evil. They say things like: "That voice you hear in your mind isn't the ghost of your grandfather. It's the Devil pretending to be your grandfather." That may be true, but they assume it is true whether it is or not, so they try to send souls to hell. God doesn't want souls to go to hell. God wants souls to go to Heaven. Therefore, God's angels don't assist anyone who tries to send souls to hell. That is why the Roman Catholic ritual of exorcism doesn't work very well and may leave the exorcist seriously wounded.

In 1995, I found an English translation of a paper written by the great Christian teacher Origen (185-254 AD) in which he predicted that a time would come when demons would be saved. That time is beginning now. I have seen it done and been part of it. But as far as I know, it isn't being done by Christian churches.

As Jesus said, the fields are ripe for harvest, but the laborers are few. I wish more people would try to help souls to the Light. Anyone can simply assume lost souls are here and speak to them, saying "Wake up! Stand up! Look up! Rise up to the Light! Let your connections to those on earth stretch as you rise. Release anything else that holds you down. And pass the word: tell others what I have told you, and invite them to come with you as you rise to the Light." Not every lost soul will rise this easily, but many will, and some is better than none.

Since I started my website in 1996 I have received many requests for help. Some have resulted in face-to-face sessions, but most of my work is by email counseling and remote detachment. I am not a professional exorcist or Spirit Releasement Therapist. I have no credentials. I make no claims and accept no remuneration. I am practicing my religion. Although I haven't kept track of the number, at any given time, I am normally working more than two and less than thirty cases.

Here are two examples that are typical of many cases:

1. email. "I started channeling a few months ago. I was hearing my Higher Self and my Spirit Guides. Now there are mean, ugly voices in my head and they won't go away. Can you help me?"

2. chatroom conversation. She: "I was with a group and we did this little Native American thingy and now I have voices in my head and very strange urges. Can you help me?" Ben: "During that Native American ritual, did you use something called a ghost-catcher?" She: "Well, yes ..." Ben: "What did you expect? You have apparently caught some ghosts. Send me an email and I'll see if I can help."

Sometimes I can help and sometimes I can't. It depends on whether I can find the person spiritually and actually establish a caring-connection to the person. It also depends on whether the person will accept and implement counseling. The most difficult counseling for people to implement is based on something I learned the hard way in 1964: What you want determines the type of spirits you attract. It isn't easy for any of us to actually change what we want, but it can be done.

-------------------------

Rene: You also have been involved indirectly with Roswell 1947, can you tell us what you know from there?

Ben: I was assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1957 -- ten years almost to the day after the UFO incident that made Roswell famous. Some of the sergeants who were there in 1947 were still there in 1957. Some of the older officers who were there in 1947 had been stationed somewhere else and were back at Roswell. None of them said much about it, but it was common knowledge that a UFO had crashed near there in July 1947 and the powers-that-be said it was a weather balloon.

I wondered why anyone wanted to hide that story. When I asked the old-timers, they said something like "I can't talk about it, and if you quote me, I'll deny it, but I will say this much: It wasn't a weather balloon." When I asked them for their personal opinion of what it was, they first made sure nobody else was listening, and then said, usually in so many words, "A spaceship. Not of this earth." When I asked them if there was anyone in it, I never got a verbal reply, but several nodded their heads "yes" before they turned and walked away.

-------------------------

Rene: Betty and Barney Hill famous UFO abduction case you operated as counselor back in 196x, can you tell us how you got involved, which role you had, and your memory of the entire case?

Ben: Your question motivated me to go back through my memories and notes, and (for the first time) write a comprehensive report of my involvement with Betty and Barney Hill. I have posted it under "Testimony" on my website.

-------------------------

Rene: Where do Extraterrestrials fit into your cosmology? What has been your experience with ETs, beside the Betty and Barney Hill case?

Ben: The ETs that abducted Betty and Barney Hill had physical bodies. They were humanoid, but not human. At least some of them were telepathic. They didn't know much about humans. For example, they were surprised when Barney's false teeth came out and Betty's teeth didn't. They apparently considered humans to be semi-intelligent animals, and treated Betty and Barney with what amounted to impersonal scientific curiosity. They did nothing to benefit Betty or Barney, and left them in worse condition than they found them. As incarnate beings, and because of the way they treated Betty and Barney, I believe they are in the same spiritual and ethical range as humans (mid-astral).

During the thirty years I served in the Air Force (1955-1985), I heard a lot of UFO stories, many of which I consider reliable. Here's an example from a friend I met in 1965. He was flying F-94 interceptors in the early 1950s. One day his command center directed him to intercept some unidentified objects that were sighted on radar over Washington, DC. He closed in on one, which he described as a shiny disc-shaped vehicle, to 1500 yards, with radar lock-on. He called his command center and asked what he should do. They said "Stand by" (as usual, while they checked with somebody). Two identical vehicles moved up beside him, one on each wing. They had no wings and no cockpit or windows that he could see. Because he wasn't quite sure how far away they were, he didn't know how big they were, but he thought they were about 30 feet in diameter and 10 feet thick. I asked him what he did then. He said "I disarmed my guns. After a couple minutes, all three of them accelerated, climbed, and left me like I was tied to the dock. So I told the controllers and went home. End of story."

The whole area around Pease Air Force Base, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was inundated with UFO sightings in 1965. So much so, we had an additional duty assignment called UFO Officer that was manned by a pilot or a navigator on three eight-hour shifts around the clock, just to take the telephone calls. (John G. Fuller wrote the book "Incidents At Exeter" about UFO sightings in the vicinity of Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1965. Exeter is about 10 miles from Pease AFB.) At that time, a Captain was working with me in the 509th Avionics Maintenance Squadron. He pooh-pooed all the reports of UFOs -- until he was the UFO Officer one night. The next morning he came to my office and said he had received about two dozen phone calls with similar reports, many from people whose integrity he didn't doubt -- the crew of a Coast Guard Station, two State Police officers, two B-47 aircraft commanders, Security Police guarding aircraft on the ramp at Pease, etc. He had copied the sightings from his telephone log. I got out a map and we plotted the sightings by location, time and direction. Apparently, something that glowed bright came toward Pease from the northeast, did a square right-hand turn just south of the base, and exited the area to the northwest -- at about 4000 miles per hour. He asked "What do you make of that?" I shrugged: "Just going somewhere. Didn't land." He said "Sheesh!" and went back to his office. I didn't tell him about Betty and Barney Hill because he was having difficulty digesting this information.

I was stationed at the Air Force Office of Research Analyses, Holloman AFB, Alamogordo, New Mexico, from September 1966 to January 1969. The core of that basic research laboratory was about a dozen German rocket scientists who had stayed at Holloman instead of going to Redstone with Werner Von Braun. Most of them were very interested in UFOs. They kept track of sightings and reports, and laughed at Project Blue Book for its feeble attempts to explain everything away: "Svamp gas! -- Hah!" There were several sightings in New Mexico during that time, but no close encounters that I know of.

During the rest of my Air Force career, I was aware of many UFO reports but not closely involved in any of them.

Since 1989, I've worked cases of spirit releasement in which entities claimed to be ETs but turned out to be human ghosts. They knew too much about human beings and earthly affairs, and when challenged with their deception, they admitted it. I think a lot of such cases are really human ghosts pretending to be ETs.

However, in a few cases, I think the entities really were ETs communicating by telepathy. For example: in one case, a group communicated through the person I was working with, and then directly to me. They said they were in a spacecraft near the earth and had come from a planet like the earth in another solar system. I asked them why they were here. They said they were observing. I asked what they were doing. They said they were monitoring data from probes they implanted in people. I didn't like that. I said "How dare you damage members of an intelligent species!" They said "No damage is intended." I said "That's good, but scientific objectivity isn't good enough. When humans study polar bears, they use probes to transmit data, and they anesthetize the bears from time to time, but they give the bears medicine if they need it, and clean the bears' teeth, and make sure they leave the bears in better condition than they found them." The ETs were surprised: "Humans do that?" I said "Yes. Check it out." They paused and then said "Maybe we should do something like that." At this point, I silently asked Jesus to send an ambassador to that location, following my connections. There was a moment of silence. Then the ETs suddenly said (through the person I was working with) "We will listen to this ambassador ... and we will remove our probes." I said "Good!" and closed my connection to them. I led the person to close connections and return to normal consciousness. That was the end of the session. Was it real? It seemed very real to me, and I would certainly consider it real if this conversation had been done by radio instead of telepathy.

In summary: from everything I have seen and heard of them, I believe the ETs who operate spacecraft are ahead of humans technologically, but not ethically or spiritually. I recommend these three books, because they cross-check with things I believe based on personal experience and first-person testimony: John G. Fuller, "The Interrupted Journey" and "Incidents At Exeter." Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt, "UFO Crash At Roswell."

In another case, the being that communicated through the man I was working with claimed to be one of a group of beings who died when their sun exploded and destroyed their planet. They knew it was coming, but couldn't do anything about it, so they planned to stay together after they died. They did that, and then went from one solar system to another, on and on, looking for a planet like their former planet, with similar life-forms in which they could reincarnate. I explained about rising to the Light. They didn't want to go to the Light. I prayed about that and received: "Reincarnation is permitted. Possession is a violation." I told them what I received. They said they wanted their own bodies, not someone else's bodies. I said that meant they should leave this man alone. They agreed, and the man said they were leaving. I wished them well and ended the session. Several months later, the man said they had not returned. This episode reinforced my belief that the entire material universe is in the earth-plane spiritually.

In past-life regression, some people seem to recall previous lives on other planets, and at least one African tribe and some Native American traditions say their ancestors came here from another planet very much like the earth. So I think some people may actually be "star-seeds" -- and if they are, it was their own desire to live in a physical body that brought them here.

-------------------------

Rene: I saw a drawing on your web-site with The Source in the center, and circles around it, and the outer circles titled the 'outer darkness'; in other words, is there a place where God is not?

Ben: The answer depends on one's theology. If one believes everything is God, then of course there is no place where God is not. But I do not believe everything is God. I believe the Most High God is the Source of the Spirit-Light that pervades the spiritual universe.

The drawing on my website ("Paradigm") is my concept of the spiritual universe. It is the background diagram for most of what I have seen and said. I see it as the area of Light radiating from the Source of Light. Like any other kind of light, the law of inverse squares describes how the amount of Light at any point in this area is inversely related to distance from the Source. (From any circle centered on a source of light, the circle halfway closer to the source is four times brighter, and the circle twice as far from the source is four times dimmer.)

This drawing illustrates my understanding that the astral levels are not flat; they are these circles centered on the Source of Light. We think of them as flat because, as seers of all times and traditions have said, UP is toward the Light, and DOWN is away from the Light. The higher astral levels are brighter because they are closer to the Source; earth is in the mid-astral twilight zone, and the lower astral levels are darker because they are farther from the Source.

I did not label the Source of Light "God" because a god is an object of worship and not all beings worship the Source. Some beings love the Light and seek the Source. Some ignore the Light. Some hate or fear the Light and flee away from the Source to hide themselves in the outer darkness. In the outer darkness, the amount of illumination (and love and joy and truth) is vanishingly small.

-------------------------

Ok, that's it for now :-)

Peace,

Rene K. Mueller
Webmaster of SpiritWeb

Thank you, my friend. Your questions have stimulated a lot of thinking to explain what I believe and why. I appreciate the challenge and the opportunity.

Peace,

Ben