Your book Suddenly Psychic describes a turning point in your understanding of life’s challenges, bigger questions around spirituality versus religion and our purpose here. What was the specific catalyst for this shift—and how would you explain that transformation to a skeptic?                                                                                                                                   

I’m not sure “turning point” is the phrase I would use. Because the “awakening” occurred so late in my life (age 60), I would liken it more to the erosion of a rock caused by a steady drip of water from above. Eventually the rock will wear away and expose whatever is underneath.

I was raised in a mainline Protestant church and was an active participant well into adulthood.

But looking back, I can see that even though I was groomed through my entire childhood, by the time I was deemed old enough to join the church, things weren’t connecting. I wasn’t feeling the things my peers seemed to be feeling. The things I was supposed to believe without question didn’t seem right to me. So, I let my mind entertain other ideas about spirituality.

I became interested in psychics and all they had to say. I decided early on that the devil was a made-up control mechanism, because all of the information coming from people who seemed to be spiritually connected couldn’t possibly be demonic. It was spoken in a language of love and acceptance, things that Christianity was supposed to be about. All I got out of church was fear and control.

The biggest lesson, and also one of the hardest here, is to reject the idea that we are separate from what we might call God—learning that God is not in outer space judging us. We all have pieces of God inside of us, so in effect we are all God. That may be one of the most important and difficult things to learn.

Stop looking outside of yourself for a connection to a higher power. The connection is inside of you. 

You write about connecting with a guiding presence, Creator or various personal guides. How do you personally understand that relationship today—in terms of faith, intuition or connection to a higher power? 

Not to be overly dramatic, but as I stated before, what we perceive as God is inside all of us; therefore, the universe is inside each and every one of us. And in that universe, which is our true home, exists an infinite number of entities that are there to help us live out these Earth lives we choose and plan for ourselves.

It would be absolutely beyond the comprehension of our human minds if we had access to all of the universe, so when we choose to come to Earth for a human life, we select a few close friends—I chose six—to watch over and guide us while we’re here.

They have access to the life plan we wrote for ourselves, and so can nudge us in the direction we need to go to fulfill as much of that plan as possible in our very short lives. But they can’t interfere with our choices. They can only try to keep us on track by providing clues, hence intuition and coincidences are common if you are open to them. 

In what ways has this perspective changed how you approach fear—especially around death, loss or the unknown?

This begs the question, Why do we come here? What is the purpose of living a human life? There are basically only three reasons for putting ourselves through all of this: first to experience linear time, second to experience endings and third to experience negative emotions.

There is no linear time in the greater universe. In fact, there is no such thing as time. Everything is happening all at once, which is a basic premise of quantum physics.

There are no endings (read: deaths) on the other side. Everyone and everything is eternal and immortal, so to experience that kind of thing in all of its many forms, we incarnate here.

And thirdly, we come to experience negative emotions—the “big three” being fear, anger and guilt.

I may have strayed away from the question, but because I now know that there is no heaven, hell or death, I have no fear of “dying.”

And since I have witnessed so many departed souls coming through the veil that separates this world from the rest of the universe, aided by famous psychics, and have actually been contacted by some “spirits” myself, I have absolutely no doubt that when we decide we’ve learned enough this time and are ready to hang it up, we go directly home.

You’ve shared that this work helped you heal both childhood and adult wounds. What did that healing process look like, and what might others take from it in their own lives?                                                                                                                                  

In my book, I share that my guides showed me a sizable baggage train with multiple boxcars filled with negative emotions that I was dragging behind me for multiple lives.

The reason I was given that vision is that I had vowed during my life planning that I was going to deal with it all this time and not drag any of it into my next life. They tell me I’ve done a fairly decent job, and most of the baggage has been cleared.

How did I do it? First, I had to know it was there. I accomplished most of that through past-life regression and being in direct contact with my guides.

Those things might not be readily available for many people at the beginning of a spiritual journey, so a different approach might be to identify any of the “big three” negative emotions when they appear and determine if they actually apply to the current situation. If you can’t pinpoint anything in your current life, it might be a bleed-through from a past life.

In any case, just ask the universe to help you get rid of it. Releasing it to the universe is as simple as addressing your guides and angels and simply saying, “Help me get rid of this pent-up anger. It is not serving me well, and I want it gone.”

For readers that may never explore past lives or spiritual practices, what core insights or principles from your journey still apply to living a meaningful, grounded life today?

This is a difficult question to answer, because I don’t know what my life would look like if I hadn’t chosen to pursue the spiritual path I’m on.

Everyone may not have access to someone who can help them see past lives, but everyone can learn to meditate and listen for that inner voice that is your spirit guide trying to make contact with you. Everyone can stop and try to understand what is happening when their negative emotions get the best of them. Everyone can listen and look for signs from a departed loved one trying to assure them that they are not gone, just transitioned to the other side.

My best piece of advice, especially in this day and age, would be to question everything you believe. If you think—I mean really think—about a core belief you hold and it feels like the truth to you, then keep thinking it. If, on the other hand, it raises some doubts, then think about it some more and see if you want to change your way of thinking.

D.L.Kline is a Pennsylvania-based author. Connect with him at [email protected]. His book, Suddenly Psychic, Revised Edition, is available on Amazon, BookBaby.com, and his website, davenj.com.