A Visit From Elvis

I dreamed I met the spirit of Elvis and he greeted me like a brother. “Man,” he said, “it’s good to see you.”

“I’m honored to see you,” I said, “but please tell me where you have been? What is it like there? Do you know how many people there are on Earth who love you and would like to have you back?”

He laughed an Elvis laugh, throwing back his head with a grin. “I am there, just not in the same way. I never left! It’s just that I am everywhere else too. Everywhere, everywhen – it’s impossible to describe. The Universe is a big, exciting, vibrant state of being.”

I was blown away. Elvis clearly had transitioned to a higher plane. My head swam with visions of flying through space and time, communing with other spirits and with the Divine. What unfathomable mysteries had he experienced since leaving our planet behind? What wisdom could he teach me? What questions could I even ask to begin to tap this unexpected source of spiritual knowledge?

“But can you tell me at least a little about what it’s like? Was there a hard transition? Did you meet God, or Jesus, or Krishna? Or your parents?”

He looked at me and his eyes were full of love. There was no derision or superiority in his voice when he said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but there is no explanation you could understand. To begin with, I am not ‘Elvis’ in the way you think.”

Images of space zombies sprang involuntarily into my consciousness. He saw the look on my face and laughed again. “Nothing like that!” He reassured me. “It’s just that the notion of ‘me’ as an individual separate or different from others, or from the fabric of the Universe, doesn’t exist outside your plane. You’re not just seeing Elvis; you're seeing yourself in another form. And Elvis. And every other manifestation of the Universe.”

“The best that I can say – and it doesn't begin to express the full dimensionality of the experience – is that I met Love.”

There at least was a concept I could grasp. I decided to try another approach. “Can you see what’s happening on Earth from where you live? What advice can you give me about how to live a better life? To prepare? Or does meeting Love just solve everything?”

His manner was like a wise man speaking to a very small child. “I – or we – are aware of every aspect of the Universal vibration. Because we are not affected by time or distance, our consciousness includes everything in your world and everything else that is a part of that vibration. Naturally, we are indifferent to the objects that absorb most of the attention of beings on your plane. Your consciousness is dominated by separation; we know only Oneness.”

“But let me tell you this. You take your short time on Earth way too seriously. You all spend most of your time hoarding stuff that will be dust in the blink of an eye. You compete for material things as if they mattered, but they don’t. You behave as if Love and Joy were in limited supply, which they aren’t. You don’t really prepare for the end of your life, because you think existence ends when the body dies.”

“When you do meet Love, which you might also call 'God,' you are totally unprepared. So, many of you turn tail and run right back into the existence you just left. Some have done this thousands of times.”

“Elvis – ‘I’ – was a fortunate one. Even on Earth I knew somehow that the purpose of life was to love and to prepare for the greater, infinite Love. When the time came, I was ready. So I transitioned from your world of suffering and separation to the greater Universe that is Love. I stopped being just Elvis and became a part of Love itself. And yet, maybe because of my preparation, the self-awareness of Elvis continues on this plane.”

“So, my advice to you is just to stop concentrating on and worrying about temporary things. Your world, your very self will not last longer than this instant. There is only one thing that is eternal and real, and that is Love. Put your attention and energy into becoming pure Love. This will bring you bliss in your world, but more importantly, it will prepare you to surrender yourself to Universal Love at the end of this existence. That is the simple and essential truth that so few of your fellow beings understand, let alone accept. It is the path of escape from pain and separation.”

I woke with a start and the vision of Elvis vanished. I shook my head, dazed, and wondered whether it had been more than just a dream. But I realized the Truth in his words, which distilled the essence of every spiritual teaching I had ever heard. I vowed to make Love the center of my life forever.