by Anthony Borgia

We have spent some little time considering the house itself. Let us now wander out and inspect the gardens or grounds round about our homes. But before doing so I would like to revert to a subject which is not unconnected with the gardens themselves.

I have already remarked that we are never hungry, from which it might be inferred that our social gatherings are entirely without refreshment. Such is not the case. We have the most delicious fruit in abundance. Our host or hostess, whoever it may be, will always see to that. But it is fruit that is very unlike yours on earth, we eat it for a very different reason, and it produces a totally different effect upon us. To take the fruit itself first. We have a much greater variety than do you, even taking into account the diversity to be found in the different parts of the world. All the fruits that you have we also have here, but with the quality there is no comparison. And the size, too, is remarkable. That you must see to believe!

The fruit contains a great quantity of nectar-like juice, at the same time leaving the flesh of the fruit firm to the hold. It is perfectly formed, without blemish, a picture to behold, and its appearance does not belie it, for it tastes even more lovely than it looks. In eating the fruit we are not conscious of an internal satisfaction such as are you on earth with your fruit. We feel at once a powerful force running through our whole system, a feeling of exhilaration both mental and physical. We have no physical hunger that calls for satisfaction; whatever fruit we eat acts as a life force, and, as it were, stirs us up mentally and charges us with vigor.

It is difficult for you on earth to imagine yourself without hunger and the need for food. To be hungry and thirsty is instinct with human nature on earth. When you come to reside permanently in these realms of the spirit world, you leave your hunger and thirst forever behind you. You will never, therefore, miss the food and drink for which you no longer have any need. And that state in turn becomes instinct with human nature in the spirit world. You would even find that you could manage very nicely if you were never to partake of any fruit here, but once you have tried it and sampled its rich benefits, you have discovered a pleasure that you will never want to deny yourself. And there is no need to deny yourself upon any grounds whatsoever. There is plenty of it to be had simply for the gathering of it, and you may tuck in’ without fear of being dubbed a glutton!

Where does the fruit grow? Most people have a garden attached to their houses, and they are bound to have a favorite fruit tree tucked away in some corner that will amply supply them both for the requirements of hospitality and for their own personal needs. But there are large tracts of land here that are entirely applied to the growing of fruit of various sorts and for various purposes.

One of my earliest experiences after I had arrived in the spirit world was the discovery of a splendid orchard of fruit trees. The owner of it was quick to perceive that the illness that had caused my transition to these realms had been a short one, and he presented me with some fruit of a particular kind which, he said, would supply me with just that re-invigoration that I needed. Edwin was with me at the time (indeed, it was he who disclosed this orchard to me in the first instance), and although he had been many years here, he also partook of some fruit, greatly to his benefit likewise.

The whole of this orchard is a plantation of special fruit trees for the use of people who are newcomers to the spirit world. The owner of these trees, though I think he would prefer the appellation of ‘custodian’, is highly skilled in selecting just the right kind of fruit for newcomers. Once you have called upon him, he expects you to call again as often as you please. If he should be away from home at the moment of your visit, he explains, you are to walk in and help yourself, and the fruit trees will themselves act the part of host, and a much better one, he would say, than himself, and do what is necessary. The fruit is always there because it is always in season, and it is always in capital condition for consumption.

The genial soul who conducts this fruit farm, if one can so term it, is performing a very great service to all of us here, and you can readily imagine that he possesses a great knowledge of the technicalities of his work. He is, in fact, an institution in these realms, and is known far and wide not only for the services he performs but for himself, for one could not find a more amiable companion. He is the owner of the orchard and the dwelling house that is close by. He, himself, will tell you that he holds the orchard in trust for the whole of this realm, and by virtue of his services thereto, he enjoys the privilege and pleasure of ‘owning’ it until such time as he will pass on to a higher state. And there is no one in these realms who would dispute not only his fitness for the services he renders, but his right to call the land, the orchard, and his dwelling house strictly his own for just so long as he wishes to extend his tenure of them. We shall be very sorry for ourselves when he transfers his noble activities to a higher realm, while we shall be happy on his account that he has reaped a rich and well earned reward.

I have spoken to you of food in the limited extent of fruit, but what of drink? Do we never feel the need for liquid of some sort? Never. But you must know that there is an enormous quantity of juice to be found in the fruit which would be sufficient to quench any thirst of reasonable dimensions!

However, the spirit world is not an arid waste, as you will by this time have gathered. There is water in abundance in the rivers and streams and brooks, and every drop of it not only fit to drink, but, indeed, like no water to be found upon earth. It glistens and sparkles; it is crystal clear; it is buoyant; one can slip beneath its surface and enjoy its warm embrace as it folds its loving arms about you. It soothes, it invigorates, it inspires. It will produce the most beautiful sounds when it is disturbed on its surface. The ripples of the wavelets will reflect back a multitude of rainbow tints and will emit the purest of musical tones. Have you any water like that upon earth? I cannot remember ever seeing any such when I was there.

There is no such thing as stagnant water here; every drop of it is everlastingly living water of jewel-like purity. We can bathe within it, we can ride upon its surface in many a splendid vessel, or we can descend beneath it without harm to ourselves, because it is our nature that no harm can come to us.

And now, after this slight digression, let us return to our consideration of the gardens.

Our gardens are as much like the earth gardens as our spirit world houses are like yours. The first difference that you will notice is the absence of fences, or hedges, or walls, or any other means of indicating the boundaries of our ‘property’. So that, when you look out of the windows of your home in these realms, the whole wonderful prospect will seem like a gigantic park, beautifully wooded, with streams and rivers to be seen sparkling in the light of the central sun, and flashing back countless rays like veritable diamonds.

Apart altogether from their beauty, our gardens have an eternal freshness and orderliness about them that would be impossible of attainment in any earthly garden. My use of the word orderliness must not be misconstrued into anything approaching the somewhat rigid regularity to be observed in the public gardens of the earth. Beautiful as the latter may be, there is something of a cold orderliness about them; a lack of the sense of friendliness; a severe ordering of the flowers in their precise arrangement. They seem to be so very much on view, and one may have the feeling of being warned off. Even the simplest of our spirit gardens is immensely superior to the most assiduously preserved garden to be found upon earth.

The differences between our gardens and yours are numerous, so numerous and wide, in fact, that the only real point of resemblance is in the name. I am inclined to think, though this is only my personal opinion, that the absence of fences and hedges to which I have just alluded; indeed, the absence of all marks of our own ‘territorial frontiers’, is one of the chief contributing factors to the great divergence between our gardens and yours.

In spirit world gardens one feels at once the sense and the reality of spaciousness which abounds everywhere. It is another instance of the freedom which we all know, feel, and enjoy. Freedom, you see, manifests itself in so many ways here, even in what might be deemed the comparatively unimportant matter of our gardens. It may seem unimportant to you who are still on earth, but to us here it is vital.

All our gardens, then, merge the one into the other, forming an unrestricted whole which constitutes the great countryside of these realms. The land is not entirely flat, of course. There are gentle hills and slopes, delightful valleys with streams and rivers running through them. There are pathways winding their pleasant course beneath verdant trees of every kind. And every inch of ground is under cultivation of one sort or another. There is no barren land here, no neglected land. We each of us keep our gardens alive, in every sense of the term, by the affection which we shower upon them. There is no constant battle with weeds and wild growths; nor are we at the mercy of the elements, whether of wind or rain, or lack of rain; of cold or frost; or of too great heat.

In the perfectly tempered warmth of these realms every form of spirit nature has its full chance to grow, to flourish to its fullest extent, unhampered by such conditions as your earthly nature has to endure. If that is the case, it may be remarked, then there is no wonder that spirit world gardens are a perfect picture of heavenly delight. That is so, but it is a point that is so frequently overlooked, because people are apt to think too much in terms of the earth when considering life in the spirit world.

There is another feature marking the difference between our gardens and yours, and which will be of some interest to those of my friends on earth who are fond of gardening. With you in the earth world, once given the requisite ground, it will not be long before you will produce some sort of result by virtue of your possessing some general, though perhaps limited, knowledge of horticultural practice, and for the rest trusting to the plants to look after themselves, with occasional assistance from a more knowing friend. But a garden of the spirit world demands expert knowledge in its creation, not to prevent us from going wrong, but to produce any results at all. Without our knowing exactly how to produce flowers or other growing things, we should fail to create any garden whatever.

Most of us here have consulted the expert gardeners at one time and another, either in the first formation of our gardens or afterwards to make alterations and improvements. If we should lack ideas in the matter, these important functionaries will soon provide us with something of their own fashioning that will be sure to please us far more than we ever anticipated.

From time to time I have consulted with these good folk upon my own gardening arrangements, and it is astonishing how they have the faculty of knowing just what we most desire without our having expressed it openly. In any case, a hint is all that they require to evolve a dream of a garden, from the tiniest rustic nook to the great swelling banks of flowers with their innumerable color schemes which are to be found in the neighborhood of all the ‘public’ buildings in these realms. But more recently a sprightly young lad, named Roger, has taken up his residence with us, who is himself an expert horticulturist.

Shortly after his arrival here, and at whose transition Ruth and I assisted, he became greatly attracted to horticultural work, and he has since become highly proficient in the art. So that now the gardens of our small domain are under his constant supervision and we have no need to venture farther than our own home in all matters appertaining to their arrangement or re-arrangement with such an expert living on the premises. Roger here carries out all manner of experiments in floral disposition and display which is as great an interest to the rest of us as to himself. We are never quite sure what new form our ‘grounds’ are likely to take at any given moment, and our numerous friends are oftentimes treated, as we are ourselves, to many and varied horticultural surprises! A great many of these expert horticulturists were either gardeners or lovers of gardens when they were upon earth. Being at liberty, as we all are here, to choose their occupation when they come here to live, it is but natural that they should put their previously gained knowledge to some further use, or that they should become fully occupied in what was on earth a diversion to be indulged in when time and opportunity permitted. It is true that a great deal of their earthly knowledge would be of little use to them as gardeners in the spirit world in any practical application, but it does not take them long to discard their old knowledge for the new, to exchange the earthly methods for the spirit world methods.

Not all of our gardening experts are practical gardeners. Some of them are designers of gardens only, leaving the actual creation of the garden to others. And others are creators of gardens only, leaving the designing to others. And again, some combine the two, designing and creating.

The horticultural architects are never at a loss for an idea, and you must know that designing a garden does not only mean arranging for the disposition of some small plot of ground such as one finds adjoining so many of the dwellings on earth. In the spirit world a whole countryside can be altered and rearranged down to the smallest detail, and the plans have to be made from which the actual creators are to work.

In the spirit world, planning and building a garden involves certain considerations which would not be heeded on earth. For example, the types of flowers and trees, with especial attention to their coloring, will largely be ordered or influenced by the kind of dwelling or other edifice which stands or is to stand in the particular ground. You will recall how the stones and so on in these realms are all glowing with beautiful shades of color. The flowers in the gardens, therefore, will all accord with the colors of the masonry of the nearest building, broadly speaking, so that the two shall form together a blend of perfect harmony. Color, you see, produces sound, and sound produces color, so that it is essential that consonance and not dissonance should be the resulting effect of all horticultural efforts in these realms. Discord of an unpleasant nature would not be permitted. So here is one point, at least, where our gardening methods differ from yours.

Again, we are not restricted, as you are, to seasons of a year. Our flowers and shrubs and trees are always in bloom and in leaf. We have combinations of flowers in our gardens that would normally be impossible upon earth through the passage of time, or because of the order of nature upon earth that causes flowers to come to maturity, flourish for a brief period, and then fade and die.

You, who love the flowers and the gardens that grow them, can you not imagine our joy, here in these realms, where we have our favorite flowers always with us in our gardens, never at the mercy of the elements or the seasons, never withering with age, but ever presenting themselves to the world in all their beauty, in all their simplicity or their grandeur, in all their wide range of colorings, from the most delicate tint to the most vigorous and compelling of bright colors, and, lastly, always shedding their delicate perfumes upon the sweet pure air to delight us not only in the exquisiteness of their aroma, but to charge us with spiritual force, can you not imagine our joy at all this?

This is all very well, I can hear you say; but do you never become tired of all this perfection? With all this absolute perfection about you, how can you have any contrast, any light and shade? You surely need something that is not so perfect, if one may so express it, to show off, to emphasize, what is perfect.

Certainly that is a point which might worry some people. The latter are dreadfully afraid that there may be a flaw somewhere in these details of spirit life which I am giving you; some important matter, some qualification which I have overlooked, that would tend to show that these realms are really, after all, not quite so perfect as one would be led to imagine.

Or, in other words, there is bound to be something, somewhere, that we should dislike, or upon which we might frown in displeasure.

Well, now, the details I am giving you are drawn from my own experiences, firsthand experiences. I give you facts as I and millions of others see them in these realms; facts which we know to be the truth. There is no disputing the colors of the flowers, for example, just as there is no disputing thousands of other facts patent for all to see and observe and realize their truth.

Or, again, you feel, shall we say, that what I am telling you seems too good to be true. Perfection, you would rightly say, is unattainable on earth, but that is not to say that perfection does not exist somewhere else. Perfection, it will be objected, admits of no qualification. Either a thing is perfect, or it is not perfect. There can be no half measures about it. One thing cannot be more perfect or less perfect than another. That is the truth in its strictest sense. But perfection can be largely a matter of personal experience. We may imagine that a thing is perfect because we have never experienced or encountered anything better. We are therefore entitled to regard this particular thing as perfect, and we shall do no harm to ourselves or to any other person by so thinking.

These realms wherein I live, are, to all of us who inhabit them, a state of perfection so far as our present experience takes us. The great majority of us can scarcely contemplate a state of greater beauty and happiness, that is, a state of greater perfection than this sphere where we have our homes and our life. We love every inch of these realms, we love every moment of our lives; we are supremely happy, we could not be more so; that is to say, we do not think we could be more so. But when we come to regard the strict truth we know that when we pass into a higher realm we shall be happier still. We have not yet enjoyed that experience, but those of our friends who have already mounted to a more exalted realm are continually returning to visit us and to tell us of the greater happiness which they are now enjoying, happiness which they did not think possible, and to speak of the greater perfection in their new realms of things which already seemed perfect to them. So that, perfection, after all, is a matter of degree, of comparison, of experience, and it is not possible to set any limitation upon perfection, because we do not know as yet how far it is possible for perfection to extend. So that when I say that everything here in these realms is perfect, I mean, of course, everything is perfect in so far as our present experience takes us.

And that applies to us all here. Even when we have visited higher realms for a period, however long or short, we have only glimpsed the greater perfection of those realms. We can see that things are immensely purer in all ways, the colors, the musical sounds, the flowers and forests and woods; the rivers and streams; and, lastly, the people themselves, all are more rarefied. But those of us who have been so fortunate as to have visited a higher state never on any account feel dissatisfied with our own estate upon returning to our own realms. Dissatisfaction does not come by visual comparison of our present realms with higher realms. There are other causes for that which, for the time being, we will not consider. As far as my description of these realms is concerned, you need not be afraid that it is all too good to be true. To you who are still incarnate it may seem that it is impossible of attainment. To us, it is our everyday life.

Why should I depreciate the true condition of things here? Why should I pretend that the conditions are less wonderful and less beautiful than they are simply because some folk, still living on earth, cannot imagine anything being better than the state of existence upon earth? What is there against the particular beauty and grandeur of these realms to which such exception is taken? Because the same people have not experienced either or both, it does not follow that they do not exist in these realms. And if, by a deliberate perversion of the truth, I were to describe this state as being but a fourth-rate imitation of the earth, people would still be displeased. What they would say in effect, is the next world is no better than this world?

There are many parts in the spirit world that are a thousand times worse than anything that can be found in the earth world. There are many regions in the spirit world that are immeasurably more beautiful and more glorious than could ever be found upon earth. Yet there are minds who are thoroughly dissatisfied to learn of either! They need not perturb themselves unduly. When they pass into the spirit world they will go to that place for which, by their earthly lives, they have fitted themselves, and to no other. And in addition, they will go only to that place, or that description of a place, which they think ‘heaven’ ought to be. How long they will remain in their home-made ‘heaven’ rests with themselves, but my observations tell me that it is usually not very long before such people emerge from their restricted ‘paradise’, and join their fellows in the real ‘heaven’ that has been waiting for them all the while. It so happens that their ideas of what perfection is, or ought to be, do not coincide with what perfection really is, even in the qualified sense we have just discussed. In the end they are bound to admit their error of judgment!

It is strange, is it not? -this strong disinclination upon the part of some minds to accept the fact that some sections of the spirit world, at least, should bear any resemblance to the earth, albeit a resemblance that involves considerable modifications. After spending their lives in an earth world where such objects as houses and buildings of every kind are to be found, where the countryside with its fields and meadows, its rivers and lakes, its trees and flowers are but commonplace facts of earthly existence, some people feel resentful that they should be asked to live on in a future state where so many of the familiar landmarks of the earth are again in evidence.

Of course, they are not asked, strictly speaking, to live amid these surroundings, but we have already considered that point. It is more the fact that a spirit world civilization exists at all that so annoys some of our friends on earth. Again I would ask, what would they have in place of these natural surroundings?

The aversion, I am persuaded, arises from the notion that these realms of which I am speaking bear some limited or modified resemblance to the earth. Now that in itself is wrong. It is to imply that certain regions of the spirit world have been constructed upon earthly lines; that the earth has been taken as a model and the spirit realms built upon that model, and that they therefore constitute something of a replica of the earth. Exactly the opposite is the truth. The earth bears a limited or modified resemblance to these realms, which is a different matter altogether. Spirit lands, in the realms of light, are a thousand times more beautiful than any part of the earth it is possible to mention.

It will doubtless be pointed out to me that in spirit lands there are houses that are a counterpart of earthly houses, and my own dwelling will be adduced as an example. That is true. My own house came into existence in the spirit world after I had earned the right to have it there as my home, to be set apart for me until I should arrive in spirit lands to live. But domiciles in incalculable numbers, having no counterpart on earth, had been in existence hundreds and hundreds of years before ever I was born upon earth. The inspiration that came to man to cover himself and his family with a roof of however rude a description came from the spirit world. You may say: nothing of the sort; it is no more than a natural instinct exerting itself, an instinct of self-preservation, to protect one’s self from the rigors of wind and storm, of cold and heat. If you feel that you must act here to your contention, then, so be it. I cannot provide proof of my assertion yet. You must wait until you come to spirit lands yourself, and I shall be pleased to show you where you can ascertain the truth for yourself. In the meantime, I will adhere to my contention, and I will venture further to assert that the whole range of earthly architectural design throughout the ages has been inspired and influenced, promoted and encouraged by great minds resident in the spirit world.

Inspiration is not a matter of physical brain cells self-functioning in such a manner as to produce a clever or brilliant idea in the mind of a person. Inspiration can come from any quarter of the spirit world, from the highest realms, from the lowest realms, and from the grey lands as well. It remains with the incarnate as to which quarter of the spirit world he will lend an ear. If to the highest, there will come only that which is good; if to the lowest, only that which is evil and bad. In the former, among many other good things, you will have all the beauties of art and music, but they will be beauties and not hideous distortions masquerading under the cloak of pure art; you will have scientific discoveries for the benefit of mankind, as well as schemes for his well-being. You will have great works of dramatic and literary genius that will live through the years and never show signs of wear. From the dark realms you will have wars and strife, unrest and discontent; you will have literature that is a disgrace to so-called civilization, and music, even, that is an abomination of impure sounds, such sounds as would never exist for an instant of time in these realms.

No, the spirit world is not a copy of the earth. The spirit world was in being aeons of time before the earth came into existence. Does man think that he has formed and fashioned all that is man-made upon earth entirely of his own mind and genius, then man is woefully mistaken.

Without the spirit world, the earth and mankind, who is barely living as judged by the greater life of the spirit world, would soon get into inconceivable difficulties. The beauties of the earth are but a foretaste of the beauties of the spirit world and the life that lies before all mankind. We do not copy you who are on earth, we have no need to do so. We give you glimpses of the spirit world so that you may have some slight acquaintance with the spirit world before you come to take up your life and residence here.

Excerpt from Here And Hereafter