The whole process of leaving the earth, of dying, is a perfectly natural one. It is merely the operation of a natural law. But for thousands of years the generality of people have lived in entire ignorance of the truth of ‘dying’ and of the ‘hereafter’. And in this, as in so many cases, ignorance, or, lack of knowledge, means fear. It is fear of the future following upon ‘death’ that has surrounded the act of transition with so many mournful and morbid solemnities and doleful trappings.
Sorrow is but natural in human hearts at the parting of loved ones and in their removal from physical sight, but sorrow is aggravated and increased by the lack of knowledge of what precisely has taken place. Orthodox religion is largely responsible for this state of affairs. The one who is mourned has gone to an unknown land where, presumably, an omnipotent God reigns supreme, ready to mete out judgment to all who enter that world. It behooves us, therefore, orthodoxy would urge in effect, that we should do all that we can to placate this Great Judge, that He may deal mercifully with our departed brother. Such a situation, it would be further urged, is no time for anything but the gravest demeanor, the most solemn behavior.
And how does the departed soul view all these adjuncts of death? Sometimes with disgust, sometimes with amazement at their stupidity, sometimes, and especially with those whose sense of humor is well developed, with undisguised mirth!
And what of all the paraphernalia of death? Has it availed the departed soul anything? No, nothing. Black garments, drawn blinds, ponderous solemnity, hushed voices, and countenances of exaggerated gloom are utterly worthless to help the soul upon its way. Indeed, the reverse can, in many cases, be the result. But of that I will speak to you later. For the moment I wish to show you that ‘dying’ is the operation of a simple and natural law; that it is healthy and normal to consider the subject, and discuss it, and find out all about it.
Surely the greatest stimulus to inquiry should be occasioned by the thought that every single soul born upon earth must, at some time or another, face the death of his physical body. Let us begin, then, by briefly sketching the operation of physical death.
The spirit body exactly coincides with the physical body, and during waking hours the two are inseparable. When sleep takes place the spirit body withdraws from the physical body, but the former is attached to the latter by a magnetic cord. I call it a magnetic cord for want of a better name. It is a veritable life line. Its elasticity is enormous, since the spirit body can travel either throughout the earth during sleeping hours, or throughout the spirit world subject to special conditions and limitations. However vast the distance between the sleeping physical body and the temporarily released spirit body, the magnetic cord can span the distance easily and perfectly and without any diminution of its active agency, which is to sustain life in the earthly body. The life line will, as its length increases, become exceedingly fine and almost hair like in appearance.
Just so long as the magnetic cord is joined to the earthly body, just so long will earthly life remain in the physical body. But the moment that dissolution takes place the life line is severed, the spirit is free to live in its own element, while the physical body will decay in the manner which is perfectly familiar to you upon earth.
And as far as the physical body is concerned, it is closely akin to ordinary sleep. There does not seem anything very dreadful about this straightforward process if a little thought is given to it.
I have already spoken to you concerning my own passage to this world of the spirit. It was easy and comfortable, and I was certainly not aware of any distress when the actual moment arrived for the magnetic cord to break from my physical body. As far as I was concerned there was no shock or struggle, no unpleasant circumstances of any description.
Since my own advent into spirit lands, I have talked with many friends upon this matter, and not one of them was aware by any internal or external incident that their magnetic cord had parted from their physical bodies. In this respect the actual process of dissolution is painless. Whatever suffering is endured by the person whose transition is imminent, is purely physical. That is to say, it is the cause of physical death: from disease, for example, or accident, that may bring pain and not the actual death itself. If doctors can relieve the pain, and there is no reason why in all cases they should not, then the whole course of dissolution would be entirely painless. Why should the severance of the magnetic cord be a painful operation? If it were, it would surely suggest that there were some fault in the heavenly scheme of things. But there is no fault, and ‘death’ is painless.
And now, what happens next? Just this: The person who has just passed into spirit lands goes to his own self-appointed place.
At the very outset, this would seem to suggest that I have overlooked what is known as judgment, where every man shall be judged according to his merits and rewarded or condemned, received into heaven, or sent to hell. No, I have not overlooked it, because there is no such thing as being judged at any time, either by the Father of the Universe or by any single soul that lives in the spirit world.
There is no Judgment Day.
Man, himself, is his own judge. His thoughts, his words, and his deeds, registered upon his mind, are his only judge, and according to how his earthly life has been lived, so will his place be in these lands of the spirit world. This is another natural law, and like all the laws of the spirit world, perfect in its operation. It requires no interpreters of it, no exponents of it. It is self-acting and incorruptible, and, what is most important, it is impartial and infallible.
The old idea of a Recording Angel, whose especial function is to inscribe in a great book all our good deeds and all our bad deeds, is poetic enough, but completely wrong. We do our own recording for ourselves, and this is one instance at least when we speak truly! We cannot hide our bad deeds, but, also, we cannot conceal our good deeds. I am using the word deeds in a general sense.
What really counts in our earthly lives is the motive behind our deeds. Our motives may be of the highest, but the actual deed may have a poor external appearance. And the reverse is equally true. For example, a man may give vast sums of money for some charitable purpose with the sole thought of personal publicity and self-aggrandizement. While the gift itself may do great good to those upon whom it is bestowed, the motive behind the gift will not be to the giver’s spiritual advantage. But if this same donor were to perform a small service to another person in difficulty or similar circumstances, all not witnessed by a third party, and with the sole intention of helping a fellow mortal in distress, such unobtrusive and stealthy service brings a rich reward to him who performs it. It is motive, always, that counts.
The richest services are most often those that are performed without a fanfare of trumpets. So many of us here in the spirit world are surprised when we discover that some small service that we have done, and immediately afterwards forgotten, has helped us in our spiritual progression to an extent that we should scarcely have thought possible. But here we see things in their proper light, that is, in their true light, because they are registered within ourselves in their true light.
So you see, we need no one to condemn us. No one could condemn us more strictly, more exactly, more truly and efficiently than we do ourselves. When we come to the spirit world at our dissolution we thus find ourselves in the precise environment for which we have fitted ourselves. That environment may be one of darkness or of light, or it may be one of gloomy grayness. But wherever it may be, we have ourselves to thank, or blame for it.
But, you will naturally ask, having in mind certain orthodox religious teachings on the subject, are those who dwell in grayness or darkness confined to those regions for all eternity? No, no! Never for all eternity. They will remain there for just so long as they wish. Indeed, some of them have lived in the dark realms for thousands of years, but thousands of years is not eternity, although it may seem like it sometimes to some of the inhabitants of those regions. But every soul so situated in darkness is free to terminate his sojourn there whenever he sees fit. The choice rests with himself.
If the denizens of the darker regions show no aptitude towards spiritual progression and so lifting themselves out of the darkness, then they will remain where they are. No one forces them to stay there. They themselves elect to do so.
The instant that one of the unhappy inhabitants shows the most minute tendency to lift himself out of the sad conditions of those dark realms, such tendency becomes a wish that others higher up can see, and every help is given to that soul to place his feet firmly and strongly upon the upward path of progression. That pathway may be steep and difficult, but neither so steep nor difficult but that someone cannot help him to surmount all the obstacles upon the way. This is spiritual progression in the fullest sense of the word. It is open to all.
We in this beautiful realm of light are all working for our spiritual advancement. It is not restricted to those who live in the dark regions. The people who inhabit the magnificent spheres above this wherein I dwell, are all moving forward and upward in their triumphant progress ional march. It never ceases, and spiritual progress is the birthright of every single soul.
The whole crude conception of being damned for all eternity arises from a totally wrong conception of the Father of the Universe, a grotesque conception that has found its supporters throughout the centuries, and that has, in consequence, put fear into the hearts of mankind. It is a man-made belief without the slightest foundation in fact. And it is not long before a newcomer to the spirit world finds out that the whole idea of eternal damnation is an utterly impossible one.
When newly-arrived persons, who obviously could never qualify for eternal damnation, are told that such a thing does not, never did, or ever will exist, they exhibit an immensely strong sense of relief. They usually explain that this feeling of relief is not, as it were, on their own behalf, but partly on behalf of all those others less fortunate than themselves, and partly from the far-reaching possibilities and prospects that this absence of eternal damnation suggests to their minds.
They see at once that the whole spirit world lies before them in equal right with their fellow human beings, and that the God of whom they were always rather frightened when on earth is a Father of unlimited and illimitable benevolence, and One moreover, who could never breathe vengeance upon any one of His children. That in itself is an illuminating discovery which is of great service to the newcomer to spirit lands, since it at once opens his mind to the truth.
A moment ago I told you that the person who has just passed into the spirit world goes to his own self-appointed place, but you hear of individuals, who are new arrivals, wandering about aimlessly, apparently lost, and who do not seem to know what has befallen them. Can it be that they do not know that they have passed on?
Such is the state of spiritual enlightenment of the earth that in many cases these folk are completely unaware that they have died. That means simply that they have never ceased to live; there has been an unbroken continuity of life for them, as indeed there is for all of us. This situation frequently arises among people who pass into the spirit world suddenly and perhaps without warning. Their lack of knowledge of conditions existing in the spirit world produces this state of bewilderment, and if there is added to that ignorance also the fact that, during their earthly life, they never gave any heed to a future life in the spirit world, then their situation becomes a doubly unhappy one. But there is in the spirit world a vast organization of all its immense resources, and it must not be thought that these bewildered souls are left to shift for themselves. They are soon taken in hand by others long resident in spirit lands, as you judge time, who devote their spirit lives to such work. Edwin, Ruth and I have for years been engaged upon this identical work, so that I can speak from particular experience.
Our task is often a difficult one because it is not always easy for the soul to grasp what has happened. The mental equipment of the individual may cause a reluctance to accept the truth. On the other hand, those who are mentally alert will soon see for themselves the exact situation.
If only knowledge of the laws and conditions of spirit life were universally diffused throughout the earth world, what a wealth of difference it would make to each soul as he came to reside in these lands.
Was anyone ever so ill-equipped for a journey as is the average person for the journey into these spirit lands?
It is a journey that all must take, and how many even bother to think about it during their earthly life?
This voyage is inevitable, without failure, but so many thousands of people are perfectly content to dismiss from their minds all thought of it until the times comes to take it. Many have no chance even at the last moment to think about it, so sudden is their transition.
How many people living on earth would be foolish enough to undertake a journey with their eyes blindfolded, not knowing how far they were traveling, or whence, or to what conditions of living? Yet so many are willing to embark upon the first great voyage of their lives in absolute ignorance of all these factors. We in the spirit world are constantly seeing these bewildered souls arriving, and we do our best for them.
We have then no need to chide them, for they are the first to blame themselves. And as often as not, they do so in good round terms!
I think if one were asked what was the most common mental state in which the majority of people arrive in the spirit world, I should be disposed to reply from a fairly extensive experience, that they arrive in a state of bewilderment and complete ignorance of the fact that they have passed from the earth world. Speaking for myself, I was more fortunate than a great many, for I did know what was happening from my slight acquaintance with psychic matters. Even slender knowledge is of help in such cases, and I was glad of it then.
Relatives and friends, who have passed on before us, can help in such extremities, and they frequently do so. But some mutual interest must exist first, even if it does not reach to the state of affectionate regard. Affection is the great linking force in the spirit world. Without it a gulf comes between people. If you have never given a thought while you are on earth to those who have passed into the spirit world before you, or otherwise shown any friendly interest in your ‘deceased’ family and friends, there is not much incentive or encouragement for such relatives and friends to display any concern on your behalf. Mutual interest, affection, or regard provide the active living link between individuals. Without them a gulf develops, and each and all of the parties will become detached and wander away to other interests and attachments.
The circumstances in which a person can pass into the spirit world vary so enormously with individual cases that it would be next to impossible to describe all of them to you. It would take volumes to do so. I can only, therefore, speak to you in general terms. These circumstances vary not only from the personal point of view, but the very state of life upon earth will help to diversify the actual transitions.
In ancient days great plagues would send thousands of souls into spirit lands in most distressing conditions. In modern times one has no need to point to the devastating wars that cast people loose into the spirit world with shocking suddenness. In many cases such sudden dissolution is a great shock to the spirit body undergoing it. But here again the spirit world has risen to every contingency. Homes of rest exist here especially for the treatment of people who have undergone a sudden transition.
The shock which is sustained is not exactly the same as would be the case of a shock merely to the physical body, the results can be entirely dissimilar. In the rest homes of the spirit world a cure is certain to be brought about without any possibility of doubt, and upon full recovery the victim of the shock is not one whit the worse for the experience. The memory of it remains, though only perhaps dimly, without any recurring reactions upon the mind of an unpleasant nature.
And there are no resulting fears implanted in the mind such as would be the case with the physical body.
Many people have passed into the spirit world in what the earth would call a dreadful manner, and dreadful it might be in earthly eyes, yet when they have come to tell me about their rapid transition, their ‘sudden death’, they have treated the whole episode with a light heart, and often are perfectly ready to joke about the matter. Indeed, I have heard friends remark that they entered the spirit world in a most undignified manner! And that, I think, demonstrates the precise difference in the way in which ‘death’ is regarded by us here in the spirit world and by you still upon earth. Here we view things in their proper perspective, while ignorance has distorted things so much upon earth. The ‘death’ of the physical body is a tragedy to the earth world. To the spirit world it is the operation of a natural law unattended by any mournful solemnities. While the physical body is being consigned to its earthly abode accompanied by all the ceremonial trappings and dismal black habiliments of minister and mourners, the spirit body containing the real and everlasting substance of personality has gone to its proper abode in the spirit world.
In these realms we receive our friends amid great rejoicings. Another friend has come to join us. We wear no black, we do not recite long gloomy prayers or perform harrowing ceremonies. Nor do we have a reception committee of ‘angels’, as many people are disposed to imagine is, or ought to be, the case. We merely behave in a normal rational human manner as one would expect from normal rational human beings. We are not pontifically welcomed among the ‘elect’.
We are not made free citizens of these realms because we have been ‘saved’ through believing in some strange, obscure theological creed. We are not here because we have been redeemed through the offices of another. We are here solely because we have, by our lives on earth or by our progress in the spirit world, earned the right to call ourselves citizens of these realms. We are here because no one can keep us out!
Once we have the right to be here, no one can gainsay that right, no one can dispute it, no one would dispute it even if he could. Many people here regard their advent into spirit lands as their second birth, and they keep up the celebration of the second birthday with a deal more vigor than they ever did their birthday on earth.
In speaking of the magnetic cord, I mentioned that during sleep the spirit body sometimes visits other places either on earth or in the spirit world. It is not everyone, however, that travels during sleeping hours. It depends entirely upon individual circumstances. When no visiting takes place the spirit body is content merely to linger in the vicinity of the sleeping physical body until such time as the resting period is ended. With some people a desire to visit other parts of the earth is uppermost in the mind of the sleeper. The reason for doing so will vary according to his tastes or circumstances.
Visits to the spirit world are frequently made for some more important purpose, because there is so much useful work that can be done upon such visits.
These visits are usually made by people who are conversant with spirit truths, and who are eager to add to their knowledge. While these visitations are in progress they can meet and converse with such of their relatives and friends who have passed into spirit lands before them. Old relationships are renewed; indeed, it would be more accurate to say that they are continued since they have not been interrupted. The visitor can gain useful help and guidance upon his earthly affairs from people who, from their superior position in the spirit world, are able to offer assistance.
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