Chapter 8

What devil-worshippers those old chaps were! To him they ascribed all power over things animate and inanimate, and the effrontery of the man who should have even mentioned the possibility of talking over a wire, thousands of miles, or of utilizing the forces of Niagara, or of hundreds of inventions now in use in the most commonplace surroundings would have been met with condign punishment. Our inventors would be in dungeons instead of their comfortable laboratories, and our great engineers would long ago have lost their heads. What a time we have had getting the devil out of our mechanical life! Now he can only rule in the immaterial world, in the crude imaginations of the ignorant and superstitious.

DEVIL WORSHIP.

The Infinite Mind is in all things, everywhere what we are not. Where we are full of impatience, He is calm and unmoved; wherein we grope blindly, He, seeing the end from the beginning, is well content with his own handiwork, and with the final outcome of the souls of his earthly children. Many of the imperfections and individual shortcomings of people are laid aside in the dark crucible of physical death and the grave. Such of these tendencies as are carried over into the next plane of being, persisting in the spirit, are there dealt with as disease or ignorance, the results of malformation or bad environment. God is love, not hate, and "rejoiceth not in the death of the wicked," nor in the punishment of the wrongly educated; for a large portion of the sin and seeming iniquity of humanity is the result of heredity and of a misunderstanding of the laws of God expressed through nature. Undoubtedly there have been good men and true among those who sought to interpret God's law aright and formulate a code for the guidance and discipline of humanity in accordance with justice and equity. But their premises were all wrong. They took for their foundation the old Jewish history wherein the God of the Hebrews was always represented as a jealous being, rejoicing in revenge and rapine, and in all that the enlightened world can conceive of as characterizing a devil. So the modern world has been committed to a devil worship. Nowhere is the ethical teaching of Jesus recognized in our laws. It is the old Hebraic attitude toward life and God.

FANATICISM.

Physical death is the fulfilling of a natural law everywhere prevailing; a change, which the mutability of all material creations renders necessary, and salutary, and, when received without the prejudices engendered by education, pleasing. Religion has nothing to do with it, and more than that it ought to influence every act of life. No more has religion anything to do with the intercourse of disembodied spirits with those in the form. That also is wholly controlled by laws inherent in the nature of things, and will, when the ridiculous hue and cry raised by sensualistic minds has somewhat abated, resolve itself into a fixed fact having no more direct bearing upon human affairs than any other form of social intercourse. It has taught no new code of morals; it has not overthrown, so much as it has revealed the true state of things. It has revived the spiritual teachings of him by whom the world--called from him Christian--professes to be guided and controlled.

Fanaticism is the law of some minds, and it will display itself in whatever arena they are engaged. In politics the man they vote for is almost a god. In mechanics, they have invented a machine which shall ensure "perpetual motion;" in chemistry, the elixir of life, or a cure for all the ills of human life; in morals, the kingdom of heaven is speedily coming through the intervention of their dead friends.

The truest religion is that which adheres most faithfully to nature's laws; for strive we ever so hard, we must return to them. They are God's will made manifest, and the mind most free from prejudice engendered by false education is the one which secures to itself the most harmony, making possible that removal of "mountains" so often quoted--meaning the inevitable obstacles of spiritual life.

Christ said: "The kingdom of heaven is within you" and he might have added that of hell also. Here is the beginning, if not the ending of all growth and reform. There seems to be a universal tendency or wish to escape from one's self, and most so-called reforms begin at the surface--the ultimate--rather than at the centre. This should be an education to children, teaching them that their temptations are to be dreaded only as they are responded to by something within, and that loses all power with them as they gain self-knowledge and self-control.

TRUTH.

The demand for a knowledge of the truth, God's truth, is as old as the world, the world of intellect and knowledge, the world we know about, and of which we have a more of [Transcriber's note: or?] less true history. This cry of earnest and thoughtful men and women for truth, "nothing but the truth" has rung adown the ages from the pagan, and the nature worshipper through all the countless phases of belief to our modern presentations of inspired faith. Everyone who dares to think must realize how this longing of humanity has been met and exploited in times past by ignorant and self-seeking people, and suffering humanity has been imposed upon by superstitions and false teachings which have left it in sorrowful dissatisfaction, or lost in the mazes of doubt and unbelief.

The fool hath said in his heart "there is no God." Life is too short and too full of interest in other directions for us to turn aside to combat fools of any sort. If we admit into our inner consciousness the absolute recognition of the existence of a supremely loving and wise God whose attributes are more marvelously great and grand than it can ever enter into the heart of man, or the mind of the highest archangel to conceive, we shall have taken the first step toward so positing ourselves toward him, as we perceive him embodied in his works, as to begin to see some faint indications of the divine purpose concerning the souls of men created in his image. All that we know of his laws and his intentions toward us, as indicated by our experiences here and now, embodied as we are in matter, supplies the whole of the data from which we infer truth, the truth as it is in God.

We find, first of all, that we are set here a homogenous race, for as the means of communication between widely separated branches of the family become established and easy, our horizons expand, racial prejudice and antagonisms vanish, new interests and fresh sympathies arise, and we are thus brought to recognize the fact of our common origin.

What a dull and deadly uninteresting place this planet would be without the differentiation of the races! What if the whole united world were Irish or German, Russian, or even loudly pervading, assumptive American! What an awful element of boredom would be added to our existence; and yet there are people so blind to this most wonderful expression of God's Providence, that they limit their sympathetic regards to a chosen few, and virtually cast all other peoples into outer darkness. This applies especially to religious prejudices and beliefs. Let's see about this: your antecedents were, so far as you know, Scotch and English, but by some providential intervention you are now American. You are expected to scorn and despise all other clans and races, and to condone all the faults and crimes of these which have been so honored by you, and this is called patriotism, and makes you feel virtuous and popular, and it is necessary and right--politically considered--but not from the standpoint of the occult, the spiritual side of existence. There is a wise intention and purpose in the blending of the races in their intermarriages, it is for the breaking down of prejudices as old as the race itself, that have ever kept the peoples of the earth apart.

There is but one law of evolution, and that which holds for the individual epitomizes that of a nation, or a world. So as we see people at a certain stage of their unfoldment of individuality exhibit an extreme egotism, amounting almost to an insanity, by isolating them, by confining them to the radius of their own mentality, so it is with the different tribes and races and nations of the world. They are set apart to grow their own peculiar traits of character, possible only to their prescribed environment, that they may thus push forward their own special gifts and endowments to their own ultimates. This is but a phase of their evolutionary process, a class preparation looking toward a wider experience, wherein it shall come to be seen that all the world is akin. Referring again to the unit man. The shibboleth of the just present past time has been individualism which, rightly understood, means simply that the soul of man has progressed to a point where occult forces can lay hold on the crude being and shape it into a worthy likeness of its divine Maker, and it must there stand alone, until it feels its at-one-ment with the Divine and sees and acknowledges the higher law and purpose of its being, and furthermore recognizes why it has been called into existence.

Truth is like certain chemicals. It can only be retained by the mind wherein it finds an adapted affinity, and then it has in each a distinctly individual expression according to the mental and moral status of that mind. But laws and principles are stationary and unchangeable; it is our own personal knowledge which varies and changes with our growth. We may ignore and denounce certain phases of phenomena, but the phenomena work on just the same, unaffected by our beliefs or disbeliefs. The loss is ours if we willfully close our eyes and ears against the enlightening message which it would bring to us in passing our way.

CHRISTS.

Confucius, the moralist, Buddha, the intellectualist, Jesus, the loving. Why reject the teachings of any one of this trinity of inspired and inspiring ones? All are of God, light bringers to a darkened world.

HERO WORSHIP.

All along the individual life, the soul's development through matter, are strewn experiences which mark the dawning force which is finally to culminate in its marked individuality, and separation from the mass of organized, created beings. These experiences are the rare awakenings of the soul to the realization and use of its own native powers which flow from its divine paternity and origin, and which constitute its birthright and ultimate inheritance. At times, the gifts and powers of certain beings burst into bloom and fruition when least expected, and cast a radiance and a halo around the personality, which mark and award it a place among its fellow men, altogether superior to the general trend and outworkings of the recognized character. Around such illuminated points of high expression of the soul's possibilities gather other personalities and, by the action of a natural law, crystalize about the central magnet of the inspired, and the inspiring thought or action, and thus is leadership created. Barely does the entire life outwork itself upon lines which harmoniously express the inspiration which begot the godlike union of the human with the divine, and thus through the natural falling away from the ideal, those who seek the higher life through imitation or emulation of the model so set up are finally forced to put aside their hero worship and seek their own individual growth on the lines upon which they can lawfully unfold.

The varying moods, and idiosyncrasies of the hero or the saint turn away their followers to the contemplation and study of those great moral principles which rule the world and control the universe.

On the physical plane great strides are being made. The suppleness of one, the power of balance of another, the feats of the acrobat, the will of the juggler which commands the action, and the seeming suspension of natural law; all these expressions are ever increasing and varying through the industry and the ingenuity of man, and point to the possibilities of the hitherto undreamed of physical perfection of development, and grand unfolding of unknown powers. Man must master the earth by controlling the laws of the material world. This is the foundation of all things, and upon it shall be built all that the soul must have for its unfoldment, within the aura and the radius of this external plane.

* * * * * *

If there can be one thing more pitiful than all others it is to see little human bugs and reptiles mount their egotistical stilts and declare the non-existence of the Creator.

If the blatant critics would only give over blowing their individual horns, and remark for a little the value of quiet introspection, many mysteries would reveal themselves and much good would be realized.

REASON.

Human reason is the outgrowth of the intuition. In its final analysis, it is the comprehension by the soul of the reality of truth and of its just relationships and values. It is the power of discriminating and deciding between the perception of the intuition and the testimony of facts gathered by observation and experience. The intuition of man is of the will, that of woman is of the affections; thus it is more spiritual than man's. Just as the doctors have prospected and laid out and defined the functions of the physical body, so are the psychologists and the mental scientists seeking a way and method by which the attributes of the real being may be divided off into sections and labelled accordingly. The fact is, the individual soul is all the time struggling to reach its own at-one-ment with itself. When it comes under the tuition and discipline of the gods, and begins to perceive their methods, it can understand the whys and wherefores of the intentions of life's experiences. They are to consolidate and make practical vagrant emotions and tendencies, and lop off and scorch out the idiosyncrasies of heredity and custom, and rouse the soul to a knowledge of its need of harmony with divine law. Into the real soul depths can no divulging line and plummet reach. This domain belongs to its Creator alone. It is only as the tests of living and doing manifest hidden motives and meanings that we catch glimpses of the ego that abides within and through this life, submerged as it is in the flesh. We can know but little of what is now, or of what yet shall be, when the wholeness of the individual is established.

SYMPATHY.

Be not beguiled by pity masquerading in the guise of sympathy. Real sympathy comes only through an understanding of conditions as the result of the same, or of exactly similar experiences. But though experiences differ in details, according to the organizations and idiosyncrasies of individuals, the results in awakening the mind to a realization of truth, and final evolution and growth of the soul are enough alike to foster a real sympathy, and mutual understanding. Souls thus linked together are truly friends and comrades.

NEW RELIGIONS.

There is a great demand among the people of this, and probably of every past age, for something new in the revelations of religious thought and knowledge. When it has not been forthcoming according to the desires of aspiring worshippers, the imaginations of would-be teachers and leaders have set to work to devise new schemes for the beguiling of their fellow mortals that should hypnotize them, and hold their allegiance to some new revelation of religion, or so-called science. The following that some of the isms, and newly-hatched cults are getting together is simply amazing. They seem to reach out and pervade the world, and they are not confined to any particular grade or class of people. The "Zionists," the "Adventists," the "Perfectionists," the "Holy Rollers," the "Christian Scientists," the "Spiritualists," and unnumbered other forms of belief leave a wide margin for all sorts and kinds of people of peculiar idiosyncrasies. So much has been promised, and so little realized in the way of comfort and satisfaction that wails of doubt, and sorrow are undiminished. Every bit of this "groundswell" of seeking, tortured souls is just the reaction from slavish, blasphemous, orthodox religion.

From the perceptions of the primitive man to the understandings of the unfolded brains of the thinking, reasoning people of today is indeed a "far cry," and the queer vagaries, and the impossible goings on of the reputed gods, in partnership with Nature, that were once received with awe and profound belief, have now nearly lost their hold upon the credulity of modern humanity.

As man has unfolded and his perceptions have enlarged, his fears of the wrath of God, and of his possible interference with man's schemes and purposes have given way to man's own will, and to his determination to succeed in proving himself master of nature's forces, and of the whole planet. He has created the "New Earth" of material comfort and satisfaction that has been so long foretold; while from the heavens countless multitudes of awakened, arisen souls throng all the ways of life, proclaiming the truth of the absolute present existence of a "New Heaven" also. This is not a perfect time, by any means, even with all this manifestation of progressive power. Perfection in anything, in all things, is a matter of growth, of evolution, and the whole world is swinging along in the pathway of progress toward that goal, the knowledge of spiritual law which is God, as fast as time can move. But we are actually living in the enjoyment of the fulfillment of a profound prophecy, with but little thought or realization of all it means or portends.

THE GROWTH PROCESSES OF THE HUMAN SOUL.

It is pitiful to think of all the woe and sorrow that have been shed abroad in the hearts of men and women, and even of little children, by the teachings of ignorant and designing beings anent Death. Fortunately, all our modern cults are emphasizing the fact that it is the fear of death that is the "last enemy" of humanity that is to be put down and shorn of its terror. Physical death is only a step in our evolution. It cannot be otherwise than a progressive motion of the spirit. It recalls the spirit from the make-believe, and misunderstandings of its earthly environments, and experiences, and shows up the real and true status of life. Vast numbers of human beings, passing out of the chrysalis of the fleshly embodiment leave with the body sins for which they have been condemned, and idiosyncrasies for which they are not accountable: there are, too, packs of people who have been so bamboozled by orthodox teachings, so set up in their egotism, that they die believing in their superior claim to recognition by the gods, but who find themselves elected to a long sit down in purgatory, or devachan--or whatever the place is--while they get acquainted with themselves as they really are. The most deplorable state is that of the souls who cannot rise from the earth conditions with which they are loaded down. They fill the atmosphere; they walk the earth dismayed and helpless; their whilom friends and beloved ones will have none of them. Even if one such is fortunate enough to find a medium through whom he can communicate, he gets little or no recognition or welcome, unless he can absolutely conform to the wishes of the purblind folk, who, knowing nothing of spiritual law, try to insist upon making conditions, and getting tests which are so outside of the law that even the Creator could not meet their demands. For those who have no aspiration toward the spiritual life, the only way is to plunge back into matter through another incarnation in the flesh. There are no new souls created and relegated to this planet. Their number is fixed. They pass and pass, and come again; good, bad and indifferent all come under the same, the only law of evolution. The gates of life are crowded with such as these who, weary of prowling to no purpose, seek re-embodiment on this plane of existence. The process through which they thus pass is of itself one of refining and of readjusting to changed conditions, which means growth for the soul; for throughout the universe, the Great Law, the law which holds all things in equilibrium, is the law of progress, evolution, unfoldment.

It must be remembered always that back of all the recognized greetings, and the assurances of the continued, conscious life of our spirit friends, back of all the lesser gods, who were human beings, like unto ourselves, back of all the inspired teachings of all the seers and prophets is God, "our Heavenly Father," in whom we live and have our being.

Through his appointed teachers is vouchsafed to his earthly children a knowledge of his love and wisdom. It is boundless and free for all, and there are no "chosen people." He is the source, the fountain head from which flows all life, and all sustaining power. The heavens declare the glory of God--the Creator; and the arisen souls of men proclaim his wondrous and unfailing interest in all his created beings.

NECESSITY FOR PHENOMENA.

Some people are born so spiritual-minded that the proper adjustment of the several functions pertaining to the moral or religious nature stand clearly defined. Their immortality is never doubted, their faith in the unseen never obscured by clouds of passion, or dimmed by pressure of material necessities. These are the beacon lights in the world's progress. These are the mariners to whom has been given a sure guide and compass. The others are those who have little or no perception beyond what is seen to befall animal life, and their growth into a finer possibility must be slow and tedious. It is in fact necessary that many should "rise from the dead" and jam tables and chairs and things around their apartments, ere they can fancy the possibility of any existence separate from this material life.

The most abominable of all egotisms is that which forever studies to limit the possibilities of the Creator, to announce firmly that there is no further consciousness, and no need for human faculties after this life is ended. The most dignified attitude would be to give him the benefit of the doubt, to admit that He has the power to continue, and remould, and readjust through all time and all eternity. But this is not a class of subjects which can be settled by logic. It is based upon a conviction of the inner soul, and the most that anyone can do is to place himself as nearly as possible in harmony with some one law, and this will form a center around which a perception of more shall come, and revolve around it grandly and in perfect time, thus completing the rounding out--the fullness--of the character of the individual man or woman.

WILL.

Will, human will, is the result of concrete perceptions of the conscious mind. Its development depends upon the experiences of the individual soul, and its expression upon the environment, the education, and spiritual discipline of the individual. Having its foundation in the functions necessary to the sustainment of the mortal life of man, it naturally overrides all considerations outside of the objects of its own pursuit. It is the quality _par excellence_, the power of the gods, but only as it comes to relinquish all its selfish determinations, and yield obedience to the all-pervading Higher Will, the will of God, in whom all life has its source and continuance of being can it march along the royal highway that leads to perfection. This must be so eternally; for there can be no division of purpose or of interest in the divine Mind.

* * * * * *

All religions based upon or derived from sorceries obstruct the progress of the race, and will be, in the fullness of time, disintegrated and readjusted to meet the growing demands of humanity.

CHANGE OF ATOMS.