May 22, 1917 (Afternoon).

 

St. John said: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Repeat this often and try to grasp its meaning. Try to under stand that each ray of that divine light will shine for ever. Try to realize that it really exists in each individual, even on earth. Try to help each and every one you come in contact with to clear away the cobwebs of ignorance and error which dim the light of this divine ray. The ray is the immortal soul. For all eternity it will shine. If you help, even infinitesimally, to permit this ray to penetrate the earthly envelope you are doing the work of the Saviour. Never doubt its existence. Never fear that the love you give in thought and deed will be lost.

 

No more to-day.

 

May 24, 1917.

 

Does the evolution of the individual we know as man on earth begin with his earthly appearance?

 

Remember always that I am telling you my own experience and giving you, as fully as is now possible, the answers I get from Meslom to my questions.

 

In answer to this question he says that only God in His infinite wisdom knows all, but as far as I have been able to find, man's evolution begins with earth and continues thereafter through many varying experiences. His soul has existed from all eternity in the divine intelligence, but its first individual expression for our sphere is in man. That individual soul, while self-radiant and capable of wonderful development and power and liberty, is still a part of the divinity. Each man is not God, and yet the soul of each contains a particle of the divine essence, divinely implanted.

 

To reach the centre of light, and its perfection, it is necessary that each individual progress through many evolutions, each one permitting a fuller measure of light. Each evolution has its duties and tasks to perform, its education to make and its errors to overcome. These are not in themselves existent; they are the natural outcome of the liberty, free will, and limited understanding of the imperfect individual. Naturally they differ in each plane, but the nearer we come to the fount of wisdom the stronger we are and the greater is our happiness, for we see more and more clearly the meaning of life and its glorious possibilities.

 

May 28, 1917.

 

The believers in the doctrine of reincarnation—if limited to the earth—deny the infinity of God. To our earthly logic it may seem just and inevitable that the undeveloped soul be permitted to complete that development among the same earthly surroundings which saw its beginning, and also, that the earth which witnessed the sins and injustices of an earthly career should be the theatre of its punishment in some other earthly form, but this idea limits the power of God, and so denies God Himself.

 

God is infinite, therefore He knows all, fills all space, and is all-powerful. In Him are all the attributes of perfection. His thought is life-giving, His love is life­sustaining, as His knowledge makes His divine justice. He does not need the earth as His only theatre for the development of man. He places man thereon in the first stage of his development, but when that man leaves earth be leaves also all the implements he needed on earth—he, the real man who is spirit or intelligence and indissolubly connected with the divine generator of life, Who is God. All the conditions of earth are for ever outgrown. Can the butterfly ever again enter the cocoon? No, his life is in the free air. So our life after earth is one of greater freedom. We are still the same spiritually, but mentally we grow, and this growth permits the spiritual development. The whole universe is before us and our free will which guides us takes us ever higher, for as we see more clearly so must we progress. Progress can never mean retrogression. The earth is the cradle of the human race, but that is all.

 

You ask then why is it that there is such a diversity in the degree of intelligence of human beings if each is the expression of a thought of divine intelligence.

 

Each individual is perfect. Each soul is a ray of divinity—a ray, if I may so express it, which is unquenchable and in its turn capable of radiating eternally, but that ray is like a seed planted in the earth. It must follow the law of its evolution. It must disintegrate and permit the living principle to develop sufficiently to uplift its earthly covering and permit its appearance in the sun. Even then it needs the soft rain and the warm, life-giving sun to bring it to maturity. It has always to struggle against the encroaching weeds about it, but always it follows its destiny and struggles to blossom and perfect itself in fruit or flower, and even when it drops again to earth and decay it liberates its vital part and comes again to life in another form. So each individual soul is brought to maturity through difficulties, and the differences of earthly environment and opportunities which seem to us to give such vast advantages to some over others do not make great difference in the real development of the soul. The earth life is very short. The stage of development reached by each individual depends upon that individual only and not upon outward circumstances.

 

The very best work you can do on earth is to permit each little child to work out its own destiny. Give it only a few simple rules of virtue and honesty, with the fundamental of "Love God above all things and your neighhour as yourself." If these be learned, then it will follow that there will be a perception of the worthlessness of worldly honour and privileges and a consequent ennobling and simplifying of life in all its expressions, and a consequent liberation of the spirit, fitting it better to leave its earthly environment in tranquil faith, ready to go on untrammelled in its future evolutions.

 

May 31, 1917.

 

"Love God above all things and your neighbour as yourself" contains the whole law. Not amplification but simplification is what is needed. Certainly, if man knew God he could not fail to love Him above all things, and it would follow inevitably that, loving God really and understandingly, he would also love his neighbour as himself. Therefore the most essential need is to understand God.

 

God is perfect wisdom—He knows everything—nothing is hidden from Him—no secret underlying motive can be hidden from Him, and no weakness or inherited tendency is ignored by Him. He is the creative force of all the universe. Nothing exists except as an expression of His intelligence. He knows the entire plan and scheme of creation, and since He is goodness itself He knows that in the unfolding of His plan all is good; that eventually each individual will reach perfection, and that the trials which we have to meet are given for our development, and that on the way we meet and overcome them depends our progress. Certainly He, in His infinite power, could do otherwise, but always remember that He sees all-eternity is His outlook. Our earthly career is only an episode in our lives, and in His clear vision He knows that liberty of individual development, or what we call free will, is one of His noblest gifts. It is godlike in itself. If man could understand this he could see that nothing in the power of man can interfere with this God-given gift. Who that lives on earth can say that he knows another? Who can read the secret thought and aspiration of his nearest? No one. The soul is free and must make its own progress.

 

This does not mean that man should be selfish or self­centered. Far from it, for the man who tries to go deep into the study of God will forcibly and with each step become more sincere and humble, and while prostrating himself before the ineffable, all-knowing God, will see that it is the infinite love of that inexhaustible God which sustains him, and the more anxious he will be to reflect it by helping every one he comes in contact with. Real love is the sunlight from God. Its test is its unselfishness. Love seeks the good and happiness of all regardless of earthly conditions.

 

The love of God is the real sustaining force of the universe. It is an active principle. It is given fully and freely to all. It rests with the individual to decide how much he is capable of assimilating.

 

God is infinite. God is intelligence. God is love. God is Spirit. Nothing could exist without Him. Each thought of that infinite intelligence generates life, which is in its turn for ever sustained by the inexhaustible love. That love which sustains the universe is all about us. It rests with us to clear away all that clouds our perception of it, and all that interferes with our full and perfect consciousness of it. What a glorious use for our free will and God-given intelligence! Each step counts. Each sincere aspiration lifts us higher. Even each stumbling fall is useful if it makes us know ourselves better and so forces us to seek for light and help from above.

 

May 31, 1917 (Afternoon).

 

Justice and mercy are not incompatible. Human justice and divine justice have little in common besides the principle. Divine justice being based upon absolute knowledge must take into consideration all the circumstances. In the case of a man, for instance, when he leaves the earth no court sits in judgment upon him; no sentence is passed. The only judgment he must submit to is the inevitable result of the law which brought him into being, and apart from which he could not exist. That law declares that every act and every thought of his earth life sets in motion waves or impulses, either good and harmonious with their divine origin, or bad and inharmonious. Since be himself has a soul which is a part of that great creative spirit and which must ultimately, after reaching its full development, come into perfect accord with that creative force or spirit, it must follow that the waves of dissonance must be accorded. If he creates, either in his earth life or afterwards, sufficient waves of good they will neutralize the bad. Therefore his earth life, if true and worthy, places him in a better position for further effort than an earth life which, being bad, has created nothing but discordant waves. It is the discovery of this law which is his only judgment. But happily the justice of God sees each tiny effort and aspiration, and the influence of these is great.

 

Well then, since we must submit to the inevitable result of this law and we will ultimately reach perfection, why make an effort on earth to do anything that will interfere with our fancy, if we will be eternally happy sometime anyway? Why not be as happy as possible on earth in our own way?

 

Because in the infancy of life, which is our earth experience, each individual perceives within himself the instinct of his immortality. Regardless of civilization or other outward circumstance, each is conscious of an aspiration for something better. It is an infantile grasping for a ray of light but it is an indication of another life. If on earth that individual follows this infallible guide he grows into splendid maturity, and he has put into motion splendid waves of harmony, and when reaching this life his eyes are opened, his intelligence perceives the reasons and the laws which govern his development. With this clear vision he perceives also the tremendous task before him of creating enough good influence to overcome the bad. This is his judgment. It is not a punishment but an accepted consequence of his past.

 

June 1, 1917.

 

In the stage of life immediately following earth experience there is a longer or shorter period of darkness and unconsciousness, but as soon as an individual is awakened he perceives the new conditions surrounding him and faces his past and realizes that his conscious life is in its infancy. He grasps little by little the facts from which there is no escape. He understands the logic of it and the stronger he becomes the more he realizes the tremendous task before him. Many faint at this realization and almost despair. Then that mercy which is included in the divine justice comes to them, and messengers are sent them to help them to face their sorrows and trials, who make them feel the boundless love of God. When once they are conscious of this love and its sustaining power they have courage to face the truth and strength to will to go forward. With the will and the desire comes the ability. The way is pointed out, reasons are made clear and the task of atonement is undertaken. This task is in absolute proportion to their earth life. Every wave of discord must be met and overcome before reaching harmony and perfect happiness, but every step willingly and consciously taken leads to clearer vision and fuller consciousness of the glory and love of God. These are only words or dim shadows to you—to us they are realities, and their dimmest perception brings more happiness than all earth could ever offer.

 

June 2, 1917.

 

How can I paint for you the joys that are ours? How describe the exaltation which possesses us when, after a task faithfully accomplished, we are permitted a glimpse of what is before us? In the clear, soft radiance of a perfect day we rest amid surroundings quite indescribable to you, because our senses here being different, our perceptions so much greater, we enjoy happiness beyond the power of language to convey. It is like a state of ideal perfection as to atmosphere, perfume, beauty of aspect, and free, untrammelled intercourse with beings who permit us to partake as fully as we are capable of, with them, in the perfect knowledge for which we always longed. There are no more vague longings and inarticulate aspirations. There is fulfilment. There is not even regret, for we know that we are permitted to work out our own atonement, always sustained by the never-failing love of God, and each period of rest finds us further on, with capabilities enlarged, with vision broadened, and with heart overflowing with gratitude and love for God Who gave us intelligence unbounded in its possibilities and untrammelled in its outlook.

 

June 3, 1917.

 

I ask why has it not been made clearer for man to understand the reason of life? Why has he been left groping in ignorance when God, in His infinite power, could reveal Himself clearly?

 

In the divine plan of creation each expressed thought of God is an individual, perfect in its essence and destined to ultimate perfection and accord with its divine Creator, God. But this individual, while containing the divine quality, is only the seed of which the immortal being developed to its full and perfect expression is the flower.

 

The divine instinct of immortality is its infallible guide through the difficult period of development and change of form, but the free will is its individuality, which being once and for ever bestowed as a godly gift, can never be withheld.

 

But this instinct of immortality is not the only guide and help. From the beginning of time teachers have been divinely inspired to guide mankind. They brought to earth such measure of truth as man was capable of grasping. The last and perfect expression of the Spirit of God was Christ Jesus. In Him the conscious knowledge of immortality had its fullest expression. He knew His divine origin, His willingly undertaken task of redemption, and His glorious destiny, and yet even He suffered untold agonies in the moments when His mortal sufferings veiled the divine vision; else He could not have been the Saviour and guide of man, for had He been always fully conscious of the divinity within Him and its inherent omnipotence, He could not have suffered.

 

This is sacred ground. I must find words to express the reasons of this incarnation; for by studying the Son we may understand something of the grandeur of the Divine Father.

 

June 4, 1917.

 

Under the accumulation of errors caused by mistaken human interpretation, revealed truth had been almost lost to the earth. The human doctrine of "Alight is right" had been so enforced that the virtues of truth and love, and their resulting blessings, had ceased to be practised. Man was being forced by the exaltation of his lowest impulses into degradation from which there seemed no issue. Then God, the infinite, all-knowing Creator, saw that justice required that a teacher be sent among men to point out to them the truth, and His infinite mercy compelled Him to do this Himself.

 

But spirit cannot be perceived by human faculties. Therefore it became necessary to incarnate the divinity, and so give to man as much of the light of His truth and love as His humanity was capable of receiving.

 

"I am the way, the truth, and the life," said Jesus, but few could understand. God, Who is all good, all love, had compassion on the suffering of man, and Jesus in His humanity, suffered all the consequences of man's ignorance and ignominy. His outward life was devoted to the good of humanity and teaching by precept and example the divine gospel of love, but His human heart and mind grasped all the accumulated sufferings of the race which His divinity understood.

 

God cannot suffer, and yet He so loved man that He took human form in order to suffer and atone for the ignorant wrongdoing of His children. It is this infinite suffering of Jesus which forms the inexhaustible supply from which man may receive help and come into harmony with God.

 

Jesus is truly the way, the truth, and the life. Through His teachings we are shown the truth and through His sufferings we may receive of His boundless love.

 

June 5, 1917.

 

Thank you, mother, for all that you have done. You have really helped me to overcome tremendous obstacles in the way of my atonement. This work will be done and will prove to mankind the immortality of the soul and the continued existence of the individual man conscious of his personality, and also that there is a possibility of helping mutually from earth to our plane and also vice-versa.

 

You may consider the communications so far given as the first volume of the work to be done, and may treat it so. Meslom says the title he suggested is not an arbitrary one. You may change it if you desire.

 

This preliminary volume is really only the preface of the work outlined. Each point will be developed and made clear, and finally I shall answer the questions which will be prepared by you after submission of this work to the public and the formation of questions by competent thinkers.

 

September 3, 1917.

 

New ideas are difficult to accept, new conditions are difficult to describe. How shall I find it possible to put into human language superhuman experiences?

 

My desire is to describe my own personal observations and little by little initiate you into the meaning of life.

 

Mother is one of the few who are capable on earth of prolonged and profound abstract thought, which, when properly developed, will enable her to have the experience even on earth of conscious mental effort independent of the body. You both realize the importance of this. Let there be perfect accord and perfect understanding. When you have reached entire freedom and are able to let this work be your first thought, we will go on rapidly. It is essential that there be perfect harmony between you, and perfect peace. My own great emotion on meeting again is past. I am ready to begin the new volume, but it requires absolute perfection in the mediums and intense concentration on my part. Before beginning I wish to clear away everything which may be an obstacle to free communication.

We asked:

"Are you conscious of anything in our thought that is an impediment to your work?"

We received no answer.

 

September 5, 1917.

Is Meslom here?

Meslom. Please do not get any ideas as to what you judge the conditions should be. They are so variable that it is impossible to give you rules. The most important thing for you is to put yourselves in a quiescent, negative condition. Don't try to think or to concentrate. Simply give us the help which comes from your Physical presence. No mental effort whatever on your part is required. Sometimes physical weakness, or even illness, is better for us than health if it releases mental rigidity.

 

Why did you not come yesterday?

 

I did not come because of conditions difficult to put to you, but it was not your fault, and please beware of depression when we disappoint you. It is very easy for me to come and answer such simple questions. It would be equally simple for L. These are nothing at all, but it is not well for L. to dissipate himself on these things which, perhaps, I am more able to answer than he.

 

Before I begin the new volume there are many little things I should like to arrange with you. As I told you before, the essential conditions for the successful carrying on of our communications are, first, a conviction of their truth and of their importance, then peace and joy on your part, and, as far as possible, absence of earthly cares and anxiety.

 

September 6, 1917.

 

Intelligence, conscious of growth, is also conscious of love and joy. Intelligence and soul are terms used synonymously to express the individual creations or expressions of the infinite, all-inclusive Intelligence, called God.

 

The plan of the universe is too vast for earthly comprehension, and yet we must try to grasp as much as we can.

 

From all eternity, God, the infinite creative force, has given expression to ideas and clothed them in multitudinous forms, each carrying within itself the seed of immortality, which is the spark of the divine intelligence. Each individual is capable of growth or development which will eventually bring it to perfection. It must progress through many stages, always striving to express more clearly the divine idea, until it is freed from all materialism and becomes a pure and perfect spirit, reflecting to its full capacity the divine Creator, and living in splendour and majestic harmony its own perfect life in full consciousness, face to face with God.

 

Many ages are necessary to reach this perfection.

 

September 7, 1917.

 

Although animated by the same spirit and integral parts or emanations of the Divinity, no two individuals are ever alike. The souls are animated by the infinite creative life of God, but the expression which bestows our individuality is always different. Each is capable of perfection, but each remains for ever independent. In the perfection which eventually comes, and the complete and perfect happiness this brings, there is always dissimilarity. Perfection is reached by all, but individuality is never lost.

 

That consciousness of the ego which shows itself in infancy and is never lost to view by the inner consciousness is the instinct of the dignity of each soul. It is a noble instinct, and if properly developed, and followed on earth, would guide man always well; for the consciousness of one's worth and nobility would incite to worthiness of action. Each individual is of immense importance. That importance may not be manifested on earth, but some time in the life's later development it will be understood.

 

If we succeed in proving to you our real existence beyond the earth, the whole meaning of life will become clear. A life limited to earth is so filled with contradictions, and the injustice of social conditions, giving immense advantage to some and apparently insurmountable misery to others, that it would make of creation a chaotic medley of horrors. But if the truth could be proven, life on earth would be lived for what it is—only a preliminary expression which must be well and nobly lived in anticipation of a higher and broader, and fuller experience immediately following our so-called death, in which our individuality and consciousness take cognizance of the reasons of our creation, fitting us for further progress.

 

We have left off our earthly bodies, with their pains and sorrows and mental limitations. We still have bodies, however, which seem as real to us now as they did on earth, except that they have become obedient to our intelligence, and can be transported by desire wherever we wish to go. Even these bodies must disappear. They are vehicles of expression for this sphere, but will be in their turn left aside when we are able to progress beyond their necessity.

 

There will be no need of death here. There comes the change whenever we are intellectually developed sufficiently to be able to understand that bodies are not needed.

 

We must try to prove to you, and through you to all who are searching, that we, the individual beings, entirely conscious of our personalities, and with memories of our previous earth experience, do actually exist in another form. This will change the outlook of humanity.

 

September 7, 1917 (Afternoon).

 

Certainly the point of view of the immortality of the soul is accepted by millions of Christians as well as others. It is not for such this book is written, though even they need strengthening in their belief; for if they really believed what they professed, they would be obliged to put their lives in accordance with their profession.

 

This work is addressed more particularly to sincere and earnest searchers who think and study, but have rejected belief in immortality for various reasons, or have put aside the question as unanswerable.

 

Anyone who thinks at all sees the earth as only one of a vast number of planets, a tiny speck even in the visible creation. There must be a central force which rules the physical manifestations of creation. That force as seen in astronomical observations is manifested according to fixed and unchanging rules, and as such must be the effect of intelligence. The intelligence which brought into being the universe and guides the movements of the firmament must have had a reason in creating man and placing him upon the earth. It is impossible for a thinking man to convince himself that man was self-generative. The result of life on earth judged as a complete episode is impossible of acceptance.

 

September 8, 1917.

 

Life means movement. God is an infinite spirit, or intelligence, Who has existed from all eternity. He had no beginning and can have no end. Each expression of that infinite intelligence finds manifestation somewhere in the universe, and the life given being an expression of God Himself, or an image of God as sometimes imperfectly expressed, and containing a part of the essence of God, is compelled by the law, which declares life to be motion, to progress, to develop, to grow by overcoming obstacles, to become pure intelligence or spirit, able to take its place in the majestic symphony of nature.

 

The fact that no one has ever succeeded in forming or germinating by artificial scientific means the tiniest spark of life proves conclusively that life is something outside the laws of natural science.

 

Let us then begin with the assumption that all men admit that life is not self-generated. Nothing in nature is ever lost, therefore that immaterial something called life cannot cease to exist because the physical body is destroyed. One is obliged to admit either that it takes form in some other earthly manifestation, or that that something called life, which is unquestionably intelligence, is spirit, which must continue to exist somewhere.

 

Following the same law of its being, that life is motion and intelligence, I declare to you that it does actually continue in its own individuality. It leaves its earthly body and, after a longer or shorter period of darkness, again recovers memory of its past. It finds itself with an apparently real body and its earthly characteristics and tastes unchanged, but soon comes consciousness of a clearer and more understanding intelligence. Then comes realization of the change and confrontation with truth, which makes clear the law of cause and effect, and the vision of glorious progression and happiness, to be won only as the harm of the past is effaced—the discordant waves overcome by harmonious waves. Then comes the necessity for decision. Each is free to choose. The glory of the vision is fleeting, the realization of the task of reparation appalling.

 

September 9, 1917. Tried, but could get no communication.

 

September 10, 1917.

 

Since God is infinite and each expression of His life­giving intelligence finds manifestation somewhere, it is evident that our earth must be but a small part of the universe. It is to the development of man, therefore, that we must limit our studies for the present.

 

Is the sphere wherein I now find myself a part of the system visible to earth as star or planet? No, it is not. Having left our bodies we have also left material conditions, though many believe this to be equally material until they have progressed far enough to see their mistake. Here, after the first awakening, each makes his own vision and lives it more like a dream than any other comparison I could make.

 

Remember, we are living not in time but eternity. Each must grasp the truth as he sees it. Sooner or later comes realization of the change and of the new conditions. Then come the angel helpers to comfort and strengthen the faltering soul, and try to make clear the realization of the help all about. Even when they realize that their present condition is the direct consequence of their earth life, and that they are given the possibility of atonement, all do not accept. Will has become freer than ever, and in order to progress it is absolutely essential to will to do so at no matter what cost, and no one is strong enough to go on alone. Until they are willing to ask for help and call upon God their existence is a miserable state of confusion. They must become as little children, ready to learn and believe and trusting the wisdom of their guides.

 

September 10, 1917 (Afternoon).

 

When realization of the change comes, each individual tries to understand something of his new surroundings. There are very few who have been entirely convinced that earth life was all. These try to ignore at first their new life. They wish to continue eternal nothingness, but life means motion and progression. Their free will takes them forward but never backward. These are extremely unhappy at having to begin anew the struggle of life. They refuse the evidence all about them, and while this state continues there is for them confusion and dark unhappiness; but until they themselves desire to learn they cannot be helped, even though helpers are all about. They are very bard to reach.

 

Next to these come the narrow, creed-bound, self­satisfied individuals who often continue to be enclosed in their shells for long periods, while their weaker brothers, if they have open minds and hearts willing to be led, leave them far behind.

 

Standards are not the same as on earth. There are no conventions and no creeds. Each individual is taken alone and goes on or remains behind, exactly according to the real worth of his inner self.

 

Everything learned on earth has a value, for, even though error or mistake, it has developed the thinking power of the mind and so made the individual stronger. The very young or the utterly ignorant are like maimed children to us. They have not received the development of earth, and are therefore, at a disadvantage in beginning their new life here. Earth experience is given to permit a certain degree of development, and those who have received all that earth could teach them are far stronger and better fitted to go on here, even though their earth experience may have been full of faults. Cultivation of the intellect and growth of soul go hand-in-hand, even when that person has followed wrong ideas. The very fact that it has been capable of following ideas makes it more capable of receiving new ideas. This is an intellectual or spiritual stage of existence, and the developed intelligence grasps quicker the truth whispered by the guides, and, with a foundation of truth, is able to absorb the strengthening love all about.

 

Well, then, is an intellectual sinner better off than an ignorant saint? No, this is not my meaning; but an intellectual saint has a vast advance over an ignorant saint. Intellect makes for strength but alone is not sufficient. Also understand that real intelligence assumes sincerity and integrity. But, given sincerity and truth, intelligence strengthens the soul, even though the path followed may sometimes have deviated from the straight truth. Sincerity is the manifestation of a mind who seeks truth, and with it, as a fundamental instinct, or principle, there will always be progress.

 

Earth education is filled with pitfalls, and human theories are so contradictory and inconsistent with the simple fundamental truths, that the student is often bewildered and sometimes loses faith, but if he remains sincere he will be brought through this darkness into the light.

 

It is extremely important to put firmly into the minds of children the great fundamental truths. Each child should be told that he has an immortal soul that will one day be reunited to God, the creator of all things, the source of life, of truth, and of love. He should be told that truth and sincerity should guide his life, and that, although he himself will have to answer for every thought and act of his life, he is always surrounded by the infinite love of God. If once this be well learned in childhood, mistakes may lead him astray, theories may bewilder him, sin may tempt him, but his instinct of immortality, divinely implanted, has been strengthened and will always guide him towards truth. His training may lead him towards materiality but his instinct will impel him towards spirituality. Even though he be compelled to deny the reasonableness of God, according to his education, yet still he feels he must be wrong.