And yet, as I have indicated, it is possible to live so far below one's
moral and spiritual possibilities, that the loss of life will seem the
loss of heaven, and the men of power on earth whom one has envied will
come to seem very gods, worthy of being worshipped. Such a delusion as
this is in part due to the absence of a common time-element.
Duration is measured only by the succession of various states of
consciousness, and these change so rapidly under the influence of the
vibratory intensity of the new life, that the events of a day lengthen
it out until it seems like a year upon earth; and day and night being
one in the Beyond, so far as activity is concerned, although they differ
somewhat in magnetic conditions, when one of these year-long days is
past, the spirit, glancing across into earth-life, at some money king,
with thirty years of active life before him, can scarcely avoid endowing
him with a kind of immortality, and may devote the fiery energies of the
soul to building up the fortunes of such a one, with no higher object
than that of keeping the mental balance and avoiding reflection.
This necessity for keeping the balance supplies motive for a great deal
that is done by spirits in the lower strata of life in the Beyond. It is
not, strictly speaking, mental balance, but organic, affecting the whole
being. A spirit possessed of any conscious individuality whatever must
generate a certain interior force to maintain it. This keeps his body in
a state of equilibrium between the inner and outer pressure, and the
body of a spirit is naturally as valuable to him as ours is to us. It
protects him against currents of thought and emotion that are not
adapted to his needs, and when evenly balanced he is able to put forth
effective will-power along the plane of his development and below.
Any one who has not learned what soul-action is will have it to learn
soon after the exchange of worlds. No other form of activity is possible
there. No spirit strikes another with his hand, nor presents him with a
visible token of wealth, yet battles are fought and presents given. As a
suggestion: when you say to your friend, "Good-bye and good-luck to
you," you are making him a spiritual present, although you may not be
aware of it.
Whenever you launch a curse, if only in thought, you strike a blow,
against which conscious rectitude is an actual armor, and the only one.
The very slightest impulse of ill-will directed toward any one is an
action of the soul that may do real harm, and certainly makes a record.
These statements will commend themselves as true to most of my readers,
many of whom, however, would not be able to explain why they are so sure
of what they have learned from no teacher, and cannot recall from the
pages of experience. Let me suggest.
From six to nine hours' sleep is an essential part of our daily lives.
We suppose ourselves to actually sleep, not only in body but in mind and
soul as well. Perhaps some who have very little mind and even less
spirit, do sleep when their body sleeps, but there are very large
numbers of people who, the moment the brain becomes quiescent, enter at
once on the most active part of their daily existence.
This is especially true of such as during their waking hours have
attained some knowledge of spiritual values, and have taken their stand
on this or that platform of principles, religious, moral, or even
political, and who would be ready to contend in argument, or even, if
necessary, take up arms, in defense of their positions; in other words,
who have a conscious location in some field of thought or fortress of
belief.
The extent to which we influence others, or are influenced by them,
during our sleeping hours, very few realize, because unable to recall,
when waking, the experiences of the night just passed; but be sure that
no reform can ever make much progress until the agitation for it becomes
sufficiently powerful to link the day to the night, and engage the
activities of partially freed spirits while their bodily consciousness
is lost in slumber.
It is here that lessons are learned and impressions made, the recalling
of the results of which may surprise us as to the extent, and puzzle us
as to the origin, of our knowledge.
Readers of Emerson will find this a key to some of his mysterious yet
delightful sayings.