THE SPHERE OF LUST.
Man possesses three natures—the animal or sensuous nature, the
intellectual and moral nature, and the divine nature. Mind, in whatever
department it is manifested, possesses two qualities—perception and
affection, and understanding and love; or, when understanding is united
with true affection, wisdom and love. I have heretofore said, that
since man, in the lowest department of his being, is animal in his
character, possessing the faculty of perceiving facts and phenomena,
that faculty was the perceptive part of his animal being which embraces
self-love, or a desire after self-gratification. That portion of the
mind which pertains to the second part of man’s nature was described
as being that which investigates the laws and relation of things,
inquires into what relates to that department of nature called the
scientific, and studies that which relates to man and society. What
is called the moral department of man’s being is that which relates
to the affectional part of his nature, and which is called moral love
or charity. That which pertains to the divine or absolute of man’s
being was said to embrace the religious element in him; through which
department the Infinite, as the absolute of being and of affection,
is to be revealed to the mind. The love characterizing this department
was described as divine love—the love of the Divine Being. The first
love is objective in self, the second is objective in neighbor, and the
third is subjective in God. Thus, then, was given the division of that
department of mind pertaining to man’s perception and affection.
I am now to commence with the first—man in the lowest department of his
perception and affection, to show you its nature, and its presence in
him, in society, in government, and in the Spirit-world. If we would
learn the laws that govern in that sphere of the Spirit-world called
outer darkness, we need only learn the laws that govern in the sphere
of outer darkness which is in man, and which is caused by man to exist
in society. A singular idea has obtained, that this lower animal nature
derives its quality from the physical body we carry about with us; and
that when we come to be separated from it, we shall no longer possess
any of that nature; as though this earthly body was the foundation of
perception or affection—as though the instrument were the cause—as
though this body, which we temporarily inhabit, exercised more control
over us than the mind!
I propose first, then, to inquire how much influence the body exercises
upon the mind, and how much influence the mind exercises upon the
body, so that we may arrive at something like an accurate conclusion
as to what our condition will be beyond the grave; for if we know how
much is to be subtracted, at death, from our animal natures, we can
know how much of that nature remains after we have passed beyond the
influence of these material bodies. My first position is this: The
manifestation of impulse in finite beings rises out of the relation
which one finite being sustains to another. There is no impulse that
does not grow out of this relation; and the impulse is according to
the nature and character of that relation. In the divine order, if
my body, as a physical and a finite existence, did not sustain any
relation, it would be subject to no impulse; therefore, whenever I
perceive an impulse arising within me, I am informed thereby that I
sustain a certain relation to something, and that if I would become
truly wise in controlling that impulse, I must learn what that relation
is. I might begin back of mind or conscious being to show how uniform
this law is in the material or unconscious world, as that the influence
between the earth and the sun arises out of a certain relation existing
between them, and that if you change or destroy that relation, you
change or destroy that influence. But I will illustrate this truth
by reference to a conscious being. If man could be isolated from all
laws, he would be a very different being from what he now is, although
he might retain the same constitution which he now possesses; because
he could not then come into certain relations which are necessary, in
order to have revealed within him certain affections. I will take, for
instance, the conjugal relation. It is the nearest the Divine. It is
the first-begotten relation below the Infinite. Until a man and woman
come into the true conjugal relation, they can not experience that love
known as conjugal love. Till then it can not be begotten in them. They
may conjecture they know what it is, but until that true relation is
established between them, they can never have an adequate conception of
it—can never know what it is to become so oblivious in another as the
true wife does in the husband, or the true husband does in the wife;
nor can they, like the true husband and wife, experience that perfect
harmony of soul, or listen to that sweet spiritual music within, till
they have entered this relation, which alone can fit them for a proper
conjugal union. The law exists, and the conditions exist; but man must
place himself, and woman must place herself, within the sphere of the
law and the conditions, or they can not experience the benefit to be
derived from them. So with the parental relation. No woman can know
what maternal love is till she becomes a mother. Is it not so, mothers?
People may conjecture that they know what it is, and suppose it to be
a pure and friendly love-feeling existing between mother and child;
but they can have no adequate conception of the deep tenderness and
holiness of maternal love—their idea of it does not begin to reach
down into the almost infinite depths of that holy love. There is no
possible way for an individual to know what maternal love is, but to
come into the maternal relation. That is the way God reveals it in
the soul. The reason is, that the true maternal impulse in the finite
is the manifestation of the Divine in the finite sphere, and this
manifestation can only be made in an individual when that individual
comes into the sphere where the Infinite can confer that blessing. The
same is true with reference to paternal, fraternal, filial, and social
love: they all depend for their development upon those in whom they are
manifested coming into the true relation which gives birth to them.
The same law holds good when applied to the relations existing between
the body and the spirit. My body can not be nourished so as to become
an instrument of individualizing in me an immortal spirit, unless it be
sustained by those things necessary to become a part of its organism. I
have needs, as an immortal being, which must be supplied, or I perish;
and since those needs exist, they must have some means of manifesting
themselves to me; and one of the means employed for that purpose is the
feeling of hunger. A desire for food proclaims a need of my wasting
body. The needed material can then be taken into it to build it up and
fit it for its holy mission of being an instrument in elaborating an
immortal spirit. So, likewise, thirst is the voice of God proclaiming a
need of my body, and my spirit is induced to seek for that which shall
supply the demand of a divine impulse originating in that plane. So it
is in regard to all other needs of the body calling upon the spirit for
gratification. The impulses, then, pertaining to this body have not
their origin in this body, but only in the relation which this body
sustains to my spirit; and when the spirit has fulfilled its duty of
supplying the needs of the body, the demand ceases. When, being hungry,
I have appropriated the proper quantity of food, the desire for food
ceases. It is so respecting every other need—when it is supplied, the
demand ceases, and the individual continues to be satisfied till the
demand is again created. By studying the needs of the body, and making
yourself acquainted with its condition as far as it relates to the
spirit, you may learn exactly how much influence, truly and properly,
it exerts upon your spirit; but when you look beyond the needs of the
body, and find impulses asking for more, you may be certain that you
are finding impulses which do not pertain to your body. Though they
may lay hold of your body and stimulate it to action and administer
to its gratification, yet they do not arise out of it, but out of
some neglected need. Such impulses are the voice of God calling our
attention to some need which you have forgotten or neglected, and they
will not permit you to rest till you discover what that need is and
supply it. I will illustrate this point.
Although man in the lower department of his nature is animal, he is
nevertheless something more than an animal in the activities of his
nature. The highest impulse of the animal is to provide for and protect
its perishable mortal structure, and he has no immortal spirit to
provide for in the future. He is content when the needs of the body
are supplied. Did you never notice how content and unconcerned are the
horse and dog when their demand for food is supplied? Young animals
and young children, in their play, are supplying one of the needs of
their body. But when the children have passed from childhood, desires
of that kind cease, if they become properly developed men and women,
and others take their place; while the animal, whenever the needs of
his animal nature are supplied, is satisfied. Consequently, you do not
see dissipated animals. Did you ever think of that? Animals do not
get drunk, nor seek for gratification in any such unnatural channel.
Animals are true to nature and to God. They can not have thoughts
and desires that pertain to the undying spirit, their highest nature
being merely animal. Were man as true to all the needs of his being as
is the animal to the needs of his animal nature, he would not be the
discontented, unhappy, and lustful being he now is. But in consequence
of having to supply the needs of a higher nature, he finds himself
far from being as contented as the brute, whose animal wants are all
provided for.
There are spiritual needs pertaining to his understanding and
affections which are entirely overlooked or neglected by him, whose
demands are as imperative as are the demands of the animal nature. The
demands of his intellectual and moral nature cause him to feel the lack
of something within which destroys his rest and quiet. He seeks to
satisfy this lack by gratifying his sensuous appetites and passions.
Thus man runs into vice, and becomes sinful. Were it not for his
immortal thirsting for the water of life, he never would be a wicked,
lustful being; or if he would _supply_ the demands of that thirst, he
never would be discontented or lustful.
Now let us make the distinction between the lustful and the divine
impulse, that you may better understand what I mean by the sphere to
which I am calling your attention. We all can tell the difference by
appealing to our own consciousness. The divine impulse informs us of a
need, and leads us to seek to supply it. The Infinite only speaks of
needs, and leads man to supply them, that he may grow up into a perfect
being. Every impulse in man, from the lowest to the highest nature,
must be attended to, in order to render him perfect. The true impulse
is one that promotes individual happiness and contentment.
When the infant, in consequence of this impulse, feels the sense
of hunger calling for food, and such food as its infantile nature
requires, it cries; but the supply of that demand is only necessary to
cause it to cease its crying. This is because the child is free from
those lusts which attach to persons advanced in years. “Of such is the
kingdom of heaven.” The child does not lust after things that shall
gratify or tickle its palate; it only seeks for those things which it
needs; and when they are supplied, it ceases calling for more. But with
the advance of age it learns of lustful parents, or by being acted upon
by lustful influences, to seek gratification through lust, while in its
original unperverted state it knows no impulses but those which are
natural, and, consequently, it obeys the true and divine law.
Without stopping to inquire into the origin of lust, I may say that
it originates in man’s ignorance, necessarily. If you recollect the
figure in the parable of the Garden of Eden, you remember that the
sin committed by Eve was eating of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. That is where we all eat. But I do not propose to dwell upon the
nature and origin of this lust in man, but merely to speak of it as
being that which characterizes him in his lowest sphere of being. It
brings him into antagonism with his neighbor and God. It is that which
begets in him so much crime, and which brings ruin upon the world. That
is lust which leads him to seek after self-gratification irrespective
of any need, while the true impulse only leads him to seek to supply
those things which are _really_ needed. The impulse belonging to the
lower sphere may be characterized as lust. The idea which obtains so
generally in society, that lust belongs only to animal, sensual, or
sexual desires, is, therefore, erroneous.
Man may seek gratification in every plane of his being; not only in
what he eats and drinks, but also in the intellectual plane. He may
seek to gratify a vain curiosity. When he feels restless, he goes off
searching after amusement. Time hangs heavy on his soul. There is a
perishing need calling for action, and he knows not whence it comes,
and he seeks to “kill” this time by amusement or otherwise. This is
lusting, not in the animal sense, but in the intellectual sense. He
may also lust in the moral plane. What are called friendships in the
world, are distinguished by lusts. You know how the world selects
its friends: it selects them according to the pleasure it expects to
derive from them. Is it not so? Does not the selfish man and woman
select friends with reference to the enjoyment they expect to derive
from their association with them? And are they not most constant in
their attention to those who are most successful in administering to
their enjoyment? Look at this, each of you. Look over the list of your
friends, and tell me _really_ what is the basis of your friendship.
You love your friends, you say. Why do you love them? You love to be
with them. Why? You seek their society. Why? Some of your friends you
love best. Tell me why it is that you love them best. You say they
are the most agreeable to you, and hence you love to be with them.
Is that the highest basis? If so, when they cease to administer to
your gratification, what relation will you hold to them then? It is
said that “prosperity makes friends, and adversity tries them.” They
can make it pleasant for us when they are with us, and in prosperity;
but when adversity comes, their position is not quite high enough
for us; and we prefer those differently conditioned. This remark is
in accordance with the statement, that the friendship of the world
is based upon the principle of gratifying ourselves. In making your
morning calls, you sometimes visit your friends from a sense of duty;
and are influenced by the fear that they will find fault with you if
you follow your feelings in the matter, and go where you will derive
the greatest amount of pleasure.
When you think these friends are laboring to your disadvantage, then
your love for them soon cools off. They don’t answer your purpose.
Thus, trifling circumstances make foes of friends. You may test the
friendship you think you have for individuals. If a person’s friendship
seems to be strong, and he can not enjoy his friendship for another,
unless in that other’s society, and he desires to be in the presence
of that person, so that he can hear his voice and feel his personal
influence, and if, when separated from that friend he is disquieted and
unhappy, very much as is the person who uses strong drink or tobacco,
and is deprived of his beer, or rum, or tobacco—his friendship has
a low basis. But if one has a true friendship, which is high, and
holy, and spiritual, one where his whole confidence is merged in that
friend, he trusts him with his heart and most secret thoughts, and
knows without doubt that he can not be betrayed by that friend; and
they hold constant spiritual communion with each other, no matter how
far apart—there is a concord of spiritual communion between them that
enables them to enjoy each other’s society when separated by hundreds
of miles. True friendship is of the spiritual kind that does not regard
so gross and physical a friendship as the friendship of the world. I
wish to call your attention to the presence of this impulse in you,
because perhaps you have not looked at the subject in this light.
A word to husbands and wives. A young man, when he contemplates getting
married, thinks he will get a wife that will make him very happy. One
young man thinks he would like a wife who will be economical; another,
one who would make a good housekeeper; and another, an intellectual
companion; so they select not so much with reference to the wife, as
to the use of the wife. And ladies, on the other hand, select husbands
who they think will provide them a good home, afford them protection,
etc.; they want a husband for his use; so the union between the man
and woman is often based upon the idea of use, and not upon their
fitness for companions; and hence their love for each other continues
so long as the use continues, and no longer. If a man who desires
a good housekeeper finds that his wife is not one, or if a husband
finds his wife faulty in any other important particular, just in
proportion as she proves faulty his love for her is abated; and at the
end of twenty-eight days—the period denominated the “_honey-moon_”—he
finds he does not love her near as well as he supposed; and that
what he supposed was love, was, after all, but a desire after
gratification—that he was loving self instead of his wife.
Man may be lustful in his religion as well as in his moral relations.
He may mistake what he supposes to be the love of God for the love of
the use of God. He expects God is going to make him eternally happy,
and bestow upon him unending enjoyment, and for this reason he shouts
and praises him, and calls it loving God. He does not see that God is
so much better than anybody else; but he has become satisfied that God
means well, and will bless him; and he honors him for these things.
Hence his seeking after religion that he may make himself happy and
save himself from suffering is as lustful and selfish as seeking after
something good to eat or drink, making self-gratification the object of
his search. The great difficulty, my friends, with popular religion is,
that it is only a religious expression of lust. That it has not beaten
swords into plowshares and spears into pruning-hooks, and taught people
to learn war no more, is because it has failed to adopt the means by
which the world can be made pure and happy. Hence the religious man may
be as selfish as the miserly man, and yet think he is so much like God
that he is going to be saved. But it is not religion that he loves;
it is only the use of religion. Satisfy him that God is not going to
benefit him, but that he is going to damn him, and he will curse him
bravely. I ask everybody to look at this.
It is claimed, as I have already remarked, that the impulse of lust
belongs to the body, and does not grow out of the relation which the
mind sustains to the body. What need, I ask, did Alexander’s body
feel, which demanded that he should have all the kings and potentates
of earth on their knees before him? What did he want of the wealth of
the earth? and what made him weep because there was not another world
to conquer? Was it his body? I tell you, Nay; there were perishing
needs within him that would not give him rest till they were supplied;
and, ignorant of the nature of those needs, he sought to supply them
by the gratification of his selfish nature. Not heeding the voice of
God, he took his sword and rushed upon mankind, and made that the balm
for the healing of his restless spirit; and when he had conquered the
world, and had it at his command, he was more miserable than before;
simply because he had entered farther into the broad road leading to
destruction and death. He felt the bitter agony of soul consequent
upon a departure from the straight and narrow path. This lust was not
the lust of his body—it was the lust of the spirit. It was a desire
for self-gratification that arose, because the needs existing in
consequence of neglecting the demands of the spirit were not supplied.
He sought gratification in a way in which he thought he could obtain
it; but he was sadly disappointed in the result.
The miser, in every age, has been trying to obtain happiness by getting
gold. A French miser, who, like a great mass of mankind, thought
wealth would make him happy, sought for it, and was so successful as
to obtain it. He possessed his untold millions, and yet desired more;
and he found that the more he possessed the more he desired. He also
perceived that his wealth did not gratify his wants. The moment he
possessed it, he found he could not take care of it to his liking. He
could not trust it in banks, for the banks might break; and he did
not like to invest it in stocks, for stocks were liable to depreciate
in value; so he made up his mind that he would convert it into money,
and keep it continually in his sight; and accordingly he had it placed
in heaps, and stood and watched it. But then he was unable to sleep
because he feared burglars and assassins, whose plottings for his life
and money constantly rung in his ear. As he stood and watched those
shining heaps, he reflected that although he had obtained wealth he had
derived no satisfaction from it, but that every dollar added to his
possessions added a new pang to his sorrows; and he determined to kill
himself, and accordingly proceeded to the banks of the river Seine,
for the purpose of drowning himself. Upon arriving at the river’s
bank, happening to put his hand in his pocket, he found four guineas.
Thinking they would thereafter be of no use to him, he concluded that
rather than have them lost, he would, before he sought his watery
grave, go and find some needy person to whom he might give the money.
He accordingly went to a miserable hovel close by. As he approached
it, he heard cries of agony and distress within. He entered, when he
beheld a most heart-rending sight. There lay a poor, sick, distressed
widow on a pallet of straw, with a few rags for covering; and there
were four hungry, dirty, naked children crying for bread, while the
sick mother had no bread for them, or the means of obtaining any.
The miser stepped up to the bed, and placed the four strayed guineas
in her hand, and told her they were hers. She looked wildly at the
money, and then at the giver, and then at the guineas again. She seized
his hand, pressed it, blessed him, and called upon God to bless him;
and the children thanked him. The thanks, and blessings, and tears
which were showered upon that miser’s heart caused it to break, and
for the first time in his life a pulsation of pleasure, delight, and
satisfaction beat through his soul, and as he stood and witnessed the
joy, and thankfulness, and hope of that family he exclaimed, “What!
is happiness so cheap? then I will be happy.” Then he went away, not
to drown himself in the Seine, but to seek out other similar cases of
suffering; and after that he had no occasion to kill himself, for he
had found what was the canker that had so long been gnawing upon his
heart. He found that he possessed a moral nature that had needs, and
that that nature was calling upon him to perform certain moral duties;
and that the moment he obeyed the demands of that nature, he silenced
that clamoring within, which had all his life long rendered him unhappy
and discontented; and at a good old age he testified that the way to be
happy was to be good and useful.
I think his experience will be yours and mine. We talk about wanting
pleasure, and we seek it in amusements and at theaters, routs, and
balls; and I tell you that this feeling arises from the same cause as
the miser’s misery. We have hungerings and thirstings of soul which we
are required to satisfy, and except we comply with these requirements
we will be disquieted. If those of you who love the opera, the
theater, etc., will go forth and tread these streets, and find out the
objects of need—those worthy of aid—and visit them, and administer to
their comfort, you will no longer feel the need of theaters, routs, and
balls; and you will find greater satisfaction in such a course than
these amusements can afford. Try the experiment, and I will guarantee
you will be successful. That this city, like all great cities, is
pursuing after pleasure, as the paramount object to be attained,
is because their souls are hungering and thirsting after that food
necessary to build them up into the stature of perfect men and women.
This makes time seem cruel, and hang heavy upon them; and, like the
victim who seeks to drown his sorrow in the cup, they seek to fill up
the long hours in dissipation. To return to my subject.
This sphere of lust, I say, then, does not arise from the body, nor
from the influence of the body on the soul. It arises from our neglect
of our spiritual needs. This lust, this desire proclaims a divine life
within, which demands activity corresponding to our real natures; and
we can never get peace and happiness until those real demands of our
natures are supplied. I appeal to all pleasure-seekers whether this is
not true. You have heard it argued whether there be more pleasure in
anticipation than in participation. The world’s pleasures are always
in the future, never in the present. The man or the woman of the world
is never satisfied with present conditions or present attainments. Why
not? Because the man and the woman of the world are not attending to
the present needs of the spiritual nature. The finite man ought to
understand that he lives only in the present. God the Infinite only
belongs to the future. Man’s needs pertain to to-day. His physical,
moral, and intellectual needs are all bearing upon the present, and
not the future. The past is his schoolmaster, to teach him how to be
ready to enjoy the future. It is to-day that we should take thought
for; hence the divine saying of the man of Nazareth—“Take no thought
for the morrow. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” If we
look to the present, and supply the needs of the present, the future
will take care of itself. The man seeking for religion thinks he wants
it for the future, in order that he may die right; but a man does not
want religion to die by. There will be no trouble about his dying if
he only lives right. I do not care for religion for the sake of having
it to die by. Only give me its living benefits, and you are welcome to
its dying benefits. This shows the false estimate the world sets upon
religion.
I desire to impress upon your minds this principle, that when you
look down to the real basis of selfishness and lust, you will find
that they do not originate in the body, but that they pertain to the
spiritual being. There are certain needs, however, which do grow out
of the physical body; but when the spirit is separated from the body,
it no longer feels these physical demands; for instance, it will no
longer feel the need of food, experience thirst, or be susceptible to
the effects of the elements—heat and cold—as is the physical nature;
but that which administers to the demands of the mind, independent of
the body, belongs to the mind. And when you enter the Spirit world, if
you take truth with you, you will also take falsehood—if you carry
purity with you, so you will impurity—if justice goes with you to that
sphere, so will injustice. Now think of society in its individual
action, social, governmental, and religious action, and tell me whether
the world, or the individuals of the world, are governed by the true,
divine impulse? Are they searching after the true needs of the body and
mind, or after pleasure and self-gratification? And in your activity,
which controls?—a sense of need, or a desire after gratification? You
settle this question for yourselves, and I will settle it for myself.
If you are under the rule, and in the sphere, of lust you belong to the
sphere of outer darkness; and if you are under the rule of charity, you
belong to the second sphere or Spiritual Paradise. His servants you are
to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey. It is for you to say
whom you will obey.
Now this earthly sphere is the lowest and darkest sphere. Its
influences are dark and defiling. In this sphere men are swallowed up
in worldly matters, and striving to gratify self.
But when a separation takes place between the mind and the body, we
shall come into new relations, although we shall not at once change
our thoughts, feelings, and affections, and shall recognize ourselves.
Our lusts and self-love will follow us to the Spirit-world. There is
not, as many seem to suppose, a miraculous process, by which man is
changed while passing through the dark valley of shadows. If a change
takes place in him in the Spirit-world, it must be in accordance with
the same divine law which governs him in this sphere of existence. If
you will but exercise your reasoning faculties on this point, you
will see that it should and must be so. When we come to understand
the Spirit-world, we shall find that in our Father’s house there is
a mansion suited to those who seek after self-gratification, and
that that world, like this, is subdivided into many minor spheres,
corresponding to the various grades of development in the different
spheres of mind. There are physical spheres, intellectual spheres,
moral spheres, and religious spheres, as there are in this world; and
they are very much of the some description as those here, because they
proceed from the same basis. Individuals passing from this sphere to
that, will fashion out of the materials which their own conscious
elements furnish the same kind of a Deity there that they worshiped
here. As in New York city there are many degrees of advancement in
these different departments—one man seeking to gratify his lusts
through appetite, and another man in some other way; and as you can
find here every sphere, except the divine sphere (I doubt whether you
can find that), so in the Spiritual world you will find all these
different degrees of advancement, each occupying its own appropriate
sphere.
Here is one man who seeks gratification, it may be, in strong drink,
and he worships the bowl; another seeks it in food, and hence becomes
an epicure, and worships the stomach; another, it may be, seeks
gratification in practicing certain games or tricks, or following
after some amusement; while another seeks gratification in sexual
indulgences. So you may go on and enumerate the endless variety of
channels in which men seek to gratify their selfish desires; and it
will be found that those in the same pursuit affinitize with one
another—drunkards with drunkards, etc.—every sphere delighting in that
which corresponds to the desires of those who compose it. So in the
Spirit-world; the Spirit who was a drunkard here seeks gratification in
the same direction that he did on earth; the seeker of pleasure there
still has a love for the theater, routs, and balls; the libertine still
delights in miserable songs he was accustomed to hear.
Governments, institutions, and associations and relations, whether
social, spiritual, or otherwise, are expressions of what are the loves
and delights of the soul of man. Therefore, in all institutions, you
will find displayed the characters of those who founded them. The
government of any country is but the child of the ruling mind or minds
of that country. Then, if we wish to understand the dark spheres in the
Spiritual world, we have only to drop the body and have our spiritual
eyes opened, when we will see that there exist there all the phases of
society that we find here. The cause of this arises from the sphere
of lust. You have there your gambling Spirits, your drinking Spirits,
your lustful Spirits, etc. And how do these poor creatures live there?
That is the next question. What do they do to gratify their desires?
I will tell you. You understand it to be a psychological principle,
that when two men are brought into sympathy, or into _rapport_ with
each other (one being positive and the other negative), feelings,
sensations, and desires can be communicated from one to the other.
To give an illustration: You have seen, in mesmerism, an exhibition
of mind separated from the influences of the body. When the mind is
thus separated, and this mesmeric sympathy is established between the
subject and the operator, any surgical operation can be performed upon
the subject without giving him pain, because his being of sensation is
removed from his body; but you can not pull the hair of the operator,
or hurt his finger, or otherwise give him pain, without giving pain
to the subject. Whatever the operator enjoys or suffers, the subject
also enjoys and suffers. Now it is in accordance with this principle
that Spirits of the other world gratify their desires. Spirits who
visit this world are obliged to make use of and come into _rapport_
with, those who have appetites and desires similar to their own. If the
mind is separated from its own body, it can experience the sensations
of another body with which it may come into _rapport_. On the same
principle a good mind, or, if you please, the Divine Mind, can flow
into the individual mind, and impart thought and sensation to that
mind. Or a good Spirit can flow into a medium, and awaken sensations
and thoughts in accordance with the law of action and re-action,
becoming negative or positive, according as he wishes to impart or
receive influence. Here, then, is the means by which the Spirit is
enabled to gratify its desires by visiting earth. Those Spirits who
allow themselves to be influenced by their lusts are called tempting
Spirits, and they influence individuals on earth that they may make
use of them as a means of gratifying these lusts. The same law is
manifested by individuals in the body. It is not because Spirits wish
to injure the bodies which they thus use, but because they desire
self-gratification, and know of no other means of obtaining it,
except in this sphere of outer darkness. The lowest in this scale of
unfolding corresponds to this lustful nature in man. Every affection in
society that can affect societies of men has its representative in the
individual man; so that every subdivision of the sphere of lust has its
representative in each individual; and the question is whether he lives
in one of these departments or another. If I am developed in the moral
department, there I live, and love, and worship; and when I pass to the
Spirit-world, I go to a sphere corresponding to that ruling affection
by which I am controlled. So it is in regard to any other sphere of
unfolding, whether it be relational or absolute, or otherwise. Hence
man himself determines his sphere. Take any man or woman you please,
and let them be developed to any sphere, from the darkest sphere of
lust to the purest sphere of love, and if there is any place in God’s
universe where they can find that which corresponds to that lust or
love, they will find it. If there is any condition suited to make them
happy, they will find it. If this were not so, the Spirit-world would
be the worst hell imaginable. To compel a man to go where he has no
affinity would be to inflict upon him one of the greatest punishments
conceivable. Compel a lustful libertine to remain in a Methodist
class-meeting, and shout and sing with the enthusiastic Methodists,
and he would be extremely miserable—he could find many places where he
would be infinitely more happy; and in order to be happy, he would be
obliged to go where he could find that which would correspond to his
cast of mind. We can determine where a man’s God is when we ascertain
what it is to which he will sacrifice every thing else.
After having thus given the law governing this lowest sphere of the
Spirit-world, which represents man in his undeveloped nature as an
intellectual and moral being—we are qualified to comprehend that
sphere, and understand that the same spheres of mind which belong to
this belong also to the Spiritual world, and that undeveloped Spirits
from that lust-sphere visit earth, or societies of earth, not for the
purpose of redeeming them, but for the purpose of seeking their own
gratification. I have presented to you my views of that sphere as I
understand it, and I shall be prepared, in my next lecture, to take
up the second sphere, and tell you what constitutes it, and how it is
that it becomes a mediatorial sphere—middle sphere. This second, or
Spiritual sphere, is between the dark and light, or divine sphere. It
is the means through which the lustful are brought out of their lusts
to the divine.