CONDITION OF THE SPIRIT IN THE SPIRIT-WORLD.
In order that I may present the general condition of the Spirit in the
Spirit-world in the most intelligible form, it will be necessary for us
to enter into a very close and accurate analysis of what constitutes
the Spirit, because if we do not well understand what constitutes
the Spirit, we shall only be able to conjecture of its condition of
happiness in the Spirit-world; and if we are to have a close and rigid
analysis of the Spirit, we, can only have it by having a close and
rigid analysis of our own conscious being, because we can know nothing
but our own consciousness; and if we are to learn of the condition of
Spirits in the other world, that condition must be translated into our
consciousness, and we must find it therein recorded, or we can only
conjecture of their condition.
Then the first point to which I wish to call your attention, is that
which distinguishes the condition of absolute consciousness from
that condition which goes to make up individuality—that which is
universal and applicable to all, and that which is only individual
and applicable to each and every individual. Every individual has the
means of determining how much of this being—“I, myself”—belongs to
the external and finite, and how much to the internal and infinite;
because that which makes me to differ from you is finite; but that
which makes myself or yourself one and the same with every other
individual being in the universe, is infinite. Therefore the first
point of investigation is to ascertain what it is that makes you and me
differ from every other individual being in the universe—in what that
difference consists—because when I speak of you as a Spiritual being,
I speak of you in view of that difference, and not in view of that
sameness.
You understand that individuality makes the difference between us.
My individuality makes me to differ as an individual being from you.
The question now arises, what constitutes my individuality, this “I,
myself”—what enables me, when speaking of the events Of childhood,
to say, “When I was a child,” though every thing has changed that
pertained to my individuality as a child—thoughts, feelings, tastes,
pleasures, form? What is it that connects the events of twenty or
thirty years ago with my present being?
I wish each one to go down into his own mind and solve that problem,
because if we are to talk about Spirits we must learn about ourselves.
When each man understands thoroughly the Spirit that is at present
speaking to him, he will be able to form some correct ideas respecting
its condition in the Spiritual world.
Upon examination, each will find that there is within himself
a principle of absolute consciousness—a principle which is
self-conscious, which represents itself to itself, and is not
represented by any thing but itself. It can not be analyzed. It is
absolute in itself. To prove to you that your consciousness of
identity has undergone no change, I need but attempt to prove to
you that you are the same individual that you were when a child, by
referring to scars made upon your fingers in childhood, which still
remain, by calling to mind traits of your childish character. All
these proofs you would consider very much inferior to that proof
afforded by an affirmation within you, which rises above all outward
evidence. It is that to which the Book alludes when it says, “As he
could swear by no greater, therefore he swore by himself.” Although in
your physical, intellectual, and moral being you have changed in every
thing pertaining to your finite consciousness, yet there is that within
you which tells you you are the same. Let one change follow another to
eternity, you will not lose your consciousness of identity.
That which makes you differ from others does not enter into this
absolute consciousness of identity. In other words, the thought,
feeling, and affection which characterized you at any particular time
of life has nothing to do with this absolute identification of self.
Nothing by which the world knows me, or by which it knows you, enters
in to form our inmost identity. We have an identity which lies deeper
than everything external; and it is this identity, which admits of
no change, which says that we are the same, and will forever remain
the same identical beings to all eternity. No change of position, no
change of character, no destruction of reputation, no conversion of
happiness into suffering, presents the least difficulty in the way of
identification. The man who has fallen, been ruined in reputation,
and is steeped in suffering, finds no difficulty in identifying
himself as the same being who was once good, respected, and happy.
He does not say that there was once a being who was happy and good,
but who has changed and become another being, but he says that the
character and position of this individual identity has changed, while
his identity has undergone no change. I wish to call your attention to
that principle of absolute consciousness in you, by means of which you
know yourself, but by which nobody else knows you. You know that that
principle in you does not constitute your individuality. It constitutes
your personality; but that in you which is undergoing change, and
develops from a lower to a higher degree of knowledge, constitutes your
individuality. This unchanging, ever-present, conscious identity is
the very divine life within you, from which you derive all life. This
outside identity, which thinks and wills, is no part of my immortal
nature, separate from this divine principle within me. This outside
consciousness can never be in any other state than the finite. For
wherever you have succession and duration, you have time. Where you
have succession in extent, you have space. In regard to this outward
finite nature, one change follows another; and if change follows
change, there must, in respect to such change, always be succession;
and where you get succession, you must necessarily have time. Hence
the spirit, in its finite nature, must always be in time till it shall
cease to change; when progress ends, time will cease with the finite.
This is a proposition so plain that no mind can for a moment be lost in
considering it.
We can form some definite idea of the Spirit-world by first learning
something of ourselves. You know that this conscious principle within
me and you knows nothing about time or space. Suppose I instantly
become unconscious, and remain so twenty-four hours, and am then
suddenly restored to my consciousness. During this twenty-four hours
there has been no additional record of events made within me; therefore
that twenty-four hours is obliterated so far as my consciousness is
concerned. I take up the time where I left it. To the unconscious there
is no time. To the unchangeable there can be no time. Time is but
the marking of succession. The inmost principle by means of which we
become acquainted with ourselves, knows nothing about time. When one
is restored from unconsciousness to consciousness, he knows instantly
who he is, but he can not say how much time elapsed to the outward
world. Clairvoyants who pass into a condition of unconsciousness to all
exterior things, have no recollection of what occurs while they are in
that condition, though they may have been in it for several hours.
I knew an individual once to be put into the mesmeric condition,
who was unconscious in his normal condition of what occurred in the
mesmeric state, though he was in it for five hours, and during that
time performed many interesting experiments. At the time of sitting
down to be mesmerized he was in so great hurry that he thought he could
spend but a very few minutes’ time. On being brought to consciousness,
he started off again in great haste, supposing that he had sufficient
time to attend to his business, showing clearly that he had not been
in a condition to mark succession of events.
The inmost principle of consciousness which identifies me of to-day
with what I was thirty years ago, does not, of itself, notice time,
except as it is connected with this outward part of me. It counts
time by changes; but when you come into itself and separate it from
those changes, it does not know time at all. Between my infancy and
the present time it has been a constant now. It is the presence of the
infinite and eternal in man, and the means by which he is connected
with the infinite and eternal. It is by the presence of this infinite
and eternal consciousness that man knows that he possesses a finite and
changeable nature. It is a lamp within, which shines out and reveals to
him his finite consciousness, and the changes transpiring there. So man
has two selfhoods, an inward, and an outward which is changing from day
to day.
When I speak of you as an individual being who differs from me, I speak
of your outward, changing selfhood. But when I speak of you in your
inmost consciousness, I speak of you in your inmost selfhood, in which
you do not differ from me.
It is by this inmost consciousness that I know that I am. It reveals
myself to myself by just the same law by which you are revealed to
yourself. There are two methods of addressing the outward selfhood—from
without, and from the infinite within. Where the individual
consciousness is addressed from within, the communication is made
to the affections, whence it flows into the understanding. When it
is addressed from without, it is by representations of that which
addresses it. But when I go to the Spiritual world, I go with this
divine consciousness, this constant, unchanging consciousness within,
but not as a principle which belongs to me, which is individualized
within me. It is just as universal as God. It is the divine
consciousness which is unindividualized within me, and wherever that
is, I must be, because of the ubiquity of this divine principle. If
there were any point from which this could be excluded, and into which
the individual could be thrust, he would be annihilated.
What we need is to bring the external consciousness into unceasing
relation with this internal consciousness. That which does not come
into such relation with this absolute consciousness does not become a
part of our finite selfhood—a part of our immortal selfhood. Standing
before you I perceive your countenances, because your images are
brought into a certain relation to this absolute consciousness within
me. Now when they come into unceasing relation to this unchanging
consciousness, they become a part of my external, finite selfhood.
Memory is the result of bringing events into such relation with this
consciousness.
Looking at man, then, as possessing an absolute consciousness which
never changes, and an external consciousness which is constantly
changing, and which alone causes one man to differ from his fellow,
it is apparent that if individuality is preserved upon entering the
Spiritual world, each must take with him so much as causes him to
differ from others. Whenever this external nature would represent
itself to another, not having a consciousness of its own separate
from the divine consciousness, it comes under the law of exterior
communication and representation. Therefore it is never present in
the mind by itself, but by that which represents it there. If we
would learn how it is that a Spirit represents itself in different
places at the same time, we must learn the law of representation. I
see my audience, by which I mean I see that which represents you to
my consciousness. You are presented to my consciousness by means of a
medium which comes between you and me; and according to the accuracy of
my faculties to perceive, and according to the accuracy of this medium
to represent you to my consciousness, will be the accuracy of your
representation in my mind.
I see you now by the medium of light; and you all see me at the same
time. I am here and only here, but you all see me in your various
positions. You see me by means of the light which takes my image into
every part of the room. Though actually present in but one place in
this room, yet by that which represents me I am omnipresent in this
room. The great law of representation is that we perceive a thing, not
by itself, but by that which represents it in our consciousness. Hence
according to the ubiquity of the medium will be the ubiquity of the
representation. In this room the medium light is ubiquitous, and my
image is just as omnipresent as the medium. The same is true of every
other medium by which presence is represented.
I, as a finite spirit, am conscious only by means of the divine
consciousness within me, which imparts and reflects consciousness to
my outward nature. My outward consciousness is like the light of the
moon, which is the reflected light of the sun. The real consciousness
within me is that from which I derive my external consciousness.
Whenever I, as a spirit in my external consciousness, would represent
myself to you, I must come into some medium of representation—some
medium which will be to my spirit what the light is to my body. The
medium of light will not represent me, but there is a medium which
will. This, the Spirit-medium, is vastly more refined and ubiquitous
than light. Standing here as a spiritual form, and giving off spiritual
undulations, just as my body reflects the undulations of light,
wherever the Spirit-medium extends, there my image will extend. And
whenever an individual comes into _rapport_ with this spiritual medium
and sustains a certain relation to me, he will be able to perceive my
presence, because I am brought to his view by that which represents me.
Many suppose that a person whose mind is separated from the sensuous
influences of the body, or brought into the clairvoyant condition,
can go to a distant place, as to London, and see an individual to
whom his attention is directed. He tells me what the individual in
London is thinking and saying, yet hears what is said to him here.
If the individual in London were to be thrown into the clairvoyant
condition, and have his attention directed to the clairvoyant here,
the two could readily converse together. Space is not noticed by them,
though it might be by carefully going over the space and observing a
succession of objects. Being brought into _rapport_ with each other,
each can observe the thoughts and feelings of the other. This is
done by virtue of a simple law; and there is no mystery in it. The
medium which unites my organs of speech with your organs of hearing,
extends through the entire room, and my voice is as ubiquitous as the
medium which communicates it. So in regard to this Spirit-medium,
which is the medium of communication between the clairvoyants. By that
medium, London, Canton, or any other part of the earth, is present
here. Persons who mistakenly suppose that persons in the clairvoyant
condition leave their bodies and make journeys to distant places, get
up many curious theories to account for the body and spirit being held
together. Their error arises from a mistaken conception of the actual
condition of a Spirit. You see readily that a Spirit can be addressed
externally only by that which represents that which addresses it. Apply
to the case in hand the same law by which you see and hear me, and
substitute for the media of light and atmosphere the Spirit-medium, and
you will have no difficulty in understanding how it is that Spirits can
be represented in different places.
Persons sometimes meet with difficulty in explaining the apparent
fact, that person in the form are sometimes seen as though they were
out of it. I recollect several cases where persons were said to have
been seen and conversed with at places very remote from each other;
and it was supposed that the spirits left their bodies and went to
these distant places and represented themselves. It is very easy to
understand how my spirit can appear in real Spirit-form and speak to
one a hundred miles away from here. It is done by what is called
psychologic representation. If I come into _rapport_ with any mind
yet in the body, which mind is in _rapport_ with me, I can create any
spiritual image in your mind that I may see fit to make; that is, I can
cause the image in me to reproduce itself in you—so that that image
in my mind shall be reproduced in your consciousness, as the object
before the camera daguerreotypes its image on the prepared plates.
Now suppose that between us one or more guardian Spirits are passing.
The Spirit coming into _rapport_ with me, and having a full and
perfect perception of you, can, by the intensity of his mental action,
daguerreotype my image upon your consciousness. You then perceive me
by the psychological action which that Spirit exerts upon your mind.
It is in this way that we can apparently meet and see each the other’s
form, just as though it were present. But if we were more susceptible,
there would be no necessity of having the intervention of a guardian
Spirit. If we are both so developed as to clairvoyantly perceive one
another, the conversation can go on, though both are in the body, and
you in London and I in New York. We see each other as though we were
present one with the other. It does not follow, however, that my spirit
is present in two places at the same time; but that which represents
it is universally present. The question may arise, why we can not,
upon passing into the clairvoyant condition, see all the Spirits in
the universe—because they are all in _rapport_ with this spiritual
atmosphere. I will explain. Suppose we have ten thousand strings
strung from the ceiling to the floor, and they are made to give forth
certain sounds. Now all that have the same degree of tension will give
forth the same sound. The vibration of one will cause all the others
to vibrate which have the same degree of tension. Take any stringed
musical instrument, and vibrate one of the strings. If any other of the
strings has the same point of tension, it will vibrate. Now when my
spirit comes in contact with the Spiritual sphere and sustains the same
relation to any Spirit that the strings sustain to each other, I can
see that Spirit. Upon the same principle I may see all who are in the
condition to respond to my spirit. When my consciousness will undulate
to their conscious vibrations, I perceive them, and not till then.
If a Spirit is not present, except by that which represents it, it will
appear useless to open doors to permit Spirits to enter, for a door is
as transparent to the medium by which they are represented, as a pane
of glass is to the medium of light. Jesus appeared in the midst of his
disciples, though they were shut up; and when the time came for his
disappearance, he ceased to be seen, not by going out of the door or
window, but by disturbing the conditions by which he was represented to
their consciousness.
In respect of Spirit-mansions, etc., in the Spiritual world, we are
very liable to mistake representation for actuality. We are very liable
to mistake images of things—creations, so to speak, proceeding from
the minds of the Spirits—for actualities. We are very apt to perceive
animals. Some think that animals have a living form and exist in the
Spiritual world; but I pretend to say that it is not true. I know very
well how they appear there. I know very well how it is that persons
suppose they do exist, and why Spirits in the Spiritual world appear to
have their dogs, cats—their pet animals. To them they are actualities.
Nevertheless, I understand that the idea that a cat or dog has an
immortal soul is not only inconsistent with any principle of philosophy
in the universe, but is contradicted by every principle of philosophy.
To say that a cat or dog is immortal is to affirm that to be immortal
which God himself can not make so. The condition of immortality can
not pertain to the mere animal being. The representations of animals,
forests, fields, and things of this kind, have no basis upon that which
has a material or actual existence in the universe. They are only
developed under the law of representation. Man has a sort of creative
faculty, by which he forms the images which are mistaken in the
Spiritual world for actualities. When Spirits are thinking of animals
they have seen in this world, they throw out their images, and the
individual who chances to be in _rapport_ with these Spirits sees these
images, and thinks they are actualities.
If you will only investigate the law of representation, you will have
no difficulty in accounting for these things in the Spiritual world.
Man makes these—they are not real. God makes all that is real in the
universe. Man works in the sphere of representation, but God works in
the sphere of actuality.
Had I time, to-night, I should be happy to go into a careful
investigation to justify the conclusion that dogs and cats, etc.,
are not immortal. There is no end to be subserved in their being
immortal. If the animal were to go to the Spiritual world, there
being nothing to address his consciousness, he would virtually
have no being. Whenever a mind goes where its consciousness is not
addressed, it ceases to be mind. If there is any place in the universe
where consciousness ceases to be addressed, there consciousness must
cease to be. What would there be in the Spiritual world to address
the consciousness of the animal who has been developed only to the
perception of physical objects?
Again, between the nerve principle (the highest principle developed in
the animal) and the absolute or divine principle, there intervenes the
Spiritual principle, which, being developed in man, makes him receptive
of the highest or divine consciousness, and makes him immortal. The
animal lacking this principle can not be immortal. According to
aspirations the animal puts forth, according to its mental phenomena,
according to every principle, the animal is not immortal. Nevertheless
he has a representation in the Spiritual world, according to the law of
representation.
Every individual who is conscious of an existence as an individual, has
that within him which constitutes him an individual; and as he goes
into the Spiritual world, he takes with him that individuality. This
individuality in its inmost joins upon the absolute, through which it
perceives its own consciousness, and by this connection is unfolded in
the facts, truths, and principles of the universe.