currents of either depression or happiness.
They are equally strong currents in themselves although they act differently upon the people with whom they come into contact. It is in this way that all direct thoughts act. Frequently the subject is not conscious of these thoughts upon himself, but influence is there in a subtle and greater or lesser degree of strength, and all these thoughts are very definitely registered in the mind of the thinker long after the incident itself has passed.
When coming to this land, that whole record has to be dealt with. Not by a judge in wig and gown, but by our own spirit selves. In spirit life we have a full and clear remembrance of all these things and, according to quality of these individual thoughts, so we are brought into a state of regret, happiness or unhappiness, despair or satisfaction. It is here that we meet with the desire to make return, to put right all the discomfort and distress, minor or major, as it may be, caused by thoughtless mind action whilst on earth.
This is why I say that whilst on earth it is not only advisable, but essential to keep your minds under control and in order. It is only wisdom so to do. The difficulty is that people will not realize this whilst upon earth, although they know from their own inner consciousness that I am stating a truth.
I want you all to try to realize the results you are making, the unhappiness you are causing others, and the regret and sorrow you are laying up for yourselves in the next world when you have to face the conditions you have made. Remember that your minds are the generating-houses. You are building up whatever is to be your next condition, precisely and exactly by the lives you are leading on earth, by your thoughts and by the degree to which your body controls your mind instead of your mind ruling supreme. So long as you are upon earth you are Body (Physical) and Soul (Mind) and Spirit (Self). When you come here you are Mind (Soul) and Self (Spirit) only. Therefore for your own future happiness it is essential that your Mind should rule during earth life. It is for you to say whether it shall do so. If you are willing to pay your bill when you come over, carry on as you are, but there is no further credit given; you have to settle it here. If you are a quarter as practical as you each and all think you are, you will see to it that the mind
leads. It can lead very delightfully, although you may think it leads only to
religious restriction—it does not only lead there; it leads to all earth's pleasures, all earth's enjoyments, but it always holds the ruling hand, and can stop at the right time, whereas the body cannot, and so it runs up debts which have to be paid, and paid sometimes very dearly and bitterly.
Earth was made beautiful for Man to enjoy—not merely to tantalize him—lead him on and then say, "No" That is not the way of our blessed Creator. He has given beauty and the faculty for enjoying beauty to all mankind, and so long as the mind rules it will continue to be beauty, but when only the body rules, influencing and degrading the mind as it will, then trouble lies ahead; much trouble and much acute regret.
When we are here our minds work in the same manner, they obey the same rules, and the presence or absence of body does not hinder our thinking powers, and consequently there is no difficulty in coming into touch with some of our people left behind and being in close touch with them, influencing them greatly; although many of them are unconscious of it. I want you to think of this and to realize that your own people can come to you, that thought is all-powerful and that you can build up or
destroy, help or hinder, draw near you, or drive away from you, the people incarnate and discarnate, who were and who are so dear to each of you by this power of thought.
Thought communication is the closest link between the two worlds, but it must be well-ordered and well-trained brain action. You must not imagine that every idea which enters your mind is put there by a spirit person; it is not so at all, but at the same time, if you train your mind in the way an athlete trains his body, you can then ask for and receive great knowledge and much help, both spiritual and material.
CHAPTER IX IMPORTANT POINTS
A subject of this importance and interest is full of queries. Each one has his own questions to put, and each brings what he considers a hitherto unnoticed point. I want, if possible, to answer a few of these constantly recurring queries now. I had many put to me during my investigations whilst on earth, and some of them I can answer at last. I want you first to realize that by the change of death you do not become part of the Godhead immediately. The mysteries of life of life are not revealed to you as a kind of welcoming gift on your arrival here. You must not think that I, or any, have full knowledge on all subjects, profound and trivial, the moment we come to spirit life.. I cannot tell you when your grandson will next require new shoes.. .nor can I tell you the settlement of the Irish question. I can only see a little farther than you, and I do not by any means possess the key to the door of All Knowledge and All Truth. That, we have
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each to work for.. .and as we pass through one door we find another in front of us to be unlocked.and another and another.
But, on the other hand, remember that I do know considerably more than you do, because I am in more intimate touch with the Main Source of knowledge, and I have passed through an experience which is still ahead of you all.
I should like first to speak about the word "conditions" and its true meaning. It is a word which is grossly misapplied in all forms of psychic work. It is given as a reason for this or that failure—for a success—for any peculiarity in result, and it is looked upon as necessary in any apartment in which a meeting is to be held. Rightly and wrongly—usually wrongly. The main factor or essential in obtaining good results lies in the condition of the sitter's mind more than in the room he is in. The mental attitude and the physical state of the sitter is of very much more importance than of the presence of draped windows, thick carpets, exotic perfumes, etc., etc. It is the method of mental approach which matters chiefly. That is a feature often overlooked by even first-grade sensitives. . Certain "extras" if rightly used and properly directed round the apartment, such as a cheerful face, pleasant flowers, laughter and brightness, these are all quite useful assets, but they are not the essentials.
Some people always try to reduce to ridicule communication with the next world, one of the greatest of God's blessings to mankind, and complain of what they consider to be the senseless conditions ruling at a seance. Many of these conditions, as I have said, are meaningless and sometimes a hindrance, but at the same time others are necessary according to the kind of communication sought after.
To make my point, I must recall to you how conditions govern everything, and so much does everything depend upon given suitable conditions that people do not even notice that this is so. The simplest and perhaps the most useful example of this is in making a pot of tea. You must have the tea in a certain condition, you must have the water in a certain condition—if you do not, you get poor results. Your flowers—you have your seeds in a certain condition of dryness and you put them to earth when the climate is in a certain condition, according to time of year, and, once planted, you tend your plants, flowers, trees, everything according to the conditions they demand.
We demand conditions. Why should you think that this great scientific work can be governed, mastered by inexperienced hands at any take-it-or-leave-it moment? You cannot reasonably expect it, and if you do, you won't get it! Conditions govern earth and all forms of life on it, from an earlier state than that when consciousness begins—but I tell you many of the conditions demanded by intelligent workers in this subject are futile and—worse—harmful. You cannot achieve success in anything, or along any line, by directing your force in opposition to your intelligence. A vast number do, in this subject, and that is why there is so much failure. You may as well try to take a photograph without putting any film into the camera, and, because you get no result, say the whole thing is impossible and fraudulent. You must have conditions in order to secure success in any and everything. It is due to lack of these necessary conditions that we fail sometimes to influence a person to do or not to do a certain act. A father, in spirit life, may be fully conscious of is son contemplating a certain deed, say, suicide or murder, or anything of that kind. Such knowledge will cause great sorrow to the father, and he will work his utmost to influence the son, to direct his thoughts, and destroy the idea of whatever is contemplated; but at such time the son is in an abnormal state of excitement, which nearly always prevents our influence from getting to him and working upon him. It is not at all a state of happiness, for the father, because he is fully aware of his sons acts, and he is powerless to prevent him.