Filename: RC1040.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Christianity Lectures" by Max Heindel

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                                  FOREWORD:

   The  lectures  here presented in book form were first written  in  twenty
lectures  and  delivered during the month of November,  1908,  in  Columbus,
Ohio,  by Max Heindel.   He also mimeographed them and distributed copies to
all who attended his lectures in that city, and in other cities.   After his
lectures in Seattle, washington, a friend, Mr. William M.  Patterson,  trav-
eled with him to Chicago,  Illinois, where he not only financed the publish-
ing,  but  also assisted Mr.  Heindel in proofreading both "The  Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception" and these Twenty Lectures. The latter were then printed in
paper-covered pamphlets while the "Cosmo-Conception" was bound in cloth.

   Max  Heindel  had spent the winter of 1907-1908 in Europe where  he  con-
tacted  the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order under whose  tuition  he
received the contents of these lectures as well as the wonderful truths con-
tained in "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception".  At the time he received  this
instruction he little realized the extent of the work given into his keeping
with the command to disseminate the teachings to a soul-sick world.

   Since the introduction of the Rosicrucian Philosophy and the opening of a
World Headquarters in Oceanside, California, in 1911, books and pamphlets by
max Heindel have been translated and printed in many languages.  People from
far  and  wide  are calling for and becoming interested  in  these  advanced
Christian teachings,  which are leading mankind back to the Bible and bring-

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ing to their understanding the satisfying truths contained in the  Christian
religion through the explanation of the mysteries hidden in the Bible.

   This  book of lectures gives in a very simple manner the truths of  man's
own being,  explaining the why and wherefore of mysteries which have  driven
millions of souls to materialism and caused them to repudiate the Bible.

  The  spiritual value of Astrology as a key to the soul is brought  out  in
one lecture; in another the Astronomical Allegories of the Bible are clearly
defined.   The  esoteric value of the Lord's Prayer and the meaning  of  the
Star of Bethlehem are clearly interpreted for the reader; also the Crucifix-
ion of our Lord Jesus and its esoteric significance.   Life Here and Hereaf-
ter,  the Angels and their Work with Man,  Parsifal and the Mysteries of the
Holy Grail,  the Science of Nutrition and Protracted Youth,  and many  other
subjects  are  covered in an authentic manner by a Seer who was  the  chosen
messenger of those great ones, the Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order.

                                                            Mrs. Max Heindel

Mt. Ecclesia
October, 1939

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                                LECTURE ONE:

                        THE RIDDLE OF LIFE AND DEATH:

   At  every  birth,  what appears to be a new live comes  into  the  world.
Slowly the little form grows, it lives and moves among us, it becomes a fac-
tor  in our lives;  but at last there comers a time when the form ceases  to
move and decays.   The love that came, whence we know not,  has again passed
to the invisible beyond.   Then,  in sorrow and perplexity we ask  ourselves
the  three great questions concerning our existence:  Whence have  we  come?
Why are we here?  Whither are we going?

   Across  every threshold the fearsome specter of Death throws his  shadow.
It visits alike the palace and the poorhouse.  None are safe:  old or young,
well or ill,  rich or poor.  All alike must pass through this gloomy portal,
and  down the ages has sounded the piteous cry for a solution of the  riddle
of life, the riddle of death.

   Unfortunately there has been much vague speculation by people who did not
know,  and  it  has therefore come to be the popularly accepted opinion that

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nothing  definite can be known about the most important part of  our  exist-
ence:   Life prior to its manifestation through the gate of birth and beyond
the portal of death.

   That idea is erroneous.   Definite firsthand knowledge may be had by any-
one who will take the trouble to cultivate the "sixth sense" which is latent
in all.  When it is acquired it opens our spiritual eves so that we perceive
the  Spirits who are about to enter physical live by birth,  and  those  who
have  just re-entered the beyond after death.   We see them as  clearly  and
definitely  as  we cognize physical beings by our ordinary  sight.   Nor  is
firsthand  information about the inner worlds indispensable to  satisfy  the
inquiring  mind any more than it is necessary to visit China to learn  about
conditions there.   We learn about foreign countries through the reports  of
returned  travelers  There is as much knowledge concerning the world  beyond
as about the interior or Africa, Australia, or China.

   The solution of the problem of Life and Being advocated in the  following
pages  is based upon the con-current testimony of many who  have  cultivated
the   above-mentioned   faculty  and  are  qualified  to   investigate   the
superphysical  realms in a scientific manner.  It is in harmony with  scien-
tific facts, an eternal truth in Nature which governs human progress, as the
law  of gravity serves to keep the stars unchangeably in their orbits  about
the Sun.

   Three theories have been brought forward to solve the riddle of life  and
death,  and it seems to be universally agreed that a fourth is an impossible
conception.  If so, one of the three theories must be the true solution,  or
it remains insoluble; at least by man.

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   The riddle of life and death is a basic problem;  everyone must solve  it
at  some time,  and it is of the utmost importance to each individual  human
being  which  of these theories he accepts;  for his choice will  color  his
whole life.   In order that we may make an intelligent choice,  it is neces-
sary to know them all, to analyze, compare, and weigh them, holding the mind
open and free from the bias of preconceived ideas, ready to accept or reject
each theory upon its merits.  Let us first state the three theories and then
let  us see how they agree with established facts of life and how  far  they
are in harmony with other known laws of Nature,  as we should reasonably ex-
pect them to be, if true, for discord in Nature is impossible.

1.  THE MATERIALISTIC THEORY holds that life is a journey form the  womb  to
the tomb; that mind is the product of matter; that man is the highest intel-
ligence  in the cosmos;  and that intelligence perishes when the  body  dis-
solves at death.

2.  THE THEORY OF THEOLOGY asserts that at each birth a  newly-created  soul
enters  the  arena  of life fresh from God;  that at the end  of  one  short
span  of  life  in the material world it passes through the  gate  of  death
into  invisible beyond,  there to remain; and that its happiness  or  misery
there is determined for all eternity by its belief just prior to death.

3.  THE  THEORY OF REBIRTH teaches that each Spirit is an integral  part  of
God;  that if enfolds the plant;  that by means of repeated existences in  a
gradually  improving  earthly  body  those  latent  powers  are being slowly

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unfolded  into dynamic energy;  that none are lost,  but that all Egos  will
ultimately  attain  the goal of perfection and reunion  with  God,  bringing
with them the cumulative experience which is the fruitage of their  pilgrim-
age through matter.

   Comparing the materialistic theory with the known laws of Nature, we find
that  it  is contrary to such well-established laws as those  which  declare
matter and force indestructible.  According to those laws mind cannot be de-
stroyed at death as the materialistic theory asserts,  for when nothing  can
be destroyed mind must be included.

   Moreover,  mind evidently is superior to matter, for it molds the face so
that it mirrors the mind; also, we know that the particles of our bodies are
constantly  changing;  that an entire change takes place at  least  once  in
seven years.  If the materialistic theory were true, our consciousness ought
also to undergo an entire change,  with no memory of what preceded;  so that
now one could remember an event more than seven years.

   We know that is not the case.  We remember our whole life;  the  smallest
incident,  though  forgotten in ordinary life,  is vividly remembered  by  a
drowning person;  also in the trance state.  Materialism takes no account of
these  states of subconsciousness or superconsciousness;  it cannot  explain
them, so it ignores them, but in the face of scientific investigations which
have established the verity of psychic phenomena beyond cavil, the policy of
ignoring  rather than disproving these alleged facts is a fatal defect in  a
theory which lays claim to solve the greatest problem of life:  Life itself.

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   The  materialistic theory has many more defects which render it  unworthy
of our acceptance;  but sufficient has been said to justify us in casting it
aside and turning to the other two.

   One  of the greatest difficulties in the doctrine of the  theologians  is
its entire and confessed inadequacy.   According to their theory that a  new
soul is created at each birth,  myriads of souls have been created since the
beginning of existence (even if that beginning goes back only 6,000  years).
According to certain sects, only 144,000 are to be saved; the rest are to be
tortured forever.  And that is called "God's plan of salvation"; extolled as
proof of God's wonderful love.

   Let us suppose a wireless message is received at New York, stating that a
large  transatlantic  liner is sinking just outside Sandy Hook;  that  3,000
people  are in danger of drowning.   Would we hail it as a glorious plan  of
salvation  of a small,  fast motorboat were sent to their relief,  and  suc-
ceeded in rescuing two or three people?  Certainly not.   Only when some ad-
equate  means was provided to save the great majority at least would  it  be
hailed as a plan of salvation."

   The "plan of salvation"  which the theologians are offering is worse than
sending a motorboat to save the people on Atlantic liner,  for tow or  three
are  a larger proportion saved out of a total of 3,000 than 144,000  of  all
the  myriads of souls created on the plan of theology.   If God  had  really
evolved that plan, it would seem to the logical mind that He cannot be good.
If He cannot help Himself, He is not all-powerful.  In neither  case  can He

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therefore be God.   Such suppositions are,  however,  unthinkable as   actu-
alities, for that cannot be God's plan, and it is a gross libel to attribute
it to Him.

   If  we  turn to the doctrine of reincarnation (rebirth in  human  bodies)
which  postulates a slow process of development carried on  with  unwavering
persistence  through repeated embodiment in human forms of increasing  effi-
ciency,  whereby all beings are in time brought to a height of  spirituality
inconceivable  to our present limed understanding,  we can readily  perceive
its harmony with nature's methods.   EVERYWHERE IN NATURE IS FOUND THIS SLOW
AND PERSISTENT STRIVING FOR PERFECTION;  AND NOWHERE IS FOUND A SUDDEN  PRO-
CESS  OF  EITHER  CREATION  OR  DESTRUCTION  ANALOGOUS TO THE PLAN WHICH THE
THEOLOGIANS AND MATERIALISTS WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE.

   Science  recognizes  the  process  of evolution  as  Nature's  method  of
developement alike for the star and the starfish,  the microbe and the  man.
It  is  the progression of spirit in time,  and as we look  about  and  note
evolution  in our three-dimensional universe, we cannot escape  the  obvious
fact  that its path is also three-dimensional,  a spiral;  each loop of  the
spiral is a cycle,  and cycle follows cycle in unbroken progression,  as the
loops of the spiral succeed each other,  each cycle being the improved prod-
uct of the preceding and the basis of progress in the succeeding cycles.

   A  straight line is but the extension of a point,  and analogous  to  the
theories of the materialistic and the theologians.   The materialistic  line
of existence goes from birth to death the theologian commences the lines  at
a  point just previous to birth and carries it into the invisible beyond  at
death.

   There  is  no  return.  Existence  thus lived would extract but a minimum

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of  the  experience  from  the school of life,  such  as  might  be  had  by
one-dimensional  beings  incapable of broadening out or  rising  to  sublime
heights of attainment.

   A two-dimensional zigzag path for the evolving life would be no better, a
circle would mean a never-ending round of the same experiences.   Everything
in Nature has a purpose, the third dimension included.  In order that we may
live  up to the opportunities of a three dimensional universe,  the path  of
evolution must be a spiral.   So it is.   Everywhere in heaven and on  earth
all things are going onward, upward forever.

   The modest little plant in the garden and the giant redwood of California
with  its  forty-foot diameter alike show the spiral in the  arrangement  of
their branches,  twigs,  and leaves.   If we study the great vaulted arch of
heaven  and examine the spiral nebulae,  which are worlds in the making,  or
the path of the solar systems,  the spiral is evidently the way of  progres-
sion.

   We  find another illustration of spiral progression in the yearly  course
of our planet.  In the spring she emerges from her period of rest,  her win-
try sleep.   We see the life budding everywhere.   All the activities of Na-
ture are exerted to bring forth.   Time passes;  the corn and the grape  are
ripened and harvested,  and again the silence and inactivity of winter  take
the place of the activity of the summer;  again the snowy coverlet wraps the
Earth.  But she will not sleep forever; she will wake again to the song of a
new spring,  and will then be a little farther progressed along the  pathway
of time.

   Is  it  possible that a law,  universal in all other  realms  of  Nature,
should be abrogated in the case of man?  Shall the Earth wake each year form

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its wintery slumber; shall the tree and the flower live again,  and man die?
No,  that is impossible in a universe governed by immutable law.   The  same
law that wakes the life in the plant to new growth must wake the human being
to further progress toward the goal of perfection.   Therefore the  doctrine
of rebirth, or repeated human embodiment in gradually improving vehicles, is
in perfect accord with evolution and the phenomena of Nature, when it states
that birth and death follow each other in succession.  It is in full harmony
with the Law of Alternation Cycles which decrees that activity and rest, ebb
and flood,  summer and winter,  must follow each other in unbroken sequence.
It  is also in perfect accord with the spiral phase of the Law of  Evolution
when it states that each time the Spirit returns to a new birth it takes  on
a better body, and as man progresses in mental, moral, and spiritual attain-
ment  in consequence of the accumulated experiences of past lives  he  comes
into an improved environment.

   When  we seek to solve the riddle of life and death;  to find  an  answer
that shall satisfy both head and heart as to the difference in the endowment
of  human beings,  and give a reason for the existence of sorrow  and  pain;
when  we ask why one is reared in the lap of luxury while  another  receives
more kicks than crusts;  why one obtains a moral education,  but another  is
taught to steal and lie;  why one has the face and figure of a Venus,  while
another  has  the head of a Medusa; why one has perfect health  and  another
never  knows  a  moment's rest form pain; why one has  the  intellect  of  a
Socrates,  and another can only count "one, two, many," as do the Australian
aborigines,   we  receive  no  satisfaction  from  the  materialist  or  the

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theologian.   Materialism gives the law of heredity as the reason for  sick-
ness,  and in regard to economic conditions a Spencer tells us that  in  the
animal world the law of existence is "eat, or be eaten";  in civilized soci-
ety it is "cheat, or be cheated."

   Heredity  accounts  partly for the PHYSICAL  constitution.   Like  begets
like, so for as the FORM is concerned, but heredity does not account for the
moral proclivities and mental trend, which differ in each human being.   He-
redity  is a fact in the lower kingdoms where all the animals of  a  certain
species look nearly alike,  eat the same kind of food,  and act similarly in
similar  circumstances,  because  they  have no  individual  will,  but  are
dominated by a common Group Spirit.   In the human kingdom it is  different.
Each man acts differently form others.  Each requires a different diet.   As
the years of infancy and youth pass the indwelling Ego molds its  instrument
so that it reflects itself in the features.  Thus no two look exactly alike.
Even twins who could not be distinguished in childhood grow to look  differ-
ent as the features of each express the thought of the Ego within.

   On the moral plane a like condition prevails.   Police records show  that
though the children of habitual criminals generally possess criminal tenden-
cies, they invariably keep out of the courts, and in the "rogues' galleries"
of  Europe and America it is impossible to find both father and  son.   Thus
criminals  are the sons of honest people, and so heredity is unable  to  ac-
count for moral proclivities.

   When  we come to a consideration of the higher intellectual and  artistic
faculties we find that the children of a genius are mediocre and often  even
idiots.  Cuvier's  brain was the greatest brain ever weighed and analyzed by

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science.   His five children died of paresis.   The brother of Alexander the
Great was an idiot, and so cases could be cited ad lib.  to show that hered-
ity only partially accounts for similarity of Form,  and not at all for men-
tal and moral conditions.  The Law of Attraction,  which causes musicians to
congregate  in concert halls,  and brings about meetings of literary  people
because of similarity of tastes; and the Law of Consequence, which draws one
who has developed criminal tendencies into association with criminals,  that
he  may learn to do good by beholding the trouble incident  to  wrong-doing,
account more logically than heredity for the facts of associations and char-
acter.

   The theologian explains that all conditions are made by the will of  God,
who in His inscrutable wisdom has seen fit to make some rich and poor;  some
clever and others dull, etc.; that He sends trouble and trials to all,  much
to the many and little to a favored few, and they say we must accept our lot
without murmur.   But it is hard to look with love to the skies when one re-
alizes that thence, according to divine caprice, comes all our misery, be it
little  or much,  and the benevolent human mind revolts at the thought of  a
father who lavishes love, comfort, and luxury upon a few,  and sends sorrow,
suffering, and misery to millions.  Surely there must be another solution to
the problems of life than this.  Is it not more reasonable to think that the
theologians may have misinterpreted the Bible than to saddle such  monstrous
conduct upon God?

   The  Law of Rebirth offers a reasonable solution to all the  inequalities
of life,  its sorrow and pains, when coupled with its companion law--the Law
of Consequence-besides showing the road to emancipation.

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   The Law of Consequence is Nature's law of justice.  It decrees that what-
ever  a  man  sows,  he reaps.   What we are,  what we have,  all  our  good
qualities are the result of our labor in the past, thence our talents.  What
we lack in physical,  moral,  or mental accomplishments is due to neglect of
opportunities in the past or to lack of them,  but sometime,  somewhere,  we
shall have other chances,  and retrieve the loss.   As to our obligations to
others or their debts to us, the Law of Consequence also takes care of that.
What  cannot  be liquidated in one life holds over to future  lives.   Death
does  not cancel our obligations any more than moving to another  city  pays
our debts here.   The Law of Rebirth provides a new environment,  but in  it
are our old friends,  and our old enemies.  We know them,  too,  for when we
meet  a person for the first time,  yet feel as if we had known him all  our
lives,  that is but the recognition of the Ego who pierces the veil of flesh
and recognizes an old friend.  When we meet a person who at once inspires us
with fear or repugnance,  it is again a message from the Ego,  warning us of
our old-time enemy.

   The  occult teaching regarding life,  which bases its solution  upon  the
twin Laws of Consequence and Rebirth, is simply that the world about us is a
school of experience;  that even as we send a child to school day after  day
and year after year in order that it may learn more and more as it  advances
through  the different grades from kindergarten to college,  so the  Ego  in
man,  as a child of the Father,  goes to the school of life,  day after day.
But  in that larger life of the Ego,  each day at school is a life on  earth
and  the  night  which  intervenes  between  two  days at the child's school

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corresponds  to the sleep of death in the larger life of the human Ego  (the
Spirit in man).

   In a school there are many grades.   The older children who have attended
school  many times have very different lessons from the tots in the  kinder-
garten.   So in the school of life,  those in high positions,  endowed  with
great  faculties,  are our Elder Brothers, and the savages are but  entering
the lowest class.   What they are we have been, and all will in time reach a
point where they will be wiser than the wisest we know.   Nor should it sur-
prise the philosopher that the powerful crush the weak;  the elder  children
are  cruel to their younger brothers at a certain stage of their growth  be-
cause  they  have not at that time evolved the true sense of right,  but  as
they  grow  they learn to protect weakness.   So will the  children  of  the
larger life.   Altruism is flowering more and more everywhere,  and the  day
will  come when all men will be as good and benevolent as are  the  greatest
saints.

  There is but one sin--Ignorance; and but one salvation--Applied Knowledge.
All sorrow, suffering and pain are traceable to ignorance of how to act, and
the  school of life is as necessary to bring out our latent capabilities  as
is the daily school which evokes those of the child.

   When we realize that this is so,  life will at once take on an altogether
different aspect.   It does not matter then what the conditions are in which
we find ourselves, the knowledge the WE have made them helps us to bear them
in patience;  and,  best of all, the glorious feeling that we are masters of
our destiny and can make the FUTURE what we will, is of itself a power.   It
rests with us to develop what we lack.  Of course we still have the past  to
reckon  with,  and  perhaps much misfortune may yet accrue from wrong deeds,

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but if we will cease to do evil we may look with joy to every affliction  as
liquidating  an old score and bringing the day nearer when we shall  have  a
clear record.   It is no valid objection, that often the most upright suffer
the greatest.   The great intelligences who apportion to each man the amount
of his past score which is to be liquidated in each life always help the man
who pays the debts of his past without adding new delinquencies,  by  giving
him as much as he can bear,  to hasten the day of emancipation;  and in that
sense it is strictly true that "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."

   The doctrine of rebirth is sometimes confounded with the theory of trans-
migration, which teaches that a human soul may incarnate in an animal.  That
has no foundation in Nature.  Each species of animal is the emanation from a
Group Spirit, which governs them FROM THE OUTSIDE, by suggestion.   It func-
tions in the Desire World; and as distance does not exist there, it can thus
influence its members, not matter where located.  The human Spirit, the Ego,
on the other hand,  enters right into a dense body;  there is an  individual
Spirit  in  each  person,  dwelling in its instrument and  guiding  it  FROM
WITHIN.   These are two entirely different stages of evolution, and it is as
impossible for man to incarnate in a animal in an animal body as for a Group
Spirit to take human shape.

   The question,  "Why do we not remember our past existences?"  is  another
apparent difficulty.   But if we realize that we have an entirely new  brain
at  each birth,  and that the human Spirit is weak and engrossed in its  new
environment,  so that if fails to make a full impression on the brain in the
days of childhood,  when it is most sensitive, it is not so surprising after

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all.   Some children do remember the past, especially in the earliest years,
and  it  is one of the most pathetic phases of childhood that  they  are  so
thoroughly misunderstood by their elders.  When they speak of the past, they
are ridiculed,  and even punished for being "imaginary."   If children speak
of their invisible playmates, and of "seeing things,"  for many children are
clairvoyant, they met the same harsh treatment, and the inevitable result is
that the little ones learn to keep still until they lose the faculty.  Some-
times it happens,  however,  that the prattle of a child is listened to  and
results  in some wonderful revelations.   The writer heard of such a case  a
few years ago on the Pacific Coast.

   A  little  child in Santa Barbara ran up to a gentleman by  the  name  of
Roberts on the street and called him papa, resisting that she had lived with
him and another mama in a little house by a brook,  and that one morning  he
had left the cabin and never returned.   She and her mother had both died of
starvation and the little one finished quaintly,  "But I didn't die;  I came
here."   The story was not told at once, or succinctly, but in the course of
an afternoon, by intermittent questioning it came out.  Mr Roberts' story of
an  early elopement,  marriage and emigration from England to Australia,  of
the  building of a cabin by a stream with no other houses near,  of  leaving
his wife and baby,  of being arrested,  denied permission to notify his wife
because  the  officers feared a trap,  of being driven to the coast  at  the
point of a gun,  of being taken to England and tried for a bank robbery com-
mitted the night he sailed for Australia,  of proving his innocence;  of how
only  then notice was taken of his persistent ravings about a wife and child

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who must starve to death,  of the telegram sent,  the search party organized
and the answer that they had found but the skeletons of a woman and a child.
All  these things corroborated the story of the little three-year- old  tot;
and  being shown some photographs in a casual way,  she picked out the  pic-
tures of Mr.  Roberts and his wife, though Mr.  Roberts had altered much  in
the  eighteen  years  which intervened between the  tragedy  and  the  Santa
Barbara incident.

   It must not be supposed,  however,  that all who pass through the gate of
death reenter as quickly as that.   Such a short interim would give the  Ego
no chance to do the important work of assimilating experiences and  prepara-
tion for a new Earth-life.  But a three year old child has had no experience
to speak of,  so it seeks a new embodiment quickly, often incarnation in the
same family as before.   Children often die because a change in the parents'
habits has frustrated the working out of their past acts.  It is then neces-
sary to seek another chance, or they are born and die to teach the parents a
needed lesson.  In one case an Ego incarnated eight times in the same family
for  that purpose before the lesson was learned.   Then it incarnated  else-
where.  It was a friend of the family who acquired great merit by thus help-
ing them.

   The Law of Rebirth, where it is not modified by the Law of Consequence to
such an extent as in the above cases, works according to the movement of the
Sun known as the precession of the equinoxes, by which the Sun goes backward
through  the  twelve  signs  of the zodiac  in  the  so-called  sidereal  or
world-year comprising 25,868 of our ordinary solar years.

   As  the passage of the Earth in her orbit around the Sun makes  the  cli-
matic changes which alter our conditions according to seasons and change our

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our activities, so the passage of the Sun through the great world-year makes
still greater changes in climate and topographical conditions, in respect to
civilization,  and it is necessary that the Ego should learn to cope with it
all.

   Therefore  the  Ego incarnates twice in the time it takes the Sun  to  go
through  each one of the signs of the zodiac,  which is about  2,100  years.
There  are  thus normally about 1,000 years between  two  incarnations  and,
while  the experiences of a man are widely different from those of a  woman,
the  conditions  are not materially different in a thousand  years,  so  the
Spirit usually incarnates alternately as a man and a woman.  But that is not
a hard and fast rule; it is subject to modification when such is required by
the Law of Consequence.

   Thus occult science resolves the riddle of life into the Ego's quest  for
experience,  all conditions having that purpose in view, and all being auto-
matically determined by desert;  it robs death of its terror and its  sting,
by placing it where it belongs, as an incident in a larger life,  similar to
the removal to another city for a time; it makes the parting from loved ones
easier  by assuring us that the very love we feel will be the means  of  re-
uniting us, and it gives us the grandest hope in life that some day we shall
all obtain the knowledge which illumines all problems,  links all our lives,
and best of all,  as taught by occult science ,we have it in our own  power,
by application, to hasten that glorious day when faith shall be swallowed up
in  knowledge.   Then we shall realize in a higher sense the beauty  of  Sir
Edwin Arnold's poetic statement of the doctrine of rebirth:

         Never the Spirit was born!
         The Spirit shall cease to be never!
         Never was time it was not,
         End and beginning are dreams.
         Birthless and deathless remaineth
             the spirit forever.

         Death has not touched it at all,
         Dead though the house of it seems.

         Nay! but as one layeth
         A worn-out robe away.
         And taking another sayeth:
         This will I wear today,
         So putteth by the spirit
         Lightly its garment of flesh
         And passeth on the inherit
         A residence afresh.

[PAGE 1449]

                                 LECTURE TWO:

                             WHERE ARE THE DEAD?

   A  little thought will soon make it apparent to any investigator that  we
live  in a world of EFFECT which is the result of INVISIBLE CAUSES.   MATTER
and FORM we see, but the FORCE which molds the matter into form and quickens
it is invisible to us.  Life can not be cognized directly by the senses;  it
is  invisible and self-existent,  independent of the varied forms we see  as
its manifestations.

   Electricity,  magnetism,  and steam are names given to forces never  seen
with physical eyes,  though, by conforming to certain laws discovered by ex-
periment,  we  have  made them our most valuable  servants.   We  see  their
manifestations in moving streetcars, in railways and steamships;  they light
our  path at night and carry our message around he globe with a  speed  that
annihilate  space,  bringing the antipides to our very doors in  seconds  of
time.   They  are at our beck and call at any and all  hours,  tireless  and
faithful  in the performance of innumerable tasks,  yet,  as said,  we  have
never seen these, our most faithful and valuable servants.

   These  Nature Forces are neither blind nor unintelligent s we  mistakenly
think;  there are many classes of them and they work along different avenues

[PAGE 1450]

of life.   Perhaps an illustration will make clear their status in  relation
to us.   Let us suppose a carpenter is making a fence and a dog is  standing
by watching him.   The dog sees both the carpenter and his work,  though  it
does not fully comprehend what he is doing.  If the carpenter were invisible
to  the dog it would see the fence being slowly built,  it would  see  every
nail driven,  it would perceive the manifestation but not the cause,  and it
would then be in the some relation to the carpenter as we are to the  Nature
Forces which manifest about us as gravity, electricity, and magnetism.

   During the past few centuries,  but particularly in the last sixty years,
science has made giant strides in the investigation of the world in which we
live,  and the result has been to reveal in all directions a hitherto invis-
ible world.   With telescopes of increasing power the astronomers have  been
reaching out into space,  discovering more and more worlds;  with  admirable
ingenuity they have attached the camera to the telescope, and have thus been
able  to photograph suns at such enormous distances from us that their  rays
make no impression on our eyes,  and can only be caught by hours of exposure
of a sensitize photographic plate.

   In the direction of the minutely small, the increasing perfection  of the
microscope has achieved similar results; a world that was hitherto invisible
to  us  has been discovered,  containing an exceeding activity of  LIFE  and
marked by a diversity of form scarcely less complex than the world we behold
through our unaided senses.

   The effort of making such investigations through the eyepiece of a micro-
scope is a severe one, causing intense strain on the eyes; but here also the
camera  lends  its  aid  to  man.  With  proper  mechanical  attachments and

[PAGE 1451]

lightning  speed it can make permanent records of microscopic  phenomena  at
the rate of perhaps seventy negatives per second.   These may then be magni-
fied  and projected upon a screen as moving pictures;  they may be  seen  by
hundreds of people at the same time in comfort and ease.

   We may see how the sap slowly circulates through the veins of a leaf,  or
watch the way the blood races like a millstream through the  semitransparent
veins of a frog's leg.   Maggots in cheese appear as large as gray crabs an-
dering hither and thither in search of prey.   A drop of water contains many
dark colored balls which grow and burst,  throwing out numerous tiny  globes
which in their turn expand and fling out offspring.   Dr.  Bastian of London
has  even  seen how a little black spot on the spine of a cyclop  (of  which
there  are many in a drop of water) developed into a parasite which  fed  on
the cyclop.

   By  means of the X-ray science has been able to invade the innermost  re-
cesses of the dense body of the living human, photographing the skeleton and
any foreign substance which may have become located there by accident.

   Thus  in many directions a hitherto invisible world has presented  itself
to the gaze of the persistent investigators.  Who shall say the end has been
reached;  that  there are no other worlds in space beyond those  now  photo-
graphed  by astronomers;  no life dwelling in forms more minute  than  those
discovered by the best microscopes of today?   Tomorrow an instrument may be
designed  that will reach beyond all previous devices and show much of  what
is  hidden today.   The infinitude of space, of the great and of  the  small
seems to be beyond question and independent of our cognition.

[PAGE 1452]

   In looking over the marvelous achievements of physical science,  there is
one characteristic particularly worth while to note;  namely,  that each new
discovery  has been made through the invention of new or the improvement  of
previously existing devices to aid the senses;  and for that reason the  in-
vestigations  of science have been limited to the world of sense  the  dense
Physical World.   Scientists have dealt with the chemical elements:  solids,
liquids,  and  gases;  but beyond that they have no instruments  capable  of
reaching,  although   forced  to postulate a still finer  matter  they  call
"ether,"  because without this finer medium they find it impossible  to  ac-
count for light, electricity, etc.  Thus we see that physical science induc-
tively recognizes the existence of an invisible world as a necessity in  the
economy of Nature.

   Both  physical and occult science are therefore agreed on that point  and
both reach into the invisible world for solutions to problems.   They differ
as to the method of investigation and the credence to be given evidence thus
obtained.  Material science seeks only for explanation to problems insoluble
on  a purely physical basis,  such as the passage of light waves  through  a
vacuum  or the resemblance of the flowers of the present season to those  of
past summers. In such cases science readily postulates an invisible,  intan-
gible  something like ether or heredity and prides itself on its acumen  and
the ingenuity of its explanations.

   Occult  science asserts that THERE IS AN INVISIBLE CAUSE AT THE  ROOT  OF
ALL VISIBLE PHENOMENA,which when known will afford a more thorough knowledge
of the facts of life than a mechanical concept, and that the most comprehen-
sive idea of life is obtained by the study of BOTH phenomena  of the visible


[PAGE 1453]

and the noumena or underlying causes of the invisible world.   It  therefore
investigates the invisible worlds and offers a more thorough and  reasonable
solution  to  the problems of life than mere facts of science  derived  only
through observation of the physical phenomena.

   Material science postulates ether and heredity as solutions to the  above
problems, though unable to offer actual proof of the truth of its hypotheses
except  their  seeming  reasonableness.   Yet when  occult  science  employs
similar  methods and declares the existence of the Spirit,  its  immorality,
its pre-existence to birth, and persistence after death, its independence of
the body,  etc., physical science sneers and inconsistently speaks of super-
stition and ignorance.   It demands proof, though the evidence offered is at
least  as good as the scientific evidence of the existence of ether,  hered-
ity, and numerous other ideas advanced by science, implicitly believed in by
the  multitude that admiringly bows its head in the dust before  any  dictum
supported by the magic word Science.

   No one can demonstrate the truth of a proposition in geometry to a person
unacquainted  with the principles of mathematics.   For similar reasons  the
facts  of the inner worlds cannot be proved to the material  scientist.   If
the person devoid of mathematical knowledge studies that science he will  be
easily satisfied as to the solution of the problem.   When the physical sci-
entist  has  fitted himself for the apprehension of superphysical  facts  he
will have the proof and be compelled to uphold the very theories he now com-
bats as superstition.

   Occult  science commences its investigations at the point where  material
science  leaves  off,  at the door to the superphysical  realms,  mistakenly
called  supernatural.   There  is  nothing  "SUPERnatural"  or  "UNnatural";

[PAGE 1454]

nothing  whatever  can  be  outside  Nature,   although  it  may  easily  be
superphysical,  for  the Physical World is the smallest part of  the  Earth.
Unlike the material scientist, however, the occult scientist does not pursue
his investigations by means of mechanical instruments, but by IMPROVING HIM-
SELF; by cultivating faculties of perception latent in every human being and
capable  of being awakened by proper training.   The words of Christ,  "Seek
and  ye shall find,"  were particularly applied to spiritual qualities,  and
directed to "whosoever will."   All depends upon oneself;  there is none  to
hinder and many to help the earnest seeker after knowledge.   The discussion
of the means and ways are,  however, outside the present topic,  and must be
left for elucidation in future essays.  (Nos. 3 and 11.)

   "But," someone will say, "what is the use of troubling about an invisible
world?   We are placed here in this workaday material world; what have we to
do   with  an invisible world?   And even though it may be true that  we  go
there after death,  why not take one world at a time?   'Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof'; why borrow more?"

   Surely  such a view is a most shortsighted one.   In the first  place,  a
knowledge  of the after-death state would take away the fear of death  which
haunts  so many people even while they are in the most vigorous health.   In
the  most careless life there are times when the thought of the leap in  the
dark which must some time be taken dulls the sense of joy in life;  and  any
explanation offering definite,  reliable knowledge upon this important  sub-
ject surely ought to be eagerly welcomed.

[PAGE 1455]

   Besides,  as we look about us in the world,  we see there is one law that
must be apparent even to the most callous:  the law of causation.   Each day
our work and condition depend upon what we did or did not do the day before;
it is absolutely impossible for us to tear ourselves away from our past;  to
"start afresh."   We cannot perform an act that is not connected in some way
with our previous acts,  limited and hedged about by former conditions;  and
it  must surely appear as reasonable to suppose that,  whatever may  be  the
mode  of expression of life in the invisible world,  it will be in some  way
determined by our present mode of life.  It would be logical,  also,  to de-
clare that if reliable information about this invisible world were available
it would be wise to prepare oneself with it for the same reason that when we
wish  to travel in a foreign country we acquaint ourselves with its  geogra-
phy,  laws,  customs, language, or other necessary information.   We do this
because  we know that the more thoroughly we are primed with this  knowledge
the  more we shall profit by our travel and the less will be the  annoyances
due  to  changed conditions.   The same must logically hold as  regards  the
post-mortem state.

   Again some objector will say:  "Ah,  but that is just the rub!   Whatever
the condition after death may be no one knows for certain.   Those who  pro-
fess to know all differ from each other in their stories,  many of which are
unreasonable, impossible--"

   In the first place, no man has a moral right to assert that NO ONE knows,
except he himself is omniscient and knows the extent of the knowledge of ALL
who live;  and it is the height of arrogance to attempt to judge the  mental
capacity of  all  others by the exceedingly narrow ideas which wiseacres who

[PAGE 1456]

make such statements generally have.   The wise man will always have an  ear
open for new evidence, he will be willing and eager to investigate; and even
though  there  were  but one man who professed knowledge  of  the  invisible
worlds,  that  would not necessarily prove him mistaken.   Did  not  Galileo
stand alone in asserting his theory concerning the movement of the  heavenly
bodies, to which the whole western world has since become converted?

   As  to  the difference of the stories told by those who profess  to  know
about the invisible worlds,  this is not only to be expected but is a  valu-
able feature, as an illustration from daily life will show.

   Supposing  San Francisco had been entirely rebuilt on an  imposing  scale
with  all the latest and most modern improvements,  and had decided to  cel-
ebrate the occasion by a grand festival.   Many thousands would flock to the
Golden Gate to rejoice in the new Phoenix which had arisen from the ashes of
that beautiful city, so suddenly swept from the face of the earth in a fiery
death.   Among others would probably come a considerable number of newspaper
men, reporters from different parts of the country, for the purpose of send-
ing reports to their respective publications.   It is a foregone  conclusion
that  although  reporters are trained observers,  no two  reports  would  be
alike.  Some might have certain points in general.  Some would be unlike the
others in every respect,  for the simple reason that every reporter saw  the
city from his own particular viewpoint and noted only what appealed to  him.
Thus,  instead of the diversity of reports being an argument  against  their
accuracy it will readily be seen that they would all be valuable as  differ-
ent phases of the one whole;  and it is safe to say that a man who read  all
the  different  reports  would  have a vastly more comprehensive idea of San

[PAGE 1457]

Francisco  than if he had read only one report subscribed to by all the  re-
porters.

   The same principle holds good concerning the different stories describing
the invisible worlds;  they are not necessarily untrue because varying,  but
form collectively a more complete narrative.

   As  to  the "impossible"  stories,  let us suppose that one  of  our  San
Francisco  reporters instead of observing had spent the time  enjoying  him-
self,  and sent in an imaginary report; surely that would not invalidate the
honest  reports.   Or let us suppose that one was wearing a pair  of  yellow
spectacles  put on him without his knowledge and he sent a report  that  the
houses and streets were of gold;  that would only show HIS ignorance in  not
knowing  that the glasses were that color and not the city;  and his  report
should not reflect on the sanity and veracity of the others.  Lastly, let us
remember  that even though some things are at present beyond  OUR  reasoning
power that does not prove that they are unreasonable.   The fact that a baby
cannot  understand square root constitutes no valid argument  against  math-
ematics.  In short, no reasonable argument can be made by the materialist to
prove that there is no invisible world any more than the man born blind  can
successfully  debate against the existence of light and color in  the  world
about him.   If his sight is obtained he will see them.  So no argument from
those blind to the invisible world can convince the seer of the nonexistence
of what he sees, and if the proper sense is awakened in such people they too
will perceive a world to which they have previously been insensible,  though
it was all about them,  as light and color pervade the sense-world,  whether
perceived or not.

[PAGE 1458]

   Passing  onward  from  this negative testimony to the  existence  of  the
superphysical realms,  to more positive evidence,  an everyday  illustration
will  show how matter is constantly changing from denser to finer states  in
Nature.  If we take a block of ice we have a "solid"; by applying heat to it
we  raise  the vibrations of the atoms which compose it,  and it  becomes  a
"liquid"--"water."  If we apply more heat we raise the vibrations of the at-
oms  in the water to such a rate that it becomes invisible to the eye;  then
we have a "gas" which we call "steam."  The same matter which was visible in
the ice and in the water has passed from our sight but not out of existence;
for by the application of cold it will be condensed into water, and then may
again be frozen into ice.

   Though  matter may pass beyond the range of our perception it still  per-
sists.  So does consciousness continue though it may be unable to give to me
the slightest sign of existence.  That has been proven in cases where a per-
son has seemingly died,  where not the faintest flutter of the heart or  the
slightest respiratory movement could be perceived,  and perhaps at the  last
moment before interment, the supposedly dead would come to life,  repeat ev-
ery  word and describe every action of those who had been around  him  while
entranced.

   Therefore,  when matter,  which is indestructible,  is known to exist  in
states invisible and intangible, and when consciousness is as alert, or even
keener when the dense body is entranced than in ordinary waking life,  is it
not reasonable to suppose that this consciousness may mold the matter invis-
ible to us and function in it when excarnate (as it shapes during earth-life
the matter of this world), thus  bringing  into  existence  another world of

[PAGE 1459]

form  and consciousness as real to the excarnate Spirit as this world is  to
the eyes dwelling in fleshly bodies?

   Even  during life in the dense body we know and deal with  the  invisible
world at every moment of our existence,  and the life which we live there is
the  most  important part of our being--the basis of our life in  the  dense
world.

   We all have an inner life where we live amidst our thoughts and  feelings
in  scenes and under conditions unknown to our outside  environment.   There
the  mind shapes our ideas into thought pictures which we afterwards  exter-
nalize.  All everything we see about us and contact with our senses and call
real, is but the evanescent shadow of the intangible, invisible world.   The
visible world has consolidated from the invisible realms in essentially  the
same  manner  that the hard and flinty house of the snail  has  crystallized
from the juices of its soft body.   Moreover,  as the house of the snail  is
inert  and would remain motionless did not the snail move it about,  so  the
bodies of plant,  animal,  and man are but inert emanations from the  Spirit
which dwells in the invisible world, and except this indwelling life  galva-
nizes  the form into action it is incapable of movement.   These bodies  are
preserved  only so long as they serve the purpose of the Spirit;  when  that
leaves there is nothing to hold the form together, so it decays.

   Furthermore, all that we see about us, as houses, streetcars, steamboats,
telephones,  in short,  all objects that have been fashioned by the hand  of
man  are crystallized IMAGINATIONS which had their origin in  the  invisible
world.   If Graham Bell had not been able to imagine the telephone it  would
never  have  come  into  existence.  It was Fulton's "inner life" that first

[PAGE 1460]

witnessed  the  birth of the steamboat, long before it  became  the  visible
"Clermont."

   As  to the reality and permanence of the objects in the invisible  world,
they  are far more so than the visible conditions which we mistakenly  think
of as the acme of "reality."  We regard our mental pictures and imaginations
as  less  real than a mirage and speak of them in a slighting  manner  as  a
"mere thought"  or "just an idea," when in truth they are the underlying re-
alities of all that we see in the world about us.  An illustration will fur-
ther emphasize the point:

   When  an architect wishes to build a house he does not order  lumber  and
other  material sent to the building site, hire workmen and tell them to  go
ahead and build!   He formulates an idea, thinks it out,  first building the
house "in his mind"  with as much detail as possible,  and from this  mental
model the house might be built if it could be seen by the workmen, but it is
yet in the invisible world; and although the architect perceives it plainly,
"the veil of flesh" prevents others seeing it.  Thus it becomes necessary to
bring  it within the sense world and make a visible plan which  the  workmen
may follow.   This is the first consolidation of the thought picture of  the
architect  and  when the house is built we see in wood and  stone  what  was
first an idea in the architect's mind and invisible to us.

   As the relative stability of the idea and building;  it is plain that the
house  may  be destroyed by dynamite or some other powerful element  of  de-
struction,  but the "idea"  in the architect's mind even he cannot  destroy;
and from that "idea"  a similar house may be built at any time while the ar-
chitect lives.   Even after his death the idea may be found in the Memory of
Nature  (of  which  more  will  be  explained  in the next essay), by anyone

[PAGE 1461]

qualified for this research;  for no matter how long ago the impression  was
formed it is never lost or destroyed.

   While we may thus inductively "infer" the existence of an invisible world
this is not the only means of proof.  There is an abundance of direct testi-
mony to show that there is such a world, testimony from men and women of un-
questioned integrity whose truth and accuracy are never questioned regarding
other  matters,  who state that this invisible world is inhabited  by  those
whom we call dead, who are living there in full possession of all their men-
tal and emotional faculties,  living under conditions which make their  life
as real and profitable as ours,  perhaps more so.   It is further capable of
proof  that at least some of them take considerable interest in the  affairs
of the Physical World.  Suffice it to take two instances of world-wide fame.

   There is first the testimony of Jeanne D'Arc,  the "maid of Orleans,"  to
hearing "voices which spoke to and directed her."  Let us consider the story
of her life and see if it does not bear the stamp of truth.   Here we have a
simple,  pure, and unsophisticated peasant girl, scarcely more than a child,
who  had never been outside her native village before going upon  her  "mis-
sion."   She was extremely timid,  afraid of disobeying her father,  yet the
imperious  "voices"  drove her to brave his displeasure and she set  out  to
find  the  King  of France.   After much trouble but  constantly  guided  by
voices,  she was finally granted an audience by the King.   When she entered
the  King stood in the midst of his courtiers,  a puppet was seated  on  the
throne,  and everyone expected to see her discomfitted,  for she  had  never
seen  the  King,  but,  guided  by  the faithful voices, Jean unhesitatingly

[PAGE 1462]

walked up to him and saluted.  She convinced him of the truth of her mission
by  whispering  in  his  ear an exceedingly weighty  secret  known  only  to
himself.

   In consequence of this proof the command of the French army was taken out
of  the hands of the experienced generals, who had been defeated by the  En-
glish at every turn,  and placed in the hands of this child who knew nothing
of war-craft herself, yet, taught by her invisible prompters, led the French
troops to victory.   Her knowledge of military tactics was the constant won-
der of her associates, and in itself a proof of the guidance she claimed.

   Next we see her imprisoned,  subjected for years to threats or  cajolery,
as the mood of her cruel persecutors prompted,  to induce her to acknowledge
that  there had been no voices,  but the records of the proceedings  of  her
different trials show in her answers a singleness of mind,  an innocence and
a straightforwardness unequalled in the annals of history,  which confounded
her judges at every turn.  Not even death at the stake could make her abjure
the  truth  as she knew it,  and to this day her testimony  to  the  guiding
voices from the invisible world stands unshaken, sealed with her life blood.
This  martyr to truth has lately been canonized a saint by the church  which
slew her.

   "Ah,  but," some one may say, "while she was no doubt honest, she was but
a simple peasant girl,  unaware that she was suffering from hallucinations!"
Strange hallucinations which enabled her to unhesitatingly pick out the King
she had never seen and tell him a secret unknown to any other person, to ac-
curately  describe battles while they were being fought many miles away,  as
afterwards verified by participants.

[PAGE 1463]

   But  let  us pass on to our second witness,  who is by no  means  of  the
"simple minded."  In that respect Socrates is an absolute contrast to Jeanne
d'Arc,  for  his  was the keenest intellect,  the  greatest  mind  we  know,
unexcelled to the present day.  He also sealed his testimony to the voice of
guidance from the invisible world with his life blood, and we may take it as
a self-evident fact that it must have been an exceedingly intelligent  voice
or it would never have been able to counsel so great a sage as Socrates.

   To  hold that he was insane or suffering from hallucinations will  hardly
meet the case, for a man who, like Socrates,  would weigh all other  matters
with such nicety,  is above suspicion in that respect,  and the more reason-
able  course  it to acknowledge that "there are more things  in  heaven  and
earth" than we know individually or collectively, and then start to investi-
gate.

   That  is  indeed what the most advanced people are doing in our  day  and
age, realizing that it is just as foolish to be too skeptical to investigate
as  to be overcredulous and take for gospel truth everything we hear.   Only
by properly informing ourselves is it possible for us to arrive at a conclu-
sion worth of our manhood or womanhood, no matter whether we decide one  way
or the other.

   Recognizing this principle, and the signal importance of the subject, the
Society  for Physical Research was formed more than a quarter of  a  century
ago  and numbers among its members some of the brightest minds of our  time.
They have spared no pains to sift truth from error in the many thousands  of
cases  brought to their attention,  and as a result we find that one of  the
most prominent scientists of our time, Sir Oliver Lodge, as president of the
society,  gave  to  the  world  several  years  ago  the statement that "the

[PAGE 1464]

existence  of an invisible world,  inhabituated by the so-called  dead,  and
their  power  to communicate with this world,  had been  established  beyond
peradventure in such an abundance of cases as to leave no room for doubt."

   Coming as that statement does,  from one of the greatest of modern scien-
tists,  one who has brought to his psychic studies a mind sharpened by  sci-
ence,  who was well protected against being duped in any way, such testimony
should command the highest respect among all who are seeking for truth.

    Having thus submitted inductive,  deductive, and direct evidence, we may
add that the existence of another world,  intangible to the five senses  but
readily  investigated  by means of a "sixth sense,"  is a  fact  in  Nature,
whether we recognize it or not, as light and color exist around "blind"  and
"seeing" alike.  It is the blind man's loss that he cannot see the light and
color  all about him.   It is ours if we are "blind"  to  the  superphysical
realms;  but to all who will take the trouble to awaken their latent  facul-
ties,  the opening of the proper sense is but a matter of time.   When  that
time comes we shall see that the so-called "dead" are all about us, and that
in fact "there is no death,"  as John McCreery says in the following beauti-
ful poem:

    There is no death.  The stars go down
          To rise upon another shore,
    And bright in heaven's jeweled crown
          They shine for evermore.

    There is no death.  The forest leaves
          Convert to life the viewless air;
    The rocks disorganize to feed
          The hungry moss they bear.

[PAGE 1465]

    There is no death.  The dust we tread
          Shall change beneath the summer showers
    To golden grain or mellow fruit,
          Or rainbow-tinted flowers.

    There is no death.  The leaves may fall,
          The flowers may fade and pass away--
    They only wait through wintry hours
          The warm, sweet breath of May.

    There is no death, although we grieve
          When beautiful familiar forms
    That we have learned to love are torn
          From our embracing arms.

    Although with bowed and breaking heart.
          With sable garb and silent tread
    We bear their senseless dust to rest
          And say that they are dead--

    They are not dead.  They have but passed
          Beyond the mists that blind us here
    Into the new and larger life
          Of that serener sphere.

    They have but dropped their robe of clay
          To put a shining raiment on;
    They have not wandered far away,
          They are not "lost" or "gone."

    Thou unseen to the mortal eye,
          They still are here and love us yet;
    The dear ones they have left behind
          They never do forget.

    Sometimes upon our fevered brow
          We feel their touch, a breath of balm;
    Our spirit sees them, and our hearts
          Grow comforted and calm.

    Yes, ever near us, though unseen,
          Our dear, immortal spirits tread--
    For all God's boundless Universe
          Is Life--there are no dead.

[PAGE 1466]

                                LECTURE THREE:

                  SPIRITUAL SIGHT AND THE SPIRITUAL WORLDS

   In the first lecture we saw that the only theory of life which will  bear
the searchlight of reason is the theory That the human Ego is immortal, That
Earth-life  is a school and that the Ego returns to that school  life  after
life to learn its lessons under the twin laws of Nature:  the Laws of Conse-
quence  and Rebirth,  thus progressing steadily towards the goal of  Perfec-
tion.

   The foregoing solution to the riddle of life naturally elicits the  ques-
tion:  But if those whom we call dead are really alive,  why do we  not  see
them and where are They?   That question was answered in the second  lecture
where it was shown inductively, deductively,  and by direct incontrovertible
testimony  that  there  is  an invisible world about  us  inhabited  by  the
so-called  dead who are living there in full possession of their every  fac-
ulty, and that the only reason why we do not ordinarily perceive them is be-
cause  we  lack the necessary sense.   The blind fail to observe  light  and
color  because  they  lack physical sight.  We are blind  to  the  spiritual
worlds because we lack spiritual sight.  All have this "sixth"  sense latent
and it is capable of being awakened in all without exception by proper meth-
ods, as shown in Lecture No. 11 of this series.

[PAGE 1467]

   In the present lecture we are to investigate the inner worlds and it  may
not  be  out of place to give a general idea of how  the  clairvoyant  knows
about  the invisible worlds and to show the scope and limitations of  clair-
voyance.

   "Clairvoyant"  is the name given to persons who see objects invisible  to
ordinary humanity.   The name means simply "clear-sighted,"  and contrary to
the  generally  accepted idea,  there are different KINDS  of  clairvoyants.
Some  are  like a prisoner behind a barred window,  who can  see  everything
within  his  limited range of vision, and according to  whether  his  window
chances of face upon a narrow prison-yard or upon a wide expanse of country,
will be his scope of vision.   If his view is further hampered by a  shutter
which he cannot control, which opens and shuts independently of his will, we
shall understand That his observation is of little value to himself or  oth-
ers.   Some clairvoyants are like this prisoner.  When the shutter is opened
They have a view of whatever happens to be going on in That part of the  in-
ner world which They chance to see at a given time and place.   They  cannot
help seeing whether the vision pleases them or not;  They must endure it un-
til it passes away of itself.  Such people are called negative,  involuntary
clairvoyants.

   Others again, while limited in the scope of their vision, have control of
the shutter,  which They open and shut at will,  seeing anything which comes
within range.  They are also negative, but are able to see "at will" and are
called voluntary clairvoyants.

   Then  again others have a faculty which may be likened to the state of  a
prisoner  whose  prison is a glass house situated upon a hill  and  supplied
with  telescopes  of  the  highest  magnitude,  shaded  by  blinds of such a

[PAGE 1468]

construction that they would open as soon as he looked at them, and close as
soon as he turned away.  Thus he would have perfect control over his vision,
being  able to see or not and to turn his gaze to any subject he desired  to
investigate and would therefore be a voluntary, TRAINED clairvoyant.

   There is a higher stage where the prison doors are opened, and the man is
able to leave the dense body at will,  go into the invisible worlds and  in-
vestigate at close range the things he wishes to know about,  which the last
named class could view only from a distance.  Leaving the dense body at will
is of course the ideal method--then the man is not only a clairvoyant; he is
a citizen of two or more worlds.   That stage is not generally reached by  a
mere investigator,  but by such as have taken a vow to dedicate their  lives
to  the service of humanity.   They are then called INVISIBLE  HELPERS,  and
work  under the guidance of the great  Leaders  of Humanity--our Elder  Bro-
thers.

   While many people make the mistake of being incredulous of the  existence
of supersensuous worlds, there are also people who go to the other extreme--
when  they have become convinced of the verity of the  invisible  world--and
think that when anyone can "see"  clairvoyantly all truth is open to his vi-
sion and he at once "knows all about" those higher worlds.

   That  is a great mistake--the fallacy of such an idea is  readily  under-
stood by comparison with everyday affairs.  We do not consider That  because
a man who was born blind has been made to see,  he at once "knows all about"
everything in the Physical World;  nay,  more, we know that even those of us
who  have  had our eyesight all our lives are far from  having  a  universal
knowledge of the things about us.  Logic and analogy are  violated by apply-

[PAGE 1469]

ing such a supposition to the inner worlds.  In fact,  no clairvoyant,  how-
ever accomplished,  has a knowledge of everything there, BUT ONLY KNOWS WHAT
HE  HAS INVESTIGATED.   A blind person who has obtained sight must learn  to
use his eyes to gauge distance, etc.; so must the infant;  and so the clair-
voyant  must be trained before his faculty becomes of value,  and it is  in-
variably  the  case that the more proficient people become the  more  modest
They  are in their statements and the more willing to defer to the  versions
of  others,  knowing how much is unknown and realizing how few of  the  many
sides of a subject the single investigator can cover.

   Besides, in the Physical World forms are stable and do not easily change,
but  in  the inner worlds everything is in the most intense  motion.   Forms
change  in a way and with a faculty that is but dimly pictured in our  fairy
tales.   The wonder is not that involuntary or untrained clairvoyants  often
sadly mix things, but rather that they ever see anything right.   The train-
ing  consists in teaching the neophyte how to LOOK BEYOND THE FORM which  is
evanescent and illusory TO THE LIFE which is the same no matter what  "form"
it  may take.   For only when the "life"  can be seen is there  safety  from
glamor.

   Before proceeding to the investigation of the invisible worlds,  we  must
first state the Rosicrucian conception of the Physical World,  as it differs
somewhat from the generally accepted views.

                  THE CHEMICAL REGION OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD:

   In  everyday  life  we distinguish between solids,  liquids,  and  gases.
These are grouped by science into about seventy inorganic  elements, such as

[PAGE 1470]

hydrogen,  nitrogen,  oxygen and carbon.   From these elements all FORMS are
built.

   We also discriminate four kingdoms: mineral,  plant,  animal,  and human,
but  that distinction has reference to four streams of evolving  Spirits  at
various states of development, manifesting as LIFE, which molds the chemical
elements into the multitudinous FORMS we see about us.

   This fourfold stream of life is more or less firmly enmeshed in the forms
it  has build according to the stage of development reached by  the  various
streams of Spirits.

   The  Spirits  which compose the Mineral Life-Stream are  so  feeble,  and
hence so closely allied with the matter they shape into inorganic  crystals,
that  they seem inseparable from it.  This life-stream is known as  chemical
force.

   The Spirits in the Plant Life-Stream assimilate the crystallized chemical
elements and modify the crystals into crystalloids when building their  more
complex bodies.

   These  plant-forms,   when  taken  in  turn  by  the  Animal  and   Human
Life-Streams, are grouped as cells and organs which collectively compose the
more intricate vehicles of the two higher kingdoms.

   While  the  three  more  evolved streams of life  are  working  with  the
chemical matter,  the mineral-life imbedded therein becomes inert, or,  in a
certain  sense,  it dies;  but the moment the  plant-life,  animal-life,  or
human-life  has  departed  from  a FORM, which  we  then  call  "dead,"  the
mineral-life  native to the chemical matter is once more free to assert  it-
self  and manifest as the chemical forces which make for decay  and  resolve
the form into its original constituents.

[PAGE 1471]

   Some  scientists  attribute feeling to minerals,  to  "dead"  plants  and
"dead"  animal tissue.  The observations of science are correct, but it is a
serious  misnomer to call That "FEELING"  which is merely a RESPONSE TO  IM-
PACTS  of the mineral-life which ensouls the form when not  appropriated  to
the use of one of the higher life-streams.  The mineral life-stream embodied
in the tissue which the scientific experimenters use merely registers an im-
pression; it is incapable of true feeling, such as pleasure and pain.  These
are soul qualities and predicate an "inner"  consciousness capable of "work-
ing  over"  the  impressions  made upon it.   This  is  as  yet  beyond  the
mineral-life,  and therefore all forms AS SUCH are as devoid of feeling   as
the chemical elements of which they are composed.   Science recognizes  this
when it states That there is no feeling in a finger which is hurt,  but  in-
consistently relegates the feeling of pain to the brain.   The occult scien-
tist holds that ALL FORM, brain, brawn, or bone,  equally lack feeling,  for
FEELING IS A LIFE-PROCESS neither inherent in the solids, liquids, or gases,
nor  acquired by them during the time They are appropriated by the  evolving
life-streams  to furnish the substance for the various forms  through  which
these life-streams express themselves in the dense visible Physical World.

   Thus,  if man possessed no more than the dense body he would be as  inca-
pable  of manifesting life as are the chemical substance of which That  body
is composed, and if there were only this VISIBLE Physical World, there could
never have been any other forms than the inert crystals.   Plants,  animals,
and man would have been impossible achievements in Nature.

[PAGE 1472]

                  THE ETHERIC REGION OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD:

   The Rosicrucians, in harmony with other occult schools, divide each world
into seven "regions"  or states of matter.   Our visible world comprises but
three such regions,  viz.: Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous.   The invisible ether
occupies  the four remaining regions,  and it is with the  investigation  of
this fourfold ether that the research of occult science begins.

   These four states of ether are called the Etheric Region.   Either is the
medium through which the solar energy flows into the dense bodies of  plant,
animal, and man, and thus it forms a basis for the manifestation of life and
vitality.   The names and specific functions of these four states of  ether,
counting from below, are as follows:

   (1)   The Chemical Ether is the medium of manifestation for the  chemical
forces which cause the formation of crystals,  manifesting as the loves  and
hates of the atoms,  the "elective affinity" spoken of by Goethe whereby al-
cohol and water readily mix,  but oil and water refuse to commingle.   Other
forces manifest in this ether to promote assimilation, growth, and excretion
as  seen in the higher kingdoms of plant,  animal,  and man.   The  chemical
ether  alone  is  active in the mineral chemical elements  in  their  native
state.

   (2)   The Life Ether.  A fish can live and move in water;  animal and man
cannot.   They live in air which suffocates the fish.   So each realm of Na-
ture  is the medium of manifestation for intelligences of diverse  constitu-
tion,  at varying stages of development and having different missions in the
economy  of Nature.   While the forces operating in the chemical  ether  are
solely concerned with  the  maintenance of the separate form, the life ether

[PAGE 1473]

is the vantage ground for the propagative forces which have for their object
the  perpetuation  of  the species or race.   It is thus  active  in  plant,
animal, and man.

   (3)   The Light Ether is the medium of manifestation of the forces  which
produce heat, motion, and the circulation of the blood in animal and man and
of the sap in plants.   Through it the green chlorophyl is deposited on  the
leaves,  and so is the coloring on flowers, animal, and man.   It is the av-
enue  of ingress for the solar force which builds the eye and is the  avenue
of  sight.   The forces in this ether are only partially  operative  in  the
plant, fully in animal and man.

   (4)   The Reflecting Ether is the substance of the highest region of  the
Physical World, and the images or records of all that is or ever has been in
the  Physical World can be found there.   Therefore we say That it  contains
"the Memory of Nature."   Here the architect's idea for a building spoken of
in the second essay is recoverable at any time,  whether he is dead or  liv-
ing.   But the Reflecting Ether deserves its name in more than one way,  for
the  images found there,  though reproducing objects found in  the  Physical
World,  are nevertheless but reflections of images in a much  higher  world,
where  the  records are permanent,  much clearer,  and more  definite.   The
record in the reflecting ether is only read by involuntary clairvoyants  and
psychometrists  who have no choice,  even though they may have heard of  the
existence of the higher records.   Sometimes the occult pupil also reads the
record  in the reflecting ether when he first starts to investigate the  in-
visible realms, but he is instructed as to its scope and  does  not  deceive

[PAGE 1474]

himself  into thinking that it is the ultimate of perfection,  and  in  time
learns to use the higher record.

   This ether is a most important realm in Nature;  it is the avenue of  in-
gress whereby the Ego manipulates the brain and the nervous system and  con-
trols its dense body;  and in the reflecting ether the Ego in man makes  the
record of its experiences which we call memory.

   Science teaches that alike in the densest solid and in the rarest gas  no
two atoms touch,  but all float,  as it were,  in a sea of ether.   That  is
true, but it is only part of the story; if that were all, it would be impos-
sible to explain logically the difference between the four kingdoms.

   We know that in order to function in the visible world it is necessary to
have a dense body.   Without such a body we would be "ghosts,"  invisible to
other physical beings.

   The  same is true of the other worlds.   In order to function in them  or
express their peculiar qualities, we must first have a vehicle made of their
materials;  and as it is necessary to have a dense body before we can act in
the  Physical World,  so we must have a vital body before we can show  life,
assimilate,  grow,  or propagate.  The mineral stream of life at present em-
bodied  in the matter of the Chemical Region,  has no separate  vital  body.
The plant,  animal,  and man have vital bodies,  but they are as differently
constructed  as their respective dense bodies,  varying as to  the  quality,
quantity, and organization of their component etheric matter.

   Yet  even the possession of a dense body and a vital body is  not  suffi-
cient to account for all the facts of life.   If there were no other  realms
in  Nature,  movable  animal  and human bodies would be impossibilities; and

[PAGE 1475]

even if such had been created,  having the POWER to move,  the incentive  to
motion  and action would be lacking.  The occult scientist finds action  has
its inception in

                              THE DESIRE WORLD:

   Like the Physical World,  this realm of Nature is also composed of  seven
regions  which  divide the matter according to relative  density  and  other
qualities.

   When we speak of matter there,  it is something very different from  that
of the Physical world.  The difference is very hard to describe, because all
our  terms are coined with reference to the sense world,  and the best  That
can be done is to give some faint idea of what it is or is not like.

   In  the first place,  though desire matter is one degree less dense  than
physical matter,  desire stuff is not by any means "finer"  physical matter.
It  is true That the ultimate atom of all physical forms is the  same;  That
the mountain, the mayflower, the mouse and the man are all built of the same
kind of atoms; yet we do not say that the mouse is a "finer" degree of moun-
tain.   A  similar difference is embodied in the statement of  the  relative
density  of the two kinds of matter, which makes one amenable to  law  inop-
erative in the other.

   Desire matter is particularly characterized by the ease with which it  is
molded into different forms and is capable of changing from one form to  an-
other.  Plasticity is far too poor a name for this quality; besides,  desire
matter  is  also an embodiment of light and color of such  luminosity,  such
scintillating,  iridescent  hues as make our brightest colors and  our  most
glorious sunsets seem dull and dead by comparison.  It was this dazzling lu-
minosity  which  caused  the  mediaeval alchemists to designate it "astral,"

[PAGE 1476]

"starry," though it has nothing to do with the stars.  A faint conception of
what  it  is  like may be had by taking an abalone shell  and  watching  the
changing play of colors while moving it to and fro in the sunshine.

   To obtain a reasonable understanding of the Desire World, we must realize
That  it is the world of feeling,  desire,  wishes,  and emotions.   As  our
bones,  blood,  and flesh are formed of chemical matter,  so our desires and
emotions are formed of the matter of the Desire World; and as our dense bod-
ies  are subject to gravity and other physical laws,  so our desires,  etc.,
are dominated by Attraction and Repulsion,  the two great forces in the  De-
sire World.

   Repulsion is the predominant force in the three lower or denser  regions.
Attraction alone holds sway in the three upper regions where matter is  rar-
est, but is also present to some degree in the three lower regions, where it
opposes the force of Repulsion.

   The  central region is the region of "Feeling."   Here "INTEREST  IN"  or
"INDIFFERENCE TO" an object or idea sways the balance in favor of one or the
other of the two forces, attraction or repulsion, thereby relegating the ob-
ject  or idea which engendered the feeling to the three higher or the  three
lower regions, or, as the case may be, expelling it from our lives.   An il-
lustration  will show the principle and show how these "twin  feelings"  are
the mainsprings that move the world by means of the "twin forces."

   Both animals and man have a desire body and are swayed by the twin  feel-
ings and the twin forces.  A tigress in the jungle will pass a loaf of bread
with indifference, but she will feel interested in the owner.   Her interest
will rouse the force of attraction,  yet she will endeavor to kill him.  The

[PAGE 1477]

destructive act is not the end and the aim,  however,  but only a  necessary
step  towards assimilation.   If she spies another beast of prey having  de-
signs on what she considers her booty,  that also will cause her to feel in-
terest.   But in that case the feeling of interest will arouse the force  of
repulsion,  and if a fight ensues,  destruction of her adversary will be  an
end in itself.   In the above case and in cases where the animal desires  of
man are factors, the twin forces and twin feelings operate alike,  but there
is a difference in the composition of the desire body of man and animal.

   The  desire body of an animal is composed solely of matter from the  four
lower regions of the Desire World.  Hence it is incapable of feeling any but
the animal desires for food, shelter, and the like.   A saint would feel the
keenest remorse if he had inadvertently spoken a hasty word; the tigress re-
mains undisturbed by any sense of wrong, though she kill daily.   The reason
is that man's desire body is composed of the matter of all the seven regions
of the Desire World, so that he is capable of feeling in a higher sense than
the animal.  Another illustration will make the point clear:

   Three  men are walking along a road.  They see a sick dog,  covered  with
sores, evidently suffering intense pain, and famishing.

   This  much  is evident to all three men;  it is the  testimony  of  their
senses.  Now comes the "feeling."  One feels "indifferent" to the animal and
passes  on without another look,  leaving the dog to its fate.   Not so  the
others.   They are both interested and remain;  but this feeling of interest
manifests differently in the two men.

   The  interest of one man is of a sympathetic,  helpful nature,  impelling
him to care for the poor beast, to endeavor to assuage its pain and nurse it

[PAGE 1478]

back to health.   In him the "feeling" of "interest" has aroused the "force"
of attraction."

   The other man's interest is of an opposite nature.  He sees only a loath-
some object,  which offends his esthetic sense, and he wishes to rid himself
and the world of such a pest as quickly as possible; he is in favor of kill-
ing the animal outright,  and burying it.  In him the "feeling"  of interest
has generated the destructive "force": repulsion.

   Thus we see that all action or refrainment from action (which is negative
action) is due to the twin feelings: Interest,  which starts the twin forces
of Attraction and Repulsion;  and Indifference, that simply cuts us off from
the object or idea it is directed against.   If our interest in an object or
idea generates repulsion, that, of course, also causes us to endeavor to ex-
purgate it from our lives,  but,  as shown by the illustrations,  there is a
great difference in the action of the force of repulsion and the feeling  of
indifference.

   Thus  we  see  that a dense body formed of the  inert  substance  of  the
Chemical Region,  quickened and vitalized by the vital body composed of  the
ethers of the Etheric Region,  receives the incentive to action from the de-
sire body,  an incentive which the animals follow absolutely,  but which  in
man is checked by another factor--reason, which sometimes causes him to  act
contrary to desire.   Were there no other realms in Nature but the  Physical
World  and the Desire World,  That factor would be non-existent.   We  could
have mineral, plant, and animal, but man, a thinking, reasoning being, would
be an impossibility in Nature.

[PAGE 1479]

                            THE WORLD OF THOUGHT:    

must be taken into consideration to account for man.  For from its substance
the  mind is formed to act as a brake upon the impulses of the desire  body,
dictating action contrary to the urge of the twin feelings because of  wider
viewpoint arrived at by reason.

   The  World of Thought also consists of seven regions in which the  matter
is classified according to density and quality; besides,  it is divided into
two main sections:  "The Region of `Concrete'  Thought"  and "the Region  of
`Abstract' Thought."

   In  the three lowest divisions of the Region of Concrete Thought are  the
archetypes  of everything we see in the Physical World,  as mineral,  plant,
animal,  and man, of the continents, rivers and oceans; and here the trained
clairvoyant  whose faculty enables him to reach these high realms sees  also
the universal ocean of flowing life,  in which all forms are immersed,  sees
the same vital impulse moving from form to form in rhythmic cycles, sustain-
ing  the  form specialized by the Ego of man or the animal and  plant  Group
Spirit.

   These archetypes are not merely models in the sense we generally speak of
models,  as a thing in miniature, or in a finer material;  they are creative
archetypes,  molding all the visible FORMS, such as we see in the world,  in
their own likeness,  or rather likenesses, for often many of the  archetypes
work together to form a certain species,  each archetype giving part of  it-
self  to build the required form.   They are marshaled and directed by  "The
Archetypal Forces"  which are found in the fourth division.   From the  sub-
stance of the four lower divisions our mind is formed,  enabling man to also
form  thoughts  and  make  images which he may afterwards reproduce in iron,

[PAGE 1480]

stone,  or  wood,  so that by means of the mind which he obtains  from  this
world  man  becomes  a creator in the Physical  World  like  the  archetypal
forces.

   But  what is that which directs the mind as the Archetypal  Forces  guide
the operations of the archetypes?  It is the Ego,  and it gathers its cloth-
ing or garment from the three highest sections,  which are called the Region
of Abstract Thought and Ideas.

   Thus  we  see that man is a very complex being,  and a citizen  of  three
worlds  to  which he is correlated by an unbroken chain  of  five  vehicles,
thereby giving him a full waking consciousness which enables him to see  ob-
jects in space outside himself in clear and sharp contours.

   The  animal has no "individual"  Spirit yet,  but has a so-called  "Group
Spirit,"  which informs all the members of a species.   The separate animals
have three bodies--a dense, a vital, and a desire body--but lack one link in
the chain:  Mind.  Hence animals do not ordinarily think, but as we "induce"
electricity  in a wire by bringing it close to another which is charged,  so
in  a similar way by contact with man a semblance of thought has  been  "in-
duced" in the higher domestic animals, such as the dog, horse, and elephant.
The other animals obey the prompting (which we call instinct) of the  animal
Group Spirit.   They do not see objects in such clear outlines as does  man;
in the lower species the animal consciousness resolves itself more and  more
into an internal "picture-consciousness," resembling man's dream state,  ex-
cept  that  their pictures are not confused,  but convey  perfectly  to  the
animal the promptings of the Group Spirit.

   The  plants  have  a  dense body and a vital body; hence they can neither

[PAGE 1481]

feel nor think.  They lack desire body and mind, and therefore a greater gap
exists  between the plant and its Group Spirit than between the  animal  and
its Group Spirit;  hence the consciousness of the plants is  correspondingly
dimmer, resembling our state of dreamless sleep.

   The  mineral has only a dense body.  It lacks three links to  connect  it
with  its Group Spirit.   It therefore is inert and its unconsciousness  re-
sembles  That of the dense human body in the "trance"  state when the  human
Spirit, the Ego, has passed correspondingly beyond it.

   In conclusion, let us note that the three worlds in which we live are not
separated by space.  They are all about us, as light and color,  imbedded in
the physical matter;  as lines of cleavage in the mineral.  If we let a dish
of  water freeze,  and examine it under a microscope,  we shall see the  ice
crystals divided off from one another by lines.   These were present  though
unseen in the water as lines of force,  invisible until the proper condition
brought them out.   So one world lies imbedded in the next above,  unseen to
us  until  we provide the proper conditions;  but when we have  fitted  our-
selves,  Nature,  who is every ready to unfold to us her wonders,  expresses
ardent  joy  over  everyone who as a helper in  evolution  thus  attains  to
citizenship in the invisible realms.

Continued with file "RC1041.TXT"

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