As it is to be

Dedication

MAY YOU ENJOY AND SPREAD JOY ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE

C. L. D.

CHAPTER I. Page

How the Narrative Began 1

The Philosopher. The Spiritualist. The Thinker. The Physician. The Religionist. The Reader. The Voices. The first step. English language. Telegraph. Foreign countries. India. Human beings. A living friend. Voices of spirits. Subtle difference.

CHAPTER IT.

The Process of Dying 7

Contemplation. Death. Peace. Pure light. Infinite content. Faces. Laughter. Rising upwards. Becoming changed. No change of individuality. Opening of spiritual consciousness. The walls of Heaven. Location of Heaven. Near and far at once. Instantaneous communication. Illustration.

Chapter III

Light unlike anything known. A blazing star. Hearing at a distance of millions of miles. Instantaneous journey from a star. Immortal thought. Eating in Heaven. Intensity of life. A spirit's feat. A spirit at the theatre. Startling sympathy. Communication hefore death. An intangible grMp. Astonishing phenomena. Throwing th(> spirit to a distance. An absent spirit. Do spirits suffer? Human sorrow vain. Life like a broken toy. Ideas assume form.

CHAPTER IV. page

The Law of Attraction 25

Gentle reproaches. Spirits have no power to seek those who do not desire them. The law of mutual attraction. Magnetic currents. Attention a prime element of spiritual law. Will.

CHAPTER V. Evil and Purity . . 28

A point in morals. No evil in spirit life. Illustration of the parable of the ten talents. The symbol of a pure soul.

Chapter VI

Spirits on approaching earth do not necessarily assume human form. Mortals could not recognize a spirit in the spiritual form. Spirits have senses and perceptions. Spiritual senses magnified infinitely. Spiritual sense of touch. Universal knowledge. Cognizance of whatever attracts attention. Studies of the spiritual life. More than five senses. New senses. Keason is absolute. Spiritual knowledge without doubt. The telescopic and microscopic eye. Hearing by the law of attraction. Dominion of spirit over matter. The life of spirit depends upon conscious Will. The new name. The difference between human and spiritual language radical. A language of facts. A spiritual laugh. St. John intensely intuitive.

CHAPTER VII. Our Conditions and Surroundings after

Death 45

Spirit dictation. A community perishes. What their condition ? Children enter a land of unspeakable beauty. Heaven's gate not shut to any soul. Progression in spirit life instantaneous. Goodness and eternal life joy in them-

vi

Page selves. Evil, properly, not a malignant force. Definition too sweeping. No spiritual evil. Evil elemental. Punishment. Annihilation of opportunities and joys. No soul left helpless. Time of no account. Who was the Christ? "My Father and I are One," illustrated. A spiritual home. The garment of immortality.

Chapter VIII

Interruption of converse. The issues of life and death. Material the manifestation of idea. God's practicality. The play of Almighty intellect. Personal entity a fact, with or without form. Human life based on expression. An intuitive experiment. Expressing an idea-fact. Carried to the Infinite. No heavenly maps or drawings. Reciprocal action of spirit and universe. Ideas are eternal. Time the sign-manual of human ignorance. Seating ourselves on the crown of a sun. Goodness the key to spiritualistic power.

CHAPTER IX. Scientific Spiritualism and Heavenly Powers 72

"When the spirit enters an infant. Material a cobweb. Penetrating the veil. Normal conditions. Intensest passions easiest to manipulate. Communication between spirits and men. Millions of believers. Scientific spiritualism. Production of life. Life a mysterious force. Nature yields to a general law. One's standing in spirit life. Right for its own sake. Rewards. The "many mansions." The relationships of the heart. What is mind without form? Choice of a palace or a cottage a matter of will. All past ages from which to select. A permeating light. Breathing life. Home in every place at once. Kindly attentions to weakness and ignorance. The crown of goodness. The naturalist. The astronomer. The historian. The statesman. A dual unit. The spirit of our mate. Male and female mingled in one.

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CHAPTER X. page

An explanation demanded. Conscious and unconscious will. The invisible life of your own spirit. The spirit flees away intact. Presentiments. The senses of the spirit infinitely fine. What is intuition ? Illustration of unconscious will. The eternal idea. Application of eternal significance to observation. Prayer dominates invisible forces.

Chapter XI

Will and imagination. A strange communication. Emanations. Ghosts. Magnetism. The effects of mind. The Black Magician. Obsession.

Chapter XII

Reading in Heaven. Memory absolutely perfect. The Alexandrian library. A royal road for a royal child. The " out " of Heaven. A germ. A rare spiritual phenomenon. Punishment of the wicked. An eye for an eye. Natural punishment. An unsafe doctrine. Torment for torment. The universal sheriff. The punishment of Napoleon. Memory and contrast. Spiritual ignorance. Ignorance is not wicked. The sun of righteousness. The indestructible germ. Blotting out sin. Years of probation. Atonement on earth best. The task is not hopeless. This is all the hell there is. A Christian mother and wicked son. Does the angel suffer ? Comfort beyond words. The "great gulf fixed." It is a fable. The Testament compilers bungling. No value in morals. No separation of place or portion. The Voice has lived in heaven a thousand years. There is no hell. There is no everlasting punishment. Jesus not necessarily infallible. The Almighty veil. Christians should be modest.

viii

CHAPTER XIII. paob

Spirits do not Tempt — The Celestial Body 131 A morphine eater renewing his vice. An invisible appetite. Liars and hypocrites. An insult to man's moral nature. Christ a magnetic healer. No fear of intrusive spirits. The celestial body. Do young people retain their youth ? The current of Heavenly will. The change in us brings a desire for a change in our friends. The development like that of a rose. No disappointment in the land of satisfaction.

Chapter XIV

Jarring sects. The Calvinist. The Methodist and the Roman Catholic. All go to the same place. Love shows the vanity of dogma. A simple creed. The overwhelming No! The Heavenly creed. Worship of the highest ideal. Christ still active. The Christ still able to atone. The Word in 1892. The name in Arabia. No savage neglected, forgotten, or despised. Goodness ! Goodness the universal name. The higher goodness.

CHAPTER XV. The Dual Unit 145

The Heavenly union. Individuality intact. Each absorbs the other. God's secrets. Mismating. The criminal code. The union of genius with unappreciation. Advantage to the man. Advantage to the woman. Mutual advantage. A rule that should work both ways. Conscious and earnest love of God.

CHAPTER XVI. A Curious Experience — Ei.ementaries . . 151

A strange vision. A critical comment. No struggle. A rare phenomenon. A wholly unexpected explanation. IX

Page

Elementaries. Immortal, but not human. Its use. The life principle of the brute creation. Nothing is ever lost. Renewed friendship with animals. To will from the mass into the individual. No individual resurrection of animals. God's infinite solicitude.

Chapter XVII

Re-incarnation. Is it possible there is such a thing? Re-incarnation of spiritual thought through a material medium. The Oriental less spiritual than the Occidental. Does goodness alone claim the highest Heavenly reward ? Growth rapid, according to harmony of intellect and morality. Ambition for perfection the flower of knowledge. Heaven enjoyed according to each one's capacity. An entity attains individuality by means of an individual fleshly form. No necessity for re-incarnation. A description of the idea of Karma. The soul never lapses into the general mass. Why man was born. The essence of God illustrated by a crystal ball. The childishness of age illustrated. The spirits of the aged who " have lost their minds," leave the body. Testimony of my grandfather. Is there any relief from the shrinking from death? A beautiful answer. The star of eternal life. The body and the spirit in a constant struggle. Nothing can disturb the spirit. Enjoy and spread joy.

CHAPTER XVm.

Music, Art, and Memory 183

Music in heaven. No instruments. Can spirits compose and play music ? No such word as " ungratified." Music in Heaven is thought. Uttering one's self in violin tones. No need of implements. Thought takes form. Thinking a statue into form. Artistic utterance permanent. Mathematical morality. The will of the observer the focusing point. A prophetic bugbear. Must our hidden histories x

Paob

be read ? An unjust proceeding. Sin, struggle, temptation, error, no part of spirit life. The protection of silence. Still more beautiful protections in spirit. Obedience a necessity and a desire. God sets the fashions. Visible advantage the result of all acts. We go as a whole, not in parts. The million daily drops of vicissitude. God helps. A diamond illustration. Punishment a beneficence. Memory the birth-gift of earth.

CHAPTER XIX. Fear 201

Fear is in its nature harmless. No "evil" an evil until abused. A new and unwonted freedom. Fear deals with the future. Religious fear an evil. The privilege of fear. Business fear. Fear of sickness. We can control forces by courage. Imparting vitality. The spirit is crushed in a person who fears. God's arm right around you. Victory ! Rational courage is power. Each thought an invisible influence. Sending out a strong foree for good.

Chapter XX

Astrology. Planets do not affect individual destiny. Successful predictions more than counterbalanced by unsuccessful ones. The mind warped and biased by astrology. Such superstition beneath an immortal intellect. Re-incarnation false. Correct predictions not done by means of astrology. An explanation. Will Venus make a poet, or Mars a soldier? The craving to know the future. Illustration of the fallibility of astrology. The secret wish. A Bermudian prediction. A shrewd reader of character.

CHAPTER XXI. Providence ... 224

Invisible compensations. Has prayer any effect? To will is often to accomplish. Human life infinitely varied.

xi

Page Prayer an effort of the will. Exceptional providences. No such, thing as especial providences. No direct interposition. Providences only applicable to material. The keynote of earthly prosperity. Miracles, j

Chapter XXII

Various beliefs as to what the Voices are. I do not answer my own questions. Thought. The Voices will impress the world. A shell endowed with God's thought. Space a place of confusion. A dead body goes into apparent nothingness. Sifting a motive. Is unuttered thought a force ? No general association of ideas. Can we prove the meaning of thought ? Projecting one's self. Strata of thought. Will thinking riches bring riches ? Strataic thought forces. Evil thoughts cause war, revolts, and crimes. Massed thought. Silent thought influences all. A fresh breeze. How did the Christ heal the sick ? Christ healed by obedience to natural law. The spirit has no ear for evil. Spirits cannot respond to evil desires. Are spirits disturbed by mortal influences ? Defiance of all natural conditions. We may explore the world as spirits. A travelling party. Plunging into the centre of the earth. The mandate of love.