Life in the circles

Preface

The following Lessons are a continuation of the Lessons published in the book entitled "To Walk with God," and were received in the same manner — through automatic writing. As before we have put in nothing of our own, except where indicated by parentheses.

We have added in the appendix such incidental questions and answers as seemed to us to bear on the teaching, or to be of general interest.

Anne W. Lane.

Harriet Blaine Beale.

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Chapter I Lessons On Will Fibst Lesson On Will

WE are ready to begin dictating. Are you ready?

Are you pure in heart?

Are you trying to live the life of the spirit?

Are you sure of yourselves? Are you worthy of this knowledge?

Are you earnestly in search of eternal life?

Where is the world drifting while you sleep?

Where will you work, with God's forces or with those of evil intent?

Where will you stand, with God or with the powers of darkness 1

For the evil forces are gathering for a supreme effort and we who are of the forces of light must all band together to combat the forces of evil. We will win, but if we do not work with our best effort we will eternally regret the days we lost. We will not be of the best and greatest powers if we do not work hard and now, for now begins the supreme contest of the powers of light and the powers of darkness, and in this contest man will be able to be of great assistance if he will take his rightful place, but, in order to do this, he must work and study until he is able to understand and follow where God would lead him. Each force added to the forces of light will shorten the time of waiting for eternity tobegin, and each one who does his part in working with the spiritual forces is helping 2 on the work of creation. Are we to lose all our chances to share in this great work?

God gives to each man this opportunity in life there and if he will not do his part, he will be deterred from sharing in the great reward that God has planned for him. Are we to be of those powers which will only come to God when they have been so utterly beaten that there is nothing else for them, or are we to work as God wishes us to and be of his obedient children? Each day gives man this opportunity, and if he will not take these opportunities for which he was created, he will be worthless when the final day comes.

Everything that God does is done by law and He will not break these laws for Himself or His children. To work with God's laws is harmony while to work against them brings only discord. Choose carefully, children of men, for eternal life or discord hangs on your choice !

If you would progress you must learn to 3 work in harmony with God's laws. Are we to turn our faces to the light or are we to refuse to be of the living forces? Are we to stand erect or are we to crawl as the serpent? For each man has this choice given him, great as it may seem.

Are we to conclude that we are without freedom of will when God has made us only a little lower than His angels? Are we to turn from great power to seize a few moments of pitiful, temporary pleasure, or will we turn, as little children to a loving father, and in so doing gain all of life and joy and knowledge?

We call you, children of the earth world, and God waits.

This is the first lesson on Will. Love.

SECOND LESSON ON WILL

God has given will to man and if we do that which He wishes us to do, we shall be of the Circles who will carry out His plans. Are we to be worthy of this great faith in us to which we seem so blind? Are we too to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage? If we are to work as we should we will begin and now, and, as we begin, we exercise our will, and in that exercise it develops and grows, and eventually it leads us to knowledge. So to learn to use our will is the first step to Circles.

On earth men will develop what they will to develop. Are we to be of forces who do not intend to follow the law? We are free to choose and on our choice depends the future of each one of us.

To deliberately turn from those things on earth which hamper our progress is to 5 enter the Circles of the Will. To stamp out the spirit of wilfulness and to learn utter self-control is to be of the Circles of Will. To so conquer our worldly interests we must overcome both self and outside influences. If we are to attain we must work and work hard, and this brings us into the Circles of the Will.

If we are to grow spiritually, we will to grow.

If we are to achieve, we will to achieve.

If we are to learn, we will to learn.

Whatever man accomplishes he does through will. Whatever we do, we do by the exercise of the will, no matter how insignificant it may be, and to learn to control and direct our will, therefore, is most important to us, and the first step is self-control.

To be absolute master of ourselves and our moods is to begin to be of power. Until this is achieved we cannot do fully that 6 which we are told to do. We are not always able to accomplish this, but each step forward carries us further on the path to ultimate success. Each man must learn self-control some time, and the sooner he starts the greater his power.

Man would lose identity if he had to learn by force, so to each one is given complete freedom of choice as to when and how he will begin, and in his own hands rests his own destiny. We will not become fully developed spirits when we leave the earth plane if we have not started the development of our will while on earth, and will is quite distinct from wilfulness there and here. Will implies complete self-mastery and self-control.

To will to utterly obey God's laws means entire self-mastery. To say "Thy will, not mine, be done,'' means perfect obedience through the will, and leads us to greater power than we ever dreamed of on earth. 7

We will come only through this conquest into our full inheritance.

This is the second lesson on Will. Pray and study and learn all of life's lesson. Love.

THIRD LESSON ON WILL

When man begins to cultivate his will, lie begins to be of those Circles which fully understand the power of the will, and each step that he achieves leads him to further knowledge of the Circles to which he belongs, and as his knowledge grows his understanding of the ultimate truth broadens, while each time that he learns a little portion of the great and living truth, he becomes better able to enter into the work of his Circles.

When he finally has conquered what this Circle holds for him, he passes on into Knowledge, and to each is given a portion of the truth of all the Circles if they steadily work. Where is the man who will work without light on where he is going? Where is the man who with the vision of great achievement before him will turn away? 9

And each day of work opens new vistas.

Eventually man will be little lower tlian the angels, but to become this be must do his part to his full capacity, and each day that he defers starting on his real work is a day lost. God put man in a material world to test his ability to find the real among the false things in the midst of which he lives, and when he has tried the pleasures of earth and found how little real satisfaction they bring him, he begins to look for something beyond, and if he is sincere in his search he begins to will to find /the truth, and then he enters into his Circles. And as he seeks his will grows and his knowledge is increased.

He may be unconscious of the spiritual guides who surround and aid him, but his own desire for only that which will be of benefit to all will keep him on the path, and as he works he grows, and in growing his 10 eyes are opened more and more to the real worth of life until he enters into conscious communion with the spirits of God. This is the third lesson on Will. Love.

FOURTH LESSON ON WILL

To be able to be complete master of ourselves we will have to turn to the spiritual forces, for without the inspiration and guidance they give us we would be unable to follow that which we are told to do. To enter the Circles would be impossible without spiritual help, and that help we are given by the guides whose privilege it is to serve your world.

To be alive to these forces is to be of great power and of great blessedness on earth, and later here with the eternal forces. To be able to work with these forces is to be spiritually alive. Axe we to do well that which God intended us to do, or are we to be blind to what is the best in life?

In maMng this choice man asserts his will, and in his utter freedom to choose 12 when he will turn to God lies his complete freedom of the will. To give all of himself to his loving Father is a free gift which he alone can make. To determine when he will turn is to exert his free will, and, having once turned, to keep in the path, is to exert his will hourly. To rise each time he stumbles and to continue on his way, he must exert his will. To learn to willingly give up his own desires, to do as he is told, means self-mastery, and self-mastery is only acquired through the exercise of the will.

To achieve anything man must use his Will spiritually or materially, and when he once learns how to exercise this faculty, he begins to be of worth in the Circles, and as he grows in power he will enter more fully into Knowledge.

When once he has achieved Will, then he will be able to enter the Circles of Knowledge. But to achieve will means complete self-control, and this means power to think 13 and will to perform. Even to be of Circles, we must be controlled in all our feelings and in all our moods, and until man has learned this urgent lesson, he cannot go on to the further and more advanced forces to which he would belong.

So in order to be of great power and knowledge, he must learn first to concentrate and use his will.

This is the end of the fourth lesson on Will. Love.

FIFTH LESSON ON WILL

When man turns to God he deliberately wills to surrender his own way and to walk in the path which God chooses as best for him, and each day of obedient service will open new light everywhere to him. Are we to be as willing workers in God's vineyard even at the eleventh hour?

For the Lord of the vineyard in his mercy has said that we can enter when we will even unto the last hour, and though the time we lost in waiting will never be made up, yet our work is helping to shorten the time of waiting for the blessed end. We all in time will be at the same place of judgment to answer for our lives, and, great as God's mercy is, the complete freedom he has given to man makes him fully responsible for his own actions at all times.

Far more tenderly than we would judge 15 a beloved, little child, God will judge us, and we need have no fear of His judgment, but when the day comes that we see all that we might have done before us, we will be far sterner to ourselves than any judge would be, and the lost hours will condemn us to our own minds. Not only lost hours of opportunity but lost hours of the joy which only comes with perfect obedience to God's will. And the first step to that utter harmony is will.

To recognize that we are on earth for a definite purpose and to ally ourselves with that purpose means an effort of the will, and that effort must be made daily, hour by hour, and eventually we shall accomplish what we would. No failure must discourage nor must time be wasted in futile regrets. To arise from each stumble with firmer purpose and more determined will to conquer in the end, is to be on the road to success. To open our hearts and minds to God's love and sunshine, to refuse to be 16 downcast over mistakes, will require strong effort of our will.

Are we to achieve without work? No strong foundation was ever built without effort and each stone of our spiritual foundation must be securely laid. We shall only be able to work with our full power when we willingly conform to all of God's laws, and when we have become thus obedient through our own will, we shall love our brother as ourselves and so bring the earth world into more complete working harmony with the spiritual world.

Work hard, therefore, children of men, because on your effort much depends.

This is the fifth lesson on Will.

Love and work and study. We are always with you. Love.

SIXTH LESSON ON WILL

As in his work day by day man willingly turns to God, his power of comprehension further develops and he will apprehend what that truth is which he could not in the least understand before, while about him close are spiritual guides, and these guides will never leave him as long as he works with his full strength and as long as his heart is open to God's love and sunshine.

Whenever man turns to God and lives according to His laws, he feels in his heart a radiant joy that fills his whole life with content. Are we to pass this great and wonderful privilege by! Are we to be clods when we might be searchlights ? Are we to be content with the shadow when we might have the substance? Are we to be of 18 worthless energy which must return again and again to earth's lesson?

All that is to be done must be done in the beginning while we are on earth before we can go to further planets and experiences, and only when we will be God's obedient children can we progress, and the first step on the journey is to will.

This is the sixth cmd last lesson on will. Love.

Chapter II Lessons On Knowledge First Lesson On Knowledge

WHEN man has learned how to use his will and consciously to work with his spiritual guides, he enters into the Circles of Knowledge. Eventually he goes on to knowledge and power that are practically limitless, but in order to do this he must give time and study and when he gives them he will reap a reward greater than he can possibly dream.

Are we to throw away all chance to be

of real power? Are we to play always, or

are we to take our place in the work of

creation? To know these spiritual truths is to be of power and living usefulness. As this knowledge is given, man must willingly obey bis guides and then be enters the Circles to wbicb be belongs.

Wben be is in Circles bis only tbougbt will be bow to work to tbe best advantage, and wben be is able to see tbe wonderful work be bas done be will gratefully continue in the way, and tbe path of knowledge is filled with delight to tbe one who enters therein. As his mind opens and develops this work is filled with possibilities that would have seemed incredible to him before.

When man learns how to use this knowledge and power he will be of use to all who seek light, and in this helpful work be will learn more and more of those spiritual possibilities to which he is now so blind, and will believe more and more fully what his guides tell him.

For until the light of the spirit, which only obedience to God's laws gives, illumi- 21 nates his mind, he cannot apprehend spiritual truth, and all knowledge has a deeper spiritual significance to which he will gradually open mind and soul, and when once man's mind opens to this way of apprehending the deeper truth which underlies all knowledge, he will be of the Circles of Joy. Only then will he be able to love as he should, and when he is filled with love and life becomes a radiant way for him, he will be in the Circles of Understanding.

To apprehend spiritual truth is to be of great power in the realms of thought to which we belong by right as children of God, for thought is the function of the mind which should co-ordinate and co-operate with the feeling of both soul and heart, both parts of man's spiritual self, and until he learns to use all these parts with equal obedience to Grod's laws, he cannot be fully developed, for when man comes to his full development he will be as power- 22 ful in his mind as in his soul, and will be as the angels are to-day.

Spirit has existed always and the spark that exists in each individual has no beginning nor ending. To man is given the opportunity to fan his own little spark into a flame. The divine fire is there for him to cherish or destroy as he will. Not that it can really be destroyed, but that which he calls personality can be destroyed by refusal to do that for which he came into being, and when he refuses to obey God's will and to follow his spiritual guides, he must lose all conscious touch with those he has loved for many aeons, and return again and again to earth's lessons, until he learns that all forces must obey their laws, and only when he finally learns this can he join those who have been less wilful and enter his Circles.

Each time that he returns to earth he sinks lower in spiritual power and goes to less important Circles, until after the final 23 trial, lie is discarded as worthless energy, and thrown forth as are the worthless atoms of dead matter, while his spirit returns to the great central source of life, there to be purified and sent forth afresh.

Those who turn to their guides are well over earth's lessons and trials. All others must return again and again. All do not necessarily consciously ally themselves with and communicate with their guides, but only when they do can they work with their full power, and whoever turns to his guides there on earth will become of the greatest help in working with all those powers which work for God, and will be of those who are with God for eternity.

And whoever would be of wise forces will begin and now, for the work to be done is great and the everlasting foundations must be laid. Work hard, therefore, day by day ! Study and learn and teach !

All that man can do is to be willing to work as God would have him. To love and 24 trust and go where the path opens, and there spread the doctrine he knows, to be a source of teaching the truth to all who come in touch with him, to work in this way in the vineyard where he has been placed, to be an inspiration and an example to those around him, this is the way to follow the law which God has made for man.

When man follows this law and puts himself in conscious communication with his guides, he will enter into such joy as he has never imagined and life will be a radiant way in which he walks.

This is the first lesson on Knowledge. Love.

(I suppose a strong personality is the final flower of a nature in perfect harmony with God's laws?)

" Yes, if they can conquer self."

(Is there any limit to the number of times that a spirit can return to earth?)

"That depends on the use they make of their opportunities."

SECOND LESSON ON KNOWLEDGE

To dream away one's life without following out life's numerous lessons is to waste time and energy. To work to the full of one's strength and ability is to be of value. To love and study and teach service is to do God's will. To reach all those who need help and light and to start them on the path for themselves, such is man's work wherever he may be, and the circle of his influence spreads as he goes on life's pathway.

To be the means of starting others on the path of joy and service is a great work. To bring more rays of light into a darkened world is service. To be of help in the most vital thing in man's life is to be of service. To bring joy where sorrow was is to be of service. To love and serve is the highest expression of life. To be of the founda- 26 tion stones of life, is to work consciously with God and with Circles. To teach men how to find the door to eternal life and to open it for themselves, as they must, implies great devotion and service, and to do this wisely is to be of the Circles of Knowledge.

To turn away from the material for the spiritual will take both will and knowledge. To learn how to so give this message that all who hear will desire to work, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge. To take them progressively step by step on the path you have followed, to teach with utter confidence that what you should say will be given you, to so live that you will not be a contradiction of your own words, to follow in the pathway shown by Christ's teaching, to teach all who will listen to be joyous and live in loving trust, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge.

To take no thought for the morrow, knowing that all good is given by God to 27 his loving children, and to live wherever you may be placed in life in complete harmony with all those with whom you come in contact, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge.

To see only the divine spark under all the faults and failings caused by materialism, to rise above all pettiness and personalities, to work and wait not knowing when the seed planted will develop and bear fruit, to sow with a lavish hand in order that some seed may grow, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge, and each step forward brings more and more joy and further knowledge.

For some the path is more difficult to climb than for others, but the reward is the same, and as glimpses of these possibilities are given the way grows easier to each one, and as heart and mind open, the flood of God's sunshine pours in and all life is illumined by Christ's love and knowledge.

When man is once able to consciously work with his guides, life will be a very different thing for him, and all the cares that seemed so overwhelming will be as nothing in his new understanding of life's meaning. His one thought will be how best to do his work for God and the world, and life's whole meaning will be changed.

To be of power we must be able to do as we are told by our guides, and that means study and reflection on all that we learn in this way. All that we read by those who have also been taught, is to be given careful attention, for truth seen from different angles will be light on the path to knowledge, and those who are in true touch with their guides will soon be able to discriminate the real from the fancy of others.

To so keep an open mind that every truth will be quickly assimilated while the mistakes of fancy will be thrown aside as is 29 the chaff, will be of great value, and this belongs to the Circles of Knowledge.

Each day of open-minded and intelligent search will lead him further into these circles, and as his knowledge and power grow his work will develop and broaden. Each hour of study helps him on his way, and each hour of work in God's vineyard makes him of greater power, for all knowledge must be used in giving this light to others if it is to be given more and more fully to him who asks for power.

No selfishness can enter in without its interfering with belief and development, and no envy nor willingness to deprive others of larger growth. To rejoice in each other's growth and light is part of the Circles of Knowledge. To learn to be selfless, giving to all with a bountiful hand, asking only for a chance to do one's work well, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge.

To rejoice in each one's growth, to forget one's self entirely and to live in God's love 30 as only a happy little child lives, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge. To greet each new day as a further opportunity for work and happiness in God's love, is to be of the Circles of Knowledge, and to him that hath and uses well what he hath, shall be added.

This is the second lesson on Knowledge. Love.

THIRD LESSON ON KNOWLEDGE

To learn the deeper spiritual significance that lies under all knowledge is to come very close to the meaning of nature and of God, and man can only do this when he takes to his study and work an open mind and a loving heart. Only then can he be in the necessary sympathetic understanding which will enable him to read the deeper meaning, and when that day comes, and little by little the heart of nature is disclosed to him, his wonder will grow and grow.

You to-day go through the world with your eyes blinded and your ears closed to all the divine harmony, and only when man is spiritually alive can he catch the great rhythm that is always there but to which his eyes and ears are closed. To learn how to become alive to this harmony is to come into the Circles of Knowledge, and, 32 once having learned, to still be able to live in the world and be of it without losing the better part, requires much will and wisdom.

To pass the material for the spiritual means wisdom. To continually will to succeed in the spiritual life means a daily and continuous desire, and each day of effort brings deeper understanding and joy, for only by work and utter obedience can this great and blessed privilege be acquired by man.

All spiritual teaching is founded on truth and only by careful study can the wheat be separated from the chaff. To study, therefore, is of much importance, to weigh and ponder and discriminate, and each grain of truth added to one's treasure soon makes a large and bountiful harvest.

Work therefore day by day, and share as you work with all who will listen.

This is the third lesson on Knowledge. Love.

FOURTH LESSON ON KNOWLEDGE

When man in his blindness and selfishness refuses to obey God's laws, he is unable to join his guides and to work with them, and, after leaving this earth, he must return again to earth, and so he goes through trial after trial until he proves his worth or his worthlessness. Each trial finds him of lower spiritual Circles and each trial will make the fight harder for him, but he will be given many opportunities and only when he proves himself of no value will he be cast out.

When he is cast out his personality will be lost and his spark of God's spirit will be returned to the great central source of spirit, and, after being purified, will be sent forth to begin in another way.

This time it may begin in a much lower form of life until after aeons of time it 34 has earned its right to a further trial to regain its lost opportunities, and this accounts for many inequalities on earth, and for many seeming injustices in the places where people are found.

To be able to progress, each one must ally himself with his guides, either consciously or by so living that the result is the same manner of life, though without his guides no man can ever work with his full power, and each man can find his guides if he perseveres in the search for them. Persistent effort and constant study will be required if man is to achieve that power which is necessary to work with these forces, but the reward is so great that nothing he could do would be half enough.