Talk from Jan 2006

Funny how things work I was looking for other material about the Corinthian Hall Investigations and turned up a three year old talk based upon Gladys Osborne Leonard Book

To start my talk I am going to quote one sentence from a book called My Life in two Worlds, by Gladys Leonard published in 1931

“Spiritualism has helped to “fill the pause” for thousands of people, giving them back their lost faith, their hope of Eternity, and reunion with those they love. “

In essence that is what we are intending to achieve when we demonstrate clairvoyance on a Sunday night. Inherent, in the seven principles we adhere to, which are widely accepted as a fundamental part of Spiritualism, is the continuation and progression of the spirit beyond physical death. Proof of survival, by way of messages from loved ones in spirit, are the confirmation of this belief. This allows us to know that the spirit of our loved ones continues and to understand that our own spirit will do the same.

In itself this can be a stunning revelation. To go from a religion where you have to accept the fundamental doctrines of belief to one which can claim to prove a critical part of its creed. However, it is just a starting point in a journey of discovery. To some it just bridges a gap, enabling them to continue in a belief in their own religion, underpinned by a sure knowledge of some continued existence. To others it opens up new ways and a chance to consider new possibilities.

Those who choose to develop their clairvoyant faculties become well aware that spirit is using the link that develops, not just to prove survival but also to pass on information to us. This may be helpful for individuals or it may attempt to give a greater understanding of the nature of our life as part of spirit and is intended to be shared. Much of this informational work appeared in print through the period between 1880 and 1930, almost a golden age of Spiritualism, when many major figures in public life openly adopted the “philosophy”. At the time there was a major effort to convince religious leaders to embrace the fundamental continuation of spirit as a truth compatible to their own belief. Typical of the type of work channelled from spirit was the book quoted earlier, by Gladys Leonard, which had a foreword by Sir Oliver Lodge an eminent scientist who through his work in trying rationally to evaluate Spiritualism became a committed leader in the movement.

From this book I draw a small section which touches on an issue that impacts on us as we try to contact loved ones newly passed over.

Then concerning life on the other side, from another book Life in the World Unseen 2:18-24

“I was already beginning to perceive many things, the principal one of which, and that which touched me most closely, being the totally wrong attitude adopted by religion in relation to the world of spirit. The very fact that I was lying there where I was,
constituted a complete refutation of so much that I taught and upheld during my priestly life upon earth. I could see volumes of orthodox teachings, creeds, and doctrines melting away because they are of no account, because they are not true, and because they have no application whatever to the eternal world of spirit and to the great Creator and Upholder of it. I could see clearly now what I had
seen but hazily before, that orthodoxy is man made, but that the universe is God-given.

My friend went on to tell me that I should find living within the homes, that we could see from where we were lying, all sorts and conditions of people; people whose religious views when they were on the earth were equally varied. But one of the great facts of spirit life is that souls are exactly the same the instant after passing into spirit life as they were the instant before. Death-bed repentances are of no avail, since the majority of them are but cowardice born of fear of what is about to happen—a fear of the theologically-built eternal hell that is such a useful weapon in the
ecclesiastical armoury, and one that perhaps has caused more suffering in its time than many other erroneous doctrines. Creeds, therefore, do not form any part of the world of spirit, but because people take with them all their characteristics into the spirit world, the fervid adherents to any particular religious body will continue to practice their religion in the spirit world until such time as their minds become spiritually enlightened. We have here, so my friend informed me—I have since seen them for myself—whole communities still exercising their old earthly religion. The bigotry and prejudices are all there, religiously speaking. They do no harm, except to themselves, since such matters are confined to themselves. There is no such thing as making converts here!

Such being the case, then, I supposed that our own religion was fully represented here. Indeed, it was! The same ceremonies, the same ritual, the same old beliefs, all are being carried on with the misplaced zeal—in churches erected for the purpose. The members of these communities know that they have passed on, and they think
that part of their heavenly reward is to continue with their man-made forms of worship. So they will continue until such time as a spiritual awakening takes place. Pressure is never brought to bear upon these souls; their mental resurrection must come from within themselves. When it does come they will taste for the first time the real meaning of freedom.”

This theme was in keeping with much material received by trance mediums in this period, concerning the immediate time after death, when the transition of a spirit initially reflects where they were on their journey at that time. A concept of a Summerland where spirits undertook a transition from life to spirit, progressively gravitating to other spirits at a similar stage of their development. Indeed it is important to realise this transition takes place, understand that, just because your loved ones are in spirit and have made contact with you, they may not have any more wisdom than they had before they passed over. To obtain wisdom it is better to make contact with the more advanced spirits who are there to help you in your journey, both your own spirit guides and the other spiritual beings that will step forward to help you develop.
In fact the realisation that there is a spirit that continues beyond physical death may make you understand how little you really know about your own existence and consider starting your own journey of discovery. For most of our life we have spent years deciding about, dreaming of, arguing about and striving for our own future as a physical entity. This life becomes paramount, our worth is decided by what we do, where we come from and by our social status. Even if we have a religious belief we tend to prioritise the experiences and achievements of this life, as if there is nothing beyond death. In essence we let the physical body control the spiritual.

What do you gain from these physical achievements, are there any lasting benefits. Indeed how can they help you, if when you die, either there is nothing, or you must be judged and allowed to enter heaven or hell , or you are left to spend endless eons waiting for the a masters call for the righteous to, somehow, come back to life and live again, in some better way than you did before. In addition how do they help if you add the ability to play it safe and use a deathbed confession or conversion to cover your bets in case you are wrong.

We have created an apparent world where any form of behaviour can be excused where there is no need for personal responsibility. The only gain, or loss, that arises from our physical exertions is in relation to now and we believe we have exempted our actions from our future.

In reality have we achieved this safe division, through claivoyance we can prove that the critical element of our being is our spirit, this is the part that continues on long after our body and possessions are gone. Your spirit will be marked and affected by the experiences of this lifetime. They will be there to consider and reflect on, to link with the previous experiences of your spirit journey. I will use a little poem to highlight this, it comes from some work recently produced by Donny Ryles in America

PICTURE

Every act creates a picture
In the montage of your life
A memory filed forever
Some of joy and some of strife

All the pictures form an album
That shows everyone what you are
You are in control of the photos
To be a villain or a star

Every act creates a picture
For every person near to view
Be careful of the poses
They're how the World remembers you

Remember it is not just the world but also both you and spirit that see these things. The spirit in you is of the same essence as the light and love of the great spirit. It has the same capacity for unconditional love, it has the capacity for compassion, for forgiveness, for healing and understanding. How often do we exercise these elements of our being. We came to this world to gain experience but how often do we express this by intolerance, active hate for others, judging others on hearsay, expressing a willingness to hurt others, either wilfully or needlessly, or to hold onto hurts inflicted upon us. When we do these things we forget what we are, we forget that within each of us is the light of Spirit.

When you re enter spirit you will look back and see all the pictures that you created and begin to understand their impact on you as awareness reaches you that we truly all are one, linked by the light. As understanding comes you will begin to gravitate to the levels of spirit that match the state of growth that you have attained, because that is the way.

Many of you will find this harder than the current life because this one is lit by the brilliance of higher beings studded on your earth like stars in the firmament. As you go back to spirit some may feel that this light is lessened because you will be more closely linked to others at your own level. Remember though that this is a journey and although it may take a long time it will lead you to perfection. The journey will lead you back to the physical again and again because that is the way. This may happen faster or slower and lead to new dimensions but it will happen, it is the way to move forward.

As you advance the pleasure you take in the spirit world will increase and you will want to spend more time there as you gain greater understanding of what is available to you there.

It is a basic rule that the behaviour you choose to reflect in each life affects the pattern of the next stage of your journey, that is why personal responsibility is important. There is no punishment for wrong, just learning but why, given the short passage of time that this physical life represents on your spiritual journey, would you choose to forget and become self seeking, judgemental and critical. These things are likely to happen in any life but try and reach a point where you can use your spiritual nature to rise above these feelings. These are events that you can control, unlike the natural disasters that occur because of the physical shape of your world. The world is the stuff of chaos, it is not and never will be perfect. In fact it is often the events that arise as a result of this imperfection that give opportunities for people to rise up and sense the better parts of their spiritual nature.

In fact think on this, if today you cease to be a part of this world you will be back in spirit, think well on this as you hate or love each other and as you strive to make your way in your physical world. Think also on the fact that this is the same throughout your physical world across all races, sexes, colours and creeds. It is also the same regardless of how you pass into spirit and what nature of a person you were. Learn from this, those spirits that are currently on the earth plane have had enough time to start reaching across these self imposed boundaries to help each other move upwards and onwards each of you can make a start towards this.

The now of life is not important, the glitter, glamour and physical sensations of this life are not important. Yes enjoy these things but do not make them the central issue of your life. Take time to see yourself as a spirit on a journey. Learn to reach out to others with pure love. Forget all else, do not become distracted by events of the moment they cover only a flicker of time, like a nano second of the journey that you are taking in spirit.

Take charge of this life realise that as you begin to an understand that you are a part of spirit this can help you move beyond both daily and past problems. Always remember that spirit is around you and that there are guides to help your journey. Never forget that all of you stand in the love of spirit.