DESCRIPTION
Published in 1892 | 298 pages | PDF reader required
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. How the Narrative Began
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 II. The Process of Dying
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 and Speed
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 theater. Startling sympathy. Communication before death. An intangible grasp. Astonishing phenomena. Throwing the spirit to a distance. An absent spirit. Do spirits suffer? Human sorrow vain. Life like a broken toy. Ideas assume form.
CHAPTER IV. The Law of Attraction
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
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. Senses of Spirit
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. Reason 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
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 themselves. 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. Idea-Facts
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
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.
CHAPTER X. What is Unconscious Will?
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. Mortal Mind
Will and imagination. A strange communication. Emanations. Ghosts. Magnetism. The effects of mind. The Black Magician. Obsession.
CHAPTER XII. Punishment
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.
CHAPTER XIII. Spirits Do not Tempt—The Celestial Body
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. Opposing Creeds
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
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—Elementaries
A strange vision. A critical comment. No struggle. A rare phenomenon. A wholly unexpected explanation. 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—Childish Age
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 XVIII. Music, Art and Memory
Music in Heaven. No instruments. Can spirits compose and play music? No such word as "ungratified." Music in Heaven is thought. Uttering oneself 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 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
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 force for good.
CHAPTER XX. Astrology
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
Invisible compensations. Has prayer any effect? To will is often to accomplish. Human life infinitely varied. 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.
CHAPTER XXII. Thought
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 oneself. 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 traveling party. Plunging into the center of the earth. The mandate of love.
CHAPTER XXIII. The God-Soul of Man
Especial care for God's children. You are God. No selfhood out of God. Many spirits have disappeared. Spirits as gods. Every soul shall be perfect at last. Is there a second death? The queen-mother. The realm of divine holiness. A wall like precious stones.
CHAPTER XXIV. The Drama—A Day in Heaven
Memory. Evolution of elements. Some planets are inhabited. Planets differ in glory. The human mind must discover material facts. The transcendent genius of men. One spirit a living link. Education in spiritual law. Scientific data. A satisfactory mission. Poetry, romance and affection. The drama. Dramatists and
actors. Actors act their own souls. A stage murder. To mortals death is the tragedy of tragedies. Interesting situations. Plots of facts. The supreme moment of love. The spiritual canvas. Evil disciplinary and remedial. Work out your own salvation. A strong steppingstone. The negatives of Heaven. We shall be strong. The kernel of character. Growth and unfolding. Evil blotted out. Opera, oratorio
and orchestra in Heaven. The envious clock. Intercourse and society in Heaven. The shadow of desired privacy. Delightful occupations. Day is infinite sight. Added powers.
Farewell.