VENGEANCE OR RETRIBUTION?

　　　　　CHAPTER V

 　VENGEANCE OR RETRIBUTION?

　"HOW would you present the truths of the spirit to the peoples of Europe defeated in war?” That was one of the questions put to Silver Birch during our sitting.

　"Truth is truth," answered the guide, “eternal in quality, but infinite in its variations and facts. You cannot enunciate a truth so that it can be grasped immediately by masses of people, all of them at different stages of evolution and whose soul growth would react differently to the same truth.

　"I have always taught that the plan of the spirit is not to con-vert large numbers on one occasion, for we know that such methods produce no lasting or enduring benefit. The crowd, the mass, may be spellbound or dazzled for a while, but inevitably there is a reaction, and when they are free from all the dominance of mass psychology and begin to function as individuals, then very often there is a rueful awakening.

　"No, our plan has been to reach individuals, one by one, to build on the unit, giving to them according to their spiritual needs, so that once they have established the reality of spiritual truths, taught to them in most cases by those whom they loved most in life, and who have been transferred to our world, then that conviction will remain, and all the storms and buffetings of circumstance will not disturb that solid foundation.

　"So that there is no way of bringing conviction to large num-bers of people, no way that would be satisfying so far as results are concerned.

　"You must remember that before there can be appreciation of spiritual truths, the soul must be ready to receive them, other-wise you are trying to pierce granite. But once the soul is touched by suffering, by sorrow, the granite has gone and instead there is a far more malleable material, receptive, ready, willing to learn.

　"But there is a message for all those who are oppressed. You must appeal to their reason and to the highest that is within them. It is no use calling forth the remains of their animal ancestry and encouraging them to think that their best plan is to demand an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

　"They must be told that the price of their suffering should redeem them and make them fit and ready to play their part in the New World where there should be no hatred, no rancour, no bitterness, but the desire to live in mutual co-operation."

　Then the discussion veered round to a familiar topic of the day, "What will the world of the United Nations do with the defeated Axis peoples?" One member of the circle, a former parson, said, “I feel I could never shake hands with one of them again," and the guide answered:

　"It is the privilege of those who have knowledge to aid those who have been misdirected. Do not let the atmosphere of war completely blind you to the underlying eternal spiritual realities."

　"But with all modesty," said the ex-parson, “I would not be-have with such diabolical wickedness."

　"Do not worry,” replied the guide. “The law is perfect. Each receives his just portion of compensation and retribution. The Great Spirit, Whose infinite intelligence planned the whole universe and devised immutable laws for its governance, has also provided for all who live in that universe and none will escape the operation of the natural law. Do not confuse ven-geance with retribution.

　"We approach the problem from different perspectives. You cannot fashion a world on vengeance and hatred; these cloud your judgment and make you unfiit to decide or to build.”

　"Is not vengeance some part of retribution?" asked the sitter.

　"No," was the answer. “Vengeance is the old Mosaic law, retribution is how the law of the Great Spirit works—that to each according to his deserts is given."

　"Would you say," persisted the one-time minister, “that one set of men should never punish another set of men?”

　And Silver Birch replied: “I would treat them as you treat those whose minds are unsound, give them the corrective treat-ment that will enable them to view life in its true perspective, that if you must punish—and I do not see always the need for itーthen it must be that kind of punishment that will help the soul to find itself and not the kind that will encourage more hatred and breed more wars."

　"If you deal lightly with such people," said the sitter,"you probably will have a recurrence of war in twenty years' time. I say get rid of them."

　"How do you get rid of them?" asked the guide.

　"As in this war,” was the reply.

　"And has that solved your problem?" was the rejoinder. "Does their influence cease to exist because their bodies no longer function? Does life only exist in your world? Do you think that thousands of souls compelled to leave their bodies filled with hatred will help your world?"

　"It might teach them a lesson," was the sitter's comment. “It might teach them something different."

　"It will teach them to hate," said the guide. "Hatred begets hatred, love begets love. Do not try to judge with the eyes of matter. It has been tried before and failed. When you execute a murderer, you have not solved the problem. He returns very often and inspires others to murder.

　"How is the problem solved? His punishment should be remedial, to make him a fit citizen of society, to take his rightful place. His mind was diseased, you should put it right. That is the true way, the helpful way, way of service, the way that takes cognisance of the law and works with it."

　Then the guide was asked, “How would you approach two spirits, both having died fighting each other?"

　"It depends on the two spirits," said the guide. “I am sorry to make the qualification, but these are not questions to which stock answers can be given. It depends upon the state of their progress. In some cases they go on fighting for a long time, but ultimately there comes the recognition that with the death of their bodies the enmities bred in a physical world no longer persist.

　"In the lower stages of the spirit world, there is a replica of all that transpires in your physical world. All the warfare and fighting still continues, but gradually as realisation comes, the soul leaves the astral world and sheds all the prejudices and enmities that it had in your world.

　"Then these problems begin to solve themselves, for with a true understanding of spiritual laws they realise that their task is to equip themselves, to perfect their own gifts, to develop their own talents, which can be achieved only by giving service. These are purely temporary, problems, problems of how to bring recognition of spiritual facts to those who are not yet aware of them. All kinds of expedients have to be used.

　"One of the greatest tasks is to convince those who do not believe that they have left your world. Some are obstinate, some are less obstinate, some are more receptive. The whole of man-kind is not at the same stage of evolution, and therefore the approach to every soul must be according to his individual needs."

　During the days when this country was suffering from air raids, it is not surprising that somebody requested us to say to Silver Birch: "Quite a lot of your teaching relates to the casting out of fear, but this is very difficult when enemy bombs are dropping. Isn't it natural to be afraid in such circumstances?”

　The guide answered: "Yes, it is; but you can also learn to cast out fear. I know that many of the ideals that we hold in front of you are not easy of attainment. It is not easy to realise all that we desire should come within your reach, but the greatest riches are usually those which are obtained after difficulty.

　"These prizes require much labour. It is because they are so worth-while that I urge them upon you. I say to you that you are in part infinite spirits; the same essence of infinity that created the whole world is within each one of you.

　"If you will learn how to tap that potency which is yours, if you will learn how to call upon the divine reserves that you have, if you will learn how to draw on the reservoir of the spirit, then from that armoury you can receive all that will fortify you when you feel fear.

　"You have the means of conquering all that besets you in your journey through life. It is within yourself. The Nazarene put it one way, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you.' And it is a kingdom of infinite treasures you can have as you develop yourself. And the higher you develop the more treasures you realise can be yours for ever.

　"If it were an easy gospel we always preached, then it would mean that life had few opportunities for advancement and evolution. There are many difficulties to be overcome; that is why there is an infinity of perfection to be achieved. Life is infinite, there is no end, and the growth towards perfection is an infinite process, too."

　At another sitting, Silver Birch spoke on a different aspect of fear when he was asked the following question: "Allowing for exaggeration, there does undoubtedly exist, in some, a reluctance for physical combat amounting to what is termed cowardice. If more members of the human race were similarly affected wars would become rarer. How does the spirit world

view this?"

　"It is a natural expression of the individual," the guide's answer began. “I always teach that life is in contrasts, that hatred is love inverted, that fear is bravery inverted. They are all the same qualities, expressed at different ends of the pole of emotion. I always have said that as correspondingly low that you can sink, so correspondingly high can you rise.

　"Fear can be transmuted into courage, hatred can be trans-muted into love. Some may find that a difficult gospel to accept. That is what I teach. The mind embraces a variety of complex emotions and feelings. If you apply yourself to controlling them you evolve and you grow, and the lower is transmuted into the higher."

　"Is it a bad thing to be a coward?" the guide was asked.

　"I say it is not bad or good,” Silver Birch replied. “It is natural because it is an emotion, a feeling which is part of your equipment. Because you have mind, you have all the qualities of mind, whether you express them outwardly or not, they are still there.

　"Bravery and cowardice are part of your mental and spiritual equipment. You may not show them, but they are still there. You may feel them without expressing them outwardly, but they are still there. What I am striving to teach is that, however negative or undesirable are these qualities, you have the power to transmute thein into their higher aspects, which to me is the most important lesson. Cowardice is exactly of the same quality as courage. It is its inversion, and you can, with all the power that you possess, transmute it.''

　"Do you call it a negative attribute, in the same way as hate?" the guide was asked.  

　"Yes, I do," was the answer. "I say it is part of the mind's equipment. The mind possesses all attributes."

　Asked to comment on the questioner's statement: "If more people were cowards, in other words, negative, there would be no war," Silver Birch said: "That is not so. It is quite obvious that war is not solved by turning everybody into cowards."

　Then, at another meeting of the circle, Silver Birch spoke on the subject of suffering, saying:

　"Suffering is part of the law. Even those who are victims of suffering, though they may dislike it, suffer because they have broken the law. It is part of the law, and if you did not suffer you would not learn.''

　"But suffering is not the only way of development," a sitter commented.

　"Of course not,” said Silver Birch, “but it is one of the important ways. I cannot understand those who want to flinch from hardship or danger or difficulty.

　"If you are to gain your goal, if you are to perfect all your gifts, you must go through fire, you must be tried and tested, otherwise who knows what is your mettle?”

　Somebody present said: “People have got the idea of a bene-volent deity, and development of character through suffering is foreign to them."

　"Who said the Deity is benevolent?" challenged the guide. "The Deity is law, benevolent in its ultimate, but the law sends sunshine and the rain, the law sends snow and the storm, the law sends calm and the storm, the law sends the heat and the cold, the law is in everything.

　"I have tried to teach that—through love and hatred, through anger and passion, it is the supreme law. But many have dis-agreed with me. They could not understand how the Great Spirit could be in hatred. But the Great Spirit, being the Great Spirit, must exist in everything. It is the law, the perfect law.”

　"If everybody perfectly adhered to the law,” said a member of the circle, "they would see the benevolence."

　"Of course, but the processes are eternal,” said the guide. "One day you will not see through a glass darkly. You will realise that those were the most important lessons of your life and that if you had not suffered you would not have understood. It is a hard lesson to learn, but it is a lesson. If all lessons were easy, if there were no hardships, no temptations, no difficulties, if lífe were one long pleasure cruise, the race would become moribund.”

　Similar themes were discussed at a later seance, when Silver Birch said:

　"There is none who goes through your earthly life free from pain and suffering, toil and anguish, whose life is lived for ever in the sunshine, who has none of the shadows. I know of no such case."

　The guide had been asked: "If suffering is necessary to develop one's character, doesn't it seem to be a form of injustice that some people don't suffer?"

　He answered: "Who said so? Suffering is not always an out-ward sign that is visible to the casual onlooker. Suffering is what the heart and mind and soul feel within. Do not attempt to judge mankind by the mask it wears in its daily life. It is the soul that feels and registers."

　Then the sitter who had put the question asked: "If suffering is so important and essential to the evolution of character, why do you continually urge that everything should be done for the alleviation of suffering?"

　"Of course, I do," replied Silver Birch, “but I am not foolish enough to imagine that you will ever have a world in which there were no suffering of any kind, in which perfection has been reached. I realise that life is infinite in its progress. There-fore, to attain all the steps of infinite progress you have to evolve all the time, and evolution means the gradual perfecting of that which was imperfectーand that must be a painful process.

　"But at the same time, I recognise that there is much needless suffering, the suffering that is self-inflicted, the suffering that is caused by wilful ignorance and deliberate stupidity, the suffering that comes from prejudice, the suffering that comes from rigid alliance with superstition. It is all that needless suffering that I want to see abolished. But because man is an evolving being, he will always be struggling towards the light. All processes of birth are usually accomplished by struggle.

　"The trouble is that so many of them feel very sorry for them-selves, and they do not realise that when they can view their early life dispassionately, when they can judge themselves apart from the circumstances which at present colour the whole of their thinking, then they will see that the greatest progress was made at the time when all seemed dark, drear and difficult.

　"The realisation comes in the hours of bitterness. If there were never any pain, if there were never any anguish, if there were never any heartaches, the soul would hardly be aware of itself or its innate capabilities."

　Another sitter asked: "Why do you say you improve by suffering or that you develop? Why is it that in some cases it either improves a person or destroys their character?"

　"Then the real character has not emerged," replied Silver Birch. "The aspect which exhibited itself before was just as

unreal as the aspect which exhibits itself after the suffering. The reality has yet to emerge."

　Another question was," Why should some people be spiritually gifted and not others?"

　"All the gifts of the spirit are possessed by every being poten-tially,” said the guide. That must be so because they are spiritual beings, but in some there are certain gifts that lie nearer the surface and are therefore capable of development. You might as well ask me: 'Why are some endowed with beauty of form and others are not? Why are some endowed with talent to paint and others are not?' There is an explanation, but that involves going into some intricate problems."

　Somebody else asked: “We hear of the sea being calm at Dunkirk and of the weather being favourable at Sicily. Was this due to divine intervention?"

　"There is no intervention by the Great Spirit,” replied the guide. “The laws, the universal natural laws, have always been in existence—and will always be in existence. There is no circumstance that has ever happened, or that will ever happen, that requires the suspension of any natural law or the inter-vention in any natural law.

　"The world is ruled by natural laws, and it is not necessary for any interference to take place. If it were, then the Great Spirit would cease to be the Great Spirit, for, instead of being perfect, the Great Spirit would be chaotic.''

　"I asked that,” said a member of the circle, “because many eminent people speaking on the wireless recently seemed to think that divine providence has been on our side."

　And the guide answered: "To me eminence is only achieved by greatness of soul. I know of no other standard of judgment. And do not allow your nation, however just its cause, to imagine that the Great Spirit takes sides. The Great Spirit is the law.

　"If you do that which is right, then automatically you place yourself in harmony with the operation of natural law. There is no need to visualise a magnified human deity who summons all the forces just to aid you in your hour of difficulty. And that, too, includes a lot of Spiritualists who still think in terms of a personal God.”

　"I suppose," said the sitter, “everybody is in a different stage of evolution and it is difficult for them to understand.”

　"I do not mind when they disagree with me or tell me how wrong or misguided I am,” responded Silver Birch. “I can only express the truth as I see it, and as I have learnt it after many long years of evolution.

　"If that upsets their ideas of religion, or Christianity, or Hinduism, I cannot help it. I am not concerned with labels, with creeds, or with any concepts of religion. I am concerned only with the truth as I have learned it. That is my only standard of judgment.

　"I ask no souls to accept what I say if it seems unreasonable to them. I state what I know as humbly, as sincerely, as reverently as I can. I lay all my knowledge, all the wisdom Í have acquired at the feet of those who will accept it. If they decide to reject it, that is their responsibility; it is not mine."