PROBLEMS OF A SCHOOLMASTER

　　　　　CHAPTER III

　　PROBLEMS OF A SCHOOLMASTER

　ТО a Spiritualist schoolmaster faced with spiritual problems who visited the circle, Silver Birch started in a manner unusual for this guide, for he said:

　"Before you ask me anything there are a few observations I would like to make, if you will permit me to make them to you"

　Normally, Silver Birch begins by asking how he can help. On this occasion he went on:

　"You have had many difficulties to face, many perplexities to unravel, much heart searching and heart burning, much conflict and clashing of ideas, all of which had to be sorted out in your own mind so that you should be satisfied that you were following the path of wisdom dictated by your own reason.

　"It has not been easy for you because yours is a heart which gives itself and yours is a mind which is ready to bestow a full loyalty, hoping that others would react in a similar way. You understand what I mean?"  

　"Absolutely," was the visitor's comment, and the guide went on:

　"I must point out to you that those on whom knowledge has conferred her benediction must follow the light of reason. The whole purpose of spirit return is to encourage the un-foldment of all the faculties which the Great Spirit has given to His children. 

　"It is not intended that in the pursuit of this knowledge, in the search for this wisdom and truth, you should abnegate reason, that you should allow justice to be blinded, your common sense to be outraged. We who return to you are beings very much like yourselves. We are still human, we are subject to error, we are subject to fault, we make no claim to infallibility or to perfection. We have advanced further along the path of life, have learned a little more and have seen results of earthly causes.

　"We desire to help humanity, to teach it certain truths, so that it can avoid the mistakes that we and others have made on earth, learn from our wisdom, begin to utilise their divine powers, so that your world could be better, freer, richer and ours not be troubled with the large number of misfits, un-prepared, unequipped, unready souls who come here. But this is a preliminary, because I insist that all who co-operate with us should never surrender their reason, their judgment or their free will.

　"Ours is a co-operation. We do not seek powers of dic-tatorship, we do not wish to treat you as automatons. We desire that the hand of fellowship should be clasped even across the gulf of death, and together we should labour in the common purpose of spreading knowledge that will bring freedom of body, mind and spirit to millions who know it not.

　"If you find that any spirit teacher, however exalted, how-ever evolved, however learned, asks you to do that which is foreign to your nature, which seems unreasonable or unjust, then reject it, for yours is the free will and yours the personal responsibility of what you make of your own lives.

　"We cannot live your lives for you. We can help you, we can guide you and we can sustain you, but we cannot transfer your responsibilities to our shoulders.

　"We desire that you should live the fullest life, the life in which all talents and faculties and gifts find their fullest manifestation. Thus you will serve the purpose of your earthly being and you will be ready for the next stage of life when the door of death opens to you. That is the standard which I lay down. And I think I can say without contra-diction of my friends who have known me for a long time that I enthrone reason as the supreme arbiter."

　The schoolmaster thanked the guide for his advice and en-couragement, adding that he needed them because the history of the past few years had been a difficult one. He asked how he could be of service in spreading Spiritualism.

　"Your world needs all the service that it can get," the guide told him. “There is a path of service if you are prepared to follow it. You will find, as others have found, that the door opens and when it does, you walk through it into larger rooms. The future is the child of the past. Whatever has transpired can be useful if you will see in it that which will guide you in days to come.”

　"I think," said the visitor, "it has been a useful past because I have gained a certain amount of knowledge. There are things which should stand me in good stead, experiences which I have had to undergo in order to reach the present stage of awareness. Now I want to go on to chapter two, to put any little knowledge I have and any future knowledge I may gain to the service of my fellow man in practical ways."

　"That is very good and laudable," commented the guide. "I will say that no appeal to us to co-operate in spreading knowledge will fall on deaf ears. That is our taskーto enーlighten your world, so that much of the needless darkness can be dissipated, and truth, radiant truth, shine in its place. There is much which you can do if you will allow yourself to be guided by those whose desire is to help humanity."

　"I very much want to work, if I can, with a little band," said the schoolmaster. "There are two of them in the Beyond who have been with me for some years. I think we can form a team of practical service together.”

　"That is well within the bounds of possibility,” said Silver Birch, "and they will work with you, for what unites you is the bond of love and good fellowship. You need have no fear on that score. But you must remember that you are a creature endowed with free will and you must not so easily surrender your judgment.

　"You must adopt the attitude that you are prepared to serve to the fullest of your abilities, to ask and be sure that the way is clearly shown to you. The plan will work out, but you must not try to hasten it. The difficulty with any work of this kind, in the process of transmitting it to your world, is that often it breaks down because all the component parts are so carefully and delicately joined together that a wrong move by those associated with the plan in your world might destroy the whole of it. Do I make myself clear?"

　"Yes, I begin to see how carefully controlled things are," said the schoolmaster, "and it explains a question I had about the law of frustration."

　Silver Birch resumed: “There are checks and counter-checks, there is a plan to which we all adhere, which is con-trolled by law, a plan which, in the main, has been mapped out for all of us. There are two ways of getting results in your world. One is the short cut; the appeal to large numbers in the quickest possible way by some staggering performance which would arrest attention. That has its merits, but I doubt whether there would be much permanent good as a result. That which is so easily obtained is very lightly prized. That which is not earned with merit is not regarded with much distinction.

　"The other way is by each soul learning for himself through trial and struggle and difficulty, through sorrow and afliction, through sickness and mourning, when the soul cries out in its anguish for help because it has come into its own. It is then, when the soul is ready, when the soil is ready, that the seeds of truth will germinate. And what is achieved through that method is not easily dismissed.”

　The schoolmaster then said: “I am very interested in young people in my profession as a teacher. I want to be able to introduce teaching such as yours. I want to help young men who passed through my hands. Some are already in the Beyond and need help because they were killed in the war. Then there are those left behind with minds which are maladjusted to life as a result of war.

　"I feel I could be a medium to give many my old boys some positive philosophy and religion. Again, I would like to be able to write, to express ideas to a wider circle still, and also to be able to talk to wider circles of people.”

　"There is no reason," said the guide, “why you should not be able to fulfil such very desirable ambitions. In regard to the first, you must step warily because you are on difficult ground. I would say that, in general, you could impart this knowledge to young minds, but in your case I would avoid the use of specific labels.

　"I have often said you call it 'Spiritualism.' That is your name, but to me it is the natural law. If you talk about Spiritualism the word itself sometimes connotes awesome ideas, especially to those unfamiliar with what is implied.

　"If you talk about the natural lawsーthe physical, menta and spiritual laws of the universe, about man's latent potential powers still largely unexplored, about the fields of activity that lie beneath the surface, the superphysical worlds, the faculties that belong to the finer side of man's being—there is a vast realm for instruction without introducing such words as “Spiritualism' and 'mediumship’ which might be misunder-stood.

　"I do not mean that you have to indulge in casuistry. Truth has many facets, and you can display them without attaching any particular label. You can help those who have passed on and those who are disillusioned on earthーand there are manyーby giving them opportunities of spreading know-ledge. A meeting, such as this tonight, is always used for disseminating knowledge among those in our world.

　"As to those whom you meet, you can tell them of your own experiences, how you have communicated with those regarded as dead, what they have told you,and you will find that far more than you think will be ready to listen. Some will not. Some will dismiss you, some will regard you as a strange being."

　"If they listen later on the seed will grow,” commented the teacher.

　"It does work,” Silver Birch emphasised, “because if the soul is not ready there is nothing you can do, for the soul must find itself first. But in many cases the soul is ready and they will be brought to you so that you can enlighten them.”

　A member of the circle put in: "Indeed, no words can be spoken to a young man without having some reaction on him sooner or later."

　"Yes,” said the guide, “because whatever you say to him, even if he rejects it, it is registered in his subconscious mind, and there it will dwell, having made its mark, until it is required, and then it will be called up into activity."

　"In my particular work," he was asked by the visitor, "is it connected with Spiritualist churches, or is it more outside that field?”

　"I will give you my opinion judged from what I see," he was told, and that is: it is not specifically directed to working within any organisation, but rather in the wider orbit. I do not mean that you should refrain from being associated with any church, society or organisation. There is no reason why you should not occasionally serve them, but that is not, as I see it, the permanent field.

　"You will be able to reach others who are not accessible to these churches. It is a question of links within a chain. You move in a certain world of your own, you are able to in-fluence people in your world as they are able to influence you. That world in which you move is not a world which goes to churches."

　"I heard you say before I came,” said Silver Birch, "that the guide of the very fine instrument in your house likes to work with affinities.”

　"That is the very first question I had put down to ask,” the schoolmaster replied.

　"I would like to say that your affinities are not with the churches,” the guide stated. “They serve a very good purpose to reach those who cannot be reached by any other way, but there are other ways and we desire to utilise them all.”

　Here is part of Silver Birch's answer to a personal question the visitor asked: “All that has taken place is the result of cause and effect.

　"These are the twin forces of life; effect following cause with methodical precision; effect has no alternative but to follow cause; cause in itself is but the effect of another cause; and so there is this endless chain throughout the whole of life in all its infinite ramifications. But nothing is lost so far as you are concerned. Truth remains truth. Truth cannot be tar-nished. All that is false must go, but truth, however much it may be assailed, will not sully her crown, for she is truth.

　"You cannot lose truth once you have earned it. Truth will always stand you in good stead when all else fails and flees and life seems to be a sinking quagmire. Truth will provide the one solid foundation on which you can rest with implacable resolve."

　Here the schoolmaster told of his difficulty—the mediums who gave him good evidence failed to give advice on his material problems.

　"The answer,” said a member of the circle, “is that the medium is not the medium for that purpose.”

　"And then again," put in Silver Birch, “I would lay it down as a rule that if such information is proffered volun-tarily it is much more likely to owe its origin to the spirit world than when it is given in response to a question asked by you. When you ask a question, on the purely physical plane, which at the time may seem important to you—it will not seem so important fifty years afterwards—then you are setting up a kind of challenge to the instrument, and that excites at once the powers of the instrument."

　"The subconscious powers?"

　"Yes, because all mediumship has to make use of the sub-conscious mind."

　"I have often asked questions about work. One medium interested in animals will say you should work for animals.”

　"There is no fraud, either conscious or unconscious, in-volved," Silver Birch told him. “You ask a question and it is tossed into the atmosphere. It is on the material plane, and that stimulates at once the subconscious mind of the medium.

　"If the guide is talking and volunteers some message con-cerning material circumstance, he does so because your spiritual development is affected at the time. That is why I made the distinction between that which is voluntarily offered and that which is given in response to a direct question.

　"I would not encourage the asking of questions concerning material happenings, but I do not discourage advice being given when those on our side think it fit for such advice to be given. To me quite a difference is involved.” 

　"In any case," said the guide in reply to an earlier question by a member of the circle, "the word 'fraud' suggests deceit, and there is no deceit involved. The subconscious mind of the medium is active while the spirit entity is working through him. The moment you bring the level down to the earthly one you are helping to awaken and stimulate that subcon-scious, and a response comes from it. Often it is better to let that response come and get it out of the way so that the channel can become clear again.

　"Otherwise, if you don't, you might have the stirring sub-conscious interfering for the rest of the time. You must remember that the processes of communication between the two worlds are very involved and are very intricate.”

　In a discussion on the reasons which cause people to inquire into Spiritualism, the schoolmaster asked the guide: “Would you say one of the strongest vibrations is the love vibra-tion?"

　"I would say it is the strongest of all,” he replied. “I would say that love, real love, is the greatest force in the whole universe, and that love can accomplish what no other power can achieve.

　"But we must be sure that we are talking about love and not any other emotion which is too often confused with love."

　Another question was, "What is lacking in modern education?"

　"The fact that no provision has been made for teaching the young the truth about themselves," was the spirit answer. "No teaching is directed to the end that they are spiritual beings with a spiritual destiny to achieve.

　"All the teaching is that primarily they are physical bodies possessing a mind and perhaps a soul. Very few are taught that they are spiritual beings possessing physical bodies, that here and now while expressing themselves on earth they are spiritual beings and that every day can add to their spiritual lustre, that every day is an opportunity for learning a lesson that will enrich the spirit and help to fortify it for its larger life. What is lacking is the truth about the child's innate faculties, the truth about religion. Far too much attention is paid to imparting information which is not so necessary to the child's equipment.”

　"I wish I could remember this,” said the man whose adult life has been spent in teaching. “I must get this in my mind. Most of the teachers fear to teach what is so controversial. They would rather give a flat, historical account. I think that is cowardly."

　"It is highly desirable that schools should teach these truths,” the guide persisted, “but until the teachers are con-vinced that they are truths, they will not be taught in schools. We must work the long way, which is the sure way, and that is by making our impress on individuals who will be able to implant the knowledge where they can.”

　"It takes a long time,” said a member of the circle. 

　"It did not take a short time to create the universe," was the reply. "Your life is an eternal one, and many of the problems which exercise your mind today will have been completely forgotten in a hundred years."

　"I suppose we are making progress in some degree,” said the schoolmaster.

　"We are making much progress,” retorted the guide. “I see the dawn rising, the light grows stronger."

　"Swaffer once said," added the visitor, "that this move-ment must start from the people and work upwards. I was wrong then because I thought it should start from the top.”

　"Truth will spread as individuals are convinced of it,” explained Silver Birch. “There is no means of mass con-version, and it is not by intellectual pursuit that we shall achieve this end. It is by serving and teaching and winning the soul of man.”

　Before closing the seance, Silver Birch said:

　"Let us always remember that we are part of that infinite spirit which breathed into man and made him a living soul. Let us remember that we are forever joined with the Great Spirit of life whose breath gave us a consciousness, an aware-ness of ourselves. 

　"Let us remember that the divine flame burns within us all. Let us remember that we are beings filled with divine beauty. Conscious of all this, let us soar to the highest that we can reach, to attune ourselves so that we may garner more of that wisdom, that eternal wisdom, which is part of the rich store-house of the Great Spirit.

　"For as we aspire to higher things, so we become more accessible to all the bounty that lies at present beyond us, and as we fill ourselves with wisdom and knowledge, we are more fit to help others less fortunate than ourselves."

　To another visitor who put her problems to Silver Birch at a further meeting of the circle, he told her: "You cannot learn to obtain control over yourself until you are fit to control yourself.”

　"I know that I have always been running away from things,” she answered, “and now I have got a chance of catching up and not running away.

　"What I wanted to ask you was, is it true that I get panicky and depressed simply because I do this running away from things, or is it for some reason I don't know about?"

　"I don't think the picture is as black as you have painted it," said Silver Birch, "and that you are quite the character you have depicted yourself to be. I see a woman who has triumphed in great difficulty, who has shown courage when others might have shown weakness, who has faced problems with great honesty and with the desire to do the best. In the past it might be true that perhaps too much shelter was afforded when independence could have been asserted. Is that what you mean?"

　"Yes," she replied, "and now I have a chance to stand on my own feet and I don't want to lose it."

　"Is that what you call running away?" asked the guide.

　"Yes, wouldn't you?" his visitor responded.

　"No," was the answer, "and remember this; like everybody else your life on earth is a means whereby you unfold your own character. There is none who can achieve that for you. Soul growth is an individual matter.

　"To all, whoever they may be, there come the trials and difficulties, the vexations of life. None there be who lives eternally in the sunshine of life untouched by any shadow. The measure of the problems that affect you depends upon your evolution. What might seem small to others is large to you. What might seem large to others is small to you. Each soul makes its own destiny.

　"A burden has been placed upon your shoulders; how you bear it you will decide. If you square your shoulders and say, "This is my burden, I will carry it,' it will become lighter because your soul will grow and in growing allow some of that inner strength to heal you. There is none spiritually impoverished for using honesty and courage in facing difficulties. You have nothing to fear.”

　"Not in material things, I know," she put in.

　"I am not talking about material things," asserted the guide. "I am talking of the soul, the spirit and the mind. I did not mean to convey any reference to material things.

　"I have this difficulty with all those I love because I can see so often that they come through into a light which illumines their souls and their spirits. They see themselves in mental darkness. And so I can always urge them to go forward unafraid.”

　A member of the circle said: "We can see ourselves only from our own material standpoint. If we think we are not pulling our weight, we are not. You may see us as wonderful, radiant beings who are very fine and pure, but we see our-selves as something different and we know our faults.”

　"No," responded Silver Birch, “I think most of you are much better than you think you are. There is a tendency among those who really have knowledge to depreciate them-selves because the addition of knowledge brings greater humility, true humility.

　"You cannot, while you are in the throes of a problem, always see the issues as clearly as you would like to do, nor are you always able, at that time, to judge the confused motives as clearly as you should when the mind is calm. In the midst of excitement and clash and discord, calm reflection does not easily take charge. Besides, you do not see the whole picture; you see only a little part of it.”

　"You can only use your free will according to what you know,” commented the visitor.

　"Yes, that is true, but then I always say to you—do as your conscience dictates," was the guide's answer.

　"Then I come unstuck. Conscience says something. You do not live up to it, and then you have to pay the penalty.”

　"Yes," said the guide, “and then we are back to where we started.” 

　"That is what I grumble at," was the comment, which brought this reply:

　"There are ascending spirals. Life is simple but intricate. There is a plan. There is a key which unlocks every door. You do not always have the right key, and so the door remains locked.

　"Understanding, the desire for truth, these are helpful in the battle of life. I know that those who are awakened attract to themselves the added power of the ones who love them from my world. That, coupled with your own inner re-sources, provides sufficient to enable you to overcome every obstacle.”

　"I suppose," said the woman with the problem, "failure does not matter so much as long as you know it is failure.”

　"You cannot see the whole picture," she was told. “When the eyes of the spirit are opened it will then be clear. What some regard as success is failure and what others regard as failure is success."

　Silver Birch's visitor admitted that in themselves people knew when they had failed or succeeded.

　"Yes, if you are calm enough to allow what is called conscience to guide you,” said Silver Birch. "It is there always. I say that you can always obtain from yourself the answer to your problems."

　"I quite agree with that,” the woman said.

　"But it is not easy,” he went on. "The great trouble with people in your world is that they have not learned the secret of how to hush themselves, how to find peace within, how to attune themselves so that all is harmony.

　"If they could learn how to withdraw, not physically, but mentally and spiritually from the world for a short while, so that the inner activity, too often suppressed, rises to the surface, they would find the answers to their problems. when you leave your normal rut and go away to the country or the sea, there you find often the answers to questions which have perplexed you. To a larger degree that could happen without any journeys if you knew how to do it."

　"But it is a most difficult thing to do," said his questioner.

　"Yes, it is very difficult," continued Silver Birch, “but the great spiritual prizes cannot be easily obtained. That which is the most desirable is the hardest to achieve, and that which is obtained without effort is not highly prized. 

　"I say to you, go forward. Never before in the whole of your life have you been as awake as your soul is today. Let it take charge; let it still the conflict. Know that all is well within and in that atmosphere you will find that inner peace and tranquillity for which you yearn. Few know of the raging storm and tempest that goes on within. I understand you."

　"I see you do," said the woman with the problem, as the guide added:

　"I will help you. With all the love that comes to you from our world, you will not fail. Keep holding on, keep holding on. Hold fast to that which you know to be true.

　"The Great Spirit will never fail you as long as you do not fail the Great Spirit.”