THE TASK OF THE GUIDES

　　　　CHAPTER IX

　　THE TASK OF THE GUIDES

　"THERE are all kinds of guides because there is a diversity of purposes to be achieved," said Silver Birch when questioned at our home circle. He had been asked why some guides had no knowledge of a subject on which he himself is well informed and he explained:

　"Not all guides are on the same level of evolution. They differ in their growth and development according to tasks that they have to perform in your world.

　"It does not follow that the knowledge possessed by one guide is also possessed by another. Some have specialised in varying aspects of the universe, but no guide is infallible; he can speak only as a result of his experiences and cannot impart knowledge on subjects concerning which he knows nothing.

　"The guide whose function it is to be the doorkeeper of a seance for physical phenomena does not know very much about metaphysics, and the guide whose purpose it is to teach some of the higher reaches of philosophy knows nothing about the compounds that go to form a materialisation.

　"Do not treat all guides as being on a single level of attain-ment."

　Answering the question, "Who or what are our guides?" Silver Birch said:

　"Sometimes they are those who belong to the family line. Sometimes there is no tie of earthly relationship, but instead there is a spiritual kinship based upon mutual attraction be-cause there is some task that can be performed. They are not restricted to the members of any race or nation, for race and nationality do not persist after the grave when the habits of earth have died away. There are no races or nations in the souls; only in the bodies."

　A fascinating picture of the work done by guides " behind the scenes" has been given by Silver Birch. It arose when he was asked, "Can you tell us how the guides are selected?" The spirit teacher answered: "Some volunteer because they are aware of tasks to be performed in your world. Others who have reached a maturity of spiritual growth are approached by those who have taken upon themselves the task of helping humanity.

　"I was askedーI did not choose in the first place. But when I was asked whether I would volunteer to do so I readily assented and I can tell that a very black picture was painted of the difficulties that would have to be surmounted before any progress could be made. Yet those difficulties, to a large extent, have been conquered and the obstacles that still stand in the way are very small compared with those that have been removed."

　"And those who volunteer, as distinct from those who are approached, do they have to satisfy some examiners who test their fitness to become guides?" was the next question.

　"It is not quite in that sense," answered Silver Birch, "but something very like it. Our world is very highly organised, it is far more organised than ever you have thought was possible, and to perform this task requires a miniature organisation. You know by name some of the members of this band, who incidentally are a most retiring assortment of people, because each time I seek to thrust them forward, they always stand back and say, 'You go ahead.'

　"Now you cannot get your group, your band, unless it is attracted to you for the work's sake and have reached that degree of evolution which gives you the power of attraction. In our world what you are determines what you do. It is your spirit that is the dominant reality. There are no masks, no dis-guises, no subterfuges, no cheats; there is nothing hidden; all is known." 

　"And your fitness is apparent by what is seen in your spirit," was a sitter's comment.

　"Yes, because your aura, your colours, your radiation, show what you are. None could masquerade as a teacher unless he was a teacher because it would be apparent he could not teach. And so you cannot attract the souls interested in the task of helping humanity unless you are ready to attract them by virtue of your own spiritual growth. Do you understand

that?"

　"Yes," the guide was told by the sitter asking these ques-tions. "All I am trying to get at is how are spirits, who are not sufficiently evolved, prevented from acting as guides, although they may not have the same skill as one more evolved?"

　"They just could not do it. You could not do that for which you are not fitted. You would not attract the power, the force, the rdys, the people. You would have none of the accessories because you had not earned them. You could not control a medium without the help of those people. These are intricate processes. They appear simple when all is success-ful, but when things go wrong you get an inkling into the organisation behind apparently simple processes."

　Still pressing the point the questioner dealt with untrained mediums who sometimes received messages from people who pretended to be what they were not. Was it possible to pre-vent a communicator from saying he was a guide? Was there any way in which the untrained medium could test what came through?

　"By their fruits shall ye know them," was the guide's response. "If you open the door of your house, and put nobody there to guard the entrance to check who comes in, all kinds of individuals may cross the threshold and make all sorts of claims. But if you say, 'I am going to open the door at a certain time because I know that when I do so there will be a watchman who will scrutinise every intending visitor'ーthat is not the same thing, is it?"

　"No, so the safeguard seems to be regular sittings."

　"Yes, of course. It must be so, and have a guide there whom you know and do not essay any communication unless the guide has given evidence of his presence. Ours is a very human world. Its range is unlimited, from the lowliest to the highest and there are many eager, yearning to return to your world. But they are not all guides, they are not all teachers, they are not all sages. Some of them are very human and motives which actuate them are not always very spiritual."

　"In a well-organised seance, is there any control from the spirit side regarding communicators?" was the next question. "Is it possible for someone to speak, say, with a false name?"

　"Not in a well-organised seance," was Silver Birch's reply. "In all the years that we have met together here such a happen-ing has never occurred."

　"I was just wondering about the organisation on the Other Side and whether we have any guarantee, apart from the evidence that the communicators give us," was the point made by the sitter.

　"The guarantee is two-fold," Silver Birch said. "First the evidence carries its own result. In other cases, particularly of those who come back for the first or second time, your guarantee lies with the spirit guide in charge of the proceed-ings. I would say of all the well-known guides who have worked for many years that they are incapable of telling a lie and I would trust them. But that does not meanーand to this I always returnーthat those who are present in their seances should abandon, for a single moment, their reason, which is a divine gift. No matter who the guide is, or the communi-cator, if anything is said or suggested which is repugnant to your reason, then I say to you it is your bounden duty to reject it.

　"The whole basis of our work is co-operative and unless we can carry you with us all the way of your own free will and consent, with no mental reservations, we cannot succeed. I have often said to you, do not accept what I tell you if it seems wrong. Refuse it. If you disagree with me, and I make no claim to infallibility, to possessing all the wisdom of the ages, then let us reason together and learn one from the other.

　"By such methods we will succeed. It is not part of our task to dragoon you or to compel you. Rather do we seek to guide you with the light of divine reason, so that always you, of your own volition, will accept the next step that lies ahead of you.

　"I do not say we never make mistakes, but that is vastly different from telling deliberate falsehoods. 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' It is a very good test. If you are en-couraged to be selfish and mercenary, to neglect your duties to the world, to be vicious, to be unneighbourly; if you are told to be uncharitable and bigotedーall this would be a con-demnation and rightly so.

　"But the whole stress of our teaching and our philosophy is always on the one single, dominant motive that underlies anything that emanates from our worldーservice. We desire to teach you to serve one another, to share with others what you have received so that divine beneficence may spread all over the world. 'By their fruits shall ye know them.' And in the end that method must succeed because it is of the Great Spirit and the Great Spirit through the natural law is actuated by love and wisdom."

　Earlier in the seance there were questions and answers about the spirit power used at sittings. The guide explained that the previous week he could not manifest very successfully because: "I had used up all the power and part of our reserve. But no such difficulties are present tonight and I am here in full strength, with all my rations."

　"So the store is replenished," said a sitter.

　"Yes, the storehouse is full, it is running over," the guide answered. "Let us dip into it and take some of its treasures away with us."

　"Where do you replenish it from?" Silver Birch was asked.

　"From you.

　"Not from us only?"

　"Oh, yes, from all of you. That is where it comes from. You provide the power which gives me access to my store-house."

　"And, of course, from the medium as well," said another sitter.

　"Yes, the medium's power enables me to speak with you and to inflict myself upon you."

　"Do you only take it whilst we are here, or when we are elsewhere?"

　"No, whilst you are here. It is much the easiest whilst you are here. I take only little pieces, but a lot of little pieces make many pieces. Then we mix it up, we have something that we add and the two combined give us what we wantーit's very simple. Now you know how to do it!"

　"Is it somewhat the same as ectoplasm?"

　"Yes it is, but used in a much more rarefied form."

　"But is it essentially the same substance?"

　"It is the same substance which is taken from you. This mysterious word 'power,' which is used so often, is part of the life-force and what you call ectoplasm is but a variation of it."

　"But I always thought ectoplasm returned to the sitters."

　"Yes, but there is always a little piece that you do not get back."

　"When the storehouse is empty, instead of giving it back to us do you keep it?"

　"Yes. By adding to it with our mixture, which involves taking something similar, but not quite similar, from the members of the band, we then have a quantity which is suffi-ciently malleable to be used at one gathering and, like wise squirrels, we hoard a little of it in case we want it. It is part of the life-force. That is the only way I can explain it."

　"Isn't it possible to work without that reserve?"

　"Only at the risk of putting a great strain on the medium. Then it would mean taking all his strength to speak, and nothing would be achieved by it."

　"No, I was not suggesting that you should. I was just try-ing to understand why."

　"I try to give you the answers which do not tell you too much," was Silver Birch's comment.

　"Why should that be?" asked another member of the circle. "Why don't you want to tell us?"

　"For one reason it is impossible to explain and for another reason we are not allowed to do so. The possession of this knowledge is an index of certain spiritual attainment. You cannot have this knowledge until you have reached that attainment."

　"If it were possible for us to understand it, would it be possible for us to use that knowledge in the wrong way whilst in the body?"

　"Yes, provided of course that you could get the co-opera-tion of people in my worldーand you might. But, then, once you had the knowledge you would not use it in the wrong way, for being the possessor of the knowledge would mean that your spirit had grown to that stage where you would know how to use it.

　"All is regulated by law. You never hear of any of the guides, as distinct from controls, behaving in a manner that is morally wrong. You never hear them condemn, you never hear them indulge in slander or back-biting or any of those habits which are the hall-mark of an undeveloped spirit. They have had to satisfy those who determine the ones who qualify to guide humanity. If they could not control themselves, how are they then fit to attempt to lead others on to the right path? But answer that for yourselves.

　"It is a very high standard that is set. We are engaged in the mission of attempting to guide a perplexed humanity, and we must be competent to act as guides. Thus it is that those who perform the task are subject to strict surveillance; thus it is that we report and are examined and all our efforts co-ordinated to ensure that the work goes forward. That is why I always say to you that you can safely leave yourselves in the hands of those who have proved that they love you and whose desire, whose only desire, is to serve you and through you others who need that service."

　Silver Birch closed the circle with this benediction:

　"Now may we hearken to that inner voice, with its con-stant prompting, to that divine monitor which seeks always to guide our footsteps. May we be conscious of the divine presence within and the power of the spirit without.

　"May we recognise that we are indeed encompassed by love and wisdom, that knowledge and inspiration seek to use us for the benefit of mankind. And may we strive by our lives to reveal that we are indeed the ambassadors of the Great spirit, seeking to render service all who need it and thus becoming more and more accessible to that power which emanates from the source of all life."

　Here is the prayer with which the guide opened the circle:

　"Oh Great White Spirit, we turn our thoughts and our attention to Thee, seeking to garner from the infinite store-house that knowledge which will assist us in the tasks that lie before us.

　"We know that Thou hast provided all that is necessary for our maintenance, our sustenance and for the whole of our lives. It depends entirely upon us as to how receptive we make ourselves and fit ourselves for some of that infinite knowledge to which we have not yet attained. We know that throughout the whole universe the operation of Thy natural law reigns supreme and every facet of activity is regulated by unchanging law. No man, however exalted his position, or evolved his spirit, has the power to change the operation of that law which does not confer favour or wreak malice, but operates inexor-ably throughout all centuries.

　"We desire to teach Thy children more and more about the wonder of this law, that they may learn to regulate their lives by it and thus derive all the fulness and richness and beauty which could be theirs. It will provide them with strength in their weakness, resolution in times of difficulty, hope when they are despairing, comfort when they mourn and food when they are hungry.

　"It will reveal to them their own divine nature and teach them to find within themselves that reservoir which Thou hast supplied and placed within it gifts of Thy spirit. Thy children can have at their command all the joys that come with the knowledge of eternal realities and fill their lives with the priceless riches of this spiritual treasury, and having acquired this wealth they will then know that it is their duty to share it with others less fortunate than themselves. Thus they will serve as they have been served and the law of life will be fulfilled in ever-increasing measure.

　"This is the prayer of Thy Indian servant who seeks to serve."

　Spirit guides are always experimenting, even in circles which for years have been working with highly-developed mediums. Silver Birch explained this, in part, when he was asked whether he was "blind" and "deaf" when controlling his medium.

　This question arose because, at a previous seance, Hannen Swaffer arrived while the sitting was in propress and a mem-ber of the circle changed over to another position, and it seemed as if the guide was unaware of the change.

　Silver Birch's answer to the question whether he is blind and deaf while speaking through his medium was:

　"Partially so. It depends how good is the hold over the organism and how many 'lines' are open to me. If they are all open and I am not hanging on to one or two threads, which requires great effort, then the control of the instrument is such that for the time being I am the instrument and what he experiences I experience.  

　"But if the avenues of communication are restricted, de-manding a close supervision of those that remain in order to preserve continuity, then the hold on the medium is weakened and only the vital centres that are necessary for control are used, and to that extent I am less in control of the instrument than I usually am."

　Then, a sitter asked: "But that raises the point that if the medium knew who was sitting in the room beforehand, and you addressed someone, how would you know if the medium did not know?"

　"I will tell you exactly what happens," answered the guide. "Anything that reveals the processes that can be explained is interesting. I go on talking to you until I am given the signal that the line is clear, and then I tune in and repeat what is given to me. That effort of concentration means more attention has to be paid because it is important. 

　"Now I heard Swaffer come in and said, 'Ah, that is Swaffer,' but did not pay attention to where he sat. When I heard someone come near, I thought it was he, and I turned and said, 'How are you?'"

　A member of the circle recalled that, and the guide went on:

　"And then you (meaning the person who had remembered the incident) answered and I realised that you had changed places with Swaffer. I had complete control over the faculties of hearing, but not over seeing at the moment. That is why I turned and said, 'How are you?' because I heard someone come to sit over here, but not wishing to disturb the con-tinuity of the thread at the time I said no more than that. I hope that solves the mystery."

　"Supposing," asked a sitter, "someone went very quietly out of the room, would you know he had gone?"

　"It depends when it takes place," said the guide. "If it takes place now I know; if it takes place while I am tuned in to something that requires concentration and I am only holding on to the vital centres of the instrument, then I am not con-cerned with the other things. I try to keep watch over the essentials, the fundamentals, all the time."

　Then a common question was asked: "Is not there some continuity of the circle that is disturbed when somebody else comes in?"

　And Silver Birch replied: "Not if it is a member of the circle. All of you who are members have contributed to the power which comes through your auras, and the blending of that gives the power necessary for the communication to be made. If a stranger comes in it is different. That is a new power that has to be taken into account.

　"It does not matter if you have the light here switched on or off for all the members of this circle so far as trance is con-cerned. It does not matter if you cross your legs, or uncrosthem, because the power is regulated and controlled. But if this were a gathering of strangers to whom I was talking, them it might be necessary to impose conditions which made it easier for the trance communication to take place."