THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE

　　　CHAPTER NINE

　　THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE

　AN answer to a question that Silver Birch

gave some years ago formed the subject of a letter from a woman who wrote:

　"On page 25 of More Wisdom of Silver Birch Silver Birch gives a wonderfully able answer to the 'right and wrong' question and explains the duty of the 'conscience' within every one of us. This is comprehensive and requires no further discussion; but it seems to me that perhaps he could go further into detail for the benefit of those who, through youthful orthodox or conven-tional training, cannot distinguish between the prodding of this prejudiced training and their own conscience.

　"I know various people myself who have been brought up to be 'God-fearing' and 'church-attending' folk, and they have kindly, helpful hearts, doing what their church teaches them is right and proper. Yet they would exclaim in horror and start talking about 'devils' and 'sinful' and 'evil' if confronted with the simple facts of spiritual truth. Their ignorance is saddening to think about.

　"Now these people, and thousands of the same type (the good, solid citizens), in my opimion, cannot judge what is their unbiased conscience and what is tainted with the ignorant teachings which have been 'fed' to the race for generations. For instance; their conscience would prick and worry them terrifically if they did not attend the church service on Sundays. It would appear very wrong, in fact possibly sinful' to fail to go; as to go is to be godly and good and is 'right'.

　"How can they geta balance when this is implanted deep within them? Actually, what they feel is not the deep unbiased conscience Silver Birch meansーit is a coating of prejudice which covers the true conscience. I wondered if he would talk on this subject and clear up a little the difficulty and confusion which surrounds the recognising of what constitutes the real conscience; and what (though it may be 'registered' first) is the 'sham' conscience and should therefore be brushed aside and recognised as such."

　When the contents of this letter were made known to Silver Birch, he replied: "I contend that confronted with any situation in life, in your world or mine, whether a decision is required that concerns a moral, mental, or spiritual matter, where there are normal persons the conscience provides the unfailing index as to the course to be pursued. In that moment the conscience which is part of the divinity implanted by the Great Spirit, asserts itself and charts the course which is to be pursued.

　"When it has done its task, then other aspects of self begin to function. Prejudice and desire are two of them, and the indi-vidual, not altogether pleased with the dictates of conscience, begins to argue and to temporise that perhaps another solution would be preferable, and thus often there is a 'justification'. But always the voice of conscience has spoken, no matter how it may be overlooked."

　Here a member of the circle pointed out, "This letter instances the thousands of nice church people who honestly think that Spiritualism is wrong." 

　"Then it is not a matter of conscience, it is a matter of mental unfoldment, which is a totally different thing," said the guide. "This is purely a question of false reasoning based on a wrongful premise. Conscience, so far as I am concerned, is called into being when the individual requires guidance in matters affecting his own welfare."

　"Is not conscience bound up with mental development?" he was asked.

　"Yes and no. I assert that conscience is the divine monitor which the Great Spirit has given to everyone so that always there is an indication of the paths that he or she ought to pursue."

　"Would not one man's conscience say a thing was right and another man's say it was wrong?" the questioner persisted.

　"It may be so, but in each case I would say that automatically the first response has been from the conscience giving a clear indication of what is right for that soul to do. That is too often followed by argument, justification, temporising, all to per-suade that individual to follow another path, which seems more expedient or convenient. But first the divine monitor has asserted itself. This may not be a popular gospel to preach, but it is the truth as I see it."

　"The older religions of the East have stressed God within man," said a visitor.

　"I would stress man within God," said the guide, "for to me the two are equal propositionsーthe Great Spirit within man and man within the Great Spirit. It is an eternal relationship, for the Great Spirit has bound Himself to all His creatures by a tie of love that can never be broken. From the lowliest to the highest, all these come within the orbit of the Great Spirit's love and life. None is so lowly that he or she is removed from the Great Spirit and none is so high that he or she has grown away from the Great Spirit."

　"Because they are part of the Great Spirit," interjected a circle member.

　"Yes, inexplicably part of the armoury of the Great Spirit is possessed by all mankind. If this great truth were realised and acted then men everywhere would know how to call into being a power of such dynamic force that it would bring a new understanding of all the problems with which millions are confronted."

　Then Silver Birch was asked:

　"Is it that the Great Spirit reveals Himself equally on all planes of manifestation, and only we on earth are unable or fail to realise that, or does He reveal Himself increasingly in the planes beyond as man evolves?"

　"It is all a question of the capacity for reception," was the answer. "The Great Spirit is infinite. There is no limit., no restriction possible where there is infinity. The riches of the Great Spirit are boundless. The treasure will never be completely known. Man is an evolving creature. As he evolves, his capacity for reception increases, and as that increases his ability to com-prehend grows and thus more of the Great Spirit is available too."

　"Take two human souls, one in the physical body and the other who has evolved to the extent of leaving the physical body, that is, passing on. The one outside would probably find easier contact with spirit than the one within the body."

　"Not necessarily so," said the guide. "The evolution of a soul is not necessarily determined by the fact that it is released from a physical body. There are many, many souls living in my world who are less evolved than souls in your world. The physical body, as I would express it, is a limitation because its very nature imposes the restriction through which the human mind can express itself. But looking at mankind generally there is still tremendous scope for the growth of the spirit everywhere on earth."

　"I suppose the exercise of that growth is good for spirit, other-wise we could not be on earth. Struggle towards the growth of spirit, through handicap, is very good for the soul to undergo.

　"Of course. It is in the overcoming of difficulty, it is in the resistance to struggle, it is precisely in the processes of imper-fection being outworked and striving towards perfection that the Great Spirit is being expressed. These are the aspects of evolution."

　"I have often heard it expressed that we on earth, in some ways, have the advantage of the training ground of the soul. It is obvious there are advantages of having to go through the earthly battle."

　"Yes, it must be so, otherwise you would not be born into your world. Your world has its part to play in the great scheme of life. This is the nursery, the training ground, as you call it, the school where the scholars learn lessons. This is where you obtain the equipment. This is where the talents that you have in latent form first find their expression, and they are tried and tested, because it is only in the heat of that battle that the true character of the individual can be formed. Were there no struggle, were there no opposition, were there no difficulty, were there no problem, then the spirit could not grow, it could not evolve. The struggle brings out the highest, the best, the greatest and the deepest qualities."

　"What of those who have gone ahead prematurely?"

　"Yes, I was expecting that," said the guide.

　The questioner continued: "There are two answers. One is that if he has reached his destiny he goes ahead because he is meant to go ahead, or he could get his evolution vicariously through contacts with matter from the world of spirit."

　Here Silver Birch commented:

　"How kind you are. You give me a question and provide the two answers. I would like you to select from the two explana-tionsーthe old bugbear of reincarnation, or the alternative, if you

prefer it, that the soul has to find compensation elsewhere for what it lacked on earth. As to which is the more attractive you must choose for yourself. My opinions are quite well known on that point. But what I do want to stress is this.

　"There are problems. We do not possess all the knowledge that there is, but what we do know, beyond fear of contra-diction, is that the law is perfect because the Great Spirit is per-fect. Thus, whatever difficulty may present itself, even though we may be unable to satisfy you with the answer that we give, or even though we cannot provide the answer, it does not mean that here is a defect in the plan. No! Love rules the universe, love, infinite in its scope and application, and once that love flows through you, then, indeed, you are changed and become at one with the power that gave you birth."

　"Is it true that these are matters beyond our finite under-standing and we cannot hope to grasp them?"

　"It is largely true that your physical make-up imposes a limita-tion when you attempt to comprehend the vastness of the uni-verse in all its ramifications. Not that I would in any way attempt to discourage the seeking after knowledge. But let us be practical. Let us look at this world with its many millions, the majority of whom are unaware of truths which are common-place to you and others. The joy of knowledge which you have received has not been vouchsafed to them. Their lives are filled with misery and sadness. They do not know where to turn. Would we not be of greater service to give them some of that truth which we have received and would we not be fulfilling the responsibility that comes with the acquisition of all know-ledge, the responsibility of transmitting it to others?"

　"I suppose that is really why we are here in this room."

　"Yes, that is why we are here and that is the task which is laid upon our shoulders, the task which we still have to discharge to the best of our ability. We must not rest content until we have reached the largest number that is possible."

　Another visitor asked: "Are the stars that we see merely bodies of matter or are they inhabited?"

　"Here we go into deep and difficult waters," replied the guide. "The limit of all knowledge has not been attained by people in your world, far less in ours. There are millions of beings in the universe at many differing degrees of consciousness, ranging from the highest that we have seen in our spheres to the lowest soul in which there is a flicker of consciousness. But do not assume that conscious life is restricted to your planet, which is ony one of many, many planets in the whole universe. Do not assume that the Great Spirit, which is infinite in intelligence, is not capable of arranging an infinite number of beings to enjoy infunite degrees of consciousness in an infinite universe. Thus there are on many planets forms of organised life, even although they do not take the shape with which you are accustomed here That is the best way I can explain it.

　"But are they human beings?"

　"I said this was going to be a deep and difficult question. They are organised in the sense of being consciousness expressed in some kind of form, that is shape, size, movement, and can make impressions in the atmosphere, but, with some exceptions, they are not similar to the organised human consciousness with which you are familiar on your own planet. I am afraid that is the best I can do."

　"Have you ever seen or spoken to them?"

　"Not on their own planets, but in the spiritual form after its equivalent to the death of your world. But remember when you refer to forms of life which are so dissimilar to yours, it is hard to find means of comparison."