AFTER WE DIE

　　　　CHAPTER SIX

　　　AFTER WE DIE

　ADESCRIPTION of the spirit world and the con-ditions of the people who live in it was given one evening. Silver Birch said, in discussing the condition of one who had recently passed on, that life in the lower stages of the next world duplicated in every detail our lives on earth.

　"I find it difficult to grasp that the astral world is identical with this world," said one sitter.

　"The next stage of life to earth is a replica of your world of matter," declared Silver Birch. "Were it not so, the shock for the many who are uninstructed and ignorant would be more than they could stand. And so it has to be accomplished by very easy stages. The next stage of life resembles your world. That is why so many do not know that they have passed beyond the physical.

　"Here essentially it is a world of thought, where thought is reality. And, being a thought world, thought moulds every expression of its life and its activity. Being so near to your world, and peopled by men and women who are naturally still very material in their outlook on life, the expression of their thought is very gross and so, whatever they think is in terms of physical things. 

　"They cannot think of life apart from its physical aspects. There has never filtered into their consciousness any understanding of a life apart from the purely physical. They cannot visualise spiritual activities and, because they cannot visualise them, they have no place in their scheme of things. But there are degrees of astral life, for gradually as awakening comes the grossness slowly but surely becomes more refined. And life, they begin to see, is something beyond its material aspect. When spiritual realisation dawns they are dead to the astral world and they begin to live in the world of spirit. There are many deaths and many births."  

　"Are the experiences of people in the astral world subjective or objective?" asked a sitter.

　"It is an objective life because life in my world is regulated by people who dwell on that particular plane of expression. As you advance beyond that, you leave it behind. As the spirit qualifies itself, by growth, progress and evolution, so it naturally passes to the next stage of spirit life. It is very objective in its own field of expres-sion." 

　"So it is not a dream world," the sitter said.  

　"When they have passed beyond it, it is a dream world," said Silver Birch. "Whilst they are living in it, it is a real world to them. You call them dreams only by comparison. They are not dreams when you are dreaming them. They are dreams when you awaken and, recalling the experience, you say, 'That was a dream.' So, when the spirit has passed beyond the lower stages of the astral, it recollects those experiences and says, "They were dreams.' But when it endured them, they belonged to reality."

　"Do we all start our life in the spirit world on this lower astral plane?" a sitter wanted to know.

　"Oh, no, it is for the uninstructed and the ignorant," said the guide, "those who are unaware of the existence of spiritual realities, who cannot visualise anything beyond the purely physical. The astral world is part of the world of spirit. It is one life in many varying grades, from the lower reaches to the highest stages. It is not divided into watertight compartments. We have to give you terms that you can understand."

　Telling about growth in the spirit world, Silver Birch said: "You do not climb from one sphere into another; you grow, you evolve. The lower gives way to the higher. You 'die' and are born again and again. You do not lose the astral body in quite the same way that you lose the material body. It becomes more rarified, it becomes refined, as the lower drops away. That is its death, for death really means transformation, resurrection, the rising of the higher out of the lower. Whenever we try to explain our world of spirit, which is freed from the limitations of your world, with its restrictions of time and space, we always have difficulty. The lower cannot grasp the higher, the finite cannot include the infinite, the lesser cannot hold the greater, but only by striving can you increase your capacity to understand.''

　"In the astral world, does one retain such things as the heart and pulse beats?" asked a sitter at another seance.

　"Whether they retain these organs depends on their state of consciousness," said Silver Birch. "If they are completely ignorant of a life after yours and they do not think that there is another world, then they have a complete replica of everything they had in the physical world, and they continue every bodily function in all its detailsーevery function."

　"And what happens at the passing of someone who understands about the spirit world?" asked the sitter.

　"The astral body goes through a process of rarifica-tion," the spirit replied. "As you appreciate that there is no need for certain organs, you gradually find they become atrophied and in the end they disappear."

　"Does that happen immediately after passing, or is it a gradual process?" a sitter wanted to know.

　"It depends on the state of your consciousness," said the guide. "The higher your consciousness, the less the need for adjustment. You must always remember that ours is a mind world, a spirit world where consciousness is king. The mind is enthroned and mind rules. What mind dictates is reality. When you have read of the appearance of those who come from the higher, or inner, planes, do you not find they are described as shining figures radiating light, rather than as having shape? That is because personality has gone. It is because there is less of the bodily expression about them."

　"What shape are the higher intelligences?" asked a sitter.

　"What shape is beauty?" countered the guide. "What shape is love? What shape is light?"

　"Does colour form the basis of recognition when you get beyond shape?" asked another sitter.

　"Yes," said the guide, "but whereas you are governed by certain primary colours we have other ranges of colour beyond your comprehension. We can identify some of the higher teachers by the radiance of their appearance, by the light that comes with the message; because often there is no form of any kind. There is a thought, accompanied by radiance."

　The closeness of those on the Other Side was stressed when Silver Birch mentioned many dead friends and relatives of the sitters who had asked him to convey messages.

　"Try to remember that all of them are real, human beings," he said, "who are just as interested in you as ever they were before. Though they do not speak to you, and you cannot hear them, they are here, each striving to do the utmost to assist you. They are closer than you know. They know your secrets, the unspoken desires of your minds, your wishes, your hopes and your fears. And all the while they bring their influence to bear on you, to guide you so that you may be able to extract from your earthly lives the experiences so necessary for the growth of your souls. They are not vague, shadowy, nebulous beings, but real men and women who love you still and who are in reality closer to you than ever they have been before."

　"How do the dead pass their time?" Silver Birch was asked. "Have they time just as we have with hours of light and darkness, or is it another sort of time? What do they do? Do they work or study, or amuse them-selves?"

　The guide replied: "That has been answered many, many times. The question of time is one of interest because we are not dependent on your definition of time.

　"Yours is a demarcation for purposes of convenience. You have charted certain passages as minutes or hours, or seconds, or days, and all that is based upon the rotation of the earth and its relationship to the sun. We do not have night and day. Our source of light is not the same as yours. Therefore, we do not have time in the sense in which you have it. Our measurement of time depends upon our spiritual state, that is, we feel time in the sense of enjoyment. Time, to us, is a mental experience.

　"In the lower spheres, where life is not very enjoyable, it seems a long time to them. In higher spheresーand I am speaking relativelyーwhere there is much more congenial activity, time seems more speedy in the sense that there is always some new phase of interesting labour. But it is not apportioned in hours, or days, or months, or years.

　"As to the way in which we work, that depends on the individual. There is plenty of activity connected with the mind and the spirit. The difficulty the questioner has is in understanding spiritual experiences in terms of physical measurement, but there are wide and boundless pursuits of the mind and the spirit, cultural, educational, purpo-sive, actual in their effect on your physical world, to engage us and occupy us for as long as we wish to be so occupied."

　"But," asked a sitter, "the question arisesーif you want to book something ahead, how do you do it, if time has no meaning as it has here?"

　"Do you mean," asked the guide, "if I wished to meet someone? Then I send a thought and if it is convenient we meet. There are no letters to be written."

　"What if you wanted to arrange to meet somebody at some specified time?"

　"It does not happen that way," was the answer. "If I am desired to attend some group, the request is sent to me mentally, I receive it and I go. It would not be sent to me now because it would be known that I am at this moment speaking with you. There are no diaries; it is a world of the mind and of the spirit."

　Someone in the circle asked if there were trains in the spirit world, and the guide answered: "There are no trains unless you think you have a train to catch and then there is a train for you to catch. It is hard to understand, isn't it? But it is like a dream. If you think you have a train to catch, there is your train.

　"Even in your dreams you think you have to go on a ship. The ship is there because you make the ship, and it is real to you. You people it and it travels. It has the necessary attendants, hasn't it? It is very real on its own plane of sensation. You must remember that reality is a relative term."

　"I have heard and read of these things frequently," said a sitter, "but I must say it is very difficult for me to appreciate."

　"It is," said Silver Birch. "But even in your world you have the illusion of time. One hour is not always the same to you; and five minutes can sometimes seem as long as one hour. That is the mental aspect of it. If you appreci-ate that in our world mental aspect is the reality, you will see that we are divorced from the purely mechanical aspect of time as it affects you. I think that is the best way to express it."

　Another question sent in was: "Does each individual have a house of his own?"

　"Yes," replied the guide, "they have houses of their own if they want them, because they desire them and they earn them. But some do not desire houses. Some prefer them built according to their own styles of architecture, some prefer to incorporate ideas of lighting which are, for example, not known to you. This is a matter of personal taste dependent upon the creative ability of the spirit concerned."

　"Didn't you say," a member of the circle interposed, "that your house was dependent upon the kind of life you had lived?"

　"I said," went on Silver Birch, "if you desired it and had earned it. But once you have earned it, then its style is purely a matter of taste. If you would like it open to the sky you can have it. You must remember that these things are largely controlled for a long time by individual habit. Habit is a mental attribute and it persists after death.

　"People who have dwelt only in this country are accustomed to certain styles of houses and thus it is those styles in which they live because it is a habit to do so. Once they have outworn that habit they have other types of houses. This is a very wise provision which ensures continuity; it prevents shock and life is smoother and more harmonious as a result."

　There is no "parliament" in the spirit world because there is no need to make laws to regulate the lives of the people who dwell there, said Silver Birch at a different sitting.

　"The natural law," explained the guide, "takes care of people in the spirit world because they are confronted with it in a form which is inescapable. They no longer have physical bodies; the problem of physical life does not concern them. They are now expressing themselves in spiritual form and the natural law is in operation. There is no need for any intermediary."

　The guide was asked whether there were concerts, theatres and museums in the spirit world. Their museums he said, were "in the halls or buildings of learning where there are collections of varying kinds, of objects relating to earthly life throughout history, and also collections of interesting forms of spiritual life. For example, we have flowers that have not bloomed on earth. We have many other phases of natural life unknown to you. There are examples of these in the halls of learning.

　"Concerts are always available because there are so many musicians, many of them masters, whose desire is that their talents should be enjoyed by the largest possible number. Theatresーthere are many of varying kinds. Some are used purely for dramatic purposes, others for cultural purposes, and others for educational purposes.

　"Gifts, talents and faculties which people had in your world do not end with death. Death brings them greater freedom and the extended opportunities to express those talents."

　"Are there newspapers and radio?" was the next question.

　"No, we do not have radio because communication is differently used," explained Silver Birch. "Telepathy is the common method of reaching one another. But it is possible for those who know how, to address vast numbers and to reach them, even when they are not them-selves present. But it does not work on the principle of your radio.

　"There are no newspapers in your earthly sense, because there is no necessity to chronicle happenings, as you do. Information is constantly being dispensed to those who should have it by the ones whose occupation it is to spread these facts. This is difficult for you to understand.

　"When it is necessary for me to be told something that I do not know the thought is sent to me by the one who thinks I ought to know it. There are people engaged on the task of disseminating these thoughts. They are specially trained for it."

　"Does the same thing happen to us when we receive inspiration?" asked a member of the circle.

　"It is on a different scale," began the answer. "when you receive inspiration it is because consciously or uncon-sciously you are tuned in to some intelligence in our world and, for that time, you are able to receive his power, inspiration or message. Sometimes it is conscious, sometimes it is unconscious. It depends upon the cir- cumstances.

　"But in our life we are constantly receiving and trans-mitting thoughts. Those who are on our spiritual wave-length, that is, of like spiritual mentality, receive thoughts that we send them and transmit thoughts to us. The wavelength is determined by spiritual attainment."

　"Do people retain their earth names?" was the next question? "Is Abraham Lincoln, for instance, still known as Abraham Lincoln in the spirit world?"

　"Yes," said Silver Birch, "as long as it is necessary for a person to be so identified. But what you must remember is that the name is not the individual; it is only the means by which he is known."

　"If someone passes on who is known to many people by a certain name, it would be very convenient for him to keep that name," observed a sitter.

　"Yes," he was told, "as long as it is necessary for him or her to be so identified. That may take hundreds or even thousands of years. But once you have passed beyond the magnetic field of the earth, the name does not matter because you are then known for the individual that you truly are.

　"Can that be witnessed by people?"

　"Yes. Once you have got beyond the earthly pull, once you have passed the stage of earthly association and reached the span of spiritual life to which you are thus entitled, you emit a light, an aura, a radiation, which indicates who and what you are. Is that hard to under-stand?"

　"No," said the questioner. "In our world, sometimes without speaking to a person, you are able to ascertain what kind of an individual he is."

　"Yes, it is in the aura," commented Silver Birch. "It is like that here, but on a much intensified scale."

　Another question was: "Do they have famous men and women in the spirit world, distinct from the famous men and women of this world?"

　"Most decidedly," said the guide. "Fame comes to many people in your world through sheer birth and for no other reason. They have not won it by their life, their endeavour, or their labour. There are many, many beings unknown, unrecognised in your world, to whom the lustre of fame is accorded in our world. The soul is the indelible passport."

　"Are there books or anything equivalent in the other world?" was a further question.

　"Yes, there are many, many books," said Silver Birch. "There is a duplicate of every book known to your world, and there are many other volumes of which there are no originals in your world. There are vast halls or buildings dedicated to all the arts, and literature has its place among them. It is possible to obtain knowledge of any subject in which you are interested."

　"Who prepares the books?"

　"Authors, people who are specialists in the task of pre-paring books."

　"Are they etheric books which etheric people can pick up and read?"ー"Yes!"

　Then the discussion took one of those turns which throw new light on old problems. "Could the same book be something different to somebody else?" was the question which started it.

　"No," explained the guide, who asked, "Have you ever dreamed you were reading a book?"

　"I have not," was the answer, "but I can quite imagine what the experience is like."

　"Would it be a real book?" asked Silver Birch. "No," he was told.

　"Supposing," the guide went on, "you never woke, that dreams were your constant reality and you had no waking experience with which to compare your dream life, everything that transpired in dreams would be real to you and all that had happened in waking life would now become the shadow. All the mental processes utilised during the dream state are engaged in to a much greater intensity in the worlds beyond death. As those mental states are the reality of the people who dwell in those worlds, the states are as tangible to them as material things are to you in your world."

　Silver Birch has described something of the beauties of the spirit world, which he declares we visit frequently in our sleep, although most of us cannot remember our experiences on waking.

　"When you have tasted and enjoyed with your full consciousness all that my world has to offer, you will realise that it is the love we bear for you that makes us come back to work amongst you," he said.

　"You have not tasted the joys of the world of spirit. There is nothing in your world of matter with which you can compare the life of the spirit, freed from the trammels of the flesh, escaped from the prison of the body of matter, with liberty to go where you will, to see your thoughts take shape, to follow out the desires of your heart, to be freed from the troubles of money. No, you have not tasted the joys of the world of spirit.

　"You who are encased in matter do not yet compre-hend beauty as it can be. You have not seen our light, colour, scenery, trees, birds, rivers, streams, mountains, flowersーand yet your world fears death.

　"Death strikes terror into your hearts. But you will only begin to live when you are 'dead'. Now you live, but in reality you are almost dead. So many are dead to the things of the spirit. The little life-force flickers in their puny bodies, but no spiritual things can find any response within them. But gradually we make progress. Gradually the force of the spirit increases in strength all over your world of matter. Gradually darkness retreats, as it must when confronted by the light of spiritual truth.

　"There are no words to compare the life in your world of matter with the life in the world of spirit. We who are 'dead' know so much more of life than you do.

　"This is the world where the artist finds all his dreams come true, where the painter and the poet realise their ambition, where genius has full power of expression, where the repressions of earth are swept away and all gifts and talents are used in the service of one another.

　"This is the world where there are no clumsy words to express inspiration, but where thought is the living language and reveals itself with lightning rapidity.

　"This is the world where we have no money to worry us, where there is no competition, no driving of the weaker to the wall, where the strong are strong because they have something to give to those less fortunate than themselves.

　"We have no unemployment, we have no slums, we have no selfishness. We have no sects, we have only one religion. We have no sacred books, only the operation of the divine laws to instruct us.

　"And the nearer you get to the belt of matter, the more clumsy and difficult it is for the spirit to express itself.

　"To die is not tragic. To live in your world is tragic. To see the garden of the Great Spirit choked with the weeds of selfishness and greed and avarice, that is tragedy.

　"To die is to enjoy freedom of the spirit, which has been imprisoned behind the bars of the material body. Is it tragic to be released from suffering, for the soul to come into its own? Is it tragic to see wonders of colour, to hear music that does not belong to material expression? Do you call it tragic to express yourself in a body that has no pain, to be able to roam all over the world of matter in a flash and to taste the beauties of the spirit life too?

　"There is not in your world one artist who could capture with his paints some of the glories of my world. There is not one musician who could record some of the glories of the music sphere with your notes. There is not one writer who could describe in physical words the beauty of parts of this world.

　"You see all around you the manifestations of the Great Spirit, as the dawn of life sweeps over your surroundings again in its cycle, and you marvel at the beauty of the blossom and the fragrance of the flowers, and you say: 'How great is the handiwork of the Great Spirit.'

　"And yet, that which you see is but a very, very pale reflection of the beauties that we have in our world of spirit. We have flowers such as you have never seen, we have colours such as your eye has never beheld, we have scenes and forests, we have birds and plants, we have streams and mountains. You have nothing to compare them with. And you will be able to enjoy them, for, even though you will be ghosts, you will be real ones.

　"You come to our world now, but you do not remem-ber. You visit the spirit world every night. That is your preparation. Otherwise, it would be such a shock when you come here to start your real life in earnest. When you pass on, you will remember your visits.

　"You will then be freed from the limitation of the body and you will be able to express to the full all the con-sciousness which has been released during your sleep. In its new expression, it will bring to you all the memories that you have, the memories of all the experiences you have enjoyed."