DEATHーTHE LIBERATOR
DEATH is not a calamity, as Silver Birch sees it. He teaches that death is our birth into a life of greater con-sciousness, vaster freedom and better opportunities to express our latent powers.
"This is one of those occasions when we can demonstrate that death is an illusion,” he once said. “We span its gulf with knowledge and return to demonstrate life's fullness beyond physical confines. How simple it all is, and yet how great the work that has to be done! In all this propaganda, it is only the constant repetition that will drive out the error which has to be worn away. The resistance to Spiritualism is gradually weakening as new and larger breaches are made in its defences. It is not so many years ago that they thought they were impregnable. Now, there are signs all around you of crumbling, decaying ruins. Nothing will save them.
"We are not concerned with institutions, but with humanity. We are concerned with souls and minds—and bodies, which are the temples of souls and minds. We seek to reach all who will listen to the simple yet profound truth that man is an eternal spirit, because he is part of the Great Spirit. That is so simple, and yet so profound in all its implications. Once that seed of truth is implanted in human minds, great reforms can be accomplished.
"You often say you cannot tell what it was that inspired a reformer on his mission. It might be a chance phrase, a whispered word, a sentence in a book, or a line in a newspaper that has altered the whole of the man's thought. We seek to
achieve the same result; to rescue imprisoned minds and to teach the people in your world to think for themselves, to apply the test of reason to every facet of life. You must not accept the old just because it is old, or tradition because it is tradition. But you must search for the precious jewel of truth, for that which is true will stand every scrutiny, every test and every searching investigation.
"To some, the truths that I bring are elementary, because they have heard them so often. To others they are revolu-tionary. We are dealing with mankind at different stages of growth. Some will quarrel with what we have to say. Some will deny it. Others will object because it comes from one who is regarded as a savage by your cultured, Western world, so proficient in the arts of destruction. But the truth will stand because it is truth. Remember, what you already accept as normal is to others the greatest revolution that has ever come to mankind. We come always with the simple message that man is a spiritual being, part of the Great Spirit, linked with the Great Spirit for all eternity.
"That tie can never be dissolved. It can be weakened or strengthened, but can never be broken. Man can rise or fall, become god-like or bestial. He can use his free will to mar or to improve, but whatever he does he is forever God and God is forever him. These truths are not meant only for recital in churches, but for application to daily life, so that hunger, starvation, unemployment, disease, dirty houses and everything that is a disgrace to your civilization may be swept on one side as an insult to the Great Spirit within human beings.
"Our message is intended for all humanity, for no matter at what stage it now is, there is sufficient for it to grasp, under-stand and assimilate. As mankind places its feet on the ladder of progress, so we wait at the next rung, and the rung beyond that, as he gradually climbs and claims his higher destiny."
When there was mentioned a bereavement sustained by one whom Silver Birch had met, the guide said: "How I wish that your eyes were not holden; how I wish that your ears were unstopped; how I wish that you could see beyond the material confines; how I wish that you could indeed know that the world in which you live is one of shadows and unreality; how I wish you could see what lies behind and could become aware of all the forces that are ceaselessly at work, striving to help you. How I wish you could see the manyーyour own and those who are attracted to you by serviceーwho stand beside you. Your world is a world of shadows, it is not the substance.
"Much of our work is achieved, not through instruments such as this, though we are happy to make ourselves known and to manifest according to the ways of your own world. Unseen, unheard, we do reach you, exercising a silent but yet real influence in your lives, guiding you, quickening you, striving to direct you, aiding you to make the right choice so that your characters will grow, your souls will evolve and you will be led into those paths which will enable you to extract from life all that is necessary for your growth and
understanding."
A picturesque description of death as part of the cycle of life was given by Silver Birch when, one Easter-time, he drew a comparison with the seasons of the year.
"Think of the miracle of the seasons," he said, "the eternal circle for ever revolving with unbroken constancy—the snows of winter, when all life sleeps; the herald of spring, when life awakens; the fullness of summer, when life is revealed in all its beauty; autumn, when the voice of nature is hushed and preparation is made for sleep ere the period of refreshment comes upon it.
"You are about to witness nature's great revelationーspring, Easter, resurrectionーwhen the new life makes itself visible all over your world, the life that has been sleeping, the life that has retreated into the darkness of mother earth, there to find peace and quietness in the darkness. Soon you will see the rising sap, the bud, the foliage, the leaf and then the flower. The tiny aconites raise their heads and a thousand voices announce the birth of new life.
"You will be reminded of the old pagans, the uncivilized savages, whose religion was founded on the rituals of nature, who saw in the seasons the divine drama, who constructed from the movements of the stars and the planets the lives of the gods, the powers that watched over them; who paid tribute to the laws which controlled their life, who recognized that the greatest season of all was spring, when birth came upon your world.
"The cycle is repeated in every human life. The pageant of nature is duplicated in every human soul. First there is the spring, with the awakening consciousness; the summer, when man's powers rise to their highest; autumn, when life begins to wane; and winter, when sleep comes to the weary, tired soul. But even after the winter of the physical life, spring comes to the spirit as it awakens in another world to continue that eternal cycle. Take from nature this message, and be assured that the laws which have never failed will continue to operate in your case and in the case of every human life.”
At one sitting, one of the circle mentioned the passing of a well-known Spiritualist. "One by one, the Great Harvester gathers them in, so that the course of life may be radiant in a fuller world," commented the guide.
"Tears for your world as they pass beyond your ken; rejoicing in ours as we greet newly-liberated souls who will begin to taste the joys of life indescribable in earthly lan-guage," he went on. "I strive always to teach the lesson that death spells freedom, and that whilst you mourn the ones removed from your vibration we rejoice, knowing they have begun a life of new freedom, new happiness, with greater opportunities for expressing that which is within them and which often failed to be realized in the world of matter. You are blessed with the knowledge that they are not lost to you and I would tell you that just as their power quickens with growth in our life so they always return to you, to help you in the great fight that we are waging.
"That great fight goes on, day by day, in every part of the world of matter—the war between the forces of the spirit and the ugly forces of materialistic selfishness. But we march forward to the inevitable victory, knowing that even if occasionally there are set-backs and it would seem as if the powers of the spirit are vanquished, because of the mighty host ranged with us victory will be ours. You will all look back with great rejoicing at the part you have played in this task, at the comfort and the knowledge you have given to so many. You know not what you do. You know not the countless thousands who, in many places in the world of matter, rejoice because of what we have accomplished.
"You have played your part in spreading this knowledge, which has become a richly-prized treasure to souls who were hungry, waiting for a truth that would bring them satisfac-tion, that would answer all the aches of their hearts and the questions of their minds and the questings of their souls. Tired with worn-out shibboleths, they turned their faces up-wards, waiting for a sign, even as in days gone by men looked to the heavens, waiting for them to reveal that which should come from Beyond. So, with your help, we bring to the world of matter that knowledge which, rightly used, brings freedom to all the children of the Great Spiritーnot only freedom to the soul, not only freedom to the mind, but free-dom to the body also.
"We are not concerned only with the delivering of souls from bondage. We strive to rescue the bodies of matter from the miserable conditions which are their lot. Ours is a three-fold purposeーfreedom for mind, freedom for soul, freedom for body. I know that when, in your work, you tell the world of matter that these are the implications of our truths, you meet with opposition from those who fear that they cannot go all the way. But our truths embrace every aspect of life. Even as there is nothing in the universe beyond the operation of the Great Spirit's law, so there is no facet of life beyond the application of our spiritual truths.
"In all your efforts to uplift the fallen, to give succour to the weak and the helpless, to enable those deprived of the necessities of life to have a share in the plentous bounty of the Great Spirit, in redressing wrong, in levelling inequalities, in bringing food to hungry people and providing shelter for the homeless, I want you to know that it is all part of the task which belongs to us. We do not seek to elevate souls so that they shall be indifferent to the welfare of their fellows. The more knowledge you possess of spiritual truths, the greater must be your desire to serve those less fortunate than your-selves. It matters not by what name you designate those truths. It matters not whether you tie on them the label of politics, economics, religion or philosophy—that is unim-portant. What does matter is that our truths should be used to free the world from all its injustices and enable those who have not received their due to obtain their rightful heritage."
"Your body is not you; you are an eternal spirit," said Silver Birch on another occasion, when he was stressing the value of home circles sitting regularly.
"Though we meet in this manner for but a short time," he said, “it serves to strengthen the bonds that unite us all and enables us to make a stronger contact, for your own spirits condition themselves week after week to the power of the spirit registered and expressed in your midst. Although the physical parts of yourselves are not conscious of the subtle links with the world of spirit, yet your larger selves know in reality. It serves also to remind you—and it is necessary for you to have constant reminders—that you are spiritual and not physical beings. You, who are so accustomed to per-forming day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute the many physical tasks which are necessary for your material well-being, are apt to forget that the physical is but the outer husk. It is not the inner reality.
"When you see your reflection in the mirror, you are not looking at the individual, but merely the semblance. The physical is but the garment man wears, the means by which he expresses himself in the world of matter. Your body is not you. You are an eternal spirit, part of the life force that sustains the whole universe, part of the Power that fashioned the whole planetary system, that governs the ebb and flow of tides, that regulates the eternal cycle of the seasons, that con-trols all growth and evolution, that enables the sun to shine and the stars to twinkle. You are divine, just as divine as the Great Spirit, for what you possess that Power possesses. It is the same quality in essence; different in degree but funda-mentally the same. And that transcends all material concep-tions. It transcends all physical limitations. It is greater than anything you can conceive.
"You are indeed mighty atomsーinfinite, yet expressing yourselves in a finite manner. Within you there is a power that one day bursts all its bonds and insists that it shall express itself in a body more fitting to its reality. That you call death, and you mourn and you weep and you sorrow when it hap-pens, because, still thinking that the body is the individual, you believe that death removes the one you love. But death has no power over life; death cannot touch life; death cannot destroy life. The material is not stronger than the spiritual. If the eyes were open, if the ears could hear, if the soul left behind could register the more subtle vibrations of spiritual life, it would see the resurrected spirit, liberated, triumphant, joyous, welcoming the escape from the thraldom and bon-dage of a material prison.
"Do not grieve for those to whom freedom has come. Do not mourn because the caterpillar has become a beauteous butterfly. Do not weep because the cage has been opened and the bird has been set free. Rejoice, and know that the en-franchised soul has found liberty and that, if you would but unfold the powers that the Great Spirit has given you, you could share some of the new beauty and joy which is theirs. You could understand the plan of death and realize that death is but a stepping-stone, a door through which you enter into the larger freedom of the realms of the spirit.
"I would that I could make you understand, I would that I could make you realize the power that comes to those who rejoice in the liberation that death spells for them. But we are spreading this knowledge; light does come to your world and darkness is dispelled. No longer does mankind trust those who have misled them for centuries. The authority of the churches is vanishing; their power weakens because they refuse to make a place for spiritual truths."