CHAPTER VIII.
CONDITION OF THE SPIRIT IN THE SPIRIT-WORLD.
In order that I may present the general condition of the Spirit in the Spirit-world in the most intelligible form, it will be necessary for us to enter into a very close and accurate analysis of what constitutes the Spirit, because if we do not well understand what constitutes the Spirit, we shall only be able to conjecture of its condition of happiness in the Spirit-world; and if we are to have a close and rigid analysis of the Spirit, we, can only have it by having a close and rigid analysis of our own conscious being, because we can know nothing but our own consciousness; and if we are to learn of the condition of Spirits in the other world, that condition must be translated into our consciousness, and we must find it therein recorded, or we can only conjecture of their condition.
Then the first point to which I wish to call your attention, is that which distinguishes the condition of absolute consciousness from that condition which goes to make up individuality—that which is universal and applicable to all, and that which is only individual and applicable to each and every individual. Every individual has the means of determining how much of this being—“I, myself”—belongs to the external and finite, and how much to the internal and infinite; because that which makes me to differ from you is finite; but that which makes myself or yourself one and the same with every other individual being in the universe, is infinite. Therefore the first point of investigation is to ascertain what it is that makes you and me differ from every other individual being in the universe—in what that difference consists—because when I speak of you as a Spiritual being, I speak of you in view of that difference, and not in view of that sameness.
You understand that individuality makes the difference between us. My individuality makes me to differ as an individual being from you. The question now arises, what constitutes my individuality, this “I, myself”—what enables me, when speaking of the events Of childhood, to say, “When I was a child,” though every thing has changed that pertained to my individuality as a child—thoughts, feelings, tastes, pleasures, form? What is it that connects the events of twenty or thirty years ago with my present being?
I wish each one to go down into his own mind and solve that problem, because if we are to talk about Spirits we must learn about ourselves. When each man understands thoroughly the Spirit that is at present speaking to him, he will be able to form some correct ideas respecting its condition in the Spiritual world.
Upon examination, each will find that there is within himself a principle of absolute consciousness—a principle which is self-conscious, which represents itself to itself, and is not represented by any thing but itself. It can not be analyzed. It is absolute in itself. To prove to you that your consciousness of identity has undergone no change, I need but attempt to prove to you that you are the same individual that you were when a child, by referring to scars made upon your fingers in childhood, which still remain, by calling to mind traits of your childish character. All these proofs you would consider very much inferior to that proof afforded by an affirmation within you, which rises above all outward evidence. It is that to which the Book alludes when it says, “As he could swear by no greater, therefore he swore by himself.” Although in your physical, intellectual, and moral being you have changed in every thing pertaining to your finite consciousness, yet there is that within you which tells you you are the same. Let one change follow another to eternity, you will not lose your consciousness of identity.
That which makes you differ from others does not enter into this absolute consciousness of identity. In other words, the thought, feeling, and affection which characterized you at any particular time of life has nothing to do with this absolute identification of self. Nothing by which the world knows me, or by which it knows you, enters in to form our inmost identity. We have an identity which lies deeper than everything external; and it is this identity, which admits of no change, which says that we are the same, and will forever remain the same identical beings to all eternity. No change of position, no change of character, no destruction of reputation, no conversion of happiness into suffering, presents the least difficulty in the way of identification. The man who has fallen, been ruined in reputation, and is steeped in suffering, finds no difficulty in identifying himself as the same being who was once good, respected, and happy. He does not say that there was once a being who was happy and good, but who has changed and become another being, but he says that the character and position of this individual identity has changed, while his identity has undergone no change. I wish to call your attention to that principle of absolute consciousness in you, by means of which you know yourself, but by which nobody else knows you. You know that that principle in you does not constitute your individuality. It constitutes your personality; but that in you which is undergoing change, and develops from a lower to a higher degree of knowledge, constitutes your individuality. This unchanging, ever-present, conscious identity is the very divine life within you, from which you derive all life. This outside identity, which thinks and wills, is no part of my immortal nature, separate from this divine principle within me. This outside consciousness can never be in any other state than the finite. For wherever you have succession and duration, you have time. Where you have succession in extent, you have space. In regard to this outward finite nature, one change follows another; and if change follows change, there must, in respect to such change, always be succession; and where you get succession, you must necessarily have time. Hence the spirit, in its finite nature, must always be in time till it shall cease to change; when progress ends, time will cease with the finite. This is a proposition so plain that no mind can for a moment be lost in considering it.
We can form some definite idea of the Spirit-world by first learning something of ourselves. You know that this conscious principle within me and you knows nothing about time or space. Suppose I instantly become unconscious, and remain so twenty-four hours, and am then suddenly restored to my consciousness. During this twenty-four hours there has been no additional record of events made within me; therefore that twenty-four hours is obliterated so far as my consciousness is concerned. I take up the time where I left it. To the unconscious there is no time. To the unchangeable there can be no time. Time is but the marking of succession. The inmost principle by means of which we become acquainted with ourselves, knows nothing about time. When one is restored from unconsciousness to consciousness, he knows instantly who he is, but he can not say how much time elapsed to the outward world. Clairvoyants who pass into a condition of unconsciousness to all exterior things, have no recollection of what occurs while they are in that condition, though they may have been in it for several hours.
I knew an individual once to be put into the mesmeric condition, who was unconscious in his normal condition of what occurred in the mesmeric state, though he was in it for five hours, and during that time performed many interesting experiments. At the time of sitting down to be mesmerized he was in so great hurry that he thought he could spend but a very few minutes’ time. On being brought to consciousness, he started off again in great haste, supposing that he had sufficient time to attend to his business, showing clearly that he had not been in a condition to mark succession of events.
The inmost principle of consciousness which identifies me of to-day with what I was thirty years ago, does not, of itself, notice time, except as it is connected with this outward part of me. It counts time by changes; but when you come into itself and separate it from those changes, it does not know time at all. Between my infancy and the present time it has been a constant now. It is the presence of the infinite and eternal in man, and the means by which he is connected with the infinite and eternal. It is by the presence of this infinite and eternal consciousness that man knows that he possesses a finite and changeable nature. It is a lamp within, which shines out and reveals to him his finite consciousness, and the changes transpiring there. So man has two selfhoods, an inward, and an outward which is changing from day to day.
When I speak of you as an individual being who differs from me, I speak of your outward, changing selfhood. But when I speak of you in your inmost consciousness, I speak of you in your inmost selfhood, in which you do not differ from me.
It is by this inmost consciousness that I know that I am. It reveals myself to myself by just the same law by which you are revealed to yourself. There are two methods of addressing the outward selfhood—from without, and from the infinite within. Where the individual consciousness is addressed from within, the communication is made to the affections, whence it flows into the understanding. When it is addressed from without, it is by representations of that which addresses it. But when I go to the Spiritual world, I go with this divine consciousness, this constant, unchanging consciousness within, but not as a principle which belongs to me, which is individualized within me. It is just as universal as God. It is the divine consciousness which is unindividualized within me, and wherever that is, I must be, because of the ubiquity of this divine principle. If there were any point from which this could be excluded, and into which the individual could be thrust, he would be annihilated.
What we need is to bring the external consciousness into unceasing relation with this internal consciousness. That which does not come into such relation with this absolute consciousness does not become a part of our finite selfhood—a part of our immortal selfhood. Standing before you I perceive your countenances, because your images are brought into a certain relation to this absolute consciousness within me. Now when they come into unceasing relation to this unchanging consciousness, they become a part of my external, finite selfhood. Memory is the result of bringing events into such relation with this consciousness.
Looking at man, then, as possessing an absolute consciousness which never changes, and an external consciousness which is constantly changing, and which alone causes one man to differ from his fellow, it is apparent that if individuality is preserved upon entering the Spiritual world, each must take with him so much as causes him to differ from others. Whenever this external nature would represent itself to another, not having a consciousness of its own separate from the divine consciousness, it comes under the law of exterior communication and representation. Therefore it is never present in the mind by itself, but by that which represents it there. If we would learn how it is that a Spirit represents itself in different places at the same time, we must learn the law of representation. I see my audience, by which I mean I see that which represents you to my consciousness. You are presented to my consciousness by means of a medium which comes between you and me; and according to the accuracy of my faculties to perceive, and according to the accuracy of this medium to represent you to my consciousness, will be the accuracy of your representation in my mind.
I see you now by the medium of light; and you all see me at the same time. I am here and only here, but you all see me in your various positions. You see me by means of the light which takes my image into every part of the room. Though actually present in but one place in this room, yet by that which represents me I am omnipresent in this room. The great law of representation is that we perceive a thing, not by itself, but by that which represents it in our consciousness. Hence according to the ubiquity of the medium will be the ubiquity of the representation. In this room the medium light is ubiquitous, and my image is just as omnipresent as the medium. The same is true of every other medium by which presence is represented.
I, as a finite spirit, am conscious only by means of the divine consciousness within me, which imparts and reflects consciousness to my outward nature. My outward consciousness is like the light of the moon, which is the reflected light of the sun. The real consciousness within me is that from which I derive my external consciousness. Whenever I, as a spirit in my external consciousness, would represent myself to you, I must come into some medium of representation—some medium which will be to my spirit what the light is to my body. The medium of light will not represent me, but there is a medium which will. This, the Spirit-medium, is vastly more refined and ubiquitous than light. Standing here as a spiritual form, and giving off spiritual undulations, just as my body reflects the undulations of light, wherever the Spirit-medium extends, there my image will extend. And whenever an individual comes into rapport with this spiritual medium and sustains a certain relation to me, he will be able to perceive my presence, because I am brought to his view by that which represents me.
Many suppose that a person whose mind is separated from the sensuous influences of the body, or brought into the clairvoyant condition, can go to a distant place, as to London, and see an individual to whom his attention is directed. He tells me what the individual in London is thinking and saying, yet hears what is said to him here. If the individual in London were to be thrown into the clairvoyant condition, and have his attention directed to the clairvoyant here, the two could readily converse together. Space is not noticed by them, though it might be by carefully going over the space and observing a succession of objects. Being brought into rapport with each other, each can observe the thoughts and feelings of the other. This is done by virtue of a simple law; and there is no mystery in it. The medium which unites my organs of speech with your organs of hearing, extends through the entire room, and my voice is as ubiquitous as the medium which communicates it. So in regard to this Spirit-medium, which is the medium of communication between the clairvoyants. By that medium, London, Canton, or any other part of the earth, is present here. Persons who mistakenly suppose that persons in the clairvoyant condition leave their bodies and make journeys to distant places, get up many curious theories to account for the body and spirit being held together. Their error arises from a mistaken conception of the actual condition of a Spirit. You see readily that a Spirit can be addressed externally only by that which represents that which addresses it. Apply to the case in hand the same law by which you see and hear me, and substitute for the media of light and atmosphere the Spirit-medium, and you will have no difficulty in understanding how it is that Spirits can be represented in different places.
Persons sometimes meet with difficulty in explaining the apparent fact, that person in the form are sometimes seen as though they were out of it. I recollect several cases where persons were said to have been seen and conversed with at places very remote from each other; and it was supposed that the spirits left their bodies and went to these distant places and represented themselves. It is very easy to understand how my spirit can appear in real Spirit-form and speak to one a hundred miles away from here. It is done by what is called psychologic representation. If I come into rapport with any mind yet in the body, which mind is in rapport with me, I can create any spiritual image in your mind that I may see fit to make; that is, I can cause the image in me to reproduce itself in you—so that that image in my mind shall be reproduced in your consciousness, as the object before the camera daguerreotypes its image on the prepared plates. Now suppose that between us one or more guardian Spirits are passing. The Spirit coming into rapport with me, and having a full and perfect perception of you, can, by the intensity of his mental action, daguerreotype my image upon your consciousness. You then perceive me by the psychological action which that Spirit exerts upon your mind. It is in this way that we can apparently meet and see each the other’s form, just as though it were present. But if we were more susceptible, there would be no necessity of having the intervention of a guardian Spirit. If we are both so developed as to clairvoyantly perceive one another, the conversation can go on, though both are in the body, and you in London and I in New York. We see each other as though we were present one with the other. It does not follow, however, that my spirit is present in two places at the same time; but that which represents it is universally present. The question may arise, why we can not, upon passing into the clairvoyant condition, see all the Spirits in the universe—because they are all in rapport with this spiritual atmosphere. I will explain. Suppose we have ten thousand strings strung from the ceiling to the floor, and they are made to give forth certain sounds. Now all that have the same degree of tension will give forth the same sound. The vibration of one will cause all the others to vibrate which have the same degree of tension. Take any stringed musical instrument, and vibrate one of the strings. If any other of the strings has the same point of tension, it will vibrate. Now when my spirit comes in contact with the Spiritual sphere and sustains the same relation to any Spirit that the strings sustain to each other, I can see that Spirit. Upon the same principle I may see all who are in the condition to respond to my spirit. When my consciousness will undulate to their conscious vibrations, I perceive them, and not till then.
If a Spirit is not present, except by that which represents it, it will appear useless to open doors to permit Spirits to enter, for a door is as transparent to the medium by which they are represented, as a pane of glass is to the medium of light. Jesus appeared in the midst of his disciples, though they were shut up; and when the time came for his disappearance, he ceased to be seen, not by going out of the door or window, but by disturbing the conditions by which he was represented to their consciousness.
In respect of Spirit-mansions, etc., in the Spiritual world, we are very liable to mistake representation for actuality. We are very liable to mistake images of things—creations, so to speak, proceeding from the minds of the Spirits—for actualities. We are very apt to perceive animals. Some think that animals have a living form and exist in the Spiritual world; but I pretend to say that it is not true. I know very well how they appear there. I know very well how it is that persons suppose they do exist, and why Spirits in the Spiritual world appear to have their dogs, cats—their pet animals. To them they are actualities. Nevertheless, I understand that the idea that a cat or dog has an immortal soul is not only inconsistent with any principle of philosophy in the universe, but is contradicted by every principle of philosophy. To say that a cat or dog is immortal is to affirm that to be immortal which God himself can not make so. The condition of immortality can not pertain to the mere animal being. The representations of animals, forests, fields, and things of this kind, have no basis upon that which has a material or actual existence in the universe. They are only developed under the law of representation. Man has a sort of creative faculty, by which he forms the images which are mistaken in the Spiritual world for actualities. When Spirits are thinking of animals they have seen in this world, they throw out their images, and the individual who chances to be in rapport with these Spirits sees these images, and thinks they are actualities.
If you will only investigate the law of representation, you will have no difficulty in accounting for these things in the Spiritual world. Man makes these—they are not real. God makes all that is real in the universe. Man works in the sphere of representation, but God works in the sphere of actuality.
Had I time, to-night, I should be happy to go into a careful investigation to justify the conclusion that dogs and cats, etc., are not immortal. There is no end to be subserved in their being immortal. If the animal were to go to the Spiritual world, there being nothing to address his consciousness, he would virtually have no being. Whenever a mind goes where its consciousness is not addressed, it ceases to be mind. If there is any place in the universe where consciousness ceases to be addressed, there consciousness must cease to be. What would there be in the Spiritual world to address the consciousness of the animal who has been developed only to the perception of physical objects?
Again, between the nerve principle (the highest principle developed in the animal) and the absolute or divine principle, there intervenes the Spiritual principle, which, being developed in man, makes him receptive of the highest or divine consciousness, and makes him immortal. The animal lacking this principle can not be immortal. According to aspirations the animal puts forth, according to its mental phenomena, according to every principle, the animal is not immortal. Nevertheless he has a representation in the Spiritual world, according to the law of representation.
Every individual who is conscious of an existence as an individual, has that within him which constitutes him an individual; and as he goes into the Spiritual world, he takes with him that individuality. This individuality in its inmost joins upon the absolute, through which it perceives its own consciousness, and by this connection is unfolded in the facts, truths, and principles of the universe.