Читать книгу The Astral World—Higher Occult Powers. Clairvoyance, Spiritism, Mediumship, and Spirit-Healing Fully Explained онлайн

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As the societies of earth are composed of the individuals of earth, so are the spheres of the heavens composed of the individuals of the heavens, and the ruling nature of the different spheres is but the aggregate of the ruling loves of those composing those spheres. The laws of the spheres are but the laws of those composing the spheres. We are germinal universes. We are to be developed and unfolded consciously till the whole universe is translated into our consciousness. There is but one way to study the universe, and that is to come down into ourselves and study ourselves. This idea of looking out of ourselves, looking to any external method outside of our consciousness to find out what constitutes a Spiritual sphere or degree, is all fallacious. Spirits may come and rap, talk, and preach till doomsday; if they can not find the elements within your consciousness out of which they can construct that Spiritual sphere, you can not perceive or get any true idea of Spirit-spheres. It is as though I were born blind, and had never seen the light, and of course knew nothing of light, color, and darkness, and some individual should endeavor to make me believe that I was living in total darkness, when there would be no part of my being to which he could appeal to make me believe. There would be no possibility of conveying the thought to my mind, because I should have no conscious experience of light, color, etc. Outward language could not give me the idea. Unless I have had the conscious experience to give me the idea out of which to construct the idea, the Spirits from the Spirit-world may come from every sphere and degree, and they can not convey to my mind an accurate idea of those spheres and degrees. If they would make me understand who God is, and what he is, they must find in me the elements out of which to construct that God. I say it is useless to look for information out of yourselves until you know what is in yourselves. The first lesson is to learn who and what am I. I propose to commence my investigations in each individual’s own consciousness, starting with affirmations of that consciousness, and with definitions about which we can not disagree, and then go forward step by step, demonstrating every point, and ascertaining the law of manifestation as that law is revealed in us. I do not ask Spirits, and do not wish them to come to tell me about the law that governs in their sphere. The truth is, we can not avoid the fact, that all communications that come understandingly, must come in the method that God has ordained, and that method is that it must be written by his law upon our consciousness; and when it is written so, Spirits can come and point out the writing to us; and that is the best they can do. I desire you to understand distinctly what will be the basis of my lectures, what will be the points I shall attempt to establish. I shall endeavor to prove Spiritualism. I shall not come to the raps for a considerable time. They are so far off, I shall not attempt to prove Spiritualism by rapping for some time yet. People say we have got beyond the rapping. The truth is, a large portion of the world have not yet got to the raps. They are not yet able to appreciate the raps. We must make considerable progress before we can get the philosophy of the raps. We have much to learn yet before we can get the full benefit of a simple sound, even though it be not accompanied by much intelligence. The first lesson I shall attempt to teach—pardon me for assuming to be a teacher, I will be a pupil at any time—is how to study and know yourselves; how to ascertain the laws of your being, action, and manifestation; how to determine what is and what is not spiritual in you; how to determine whether you are under Spirit-influence or not—for there are laws by which all these things can be determined. In my investigation I shall perhaps be able to determine where that terrible creature, Jack, the Giant-killer, the Odylic force, resides, and show what it can and what it can not do. And I promise, too, in the face and eyes of all theorizers who believe that the Spiritual manifestations are traceable to this force, and to the satisfaction of everybody else, to demonstrate that it is not competent to produce them. I will demonstrate it according to President Mahan’s hypothesis. I will show by every known law of nature that the power exerted at the brain’s center, in a single instance he has given, was equal to a thousand steam-engines of a million horse-power at the distance of five feet from the brain. But that will merely come in as collateral when I consider the objections offered to our theory. I will endeavor to consider every objection which any objector has proposed to bring forward. I do not stand here to boast, but what I speak is to me absolute. I stand here fearlessly, and invite all classes of minds to raise any objection they can to the Spiritual theory; and I bind myself to answer them instanter, or confess my inability to do so. The invitation commences now, and extends to every moment I am in the city.