and all color is music. The one is never existent without the other. That is why the
flowers give forth such pleasant tones when they are approached, as it will be
remembered of my early experience wit flowers. The water that sparkles and flashes
colors is also creating musical sounds of purity and beauty. But it must not be imagined
that with all this galaxy of color in the spirit world there is also pandemonium of music
going on unremittingly. The eye is not wearied by the fullness of color here. Why should
our ears be wearied by the sweet sound the colors send forth? The answer is that they are
not, because the sounds are in perfect accord with the colors, as the colors are with the
sounds. And the perfect combination of both sight and sound is perfect harmony.
Harmony is a fundamental law here. There can be no confliction. I do
not suggest that we are in a state of perfection. We should be an immensely higher realm
if we were, but we are in perfection in so far as this realm is concerned. If we, as
individuals, become more perfect than the realm in which we live, we, ipso facto,
become worthy of advancing to a higher state, and we do so But while we are where we
are, in this realm or higher, we are living in a state of perfection according .to the limits
of that realm
I have dwelt rather at length upon our musical experience because of
the great position of music in our lives and in the realm in which we are living. The
whole attitude to music held by so many people of the earth undergoes a great change
when they eventually come to spirit. Music is looked upon by many on the earth-plane as
merely a pleasant diversion, a pleasant adjunct to the earthly life, but by no means a
necessity. Here it is part of our life, not because we make it so, but because it is part of
natural existence, as are flowers and trees, grass and water, and hills and dales. It is an
element of spiritual nature. Without it a vast deal of the joy would depart out of our lives.
We do not need to become master-musicians to appreciate the wealth of music that
surrounds us in color and sound, but as in so many other features of this life, we accept
and enjoy to the full, and in the enjoyment of our heritage we can afford to smile at those
who persist in believing that we live in a world of emptiness.
A world of emptiness! What a shock so many people have upon their
coming into the spirit world, and how immensely glad and relieved they are to find that it
turns out quite pleasant after all; that it is not a terrifying place; that it is not one
stupendous temple of hymn-singing religion; and that they are able to feel at home in the
land of their new life. When this joyful realization has come to them, some of them are
reminded that they looked upon the various descriptions of this life, that have come from
us from time to time, as rather material ! And how pleased they are to discover that it is
so. What is it, if it is not material ? The musicians that we heard playing were playing
upon very real, solid instruments from very real music. The conductor was a very real
person, conducting his orchestra with a very material baton! But the beautiful musical
thought-form was not so very material as were its surroundings or the means to create it,
in just the same relative way as an earthly rainbow, and the sun and moisture that cause
it.
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At the risk of making myself very tedious I have reverted more than
once to this strange fallacy that the world I am living in, here in spirit, is vague and
shadowy. It is strange that some minds strive always to banish from the world of spirit
every tree and flower, and the other thousand and one delights. There is something of
conceit in this that makes such things exclusive to the earth world. At the same time, if
any soul thinks that such things have no business to exist in the spirit world, he is at
liberty to abstain from both the sight and enjoyment of them by betaking himself to some
barren spot where his susceptibilities will not be offended by such earthly objects as trees
and flowers and water (and even human beings), and there he can give himself up to a
state of beatific contemplation, surrounded by the heavenly nothingness that he thinks
should be heaven proper. No soul is forced into an unwilling task here, nor into
surroundings that considers uncongenial. I venture to assert that it will not be long before
such a soul emerges from his retreat and joins his fellows the enjoyment of all the
delights of God s heaven. There is just one fault among one or two others, that the earth
world possesses: the overwhelming superiority, in its own mind, over every other world,
but principally over the spirit world. We can afford to be amused, though our amusement
turns to sadness when we see the distress of souls upon their arrival here, when they
realize that they are, at last, faced with eternal truth beyond question or doubt. It is then
that humility so often sets in! But never reproach. The reproaching comes from within
each soul itself.
And what, perhaps, it will be asked, has all this to do with musical
experiences? Just this: that after every new experience I have thought the same thoughts,
and very nearly spoken the words to both Ruth and Edwin. Ruth has always echoed my
words; Edwin has always been in agreement with me though, of course, what we were
seeing was not new to him by any means. But he still marveled at all things here, as
indeed do we whether we have but just arrived, or whether we have been over here many
years of earth time.
As we walked along after the concert, Edwin pointed out to the
dwelling places of many of the teachers in the various halls of learning, who preferred to
live close to the seats of their work. They were, for the most part, unpretentious houses,
and it would have been comparatively easy to guess the occupation of owner, so we were
told, from the various evidences within of their work. Edwin said that we should always
be welcome should ever wish to call upon any of the teachers. The exclusiveness which
must necessarily surround such people when they are incarnate vanishes when they come
into spirit. All values become drastic altered in such matters. The teachers themselves do
not cease their own studies because they are teaching. They are ever investigating and
learning, and passing on to their pupils what they have gained. Some have progressed to
a higher realm, but they retain their interest in their former sphere, and continuously visit
it and their many friends to pursue their teaching.
But we have already spent some time on this subject, and Ed is waiting to take
us on to other places of importance in the city.
VIII. PLANS FOR FUTURE WORK
A SHORT walk brought us to a large rectangular building which, our friend
informed us, was the hall of science, and my fair companion and I were at a loss to know
how science, as we always understood the word on earth, could have any place in the
spirit world. However, we were soon to learn many things, the chief of which was that
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the earth world has the spirit world to thank for all the major scientific discoveries that
have been made throughout the centuries.
The laboratories of the world of spirit are many decades in advance of those of
the earth-plane. And it will be years before many revolutionary discoveries are allowed
to be sent through to the earth world, because the earth has not yet sufficiently
progressed.
Neither Ruth nor I had any very great leaning towards science and
engineering, and Edwin, knowing our taste in this direction, proposed that we should
give but a moment or two to this particular hall. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]