The Way from Earth to Infinity: Eternal Progression

1  THE WAY FROM EARTH TO INFINITY By Justin . Titus_ CSA Press, Lakemont, Georgi 2 3 4 The earth seen through the eyes of spiritual discernment. ETERNAL PROGRESSION Copyright @ 1971 by Justin Estae Titus ILLUSTRA TIONS The Earth as Seen Through the Eyes of Physical Discernment The Earth as Seen Through the Eyes of Spiritual Discernment / Contents CSA PRESS, LAKEMONT, GEORGI...................................................................................2 Oliver Wendell Holmes....................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 10 EARTH .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2...................................................................................................................................... 11 EXPANDING GRADES OR STATES...................................................................................... 11 Chapter three .................................................................................................................................... 12 5 ROADBLOCKS AND DISPENSERS .......................................................................................... 12 OF DARKNESS............................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter Four..................................................................................................................................... 13 Physical Death, New Bodies and a Second World ................................................................................ 13 Chapter Five ...................................................................................................................................... 16 Hell is from the Human Race................................................................................................................. 16 Are we hell raisers or are we heaven makers? We are one or the other for heaven and hell are from the human race!.................................................................................................................................. 17 Chapter Six ........................................................................................................................................ 17 Progression Begins in Darkness ........................................................................................................... 17 Chapter Seven ............................................................................................................................ 18 Light Bearers and Three Progressive States ........................................................................................ 18 Chapter Eight............................................................................................................................. 20 Thirty-three Apprentice Grades...................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Nine................................................................................................................................ 22 Forces of Resurrection and Spiritual Bodies ........................................................................................ 22 Chapter Ten....................................................................................................................................... 24 The Second Heaven and Fellow craftsmanship .................................................................................... 24 Chapter Eleven.................................................................................................................................. 25 Thirty-three craftsman grades......................................................................................................... 25 Chapter Twelve ................................................................................................................................. 26 Degraded Spirits and False Doctrines .................................................................................................. 26 Chapter Thirteen .............................................................................................................................. 30 Forces of Resurrection and Celestial Bodies ........................................................................................ 30 Chapter Fourteen.............................................................................................................................. 32 The Third Heaven and Planetary Masters ........................................................................................... 32 Chapter Fifteen ................................................................................................................................. 32 6 Thirty-three Master Grades................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter Sixteen................................................................................................................................. 34 Filled Heavens and Empty Hell............................................................................................................ 34 Chapter Seventeen ............................................................................................................................ 35 Ninety-nine Grades and the Golden Age.............................................................................................. 35 Chapter Eighteen .............................................................................................................................. 36 Forces of Resurrection, Arch Bodies, and Planetary Emancipation............................................ 36 Chapter Nineteen .............................................................................................................................. 38 Heaven is from the Human Race.......................................................................................................... 38 Chapter Twenty ................................................................................................................................ 41 INFINITY............................................................................................................................................ 41 ETERNAL PROGRESSION ........................................................................................................... 44 GRADATIM.......................................................................................................................................... 44 7  Oliver Wendell Holmes. THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS Build thee more stately mansions, 0 my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea! 8  MILESTONES OF PROGRESS Rev. Thomas Grimshaw, a- dedicated medium and able instrument of the ministering spirits of God, speaking under the powerful inspiration of his illuminated "ghost men," said: "There is a reservoir of Infinite Powers and Possibilities in every human being." The development and altruistic employment of those powers and possibilities for the good of all living beings will carry man from the finite plane to the level of Infinity. Jesus (Joshua) replying to the query of the bigoted Pharisees, said: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17: 20, 21. The development and altruistic employment of the gifts and talents of that inner kingdom for the good of all living! beings will elevate man from the lowly earth to the vaulted kingdoms of Infinity. The powers and possibilities of the kingdom of God within cometh not with observation, but with the continuous development or unfoldment that accompanies genuine spiritual progress. "He that is greatest among you shall be the servant of all." Service is the mark of greatness! Service is Sal- vation! One is saved to the degree that one is capable of serving. Enlarged Service is Extended Progression. ,EACH GOOD DEED IS A MILESTONE ALONG THE PATHWAY OF EVERLASTING PROGRESS. 9  CHAPTER 1 EARTH The three astronauts, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, photographed our native planet from outer space and from the surface of the moon. The planet resembles a huge, colourful marble floating in space; however, physical cameras and human eyes are limited in their powers of discernment. The aspects presented to the camera and eyes are true to a limited degree, but there is more to the planet earth than meets the camera or the eye. The mineral ball floating in space, like every physical thing, has its spiritual aspect or side, and the spiritual aspect or side cannot be seen through outer physical eyes; it can only be seen through inner spiritual discernment or sight. The earth floats in a whirlpool or vortex of intelligently directed power. The power of the whirlpool is termed vortexya and m'vortexya. Vortexya is positive masculine power and m'vortexya is negative feminine power. The whirlpool of positive and negative power follows an intelligent pattern and causes the planet to rotate, oscillate and orbit about the sun. The whirlpool of power, or the vortex in which the planet floats, is divided into three different planes or plateaus. The loftiest of those plateaus is extremely high in voltage, and is termed the Celestial. The voltage of the second or middle plateau is much lower in pitch, and is termed the Spiritual. The voltage of the first plateau is extremely low, and it is termed the Arch-natural. Those three invisible planes constitute the three unseen bodies of the planet. Here is the message spiritual discernment would impart to the aspiring student: The planet earth is qua- druple-bodied; it has an outer dense body, and three finer interior bodies. Those bodies or worlds are the habitat of mortals and spirits of various grades or degrees of development. You may discern from this that the planet is inhabited both without in its dense material aspect and within in its finer spiritual aspects. We mortals dwell in the outer dense body of the planet, and spirit people inhabit its finer interior bodies. The planet, like a huge, fully supplied, well-equipped space ship, carries us (mortals) in its dense outer body, and spirit people are carried in its finer interior bodies. Both mortals and spirits are passengers on the same great planetary ship, and they travel with it as it makes its axial, oscillating and orbital journeys in the master vortex of the sun. Both mortals and spirits are temporary passengers on the same great planetary ship, and they will remain bound passengers on that ship until progress qualifies them for life in the mighty emancipated worlds beyond the bound heavens of the planet. From Earth to Infinity is a pattern of Eternal Progression. What is the nature of the endless pattern? 10  Chapter 2 EXPANDING GRADES OR STATES Eternal Progression is the only mode of life that is accommodated to the everlasting growth of an immortal man. The title, Eternal Progression, suggests that man survives death and is destined to live forever. What sort of pattern has been established to accommodate the progress of man? What is meant by Eternal Progression and what is the form of its program or the nature of its pattern? A small wild horse evolved and matured to the stature of a full grown domestic animal, and natural man, through mental freedom and rationality of mind, may partake of Divine Love and Wisdom and progress to the point of spiritual rebirth. All who experience spiritual rebirth progress from the state of natural manhood to the state of spiritual manhood. Eventually, all natural men, in the light of the Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent Economy of Infinite Being, will progress to spiritual rebirth and become spiritual men. Spiritual man, the only legitimate son of God, is the only person who is qualified to experience the unlimited blessings that come to expression through Eternal Progression. Order is the first law of heaven and Eternal Progression is an orderly, scientific way leading from heaven to heaven, or from kingdom to kingdom. Eternal Progression is not a marathon race between distant points in a limited world of time and space. There are both time and space in the spiritual world, but there are no time and space compulsions or measurements. In fact, time and space are of little significance in that world. The limited world of time and space lacks the capacity to accommodate the ever-expanding grades and states that result from Eternal Progression. Eternal Progression cannot be measured in inches, feet, yards, rods or miles; it can only be measured by the expanding degrees of love, wisdom and spiritual sense power that are expressed by the ever-growing spiritual man. Time in the spiritual world is termed duration. By way of illustration, a thousand years is but a day to those who are extremely happy, and a day seems as a thousand years to those who are extremely sad. The only way in which man may change the duration of time is by changing the states of happiness or unhappiness within himself. Space in the spiritual, world is degree. Space is a matter of similarities and dissimilarities. Those are together who are similar and those' who are dissimilar are apart. Those who are on the same wavelength are together and those who are on different wavelengths are separated. You turn the dial on your television set to tune in on different broadcasting stations, and the degree to which you turn the dial determines the station you get. The picture which you have been viewing on the first station or channel becomes invisible, and the picture on the second station or channel which had been invisible becomes visible when you change the dial of your receiving set. The degree of the Divine Love and Wisdom expressed determines the extent of your spiritual sense power and that degree is the tuning dial within the being of the spiritual man. Those of the same wavelength are together though they are separated by many miles and those of different wavelengths are worlds apart though they occupy adjoining chairs in the same room. This togetherness and separateness is a literal fact of visibility and invisibility in the spiritual world. The degree to which t you set your dial determines the television station with which your set is in tune. Thus, it is similar to the time and space of the spiritual man. Time is a matter of duration, and space is degree to the spiritual man. The writer has heard spirit people affirm, "I am progressing now." Those spirit people did not mean that they were advancing over a course of inches, feet, yards, rods or miles, but they were expanding in frequency, duration and degree through an ever-enlarged dimension of grades and states in spiritual life. Spiritual progression may be corresponded to the enlarged growth or changes of state that take place between infancy, childhood, youth and manhood. One does not go but grows, through changes of state, from infancy to manhood. We do not go from mortality to immortality, from corruption to in corruption, from materiality to spirituality, from the image of the earthly to the image of the heavenly, but we grow through ever-expanding cycles of life, through ever-changing states of consciousness, and the perpetual extension of spiritual sense power. Familiar spirits do not go from the arch- 11 natural kingdom to the spiritual kingdom, from the spiritual kingdom to the celestial kingdom, from the celestial kingdom to the etheric kingdom, but they progress through states of spiritual rebirth and growth from the lesser to the greater kingdoms of life. "I am progressing" means that my state is changing from natural to spiritual, from spiritual to celestial and from celestial to etheric, etc. Eternal progression is a continuous change through expanding grades to higher and higher states; it is a continuous change from the familiar spirit of the arch-natural kingdom to the saintly spirit of the spiritual kingdom, from the saintly spirit of the spiritual kingdom to the angel of the celestial kingdom, and from the angel of the celestial kingdom to the archangel of the etheric kingdom, etc. All higher beings are higher beings because they have progressed through ever expanding grades and states to higher and higher worlds of life. One must change one's self if one is to change one's world. Chapter three ROADBLOCKS AND DISPENSERS OF DARKNESS The millennium has not dawned. The earth has no golden age. There are no spiritual giants working wonders in the world. We are even minus a silver and a copper age. Actually, we are living in a corrupt and filthy age of iron and clay. We have fallen into an inferior state, and have become decadent spiritual pigmies. What has induced our spiritual fall? The dispensers of darkness have created many roadblocks along the pathway of human progress, and those roadblocks are responsible for man's extreme loss of spiritual stature. Those roadblocks have arrested the spiritual development of man and prevented his growth into a magnificent spiritual giant. Who are the dispensers of darkness and what are some of their roadblocks? Spiritual ignorance is spiritual darkness, and the blind adherents of ignorance are the dispensers of darkness. Those adherents are drunken leaders of the masses and eventually all land in the ditch of theological or religious intoxication. There are many false gods, false Buddhas, false Brahmas, false Mohammeds and false Christs in the world. In fact, the dead-end heavens of the pseudo gods constitute the four dark corners of our planetary temple. The inspiration of error that is breathed forth from those dark corners pollutes the minds of men and in consequence those contaminated men establish roadblocks along the pathway of human progress. The prophets of those four dark corners are "the many false prophets that have gone forth into the world." Those false prophets can and do deceive the very elect for they can work miracles or produce genuine phenomena. They can mechanically and magnetically heal the sick, psychometrize objects and people, deliver spirit messages and prove continuity of life, etc. Partake of their phenomena, if you will, but scientifically check their phil-losophies. Be not like the ' 'fool who rushes in where angels are too wise to tread." The reality of the phenomena presented by the false prophet is no warrant for the truth of his philosophy. The philosophy of the false prophet is premised in error, superstition and darkness. The phenomena of the false prophet may truly duplicate the phenomena of the true prophet but there is a world of difference in their phi- losophies. The philosophy of the false prophet contains a hook, and the purpose of the hook is to make a catch. The hook is designed to catch men and draw them into the binding net of a dark philosophy. The false prophets are ardent fishermen of men. The false prophet is overshadowed by familiar, bound and unenlightened spirits. One, to truly know the prophet, must know the spirits that overshadow the prophet. Bound, irrational spirits overshadow the false prophet, but free-minded, rational spirits are companions to the true prophet. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1. How may one prove the spirits if there is no communication? One must talk with a spirit or associate with him cautiously and wisely to prove his status as a spirit of Almighty God. Millions and millions of mortals and spirits have been caught by a hook of philosophical error; they are bound in the nocturnal webs that have been spun 30 for them by the dispensers of darkness. One who is bound in earth is, after death, bound in a dark, 12 dead-end heaven. Any person, irrespective of his worldly position, who teaches or preaches falsity and lives to a pattern of error is a dispenser of darkness. The dispenser of darkness honestly believes that he is the only one who is right. He honestly believes that everybody else is dead wrong. Many of the dispensers of darkness are good but deluded and unwise, and because they have been misled they may mislead others. Such men, although they may not be morally bad, have a driving compulsion to force everyone else, as a matter of selfish religious preservation, to participate in their philosophical drunkenness. Eternal damnation, vicarious atonement, salvation through sacrificial blood or murder, reincarnation, physical ascension after death, grave sleeping, etc., are a few of the many roadblocks that line the pathway of human progress. Those many roadblocks have robbed man of his personal responsibility and, through lack of spiritual exertion because of the savior doctrine, have reduced him to a state of spiritual impotence. Genuine prophets of light � are conceived, gestated and born in the light; they are never born of darkness. Spiritual darkness reduces the spiritual stature of man, and begets only spiritual dwarfs or pigmies. There are ninety- nine grades in our planetary spiritual world, and eventually every man must climb those educational grades and develop strength, purity, Divine Love, Divine Wisdom and Spiritual Power through the exertion that comes through climbing. How may one prove the spirits if there is no communication? One must talk with a spirit or associate with him cautiously and wisely to prove his status as a spirit of Almighty God. Millions and millions of mortals and spirits have been caught by a hook of philosophical error; they are bound in the nocturnal webs that have been spun for them by the dispensers of darkness. One who is bound in earth is, after death, bound in a dark, dead- end heaven. Any person, irrespective of his worldly position, who teaches or preaches falsity and lives to a pattern of error is a dispenser of darkness. The dispenser of darkness honestly believes that he is the only one who is right. He honestly believes that everybody else is dead wrong. Many of the dispensers of darkness are good but deluded and unwise, and because they have been misled they may mislead others. Such men, although they may not be morally bad, have a driving compulsion to force everyone else, as a matter of selfish religious preservation, to participate in their philosophical drunkenness. The Divine Love and Wisdom that actually frees men through processes of spiritual progression, cannot flow into minds that are bound in error and flooded with irrational beliefs; there can be no inspirational flow of the Divine Love and Wisdom into bound and irrational minds. The Divine Love and Wisdom will only flow into freedom and rationality. The state of one's mind determines the quality of the flow. If you are bound in 31 superstition and error and your mind is clouded with irrational beliefs, the light and warmth of Divine Love and Wisdom cannot enter. If such is your state, you are a dispenser of darkness and a creator of roadblocks along the pathway of eternal progression. Darkness is not confined to the religious world, but it has existence in the social, moral, political and financial worlds as well. Witness your television programs, look through your magazines, read the newspapers, etc., that promote evil and error. Socially, witness the hatred, bias and intolerance that is expressed between the various races; politically, witness the selfish rivalry and warfare that is expressed by those of different viewpoints. Bound and irrational minds, whether religious, moral, social, political or financial, are non-receptive to the inflow of the Divine Inspiration. Bigoted, superstitious, intolerant, greedy, selfish, bound, irrational minds, etc., are dark minds; they are closed to the inspirational inflow of the Divine Love and Wisdom. Such minds are dispensers of darkness and they are creating vast numbers of roadblocks along the pathway of spiritual progress. Chapter Four Physical Death, New Bodies and a Second World "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? "Thou fool! that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: "And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: "But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 13 "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. "It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." icor. 15: 35 to 44. An acorn has a physical body. Only when the seed falls to the ground and dies, does it bring forth new life. The acorn dies and from it comes the magnificent body of the oak tree. "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow." The physical body dies and a spiritual body is born from it. Physical death is transition. Henry Ward Beecher once said: "We go to the grave saying a man is dead; but Angels throng about him saying, 'A man is born." People can pinpoint the time of the birth of a child into this world; they can estimate the exact time of its arrival. Because of their precise knowledge, they can prepare for the blessed event; they can provide clothes, blankets, cribs, etc. Spirit people are thus informed also, and they are aware of approaching death; they are aware of the approaching transition, or birth, of man from his physical body. Spirit people are truly aware of the moment of death. We have had some experience with their awareness, as the following incidents will reveal. The writer was a guest in the home of a well-known surgeon whose wife was a cloistered psychic. During the evening, the wife was entranced by a benevolent spirit who informed us, 'eWe are assembling birth blankets preparatory to the reception of the spirits of hundreds of children. Gas is accumulating beneath a school building in Texas, and hundreds of children will be killed in the explosion. Watch your newspapers for the catastrophe will occur within the week." "Can we not warn them?" was the inquiry. "No," answered the spirit, "they would not believe you; they would only consider you abnormal or involved in the event in some manner." Within the week, the headlines of the newspapers proclaimed in bold print: "More than Six Hundred Children Die in School Explosion." We were aware of the approaching catastrophe a week in advance. We were alerted by competent spirit people who had provided birth blankets for the children in advance of their deaths. While the writer was the pastor of a large church, a member of the parish was stricken with a terminal illness. The writer visited the stricken lady frequently, but on the final day there were many other visitors. Those visitors were invisible to natural sight; they were spirit visitors, and they were spiritually discerned. The writer found himself functioning in a superior state, the eyes of his spirit were opened, and he beheld a moving ceremony. The ceremony was associated with death, for those spirit people carried a gorgeous purple birth blanket. The blanket was highly charged with spiritual magnetism, for it seemed to color the hands of the spirit people who held it. The lovely ceremony ended when they wrapped the blanket about the spiritual body of the lady, and carried her home. Those spirit people were aware of the imminence of death, and were present with full equipment to fulfill their ceremonial duties. Death is, indeed, birth, and competent spirit people are fully advised of the moment. "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee in all thy ways." At death the spirit rises at right angles over the head or brain of the deserted physical body. Immediately previous to the final dissolution of the relationship between the spiritual and material bodies, a bright stream or current of vital electricity plays energetically between the feet of the elevated spiritual body and the head of the prostrate physical body. This teaches us that what is customarily termed DEATH is only a BIRTH of the spirit from a lower to a higher state; that an inferior body and mode of existence are exchanged for a superior body of corresponding endowments and capabilities. There is an exact correspondence between the birth of a child into this world and the birth of a spirit from the material body into a higher world. This is true even to the umbilical cord, which is represented by the thread of vital electricity, which connects the two organisms together, until it is severed at death. 14 Truly, "the body that is sown is not the body that shall be." The living spark, the live germ or pattern of the potential oak tree is imprisoned in the little acorn. The tree is thus bound in limitation and undevelopment until the acorn dies and decays. The oak tree comes forth from death, corruption and weakness in the tiny acorn to live and function in the larger body of a mighty tree. Thus it is with the spirit of man. The Divine Spark, the Deific Germ, or life pattern of the potential spiritual man is implanted and imprisoned in the lowly natural man until the natural man dies. The spiritual man comes forth from the weakness and cor- ruption of the old natural man to the incorruption and strength of a spiritual man. Thus the spiritual man is born. Death is actually birth. All men survive death. But some man will say, "How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?" The bodies of spirit people vary greatly, and the variance is determined by a difference in state and condition, or by the degree of their spiritual development. The bodies of lofty spirits are corresponded to the glory of the sun, and they are celestials; others to the glory of the moon, and they are spirituals; others to the glory of the stars, and they are familiar, or arch-natural, spirits; and others are so low in development as to correspond to birds, fishes and beasts, and they belong to the animal plane. At the present, we are concerned only with those whose state of development determines them for the second world, the world immediately beyond physical death -- the spirit world. The bodies of those who enter the spirit world are corresponded to stars for they differ one from the other, as one star differs from another star in glory. Stars are seen only in the darkness; they are night bodies. Starlight disappears in the greater light of the sun. Stars are symbols of selfish individual attainments in the world of human affairs. How often have we heard the expression, "She is a temperamental star." Temperament is often expressed as self-love or selfishness. Stars are natural, and they belong to the natural kingdom. The state of life in the second or spirit world is an arch-natural state, and those who live there, being still of the arch-natural kingdom, are only qualified to enter an arch-natural heaven. One cannot live in a world which is beyond one's state of development. Thus, we find beasts environed in the wilderness, fish in water, and birds in the air, etc. A wise Providence frames and fits the proper environment to the species. The masses of people in this world are natural, they belong to the natural kingdom, and after death they gravitate to an arch-natural heaven. They are in continuity of the same state of life in the spirit world as here in the physical world. Physical death creates no break in the environmental law. A natural man before death continues for quite some time to be an arch-natural man after death. The spirit world is an arch-natural world; it is a second and higher aspect of nature, and so are the people who dwell there. The second world (the spirit world) is a night world, or a world of spiritual darkness. Spiritual ignorance is spiritual darkness, and many people carry that state with them into the next life. They are in continuity of the same ignorant spiritual state after death as before. This fact should serve as an incentive to start people on a quest for spiritual knowledge. One may acquire knowledge of the spiritual world while still living in the dense natural world. "Seek, and you shall find, etc." Stars are symbols of the selfish competitive spirit in human nature. Each person is striving to get ahead, or outdo the other person. In other words, each star is striving to outshine the other star and surpass it in glory. People carry themselves into the next life, and that includes all of their old superstitious, bigoted, dogmatic, erroneous religious beliefs, and all of their old selfish, social, and racial attitudes and discords, etc. Those of the spirit world are in a state of rugged, selfish individualism, and their selfish emanations are seen, like the stars, only against a backdrop of darkness. The bodies of spirit people are arch-natural, and they are still in the image of the earthy, they are still familiar spirits, but their bodies are of finer quality than the mundane ones. The vibratory frequency of those spirit bodies makes them invisible to physical sight, but does not carry them above the natural kingdom or state of life; they are still arch-natural. The spirit world (the second world) is framed and fitted to the needs, or the development of the familiar spirits who dwell there. The spirit world is a reproduction of the physical world, but it is composed of finer astral or planetary substance. Spirit people (familiar spirits) feel at home in the spirit world because the environment is counterpart to the environment which was left behind at death on the physical plane. The spirit world is the old terrestrial world clothed in new and finer substance; it is the life of the old world in a new and finer garment. The spirit world is an arch-mortal world; there are only arch-mortal spirits dwelling there. Mortality is not suddenly transmuted into immortality. Physical death does not wave the wand of alchemy and magically change mortals into immortals; such requires a higher and more advanced death or birth; such requires thirty- 15 three grades of growth in apprenticeship. This does not mean that the familiar spirits of the spirit world are bound forever in mortality; it does not mean that there is no avenue of escape from that condition. On the contrary, spirit people can change their arch-mortal state or condition, and progress into immortality; they can put off mortality and put on immortality; they can put off the image of the earthy and put on the image of the heavenly. Progress is a change of state and it is eternal. This fact of life holds good here in the physical world, in the spirit world, or in any other world. The doors of reformation are never closed against any person, here or hereafter. Progression is a change of state, and it is eternal. The following quotation is expressive of the truth: "You are where you are by reason of what you are. If you would be elsewhere, you must change yourself. Change yourself and you will change your world." Chapter Five Hell is from the Human Race Hell is not a lake of fire and brimstone, existing in a specific locality beyond death. Hell is not a diabolic cre- ation of Lucifer, Satan, or Beelzebub, prince of the devils. Hell is a human creation; it is from the human race, and one need not journey beyond the boundaries of this physical world to find it. Hell is a state or condition of warfare, corruption, dishonesty, crime, sexual perversity, adultery, selfishness, hatred, revenge, murder, jealousy, in harmony, etc., and it is from the human race; the human race is its origin. Recently the writer was walking down the street in a certain city and he was exposed to a number of vile words and phrases that were scribbled on the sidewalk. Those filthy words and phrases were objectified by a human being; they came out of an unclean human mind. That human being was filled to overflowing with filth, and it spilled out all over the place where men walk. The mind of that person was a raging caldron of hell, and he left imprints of his character upon the sidewalk. It, like all other infernal expressions, came out of a human being; it came from the human race. No unselfish, saintly mind ever starts a war, or commits a murder. Hell is never objectified by heaven. No saintly or angelic person ever betrays your daughter, steals your property, or betrays your confidence. Heaven never gives birth to hell. There is no hell in heaven, and it cannot give expression to that which has no existence within its boundaries. Hell is from the human race. Which human race? Hell is from a degenerate human race. Heaven is from a regenerate human race. Both heaven and hell are from the generate human race. The very lowest and worst hells are from a degenerate human race. Degeneration is generation gone to hell, and regeneration is generation gone to heaven. Generation is the middle ground or seedbed of both heaven and hell. Thorns and thistles, poison ivy and poison oak, venomous fangs and violent stingers, beastly viciousness and violent hawkishness are qualities that are nurtured in the seedbeds of hell. Qualities of degeneration exist in generate human beings, and unless conquered or overcome will manifest as hell in the human race. Degeneration finally results in diabolical impotency and regeneration in deific potency. One who is degenerate is moving toward diabolical impotency and one who is in regeneration is moving toward deific potency. False gods move toward insanity, and a total loss of consciousness. True gods move toward supervision of the magnitudes, and divine consciousness. Travel the narrow pathway of regeneration and you will become a wise and potent deity; travel the broad way of degeneration and you will become an impotent, insane devil. Hell is, indeed, from the human race. Religions that postulate a personal devil had best begin looking for him in man. Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil are representative names of three degrees, or levels, of degeneration and evil in man. Hell is from the human race. Hell is man made; it is a human creation. Hitler had all three levels, or degrees, of evil within himself, and he objectified them during World War II. Hitler raised hell with six million Jews and he had plenty of visible and invisible help. Hitler not only raised hell with the Jews, but he raised hell with the entire human race. Hell raisers are both visible and invisible. Hitlers of both the seen and the unseen raised hell and they expressed no apology, voiced no regret, for the awful harvest of evil which they poured out upon the world. 16 The world, at present, is in an infernal state because human beings are making it so. The streets are not safe, the highways are unsafe, the airways need policing, women are unsafe in the homes, in public places and at work. Old laws are being strengthened and new laws enacted. Those laws are not being enacted to bring the devil under control, but to bring evil human beings under control. Hell is from the human race. Doors and windows are locked not to keep Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil out, but to protect one from evil human beings. Jails, penitentiaries, and reformatories are not for invisible devils, but for visible human beings. Hell is from the human race! An angry god, a cunning devil, and a lake of fire and brimstone have been indispensable allies of the church. The church has been made strong through fear. Five thousand years is a long time for even a god to be angry, but an angry god has built a strong church. No detective has ever been able to outwit the devil, and the fuel bill of an eternal, burning hell must be exorbitant -- but a cunning devil and a burning hell have built a strong church. Fear is the child of ignorance. Fear is vanquished by knowledge and knowledge builds faith or engenders confidence. The church has played upon the superstitious fears of the masses; it has paraded men before the judgment bar of an angry unforgiving god, had them captured by a cunning devil, and singed them in an eternal, burning hell, and it has done so for ages. We have come to a scientific stage in evolution when we no longer shudder and quake in the face of superstitious theological threats. A scientific age has illuminated our minds and made us understand that evil is a product of degenerate man. In this scientific age, we know that hell is from the human race. We say to a powerful church, be honest, be illuminated, be progressive in keeping with the times. Hell is a state of emotion; it is a condition of the mind; it is not eternal. This is the message of a great scientific age: "The devil with his horns, split hoofs, forked tail, and human body, is a symbol of the human animal, or beastly man." Degenerate men are the founders and keepers of hell. Hell is from the human race, and men are in continuity of the same state of life after death; they carry hell into the next expression of life with them, and continue to objectify it. They raise hell here and they raise hell over there. All degenerate men are hell raisers. All regenerate men are heaven makers. Are we hell raisers or are we heaven makers? We are one or the other for heaven and hell are from the human race! Chapter Six Progression Begins in Darkness "Man said: Alas, Me! Why was I born in darkness? "Why was I not created knowing all things from my youth up? "Why did not the Creator send His angels with me every day, to satisfy my craving for light from the Almighty? "Kosmon answered: Hadst thou not craved for light, thou hadst not been delighted to receive light. Hadst thou been created with knowledge, thou couldst not be an acquirer of knowledge. "Had the Creator given thee angels to be forever giving thee light, then they would be slaves. "Liberty is the boon of men and angels; the desire for liberty causeth the soul of man to come out of darkness. "Whoso feeleth that he hath no need of exertion groweth not in spirit. He hath no honor on the earth or the heaven thereof." Oahspe P 549 vs. 13 to 19, Spiritual darkness overshadows the earth! Spiritual weakness is apparent everywhere! We are all born spiritually weak and in darkness! The natural kingdom affords no spiritual strength or light. Natural men, until they acquire the correct state of mind, cannot develop spiritual strength or receive spiritual light. Spiritual strength is born of omnipotence, and spiritual light cometh from omniscience. Spiritual strength and light will not flow into bound or irrational minds. Omnipotence and omniscience will only flow into mental 17 freedom and rationality. Minds that are bound in illogical, insane beliefs are short-circuited from the Infinite Dynamo of Power and Light. Spiritual ignorance is spiritual darkness, and spiritual dullness, or insensitiveness, is spiritual weakness. The masses of people in the natural kingdom are spiritually ignorant and spiritually dull, or insensitive; therefore, the masses are lost in spiritual darkness and are helpless in spiritual weakness. Spiritually, the people of the natural kingdom are asleep -- they are in a state of hibernation, and it has been a long, long sleep. Sleep is nocturnal; it usually occurs at night, and it is associated with darkness. The sleep of spiritual darkness has bestowed a heritage of spiritual weakness upon the sleeper. The masses of people in the natural kingdom are spiritually ignorant and dull, or insensitive. There is no doubt about it, men of the natural kingdom, and familiar spirits who are still in the image of the earthly, are existing in states of spiritual darkness and weakness. Natural men and familiar spirits have little spiritual discernment; they are spiritually blind and deaf, or spirit- ually dull and insensitive. Extrasensory powers are rare expressions in the human race. We are a handicapped race. Spiritually speaking, we are a woefully retarded race. We have schools and gymnasiums, teachers and physicians, nurses and trainers for the weak and retarded or the handicapped of this natural world. Why do we lack essential help for the spiritually handicapped and retarded? Presently, the human race is functioning in states of spiritual weakness and darkness. We are spiritually deaf, mute and blind. We are in various states of spiritual idiocy, and we clearly exhibit it here upon the earth. How will the human race ever escape from its handicapped and restricted state? Progress begins in darkness, but what steps determine the beginning? What initial steps must be taken if the human race is to make an escape from its condition of spiritual dullness and darkness? Man will never seek �an escape from darkness until he ceases to love the darkness. A lover of darkness is content to remain in the darkness. Such resemble night birds or creatures of the darkness. Man will react from the darkness only after he has been mortally wounded by the darkness. Man will react from his spiritually handicapped condition only after he has been violently afflicted by the condition. Severe affliction will generate an ardent desire in man to make an escape from his afflictions. Thus the desire for liberty is born, and the desire for liberty caus-eth the soul of man to come out of darkness. Spiritual ignorance, or darkness, is hell; spiritual dullness, or insensitiveness, is hell; spiritual blindness and deafness are hell; spiritual anemia and weakness are hell, etc. Hell is a state of limitation; it is a state of af- fliction; it is a state of suffering. Man will react from those limitations, and become strong in the direction of his reactions, only after he has suffered the tortures that are associated with those limitations. Emancipation from limitation is salvation! Man, to escape the darkness, must come to hate the darkness and to love the light. Distaste for the darkness, and delight of the light, will inspire man to exert to escape the darkness. We grow strong through exertion. Only by developing strength may we escape the darkness and enter the realms of light. Progress comes with strength. Crave the light, acquire knowledge, find delight in knowing, exert to escape the darkness, and grow strong in spirit. Liberty is the joy of men and angels; the desire for liberty causeth the soul of man to come out of darkness. We are born in spiritual weakness and ignorance. Progress does, indeed, begin in darkness. Chapter Seven Light Bearers and Three Progressive States There are three degrees of light in our planetary spirit world: celestial light, spiritual light, and arch- natural light. Celestial light is a flaming, ruddy, extremely high voltage light. This is the light of those angels that live in the third resurrection or heaven. The highly developed ex-human beings who dwell there are termed Celestials. Spiritual light is a shining white light. This is the light of those saintly human beings who dwell in the second resurrection or intermediate heaven. Arch-natural light is like the light of day in our world; it is a compound or mixture of the lower natural and higher spiritual light. This is the light of those familiar spirit people who dwell in the first resurrection, or the arch-natural heaven of our planet. The arch-natural heaven is commonly known as "the spirit world." 18 The light of the dense natural world is dead; it is composed of the radiance of impotent and lifeless natural fire. Natural light is termed dead because it embodies no deific attribute. Spiritual light is composed of rays of Good and Truth and they emanate from orbs of Divine Love and Wisdom. Spiritual light is alive. Natural light illuminates the natural world and the outer physical senses. Spiritual light illuminates the spiritual world, the inner spiritual senses, and man's understanding. Celestial angels who dwell in the third resurrection or heaven are dual male and female beings. Men and women unite in this heaven and form the complete man or angel. Celestial angels are light bearers. The saintly spirits who dwell in the second resurrection, or heaven, have not yet become angels and they dwell in the Spiritual Kingdom beneath the Celestial Kingdom. Saintly spirits are light bearers. Arch- natural, or familiar spirits, have not attained to sainthood; they have not attained to the second or spiritual heaven. They have not yet put on or developed the image of the heavenly; they are still in the well- known image of the earthy and, because of their mortal appearance, they are known as familiar spirits. Familiar, or arch-natural, spirits dwell in the first, or arch-natural, heaven. Familiar spirits are light bearers; however, there is a vast difference in the degree of light that is transmitted by the three orders of beings. The light of the Celestial angels is extremely high voltage and it must be lowered in frequency ere it can be received by the saintly spirits of the second heaven. The light of the second heaven is of lesser frequency but it, too, is intense, and it can be communicated to the familiar spirits of the first, or arch- natural heaven only through lines of light which are lowered from congresses of Spirits. The light of the arch-natural heaven is spiritual-natural; it is a polluted compound. Spiritual-natural light contains some wheat and a lot of chaff, and it requires much winnowing in order to separate the two. The messages of familiar spirits may be transmitted to us personally for they are still present with us; they are all about us; however, we should accept their messages with reservations for their messages are spiritual-natural; they are still polluted with the errors that have been accumulated in the natural. The wheat of truth, insofar as their consciousness is concerned, is still highly mixed with chaff. Familiar spirits do not present the unadulterated truth. The light of the familiar spirit, because of his degree or grade of development, may be polluted light. Spirit people do not attain to great wisdom at death. Think not that great wisdom cometh suddenly by dying. Spirits are easily deceived when they first enter the spirit world. This day in the lower heavens there are millions of false Brahmas, millions of false Buddhas, millions of false Christs, and millions of false Gabriel Gods. Whosoever bindeth himself to these names whilst on earth becomes a fit subject for the forces of darkness and deception. The only bearers of light who are trustworthy are those who contact the exalted places where wisdom and purity dwell. Only those are trustworthy bearers of the light who begin to comprehend the ways of the Kingdom of the Almighty. The Almighty, the Infinite One, has opened the heavens, the spirits of the dead return to us and commune in the household. We should not flatter ourselves that the whole of the Father's Kingdom is revealed to us, and that the angels who converse with us can make plain the dominions of the higher heavens. A state divided against itself cannot stand, even so are the heavens above not divided, but are a harmonious unit. When one spirit comes to you preaching one thing, and another spirit comes to you preaching another thing, their words are proof that they have not yet entered the harmonious heavens of the Almighty. Contradictory doctrines are proof of inharmonious relationships or a lack of unity. It is because of the inharmony of your own soul that you are open to such conflicting messengers or false teachers. The conflicting messages of such false misguided spirits deny the Person and the Harmonious Unity of the Infinite One. The spirits of the lowest heaven, or of the spirit world, who are reliable are free-minded; they are free of all false gods, and all false creeds and dogmas. Such spirits are not only free-minded, but they are rational minded; they entertain no irrational, or insane, beliefs. Only free-minded, rational spirits are qualified to lead us along the pathway of true spiritual progress and unfoldment. The pathway of progress is an orderly scientific pathway and it leads through three definite states. The first 19 state is termed INITIATORY, the second state is termed EXPLORATORY, and the third state is termed PRE- PARATORY. The Initiatory state is a first state; it is the state in which most every spirit finds himself existing just beyond death. The Initiatory state is called a state of Spiritual Exteriors. All newborn spirits are first in a state of spiritual exteriors. In other words, each spirit is a spiritual extrovert; each is interested only in outward things; each is outgoing and interested only in exterior relationships. One who is in this state is first interested only in the external state and condition of his own finer body. He is surprised to find that he has a body, and it is free of the pain, disease and deformity that afflicted his physical body. He is surprised to find that spirits are not just formless clouds, but they have bodies that are perfect in every way. It is a complete body, and the new born spirit often feels it all over with his hands to assure himself that it is perfect and complete, nothing lacking. The newly arisen spirit, having exhausted his interest in his body, manifests interest in his long lost relatives, friends, companions, neighbors, and eventually in the noted characters of social, political and religious history, both sacred and temporal, or profane. The newborn spirit is a "rubber necker" for he is interested in the homes, cities, lakes, mountains, etc., or the topography of the spirit world, etc. The clothing worn by spirits, the air they breathe, the food they eat, centers his interest in external things, The spirit, after finally exhausting most of the external interests relative to the world into which death forced his entrance, or immigration, arrives at a new state of being. The new state is termed Exploratory. One in the Exploratory state is no longer absorbed by exterior interests; but he is claimed by his own interior interests, hungers, desires, etc. Thus, the Exploratory is termed a state of Spiritual Interiors, The spirit has progressed from the Initiatory State and Spiritual Exteriors to the Exploratory State and Spiritual Interiors. What is the nature of the interests, hungers, desires, etc., which grip the attention of the spirit in his new state? What is the nature of his inward interests, loves, desires, etc., that have been covered over, or hidden, while the spirit was in the Initiatory state, or the state of Spiritual Exteriors? Are those interests good or bad, true or false, positive or negative? The spirit will be explored and will prove the nature of his inner state through exposures. The spirit will be exposed to good and evil, truth and error; and he will prove the nature of his inner qualities by his reactions in the direction of good or evil. This state may well be termed Psychological. The Exploratory state is a state of Spiritual Interiors. The spirit who has his dormant, hidden desires uncovered by his exposure to good and truth and reacts in the correct direction will move toward the positive side, or toward the third state. The third state is a Preparatory state; it is a state of Instruction and it is Educational. The spirit who has his secret, hidden desires revealed through his exposure to evil and error will react in the wrong direction and move on currents of force which carry him to the animal plane. Such spirits live on the animal plane, until all of their lower desires have been dissipated; they live in until they live out, or outlive, all of their lower animal desires. Thus, they are finally conditioned or qualified for the third state which is Preparatory, or the state of Instruction. All spirits, who are qualified for the Preparatory state, or state of Instruction, are termed Apprentices, and they are ready to enter grade one in the first thirty-three grades of the spirit world, or arch-natural heaven. The Initiatory, Exploratory, and Preparatory States engender freedom and rationality of mind, and point the way to spiritual progress in the Educational Grades of the Spirit World, or Arch-natural Heaven. Become an Apprentice and progress from the Arch-natural Kingdom into the higher Spiritual Kingdom of Life. Chapter Eight [... excerpt truncated; full document held on file, contact an admin for the complete text ...]