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Life, Death and Spirit

Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man Albert Einstein

We are Spirit. We are of Spirit. We are Spirit given body and made physical for the purpose of experiential growth.

There is no good and no evil. There is merely experience.

Spirit is eternal, has always existed, and will always exist. And the totality of Spirit is what is known variously as the Father, God or Great Spirit.

From Spirit emanated the physical universe. Spirit as a whole individuates and incarnates into the physical universe for the purpose of experiential growth.

All physical being is of spirit. All life of individuated spirit. But the greater the sophistication, the greater the individuation.

Sometimes we are elated, or shrink in horror, at the behaviour of Spirit in physical clothes. Spirit may exhibit remarkable selflessness or unspeakable cruelty, but against the backdrop of eternity it is ultimately of infinitesimal significance. All that counts is what we experience, or fail to experience.

Life is school. It consists of a series of lessons, some of which we learn, others we fail to grasp. What we fail to grasp in one incarnation we return to try again. Christianity tells of the man BORN blind, about whom it is asked did HE sin or his father that he suffer such fate. It tells repeatedly of chance upon chance upon chance, the prodigal son, turn the other cheek, etc etc etc.

Buddhism says life is learning, spiritualism that it is experience. It is actually both.

Upon earth we have the right to seek justice, but justice and no more. Where we are wronged we should feel sorrow for that undeveloped part of Spirit that has turned upon itself.

The abundance of evidence in support of the existence of esp (extra-sensory perception) and pk (psychokinesis) is also evidence for survival since it implies the existence of a soul or spirit distinct from (and not subject to the laws which govern) the physical body. There is no reason why such a distinct entity would be extinguished when the physical body ceases to function.

Spirit individuates in order to experiment, to play and experience different roles. Ultimately Spirit is reintegrated into the whole, but individuated entities continue to exist beyond a single earthly incarnation. This is witnessed by spiritualistic mediumship.

Some are granted, or work to develop, a heightened awareness of their true essence, Spirit. These "mediums" serve to comfort, to reassure, to inspire and to motivate incarnate Spirit to aspire to ever greater heights. All true mediums provide piece upon piece of evidence that there IS something more than this sometimes wretched existence. Any audience with a medium, perhaps at a spiritualist church, will confirm that the medium can access knowledge beyond which is physically possible. The Church of England commissioned Majority Report of 1937 also confirmed this.

Mediums also carry the gift of healing, or rather the ability to act as channels which deliver healing from Spirit, to promote the philosophy that to help one's fellow beings is to help oneself. We may all be healers, in different ways. It is for us to find the channels in which we may best aid our brethren who journey alongside us.

Death is the only certainty of life. No Spirit may incarnate for much more than a mere hundred earthly years. A mere speck upon the canvas of eternity. It matters not. Those that "die" (the term "pass" is preferred) go home. It is us that continue upon this plane that are away, journeying.

We grieve for them that pass because we miss their presence, or we cannot be sure of their fate. But our experience tells us that nothing can spring from nothing, nor can anything vanish without trace. Things change from one form to another, like ice to water to steam. In life we have free will, the ability, within limits, to influence our destiny. Science encounters limits which its deterministic equations cannot penetrate. We ARE more than matter and energy. And that which is more cannot vanish, but is released to return to its natural state, ie pure Spirit.

Religion represents various attempts to make sense of the mystery of life, death and Spirit. All religions which have gained mass recognition carry the same degree of worth. There is no monopoly on truth. Each may follow the path that suits them best. The destination is the same.

Do not condemn established religion. But be wary of those who hijack its essential message. Seek the path which best suits the individual, but know that it is not the only road forward.

So what is the purpose of this life, this existence? We are born to suffer, but also to enjoy. Life is like a wave or roller coaster, with troughs and peaks. The peaks provide the sugar on the medicine, the difficulties teach the lessons we need to grow as individuals and for Spirit to grow as a whole.

We have free will, but like a dog whose leash is tied to a pole. We incarnate to experience certain things and whilst we may, to some extent, choose how and under what circumstances these experiences are received, we cannot cheat destiny. Mediums are sometimes able to deliver apparently prophetic messages. This does not negate free will, nor does it imply everything is predetermined. Spirit are able to view the physical landscape from a higher vantage point than their earthbound brethren and are thus able to forecast with a greater degree of accuracy. But no prediction from Spirit (or elsewhere) is cast in stone.

Everything we do is significant, because it forever changes what would otherwise have been. But, paradoxically, everything is insignificant too. If this world is all there is then we are mere automata without meaning. If this world isn't all there is, then it is of infinitesimal importance in the great scheme. Ultimately the only significance in this existence is the experiential growth of the soul.

Seek pleasure and satisfaction. So long as none is harmed it is your right. But seek also to give, in whatever way you can. And in all you do seek experiential growth. Seek what is Good, what is Positive - embrace it. Deny what is negative - reject it.

All for one and one for all cried the three musketeers in their unrealised wisdom. For we are not individuals. But we are all of one, whole, entity, which is Spirit. To help others, in whatever way we can, we help ourselves. But to damage others, we damage ourselves.

The principle of service to others has dual benefit. In helping others we also help ourselves, since individuals are merely different facets of the one, whole Spirit. And in applying selflessness we make a leap forward in knowledge with our recognition of the oneness of all. The case of healing has the additional benefit of providing evidence of the reality of Spirit.

And so we seek satisfaction, happiness, joy. And so we suffer the pain, sorrow, despair that inevitably punctuates it. And so we learn that material "success" is meaningless, but lasting achievement, doing good for the benefit of others, making a positive contribution, treading paths previously untrodden. That is what matters.

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