Part 13 (1/2)

Buried secrets

The mine knows naught of the emeralds within its rocks; the sea is ignorant of the gems within its caverns, 87:21 of the corals, of its sharp reefs, of the tall s.h.i.+ps that float on its bosom, or of the bodies which lie buried in its sands: yet these are all there. Do not 87:24 suppose that any mental concept is gone because you do not think of it. The true concept is never lost. The strong impressions produced on mortal mind by friend- 87:27 s.h.i.+p or by any intense feeling are lasting, and mind- readers can perceive and reproduce these impressions.

Recollected friends

Memory may reproduce voices long ago silent. We 87:30 have but to close the eyes, and forms rise before us, which are thousands of miles away or altogether gone from physical sight and sense, and 88:1 this not in dreamy sleep. In our day-dreams we can recall that for which the poet Tennyson expressed the 88:3 heart's desire, - the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still.

88:6 The mind may even be cognizant of a present flavor and odor, when no viand touches the palate and no scent salutes the nostrils.

Illusions not ideas

88:9 How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from il- lusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts, 88:12 proceeding from the brain or from matter, are offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material be- liefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Beliefs 88:15 proceed from the so-called material senses, which at one time are supposed to be substance-matter and at another are called spirits.

88:18 To love one's neighbor as one's self, is a divine idea; but this idea can never be seen, felt, nor understood through the physical senses. Excite the organ of ven- 88:21 eration or religious faith, and the individual manifests profound adoration. Excite the opposite development, and he blasphemes. These effects, however, do not pro- 88:24 ceed from Christianity, nor are they spiritual phenomena, for both arise from mortal belief.

Trance speaking illusion

Eloquence re-echoes the strains of Truth and Love.

88:27 It is due to inspiration rather than to erudition. It shows the possibilities derived from divine Mind, though it is said to be a gift whose endowment 88:30 is obtained from books or received from the impulsion of departed spirits. When eloquence proceeds from the belief that a departed spirit is speaking, who 89:1 can tell what the unaided medium is incapable of know- ing or uttering? This phenomenon only shows that the 89:3 beliefs of mortal mind are loosed. Forgetting her igno- rance in the belief that another mind is speaking through her, the devotee may become unwontedly eloquent. Hav- 89:6 ing more faith in others than in herself, and believing that somebody else possesses her tongue and mind, she talks freely.

89:9 Destroy her belief in outside aid, and her eloquence disappears. The former limits of her belief return. She says, ”I am incapable of words that glow, for I am un- 89:12 educated.” This familiar instance reaffirms the Scrip- tural word concerning a man, ”As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” If one believes that he cannot be an orator with- 89:15 out study or a superinduced condition, the body responds to this belief, and the tongue grows mute which before was eloquent.

Scientific improvisation

89:18 Mind is not necessarily dependent upon educational processes. It possesses of itself all beauty and poetry, and the power of expressing them. Spirit, 89:21 G.o.d, is heard when the senses are silent. We are all capable of more than we do. The influence or action of Soul confers a freedom, which explains the phe- 89:24 nomena of improvisation and the fervor of untutored lips.

Divine origination

Matter is neither intelligent nor creative. The tree is not the author of itself. Sound is not the originator of 89:27 music, and man is not the father of man. Cain very naturally concluded that if life was in the body, and man gave it, man had the right to take it away.

89:30 This incident shows that the belief of life in matter was ”a murderer from the beginning.”

If seed is necessary to produce wheat, and wheat to 90:1 produce flour, or if one animal can originate another, how then can we account for their primal origin? How 90:3 were the loaves and fishes multiplied on the sh.o.r.es of Galilee, - and that, too, without meal or monad from which loaf or fish could come?

Mind is substance

90:6 The earth's...o...b..t and the imaginary line called the equator are not substance. The earth's motion and position are sustained by Mind alone. Divest 90:9 yourself of the thought that there can be sub- stance in matter, and the movements and transitions now possible for mortal mind will be found to be equally 90:12 possible for the body. Then being will be recognized as spiritual, and death will be obsolete, though now some insist that death is the necessary prelude to 90:15 immortality.

Mortal delusions

In dreams we fly to Europe and meet a far-off friend.

The looker-on sees the body in bed, but the supposed 90:18 inhabitant of that body carries it through the air and over the ocean. This shows the possibilities of thought. Opium and has.h.i.+sh eaters men- 90:21 tally travel far and work wonders, yet their bodies stay in one place. This shows what mortal mentality and knowledge are.

Scientific finalities

90:24 The admission to one's self that man is G.o.d's own like- ness sets man free to master the infinite idea. This con- viction shuts the door on death, and opens it 90:27 wide towards immortality. The understanding and recognition of Spirit must finally come, and we may as well improve our time in solving the mysteries of being 90:30 through an apprehension of divine Principle. At present we know not what man is, but we certainly shall know this when man reflects G.o.d.

91:1 The Revelator tells us of ”a new heaven and a new earth.” Have you ever pictured this heaven and 91:3 earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?

Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated 91:6 from G.o.d, and obey only the divine principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all true spiritual growth.

Man's genuine being