Must your eye be single to any success?

Impediments are the cross-currents of mental attitudes, which will deflect the general direction and retard results.

Your eye must be single to any success―

Not so selfishly single, as worldly success demands, but single, as to the sweeping aside of all personal vanity or petty feeling.

When in doubt err on the side of compassion?

When in doubt always err on the side of compassion.

 

Do ants take care of their wounded?

Carpenter ants are the ultimate wingmen for their buddies. When a leg gets hurt, they perform a quick "bite-off" to stop infection and save their friend's life! Talk about teamwork!

Will you please define consciousness?

Consciousness is the illumination in the lighthouse of personality, which shows distinctly, clearly, realistically, objects thought of, seen, or felt.

What makes a mind creative?

It takes some getting used to, the fact that the mind is a creative instrument.

―Mike [On the Death of My Son]

How does personality affect emotions?

The man who is great enough to cast his personality overboard is not hurt by criticism. It is only the personality that can be hurt. The soul stands serene and pure above the adverse storms.

―The Judge

What is the best definition of consciousness?

Will you please define consciousness?

Consciousness is the illumination in the lighthouse of personality, which shows distinctly, clearly, realistically, objects thought of, seen or felt. 

What does being patient mean to you?

You must have patience, patience and timing, everything comes when it must come. You must accept what comes to you at a given time and not ask for more.

Do we have guardian angels?

Spirits are around to help you while you are in a physical state, and after death, you join these spirits, including your deceased loved ones. 

Guardian angels really do exist.

How do I find rest for my soul?

Realise that you still may clasp the old loved friends and know that they are ever yours—realise that like children we may forever wander amid the fragrant flowers and perfumed glades—or soar to towering mountain tops without fatigue to view the vast expanse of ether blue, touched with golden, fleecy clouds floating over this Summerland home of souls' eternal rest. 

How must we hope for eternal life?

We have taken you through the different phases of our progress in spirit lands and hope our faint and imperfect description of soul home may prove a blessing to those yet in the mortal form.

What is genuinely worth your attention?

The Universe does not respond differently to I want and I do not know―it simply responds to attention.

John L. Payne, Omni Reveals the Four Principles of Creation, 2001, Findhorn Press, United Kingdom, Chapter 11, What Information is Worthy of Our Attention, 120

What is your greatest triumph?

The great masters always told us that the forces, which make for order would triumph over the forces, which make for disorder.

—The Judge [Last Letters from a Living Dead Man]

Should I just accept my life?

Life is endless, so you never die—you were never really born. You just pass through different phases. There is no end. You have many dimensions. You are eternal. Time is not as you see time, but rather lessons that are learned. You have lived countless times before and will live countless times again.

What is a good example of human dignity?

Reason, sense, dignity, courage, and the control of high purpose—the love worthwhile should stimulate these, should it not?

Is God's existence his essence?

Is God a being possessed of form—or a subtle essence pervading all space?

The angels, as well as yourself, only know Him in His works. They feel him around and in them, and they, in a far higher degree, enjoy the benefits of his providing, but no one has seen God at any time, therefore, none can describe him. They, in their more developed state, can see more clearly, realise more fully His wisdom and love, but they have to look upward and around for proofs of His presence, and they conceive from these that there must be some Great Centre from which they emanate. They are all contented here with the Light and Knowledge that they have. They are such constant recipients of His bounties, such joyous dwellers in the magnetism of love and wisdom He imparts to them that they do not seek to penetrate into mysteries hidden for some wise purpose.

If God is the wise and good being, do you not see that goodness and wisdom should rule your actions if you wish to be Godlike?

The more you can live in harmony with yourself and the teachings of Nature, the more simple, childlike and unsophisticated by the trammels of earth life, the more can this True Light of the World enter into you and make its abode with you. 

Call it spirit, angel, intuition, what you will, it is from the same source—the Great Fountain of Love and Wisdom, God.

What is wonder and awe in God's presence?

Your spirit takes its flight through the airy realms.

You seem on wings of ethereal light, and feel such glorious, inward joy, that you cannot speak, although attended by your guide.

Astonishment, wonder, awe and thrilling joy fill your soul.

Does a spirit have consciousness?

Is the spirit in a state of consciousness capable of receiving instruction while absent from the body?

The spirit is conscious while the body sleeps, but on coming back, on the waking up of the body, the conjunct being has but a dreamy, confused perception of anything that has taken place. 

Some dream that they have seen faces of friends and others whom they know to have passed away long ago. 

Oftentimes, places and circumstances, belonging to the days of childhood and youth will be brought up in panoramic vision in which the faces and forms of the long lost appear as in active life. But there are dreams that are only caused by the derangement of the bodily system. 

The true spiritual dream, that which is caused by the separate action of the spirit will on the waking up of the body fade away in a minute—

Something may, however, bring up the circumstances afresh to the memory for they are printed there though lost for the time being.

—Hafed, Prince of Persia

What do you mean by regeneration?

Salvation is a regeneration of that germ manifested in the character of Christ by which all will be raised to the standard of practical works and led from a state of ignorance to spiritual discernment―their obligations to look beyond him, preparatory to a place in his Father's mansion.

Instructive Communications from Spirit Life

What is the sorrow of death?

In the Book of Clifford, the spirit author attests that sorrow is a stinging thorn in our mental space. In his letters, he dictates that he still can worry if his loved ones are unhappy―

So try hard to smile, will you not, dear friend? 

It helps us all to advance when we hear laughter and kind words floating upward toward us.

Sorrow is a stinging thorn in our mental space. It numbs us, taking away the sparkling joy we otherwise feel at all times.

Every one of us are affected the same by tears, so send out the word to all who love us to sing rather than weep, for then we shall know perfect bliss.

It is so beautiful here―the air―or whatever takes the place of it is in rainbow tints, causing everything to glow and sparkle like dewdrops on a summer morn.

Friends come and go among thousands of tiny sparkling drops of heaven-scented vapour.

To and fro, each and every spirit, singing their song of praise, the whole making the grandest harmony that could ever be.

What joy is here all comes from the pure heart and perfect trust and faith in God's great mercy. 

It is the all highest blessing in all the Universe, Amen!

The Book of Clifford (The Soul of My Son Speaketh to Me)

Are there inhabitants on other planets?

If spirits do, as they say, visit other planets, I would ask if they are inhabited? and if so, do you learn anything of them, of their history, character and condition, as compared with the inhabitants of the earth?

Very many of the planets are inhabited by animal and intellectual life, while very many of them are uninhabited—they not having arrived at the stage where they can sustain animal and intellectual life combined. 

It is impossible to visit any such locality and not learn something in consequence of the visit. 

We find that all the planets that we have visited possess essentially the same life as the earth. 

The atoms are aggregated differently to be sure, but the essence of the atoms is precisely the same, and the same general law seems to govern them. 

There is a difference, but it is in the external more than the internal. The great power that governs this earth governs all other planets, and they all are subservient to this law, therefore, the method of unfoldment must be similar.

—Thomas Paine in Spirit

What does creating your own destiny mean?

 You are non-physical in nature.

The physical you is simply an extension of that non-physical being.

Your purpose for being in the physical state is simply to master this reality, which is one of many.

You are the creator of your own reality. 

It is not something you find, it is something that you create and draw to you through your desire for it. Not only do you learn and grow, but also, you create the learning process, and choose how to learn and create the growth. 

 

You are a creator. Nothing more, and nothing less.

John L. Payne, Omni Reveals the Four Principles of Creation, 2001, Findhorn Press, United Kingdom, Chapter 1, Who or What is Omni? 13

What is divine law?

All divine law is predicated on freedom of choice.

You decide, if your choices conflict with any of the divine rules, then you have to correct your error.

No one sits in judgment, no one decrees any punishment or penalty, for the worlds of spirit are created of the infinite love of Almighty God.

Swain, Jasper, Heaven’s Gift, Conversations Beyond the Veil, 1996, Kima Global Publishers, South Africa, 74—75

What is the spiritual meaning of an angel?

"I never saw an angel before.” 

“From dreaming children, nothing can be hidden.”

What ceases to profit after death?

Concentrate your life on objects that will last on the other side of life and not on those which cease to profit after death.

Can thoughts travel faster than light?

To borrow an earthly allusion, spirits ‘wish themselves’ there, wherever it may be, and there they will find themselves! 

For the first few occasions, it may be required to make something of a conscious effort, afterwards, you can move yourself whithersoever you wish—

You might almost say, without thinking!

To recall earthly methods, when you wish to sit down or walk or perform any one of the many earthly actions that are so familiar, you are not conscious of making any very definite effort of thought to bring about your desires. The thought very rapidly passes through your mind that you wish to sit down, and you sit down. But you have given no heed to the many muscular movements involved in the simple action. They have become as second nature. And so it is precisely the same with spirits here. They just think that they wish to be in a certain place, and they are there.

Not all places are open to spirits. 

There are many realms where they are not able to enter except in very special circumstances—or only if their state of progression permits. 

It must be remembered that thought is as instantaneous as it is possible to imagine, and there is no possibility of your losing yourself in illimitable space!

What is materialization spiritually?

If the spheres exist around the earth, why it is that all men cannot see them, and why cannot they even see those spirits who are said to be actually in the room with them?

If you see photographs of unmaterialized spirits, you will notice that to your material sight they present a semi-transparent appearance. 

The material doors and windows, furniture, and so on, show through the figures of the spirits.

The material particles of an astral body―or first degree of spiritualized matter are spread so thinly that they are like a fine network united by invisible atoms of a more etherealized nature, so sublimated, that spirits must either materialize an earthly body or make use of astral envelopes or bodies from clouds of semi-material human atoms. 

Spirits can mould the astral shells into their own likeness, as a sculptor moulds clay.

Spirits make a body from the more material atoms and clothe themselves in it. These replicas can be photographed and bear a resemblance to the spirit―each spirit stamps his own identity on the plastic astral form or prepares that form to receive his impression.

The spiritual spheres and their inhabitants are more transparent and intangible to material sight, yet they exist and are solid. 

They are only invisible to our imperfect sight, which is limited to material things of comparatively great density. 

Our spiritual sight is closed and we can only see what is material.

What is the purpose of the soul on earth?

On what general conditions of life here depend the soul's highest good in the spirit—or does the soul's highest good in the spirit depend upon the conditions of earth life?

The soul's highest good in spirit depends on the development to which it attains in earth life.

You are threefold in your nature. The best health and development of the one tends to the best health and development of the other.

As the muscles of the arm are strengthened, hardened and developed by constant use, so is the spirit advanced by its own efforts in the perception and rendering of spiritual things—

By its loyalty and truth to itself, by its conception of what is highest and best and purest in itself, by sustaining itself by prayer, by the perception of God's spirit in Nature and your fellow being, by the influx of strength that flows to you from eyes that look into your own with gratitude, by the consciousness of your own unwavering integrity of purpose―

As the earthly mind can only find expression through the earthly body, so the spirit can only find expression through the soul or mind.

No very great, powerful, well-balanced mind ever found expression through a feeble, misshapen and imperfectly developed body―

No sweet, pure, inspiring spirit ever found its way through an ill-balanced, stubborn, arrogant, selfish and undisciplined mind.

The nature must develop in harmony in earth life to reach its greatest perfection and when transplanted to be in its highest good in spirit life.

When your mental powers have grasped the facts of what bodily conditions are best to your mind's peace and enlargement, and when you have subjected the body to the dominion of the mind, then will the perfection and perception of the spirit break through and govern both.

So the highest development, which you can attain in earth life is wrought through the good, which you are able to accomplish in the world for humanity―the uplifts, which you can give toward a more spiritualized existence.

Exchange of love, exchange of sympathy, a helping hand to one who is stumbling or in distress is a development of both soul and spirit―one that is reciprocal.

Leaflets of Truth―or Light from the Shadow Land

How to be content with what you have?

Be satisfied with the knowledge that God is a God of love and justice and mercy. Never doubt this.

The more spiritual we become, the nearer we grow to that blessed spiritual presence, and the more nearly we approach, the more our spirits are filled with love, awe and reverence.

What is the life span of a soul?

How is it that everybody looks so young? I have not seen any old people anywhere. I scarcely look any different from what I appeared to be when I arrived here. A few alterations for the better, perhaps, but otherwise, no change.

In the spirit world age in years does not count. What happens is that the period known as the prime of life is the normal and permanent age.

If one arrives here before that time, as many do, even tiny infants, then you proceed gradually towards that prime of life, and there you remain.

If you should come here after you have reached it, one may have gone far past it into the eighties and higher, then you revert—you return to the prime of life.

In other words, you become younger.

Why is it important to embrace change?

Imagine a piece of wood, its tiny parts held together, unable to move freely. It is like a prisoner, trapped within its own form.

When you place this wood in a fire, you watch as the flames consume it. Does this mean the wood is truly destroyed?

No, the fire sets the tiny parts free. They rise into the air, changing into something new. They become part of the wind, the clouds and perhaps even future trees. The wood is not destroyed, but transformed. It has moved on to a higher purpose.

Just like the wood, you, too, can change and grow. 

Sometimes, you might feel sad or worried. But remember, these experiences can set you free. They can help you learn, grow and become stronger.

So embrace change, for it is the key to your own transformation and liberation.

Is summer on its way?

Summer is on its way.

A moral short story for children.

The theme of this story serves to illustrate a spiritual truth—

All is well, in the way God has purposed from the beginning—

Well, as only a Father could have conceived in love impossible for the human mind to conceive, imagine or understand.

We, who are older, have seen many winters merge into spring—

We understand that to the child, so dependent on outward and visible signs, the waiting seems overlong and despair creeps very close.

Even in the waiting, God shows His love in a variety of ways.

He does not say to wait with faith only, but He gives those small signs of new life.

If we look at our lives with spiritual insight, what we often pass over as chance are simply manifestations that summer is on its way, and in the things of the spirit, the summertime of the spirit cannot retreat into autumn or winter again.

Olivia steps out. Winter is here. The winter wind blows her hood and her hair blows wildly.

It is cold this time of year. There is frost on the windowpane. There is snow everywhere in sight, falling on this winter day.

Seeing one cold winter day after another, the days seem overlong to Olivia. Olivia asks, “Is summer never coming?” And the answer is “By and by.”

Olivia is satisfied for the moment, but again longing springs up fresh and insistent and she cries again, “Oh, is summer never coming.”

And the wise mother takes her little one to a tree in the garden, saying, “See, here are the first signs of the spring,” and Olivia, looking at the green buds, is comforted, but not for long.

When the wind blows colder and winter seems to have retraced its steps, again Olivia says, "You told me that summer was coming! What has happened? Has all gone wrong?"

And the mother then takes her to the first flowers trying to make a show in conditions, which seem absolutely against them. But no, those conditions are their right environment. These flowers are sent when bleakness is all around—sent with their message of hope, sent as a reminder of what Nature is holding in store for the days to come.

And in the joy of their beauty, Olivia is silenced and she is assured that summer will be with her in reality.

So as the days pass, her attention is directed to this, to that, and one fine morning, she wakes to a transformed scene—the winter has merged into spring, the cold wind has gone, the grey clouds have passed far away—

The sun with its warmth and comfort is shining upon her and upon those she loves so well.

All is well.

Summer is on its way is inspired by Zodiac, the Christ Messenger, Zodiac Messages, New Revelation—Volume II (July-December 1924), Chapter 1, God is Love, 3-4