The
Enigma of Religion
Though
teachers have brought spiritual enlightenment throughout the ages, man
in his ignorance has misunderstood much.
All religions
have a grain of truth; but when man makes bread to feed the multitude,
often he throws away the wheatgerm with the chaff.
Silver
Birch’s first comments will surprise many.
* * *
“People
I have met state they are confirmed Spiritualists, yet they follow their
orthodox religions. Should not they put behind these ideas when they accept
Spiritualism?”
I am not
bothered with these labels. I am not sure whether I am a Spiritualist,
because I have not been confirmed. What you call yourself does not matter.
We are concerned with the way you live your life.
Religion,
what is it? Is it going to church, synagogue, chapel or temple? Is it the
acceptance of certain theological ideas devised by man? Is it calling yourself
a Roman Catholic, a Protestant, a Buddhist, a Jew?
Religion
is living in a way that brings you closer to the Great Spirit. Religion
is when the Great Spirit is expressed in your actions. Religion is service.
If you find
there are some people who have all the benefits of communication with our
world, but still adhere to certain conventional theological beliefs, then
be sorry for them. Say a silent prayer for them because they are still
only on the first rungs on the ladder or are in the half-way stage.
Recognize
that it is not always easy to abandon the teaching received in childhood,
when the mind was plastic and impressionable and accepted without question
what was given to it. Gradually these theological ideas become part of
the warp and weft of the subconscious mind, are embedded in its depths,
and an individual finds it almost impossible to rid himself of them.
Be patient.
There was a time when all of us had ideas which we believed, but later
wisdom made us abandon them. After all, none of us has attained the summit
of perfection; to do so will require eternity. Be tolerant. Help them.
Do not argue with them; that gets nowhere. In such discussion, as the poet
said, ‘they leave by the same door by which they came in.’
Be patient
with those who cannot see further than their theological noses. Time will
work its will with them, as it has with you.
* * *
“Many
people are very depressed for no reason. What has come over the young people?
Are they spiritually starved?”
They have
not found their way. They have come into a world where violence rules.
They believe their elders have betrayed them. They feel also that they
can obtain no guidance from conventional religion.
“Do you
think too much blame has been put on the elders? Everyone has his own path
to find.”
I am not
agreeing with their outlook. I am only explaining it, because in time they
will become elders.
“There
is no substitute for experience.”
Your bad
experiences are the best for you. Your good experiences are often the worst
for you. My friends have heard me say many times that the virtue of falling
down is that you can pick yourself up.
* * *
A visitor
asked about the world’s creation, citing the description in Genesis. In
some quarters it was believed that creatures from outer space came to earth
for this purpose, he said.
Of course
you are now addressing your question to an out-of-space creature! Do not
be bothered by what it says in Genesis or in any other book. If it is unacceptable
to your reason, dismiss it. How did your world begin is what you want to
know.
“There
are many theories; we really don’t know.”
Let me say
that I have a little more than a theory. I have a little knowledge on this
subject. Your world has always existed. It had no beginning, nor will it
have an end. If you want to quote from the Bible, you have statements like
the one attributed to the Nazarene, “Before Abraham was I am.”
Spirit has
always existed: it was not spontaneously created. It slumbered for millions
of years until the rudimental beginnings of life gradually manifested in
your world. Life is spirit and spirit is life. It always has had the potentials
of infinity.
There were
no creatures from outer space to create the beginnings of life in your
world. Life was always there, and developed, unfolded and progressed according
to the natural laws of evolution that infinite intelligence devised.
“I understand
that now a good deal of Darwin’s theory is being disputed, though at the
time he was accepted. There seem to be facts which he missed.”
There are
always facts that are missed because all knowledge is not available at
any stage of evolution. Only perfection contains all knowledge, and perfection
has not yet been attained in your world or in mine. Let me say categorically
that evolution, physical, mental and spiritual, is part of the operation
of natural law.
“I am
not very keen on the thought of being descended from monkeys.”
It may also
be true that monkeys are not very keen on the idea! In the fight of the
Great Spirit monkeys are as precious as humans.
* * *
Silver
Birch has always expressed great love for Jesus, whom he calls “The Nazarene.”
It has been
my privilege many times with colleagues in my world to be present at conferences,
congresses, meetings call them whatever you like. At these the Nazarene
refers to many of the plans the hierarchy devised to ensure that the power
of the spirit should remain in your world.
The Nazarene
is one of the hierarchy behind all the directives we receive when we leave
your world occasionally to fortify ourselves to cope with our missions
and to glean more of what it is we have to achieve.
I have a
great reverence for Jesus, the Nazarene, a wondrous example of what the
power of the spirit could achieve when divinity assumes human form and
gives to those available simple, but profound teaching, that love is a
power that solves all problems when people allow themselves to be animated
by it.
The Nazarene
demonstrated the same spiritual phenomena that we make available today,
because their operation is due to the same natural laws which always have
been, which still are in existence, and will continue to be so.
Having attracted
the multitudes by what were wrongly called miracles, he taught the great
truths of the spirit: love thy neighbour as thyself, do good to those who
hurt you; the essence of all religions.
But the
difference is this, that with his passing into our world the mission of
Jesus did not end. He is still at work, inspiring those who continue to
see and meet him, to propound these truths, to demonstrate these phenomena
so that those who are ready would play their part in helping the infinite,
creative power of the Great Spirit to flow through an increasing number
of channels everywhere.
We have
nothing but respect and reverence for Jesus. But we do not have that respect
and reverence for many of his followers who have worshipped and continue
to worship Jesus, yet pay no heed to his teachings. Instead of the truth
he taught unifying them, it divides them.
In your
world today there are black areas where the same followers of the Nazarene
persecute and kill one another. They do not understand his mission. If
you believe in the Nazarene and realize that love is the greatest power
in the universe, you should not kill or commit acts of violence against
others who say they believe in those same principles.
“It must
be very agonizing to the Nazarene to see, as indeed do so many of you in
the spirit world, what has been done in his name on earth.”
Yes, and
he has shed many tears. After all, he is not responsible for what others
do. You who call yourselves Spiritualists proclaim one of our greatest
principles, that every individual is personally responsible for his or
her acts.
“What
did Jesus look like?”
The Nazarene
has been described many times by people in our world. He is not as painted
by artists living in varying countries and according to their cultures.
He is very much like the kind of people among whom he moved during his
ministry. Were he different, then he would not have fulfilled his mission.
“Some
mediums speak of a Cosmic Christ. Others see Christ as an individual spirit.
Are they two different aspects for the same existence?”
You are
allowing names to bother you. There is the man Jesus, whose surname was
not Christ, and there is what is called the Christ power, the power of
the spirit. If you differentiate between the man and the power that animated
him, you have the clearest picture of all.
“Would
it be possible by automatic writing or some other means to tell us exactly
what Jesus said?”
I don’t
know. The difficulty is that no-one recorded the utterances of the Nazarene
at the time and so memory would have to play its part. His main teaching
was the gospel of love. “Love thy neighbour as thyself. Do good to those
who hurt you.” Love is the fulfilling of the law. What else is required
to help mankind? Love is the highest expression of the spirit. Love is
what the Great Spirit has to offer. Love is what we offer you.
The object
of the Nazarene’s mission was to demonstrate spiritual reality. If the
Nazarene were to reappear in your world today and to repeat what he said
2,000 years ago I doubt if anyone would listen.
“You
said so many people arrive in the spirit world with false teaching. In
St. John’s gospel it says believing is the important part.”
No. Everyone
will live after what you call death, not because of believing in a creed,
a doctrine or dogma, but because it is an unalterable natural law. It has
nothing to do with religion. It is a law as equal to the law of cause and
effect.
What you
have quoted is one of the interpolations in the Bible which has caused
great affliction and separated people. It is not paradoxical that a book,
a religious book, a holy book, a sacred book, has caused more bloodshed
than an ordinary volume could have done? Yet the purpose of religion should
be to unite everybody in a common brotherhood and sisterhood because of
their unbreakable fundamental spiritual relationship.
“Was
the body of Jesus crucified?”
It does
not matter. What matters is what Jesus taught. You will go on arguing forever
about what happened at the crucifixion.
I cannot
prove what I say about that, and so I will not attempt to answer your question.
I do not like to condemn others. That is not my mission.
My mission
is to draw attention to the spiritual principles on which life is founded.
It seems to be that you worry a great deal about things which do not matter.
Whether the Nazarene was crucified or not will make no difference to the
evolution of your soul.
Concentrate
on the vital matters in your life. Here you are in a world with opportunities
to play your part, to help others, to develop your spiritual nature and
to fulfil yourselves. Don’t worry overmuch about whether there are people
on Mars, whether you will resurrect in a thousand years.
What matters
is how you comport yourselves in your daily lives. Do the best you can.
By doing so, you will enjoy a greater harmony with the Great Spirit. And
as a result you will feel that radiance, tranquillity, repose and confidence
that come to all those who seek to make the will of the Great Spirit their
will.
