Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Discerning God’s Great Plan

We have become familiar with the Hermetic Axiom, “As it is below, so it is above,” as witnessed in the construction of the material universe and in the relation of man to the stars, but few are familiar with the operation of this axiom as applied to all those intelligences which we designate as souls.

We recognize that the Solar System consists of planets revolving around a central
nucleus, or Sun. Chemists offer proof that an atom of matter is built on a similar plan;
due allowance being made for the vibratory level of the atom. It consists of a central
nucleus of protons, around which revolve one or more electrons. That is, an atom is a
miniature solar system. As is the large so is the small. And a galaxy, like the Milky
Way, composed of perhaps two billion suns, also revolves.

There are more members in a galaxy than in a solar system or in an atom, yet these
suns apparently move around a common center. Other such galaxies, seen at a
distance, are known as spiral nebulae. Due allowance being made for plane of action,
in this case rapidity of motion, a galaxy, or universe, performs much as does a solar
system. And, no doubt, due allowance being made for the vibratory level, or speed,
the universes, galaxies, or spiral nebulae, also revolve about some unknown center,
comprising a stupendous atom in the cosmic anatomy.

We who study astrology have proof from day to day that the movements of the
heavenly bodies correspond accurately to the movements of mental factors within
the finer body of man. The whole science of astrology is based upon the
correspondence between factors in the Grand Man and similar factors in the life of
individual man.

Most occult students have recognized the foregoing; but all too few have recognized
that intelligences of lesser magnitude, due allowance being made for plane of action,
have a correspondence to intelligences of greater magnitude. But this is revealed
through a study of organic alchemy.

Within the body of man are a wide variety of intelligences, all performing their
individual functions, all evolving along the lines of their own development, and yet
at the same time all contributing more or less to the welfare of the human form of
which they are a part.

The single cells of the human body are not all alike in structure, nor do they all have
the same type of intelligence, nor perform the same functions. They are specialists,
some performing one work and some another. But they all belong to the
intelligence-level, or vibratory rate, of single-cell life. That is, while there is
specialization for the purpose of division of labor, there is great similarity between
them.

But the intelligence which has dominion over some organ of the human body is not
on the same intelligence-level. It had traveled a long way in its education, as
compared with any single cell, before it gained the ability to move in from the astral
and take charge of a developing organ. Pleasure and pain in connection with its
experiences with obstacles to be overcome gradually developed it to a degree where
it now governs some organ. It is a specialist. It knows how to govern some particular
organ and knows very little about certain other organs.

Yet, due allowance being made for intelligence level, it corresponds in its activities
to the intelligences occupying single cells. I do not mean that the intelligence
directing the activity of an organ operates in exactly the same way that the
intelligence does occupying a single cell; but that the correspondence is quite as
close between these two types of intelligences as it is between the organization of an
atom and the organization of a solar system.

Now all solar systems are not alike in size, in activity, nor in function. Within our
galaxy they perform functions based upon the plan of division of labor. And the
organs of the human body, and the intelligences occupying them, likewise are
different, and perform various functions, all of which are essential to physical man.
Yet the intelligences of these organs occupy a certain intelligence-level, which we
might term the organ intelligence-level. And it is very easy, when the function of an
organ is known, to perceive its correspondence to a certain group of people. The
heart, for instance, corresponds to the dominant political groups, the brain to the
scientists and thinkers, the stomach to the grocers and restaurant keepers, etc.

Of course, because people occupy a very different intelligence-level than do organs,
they do not behave just the same as organs do. The ruling intelligence is not so
superior in intelligence-level to the lesser intelligences ruled over or directed. But for
that matter a galaxy does not perform in just the same way a solar system does; yet its
behavior is of a similar pattern, due allowance being made for the speed of
movement. And groups of people who perform a given function in the social
economy, due allowance being made for intelligence-level, behave in a manner
which corresponds to the actions of the organs of the human body.

People, in time, and usually on a higher plane than earth, evolve to a point where they
unite with their soul-mate, as explained in detail in Chapter 10 (Course 20, The
Next Life), in a definite soul-mate system. By virtue of forming such a system, they
have powers far surpassing any they could have hoped to reach as individuals. And
each such soul-mate system becomes a part of a larger system, taking charge of its
own department by virtue of the function it has been evolved to perform. At the
intelligence-level which I am now considering, the soul-mate system can no longer
be termed human, but has a right to be called Angel.

These Angels band together, upon the plan of specialization and division of labor, for
the bringing forth of new universes. How this is done I have not the intelligence to
hazard even a good guess. But I am confident that each Angel (highly evolved soul
mate system) constitutes the directing authority of lesser intelligences banded
together in a manner corresponding somewhat to the intelligences that are embraced
within a single human organ. Yet even as the body of man has the soul of man in
charge of the intelligence directing each organ; so in this larger Man, all the Angels,
corresponding to organs, are under the leadership of an intelligence still higher than
the Angels.

Such Angels do not perform exactly as do the groups in human society, but due
allowance being made for vibratory level, their behavior corresponds as closely to
social groups on earth as the performance of a galaxy corresponds to the performance
of the larger organism of which it forms a part.

Beyond this I cannot go in detail, because my mind is too puny. But I do sense that
there is a still larger organization of these exalted ones who direct the activities of a
universe through Angels.

There are many types of intelligences within the cosmos of which as yet we have not
the slightest notion, and there are intelligences, and physical functions too, for that
matter, within our own bodies, about which as yet we have no information. But if we
are to judge what is as yet unknown by what everywhere is apparent we must
conclude that the cosmos is an interlocking organism, system within system,
intelligence within the domain of intelligence; and that the whole scheme functions
on the plan of specialization of parts and division of labor.

How the Cosmos is Managed

–Having discerned that the Hermetic Axiom, “As it is above, so it is below”, is as
applicable to organizations of souls as it is to organizations of a more mechanical
nature, we are in a position to learn considerable about the way the universe is
directed by a study of the way man directs the activities of his body.

The intelligence, or soul, of man envisions some activity through which something is
to be accomplished. The necessary orders are passed along to the various organs
which should take part in these activities. These, in turn, direct activities of the
cell-life within their dominion toward the end in view. And as a result the whole body
of the man moves toward the accomplishment of the desired thing.

It is quite unlikely that the intelligence of a single cell within an organ is sufficiently
developed to be able to discern that the man, for instance, is constructing a
mechanical contrivance called a watch. Even the organs which take part in the work
can hardly be expected to know how the mechanism works that goes into the
construction of an intricate time-piece. Yet both the cell-life and the intelligence of
the organs have sufficient intelligence to be able to discern, at least in a general way,
what is required of them. That is, they are sufficiently aware of how the human body
is run to feel that certain actions on their part are in the direction which the superior
intelligence of the man is desirous of moving.

Not only so, but a single cell, or group of single cells, can become convincingly
aware that some unusual activity on their part is needed. A man can talk to a certain
group of cells within his body, and tell them just what to do. By repeatedly talking to
them thus they are made to understand the kind of activity required. We say,
commonly, that in this manner the unconscious mind of man is able to direct the
activities of any group of cells, or any organ, within the body.

But in order to elicit the desired activity from the single cells, or from the organ which
customarily directs them, it is necessary, through suggestion, affirmation, or talking
to them, that the unconscious mind of the individual tune in on the unconscious mind
of the cells or the unconscious mind of the organ. The unconscious mind of the
individual is not the unconscious mind of the cells, nor the unconscious mind of the
organ concerned. Each cell, and each organ, has its own unconscious mind, or
intelligence; as much so as that each individual in the United States has a mind, and
each city has a mayor, but all together they do not comprise the mind of the President
of the country.

To arouse the activity of a cell or organ, in some manner its consciousness must be
reached. But it is not to be supposed that because a cell or an organ responds to the
thought or desire of the individual inhabiting the body, that it knows all about what
the individual is trying to do. It can only perceive what the desire of the superior
intelligence directing the body is in relation to its own activity and the activities of its
associates. It does not know the exact meaning of the words given it by suggestion or
affirmation, but it feels their general import, and as a result endeavors to carry out the
activities that thus have penetrated into its consciousness.

Nor can we expect man, with the modicum of intelligence which he can attain on
earth, to have any very comprehensive idea of what is to be accomplished by the
universe in its movements. Our scientific men have now concluded that our cosmos
is expanding, and that the outer spiral nebulae, or universes, are moving away from
us at the rate of 12,500 miles a second. This is supposed to be a part of the expansion
set up within the universe about ten billion years ago, that is, at about the time.
according to Einstein, our earth was born.

They say also, that within the blood-stream of an average man there are 25 trillion red
blood cells, which is a number probably greater than all the suns within our own
galaxy, dark ones included.

Those blood cells, when a watchmaker moves his arms about, might be convinced by
the way they feel, that there is an activity of magnitude going on about them in the
larger structure which constitutes their universe. But they would be unable to
comprehend the nature of the watchmaker’s work, and would be as ignorant of the
mechanical thing being devised as our scientists are of the ultimate object to be
accomplished by the apparent expansion of the cosmos.

Yet these blood cells, being tuned in somewhat on the consciousness of the man thus
working, would be conscious that something is required of them. They would feel
that they should carry all the oxygen possible from the lungs to the tissues, as they
journey about, and should carry as much carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs
as possible. They would not know just what it is all about, in the larger scale of being,
but they would be convinced of the nature of the work required of them to help it
along.

Man on earth cannot be expected to know all about the ultimate purpose of the
cosmos. But, through observation, the exercise of intelligence, and through tuning in
on the consciousness of superior beings, he can get a very clear idea of just what is
required in his own little corner of the universe, and how best he can aid in bringing to
pass what is there required. After all, if he can clearly discern the direction in which
action should be taken to aid the Plan of the Supreme Mind he has taken a decided
step in the unfoldment of his own possibilities; for such intelligences as cooperate
with the Divine Plan are cherished by still higher intelligences, and helped by them,
because of their willingness and usefulness.

There are higher intelligences, existing on the inner planes, whose work it is to direct
certain types of activities. Often times these are banded together as an organization
on the inner plane that, because it performs a definite function in the scheme of
things, may be compared to an organ in the human body. That is, there are
intelligences of a degree vastly superior to man on earth, who band together, under a
still higher head, to perform needed work on the inner planes. Some of these groups
are composed of those who once lived on earth but who have developed far beyond
what can be attained on the physical plane. They are cosmic workmen of a definite
order, cooperating to bring some needful thing about. For the cosmos does not just
advance without effort. Its eternal progress depends upon the initiative and effort of
the various individuals and groups who comprise it.

While we cannot know the details of how certain work on higher planes is performed,
and while the ultimates of cosmic progression are too vast for our puny
comprehension yet, if we will but depart from orthodox notions sufficiently to try to
learn for ourselves something of universal law and purpose, it will not be difficult to
discern, at least in a general way, the direction in which the cosmos is moving. And
having discerned this, we can join our efforts to those of others, and become
cooperative workmen in the Universal Plan.

How Perceptions Are Warped

–This universal plan, as I have taken some pains to make clear, requires the
development of specialists to perform given functions. It contemplates the
development, also, of initiative in a high degree. It has in view no stopping point, no
place where of any individual shall it be said, thus far and no farther. What an
individual does, and how far he travels, depend upon his own intelligence and
developing ability.

Were it not for the power of the ideas already strongly entrenched in the mind to
dominate all information received, and either to suppress them completely or to warp
them into conformity with themselves, the best way to discern what God wants
would be to tune in on the Universal Mind and try to get the information directly from
Headquarters. But unfortunately for the common application of this method each
factor already in the mind exercises a force of its own. And the amount of force
exerted by an idea is dependent upon the energy contained in it, which in the case of
dominant ideas has been supplied by their emotional associations.

Very few people have minds so evenly balanced that no particular ideas have undue
enthusiasm that tends somewhat to warp the soundness of the judgment. And other
people have some one idea, or some one group of ideas, thus so firmly entrenched
through the emotions imparted to them, that they dominate the whole mentality.
What happens in the external world is reported correctly, and appraised soundly, so
long as it does not run counter to the dominating, or fixed, idea. But no matter how
obvious to other people a fact may be, if it runs counter to the fixed idea of such
persons the fact is considered to be a falsity.

When the mind is thus dominated by some thought which has the power to warp all
happenings out of true proportion to make them conform to it, the person is said to be
suffering from paranoia. And if the paranoia is severe enough it becomes necessary
to restrain the liberty of such a person. He is called crazy.

But between those who suffer from an obsession, or from paranoia, and those having
a finely balanced and adjusted mind, there are all degrees of gradation. Emotional
disturbances that thus warp the true appreciation of the individual’s relations to
society, emotional disturbances that usually transpire in youth, because then the
mind is more plastic to such impressions, are thought to be the cause of most juvenile
delinquencies. And the most successful method yet devised for correcting juvenile
incorrigibility of various kinds is based upon the effort to find the cause of the
emotional maladjustment, and divert the energy, which has become too greatly
centered about some thought, into other and more constructive channels.

Those who are crazy, and those who are incorrigible are, of course, extreme
examples of the condition of which I speak. But the early experiences of most people
have brought them into contact with ideas under circumstances that imparted to these
energy out of all proportion to their importance. The religious doctrines which have
been absorbed at the mother’s knee, which later have been reenergized through
evangelical meetings and conversion, and which finally have been hammered into
the unconscious mind through the suggestion offered by rituals and services each
Sunday; such doctrines often are so fed with energy that the evidence of the senses,
reason, or any possible external circumstance, could not change them. They are
fixations as strong as are those of a paranoiac; although, being based upon ideas not
anti-social, they may lead to actions that benefit rather than injure society.

Also we must recognize that there are three classes of special privilege many of
whose members, to retain these special privileges, resort to every measure within
their power to foster various popular fixations. These embrace: 1. Academic
materialists, who wish to maintain the fiction that they are the one infallible source of
knowledge. 2. Religious bigots, who wish to maintain the fiction that they alone
should have the privilege of interpreting the will of God. 3. Those who exploit others
for unjust political or financial advantages.

The leaders of intolerant religious groups realize that to maintain their special
privilege their followers must keep convinced that they alone should be permitted to
interpret the will of Deity. Their followers look up to them as superior to ordinary
human beings. And not only do the leaders of these intolerant religious groups try to
suppress the teachings of astrology and extra-sensory perception, which would
reveal their pretenses to be without foundation, but they struggle for a political power
that will enable them eventually to suppress all religions but their own.

Whenever opportunity offers, these intolerant religious leaders follow the method
which resulted in the death of the first Christian martyr. If we are to believe the sixth
chapter of Acts, Stephen had helped a great many people, and the priests were jealous
of him. But he had broken no law. Therefore, “they suborned men,” and “set up false
witnesses”, and thus through lies they incited the populace to rush upon him and to
kill him with stones.

Stephen threatened the special privileges of the priests of his time, and in so doing
drew their wrath upon him. But today, in addition to intolerant religious authorities
there are equally intolerant academic individuals. These atheistic materialists stand
before the world as the final authority. Their special privilege is not that of wealth,
but that of prestige. Whatever they say is true must not be disputed. If they say there is
no inner plane, no one must produce proof that life survives after physical dissolution
on such a plane. If they say the planets cannot influence people, no one must be
permitted to present statistical studies proving they actually do influence human life.
And these atheistic materialists will stop at nothing to discredit any who produce
proof they are wrong. For to show them in error is to destroy their special privilege.

A correct appraisal of God’s Great Plan shows that all the people of the world should
have Freedom From Want. But the steps necessary to obtain such a desirable
condition would deprive some of the means of profiteering, and others of their
practice of exploiting backward peoples. Therefore those who thus would be
deprived of their special privileges resort to many cunning devises, including the
spreading of lies, to prevent people from learning facts which would lead to such
economic freedom.

In early days the Christians thus threatened the profits of the traders and priests of the
temple; for they worshipped neither image nor shrine. And, horrors upon horrors, if
we are to believe Acts 4:34-35, “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for
as many as were in possession of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of
the things that were sold. And laid them down at the apostles, feet: and distribution
was made unto every man according as he had need.

“As such contempt for current financial practices jeopardized the economic system
that yielded to a special privileged class great wealth, something had to be done about
these Christians. Laws were passed against them, and they were persecuted.

The methods used by special privilege include the subtle use of suggestion, by which
certain doctrines are so made to appeal to the emotions that they build up, even in
adult life, such a bulwark of energy that they defy both fact and reason to route them.
And some doctrines are even launched in a manner deliberately designed to reach
and dominate those who are somewhat negative, or who tune in on the
thought-waves of those radiating these thoughts. That is, just as the press is used to
influence public opinion, often to gain support for a given political candidate
regardless of his lack of worth, and as the radio is openly or subtly often used for the
same purpose, so also thought-radio is quite extensively used to force the public to
accept certain ideas that are to the advantage of the special privileged few.

Because there are apt to be some of these factors in the mind which have a certain
power to warp what is received into conformity with them, it is not wise to place
absolute reliance solely upon what is received when the attempt is made to tune in on
the purpose of God. Nevertheless, with proper checks used, by which the accuracy of
what is received can be tested, such tuning in is a valuable daily practice. If it is
remembered that in the effort to tune in on the station radiating God’s Plan that some
other station may be tapped instead, much of value may be gained in this way.

It would be rather difficult, I presume, for an industrial magnate of the old school to
bring anything through which would indicate that his wealth was held in trust for the
use of all the people. Yet from our studies of the function of life-forms, and of the
nature and attributes of the soul, it must be apparent to anyone that the cosmos is not
being run for the benefit of just a limited few, but to give opportunity for the
expression and development of all.

In this day and age of the world, when socialistic ideas have considerable popularity,
it is not so difficult to cause the common man to believe that the world is not the
property of a favored class, but that the development of God’s Plan is in the direction
of providing prosperity and the opportunity to develop his intellectual faculties and
his spiritual attributes, by every man, woman and child in the world. Of course, to
some such common men it is hard for them to realize that an Australian Bushman has
a soul, and has need of the opportunity to develop his abilities and his spirituality. It is
hard for such men to realize that a Bushman is not quite different in his essential
nature; but at least, as an abstract theory, they offer no great antagonism to the
conception.

The Rights of Less Developed Souls

–But when the thought is presented that every life-form on earth, and every
life-form in the cosmos, both great and small, has certain inalienable rights, there is
apt to be a mental rejection. What right has a wild animal, say, even a ferocious beast
of prey? Well, what right has man, who as a killer has no rival in the brute world. The
tiger has not the same privileges as man, because man has advanced further, and
consequently is more useful to society. But neither has man the same privileges as an
angel; for the angel is of more use in the universal organism than the man. The
foreman of a department is of greater importance, and has certain privileges that
those working under him have not, because he is more essential to the success of the
organization.

Yet even the tiger is a developing soul, gaining experiences which, in time, will lead
it to a position where it will do constructive work in the great scheme of things. The
tiger, the mosquito, the invisible elemental that answers the impulse of our thought,
these all are life-forms occupied by evolving souls. But what their privileges are, in
reference to other life-forms, must be determined by considering various factors.

Nevertheless, all the souls occupying the innumerable forms in the cosmos, have
some right to consideration. What this consideration is must be determined by the
circumstances. It may even be, as in the case of the anopheles mosquito, that it is for
cosmic advancement that this life-form be eradicated from the earth, that man may
not have malaria. Yet in the wider sense, in which the welfare of the whole
organization is considered the one thing of paramount importance, the true
prosperity of every soul in the universe is a matter which should be of concern to
everyone. An organization depends upon the ability, health and prosperity of the
various individuals composing it; and to the extent the true welfare of any individual
in the organization can be advanced, to that extent the whole organization is
benefited. To the extent any soul in the cosmos is benefited, to that extent God’s
Great Plan is forwarded.

How the Cosmos is Managed

–I believe the clearest and most accurate conception of the cosmos that can be had is
to consider it analogous to a huge corporation which not merely manufactures many
products, but also handles them all the way from producing the raw material until
they are used by the ultimate consumer. It is thus an organization which embraces all
the functions.

Every single life-form in the universe is doing something in this complex
organization. Some may not be doing anything constructive; because in a
corporation of this size and complexity there are sure to be some loafers on the
pay-roll, and also sure to be some individuals who are malicious, and who do not
wish the concern to succeed. Yet whether doing something constructive, or
something destructive, whether doing something important, or merely some routine
necessity, every intelligence that has an existence is doing something in this huge
corporation.

Now I am sure that the General Manager of the corporation, being a wise manager,
does not wish harm to come to any of His employees. He needs every one of them,
and He needs them constructively employed, and not destructively occupied. Yet
novices in any firm usually make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes are costly, but
they cannot be avoided. They are just charged up to the cost of educating new
employees.

It may be that the new employee needs a severe lesson, and that he must pay for his
mistakes. But we cannot imagine so just an employer becoming angry and taking
vengeance upon the unfortunate who through clumsy effort breaks some machine. In
order to educate this particular employee he may be required to pay for the machine,
or otherwise make amends; but all such is merely as an aid to the education of the
employee, and not in the spirit of punishing him.

No Soul is Lost

–While there are teachings to the contrary, and some of them quite venerable with
age, that souls who do certain things–especially those who practice black
magic–are on that account really lost souls, I cannot concur in this opinion. I do not
believe there is an unpardonable sin. I do not believe that a soul is ever so far lost,
even in the lowest hells of the astral world, that the possibility of redemption is gone.

It is true that anything which can be built up can be torn down. And as the soul is
something which has been built through experiences I have no doubt that a soul can
be destroyed. Nor do I doubt that when the tides of astral life flow on, the soul which
is unable to raise its vibration to a rate where it can function on the still
higher-velocity spiritual plane is in a bad way. Survival, anywhere, anytime, depends
upon the ability to adapt the form to the environment. And one who has never built a
spiritual body, and has only an astral form, could scarcely be expected to survive
after the astral forces had dissipated, and there was no longer an astral realm which
was accessible to him in which to function.

Yet, as I perceive it, who have made some exploration in astral realms, the matter is
not so different from the old orthodox conception of the ruined girl. Not so many
years ago any girl who was known to have taken a single misstep was considered
irrevocably lost to decent society. And it is true that so-called decent society shut its
doors on such an unfortunate girl, and made it almost impossible for her ever to
marry, ever to live any life except a life of prostitution. In those days, and even now in
some localities, the mother of a child out of wedlock was not only considered forever
lost, but every avenue toward regaining her self-esteem was closed upon her by an
indignant society.

And it is true that, in those days at least, a girl who had taken a misstep, and it had
been found out, was usually forced into a life of shame. It was the usual thing that she
died in not many years from the life of prostitution into which she was forced. It is
true, in this sense, that often such a girl was lost to the redeeming influence of a
self-righteous society. Yet, even in those days, and even among such people, an
occasional woman was found who did manage to live an upright life after taking such
a false step and being found out.

As a matter of fact, when a man has become hardened as a criminal, has been a
drunkard for years, or a woman has steeped herself in wanton dissipation, it is usually
a heartrending task for such to win his way back to a more constructive type of life.
Yet while it is difficult, who can say that it is impossible? On the physical plane, who
can say with certainty that an individual has sunk so low that he cannot possibly
regain control of himself and live a respectable life?

I believe on the physical plane the statement that a certain individual is lost to decent
society is an unwarranted assertion. We are more and more learning the emotional
reactions of such individuals, and how to set up emotions that will redeem them to
normal and constructive lives. An individual who may be lost today may, because he
contacts someone who has learned more about such problems, tomorrow become
one who can be redeemed to normal avenues of endeavor.

And I believe the same principle holds true on the inner plane. Those who, through
magic, entwine their lives with vicious elementals, sink very low in the after life.
They exist in surroundings created by themselves, and have a terrible form of
existence. And, in time, unless they do make an effort, and extricate themselves from
their situation, I must admit that the soul itself is dissolved. But who shall say that
such a soul, before dissolution, is beyond redemption?

Observing the creatures of the slums of earth it is easy to believe that they are lost to
all that is good. But the facts remain that many fine and useful citizens have been
resurrected from the denizens of such places. Who can, and who cannot, be brought
to constructive citizenship depends upon the skill and knowledge of those doing
missionary work in such regions. There is more knowledge and skill today, and more
rescues.

Likewise, of those who sink to the astral hells, after living fiendishly on earth. They
do not go there because of the desire of any being to punish them, but because they
have built the conditions into their own souls. The soul, after death, gravitates to the
basic vibratory level corresponding to its own dominant rate, and to the environment
on that basic level corresponding to the vibratory combinations within itself. The
soul goes to the place where its vibratory affinity attracts it; and if it undergoes pain,
that pain serves the function of an educator. If there were no pain in the horrible
situation where it finds itself, there would be no incentive to leave the place.

Whether or not a soul can ever be delivered from the depths to which evil magicians
sometimes sink is not something to generalize about. With increasing knowledge on
the part of the missionaries who visit these astral hells, new and better methods are
being devised to stimulate these denizens to make the necessary effort by which they
can escape to higher levels of existence, and gradually ascend the ladder of progress,
down which, on earth, they slid.

Just as I do not believe there is a person on earth who has sunk so low that it can be
said that he is irrevocably lost to decent endeavor, so also I believe that no soul in the
after-life ever sinks so far that there is no hope left of his redemption. Probably souls
are destroyed, just as we know that people on earth drink of life’s dregs and destroy
themselves. But while there is life on earth there is still hope. And while the soul still
exists on the astral plane I believe also there is still hope of its redemption. In other
words, I do not believe there is such a thing, in spite of much occult doctrine to the
contrary, as a lost soul.

The Cosmic Plan

–The General Manager of a corporation, I am sure, would not be pleased to observe
many of his workmen in sorrow and distress If they could be educated only through
experiences that brought these things, such suffering would not be done away with.
But I am sure that the head of a huge corporation, such as we have been considering,
would greatly prefer that his employees should get their education through the
technique of joy and happiness rather than through the avenues of sorrow. And I am
sure that the General Manager of the Universe does not want man to suffer grief and
sorrow.

I am quite sure also that the intelligent manager of a corporation, starting an
employee in running errands, and then advancing him, due to increasing ability, to a
point where he was doing some more highly specialized work, would not then
remove him from the higher type of work and start him running errands again, and
repeat this over and over again. And I am equally confident that God does not cause a
human soul to be born as an infant, learn to walk and talk, pass through the
kindergarten and grade schools, out into business for himself, where ability of some
consequence is acquired; and then when the business man dies, start him in as an
infant, to go through the kindergarten, grade school, etc. all over again. God has need
of ability among His employees, and when that ability has been developed, the
individual possessing it is placed in a capacity where it will accomplish something.

Nor does God, as General Manager of cosmic affairs, seek blind obedience from
those working under His directions. No workman is of the highest type who must be
told everything that should be done, and who can do nothing without asking if it
should be done, and how to do it. Any really good plant expects the more intelligent
of its employees to do a lot of thinking on their own. A big corporation always needs
men who can work out new and better ways of doing things. There must be, of course,
the fullest cooperation with others, and all endeavors should be directed toward the
ultimate advancement of the corporation. But ideas and initiative are the most
valuable assets an organization can have; and I am sure that the General Manager of
the cosmos does not wish to discourage independent thought and action.

Those who work in an organization can never know too much about the organization,
about the personnel, about the plans and method of operation. And I am sure that God
has no desire to discourage His employees in making the effort to learn all they can
about the universe, about other life-forms, and about everything they can. The more
accurate information His workmen possess, the better fitted they become to
cooperate in bringing about the aims of the organization.

But in this cosmic organization, the workmen operate from different floors, or
vibratory levels. The work on one plane, or level, compares with that performed on a
lower floor, or level, but each higher station requires greater skill in workmanship,
and the performance of more complex work. The work is thus of a finer, more
intricate, nature.

And because God needs employees who are skilled in the quality of work they can
perform, as well as workmen on lower planes, I am sure He does nothing to
discourage the refinement of the thoughts, emotions, and actions of His employees,
as through such refinement they are able to move to higher planes, or levels of
production. Such refinement is spoken of as spirituality.

If, in the industrial corporation we have been considering, the general manager and
his superintendents were known to exercise partiality and unjust favoritism, how do
you think it would affect the morale of the various employees? And you may be sure,
superficial appearances to the contrary, that God exercises no such favoritism.

Instead of such favoritism, the Cosmic Organization is run under the universal law of
compensation. Under this law, every individual receives reward in proportion to the
effort he makes. The reward is made in terms of increased ability, but implies also
that, to the extent such increased abilities are used for the advancement of the whole
organization, the individual is promoted to positions of increasing importance. To
use whatever of energies and abilities one has for the advancement of the cosmic
concern is always amply rewarded by the progress of the soul to new points of
vantage. Real ability and effort are never overlooked in the cosmic organization.

Nor, in this cosmic industrial corporation, are there different codes of conduct laid
down for various employees. The lowest in the line of production and ability cannot
live up to the moral code, as can those of wider experience; but a single code of
conduct, nevertheless, is a rule for all. This universal code, to which every life-form
in the cosmos must subscribe is that A SOUL IS COMPLETELY MORAL WHEN
IT IS CONTRIBUTING ITS UTMOST TO COSMIC WELFARE.

To the extent that you and I do not live up to this principle, we are violating the
universal moral code, which is the one and, I believe, only important consideration
by which God as General Manager of this vast going concern, passes judgment upon
His various workmen.

This organization is so vast that there are types of workmen of which we have never
heard, and there are departments so far removed, from where we labor that we are
quite out of touch with them. With the intelligence we now possess, about all we can
hope to do is to understand about our own department, the earth, and the realms
immediately above it where we will perform more intricate work when we have
gained enough refinement; that is, have gained enough spirituality that we are
capable of working there.

But let us not forget that this cosmos is not just a mechanical contraption, not just an
inanimate machine. Instead, it is an organization of intelligences, and the exercise of
intelligence is the most important thing about it. For the performance of the best type
of work it becomes necessary that the various intelligences cooperate, that they unify
their aims and do not work in antagonism to each other. We hope that the time will
come when the people of the earth will no longer make war upon each other, and
instead will cooperate to the end of providing the necessities and luxuries for all.
Want need not stalk the earth if people would only thus cooperate. The earth can
easily be made to produce amply for all. But at present we have not arrived at that
stage of cooperation.

In this cosmic organization the same principle holds. To produce the highest type of
condition it becomes necessary that the various intelligences within each department
cooperate with each other, and that the various department cooperate. As yet we have
so little information about some of the distant departments that we hardly know how
to start cooperating with them. And some of the life-forms right at hand are as yet
mysterious to us. We do not yet know how to treat them for best results.

But in any large corporation just such difficulties arise, and year by year, studies are
made how individuals and departments can better cooperate. And we, who are so far
down the ladder of existence, yet at that are so far above others, we know so little. We
can do this, however: We can study other life-forms, we can study our fellow-man,
we can investigate other levels of existence, such as those of the astral and spiritual
realms, and we can even work to gain some knowledge of departments far off in
space and far off in their velocities.

Then, to the best of our knowledge, which we increase as we can, we can exert
ourselves along the line of the universal moral code; which is to do that at all times
which we believe will contribute most to the furtherance of God’s Great Plan. And
recognizing the universal law that all souls in the universe are in process of
progression, we can feel sure that such effort, due to the universal law of
compensation, will lead us, step by step, to the highest and best destiny which it is in
the power of man to imagine he could attain.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *