Various Experiences of Spirits When They Arrive in the Spirit World, part one

I am here, Prof. Salyards.

Well, I am very happy and desire to write you on some phases of spirit life that I have observed in my experience of progressing.

I have noticed that the spirit, when it first comes into this life, is very often in a condition of darkness, not realizing where it is or what its surroundings are and, in many instances, it requires quite a long time for the spirit to realize that it is not still of earth.

But in many cases this is not the condition of the spirit, for it seems to have an immediate understanding of its condition and surroundings. I attribute the first mentioned condition to be due to the fact that, when on earth, the mortal had no definite belief as to what the future life might be and, in many instances, believed that the soul went into the grave with the body to await the great resurrection day.

Some of your religious denominations are preaching that doctrine now and, the consequence will be that all those who believe the doctrine will experience the condition of darkness and the want of knowledge of the continuity of life that I have spoken of.

The second class of spirits, or those who appear to realize immediately that they have passed from earth to spirit life are those who, while on earth, believed that the spirit when it left the body passed immediately into the Heavenly Spheres, or into the opposite - I mean the place of the wicked. I know that many of this class have hardly realized that they were in Heaven or Hell, for some little time after their entrance into spirit life.

Well, as soon as the spirits realize fully that they are no longer of earth, they commence to inquire as to where they are and many of them ask questions that indicate that they are disappointed in not realizing the expectations that they had while on earth.

It is very difficult at times to convince them that there are no such places as the Heavens and the Hells as taught by the churches, for while our spirit world may be a Heaven or Hell to them, yet the Heaven or Hell that they expect to find is not here.

Some, on the other hand, do not seem to understand that they have really left the earth, because they say if we had left the earth life, we would know nothing - quoting Job and some of the preachers: "the dead know nothing."

I have been very much interested in observing these different phases of the departed spirits' beliefs and thoughts. Now all this shows the absolute necessity of mortals understanding the truths pertaining to life and death.

This affords a very strong argument why Spiritualism should be more extensively and earnestly taught to mortals and why the false doctrines of those who teach either that the dead know nothing or, that the departed spirit goes either to Heaven or to Hell in the orthodox sense, should be shown to be not only a false belief, but injurious to mankind.

Let the believers and teachers of Spiritualism make greater and stronger efforts to refute these harmful teachings, and they will be doing the cause of truth and of man's happiness a great good.

I am not only interested in these phases but in all others which show that the spirits, even after they realize that they are still alive and must live as spirits, continue to show the fact that their orthodox teachings are false.

Some say that they may yet be able to go back into the body and await the great resurrection day for deliverance and say that they will soon see God and that He will take them into His Heavens where they will find that eternal rest and peace that they were taught to expect when on earth, and the wicked even look in dread to have some devil come and carry them to the Hells where torture of the most terrible kind they think awaits them.

From all this you may understand that we spirits, who know the truth, have a great work to do to enable these darkened spirits to understand and believe that their false hopes and dreadful fears have no foundation in truth and will never be realized. This work many spirits are engaged in doing and these spirits are not necessarily of the higher kind for many spirits, who occupy the earth plane and have no real spiritual enlightenment, are engaged in this work.

I am not now engaged in causing these dark spirits to see the truth for I have progressed to higher things and my mission is to teach the truths of the higher life, which I have been taught by spirits who live in higher spheres.

(To be continued… )

A Spirit Describes Various Experiences of Spirits When They Arrive in the Spirit World.