Here and Hereafter: By request, more information on life in the Spirit World

Here and Hereafter: By request, more information on life in the Spirit World from Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson

Received and recorded by Anthony Borgia

PRICE: £9.50

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Description

Following the success of his first books, Anthony Borgia received a deluge of letters requesting more information on various aspects of spirit and the afterlife. In response, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson was able to furnish information which answered many of the questions. The resulting book was first published in 1944 in a question-and-answer format.

Later it was republished, without the original questions and with the contents subdivided into three sections; the threshold between this life and the next; the spirit world; and the spirit personality. Details are given of the perfections and permanence of the life after death, of the surroundings in which they live, of their pursuits and activities, and of the means of progress along the road to a higher perfection.

Light is also shed on the way in which communication is possible between the inhabitants of the spirit world and their earth-bound contacts. Thought-transference, thought-communication and thought-power play their vital role in constructing the fabric of the spirit world —a world of harmony, peace and order—where fatigue is unknown.

The communicator's aim is "to cast out of peoples' minds the fear of death and the hereafter," and all who believe in that life—as well as those still in doubt—will find here a wealth of information of immense value, interest and comfort.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Saturday Night Press Publications
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-1-908421-46-3
• Price: £9.50(UK),  $14.00(US)

Contents

Preface

Introduction

I The Threshold
On our lack of knowledge surrounding death and arrival in the Spirit World. On effects of excessive
mourning, religiosity, sudden death; hauntings, judgment and resurrection.

II The Spirit World
On its permanence, architecture, colour and light; churches – for religious practice, more usually for thanksgiving and assemblies. On homes; fruit and orchards; water; gardens, perfection. On relationships, house-mates, progression. On rivers, seas, vessels, islands, birds, cities and countryside.

III Spirit Personality
On thought; using and projecting thought; creation and travel by mind control. On the spirit body, lungs, heart, organs, actions; physical body is modification of spirit body. On shedding of false earthly beliefs, religious creeds mean nothing, need for an open mind; earthly stresses are removed to be true self; individuality retained. Transition is painless and natural.

The Threshold

The average earth-dweller has no notion what kind of place 'the next world' can possibly be, usually because he has not given much thought to the matter. How those very same people regret their indifference when they eventually arrive here in the spirit world! 'Why,' they cry, 'were we not told about this before we came here?'

Now, all this arises from the fact that the average person does not know of what he himself is composed. He knows he has a physical body, of course. There are not many who can easily forget it! But leaving the earth in the common act of 'dying' is a perfectly natural and normal process, which has been going on continuously, without intermission, for thousands upon thousands of earthly years. …

It is commonly understood that man is composed of body, soul, and spirit. The physical body he is fairly conversant with, but what of the soul and spirit? Of these two, man knows little indeed. What he does not realise is that he is a spirit, first, last, and always. The physical body is merely a vehicle for his spirit body upon his journey through his earthly life.

The mind belongs to the spirit body. Every human experience, every thought, word, and deed, that go to make up the sum of earthly human experience is infallibly and ineradicably recorded upon what is called the subconscious mind through the agency of the physical brain, and when the time comes for man to leave the earth, he discards the physical body for ever, leaves it behind him upon the earth, and passes into the realms of the spirit world. His spirit body he will find is a counterpart of the earthly body he has just left behind him. He will then find that what he called the subconscious mind when he was incarnate has now assumed its rightful place in his new scheme of existence. And it is not long before it begins to show its particular attributes to its owner. By its principal ability of ineffaceable and infallible recording, this mind reveals itself as a complete and perfect chronicle of its owner's life upon earth.
The revelations, therefore, that are attendant upon the person newly arrived in the spirit world can be sufficiently startling.

The Spirit World - (on Buildings)

I have often spoken of the magnificent buildings in the spirit world, but I have not so far made any reference to the particular form of architecture they favour. In fact, we have all types, from the earliest forms known to you on earth down to those of the present day. A type that is a great favourite among us here is that which is commonly known to you as Gothic. But all ages are represented. It would not be accurate to say they are reproduced, because here we can call upon people of a former age to erect ·buildings in the exact pattern of those of their own times. Beautiful though the various styles of architecture may be, and they are beautiful, yet to my mind the materials of which the buildings are composed, with their exquisite colourings, are still more lovely. Even the plainest structure, one that is perhaps almost devoid of external embellishment, is none the less a delight to see. All buildings, from the unpretentious cottage to any one of the stately halls of learning, look clean and fresh. But in addition, the materials of which they are constructed have a semi-translucence, an alabaster-like appearance with a superb variety of delicate colourings that seem to change their tones as the beholder changes his viewpoint. Some of them give the impression of being composed of mother-of-pearl in the most pleasing and restful shades of colours and tints. These colours are, of course, neither too vivid nor too brilliant where buildings are in fairly close proximity to one another. When more widely separated they can take on a more brilliant hue without disturbing the harmony of, or conflicting with, an immediate neighbour.

In the centre of the city in these realms there is a great temple, a magnificent structure. It forms the very hub of the city from which everything radiates in every direction. It is a huge edifice, capable of seating thousands of us without any fear of crowding or other unpleasant conditions. It is encompassed by the most beautiful gardens, and as soon as one comes within the precincts one feels the most astonishing flow of power that emanates not only from the great wealth of flowers, but from the very building itself. This outpouring of force never diminishes.

Now, this is a temple of thanksgiving, not of worship as the earth understands it and professes to practise it. …we meet here on special occasions, not by rule, not by habit, not because it is a duty, not because it is the 'right thing to do'; we meet here not because God 'demands' corporate worship as His right, not because some spurious authority proclaims that we must do so —or take the consequences.

We meet because on the special occasions to which I have just referred most illustrious beings from the higher realms come to visit us in this temple, beings who are close to the Great Source of all life and light. They bring with them some of the transcendental fragrance of those higher states of existence, and we are permitted to bask, as it were, in the radiance of the power and light they bring. Such power and light are partly of themselves and partly from their exalted realms, but chiefly from the Great Source of all

The principal visitant on these occasions gathers together our heart-felt thanks for all that is given to us, for all that we possess, and he transmits them to the Giver

Such a 'service' is simple and unpretentious, and above all things it is short. Most of these gatherings last not much longer than fifteen minutes or so of earthly time. But into that brief space of time is concentrated an act of inspiring beauty such as the longest, most elaborate, and most spectacular church ceremonial upon earth could never achieve in hours of pontifical pageantry with little or nothing underlying it. …

We do not worship, as the earth understands the term. We pour out our eternal thanks for the happiness that is ours, a happiness that is itself magnified by the thought and the knowledge that still greater happiness lies ahead of us all. We are consumed with the deepest and truest affection for the Great Being who so lavishly bestows so many good things upon us.

Spirit Personality (on thought)

... On earth thought is secret to the thinker until such time as he wishes to give verbal or other expression to his thoughts. It is customary to say on earth: our thoughts are our own; we can think what we like; thoughts can never harm anyone, and so on. So that when we of the spirit world assert that our world is a world of thought, the incarnate immediately revert to their own thoughts and their unsubstantial nature, and thereupon place the spirit world in the same category of tenuous things. … The incarnate do not realise the force and power of thought or else they would never think along such lines as I have indicated. Every thought that passes with force and purpose through the mind of an earth dweller is projected from his mind as a thought-form. To speak unscientifically, it is registered, at least for a time, upon the surrounding ether. … If the thought is directed towards some friend who is now resident in the spirit world, that thought, if it is properly directed with purpose and intent, will inevitably reach that friend. It will reach him or her just as it is sent, no more and no less good or bad or indifferent….

In the spirit world thought has direct and instantaneous action upon whatsoever it is directed, whether it be upon a human being or upon what on earth is called 'an inanimate object' … It is not until you come into the spirit world that you really know just what thought can do. And I do assure you, my good friend, that some of us are positively horrified when we find out for the first time!

… it is essential that one should learn to think properly as an inhabitant of the spirit world. One of the first things one has to do here, as a new arrival, is to think properly. It is not a difficult achievement, and not nearly so formidable a task as it may sound. It concerns one's thought about people rather than thoughts of a general nature upon things. When thought is concerned with a person, the thought, if it has sufficient force behind it, will travel to that person. If it happens to be of a pleasant or complimentary description, or of a jovial and genial nature, then the percipient will be happy to receive it. But all thoughts are not of this innocuous sort, and our mental secrets may have passed out of our minds only to have found their destination in the very last place we wanted them to be, namely, in the mind of the person of whom we were so freely thinking.

Spirit Personality (on the spirit body)

In the spirit world our bodies are always in a state of absolute perfection of condition. The muscles and the various parts of our bodies will respond as instantly and as rapidly as we wish the moment we set the thought in motion. We set the thought in motion, the thought sets the limbs and its parts in motion. There is no lagging, no perceptible fraction of a moment between our thought and its action. It will recall to your mind the familiar phrase: to think is to act. That is literally what takes place in the spirit world. Some of our actions are subconscious, as I have indicated to you; breathing, for example. We do not have to learn how to do that.

My mention of breathing has brought me to a point in our discussion where I think it would be acceptable if I were to speak to you upon the subject of what we both know as the spirit body. There are particular aspects about it upon which one of my friends upon earth has expressed the wish for further information. I am happy to give it to the best of my ability, but I would limit myself, as I have done throughout the whole of these writings, to knowledge which has been gained by my own experience.

My friend of the earth recalls my account of the orchestral concert which I attended here, and he says that 'if people play wind instruments in the spirit world, they must have lungs that are capable of breathing air'. And so he asks: 'Do people breathe in the spirit world? If so, are the lungs used for oxygenating the blood?'

Such reasoning is perfectly accurate. The spirit world has air just as you have on earth, and we have lungs in our bodies with which to breathe it. And it does 'oxygenate' the blood in what would be the spirit world equivalent of that process. Upon earth the air you breathe will help to purify the blood. In the spirit world we have good rich blood running through our veins, and we breathe the beautiful clean fresh fragrant air, but while your blood undergoes the process of oxygenating, our blood is reinvigorated by the spiritual force and energy that is one of the principal constituents of the air we breathe here. Could one exist without it? Hardly. It gives us a measure of life-force just as it does you on earth. …