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may be said that everything you have in your earth life is but a poor imitation of what exists
here and is largely the result of spirit influence and power."
"What of your homes?" I asked.
"We have houses in which the family relation is continued, where every member-spirit is
seeking enlightenment. The law of attraction is the dominant force here. We have a great
number of thoughtful men seeking to discover and develop the hidden forces of Nature; we
have great lecture halls where those who are learned discourse upon the hidden forces; we
have teachers who develop the spirituality, and discourse upon that great force called Good
and its function in the universe. It is a busy world where every one is doing his or her part.
We do not have any strife for money or need for money; so you see the occupation of the
great majority of your people is gone. It is only by helping others in this life - and this is
equally true of the earthlife - that one betters his conditions and enriches himself. This is the
law.
The only happiness that the inhabitants of earth really get is through being charitable, doing
good, and making the world happier. The only wealth that any man carries beyond the grave
is what he gives away before he reaches the grave."
"Tell us something of your foods. Do you require nourishment?" I asked.
"Yes," he answered, "but not in the manner or in the way that you do. Our digestive organs
continue their functions, and we require food, but we take the essence while you take the
substance. You take food day by day in earth life. The substance is absorbed in the physical
garment, but it is the essence of the food that nourishes the spirit body from day to day. The
substance is no longer necessary, but the essence is necessary just as it was before. So you see
there is very little change in physical necessities."
'Tell me of your political economy," I asked.
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"There is," Dr. Hossock answered, "no aristocracy in this land of ours, but mind and merit.
The law of Nature which is the Supreme Force, called Universal Law, has to be obeyed, in
order that each sphere may be reached. Every individual remains upon the plane for which he
is fitted, until he subjects his will to the Universal Law. As he progresses, he learns new laws,
but they are fundamentally the same, only they grow more intense and vital, until he becomes
a part of that law himself.
"The political economy of the spheres has reference only to wealth, which being unbounded
and free as air and light, can, of course, be appropriated by each and every member of society,
according to his or her capacity of reception, the supply being equal to the demand. Hence it
will be seen that we have no occasion for gold and silver which perish with the using; but the
currency of moral and intellectual worth, coined in the mint of divine Love, and assayed by
the standards of purity and truth, is necessary for each one."
"Tell me something of your social life," I said.
"With regard to the social constitution of the spheres," he answered, each is divided into six
circles or societies in which congenial people live together agreeably according to the law of
attraction. Although the individuals composing such society unite as near as may be in
thought, agreeing in the most important moral and intellectual features, yet upon careful
analysis we find that the varieties of character in each society are almost without number.
They are perfectly analogous to the numerous members of the different societies on the earth-
plane. Each group has teachers more advanced than the members of the group, and teachers
often come from higher spheres. They impart to us the knowledge that they have acquired in
their progression in the different departments of science, which we, in turn, transmit to those
below us, just in the same manner as we are transmitting knowledge to you now. Thus, by
receiving and teaching, our intellectual faculties are expanded to higher conceptions and more
exalted views of Nature's laws. Our scientific researches are extended to all that pertains to
Nature, to the wonders of the heavens and of earth and to whatever the mentality is capable of
conceiving and comprehending. In this manner we get our progression and enjoyment. The
sciences of astronomy and mathematics engage our attention. These subjects are
inexhaustible. Chemistry is the most interesting of any of our studies, as it would be to you if
you only appreciated the fact that all change in Nature is the result of chemical action."
"You do not mean to say that all of your inhabitants are sufficiently advanced to do that
work?"
"No," he answered, "there are millions of inhabitants of this life who are not sufficiently
advanced to take any interest in such studies. As we have passed beyond the rudimentary [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]