An address given by the Christ messenger Zodiac through the deep trance mediumship of Miss Winifred Moyes,
at the White Crusaders Christian Spiritualist Church, Co-operative Hall, East Street, Epsom, Surrey, on Sunday, November 5th, 1950
(Note: This message was edited for a more general readership)
..."Dear children, as I know that many thoughts arise in the human mind, week by week I try to answer some of the doubts and wonderings, and there are many who question: 'Why Different Teachings Come From The Spirit World'. It is a fair question and a most interesting one, and if the thought has crossed your mind, as I know it has come into the minds of thousands who will read my words, then perhaps the few things I am instructed to say will linger in your remembrance and, when another asks, you will have the information to pass on which will stem their doubts in turn.
"Now I want you to build up in your imagination some idea of the great Scheme of Life, as thought out by God. It is common sense to suppose that most people, however good they are in this state, are not yet ready for a Heavenly Home, or for a home which really expresses Spirit conditions. And I remind you that the parable in the Holy Book framed in story-form as to Creation has something of truth embedded in it. You were as a 'thought' of God - yes, the Divine Spirit within you - and you were given a separate existence from the God-head to undergo the journey of experience which should bring you back to God, with that knowledge and understanding which should make it possible for you to be a son or a daughter of the Most High in reality.
"Well, as you can see, this was a tremendous proposition; and it was ordained by the Father that free-will should be given to every soul, in whatever world they might be. I want you to give this fact its full importance because it explains much; in fact, it turns a clear light upon war, disease, and the broken hearts which so many people experience.
"Dear children, try to build up some conception of the thousands, or the millions of lives you have already had, in different worlds, in the evolutionary processes. At Creation you certainly knew not sin, because you were of God. But there was no experience there, it had to be made your own, so that you could understand and discriminate between good and evil. As you can see, it would be no satisfaction to the Creator for those He brought into being to be as puppets responding to His will. No! Individuality is the gift of all, and you are entitled to your own opinions whatever stage of life you may be in or in whatever world.
"Now this explains in little part why it is that there are those in the body who seem to be spiritual people, and, again, that there are masses who seem to be very material, very selfish people, if you like, who ignore the law of brotherhood and their duty to their neighbour. Well, it surely shows to those who study the subject that such souls in their past lives in other spheres, did not take advantage of the opportunity to learn and to gain experience as God intended.
"It is just the same today. You find that there are those who perhaps have a good body and a good education, but they do not value it. They pass through the years piling up much rubbish in their minds because their inclination takes them that way, and there is no one to interfere and to see that they have a certain amount of discipline, for discipline today seems to be out of favour with the vast majority.
"And so there are many young people who come from a good environment who fail to take advantage of the opportunities offered them by the sacrifice of the parents; they are going to carve their life in their own way and to do what they like. The consequence of this means that when they pass through the change called death, instead of finding that they are in the favourable position they were during the earthly life, they will see that, through their own folly, through their own neglect, they are far worse off. The body is more faulty and the mind, too, and that which surrounds them seems to be but the fringe of the comfort of their life upon the earth plane.
"The condition has been built up by their attitude of mind; and because there was so little effort, as you can imagine, there is not much there either of beauty or of power. Out of the sunshine of the physical world they find they are in a dim state, and it seems that they are very lonely. But they are not lonely except that they, by their own selfishness, have shut themselves into a cone, and they must break through that cone before they can contact with a better condition. There are plenty to help them, but selfishness is almost like a granite cave; and until the will arises within to seek some better state, there they remain because free-will cannot be interfered with.
"I want you to think over conditions in the Spirit World because they apply to you equally, and to some in a very wonderful way. For instance, there are those who perhaps lost the bread-winner during their early years, and they have had to strive to make their own career, to withstand the unkindness of strangers or of those who are more protected.
"Yet, we must have these pioneers; it is essential that there should be some with force of character who know what they are out for and are determined, so far as they can, to achieve their object. That is how missionaries are made, people who give up the comfort of the Mother-land and go out to face terrible hardships, and perhaps to lose their physical life either through bad health or through the treachery of those they came to teach. But when they kept firmly to their purpose they were like bright rays shining through a dim world. And as you think of people like Livingstone and Damien and many, many others, somehow the world seems a better place because they passed through it; and it is a far better place, because they have left beauty behind and the force of example; and such as these have inspired hundreds to arise from their bondage and to strive for better things.
"You may ask me how does all this relate to the subject we are discussing? Well, dear children, it relates to it in a very real way, and I appeal to the reasoning faculties within you. If spirits come back and talk on fantastic lines, well, you can take it that they are very inexperienced, they are not the ones to teach those in the physical body. You want the guides and helpers who understand what life on earth means today, what the pains of the body represent, what war can exact and the conditions they leave behind.
"Therefore you must have a practical religion, you must be able to ask questions and to receive a straightforward reply in return. To say that these things are amongst the mysteries of God, or that we shall know in the by-and-bye, that is pure evasion - and it is cowardice as well because it shows that the injunction to seek has not been followed. Those who seek eventually will find; but naturally to 'seek' entails effort and a certain amount of suffering as well. But this is the experience for which you came into the earth plane.
"So, dear children, as you think of life as a whole, it is possible surely to conjure up why different teachings come from spirit people. There are the Eastern religions, there are the Western religions, there are many cults and all sorts of theories regarding life here and in the tomorrow of time, and they all have their place.
"You are individual, you have different types of minds, you come of different stock, and you have had a different upbringing. It would be most unwise and absolutely against progression if you were all moulded upon the same pattern; it would produce a state of stagnation and bring about the decadence of the mind and of the evolution of the soul.
"But, dear children, when we think of the various religions we find certain similarities. Some which are assumed to be a 'religion' may advocate the easy path; but the majority have a background of sacrifice, of denial of the lower self, the seeking to contact with the higher forces by prayer, by going into the silence and by hard labour. For you must remember that there are thousands and thousands of men and women who work very hard indeed for their religion; they are doing their utmost to put into action their beliefs, and they believe that a life of sacrifice is the direct road into the Kingdom of God.
"The point is that you do not always agree on the kind of work they do; and when such as these pass over sometimes they find that they might have done better. But they followed the light which was given unto them and they are blessed in the measure of their sincerity.
"You see, dear children, how this opens the gates to all religions. What may be very attractive to you and would appeal to your reasoning mind, might seem to be a very cold religion to those who have a more emotional nature. They want colour, ceremonial, and many things besides to be as props, or as symbols, shall we say, of the religion to which they have given their allegiance. And I want you to know that in the next state all these aids to religion gain a blessing, because if there is one thing a man or a woman can conceive to help another soul, if it does help, then naturally a blessing follows. But, again, you have the operation of free-will.
"Some people find that too much embellishment in regard to religion seems to draw a veil between the thought of the simple Christ and their love for Him. They are wise to pursue this path because when you reach the Spirit World you will find that the less furniture of the mind you carried in regard to your religion, the better off you are. Why? Because you do not have to unlearn so much.
"You see, dear children, in true Spirit Spheres, the one religion which abounds on either side is this - that through our love for God we seek to serve our neighbour. It does not mean that those theories or those ideas in connection with our particular religion were wrong; they may have been stepping-stones to a greater understanding. Follow this thought carefully because it will help you immeasurably when you pass Hence. When we take up serious training for the Master's work we have to adopt a universal attitude of mind, we have to take in all those different forms of thoughts or feelings associated with life not only upon the earth plane, but in all the Spheres.
"It may seem to some a gigantic task, but there is Immortality ahead. Growth necessarily must be slow; you cannot force it. There are some people who try to force their religion, as you would put a plant into a hothouse; but directly it is brought into the cold air of reality its life is dead, so far as that stage is concerned. That is why you find that people say: 'Oh, I used to be religious but I have lost faith in that sort of thing now!' It was because religion was not presented in a practical form, in a form that appealed to the reasoning faculties, or to their sense of justice.
"There seems to be so much injustice upon the earth plane. But that is not God's Will in operation: it is man's free-will in action. God has to wait until man awakens to a sense of responsibility, when wars will cease, when the foul diseases that torture so many millions will begin to die down, when the disillusionment that spoils life for the majority, will lose its sting, and peace will dwell amongst men because love of Christ is in their hearts and is dominating their minds.
"So we come to the different teachings given by the different guides returning from the World of Spirit. You cannot change the attitude of mind just through the transition; man's theories or ideas have been built up sometimes by great effort over the years; and when people pass into the Great Beyond, like attracts like. They are then in a condition where they will find something of harmony with their thoughts and aspirations.
"There are good people who are inclined to disagree very strongly with others. Well, they pass into a condition where there are those equally bound by their own views as they are themselves, and they settle down quite happily for a while. They have found at last, so they think, that they were right, whereas others of their world were wrong, for they see many keyed to a similar vibration of thought.
"But in time the spirit within them starts that restlessness of the mind which turns them into a venturer towards Truth. There are no barriers to people returning to the earth plane, but only the few are able to find a suitable instrument. You are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses - good spirits, bad spirits, and those who are neither one thing nor another; but as with your material instruments upon the earth plane (radio?), there must be that nicety of vibration to make the contact.
"That is why sometimes you find obsession cases. There are people who are sensitive to certain things, and possibly very emotional. A disembodied soul may pass their way who is not more evolved than the one in the body; and there may be a link which makes it possible for that one, as we would say, to walk with that man or woman upon the earth plane, sometimes with dire results.
"Again, it is the operation of free-will, and in the Holy Book we are told to test the spirits (1 John 4:1) to see whether they be of God. You may say: 'How can we test them when we do not know enough?' It is the easiest thing possible, dear children, and the test can be applied to those in the body or free from the body. As you are talking to your friends, by their attitude of mind, you can tell at once the kind of unseen companions who are around them. If you are talking to those who have taken upon themselves spiritual responsibilities and you find that they are just as selfish as the rest, well, then you know that they are not sincere, they have responded to someone unseen who has tempted them to offend.
"Look at the statesmen in every country! They are living epistles of the kind of guides they have drawn to themselves or have allowed to remain with them by an act of free-will. Ambition, love of power, vanity piled upon vanity, these are characteristics that create war, and these are the things which must be faced with practical commonsense if there is to be an improvement in time to come.
"So you see, dear children, in regard to those spirits who come back using a medium, you have to be very careful. If they try to win your attention by words of flattery, well, then you know at once you are in touch with an unevolved soul. They may not have bad intentions towards you but they desire you, and if you are not careful they will have you. It is all so clear when the light of reason and commonsense shines upon the things of the earth. And there are those who come back and find a suitable medium to use, and after a little persuasion and effort they manage to control them.
"Dissect the teaching which comes to see whether the spirit is of God. It is no use for any guide to come back and tell you to make sacrifices, unless the spirit himself is making an effort in the same direction; and you can test this because of the effect upon those who listen as well as upon the one who is under control.
"Unfortunately, in this world mankind has many gods, and they seem to increase as material things are made available; and there are those in the Unseen seeking to trap the very elect, by which I mean those who in all sincerity desire to pledge their faith to God and carry through their pledge to the very end. That is how saints are turned into sinners. In their weak moments something has happened and the Light of the Holy Spirit has become dimmed by the cruder colours of those more material guides who are seeking to reason with the mind of the body, saying: 'Why should you not have a little more pleasure; why should you not have the same kind of life as others; why is this cut off from you, why have you to give up that?' Dear children, they are very subtle. They try to reason with the mind of the body, to make it appear as if God was withholding something; whereas the spirit within you, understanding, has withheld from itself those aids or props to physical life.
"Have I made my meaning clear, and does it not explain why it is that so many good people have hard lives? The answer comes from the heart of Christ. We have that wonderful Example of the One Who gave all, having everything stripped from Him in so inclusive a way. Many who have tried to help others have found when their own time of illness came or when trouble fell upon them, that there was no one there to help them. You may say: 'But it is terrible to think that after doing so much for others, human nature should be so base.' These are the child souls who will have to learn in time; and when they pass out and see what they have done, they will never forgive themselves, although the ones concerned long, long since have forgiven them.
"When you pass through the change called death, you are not altered so far as your attitude of mind is concerned, unless you wish to be. Free-will again. Unless you wish to learn, unless you wish to explore and to understand the inner truths associated with spiritual life, you can stay where you are, enjoy for a time that which you find there, work out your own ideas until you are tired of them.
"So it is that people of all types and spiritual classes come back from the World of Spirit and give what seems to some a confused teaching. But remember always that, as with religion upon the earth plane, there is a fundamental, and a religion to be worthy of the name has to be based on sacrifice and service. If any teacher from the World of Spirit comes back and tells you to take the easy road because God understands that you have your human nature to consider, then say unto such a one: 'Get behind me, Satan!' - for that is not the teaching of the Christ Who endured all things to show what man in the flesh can do and can overcome when the soul is set to obey the plans of God.
"I ask you to exercise your minds as widely as possible, and if you are interested in this truth to remember that it is no new religion. As in the story of Adam and Eve there was a manifestation of Spirit, so throughout the ages there have always been manifestations of Spirit; and if they have been limited that is man's own fault because, again, free-will cannot be interfered with.
"There are many who say: 'I do not believe there are Little People and the idea of fairies is all a myth!' They do not see the fairies and they do not feel their delicate presence as they seek to do their work for God, unseen by those they would so gladly help.
"It is just the same with other forms of life. People may say certain creatures have no feeling, so you can be as cruel as you like to them. What an awakening lies before such as these; and what an awakening for those who torture little children and neglect the old. Dear children, when these people pass into another state, until they want to grow out of their own present mould, in that mould or cone they will remain.
"But for you who are seekers there is a wonderful future. Certainly you will lay aside the physical body, perhaps with a great gladness; it can become very cumbersome and full of pain and represent a restriction to all those things that you want to do. But remember this: that although you will lay aside your physical mind as well, what has been produced by effort through that physical mind, will be a great asset. You will not have again the clumsy tool of the physical mind with its lack of imagination, nor the few senses you possess now operating in physical conditions; you will have a much wider orbit altogether. And if you think that all the study you put in during the physical stage seems to be a great waste, for it has to be laid aside, then I would remind you that that could not be.
"To be educated materially does not mean anything to those in Spirit life, but to be educated spiritually means everything. Over your studies you have had to harness your will, you have had to give up recreation, you have had to do things you did not want to do. Well, that is all, as it were, expanding the wings of the aura, and the gain remains for evermore. And with that which you have sought to do by the sacrifice of the personal element, so you will find that you have a far better mind, a mind that will be able to grasp the truths that never have to be revised, the science which never is changed by the experiments of man.
"There is so much that I would discuss with you, but time is slipping by, yet if I have impressed upon the physical mind some idea why different teachings come from the Spirit World, then my little task is done. The responsibility rests entirely upon yourselves as to what you accept. To accept everything because it comes from a spirit is utter nonsense, and very dangerous, too. Test the spirits to see whether they are of God, to see the influence on the life of the instrument. And the only test is this: What will the spirit and what will the instrument give up for the love of God.
"And now I would come amongst you, giving the blessing, for I know that there are many here who indeed wish to contact in a more real way with the power that Christ has given at this same time. The physical weakness of the medium has to be overcome by faith and will, and never have we failed to curb the body to the extent that the blessing could not be given; and never will the time come, because should the body fail, then the bright ones will give the blessing direct.
"So, dear children, as I come amongst you I want you to feel that your lives are as open books to me. What do I find there? Sorrow, loss, personal disappointment, and only a little brightness here and there. That is building up experience, and, what is more, it is releasing discrimination.
"As you take your daily way at times you find those you thought very wonderful people showing what you regard as the cloven foot, and you are disappointed and disillusioned. Sometimes those you were inclined to criticise you begin to like better; you find that beneath their rather forthright manner there is a wonderful heart of love and a deep desire to serve. They are keyed to truth and therefore they cannot dissemble. Some wish that truth could be clothed in those airy garments which are so attractive when upon the earth plane. But always remember this, dear children, that if you are keyed to truth, the truth must be given whether it brings a little suffering to another and much suffering to the one who speaks.
"Then, also, you find that this applies to those spirits who come back from the great Unseen. Many who give the word of commendation are asked for again and again and again; they are so comforting, so cheering. Then perhaps another spirit comes and gives you words of warning, tries to arouse the strength within you and will not pander to any little weakness. At first you are chilled; but as you think things over, commonsense reasserts itself and many say: 'After all, perhaps he was nearer the truth!' And once you have made that fact your own, your progress can go on apace.
"Yes, be brave, dear children, let all those things which have entangled the physical mind be cast asunder. You are warriors fighting for right, you are those chosen to blaze the path. Naturally if you climb up the mountain side much must be exacted from you; you may fall, or seem to fall, but ever within can be the thought: 'I must climb not only for the sake of those today, but for the coming generations!' Then wars shall be no more, then disease shall be triumphed over, for man will have sought guidance from the Spirit World and will have put his heel upon the dangerous drugs so freely used at this same time.
"I speak with feeling for I see so much, and yet my heart is glad, for ever as I go up and down the countryside I find good material, those who are waiting for the message which I bring; and I thank God that tonight there are those here who are ready to take that higher path, which means a release of Spirit consciousness and a further understanding of the Almighty Plan.
"I pray that each one may be so inspired that they will not fail the one who leads, but ever seek to do their part, when, in due course they shall become leaders too. But all must serve, all must be tested before that great office can descend upon them; but the time will come, dear children, when in the Spirit World pain and disappointment and everything that seems to go wrong, will be justified up to the hilt. Manifesting your love, you will stand to receive a smile from the Christ - 'Well done, good and faithful servant; I have further work for you to do' ... "
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