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THE GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH
THE ZODIAC MESSAGES
"LIFE AFTER DEATH"
An address given by the celestial messenger 'Zodiac',
(the unnamed scribe of the Bible and a teacher in the
Temple of Jerusalem at the time of Christ), at the
Zodiac Circle on Saturday, 5th March, 1927.
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"MOST gracious Saviour, to-night, as always, we
place ourselves in Thy care; and we ask Thee to heal
the wounds in heart and mind, to banish those memories
which come between Thy children and this mighty work,
to lift them up and to teach them how to lift others.
O God our understanding Father, enlighten them as to
the ways of the Spirit, and instruct them as to the
privilege of this gracious gift.
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"Let us, as Thy instruments, throw our thoughts
over others who are in distress, whether of the mind
or the body, and grant that those thoughts may reach
them and give them courage to face the days to come.
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"O grant that Thy little children who are serving
Thee may pass on the good news to others, and show
to all that the only 'life' is a life of service, doing
Thy work, bringing consolation to those who walk in
darkness, and demonstrating a little more of Thy love
upon earth - Thy mighty love for Thy creation.
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"Father, we thank Thee.
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"MY CHILDREN, throwing out my love upon you all
and gathering you close by the grace of God, so as
planned by the Father, I would speak to you to-night
on that which I name LIFE AFTER DEATH; but I can take
you but a step or two because the physical mind, so
bound, so restricted at this stage, can only grasp
a fragment of the wonderful Promise held out to all
by the Creator, held out to God's children by the Father
Who will never let them go.
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"Yet this evening there are points which I am
instructed to touch upon, and these in the days to
come I will enlarge, I will supplement, and so together
we pass out of the material into the spiritual, out
of the perishable into that which remains for aye.
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"Children, physical death - the decay of that
garment which you wear for a brief space - that comes
to all, but to each one in a different way; and so
you can gain but little from the experiences of others,
for your body is like and yet unlike, your mind may
be similar from the surface point of view but it is
individual, you are separated by that which you name
individuality.
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"And so while I speak of 'experiences' I do not
wish you to say: 'I shall see this', or 'I shall feel
that'; for you will pass into those conditions which
have been built up by your life on earth, built up
by your thoughts and, still more, by your efforts,
by that striving, by that endeavour to minister to
the Divine within. Yet I must particularise because
otherwise I cannot prepare your minds for that which
lies in front; and if you are uninstructed how then
can I say: Pass on the good news to others.
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"Children, this body - charged with so much, it
seems to some that might well be absent, hindering,
thwarting, vexing - the physical body is sacred by
the very pangs it imposes. You look round on those
you love and you sigh because this one suffers and
that one seems hard beset. But, were spiritual sight
your own, so you would rejoice with the Spirit within
over that ailing body, that tired, distressed and overstrained
body, for you would know that it was acquiring something
which the earth could not take away, something permanent
in the Spirit, a fitting gift for the Master Himself.
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"So I bring you back to that point when the real
Self slips from that which to you, seems so vital to
your being; and in many cases the sensation is as this:
though the body may have had its stress, the Spirit
has made full preparation, and those who are free minister
on either side; so, with something like a sigh of relief,
that which at one time meant so much is left behind,
and gladness and a sense of lightness and freedom tells
you that a difficult stage is o'er.
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"But you will ask me: 'Is consciousness retained
as the Spirit passes from the body?' And I answer that
this depends entirely on the individual. If the Spirit
within has in any measure gained its freedom, so then,
as the body is discarded, that consciousness - Spirit
consciousness - is enhanced a thousand-fold.
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"But mark you this: there are countless thousands
who keep the Divine within, in a bondage terrible to
behold, and these when physical death takes place find
themselves in another body - not flesh and blood, it
is true - but in another body which has less power,
less beauty, and greater bondage all round.
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"These souls need much care; indeed they must
be treated as the children in understanding that they
are. The Spirit within, so imprisoned, seems to the
onlooker without knowledge, as if it had no existence
at all.
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"During life on earth God was not recognised,
and so, as they pass out into that built up by their
thoughts and their desires, they find themselves no
longer in a physical body, but bound to the earth in
a sense you cannot understand. The material was all
they craved, to the material they cleaved, and sometimes
years elapse before we can create even a wish for higher
things.
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"Such as these, dear children, have their influence
on those still inhabiting a body of flesh. Their thoughts,
their desires do not pass away, and so it means that
each one who has turned from his Maker is contributing
a portion of temptation to those who remain.
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"Therefore you see your work, and difficult work
it must be, because such as these are many in number,
and they still hold much that is hard to combat. Your
work is that of the missionary, that of the restorer,
that of the redeemer, in God's Name.
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"When you feel adverse influences around, pray
not for yourself but pray for these poor blind things
who tempt you to fall. Only in this wise can they be
resisted, only by sending out from yourself effort
and the wish to save, can you be saved from failing
your better self.
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"And such as these, children in every sense of
the word, such as these swarm round the soaring soul,
not always with evil intent, but the one who strives
represents to them a light in their terrible darkness;
and very often, because of this, those of the Light
seem tempted beyond endurance, and there is suffering
on all sides.
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"Then I would turn your thoughts to those who,
in their humble way, have tried to keep God's laws,
who have done their duty faithfully, yet have firmly
fixed in the mind of the body that physical death means
a long, long sleep until the 'Day of Judgement', until
the 'Great Awakening' in the end. You all know many
of these; and again I say that their passing out is
according to themselves. If, during the earth life,
they ruled out this and ruled out that, if they refused
to consider the possibility of further light being
thrown on that which is called 'death', then such as
these sleep in very truth.
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"Children, God has given us all the gift of free-will.
When those on earth are positive that physical death
is sleep, so, because the idea is firmly rooted in
the mind, they take that idea with them and cement
it into fact; fact, limited by the love of God.
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"You can understand when I explain that those
who passed on before - many years or centuries it may
be - that these are perturbed at the thought that one
they love, one perhaps they have sought to protect
during the earth experience, you can understand that
distress seizes the mind of such as these to think
of the time which must be wasted, to think of the opportunities
passing away during the sleep which holds them fast.
And so these guardians, these guides, these helpers
and instructors, they - by prayer, by much preparing
before the Spirit is severed from the body - they in
a measure can rectify the damage done by the individual
concerned. And so, though some sleep for months and
some for years, the time comes when the call of love
awakens them and they see the miracle of God's Love
at work.
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"Then we pass on to those who, in degree, understand
something of the Truth; and these, if they have put
their holy desires into action, if they have worked
as well as thought, if they have constructed instead
of only building castles in the air, so such as these
know not death, and death in any form cannot come nigh
them; for lo! as the tired, weak body is laid aside,
so they greet the unending Day and revelation opens
to them as they progress. That is what 'death' means
to the aspiring soul (St. John 8, 51; 11, 26); and
indeed it has been the portion of thousands who have
never heard of this Truth (Spirit Communion), of this
mighty gift of a generous God. But such as these had
a humble mind, a mind that did not bar this or refuse
to credit that, a mind that, as the end drew near,
just rested on the Father knowing that all would be
well because of His Love and mercy.
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"Such as these, though their physical understanding
may have been limited, though there might have been
none to instruct them as to the Life Beyond, such as
these by their attitude of mind, by the blending of
the physical will with the Divine, have released that
which is Holy within, and once the body is discarded
the Spirit communes with the Great Spirit and the unity
is complete. This, little ones, is 'death'!
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"Then I take you a step further on and I underline
once more that each one goes to her or his own place;
and, again, that that varies in beauty and in opportunity
and in revelation according to the life on earth, according
to the effort put forth.
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"So, although you will meet each other in your
rightful Home, yet each one will find that their conditions
are different; you will meet those you love but, again,
their conditions will be different.
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"Some will be freer; some perchance still in a
measure of bondage, but this great hope is held out
for you and for them: Those with greater freedom will
come to you and teach you how you can have that privilege
yourself. And what will they say? Ah! little ones,
you know it in your hearts. They will show you another
who is more bound than yourself, and in helping the
prisoner so your chains will fall from you never to
be worn again.
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"This spiritual law is worked out from the weakest
to the strongest; but never forget that each one -
all those countless millions - must draw their strength
from God! Each healing thought, each time you hold
out a helping hand, that comes from the Christ within,
and Christ is God! The child who smiles and brings
a flood of joy to the mother's heart, because that
is love, so All-Love is demonstrated in the simple
act.
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"You pass out of conditions of twilight perchance
of darkness, out of the sad memories, out of the heartaches,
out of the weary minds and bodies, out of it all into
life and power; and your life and power, for what is
this gifted? Why! little ones, so that you may go to
others and show them the way into real Life and real
Power.
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"Thus we go on, and the beauty of your little
earth, of the Spring which is hurrying upon you, that
is as a pale reflection of all the beauty stored by
the individual for future use, brought into being by
the things that went so hard, set into permanency by
the passing away of that which once meant so much,
harvested by your Father. Yes, each dull grey day represents
the brightness which never fades.
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"And again I ask you to ask yourself: 'Why should
this brightness be for me?' And the answer comes: Think
of the thousands in twilight or utter darkness, bound
by their weakness and as yet unwilling for another
to set them free. But you, little ones of my heart,
you have got your direction from the Master Himself;
and because He passed from the Cross into those conditions
too terrible for you to understand, and ministered
to the tortured (1 Peter 3:18-20; 4:6), so, when that
full sense comes to you of your powers to redeem, so
you will take your brightness, your joy, your many
gifts, and use them as the Crucified used them, use
them as the Saviour, the Redeemer, the Consoler has
taught us how to do. And as you strive with others,
so your own brightness increases; and as the bound
find within themselves a little strength, so you have
created a measure of light for them and doubled your
own.
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"Thus we go on and thus we do God's work, whether
in the body or free from the body, and all we are and
all we hope to be is for one thing and one thing alone
- to be better instruments, purer vessels for God's
use; to contribute our little to the spiritualising
of humanity as a whole; for we are one though we are
many, we are the children of God divided only by conditions;
but the strong step over the divisions and go to the
weak, and the weak in turn gain strength to rise....
And, again, I say this goes on forever!
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"Therefore, my children, in thinking of Life after
Death prepare yourselves to do that which the Divine
within longs to do; for the real you is of God, has
the same purpose, the same holy desires, aye! is so
much of Him that anything antagonised from Him is torture
indeed.
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"So, in thinking of the by and by, remember that
though you pass into that which you have built up by
the earth life, yet there is the miracle of God's Love
to be taken into account; and the miracle of God's
Love transforms the little into the great, the imperfect
into something which represents beauty itself. And
so, as you take and as you progress, humility falls
upon you, for you see how mighty is the Mind of God,
how unlimited His generosity, how perfect is His Love.
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"This evening you have seen the power of God in
this little room; you have been shown that to the faithful
so the All-Faithful gives and gives again. If the thought
approaches as to why the gift should be here, why you
can come evening by evening and bring to yourselves
that outward demonstration of the Holy Spirit at work,
then, little ones, I say that by what your lives have
held and by your holy desires so you have done your
part in building the bridge, and in making it not only
possible, but safe, to meet those you love on the threshold
of the Spirit, to take from them and to give back to
them in turn.
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"This life, so limited it seems, can be unlimited
as you aspire. The mind of the body, apparently blind
to the things of the Spirit, that mind by stages can
be so trained that the dividing line between the real
you and the physical you can be swept aside and the
light of revelation be yours.
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"But the purchase price is effort and effort again.
Keep your hand on the plough and allow nothing to turn
you from that straight furrow which you have commenced.
When doubts assail you, when the destroyers seek to
come between you and your trust, then though your heart
may ache and your mind may shrink from the task in
front, go on! - do the next thing and all will be well.
Meet in this little room and find love and healing,
ah! and that which you cannot grasp, but the Spirit
within rejoices in its good gifts, and the Father waits
to give and give again.
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"In the Name of the All-Compassionate I bless
you with peace; in the Name of the Great Heart I gather
you all in, aye, into their rightful place; in the
Name of our Father and Mother God I bless you with
staying power, with the strength to go on; and as I
speak so, little ones, the joy which no earthly experience
can destroy is being built up around you, and it shall
never, never be taken away.
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"Remember, oh! remember the call which has come
and, in turn, be redeemers of others, by the strength
and through the love of the Sacred One, of the God
Who rules us all.
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"And now I will go. Let all distress pass from
you; hold close to Love for the Beloved is here in
very truth.
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"Goodnight, my children."
©GWCSA
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