The student of comparative religions is struck with the
fact that from the primal stock of religious belief there
emerges an almost countless number of creeds, sects, and
divisions of religious thought. From the very primitive
superstitions of the simple races to the most advanced
conceptions of the cultured peoples, there runs a uniting thread
of fundamental belief in a something which is above the
phenomenal universe, and which is the Causeless Cause of the
Universe. Coupled with this conception we find the
fundamental belief that the soul survives after the death of the
body. But this conception, also, is variously interpreted by
the different religious authorities and sects. The third general
conception, the fundamental religious instinct of the race, is
that which holds that the future life of the soul depends upon
the character and actions of the individual during his
earth-life.
It is a long journey from some of the most primitive
interpretations of these three fundamental principles of
religious belief, to that high conception of the advanced
occultists which has been stated by a gifted author as follows:
There are three truths which are absolute, and which cannot be
lost, but yet may remain silent for lack of speech. (1) The soul
of man is immortal, and its future is the future of a thing
whose growth and splendor have no limit. (2) The principle which
gives life dwells in us, and without us; is undying and
eternally beneficent; is not heard or seen, or felt, but is
perceived by the man who desires perception. (3) Each man is his
own absolute law-giver; the dispenser of glory or gloom to
himself, the decreer of his life, his reward, his punishment.
These truths, which are as great as his life itself, are as
simple as the simplest mind of man. Feed the hungry with them.
Yet each of the conceptions, and all the varying degrees which
appear between them, are alike the result of man's intuitive
perception of that something; the Immortality of the Soul; and
the Law of Karma. The difference between the varying forms of
religious thought is simply the differences between the
conceptions of Truth formed by the minds of various religious
leaders or teachers and their followers.
All creeds and religious dogmas are manmade, as the enemies of
revealed religion maintain. But, these good folks miss the other
half of the truth, i. e. that underlying the man-made creeds and
dogmas eternally exists the intuitive perception of the race
regarding the existence of Truth. The mind may not be able to
correctly interpret the intuitive perception, but it finds
itself positively impressed by the fact that Truth does exist.
Man has made a god of nearly everything in the material world,
and has fallen down and worshipped his own creation - this
because of his limited power of interpretation. But in
worshipping the stick or stone, the graven image, or the
anthropomorphic deities, he was unconsciously, and in reality,
worshipping that something which was the cause of the religious
intuition within his soul. And, as one of the Hindu Vedas
beautifully states it, the Supreme One accepts all such worship,
when honestly given as intended for itself. Truth is but One,
although men call it by many names, says the old Yogi sage of
centuries past.
Each man creates for himself, and holds to, the particular form
of religious faith which is best suited for the requirements
of his soul at any particular period of its evolution. When he
is ready for a higher conception, he sheds and discards the
old belief and eagerly embraces the newer one. The world has
witnessed many instances of this evolution of religious thought,
and, indeed, it is really going through an important one at this
particular time. The path of the race is strewn with broken and
discarded idols, material and mental, which were once precious
to millions of worshippers. And, as the race advances, many more
idols will be overthrown and left crumbling on the pathsof time.
But each idol had its own appropriate place in the general
history of the evolution of the religious thought of the race.
Each served its purpose, and its ideals served to aid man in his
perpetual and eternal journey toward Absolute Truth.
In view of the above-stated facts, would we not naturally expect
to find in a rational and equitable adjustment of
conditions on gthe other sideh some provision made for the
sincere religious faiths and beliefs of the race, differing from
each other as these faiths and beliefs may be? Imagine the
spiritual anguish of a disembodied soul were it to see the
cherished beliefs of an earnest life, and the traditions of many
generations of ancestors, swept away as by a flood. And, this,
particularly in view of the fact that the soul would not be
sufficiently advanced to understand or accept the higher forms
of religious truth, but would be merely asked to accept either
something which it could not understand, or else which was
repugnant to it by reason of its past training and experience.
Such would be cruelty to the disembodied soul as much as if the
same thing were attempted during its earth-life. There is a
native belief among many persons which would imply that the
disembodied soul is magically, and instantaneously transformed
from ignorance into absoluteknowledge upon passing over to the
other side. This is a childlike belief, and has no basis in
fact. There is really but very little difference in the general
intelligence or spiritual attainment of the soul, before or
after death. Soul progress is gradual, in or out of the body.
The disembodied soul is practically the same in general
intelligence and understanding, in and out of the body. In and
out of the body are but successive phases of its continuous
life, succeeding each other like day and night, summer and
winter. Therefore, what is true of a particular soul's feelings
and emotions in earth-life is almost equally true of the same
things in its life in the Astral. We mention this that you may
better understand that to which we have been leading up in the
previous pages of this chapter.
Accordingly, what we might naturally expect to find (according
to reason and in equity) regarding the religious experiences of
the disembodied soul, is so in fact. That is to say, on the
Astral Plane each soul finds itself surrounded by a religious
environment in accordance with the best of the beliefs
entertained by it in its earth-life. It will not only find the
particular heavens, or hells, which it expected to find, but it
will also find itself in contact with other souls of a similar
belief, and with the prophets and sages and founders of its own
religion. But this environment will be of the nature of a
mirage, for it is a product of human thought and has no
counterpart in the absolute facts of nature. The thought-forms
of a particular form of religious thought gather great strength
on the AstralPlane, and endure with all the appearance of
permanent reality to the perception and understanding of the
believer and devotee - although entirely invisible to those of a
different faith. The presence of prophets and founders remains
with
the environment, though the souls of these individuals have long
since passed on to other planes of life. The Astral Plane is a
realm of ideals, and each soul finds its ideals realized
thereon.
The good Christian finds a manifestation of the best in his own
creed and beliefs, and rests fully assured that he has had the
true faith, and has reaped the reward he expected. But, the same
is true of the good Brahmin, or the good Mohammedan, or the good
Confucian. Moreover, each particular sect or division of
religious belief finds a corroboration of its own beliefs on the
Astral Plane. But there is no warring of sects or religions.
Each soul finds its own, and is oblivious of the rest.
But, note this apparent exception: the soul which has advanced
far enough to realize that there is Truth in all religious
beliefs, and which has manifested a tolerant spirit in
earth-life, is also given a corroboration of his belief, and is
allowed to see the joys of the blessed of all religious faiths.
It must be remembered, however, that these Astral
representations of the various religious faiths and beliefs
comprise only the best of each particular form of belief - in
short, the soul witnesses the highest conception and ideal of
which it is capable regarding its favorite religion. This
naturally has the effect and result of developing the highest
religious conceptions in the soul, and inhibiting the lower
ones, to the end that when the soul undertakes its next earthly
pilgrimage it will carry with it a taste and inclination for
only the highest in its own religion, and will thus aid in the
evolution of religion on earth. Sometimes a soul will evolve
from one form of religious conception in its Astral Life, and
upon its reincarnation willbe ready for one higher.
Remember, always, that the spiritual evolution constantly leads
onward and upward, from lower to higher - on, and on, and on,
forever. The question of religious rewards and punishments, on
the Astral Plane, which naturally forms a part of the subject
just considered, will be discussed in the following chapter.
