by Ernest L. Norman
Hello, everyone! Heavenly days! I thought I would never make it. This is R. W. Emerson, or at least I signed my name that way while on the earth, back there a few years ago. There has been a good deal of coming and going since I made the first contact with you about a week ago; and since that time I have heard several discussions and stood around a few times while you were inspecting some of the ancient ruins in this great city of Aureleus. Just joking, of course, when I say ‘ancient ruins’ for they are really very wonderful and beautiful structures, as you have seen.
Now in regard to philosophy, it may be that we have reached the point at which some of you may be getting just a bit tired of the subject and wish to go into something different; but as some of the material I am using is prepared, and in it are some very necessary steps which must be taken in our progression, we shall proceed somewhat along the lines of a summary of what has previously transpired, so that we may better be able to extract the proper ingredients which were intended to be conveyed into your mentalities.
The prime and motivating conception behind the various interpretations was meant to assist you to think more clearly and to evaluate more wisely your present-day philosophical concepts. As you have been told, there is a great deal of science in everything that you do; however, there is also a great deal of philosophy, philosophy in poetry, in music, in literature, and in science itself; in fact in every concept or manifestation of life upon the earth plane.
Since our main discussion or transmission concerns the ancient and modern histories of the world, particularly that beginning with the Hellenic Age, about 600 B.C. (At this point Ruth mentioned that she thought the speaker was present in this dimension, and he immediately received the thought and answered). I shall reply in answer to that question, that the lesser of us luminaries here in these cities do not attempt to conduct you bodily, (I mean spiritually) into the various centers of these cities; rather, we conduct our discussions more by a telepathic communication.
In returning to philosophy, I hope that by now you will have looked into some of the history books of the earth and read the biographies of several of the great philosophers, musicians, poets and literary giants who lived on the earth during these various periods of time. In becoming somewhat familiar with the translations of these various arts, sciences and philosophies, your mind will begin to form some very distinct impressions; namely, that any person who begins to individualize within his own mind certain concepts of truth, whatever forms of truth these may assume in an outward expression, be they prose, poetry or music, these concepts are truths within themselves and are so universally manifested within the conscious mentality and the Superconscious Minds of all individuals; and so in themselves they must relate to each other as individual expressions, either partially or to a much larger degree.
You may think that there has been a great deal of borrowing of ideas, or at least a modifying and an enlarging of them. There may be others who come in at that particular time and scream very loudly at the top of their voices that it is not so or they too are interjecting a slightly different perspective of vision into the general summary and into the idea-form behind the whole philosophical concept.
Such explanations can be seen in the previously mentioned empirical philosophy of John Locke which was conceived chiefly with the material aspects of the mind, or the objective consciousness. The theory was that a child coming into the world presented, as far as the material mind was concerned, a clean and polished surface on which was written, during his lifetime, his numerous experiences, which formed all of the basic concepts of his life. Now this theory was somewhat in contrast with that of other philosophers, George Fox, the Father of the Quaker Movement; John Calvin, the Protestant reformer; Martin Luther, an early protestor, all of whom interjected much more of the spiritual nature into their philosophy along the lines of the more orthodox concepts in the ecclesiastical orders of the various churches which were in a functional order in that day.
Another very apparent fact is that these philosophies contained nothing of the higher spiritual concepts which concern the psychic body or which deal with dimensions of the spiritual plateaus which have been given you in these various transmissions. These omissions can readily be understood inasmuch as the men who lived on the whole continent of Europe had gone through hundreds of years of subjective tyranny in all forms and phases of life, even to the control of a man’s thought. We can understand that even the very mildest projection of an individual philosophy would strike like a bolt of lightning through a community or a countryside. Very often the exponents of these new thought forms were imprisoned and suffered martyrdom in different ways. So if some of the higher dimensional concepts were missing from some of these earlier forms of philosophy during the Reformation era, we shall understand that strictly repressive factors entered into the structural forms of these philosophies.
Going back into the Hellenic period, for instance, we shall find that Socrates and Plato, as well as their Roman contemporaries, interjected a considerable amount of spiritual and esoterical values of a very high order and nature into their philosophic thoughts. If we travel a little farther back into the Hermetic period in the Egyptian cultures, we again find a vast storehouse which pertained to other realms and dimensions. Likewise in the earlier Brahmanic and the Vedic concepts, we find in the translations of the very oldest forms of known literature the answers to the most perplexing problems which are still confounding the savants of your day and time.
Now there are some other very interesting facets to the expansion of the various cultures and philosophies in this period of the Reformation that might be worth mentioning. Although I might say, incidentally, that such interesting concepts are not confined alone to any person or to any age, yet we could say that the field of religion or art or science in which these individuals were most famous was usually not the field for which they were most fitted. If we study the biography of Leonardo da Vinci, we find that he made about 250 or 300 mechanical drawings which relate to aircraft, dirigibles, and things of that nature of a very highly advanced science. It was da Vinci who first conceived the third dimensional perspective, in which by viewing an object a foot or so away from the eye, one could see directly behind the object because of the angle of incidence between the left and right eye. A little later on, a German scientist by the name of Herman von Helmholtz further enlarged upon this stereoscopic concept, to the point where if two pictures of somewhat slightly different perspective were viewed through lenses, the viewer would obtain a third dimensional effect. It was not until the time of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who perfected a working model of a stereoscope, that this instrument made its entrance into the American homes around the turn of the nineteenth century.
This is a good example of what I mean by the progression or evolution of either a scientific or a more simple philosophical truth. You might even say that the concepts of Freud, as they were contained in the ego and the eto, the dominant or the subdominant personalities of the individual, were first explained by Friedrich Nietzche, who embodied the idea that each individual contains the lower or the carnal nature as well as the higher or the spiritual self. Certain relative spiritual values were also enlarged upon by such men as Spencer and Carlyle, from the Monadic concept of Leibnitz and by other contemporaries of a more remote time. I was fortunate in my journeys to Europe to have met Carlyle, whose beautiful and spiritual nature impressed me greatly; and I was no doubt influenced in some of the works which I wrote, especially the Essays, with his concept of the more idealistic or, shall I say, the universal state of man’s consciousness.
In those days of the beginning of my philosophical career, I began to be aware of the universality of mankind in general; for although man as an individual compounds and propounds many elements of individuality, yet one man is the same as another wherever you find him in any particular part of the globe. He exemplifies and personifies or portrays certain universal characteristics, which are found in any race in any part of the world.
Now I was quite proud of my accomplishments in those days; yet as I look back upon them, I know that if I would come back to your earth at this time, there would be a great deal more that I could put into the books or writings of that nature. I would say that even though my writings were fitting to my mentality and expression at the time, yet from where I stand now, they are very elemental in nature.
However, there is something more I would like to say in a general way about the philosophies of the world and about their acceptance by individuals as a whole. Just as I did in my day, you still find people who go around prattling a great deal about this or that philosophy, or pretending to be experts on Shakespearean drama, or they may quote this or that one’s personality. Such a person will eventually find himself in a position in which he is unable to express constructive opinions of his own. He will be so entangled and enmeshed in the superiority of his own nature in trying to impress other people, that, as Freud would say, he will be an egocentric. Usually people who are quoting a great deal from the works of others are trying to impress other people with a sense of their importance.
What I am getting at is this: the proper constituents or elements of every philosophy, as it has been explained, are relative to their own time, their own expression, and their own dimension. In your time and your dimension you should extract the elements of philosophies very cautiously, for many of the facts which were of startling importance at the time they were written, are now largely high school talk. The concepts and principles which are evolving around you at the present are of a much higher order and of much more spiritual importance. I would not mean to insult the intelligence of those who previously lived in the earth plane and who expressed themselves in their philosophies.
However, almost without exception, and in a universal accord with my own position, they too, if they could reincarnate in the earth plane, would impound much into their writings which they have learned since losing that mortal coil of flesh. Nevertheless, their truths, as they were written in their life on the earth plane, contained and still contain many elements which are basically very spiritual portions of the concepts which are being explained to some extent in the various occult churches in the world today. In fact, in some cases the truths so propounded are coming direct to you from the centers here in Shamballa.
The whole point I am making is that you should learn to think, to evaluate and to form your own philosophy in its own realm and in its own dimension as it concerns you in your own particular lifetime. Bear in mind, just as we do here, that concepts or opinions which you form in your earth life concerning things about you now are only relative to your own position at the present time; and like us, you too will evolve into a dimension in which things look entirely different. You will need to change your ideas and your philosophies considerably in order to get along properly with the conditions which you find about you.
As has been previously mentioned, sufficient unto each day is the evil thereof. I might say sufficient unto each lifetime is the experience thereof and the philosophy contained therein. The most important ingredients which anyone can contain in his philosophy in any generation or in any reincarnation are the concepts which deal with the infinity of nature, of the All-Creative God-Intelligence, of the limitless vistas of so-called space, which a man’s soul or individuality contains within himself in making these evolutions into these different dimensions, as he adopts the bodies which are necessary in order to function in that particular dimension. There are many planes and many astral worlds in which one will take on whatever body-forms which best suit the conditions and the nature of the atomic structures and elements in that dimension.
To the earth scientist I would leave just a word concerning the atomic weights and structures of the one hundred odd elements which are contained in your earth at your time: for every one that you can classify, there are at least a thousand more in a spiritual dimension somewhere around you, which you cannot classify. We here know of basic structures in atomic forms and in transmissions in frequency spectrums which would not only defy the concepts of your earth scientists, but would in some cases completely break up some of the instruments you might try to use to determine the frequency and velocity of the propagations of energy.
I am not a scientist by nature, but I have seen enough evidence around me to know that in the future the approach to true atomic power and to the full realization of magnetic powers which are in the etheric voids which you call space, should be approached gradually and with a great deal of caution. Should man ever tap these vast resources of celestial energy, he could very easily completely blow the planet earth apart and render it into a cloud of dust. The atomic and the thermonuclear explosions, as they have been conducted on earth at different times, have very definite repercussive effects in other dimensions which are more closely associated with the earth planet and are dangerous by virtue of their nature. They may trigger some chain explosion in other atomic structures which compound the crust of the earth and render the little planet earth into something of a burned cinder. This and other portions of transmissions and warnings of the atomic power have been previously given, so I shall not dwell on those points further.
We shall continue with our little discussion here and try to illuminate a few more of the points of some of the previous transmissions. My good friend Galileo some time ago explained some of the concepts of creation as they are contained in the spiritual dimensions. You might close your conclusions in this transmission by conceiving that everything in your earth plane as you see it about you now, regardless of whatever the substance or form or shape, has been previously conceived in some other spiritual dimension in the Divine eye and Mind of the great Intelligent Force which is called God.
Man, in manifesting in the terrestrial planes of consciousness, brings with him when he comes and takes with him when he leaves, the essential ingredients of his entire character and individuality; and contained therein is a psychic memory consciousness of all that he has been, as these dimensions are not concerned in the relative sense of time or space. What is more, he contains not only all the things from where he has been, but also all of the things of where he is going. Therefore, in living in the terrestrial planes and looking about you, you are seeing the ideas, forms and creations of expressions which are the divine components of man’s own individual nature. The God-Force or, as it has been explained to you, the personal Christ in each and every individual, conceives and creates in his own prospective dimension whatever things are compatible to the life and the expression of life in that dimension.
There is nothing unrelated or unrealistic in the divine concepts contained in this expression, for they all contain within themselves the necessary and proper ingredients which are conducive to man’s life in whatever dimension he finds himself. What this whole concept resolves itself into is that whether God is man or man is God, we cannot separate the two, nor are there any differences contained therein. The Infinite Nature of God must express itself, not only infinitely, but also finitely into every conceivable way and even beyond the ways which are conceivable to your finite mind. Individuality, as it is expressed in mankind, is the individual personification of God, which is manifest in the individual Christ Consciousness. That is the universal principle which I tried to express in some of my writings.
As you have been told, these discourses and transmissions are properly screened and censored for any personal or biased opinions; therefore in the deliverance of these expressions to you, I have come under the direct surveillance of the Higher Minds and Intellects in these various centers; and they have given me the full nod of approval in the material which I have amassed at this moment for delivery at your doorstep.
I am flattered somewhat that the leeway was given me to interject portions of the work which I conducted at my time of reincarnation on the earth. However, this is done purely in the interest of philosophy. Since every man is Divinely inspired and guided by his Superconsciousness or his Christ self, very often in the evolution of time as he lives on earth or on allied terrestrial dimensions, this Christ Consciousness often comes in an intuitive or reactionary way into the consciousness of the individual; and it may inspire him into the most heroic efforts of his life, or it may inspire him to give to posterity illumined sections of truth, which have been inspired from the higher sections and realms of the Celestial dimensions.
Now for the future, there is nothing at which I might point my finger and ask you to read, other than to ask you to search diligently. Read much of the more ancient histories and philosophies of the world, and try to extract from them the principle elements of spiritual truths. But in the general consensus of evaluation and opinions, as you form them, always remember that these are but stepping stones in the evolution of your own personal consciousness into the higher realms and the Celestial Mansions. So until such a time, my dear ones, until we can renew our acquaintance and our further discussions of truths I remain your brother in spirit.
— Emerson
Note: May I add a P.S.? In looking over my notes, I discovered some omissions which I had hoped to include in our discussion. I neglected rather sadly to mention something which was close to me then and still is, relating to the expression of philosophy in poetry and in music. We cannot neglect the philosophical content of the works of the giants of the musical world: Brahms, Beethoven and Bach. The message of spiritual evolution, the conquering of the carnal self contained in the spiritually interpreted musical philosophies of Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal are classics which will endure for many more centuries. The poetry of such poetic geniuses as Goethe, Keats, the Brownings, Shelley, Tennyson, Wordsworth and Longfellow cannot be overlooked. They sounded the golden trumpet which heralded the immortal voice of spiritual consciousness which rang within the mind and the domain of every individual. The immortal classics of Shakespeare, in dealing with the natural sequence of emotional values and of the intense portrayal of lives of individuals in various realms and dimensions of the earth at his time and place, will also endure in the halls of immortality.
The men of medicine and of psychiatry, as they exist in your world today, had their beginnings in the contents of the various exponents of the philosophies of arts and sciences since the beginning of time upon the surface of the earth. In looking into the biography of the French philosopher Descartes, we find there the first discussion of the focusing of the eye, the curvature of the lens, which is the basic foundation for the science of ophthalmology in your present medical field. To the doctor and to the chemist who take great pride in the antibiotics of penicillin, streptomycin, aureomycin, and other of the germ-killers of your age, need I say that these antibiotics too were included in the pharmacopoeia of the doctors and chemists of many a bygone day. Although the remedies were not known by these names, yet their miraculous and curative powers were included in simple remedies for boils, sores and other lesions of the body. The humble pod of the poppy seed and the mold of the stale bread contained the necessary and vital ingredients which are necessary for your present day products, your penicillin and antibiotic drugs. I need not mention that there are accounts during Queen Elizabeth’s time and in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, of people with heart conditions who used an infusion of leaves from the foxglove. Today this extract is called digitalis and is still a valuable curative in heart conditions, just as it was in that day for the same condition.
You may take a great deal of personal pride in the spotless cleanliness of your laboratories, your hospitals, and your operating rooms. You may also take pride in the vast accumulation which is contained in the research of the exploration of the various branches of medical and psychiatric sciences; and yet that too is but a small portion which must be achieved in the future dimensions of man’s life upon the various planets of the different solar systems. So wait not upon the present day nor upon the achievements contained therein; but search constantly beyond the limits of the present horizon: for truly over the hill are contained other valleys and other vistas and other worlds to conquer.
As diseases of the past have been conquered and eliminated, so new menaces to the health of mankind shall arise and take their place. In your present day understanding of psychiatry here too you have just begun to learn. The future contains many concepts and truths which are beyond your present concept, just as they are being explained in the pages of this book. But now I fear I have overstayed my time and so, adieu again.
Excerpt from The Voice of Hermes