The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-08-20
Elementary Theosophv.
No. TT Spirit after Death The Prog
ress followed from the end of one Earth
Life to the beginning of another.

RES IOIIOWet from tlle emu Oh one EIdFIn
Life to the beginning of another.
After death what? This question has
| been asked again and again by man and
many have been the answers given him :;
! but none more logical. more convincing
| more according to reason and common
sense than that offered by TheosOphy.
In another article | have given the
| theOsophical explanation of death as it
effects the body only, but now we will
turn to the spirit and try to follow its
wanderings as it, which you must keep in
mind is the real man, leaves the tenement
OF flesh and goes out into what most Of
us look upon as the Great Unknown.
Unknown this state of existence imme-
diately beyond the material may be to the
greater part of humanity, but there are
! those who. while still in the body, have
| been able to fathom the mystery, and it
| Is from them we get this teaching. w e
! will explain who these men are in a later
! letter.
Leath may be briefly defined as a step
! ping stone from one state to another, or
| a transition from a lower to higher
! plane with no loss of consciousness. AT
the mo ment of death and just as the
spirit is about to leave the body, which
to the watchers may seem already dead,
the mind is intensely active and recalls
every thought and deed, both good and
bad, of the life just ending. These things
come up before it in mental review, and
as it is attracted or repealed by them, so
will be determined the quality of the
next incarnation. That this mental re-
view is not merely a theory is evident
from the many stories told us by persons
who have been reSuScitated after having
been nearly drowned
When the link that binds it to the body
is finally broken the spirit passes on to
what is called the desire plane, carrying
whit all the principles with which it
was associated when in the body and
these being no longer restricted, have
full play. Before the pure spirit can hope
for rest it must struggle free from them
all. II the man has given the greater
part of his time on earth to spiritual
things, has kept down his passions and
animal desires, he will free himself quick
~, but if his tastes have been low and
immoral, then the process of getting rid
of the lower principles may take weeks,
months and even years, and in the mean
time he will wander around a being
neither of earth nor of heaven, until
he gains the victory over those lower
animal qualities which he did not
conquer on earth. When this is finally
done the pure spirit,-the true and i'm
mortal man rises to state of quiet rest
i'll which he digests and assimulates the
experiences and lessons of the earth life
Just ended
KS thought is real thing on the spirit
ual plane, and as that plane is the only
substantial and lasting one, the thoughts
OF the ego in such condition appear to
it as realities. Thus it thinks of a friend
or relative, either living in the world or
dead to it, and Immediately that friend
stands before it, only he is gloriied
spiritualized, his best qualities only be-
ing apparent, for the ego calling up this
idea can only think of the pure and beau
tiful.
SO in this condition of deep joy sur
rounded by its ideals and untrOu0led by
any unpleasant thought, the spirit lives
until the time comes for its return once
more TO existence on earth, when the I'M
erring law of perfect justice that controls
it directs it TO the race, family and body
in which it Will find the experience it
most needs to round out its character,
and the opportunity to correct the faults
OF other lives.
CHAS. H. OIIN, +. Il. ).