LIFE AFTER DEATH

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 81, 17 November 1928, Page 8

LIFE AFTER DEATH

TEACHING OF THEOSOPHY. WIDE FIELD FOR RESEARCH. “The Life After Death” was the subject of an address given in Strutford last night by Air W. Crawford, national lecturer of the Theosopiiieal Society of New Zealand. Air W. Ale Lines presided, and extended a welcome to the lecturer, saying that his annual visits were always looked forward to.

SELF CONTROL, Air Crawford said the materialist; believed that, our 1 life on earth was the end of everything, and this view' was held by a very great many people who held thjemselves to be good Christians. A good Christian friend of Jn’s refused to accept the Theosop.il■ cal faith, on the around that nothing could l be known of what happened after death. People ■ did not go to churches because they thought it unreasonable, to believe that after death persons went to Heaven oi Hell and remained there for ever. Sir Oliver Lodge had studied Theosophy, and had written on tiie subject. Sir William Crooks had afsoi dealt with the subject on scientific lines. Communication with the life after death could be had by means of spiritualism or by means of Theosophy. In the case of spiritualism, the medium was under outside influences, but the aim of Theosophy was for each person to control himself and not to be under outside influences. The subject of Theosophy was well dealt with by Bishop Leadbette.r. If his books were read, the’ reader could no longer be uninterested in the subject, nor could he say that nothing could he known of the state after death. Fear was the chief bugbear of life, but the knowledge given by Theosophy banished fear. An ordinary funeral was a function at which the influences were not good, as ( there was so much sadness in evidence. A Theosopiiieal funeral, on the other hand, did not have these bad influences. It was not a'function of gladness, out it had not the had influences of sadness which characterised an ordinary funeral. Death was only an operation on all fours with, sleep. r lhe death of an aged person was not really a calamity. It was a calamity for a young person to die. We were not barn to die young, but to live our life hero and gain experience. And. our yorld wa® the lowest of all the worlds. ENDLESS CYCLE OF LIVES.

The Theosophical teaching -.vas that all people came from God and /at death returned to God. Death was merely an incident in en endless cycle of lives. The best preparation for 1 death was a good life. One who had lived a good life had nothing t 0 fear from death. Such a one continued iris good life in the after-life, and worked forward to higher grades of life.' The present life, was the lowest one. of the series, and in it people had their hardest times. OF the virtues goodness was the greatest and tire next was knowledge. Tiros© who passed away from this world found themselves) in another world so like this world that they’ did not ar first realise that they were in another world. The suffering in this world was chiefly due to ignorance and selfishness. Not many people were in an advanced state, and those who wore advanced were a great help in this world and was prepared for the next. In the case of elderly people death was a, blessing—they had lived their life and had knowledge' to help them on the other side. Evil-doers in this life would pass through' a purgatory on the other side. Some went through it on this side of death. But, because of the good which was in everybody ,the worst liver would ultimately reach the highest life, though Ids enjoyment of it might he short, iu proportion to the amount of good in him. In this life there was physical exhaustion, sleep being needed to recuperate the body, but in the astral world! there was no such thing as exhaustion, and there was a .record of one who worked; day and night for thirty years without intermission. In the astral world there was no need for food, it was not necessary to work for one’s living, and there was no use for properly. It was undesirable for people to die of disease.

LEAVING THE BODY. The correct death* was, after the life’s work was done, to pass away through lack of desire to I'.ve longer. One left the body in sleep, and the training of Theosophy would enable one to leave the body at will. The Great Napoleon had the power to sleep at, any time, and so had Bishop Leadbeatev, who had gained the power as a. result of training. Not one in al million hind this power, hut it was really within the. power of everybody. The berat requisite, was knowledge. Knowledge would dispel all tiro misery which existed in the world to-day. The speaker had proved certain things, hut those proofs were of no n c ei to anybody else. Each one had to* had his own proofs'. There was a wide held, for investigation—for instance, there were, numerous hooks th lie read to help in the study of the philosophy of Theosophy. The late General Booth' perhaps did not know anything about Theosophy, hut at hjis death he said Ids greatest de-

sire was to return to the earth to carry on the work of the Salvation Army. This desire might easily result in the General coining hack to the earth. Robert Blatchford, a Socialist, and probably a materialist, was converted to Theosophy through experiences after the death of his wife. The best course to follow was to treat Theosophy as a philosophy. It was the very best philosophy, as it met every case. Theosophy should not to be in tolerant of spiritualism, there w'asi a difference in the working, Theosophy making no use of mediums. The feeling against spiritualism which once existed was now passing a.way, and intolerance found no place in the Theosophical teaching. At the conclusion of Ins remarks Mr Crawford answered a number of questions.